It will be seen that nothing more has been seriously attempted as yet than to secure boys from failure in the ordinary examinations. If boys are to be prepared at Eton for any higher competition, such as that at Woolwich, a very different course will obviously be necessary, and probably a system of “bifurcation” will be found indispensable.
I am not prepared to say that this may not be introduced with advantage at Eton; but the impending changes in the governing body at Eton, and the anticipated changes with regard to army examinations, make it difficult to commence any work of reconstruction at the present moment.
The most successful institutions in preparing candidates either for Sandhurst or Woolwich are the Cheltenham and Wellington Colleges—each having a Modern Department, in which Latin and Greek yield their supremacy to modern science and living languages.
The Modern Department in Cheltenham College was established in 1843 as a Military School, and is claimed to be such at this time. The studies of subjects consist of mathematics, drawing of all kinds, physical science, two modern languages (French and German), English, surveying, and fortification, both field and permanent. The principal (Rev. T. A. Southend), in his evidence before the Military Education Commission in 1869, states that his pupils, at the age of eighteen, went through the whole Addiscombe course, and all that was done at Woolwich, and a good deal of what was done at Chatham. The whole of his class, in 1868, went up for the entrance examination at Sandhurst, and passed. From twelve to fifteen go to Woolwich every year, and in 1869, forty out of one hundred and twenty in the Academy were prepared at Cheltenham. The special military instruction is based on a course of Latin and Greek.
Out of three hundred and twelve students in Wellington College, ninety-six boys are in the Modern Side, entering at the age of twelve and thirteen, and remaining till seventeen or eighteen. But of the ninety-six, forty are preparing for the Engineers or Artillery, and twenty for the Line. The subjects taught in the military division are the same as at Cheltenham, except fortification; and the head-master (Rev. Dr. Benson) claims, in his evidence before the Commission, that his graduates are as well trained in the same subject as the pupils of Sandhurst or Woolwich. He advises the establishment of exhibitions in the Military School, open to competition to the pupils of all the public schools, and regards the modern side as an essential feature in all public schools.
Rugby School was the earliest of the great Public Schools of England to make Physical Science a regular part of its curriculum, and to give any considerable prominence to modern languages and history; but its governing authorities have resisted all efforts to establish a distinct Modern Side.
The Rev. Dr. Temple, head-master of Rugby School (now Bishop of Exeter), in his evidence before the Commission, remarked that the general education of boys entering Sandhurst should be the same as that given to other boys of the same age, destined for any other profession than that of arms. His opinion was adverse to having a modern department, in which the ancient classics held a subordinate place, in a school in which the classics held the first, and over which the head-master presided. The modern studies should have an independent scope, and their own master, who will by his character and personal attention fix the standard of attainment. The great public schools should hold on to their present aim and methods, introducing other studies to perfect their mental discipline and results. No side sections or departments in any existing school can do the work of scientific school culture so thoroughly as an independent school, in which the natural sciences and modern languages are taught by the main staff of professors. All teachers, in any school, civil or military, should be specially appointed for their educational qualities.
In Marlborough College, a modern department exists, which was established to prepare boys for definite examinations in which they would not succeed if they competed direct from the classical side of the College, and at the same time to solve the problem of giving a good school education on a basis of instruction in which the dead languages hold a subordinate place. Boys enter the Modern School after they have reached the fourth form in the classical department, so that Latin and Greek constitute a substantial part of their attainments and discipline. The success of the graduates of this institution in competing for admission into the military or civil service of the government, or in any of the walks of active or professional life, shows conclusively that the modern curriculum with its studies properly adjusted, and a well trained staff, under an able head-master, is quite equal to the classical, not only in practical utility, but in comprehensive and liberal discipline.