Page images
PDF
EPUB

Fibes and Racquet Matches.

Since the London matches there has been little Racquets of any interest to anyone but Myers and Shawe; Myers has carried off the Championship and the Silver Cup, Shawe the Racquet under 16. For the Championship Myers's two most formidable opponents were Wyatt, who made 6, 7, and II in the three games, and Hare who made 7 and II. These being thus defeated the matter was at an end. For the Bat given by C. E. Eccles and W. Mackworth to be played for by the Champions of the Classical and the Modern, there was a match in which Wyatt for the modern scored o, I, and o, against Myers. Nevertheless for the Silver Cup Wyatt, nothing daunted, played again and made 3, 6, and 3, receiving 3 points. For the Silver Cup we are indebted to the kindness of Major C. M. Griffith, E. J. Myers, Captain A. Hogg, R. Bullock, and J. J. Reid.

The Bat under sixteen was this year given by J. Lillywhite who, since the munificence of the former givers was otherwise employed, himself supplied the deficiency from a most laudable wish to encourage the play of the smaller boys. R. Shawe, although somewhat a novice in the art, found little difficulty in securing the prize over the heads of Pakenham, Nankivell, and Brown. It is worth while remarking what a very unpropitious time is chosen to finish these Racquet matches. It is almost always the last week before the Races, when cricket is in full swing, and turning all thoughts and inclinations away from Racquets, and when we may fairly hope for suns too hot to permit of lively Racquet playing. This should be recollected next year, and great efforts made to get the Matches played off by the beginning of April whilst people really attend to Racquets. It is the same with Fives: there is no game which is more unsuited to a proper May day, and yet somehow the final ties seldom get disposed of till then. At present of the 75 entries there are six left who have drawn in this way :

[blocks in formation]

Pruen got up to 20, but his partner would not let him win. It

was a very good game.

The Cheltonian.

AUGUST, 1869.

The Prize Eibing.

The Prize-giving was held on Tuesday, June 22, with perfect success. The Speeches came first and were, on the whole, very successful. The programme was as follows:

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Only small parts of the Prize Compositions were recited, so that they were not as tedious as might have been expected. In the selection from Shakespeare, Wise was good, very good in fact, considering that he had to act Falstaff in evening dress. The Molière,

No. 33.-Vol, IV.

on the whole, was the best done, in spite of the difficulties of the foreign tongue; the accent was good and the acting spirited, especially Playfair's, as Pancrace. The piece from the Frogs was that which represents the testing of the godlike character of Dionysos by the lash of Aiakos; an amusing piece, but one which was hardly, we are afraid, made intelligible to the uninitiated by the acting of Newman, Pruen, and Holderness. The scene from the Rivals was too witty in itself not to elicit some cheers, and, moreover, Guthrie threw himself well into his part, and Myers made a fair hypocrite.

After the speeches were over, Sir A. Ramsay rose and congratulated the College on its present Principal, expatiated on its flourishing condition, and dwelt somewhat at length on the honours of the past year. J. E. Sandys, Esq., the only one of the Examiners present was understood to state that he regretted the absence of his colleagues, to announce that the general result of the examination was completely satisfactory, and to refer his audience for further particulars to the Class Lists and the forthcoming Report of the Examiners.

The Rev. T. W. Jex-Blake, on rising to distribute the prizes, said he felt that they had had a very successful commencement of their proceedings to-day, and that there was only one person who could possibly spoil it, and that person was himself. He felt that everything had gone most swimmingly, which was true of the whole half-year as well as of that all too short a morning. The Chairman had brought the second act of the play most successfully before them, and the Examiner had given them praise; and if it was true that they should 'get praise from the man who has been praised himself,' then the praise of a man who had been declared the best classical scholar of his year, and that at a very early age, must be that of a man whose praise was worth having. As regarded the infinitesimal reduction in their numbers, he felt that it was all right; the size of a school or its numbers was not the only measure of a school's success; and it was possible that a public school might lose a hundred pupils with advantage, if it gained in all that was noble and manly. The number of a school was not so much a consideration, as that it should be a fit place for gentlemen to send their sons. He reminded them of the great work done by Dean Colet, at St. Paul's; and that the great school with which he (the speaker) was connected as boy and master was never greater than when it numbered its 300 scholars under Dr. Arnold. Instancing a far nobler example, he reminded them that the greatest movement the world had ever seen was commenced by a Holy Being who had chosen only twelve men as his assistants; and if they had looked at

the work they had to do, the obstacles they had to overcome, and then had applied the numerical test, they would sadly have misjudged the relative conditions of the problem. It was pleasant to see present that day so many of the old collegians; and to know that whatever the changes that might take place in the College, their love for it remained unchanged. He was thankful for the good health which had been enjoyed during the half-year, and for the fact that during the last quarter they had not had one disturbing influence. Having expressed the pleasure with which he saw so many present that morning, the speaker remarked on the pleasant disappointment he had met with during his connection with the College. He stated that before he came here he was told that he was a bold man to come; that he would be subject to constant interference by the Council, interference by parents, insubordination on the part of the boys, and most centrifugal action on the part of the masters. He might say in plain language that those forebodings were absolutely false, or, in language more parliamentary, that they were entirely inexact. When he first came to the school, he felt that he was at the head of an institution on which the energy and the great ideas of his predecessor as to what a school might be, had stamped themselves; he was met by. the sympathy of the Council; he had received the greatest assistance from the masters; the boys had shown an extraordinary cheerfulness to accept what was required of them; and he found no trouble other than was inseparable from the responsibility of so large an institution. He had found everything very happy, and if the remaining years of his life that he might spend here should be like the first nine months, he should be happy indeed. The only changes he had made had been ones of discipline, and he thought they had been justified by success; and he hoped any little change he might make would have a fair trial, and be similarly justified if they only gave it time. He proceeded to remark that he was averse to the plan of giving whole holidays during the half-year, believing that they interfered with work and that they would be better added to the recognised holidays at Christmas and Midsummer. Though he did not believe in whole holidays he did believe in work, in games, in fresh air, and the play-ground, and he hoped that any change he might make to obtain these ends would be justified. He thought anyone occupying the position he did must notice the contrast between the energy of the work done in the school in a morning and the languor of the work done on a summer afternoon, and the line of Tennyson often floated through his mind

A land in which it seemed always afternoon;

and it seemed to him that that was very different from the energy of work they wanted. He went on to say that by a slight addition to the morning work, he thought they might arrange to have a third half-holiday in the week, and that it would be found better for play and much better for work. He concluded his address with the hope that the work and the tone of the school were good, and by again acknowledging the hearty support he had received from all.

The prizes were then delivered. The prize-takers were greeted with the usual cheering, that which welcomed the success of Strachan being especially marked.

[blocks in formation]

JUNIOR SCHOLARS.

Sladen, D. B. W. Gray, Evelyn. Jennings, E. A.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« EelmineJätka »