TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10986, 8 June 1901, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

When the Duke received ,;- The Sydney the degree which made Undergraduate, him an LL.D. of M** bourne University, .t-* _ undergraduates, as we have heard, fiH« up the pauses in .the urooeedmgs", after t_e „- manner of their kind, with light . hearted remarks in which reytaam'for constituted authority had ' no*-' ■place. They did, however, aOo-sr - . . the various speakers to get through-t-or tasks in peace, and on the whole they he-, -< hayed with admirable forbearance.-- '& Sydney the reverse seems to have been tJi£ ; case. The undergraduates there acted so AS . to fully justify ths statement by tine "pailf Telegraph" that the commemoration is "no*", a show for the public; "it is a Univerajjy . demonstration, in which the undergraduate fill almost the whole of the horiwn,. a ; - small chink being left for the Chancellor ..: and the Professors." On this occasion, too, ;-. the male undergraduate fulfilled his chief ' aim, which, according to the same pag**. J-" is "to deliver himself constantly of a ran* cous noise, in order that he may impr*"** . \ the world with his courtly bearing," great -:- dignity, and vast importance in the system. | of socieby." With this object he sang many songs, all of a more or tess personalnature, and none very remarkable for wi- . This is the undergraduate's recipe for * -- Bachelor of Arts: — _ . "Dissolve a quadratic, a style Socratic, - La Fontaine or old _Esop; Pour in _ bottle ci chilled Aristotle,, ,- . And favour >vith essence of 'shop ;, ; Colour with Chaucer, and cool in a saucer, ; Skim all ideas away; - „ Inflate the mass with loads of gas, • ;= And greet my Lord 8.A." The song which dealt with the Chancettof - ■ - seems to show that there is some truth nv. _ the rumour that he and the students do not- ■ love each other. It parodi-- one of tw» , . Lord Chancellor's songs in ''lolanfche,' ana- ;; began as follows: — ■ "',-_>• "The Chancellor's our rightful Lord, By every 'Varsity worm adored. . J. -rhe Flunkey ths Freshman,- and t__e_oo_, - icknowledge his irresponsible rule. ~_ The Duke was referred to in a feeble effortwhich consisted mainly of refrain, the stud refrain being — . "The Jook-'he Jook—the Jook is coming . to-day.** ' -a. The Admiral was appropriately greeted *""■¥» - •-A Life on the Ocean Wave," and oi» ny . dividual (bailed the arrival of the Duke a ~.._ the red robe of 4 Oxford with a music-hall melody*- *Jj£_i*-. light! Danger!" but the doggerel »*;-,;.- ------drowned in a lusty chorus of "Go*S*ve & _ *

ipak.* The unancauor ana wie registrar | 111 m th__ respective says in a clamour IKjcl- pn**-rt** "V < *" w * fr**""- th*™* but &MgMa£ti T * n Bll * nc *' we *** toW » WUpon | 0 - ***** the no , norar 3' de g re « of wSLtc- o* *-*■"" WM colrf< * Te * 1 * u P f>n tbe j jfjS-uke. xhia was a brief and decidedly un- ] i__Tti_tf«"* l « renlon . v - " The . Chancellor 'Is tbe name of the Senate and on my ; .\y*atho«ty as Chancellor. I admit you to the j <-* Ll -*-- ) " "* t *'" s University.' The replied: 'Oh ! thanks, very much! extremely kind'; to which tlie , C-'.jLid doctor rejoined, 'Don't name it, your f; ;t f^iujeji; don't name it; no trouble nt all, ■ ._-* a pleasure.' " From time to time the __*_its enquired in unison and with much ; :l'"j, "What about John See's knight-{_\jj-T(MkI there were repeated and im.'T «ries of "Speech, George!" But ■ ■'" was nofc dispose*! to make sport ' = ! -*_- th* y OUD * 1 ' barbarians, though he ap- *° en^y tiie "' **" ntic *-' " Ifc was aiS '.''.-ijrtiiafc he did," remarks our authority, '. ; %r to th* crecl " t of ie intie P jn<3ence oJf Sydney be it said, the Ht-udents were ■' trorse" behaved than uauat." i

.. '•"•• There is a danger that before i •DwajW lon « a "beggarly array of pluSc empty benches"' will confront •oAooJfc - tlie masters at several of the .'•'• famous public schools of Lon- . ,'iM, Paul's, Dulwich College, UniverjftrCbHeg* 6 »> v lesser de S ree Merchant frfta-*'* sevoral others, which in the sent inaiiy good scholars to the ' «&*&**> anti w ' iK>ad lists " of " old b,?ys " tatted* many who luive made themselves have cause to lament a falling-off in « "ittM&sft*. Town BC hools are at a disMmt, and parents noAvadays want their «fci to go to schools in the country, where ■ji »»y he supposed, there are more advan■■_agiiot the pursuit of athletics and out- ; 2Sr game*. To some extent, too, it is befcfed that the preponderance of classical ftfecation is one of the factors producing .. +to present condition of affairs. There is a ' great.decrease in) the value attached to •greek 1 nowadays, and some schools, St. Paul* among them, are teaching no mora than is absolutely necessary for those icbolars who Avish to pass into the univer- .' litles. The headmaster of Charterhouse, an fortHotion which haa profited inunensely by it* removal into the country some thirty yean ago, remarked, Avhen spoken to on the tubject, that it seemed to him v lamentable thing to bring up a boy without. Greek. "But tbe modern tendency," he said, "is to Ueaih subjects, which mean money, and there is hut little money*t- be made out of a knowledge of Greek. • Of course, if one becomes a distinguished Greek scholar he can command attention all over Europe, but this can only be for the few. Th© knowledge and study of Greek give great intellectual pleasure, but not the means of making a fortune. That is why the study of Greek is dwindling." Greek, as the headmaster of St Paul's pointed put, is already dead in Holland, and is dying out in France, Belgium, and Germany. Another change in modern education is the decline of mathematics. In Cambridge in 1890, 107 men passed the mathematical tripos, while last year only sixty-three passed. The teason, according to one headmaster, is to be found Ei the fact that the universities are giving honours in so many extra subjects nowadays, which are frequently taken in preference to mathematics. Another agreed wfitb thisi view, and commented on the seriousness of the position, "if we arc-to lave no mathematicians k_ the future." This i» probably unduly gloomy. There will • always, lot us hope, be men whose tastes and mental powers lead them to the study of mathematics. But it is undoubted .that ' .the tendency nowadays is for a more modern and practical system of instruction than has been tlie rule in some of the great public schools of the Old Country. The ; lane thing is noticeable in these colonies, "... and it would'be strange if the English * r tehools, where classics and mathematics have I -'_:'-.tainted for so much, did not experience the V change in ideas to which modern trade com- * petition has given rise./

A young Chinese noble- „'/ Right of the man, who has a relation

r'" '. r ' Empress attached to the Eanpress i' ! , Dowager. Dowager's retinue, ' has . -written to an American .' missionary some details previously unknown -' < about the flight from Pekin last year. For ,'vf tonM time before the actual exodus there ''~-, hod been rumours afloat, and foreigners '•' tttpposed Hto have already taken place., - Jf-the Allies had known that the Court ',- ' waa still within the Forbidden City Avhen . f*M*. was being bombarded it would havbwn <p»ay to prevent any escape, and so ♦o «r«d all tho muddle and confusion

CMMff toy the impossibility ot direct com-"-""TOWfction with the ruling power. The Empress had made more than one attempt at %ht before, but even after Tien-tsin ▼afc-.t_fc«n the Ministers opposed her, and *WtWtti inopo effectual hindrance there be found on one occasion no horees and carts. Hie WW OMOe when the Rajputs and Sikhs -were «o*«-ag v tbeijeity, and the south gate was • "J*®* '.*»» Empress Dowager, the Em- ?•*«* 4n_| Heir-Apparent were »*w._palace, weeping, offering incense and $*%*** to' Heaven when Kang entered "Jry* to escape. The Emperor *-?****<» go himself to tlie Legations and Wlri-lmg exile, in the train of the Dowager. 2j*,l*cly, wllo bad for some time dis- -?%_ il * mlf by wearin S tbe common dress *J*** -^P l 6' wifch ber hair twisted in a .. W* knot, now rode out in Duke Lan _ //. imvatecart. from which the trappings were ,««no*mi. She wa s followed by the Em.PMor, Empress, and some thirty of the '*■?¥ nf V 9' nobl * s ' * D<i Ministers, in- , .dodmg Tuan Chuang. Lan, and Kang I. ? ; ill v» c T *"** th *y obt^ '; 2 ? d - >dai^u -'«, and then con- ._- by gradual stages, the goal on which the ; T .Dowagers heart was set being Hsi-stn-fu the ancient capital. Mucli of the country fy;-J*r traversed bad been devastated by re- *& J£ ■ Dd "o and they often had gnat .v>,*fflcn_ty in getting food and supplies. At --'"-_? Ume the JRoyaJ pftrty ' made tbeir meal i. -«_T a few grains of corn, while their retinue .:%Jj» anngry; at another time they had * fevr dmps af coup " T - M? *" had l€ft --^S-f 0 Wlth ODly BUmmer dothing, and $.■** *"«*ther turning cold they had to halt at **** "Pure-True" Temple of to make winter clothe*. One dismagistrate received promotion to the $■_£!_ ° f Tao " fcai ' Tritlv "*■- of the *£*___■ ° rder " f ° r ""--Pt oooß entertain"SJwJ another, less fortunate, had just had BtopS markets * ooted when he °f thn arrival of .the party, so he ||*fifep_y shuffled off his mortal coiL by takP O -** 01 " 1 * <""*<* thus saving himself any trouble. /"inf ■ - -