THE WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4812, 24 August 1876, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

On several occasions we have considered it - our.--- duty.—to—express dissatisfaction with Wellington College ; we are pleased to have an'opportunity to, say something in its favor. The result has been published - -of -the- Cambridge - local examination, and by,., : it p. we find that out of twentydwo candidates, - j unior and senior, boys- arid girls, eight have been successful. About a third, therefore, of those who competed have been found to come up to. the standard required by this examination, which is by no means an unsatisfactory proportion where, as we assmrie, thoroughness in a few rather than ...smattering in many subjects is the rule. It is to be noted that out of four ypung lady candidates only one passed and three failed. That so large a proportion as three-fourths of these should fail is calculated tq lead to the conclusion that the training given in many, if not most, establishments for the education of girls is deficient in thoroughness ; in other words, it. is smattering, not training; cramming, not education. We are sorry to say that our previous experience and observation go entirely to confirm this conclusion, and we have a strong feeling that if the aims of these ladies’ schools were less “accomplishments” than real disciplining of the character and education of the mind, the results would in all ways be more satisfactory and more conducive to happiness than now they are. We give our congratulations to Miss Wallis, who stands in such an honorable position ; but this must not make her too vain. Let her not forget that while hereafter she will certainly find the utility of such things as Religious Knowledge, English, and Geology, such commonplace things as darning socks, sewing on of buttons, and mending shirts are absolutely essential ingredients in the character of a good wife and mother. We hope she does not neglect such knowledge. We are pleased to see that among the subjects named as those in which the successful candidates obtained marks, those of English, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Modern Languages occur so often. Latin is named in nearly every case, and Greek, we believe, in only two. This we do not disapprove, for while Greek is in practical life or for any purpose of practical application nearly useless, Latin is of almost universal utility. At the same time that the success of these lads in coming up to this genuine test of educational competency is a matter in itself for congratulation, we do trust it will not be the means of putting foolish notions into their heads or those of their parents. We hope it will not be the cause of withdrawing them from practical life, in which a reallyj'good mental discipline in boyhood will help them to struggle successfully, and in which the chances of gaining by fair means a comfortable livelihood are favorable, into ambitious paths, where such chances are small indeed ; and to which the goal too commonly is destitution, and not uncommonly ruin and crime. We warn the parents again on this point, and we speak not without abundant facts before us to support the warning. Let us in all good faith commend to these parents the following remarks of one who was himself an exceptionally striking instance of the highest success which can attend upon the career of a young man of the highest abilities who has nothing to depend upoji .for his advancement but education, we mean' Lord Macaulay. When -Mr. Macaulay was about to go out to India as a member of the Indian Council he was worried to death with applications for situations for young people, and among others by his father, to get an appointment for a young person who is called P- . In a letter to his sister he says:—“But what strange folly is this which meets me. in every quarter; people wanting posts in the army, the navy, the public offices, and saying that if they cannot find posts they must starve ! How do all the rest of mankind live ? . . . Why cannot

P be apprenticed to some hatter or tailor? He may do well in such a business ; he will do detestably ill as a clerk in my office. He may come to make good coats: he will never, I am sure, write good despatches. There is nothing truer than Poor Richards’s saw : ‘ We are taxed twice as heavily by our pride as by the State.’ The curse of England is the obstinate determination of the middle classes to make their sons what they call gentlemen. So we are over-run by clergymen without livings : lawyers without briefs ; physicians without patients ; authors without readers : clerks soliciting employment, who might have thriven and been above the world as bakers, watchmakers, or innkeepers. The next time my father speaks to me about P , I will offer to subscribe twenty guineas towards making a pastry cook of him.”

We cordially eridorse the excellent sense and wisdom of these remarks of the great writer. The words about the curse of the middle classes put the whole matter in a nutshell. It is plain that this silly and wicked ambition is induced by the constantly seeing above them a privileged class into which they wish through their childrens to rise, and in which, in one case out of some ten thousand or so, they succeed. But there :is no such explanation or excuse here, and in the present state of our young society such ambitious attempts, when not backed by ample moans, are almost certain to issue in disappointment and suffering to the unlucky children who. are thus made the instruments of the aspiring folly of the parents. The professions are already three or four times overstocked, and the supply of them from Home and from Australia is not likely to fall off. Those persons who, either consciously pursuing selfish ends, ! or unconsciously and unselfishly intending to do a public good, seduce young people to labor in such unfruitful fields, will be alike guilty of cruelty and folly.