Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/110

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��Phillies Exeter Academy.

��PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY.

��BY HERMAN W. STEVENS.

��An old mail, my townsman, says, — "It is sixty years since father left me in Exeter to fit for college. I cannot refuse to admit that the P. E. A. graduate of to-day is often found to have a better trained mind than the college graduate of my time."

The foundation of the now famous Phillips P^xeter Academy was due to the nobleness of John Phillips, Har- vard college, 1735. "Without nat- ural issue, he made posterity his heir." The alumni celebrated the end of the academy's hundredth year of work in 1883.

The writer was admitted as a "Prep." We formed an irrelative crowd. There were neat and erect fellows from military academies, kuowiug high school boys, raw coun- try chaps, typical city lads, and Westerners, Southerners, and Chi- nese. The first day was unlike any day which I had ever experienced, or of which I had heard or read. 'Twas surprising how soon the academy put its stamp upon every member. In a short time, though differing widely in breeding, inclination, and capacity, the great mass was welded into a firm but mobile body. There were a good many disappointments. The work and methods of instruction were try- ing, and the strength of maturit}', the confidence of previous leadership, and the complacency acquired under pri- vate tutorship failed in many instances to secure high standing. Recitation tests and frequent written examina- tions put us tlu-ough sieve after sieve, and by Christmas every one had

��fonnd his place. Some did not re- turn after the holidays. During this year a foundation was laid in Latin, under a most enthusiastic instructor, which was so full, so exact, and so enduring that I have known manv a fellow to rest all his hopes upon it when he had become an idle senior. The weak and irreclaimable were largely dropped during this 3'ear. As juniors the grind became endurable, and we thought less of class and more of school. But enough of the unregenerate remained to furnish an excuse for another weeding out. The losses of this year were in part made good by a set who brought some ex- perience from the classical courses of the public schools. When we became middlers, the written examinations increased in severity, and the "Pre- lims" were kept constantl}' in mind. For those who got away with ten subjects the senior year opened pleas- antly. The preparation for "Finals" proceeded by easy stages, and we were graduated as the Centennial class.

Exeter is simply a healthy, well- appointed town, of ancient date. It has secured little modern develop- ment. Remarkably few temptations beset the students. The North Ameri- can of July, 1858, says of the acad- emy, — "Its students are steadily in- creasing in numbers, drawn thither in part by its ancient renown, and in part by its present reputation and charities. . . . The internal economy of the school is not unlike that of a well ordered college. The

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