The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-28
WALTER WREN, THE COACH.
now HE PREPARED Hfs PUfTLs ron
THE INDIAN CIVIL BERPTOE

the Examiners ana the Vuettione Hnol
Would Ask-His Pupiis Would Succeed
The prominence Of Walter Wren. the cele-
brated English coach. who died the other daJ
In London. was due partly to the mans re-
markable character and partly to the peculiaI
conditions that govern appointment to public
Office In England. Wren was the best known
coach. grinder or ''crammer." as 1t is some
times contemptuously called. not only In Eng
land but In the world. and the position he oc-
cupied could exist In no other country. with
the possible exception Of China. For In Eng
land as matters are 10 arranged, alnostallthe
most desirable situations in the public service
can be attained only by open competitive exam
nation. BY this means alone is 1t possible to
enter the army. the navy. and the home and for
eign civil service. In almostn oil cases, when the
position is a particularly good one. the exam
inatlon Is held in subjects which nre entirely
untechnical-Latin. Greek. languages, lltera-
ture. mathematics. and the like; In fact, the
subjects comprised in the ordinary college
curriculum, but considering the age ut which
candidates are required to present themselves
usually under 20 years-the necessary
amount OF knowledge IL such as could not be
obtained In any school or college.
Herein lay the difficulty that Wren set him
self to overcome. and he met with extraordi-
nary success. In the space OF q course OF one
or two years he managed to putmore soholas-
tic knowledge into the head Of o boy Of 10
than is usually to be expected from an excep-
tionally cultivated young man Of %. There
are coaching establishments innumerable
scattered all over, the British Isles, sbut, as o
place Of preparation for the higher examina-'
ton and particularly for the Indian civil SER
vice. Wren's had 10 rival. The:open exarnina-
ton for the Indian civil service was Wren's spe-
cialty. and he was successful with nearly all his
pupils. The examination 10 probably, consid-
ering all things. the most severe In the world,
but the successful candidate gets an unusually
desirable post. Without political or family In
terest, he starts out with al income Of about
$4,000 a year. and after twenty years service
can retire OF a pension Of $4,000. In case Of
his death. ample provision is made for his
family out Of the Madras Fund; he cannot be
discharged save for heinous offence. and he
may rise to the highest place In the Indian
Empire. Naturally there are to be found
among the candidates some Of the most bril-
liant young men In the kingdom.
But the examination Is severe in proportion
TO the fruits OF success. Within the last seven
years or 30 the superior limit Of the age Of nd
mission has been raised to % years. Pre-
vfously candidates had to be over IL and I'M
der 10 years. and those were the palmy days
OF the "crammer." To have q tolerable
chance Of success the candidate has to tax
about seven subjects. An ordinary choice
would be Latin. Greek. mathematics. French.
Germa n. political economy. and English lit
e~rature. composition, and history. No smat-
terinR %suf1ces. THE questions are such as
would be set in q university honor or scholar
ship examination. Obviously. 1t would be i'm
for q boy of 18, IL left to his own de-
vices. to obtain even q surface knowledge OF
such diversified subjects. All the Latin and
Greek passares for translation are. Of course. |
read at sight; the mathematics include the
differential and integral calculus; fluent con-
versation in the modern languages is required.
aatR Rts1 q sa hnSEdesf &c e enable sRS PtiRi e eaPndi aaspf To
write limitations OF their various styles. Still,
AFTER 1d@rr z SSIH Sr; RI inst boS @Po g. h.S %bbe een i5ad mot
trious could usually obtain a high percentage
on all these subjects. while, on the other hand.
but had studied alone. could scarcely answer
half q dozen questions. How did Wren bring
BY unremitting care, by an intimate knowl-
edge OF the EXAMINATIONS and examiners, by
careful study OF the pupils' mental peculiar
70 begin. with. he Kept In stock copies Of ali
he examination papers,, not only Of former In
higher examinations. for the first grade OF the
civil service. for the army, for consular
' 'oiieee ena an ins Eassi in as mss IS ene By RSs 3 carer el
III study, OF these, and o system OF averages,
le was able to make a good guess ct the char
miners are Changed yearly aHHT' and aHfa are . drawn SA1
Q ind / out Who they Would be" their 'i idiosy N
,rasies and fads: Nearly oil examiners repeat
SnaI Sasis p saS; the often @ost t IesIna ssYSo ad fbs%T n sst
ertai9, professor q dublin University. Who
ice In Latin. could not make out a paper with
asking something about the intensive
imseli. But Wren would take care that his
upils, could quote chapter and verse for the
IN his pupils Wren could bolster up the
veaknesses and foster the strong points. Thus
ne time he had a pupil who was q brilliant
light, before the examination he took him I
1 70 his private room and made him learn
zen OF them appeared on the paper the next {
! T,S %sS q Rim results 3 e t his1 F II tRaf The coach
nit He didn not SHt care about The as5f flrst p pSSasy t
TodiFieis straight from school, i q sYYtlS was sUd the {
arriving q the tail-end places that showed /
&c pi GSssh Rsep 1 Mas a IN teaGFSSiIns 5he s SSls Of s
One year. when the writer was q eandi- t
ate. ninety Of Wren's men presented them: !
eives ana carried tWenty-elght places out OF I
His system. of teaching was of the extremely =
upils0 Indian civil servants. and not scholars. !
o this end he required that they should un- q
additionally abandon their own ideas and I
1opt his, For originality he had no use and i
le installation. OF culture was not In his prov I
zee His method Of teaching English win /
For many years 1t was his custom to give +
Is pupils q picked portion, Of q poet. say a
TO learn BY heart. and along with this Q
brief criticism Of Dryden's work. The pupil 4
done this. went on to do the same c
ling with Pope, and 30 on. He never read an n
her word Of the authors works. but. prob i
by. when the test came. he had to quote and a
i~ticise a similar passage to that which he had r
AIDE up, Another not less important divis- 4
here was Teaching the pupils how to com II
ot themselves under certain circumstances O
hus of q certain examiner In French, viva i
zee. he would warn you that the .Frenchman Ii
as 2 charming person. but cunning; that he 4
ould engage you in conversation on general h
pics: and so examine you nnawares. Thus n
Gods and. lenses while chatting about the "
eatre or football field. In, time the private
udent. no matter how able. had but a poor
an ,o agaipst Wren,s "sramned" men, The e
subjects. but the latter had construed the v
ar Tynulh D1ttinn atalu annaa nm Shn a-nnI ="