WELLINGTON COLLEGE AND GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 48, 23 December 1871, Page 7

WELLINGTON COLLEGE AND GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

The ceremony of distributing the prizes awarded at the annual examination of the Coliege pupils took place on Thursday afternoon in the Odd Fellows’ Hall. Outside of the building forty of the pupils, in the College Cadet uniform, were drawn up in line for the purpose of receiving his Excellency the Governor, Lieutenant Brandon being in command. In the interim between the time of assembling and the arrival of Sir George Bowen, the hall had been pretty well filled by the parents and. friends of the pupils. About three o’clock the carriage containing the vice-regal party approached, and immediately on its arrival at the entrance to the hall the Cadets received the order to present arms, which was done in very good time. His Excellency and Lady Bowen having stepped out from tho carriage were received in the portico by the Head Master, Mr Bowden, there being also present H. E. Tucker, Esq., his Honor the Superintendent, W. S. Hamilton, his Worship tho Mayor, J. C. Crawford, Esq, E. de B, Brandon, Esq, G. S. Cooper, Esq, E. Pearce, Esq, M.H R., and a number of other gentlemen. The party then took their places on the stage, which had been tastefully arranged and decorated for the occasion, Lady Bowen and lier children taking up positions a little to the left of his Excellency the Governor, the gentlemen present being seated on the right. Two tables were prepared on the stage, on one of which were ranged the books for distribution, the other, at which his Excellency took his seat, being decorated with vases of llowers. No provision whatever was made for the accommodation of representatives of the press. On the right of the hall were arranged the pupils of the institution, numbering between sixty and seventy, and in front of the stage had been arranged a set of steps by which the prize-winners, some of them exceedingly diminutivo in stature, were enabled to approach the table to receive their awards. Mr Bowden, having stepped forward to the front of the stage, read the following REPORT. To the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Wellington College and Grammar School. Sir, —We have the honor to present our Annual Report upon the condition and progress of the Wellington Grammar School for the year ending December 31st, 1871. The school opened at the commencement of the year with seventy-five (75) scholars, and lias, with very slight fluctuations, maintained that number throughout the year, there being at the present time seventy-six (76) names on the books of tho Institution. This shows a Blight decrease in the number of scholars from that of the preceding year, during a portion of which they amounted to nearly ninety (90). Our Tr easurer’s statement of accounts, which accompanies this report, will show you the financial position of the school for the year now closing. The course of instruction furnished to tho classes in attendance at the school has undergone no considerable change since our last report. The slight decrease in numbers has removed for the present that pressure for increased accommodation in tho class-rooms to which wo directed your attention upon that occasion, but the other deficiencies to which wo then particularly referred remain still unsupplied. With reference to one of these, viz., the absence of any enclosed play ground for the recreation of the scholars during the intervals of study, we are of opinion that ir. is of so serious a nature that other available sources apparently failing, or being still very distant, wo would readily concur with the Board of Trustees, if they should think fit, to capitalize the small endowment at present paid (o us in augmentation of our salaries derived from the school fees, for the purpose of providing a suitable play-ground for the boys, and a residence for one of the masters, who would thus become custodian of tho premises, a provision which we also coneider to be extremely requisite. Whilst, however, such an arrangement would provide means for removing one of the very serious existing obstacles to the thorough success of the school, we consider it to be our duty to repeat our testimony to the inadequacy of our endowment, amounting in all, we believe, to £l2O per annum, for the maintenance of such an educational institution as tlie capital city of the colony certainly requires. And although we have exerted ourselves to the best of our ability, in order to render its very slender resources as effective as possible, we remain painfully conscious that it is far from supplying all that m der other circumstances might properly be eopocted from it. It is nevertheless with much gratification that we now present to you tho accompanying list of boys to whom we have awarded prizes at the late examination, and at t.lis same time bear willing testimony to the praiseworthy diligence not only of the successful prize-takers, but of the pupils of the school in general. We regret, indeed, that the Board of Trustees have not yet been able to arrange for the appointment of a public examiner of the classes, but in the meantime we have endeavored, as on previous occasions, to supply this want by instituting ourselves a very thorough examination ot the whole school in every branch of instruction given. And although, in speaking of the results of our own labors, we must necessarily express ourselves with some diffidence, we may certainly venture to assert that the result ot this examination has satisfied us that the present pupils of th 3 school are certainly on the whole net behind that standard which has been reached by the pupils upon previous examinations. We have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servants, (Signed) T. A. Bowden. H. E. Tttceet. W. S. Hamilton.

Mr Bowden also read from a list the names of those to whom the prizes had been awarded. The following are the names of the pupils who had distinguished themselves : HISTORY. (Roman and English:) sth and fitli Form—lst prize, E. N. Bar* raud ; honorable mention, M. Harding 3rd and 4tli Forms —Ist prize, J. Riddle GEOGRAPHY. sth and 6th Forms—lst prize, J. H. Dean 3rd and 4th Forms—lst prize, J. B. Lethbridge Ist and 2nd Forms—lst prize, A. Bishop NATURAL SCIENCE. sth and 6th Forms —Ist prize, E. N. Bar raud ; honorable mention, C. Y7ebb and M. Harding 3rd and 4th Forms—lst prize, C. Tully ; honorable mention, J. Joseph READING AND RECITATION. 3rd and 4th Forms —Ist prize, W. D. Lyon Ist and 2nd Forms—lst prize, D. G. A, Cooper PENMANSHIP. sth and 6th Forms —Ist prize, R. B. Wallace ; honorable mention, E. Mills 3rd and 4th Forms —Ist prize, J. P. Leth* bridge Ist and 2nd Forms—lst prize, G. Poulton DRAAVING. Ist prize, E. Mills ; 2nd do, W. Holmes EXTRA PRIZES. Drawing Master’s Prize for best Outline Drawing—A. J. Palmer Geography of Now Zealand—lst prize, M. Harding ; honorable mention, W. Harding Drill—W. Hal so ENGLISH ESSAY. sth and 6th Forms—lst prize, A. Gray ; 2nd do, R. B. Wallace ; honorable mention, J. H, Dean ANCIENT LANGUAGES. (Greek.) 6th Form —Ist prize, A. Gray (Latin.) 6th Form—lst prize, C. Webb ; 2nd do A. Gray ; honorable mention, J. Bishop sth Form —Ist prize, J. H. Dean ; 2nd do, F. W. Palmer ; honorable mention, W. Halso 4th Form —Ist prize, C. Tully : 2nd do, R. B Roy ; honorable mention, J. A. Laing 3rd Form—lst prize, N. Perston 2nd Form —Ist prize, E. Hammerton ; 2nd do, W. M. Hamilton Ist Form—lst prize, A. 11. Hammerton MATHEMATICS. (Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry.) 6th Form—lst prize, C. Webb ; 2nd do, A. Gray ; honorable mention, J. H. Dean sth Form —Ist prize, F. W. Palmer; 2nd do, M. Harding 4th Form —Ist prize, F. Dransfield ; 2nd do, J. Riddle ; honorable mention, C. Tully 3rd Form —Ist prize, G. Humphries : 2nd do, R. B. Roy ; honorable mention, A. Herschberg 2nd Form—lst prize, W. Harrison ; 2nd do, A. Martin Ist Form —Ist prize, F. Hartmann MODERN LANGUAGES. (English and French.) 6ih Form— Ist prize, A. dray ; 2nd do, C. Webb ; honorable mention, R, B. Wallace sth Form—lst prize, J. H. Dean ; 2nd do, M. Harding ; honorable mention, W. Harding (English only.) 3rd and 4th Form—lst prize, C. Tully ; 2nd do, J. P. Lethbridge Ist and 2nd Forms—lst prize, G. M'Lean ; 2nd do, E. Hammerton At the conclusion of the reading of this list

, His Excellency the Govjbbnor said : Ladies and Gentlemen, —At t he request of the Trustees of the Wellington College and Grammar School, I have readily consented to preside on this interesting annual occasion. But you need not be afraid of my inflicting a lopg speech upon you, or of my detaining our young friends here from their well-deserved holiday. At the inauguration of this institution some tl'iee years ago, I addressed you at some length on the all-important subject of education. There is, however, one point to which I wish to tal<e this opportunity of directing public attention, especially as it is referred to in the report just read. I hold in my hand an extract from an admirable speech lately delivered by an eminent English statesman (Lord Granville) at the distribution of the prizes at one of the examinations now established throughout England by the ■Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, for the purpose of testing the comparative merits of the local schools, and of affording a general standard of efficiency by which they can be measured. .Lord Granville declared his conviction that one of the most useful results of the education movement in the mother country had been the establishment of the examinations conducted by Oxford and Cambridge, which have had a vast influence not only in stimulating education such as that given in local colleges and grammar schools ; but which have also produced the important effect of opening out in numerous instances the defects of that education. Lord Granville proceeded to say that it is now nearly forty years since Dr. Arnold, of Bugby, pointed out, in two powerful letters, the disadvantages under which schoolmasters labor when their reputations rest entirely upon the opinion of their immediate neighborhood, composed of persons who very often cannot form that sound judgment which practised examiners can form with regard to the merits of masters and of the schools oyer which they preside. The examinations which have now been conducted in all parts of England for several years past with signal success by delegates from Oxford and Cambridge, have to a large extent supplied a great public want. Finally, Lord Granville, like many of the leading public men at home, expressed his satisfaction that these local examinations have become really welcome,

and are thoroughly appreciated throughout the mother country. Now, what I desire to impress on the public here is that a similar system, conducted under the auspices of the newly-founded University of New Zealand, could not fail to prove most useful—alike fo parents, to masters, and to scholars. To parent?, because it would assist them in selecting the best schools for their children ; to masters, because it would enable them to carry out improved methods of instruction on a uniform plan ; and to scholars, because it would provide healthful emulation on an extended scale. I earnestly commend this subject to the attention of all concerned ; and I need scarcely say that in a free and self-governing country everyone is interested in the great Avork of education. (Cheers.) And now, my young friends, I will address a words more particularly to you. I am glad so see many of you in uniform. Drill is to tlie body what education is to the mind; and even a heathen poet said, 2,000 years ago, that the prayer of mankind should be to have “a sound mind in a sound body.” “ Orcindum est nt sit mens scam in cor pore sano .” Let ail of you recollect that your success in life must depend almost entirely on your OAvn exertions j and that under the expansive freedom of our colonial institutions even more surely than in the parent isles, Britain opens for ali her sons a cheering prospect of wealth and fame, if genius be-allied with industry, and above all with virtue. There is literally nothing within the range of the institutions of this country to which each of you may nob aspire. You will sometimes hear it said that success is dependent on mere good luck. Do not believe such folly. Our own Shakspeare has written—- “ There is a tide in the affairs of man, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; Omitted, all the voyage of our lives Is lost in shallows, and in miseries.”

But who are those who “ take tho tide of life at its flood ?” Why only those who have prepared themselves by industry and acquirements to take advantage of every opportunity. All who have had much experience of life will re echo the words’of Juvenal, when he declares that “ Fortune has no divinity if men have Prudence “ Nullum numem hethes si sit Frudentia: nos ie Nos fadmits, Fortuna , Beam, cceloque locamils” (Loud cheers.) Mi’Boavden then called the name of each boy in the order in which it appeared on the list, and the pupil stepped on to the stage to receive the prize from the hand of his Excellency, who accompanied the various awards with varied remarks sometimes of a humorous sometimes of a did a tic nature. Lady Bowen also appended a few encouraging words to many of the prizes, remarking when the principal prize taker, Master Gray, appeared on the stage, that she hoped her little son would be as successful in qualifying himself for so high a position when ha had reached the ago of Master Gray. Each of the boys was loudly cheered ns he came down from the stage laden with his hard Avon honors. The distribution having been concluded, Mr Fitzherbert said : Your Excellency, Ladies, and Gentlemen : I have been asked to address you on this occasion under exceedingly difficult circumstances. I know of no more difficult task than that of being called upon to deliver a sermon Avithout a text or of being suddenly expected to make a speech without having had any opportunity of preparation on the subject on which I am expected to address you. Although he did not desire to be at all misunderstood, the first subject which Avould occur on thus being called upon to make an objectless speed) would be to talk upon the great question of education, Well, I do not propose to inflict upon yen any such punishment as that, because the subject is a rather large, though I will not, say a wearying one ; at all events, it is a subject which has been expatiated upon all over the world. And yet I have something to say. It occurs to me to ask why we are here, any of us, upon this occasion ; and that leads me to speak of what are tho traditions of this institution. At the very mention of the word I imagine you will already have been as much surprised as one were to talk of the traditions of an infant of two or three years old, for I believe the college lias an existence of only two or three years. Bui, there has been a kind of proprietary existence which, perhaps, we are too apt to forget in all things, and whilst we have been taught to think lightly of the traditions of men, yet, we are wrongly so taught, as I take it, that these traditions affect other than our mundane affairs. Noav, I conceive that one of the most common mistakes is nob to give sufficient weight fo our traditions ; and if that be so generally it is particularly so in relation to public schools. I believe that if there is one thing Avhieli has kept up the public schools of Great Britain—which, I may say, have more than any other institutions made Great Britain what she is to-day—if there is any one thing more than another that has kept those great, those magnificent institutions of the old country up to the mark, it has been the careful, I may say the religious preservation of the traditions within those schools. Let anyone go to any of those great public schools and look at the careful, the pious, manner in which their succeeding generations have treasured up the traditions of their predecessors. Go to Eton, to Harrow, or to Rugby, and you Avill see the forms there marked, chiselled, and carved by occupants of generations back, and which are now looked at and cherished with such care that if any thoughtless youth admitted to those institutions were to deface any of those memorials he would be considered as one who had committed a very great crime against the institution. I say that there was, referring to the question of traditions, a prior tradition to that of your existence some three years ago, and, sir, that is connected with the name of your

predecessor, Sir George Grey, who made an endowment for this institution, without Avhich it could not have existed and would not have been in existence to-day. Although that assistance has been so meagre and so moderate as has been referred to to-day, nevertheless, this is an* occasion on which we should not forget the humble, the unostentatious Avork which has been the means of laying the foundation stone of this institution. There is another reason why we should not, on an occasion like this, forget our traditions. In all colonics, and I think this colony is no exception, the common, I will not say the vulgar, belief is that the whole end of education is to be taught adroitly and deftly by the rigiit use of the three R’s, and that when any youth attained any degree of proficiency in these that he has accomplished all the ends of human nature. But when I think of the portion ol the colony to which this institution belongs I am happy to say that, koAvever humble our effort is, Ave have gone beyond that common and vulgar and unfortunate belief, and that avo are here attempting, although in a humble manner, to prove that there is something more to be done than merely .to. teach reading, writing, and arithmetic in order to make us sharper than our neighbors. Theso are simply the elements of education, and no more constitute education than a spade in the hands of an agriculturist constitutes agriculture. It is simply the implement, and tho pupil must devote himself to far higher pursuits, and emphatically I do say to you young gentlemen who are members of and belong to this institution that I am unable to say that it has attained the position which those under whose guidance it is would desire for it • but nevertheless it is an attempt made in the right direction, and to you is committed, not merely to you individun young gentlemen here, but to you as repre»l sentatives of a elass who throughout this colony arc endeavoring to aim at a higher end. than that of being satisfied with the mere ability to cipher and write and read their native language—l say to you and those in other towns in the colony who are pursuing a c. ursc of study similar to your own is confided the great future of New Zealand, for it is utterly, impossible to believe that any people are thriving and prospering except the higher branches ot education are cultivated, and it is utterly useless to afford opportunities for doing so if they are not properly availed of by the youth of the country. Mr Bowden has spoken of the great want of a playground.. That is indeed a great want. Ail institution of the kind can hardly bo called periect that is not supplied witli such an appendage, and I am happy to inform you, sir, that such a want will be supplied gratis by the provincial authorities. I do hope further that means may be so arranged that the institution may be adopted, as it were, by tho local authorities, and that they may recognise that whatever they may do fov what is merely an elementary education they will fall far short of their duties to the public if they do not vote such a proportion as their means will allow to endow an institution which has many hopeful points about it. I can only say that my efforts will be devoted to that end, and I hope not Avithout success. (Loud applause.) Mr Boavden : It is now my pleasing duty fo make an announcement to my young friends which I am sure they will hear with satisfaction. I was on the point of announcing to them that tho Christmas vacation would be extended to five weeks from Monday next, but your Excellency has been kind enough to request me to prolong it. I now, therefore, announce that the holidays will extend from next Tuesday to that day five weeks. I must express my thanks to you, sir, and to his Honor tho Superintendent for your kind attendance here and for tho valuable remarks which have fallen from you. I can speak with sure and certain knowledge that the remarks which your Excellency made at the time the school was opened have not failed to bring forth fruit, and I believe the boys will do their best to put into practice the precepts which they have had laid before them. Mr J. C. Crawford : I haye now tho honor to move a vote of thanks to his Excellency for his kindness in presiding on this occasion. This is the second occasion on which we have had the honor of having the ceremony performed by his Excellency, and I think the scholars should remember that it is no small honor to have the duty performed by so distinguished a scholar in classics as is his Excellency. You have also the pleasure on this occasion of having had an extremely interesting speech addressed to you by another scholar in classics—his Honor the Superintendent ; and it is rather curious that at this remote’ part of the world we should be addressed by two men of so distinguished a character. I intended on this occasion, having the Superintendent on my left hand, and got him fairly face to face with the ladies and gentlemen present at this meeting, to have alluded to the state of the endowment of this College and Grammar School. It appears to me that the Wellington educational institution ought at least to be based on -as high a footing as that of any other in the colony. It should be quite as high in standing a 3 those of Dunedin, Christchurch, or Nelson, but unfortunately the endowments in this province are quite insufficient for the purpose. The explanation why the endowments are insufficient is perfectly easy. That for the Wellington College was the first established under the New Zealand Company, and there was a want of knowledge in such matters; consequently the endowments were not of much service. Those who followed had the advantage of seeing this error, and consequently havo all made better progress. An endowment of £l2O, with a lawsuit going on, is totally insufficient to place the Grammar School in a proper position, and therefore I was only too glad to hear the Superintendent mention the matter, and I welcomed the

statement that ho. ‘™ B c aU inmrovo the condition of affaiis. I now can upon you to return a vote of thanks to Ins Excellency. (Applause.) His Excellency, in reply, said : Ladies and Gentlemen In reply to the flattering remarks of Mr Crawford, I will only say that it has given me great pleasure to he present on this interesting occasion as President, and also to listen to the eloquent speech of his Honoi the Superintendent. I would only make one more remark, namely, that it gives me great pleasure to see so many parents of pupils piesent to-day. Depend upon it the best schools and the best teachers can do little more than supplement the education imparted by lathers and mothers, so many of whom I am glad to sec present, although, from the extremely youthful appearance of many of the ladies present, I presume many of the ladies are sisters of the pupils. (Loud applause). This concluded the whole of the ceremony, and the assemblage dispersed.