Page:Century Magazine-Vol 82-190.png

176 reer. They are not subjected to an examination on any particular subject and are often nonplussed by the questions which are asked them, many not bearing on their chosen profession, but all intended to show whether they are quick in perception, are ready in reply, and have a general sense of observation.

Amusing stories are told of the curious answers made to the Board’s questions which, while not showing a great intellectual standard, prove that the youngsters are quick and resourceful. One nervous lad who was asked by an Admiral on the Board to tell him the names of the three greatest admirals of modern times replied, “Lord Nelson, Lord Charles Beresford,” and being at a loss for the name of the third—“and yourself, my Lord.”

The life of these lads at the Naval Schools is a hardy one and the training is excellent for their career, which is a very trying one in many ways, when one considers the youth of the boys, and the change often from luxurious homes, but it produces good stuff, and our young naval officers are among the best products of our education.

When the sailor boy leaves his home, his future is settled, but for other boys who choose their career at a more advanced age, the home instruction is carried on so as to fit them for a preparatory school, usually chosen with a view to the public school to which they are to be sent. There are some schools which prepare for Eton, Harrow, and Winchester, as well as other public schools. There is no examination for admittance to preparatory schools but some are more popular than others, and unless a boy’s application is entered early in his life, he may have to go elsewhere. The preparatory schools of England are ideal as to arrangement and comfort while the standard of instruction is very good and many boys pass from them having won scholarships at the great public schools. The greatest attention is paid to health, food, sleeping accommodations, physical training, gymnastics, athletics, and games. Many of the schools have excellent swimming-baths where swimming is taught and have as well many other luxuries, while one or two have been nick-named the “House of Lords,” in consequence of the exalted rank of most of the boys. The charge is correspondingly high, and including extras, such as music, drawing, and dancing, amounts to nearly £300 a year; in fact some are as costly as a public school.

Outdoor life is a distinctive characteristic of all English schools, and many people in that unnecessary attention and time are given to games and that the tendency of to-day is to sacrifice intellectual training to physical development. The love of sport and games is one of the strongest characteristics of an English boy, and the hero of every school is not the greatest scholar, but the best man at cricket and foot-ball, and the captain of the Eton or Harrow eleven is the finest fellow in the world. The saying that “the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton” is true in a sense. The love of cricket and foot-ball, with its accompaniments and the healthy life which athletics entails, has helped more than any other influence to keep the tone of our great public schools pure and high, and has trained the men who for generations past have laid and cemented the foundations of our Empire. The defects and shortcomings of a wealthy society are influencing our public schools and the stern simplicity and rigor of English school life is suffering from that cause. The temptation for the people to send their boys where they will meet with lads in a higher position than their own is becoming a very distinct evil in making public schools extravagant and lowering their tone.

The increasing facilities for diminishing the drudgery of education and making every subject, however abstruse, less difficult, is overcrowding the curricula of all schools to an alarming extent. It is almost impossible to find time for the extra subjects which are now so numerous and varied in preparatory schools, where boys who have developed a taste for some subject not generally taught, are expected by their parents to carry it on at a public school on the expectation that it may be of use to them in their future career.

The length of the holidays at all schools is one which causes great perturbation to the paternal mind; six weeks or more in the summer, a month at Easter, and a month at Christmas, make, altogether, a large gap in the school year, as parents are compelled to engage a holiday tutor or governess at home; and though the holiday