At most Public Schools a full day’s work is about six and a half or seven hours in school, with an hour or an hour and a half for preparation. At some schools, Harrow and Rugby, for example, all the boys are provided with studies, but at the majority of schools these are reserved for the privileged few. At Eton it has been the custom to divide the day’s work up into a variety of short periods, in order that boys may not be compelled to sit at their books for too long a time. This enables boys, for example, to play football in the morning, which is quite a common practice at some of the schools in Scotland, whilst at Winchester and Clifton football is played in the morning on whole school days; but the majority of schools prefer to break the back of the work before dinner. Wednesdays and Saturdays are usually half holidays, though Tuesday and Thursday are “half remedies” at Winchester, whilst Thursday is frequently a whole holiday at Harrow. At a few schools, red-letter Saints’ Days are observed as whole holidays. Sunday at the Public School is not a day of rest. Perhaps with the idea that the only way to keep boys out of mischief is to keep them employed, they do not have a great deal of time to themselves. It is no uncommon thing for boys to have Chapel three and, occasionally, four times on the Sunday, with a scripture lesson in the course of the day, whilst at some schools, where walks are permitted, the boys have frequently to return for “call-over” in the middle of the afternoon. The late headmaster of one of our greatest Public Schools stated that, although he had received many letters referring to the boys’ work and games, he had never had any with reference to religious training. This may have been due to indifference on the part of the parents, but more probably to the certain knowledge that there was no danger of this side of the boy’s education being neglected. Nearly every big school has its chapel. Rugby Chapel has been immortalised by Matthew Arnold, whilst many persons are familiar with the Chapel at Eton. Winchester Chapel, once a gem of Gothic architecture, has been deprived of almost every claim to beauty by the hand of the restorer. In the choir are the eighteen old “Miserere” seats, so contrived that, if the occupant went to sleep, they tilted over and deposited him on the ground. At Charterhouse the Chapel is built of white stone, like the rest of the school. The seats face north and south, and the choir seats are in the centre of the building, which is peculiar. Clifton College is very proud of the reredos in its chapel, which is a very fine mosaic. The first of the “School Laws” at Winchester refers to behaviour in Chapel:—
Deus colitor.—Worship God.
Preces cum pio animi affectu peraguntor.—Say your prayers in a pious frame of mind.
Oculi ne vagantor.—Let not your eyes wander about.
Silentium esto.—Keep silence.
Nihil profanum legitor.—Read nothing profane.
We thus see that the moral training of the boy is the first consideration at the Public School. Carlyle would have us believe that work is the only guarantee of happiness for a man, but for a boy it is different. He must have so many hours enjoyment every day to keep his mind and body in a healthy condition; and so it is that every Public School encourages and fosters those games and pastimes which take such a prominent place in our national life, and which contribute so enormously to the physique of our boys. Space, forbids anything but a passing mention of these games and customs, which play such an important part in the life of the English school-boy. Suffice it to notice that with the increased interest which has been taken in athletics and in the physical development of the boys, more attention has been bestowed upon their feeding and general health, and thus one of the greatest reproaches has been removed from the Public Schools. Nevertheless, the “tuck-shop” still figures large at most big schools, and the average boy prefers the dainties there supplied, however unwholesome, to the simple but wholesome food with which he is now provided. It is, however, worthy of notice that the “tuck-shop” has advanced with the times. At Harrow, hot sausages and boiled eggs are supplied, whilst at Haileybury loaves of bread, with the most delicious fresh butter, were obtainable. Except from the smaller boys, there is less demand for sweets and confections than there used to be. The old idea of large dormitories, with twenty or thirty boys in them, though it has much to recommend it from a disciplinary point of view, has generally given way to smaller rooms with three or four beds in them. Thus if any epidemic arises there is less fear of infection. At Harrow the boys sleep in their studies, the beds and bedsteads being folded back into a kind of cupboard during the day. At some schools boys are allowed to “brew” in their studies, which therefore may be differently regarded as workroom, bedroom, or kitchen, according to the hour of the day or the occupation of the owner.
In conclusion, it may be said that the average parent does not send his or her boy to school simply and solely to learn his books, but to make a man of him. It is this side of Public School education which calls forth our greatest admiration. The constant companionship of other boys, the hardening effect of games and sports, the observance of custom and the discipline of the school, these and other things help to rub the corners off a boy, to “lick him into shape,” and—if he has anything in him—to make a Briton of him. The Public Schools have justified their system of education in the past by the men whom they have educated and sent out into the world; and although they are, for the most part, very conservative bodies, they are doubtless fully alive to the needs of the moment, and will continue to perform their indispensable service to society by producing a class of men of which any nation might well be proud, with possibly, in the future, a little more practical knowledge than the majority of Public School boys have hitherto possessed.
Magister.