EX-HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' CLUB.

Evening Star, Issue 7281, 4 August 1887, Page 2

EX-HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' CLUB.

; , INAUGURAL.DINNER, The Inaugural dinner of the Otago Boys’ High School Old Boys’ Olub was held in Wain’s Hotel last evening, and was attended by about ninety gentlemen, a large proportion of whom were ex-High School pupils and members of the newly-formed Club. Dr Belcher, the rector of the school and president of the Club, occupied the chair, and was supported on the right by Mr Justice Williams and Bishop Nevill, and on the left by the Bev. Dr Stuart (chairman of the Board of Governors) and Mr E. E. Russell. Among the guests we also noticed the Mayor of Dunedin, Mr G. L. Dcnniston (president of the Chamber of Commerce), Dr Brown (chairman of the" Education Board), Messrs George Bell, B, B. N. Twopeny, and S. N. Brown; and among the old school boys Messrs J. M. Fraser, Wilkie, 0. Macandrew, Rev. Bruce Todd (Strath Taieri), R. A. Park, Finch, S. Solomon, D. M. Stuart, jun„ J. R. Sinclair, C. 0. Kettle. T. W. Hislop (Oamaru), Adams, H. H. Webb, Beal, T. Muir, and others. After the excellent spread provided by host Wain had been done full justice to, The Chairman said that before proceeding with the toasts, ho would read portions _of apologies that had been received, and mention the names of gentlemen who had sent apologies. Three months ago, when it was in contemplation to have the dinner in connection with the Club, the Minister of Education (Sir B. Stout), who had been a warm and consistent friend of the school, had promised to do his beat to be present, and had since sent a telegram stating that if he oould got to Dunedin before the 3rd of August he would be only too well pleased to accept the Club’s kind invitation. They might feel satisfied, therefore, that though Sir' Robert Stout was not actually present with them, he was present in spirit, and he (the president) was glad to think that under any circumstances they could always secure his intelligent and influential co-operation.—(Hear.) Mr Donald Reid, an “ old boy,” whom ho hoped they would soon bo able to speak of again as a member of the House of Representatives, telegraphed to say that he was prevented by all important meeting from attending. Mr Scobie Mackenzie also sent an apology, and an eminent “ old hoy,” Mr Alfred Dillon Bell—(applause)—wrote asking him to apologise to his old schoolfellows and their successors for his unavoidable absence. Apologies had also been received from Mr Vincent Pyke, jun., Mr Evans, Mr Clark, and Mr Burns.

After the toast of “The Queen and Royal Family ” had been loyally received, His Honor Mr Justice Williams, who was received with loud oheers, said: Dr Belcher and gentlemen—The toast which I have to propose is that of “The Governor and the General Assembly of New Zealand.” You will sec that the toast, like a well-constituted sermon, divides itself naturally into two heads. So far as the Governor is concerned, I am sure you will all join .with me cordially in drinking the health of Sir William Jervois, our present Governor. Sir William Jervois is the model of what a consti- , tutional Governor should be; he holds the scales with equal firmness between both parties. Not only, however, is Sir William Jervois a capable Governor, but he has also earned a Well-deserved popularity as a man. That popularity is based upon this, that everyone who comes in contact with him feels that the courtesy which ho extends to all alike is not the mere veneer of politeness, but is the outcome of a good and kind heart.—(Applause.) As to the toast of “ The General Assembly ” I confess I am in some difficulty. The Upper House, it is true, is always with us (laughter); the Lower House, however—the more important branch of the Legislature is practically non-existent. The old Parliament is dead ;'the country is in the birth throes of a new one; and I can only say this, that if the vigor of the infant has ahy relation to the fuss of parturition it will be a very vigorous infant.—(Loud laughter and applause.) Of course you are perfectly aware that I take no part in politics, but I read carefully the leading articles of the papers, and although sometimes the figures are of a very puzzling nature—(laughter)—from what I can gather we are within measurable distance of the day when “ the three-hoop pots shall have ten hoops,” and when we may effect other reforms of a like nature. Perhaps, however, I am wrong in that, and seeing, that these are times of retrenchment, the coming reforms Will bo that the ten-hoop pot shall only have three hoop?.—(Laughter and applause.) Gentlemen, after dinner it is .well enough to laugh—it is almost a moral duty .to aid one’s digestion by laughing, if possible; but I trust that neither you nor I shall for one moment sneer at any well-meant efforts of reform. (Applause.) Joking apart, the toast of “ The General Assembly” is one which seems to_ me to be specially appropriate for a gathering of this kind; it is to the High School and to institutions of a similar nature that New Zealand must for the future look for legislators. More and more native-born and native-bred men will Cottle to the front, and I trust that nativeborn and nativo-hred men of education and culture will always be among the leaders of the people here. In the Old Country the masses of Great Britain are perfectly ready and willing to follow Gladstone, and the miners of Northumberland are perfectly ready to take for their leader John Morley; and I sec no reason at all why the masses of New Zealand should not be perfectly willing to take for their leaders men of culture and education, if men of culture and education will have the courage to come forward. —(Applause.) You, gentlemen, are the advance guard of young New Zealand—of a power which is rapidly coining to the front in politics, which is every day gaining a greater influence in current politics, and which will have the future all to itself. Men of my generation will in the course of time pass away, and the sceptre of government will altogether pass to the native-born New Zealanders. _ Let us hope that the legislators of the future will perpetuate the best traditions of the Legislature of the past. I say without the slightest reserve that New Zealand hitherto has great reason to be proud of its legislators.—(Hear, hear.) The New Zealand Legislature has done exceedingly good work in the past, and anyone who has visited Wellington during the session of General Assembly will bear me out in this, that it would be impossible to find an Assembly in any part of the world where debates are conducted with more propriety, and where there is more respect paid to the decisions of the chair. It often strikes me that Mr Speaker Peel would be exceedingly glad now and then to change places with Mr Speaker O’Rorke. I do not think you could find in any part of the world a Legislature where, taken as a whole, there was less of personal self-interest. The bulk of the members are, I am convinced, animated with a thoroughly honest intention to forward the best interests of the Colony. Some of the members indeed, I believe, would be an ornament to any Legislature. No doubt the Legislature of New Zealand has made mistakes; All mortal men must make mistakes. But it seems to me that the errors and mistakes made by the Legisla-, ture of Now Zealand are not so much the fault of the persona who compose the Legislature as of the circumstances in which they are placed. The great complaint one of the foremost complaints—of the action of the Legislature of the past has been that they have boon too extravagant. Well, sir, if you were to : have a • legislature of angels returned by constituencies who hungered for _ railways, who panted for roads, and who thirsted for water-races ; if you had an uncle in Lombard street always ready with the cash, and if members and Ministers were alike animated by the laws of Nature, the first of which is selfpreservation, you could hardly have anything else butoxtravagance.—(Applauseand laughter.) I am sorry that from the circumstances of the case I am unable to couple the portion of the toast which relates to the Governor with the name of any old boy.—(Laughter.) It may be, that in the remote future we may have such a grave constitutional change that there may be elected Governors. I say nothing about that; but I only hope, if ever it: is the case, that at some future High School dinner we may be able to have a High School boy who will answer to the toast.—(Applause.) So far as the Upper House of the Legislature is concerned, 1 am sorry also that I cannot call upon an old boy to respond to that toast. There are certain qualifications to tlie Upper House, and I under-, stand one is a sufficient accumulation of shekels, the second a certain degree of venerable age, and the third a > certain measure of wisdom. These elements, combined in a manner only known to experts in political chemistry, are requisite, as I understand, to constitute a member of the Upper House.—(Aiplause.) For some reason or other no old High School boy has been blessed with this happy combination. So far, however, as the more popular branch of the Legislature is concerned, I am very glad to say we have at least one ox-Higb School boy present who has been a member of the lower Branch of the Legislature, and I have no doubt will be so in the future. I hope at every succeeding High School dinner—and I have no doubt it will be the oase-that at every succeeding High School dinner there will be more and more old HighSdhool boys members of the Lower House. I beg to couple with the toast the name of Ur Hislop, who lately represented the flourishing Borough of Oamaru.— (Laughter and applause.) Mr Hislop said he was very much obliged to Mr Justice Williams for the very fine terms iu which he had referred to the old High School boys, and he was particularly thankful for his kindly reference to the popular branch of the Legislature. It was something new for a perr son of authority, and a person of culture, to propose a toast of this sort without some reservation in his mind—a reservation which was hinted at when proposing the toast. (Laughter.) It might be that the members of the Legislature in New Zealand were not so capable** the members of J n the great countries of the Old World, or in America, but ho thought all were prompted with a desire to do the best they could for the interests of this young Colony, and although the members might be mistaken as to the methods which ought to bo employed, and although those methods might be wrong, he ventured to say that the motives could not be called into question in the slightest degree. Whatever might be heard to the contrary, he believed, personally, that the members of the House were a pure set of men.—(Cheers). He was glad:t6,hbar ’ Mr Justice Williams give expression to J the' hfcinioa that the fhtUra government of this country would get -more and

more into the hands of young New Zealanders. Thevc were obstacles in the way of, such a desirable object; but he believed that the time would soon arrive when, if we had not a Parliament of native-born members, .it would at all events be constituted to a large extent of New Zealand educated youths. He again to express his thanks for the cordial reception given to the toast. —(Cheers.) Pianoforte solo; Mr S. Solomon.

Mr Hislop proposed the toast of The School.” In doing so he expressed regret that Mr A, D. Bell was not present to take charge of this toast, because he felt that he could not be a good substitute for that gentleman, whose intellectual qualities were of a very high order indeed, and whose power of expression was beyond anything he (Mr Hislop) could hope to attain. The person who proposed the toast ought to be ope who had occupied a prominent position both in the school and in after life, and he (the speaker) did not know that he could claim any excellence in either respect, Until a little time ago he had considered himself a fairly decent fellow; but he had lately become a candidate for election, and had had it proved to his complete satisfaction that if he had never been guilty of any crime which could be put on the calendar it was because ho had never had an opportunity or occasion to commit it.—(Laughter and applause.) He was one of the first boys who attended the school, and had a boy’s recollection of what took place before the school was opened. Like everything that was of any use in the world, the school, when it was brought into existence, had to undergo the usual amount of contention and disagreeable discussion which seemed to accompany the birth of any institution. Ho could scarcely believe that it was now twenty-four years since the school was first opened. It seemed but the other day since sixty-three or sixty-four scholars attended on the first day, when they had the venerable form of the late Df Burns and the late John Hyde Harris amongst them, and the proceedings of the school were opened by those two gentlemen. The school of coarse had had its ups and downs, and the question had been continually put by some, and properly, as to whether the outcome of the school justified its existence. The founders of the school, taking a wise view of things, did not hesitate to come to the opinion that the school was a necessity in any community. They had the -examples of the greatest men in history to go by. If they carried their memories back a little over a thousand years, to the time .of Alfred, they Would find that after Alfred conquered the Danes he took upon himself the greater task of planting in the forests and woods of Oxford that which had done his memory far more good aud occasioned him to bo licit! in greater rcc-poot than even his valor or martial prowess. Wolscy would have boon long forgotten, or would have been remembered only to be treated with contempt, but the fact that bo founded schools at Oxford had been sufficient to outweigh all the evil traits of his character. Such examples no doubt brought about the state of public opinion which in the early days of this province caused its founders to determine that from the commencement there should be placed within the reach of their youths the means of dissipating ignorance. They had another example in the old Puritan States of America, where from the very commencement of the existence of the States they had schools, and within certain larger areas high schools such as we now have here. He thought one of the best traits in the character of Washington was to bo found in the fact that although he refused to accept any recompense for his rervices to his country, ho did not for a moment hesitate to accept them as endowments for the purpose of founding universities, where, as he said, local feelings might be lessened and a national feeling fostered. Those persons who asked what object there was for the existence of the school had, however, a perfect right to put the question in this utilitarian age, and the question must be answered by the scholars. If those who wont forth from the school had an influence for good—for what Mr Gladstone ca'lcd the higher life of the State —then the school justified its existence; but if what they obtained in the school was only uted for their self-aggrandisement and not for the purpose of benefiting other*, then the school did not justify its existence. It ought to bo the desire of ex-High School boys that the school should continue to do as he believed it. had done in the past, add to the higher life of the nation and encourage the present students to improve themselves, and thereby improve the nation in which they had to act their part. —(Applause.) During twenty-four years of its existence a great many changes had taken place in the school As they were aware, the first dc facto rector, Mr Simmonds, was the one with whom he (Mr Hislop) had been more particularly connected, and he would like to give some personal matters with regard to Mr Simmonds’s prominences. It was well that they should know what the nature of his teachings was, because they were now passing into the second generation since he was here. Meetings like this should be used to give something like continuity to the teachings given in the High School. After Mr Simmonds left he wrote a letter to another ex-pupil and himself, and a portion of this letter he thought sufficiently valuable to put on record. It was as follows:

Spouting is an abomination. It hardens people in their opinions, enlists their vanity, and obstinacy on the side of any prejudice once formally enunciated, makes a man more keen to upset an antagonist than to appreciate his arguments. The more one lives the more one finds how much is honestly to be said on both sides of a question ; how seldom heterodox, or what seem to us heterodox, opinions make a man worse; that the best thing for us to do is to be intimate with and to love those whose tastes, pursuits, and lives are huh, but who differ from us in politics, social ethics, and religious views. This is the only way to get to the bottom of important questions. To get a really satisfactory answer to an objection, to divest oneself of early prejudices, you must learn to sympathise with, appreciate, undor.-tand your opponent And this is why I am anxious for you to form this Club. You know one another well now. Your opinions, though they will diverge, are not yet sufficiently divergent to bo repellant. r You are all young enough to trace tho formation of opinion n one another. By keeping up yotfr intimacy and friendly feeling you will train ono aoothcr to see how it is that honest men can hold, with all honesty and good faith, the most opposite notions upon the moat important subjects—tho most valuable lesson, I think, a man can learn. You will learn to be charitable, to be intolerant only of intolerance; to distrust, above all, till you have well proved them, your own views and notions, and especially those of them which you owe or may owe to early circumstances. Any absurdity-and this, as tho whole world’s history shows, is especially true in religious matters—may be accepted and held by the most intellectual and honest of mankind if bo is only broken into it young enough. We are keen to see our neighbor’s motes, very slow to see our own, because, be assured, we have them, though Englishmen and Scotchmen are not more exempt, but I fear less exempt, from prejudice, and absurd prejudice, in politics, religion, social ethics than other people.

Ho read that because he believed it contained the germs of what would be a very good constitution for such a society as the present. _ In the closing portion of his remarks, Mr Hislop referred to the scholarship and intellectual attainments of the gentlemen who had charge of the school, and expressed the opinion that so far as these were concerned the school had been very fortunate. Ho called attention to the necessity for physical training, and suggested that the ox-High School boys present should subscribe towards putting the present boys’playground in order.—(Cheers.) Ho proposed the toast, coupled with the name of tho rector, the Rev. Dr Belcher, .

The toast was drunk with enthusiasm,

Tho Rev. Dr Belcher, in replying, said: Gentlemen, I rise with a sense of deep gratitude and of considerable responsibility to reply to the toast you have so warmly acclaimed, which also you have identified with my office. It would be impossible for me on this occasion, and with these surroundings, to give utterance to all that it might be useful to say in connection with the very suggestive proposition “Florait SchoUi* ,> I must therefore confine myself to a few topics, and on each of these touch very briefly. Our school is necessarily among the chief exponents of secondary education in this province; nay, I will venture to say in this Colony. It is a fact, in itself remarkable,, and not without additional interest in connection with this City, that, of the 2,400 pupils in attendance at the secondary schools of the Colony, 440 are to be found within the-walls of our school. On these 2,400 pupils it is generally stated—and I am inclined to think it is widely believed—that very considerable sums are being spent. Such was my own impression, and I think many men whose knowledge of New Zealand extends over a longer time and arises from greater experience than my own share that impression. I notice, for instance, gentlemen, that a local candidate for parliamentary honors, speaking of our school last evening, wished to imply that it draws from endowments, consolidated fund, or elsewhere no less a sum than L 12.000 a-year spent on 393 children. Well, gentlemen, I heartily wish it had the secure and fixed enjoyment from endowments of one-half, or even one-third, of that sum. But what are the facts? At present the whole endowment of secondary education throughout the Colony, according to returns furnished me hy the Premier, amounts to L 21.339 & 4d. Now, m the town of Bedford, a place of the population and size of Dunedin, the endowment for secondary education amounts to LIB.OOO a-year; so that by this comparison, and by considering the extent of our country and the necessity of a diffused bureaucracy, and many other drawbacks inseparable from our present condition, we may infer that the actual available amount for purposes of our secondary education comes to above what is spent on the town of Bedford. Nobody in the face of these factsnan reasonably allege that we have an extravagant allowance with which to carry on our great work. On the contrary, so far from our being able to indulge in the endowment of research out of a noble surplus—to establish a school workshop, to make better provision for experimental science, and more generous arrangements 'for the out-door life of the school, we are to a condition of impecuniosity that points more clearly to the process known as the re-searqh of endowment. Departing, however, from this somewhat dyspeptic subject, and coming to a matter a little more eupeptic: I remark that that is a cause and source of congratulation to the community at large that our secondary education is being maintained at so very small a' total outlay as L 21.000. Leaving out the consideration of school fees, our own school is maintained at a cost of about L 8 per head, a rata which seems to prevail throughout the Colony. This

sqm iaabout twice as much ag theactual charge 9ti the Ooiuoli(j»ted Fond allowed .fo* every, pupil in onr primary. schools.», Now, in a secondary school the range of. subjects is about tjrioe as .great, and the incidence into the subjects common to both stages pf education about twice ae deep as is the case in.our primary schools, while'the ratio of difficulty of treatmuit ot subject is always ascending; Hence, I hbpp it will be seen that in point of view of drain 'on endowments or public funds, the pupil,in the secondary school ia at present as cheap a pro? duct as his younger brother in the primary school. I qualified the preceding remark by the words “at present,” because while the revenue in our State schools accrues in direct ratio to the number of pupils in attendance, the amount available from a similar source in our secondary schools is of the nature of a fixed and consequently the pro rata amount tends to decline as the number of pupils ascends. These considerations candidly estimated will, I trust, stay the hands, if any there be,' raised to cut off and slice .from our little pudding. Take the whole L 21,000, and in view, of your economies the spoil woidd not account’ in your reckoning. There is ah old song thai assures that to be cheerful you must be lightly clad, for no one will think it wortU while to assist himself at your expense; ana there is a still older saying of the same philosophy, “ Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viatorf It is quite within the bounds of possibility that the cost to the public of onr higher and optional education may rapidly approximate to the cost of our primary or compulsory education. At present of course we are in a state of growth ; but it is almost painfully obvious that while ol the three stages into which out 1 system is necessarily divided one is' in an almost rudely flourishing condition, so that enthusiastic economists contemplate retrenchment to tnW extent of LIOO.OOO per annum without impairing its efficiency, and another, as is proper to' the high regions in whicbaft moves, enjoys» condition of serene quiesclnco, our secondary edubatiotV seems to be just in that condition that physiologists discover in the course _of their experiments—it runs the risk of being slain in the process of interference. lam trustful and hopeful it will be the aim of every lover of his country to endeavor to consolidate our educational system so that the sameamount of health and capacity for work will run through it all in every part. Speaking for our own school, I am happy to think that in the somewhat inchoative stage in_ which we now find ourselves, its relationship to the primary schools seems to me to bo on a highlysatisfactory basis. To the scholarships awarded by the Board of Education we add the further benefaction of free education, and in one way and the other nearly sixty boys and girls, the pick of the primary schools, according to the method of choice adopted, are on our free list. During this year and up to this date we have enrolled in the boys’ school 118 pupils, of whom twenty-two come from standards above the sixth (that is upper sixth and seventh), thirtythree had passed the Sixth Standard, fourteen the Fifth Standard, and eighteen had previously been either in our own High School or were transferred here from other High Schools, making a total of eighty-nine from these unexceptionable sources. Two reached’ tt» froia other colonies, and twenty-two come frotn private schools, and seven partly from private schools and the lower standards of the State schools. We always have and- shall continue to have a few boys of slow powers and rapid growth, who are almost extruded from our primary schools before they reach even thc Fifti* Standard. With these we cannot hope to da much, but at aiiy rate .afford them the best wb have during their usually somewhat brief sojourn. These figures go to show that our supply from the State schools is almost ideally perfect as regards the points of contact of that supply, and must remain the chief source of onr numbers, however much we may valueandappiedate the contribution we get from other sources. The settlement which seems to be attained affords a happy instance of the adaptation of one sot of facts to another set of facts by a natural process of arrangement. The grea* secret of efficiency of a secondary school is site. Without more than adverting to the reasonable ambition of a man to have large issues under his hands, I anl convinced that with them*Create of numbers the efficiency of a school is enlarged. Tou have increased’ healthy rivalry,- high and occasionally brilliant example, and satisfactory distribution ol labor. As the volume of the organised body in augmented,' the volume as well as the variety of its subdivision tends to ensure a full and healthy tide of life. As the numbers increase, so also the possibility of our Higb School becoming what I am somewhat ashamed even to mention, a class school, is definitely checked. Take any hundred boys from whatever social source, and you-will find thai there is n* such thing as a monopoly of brains attached to any class. There is a story told of a certain Duke of Norfolk, who on the occasion of soma anniversary endeavored to reunite the descendants of the famous Jockey of Norfolk, bah abandoned the attempt. He discovered tha Howards of indubitable descent to be » numerous and so evenly distributed throughout every rank of society* that it was simply impossible to get them together, or, having assembled them, to keep them together. • The distribution of brains is like the distribution of the noble family of Howard. Our education system to practically a machinery for the discovery and development of ability. In * English As She I» Taught ’ we learn a receipt for catching lions. You select your sandy desert, which is said to be peopled with lions. You take with yon a sieve. You proceed to sift all the sand, and what remains is lions. And if you want lions, and cannot do without lions, then it is clear you mush catch them in this or setae other way. Now", whether in a State school or in a secondary school,- by technical schools or public libraries you manage to catch the politician, the inventor, the author, the editor, the lawyer, the educator, the scientific man, the preacher of righteoitoneSte-in faet, the supreme man in hie own line yoUf ££e dnd country require, and if it has cost a million of money to mid hint, he I* cheap at the price;- lam earnestly^hoping that onr school will humbly assist in this process of discovery; that its sons and daughters will be an ornament and a blessing to the land of their birth ; that it will jtetify all the designs of Its founders; that it will justly become an objectof honorable interest and pride to all our citizens ; and that within its own walls may be found the highest exemplification of its own motto “Just I methods make just men.”

Song : “ Rhine Wine,” Mr A. Finch. Dr Belches said he was sure that tho next toast —“Masters of the School, past and present”—w mid be accepted with the very greats t cordiality.—(Cheers.) He had consulted with the gentlemen who had been identified with the Committee of and he particularly asked to be allowed on'tiua occasion to propose the toast. He quite felt that under ordinary circumstances it would have been best to have given the toast .to some other person, but he recognised that he was stilt a new - comer—all his colleagues were in the school when .he nrived and, seeing that his youthful connection with the school would disappear from day to day, that therefore it was not impertinent for him to propose the toast on the present occasion.—(ltoar, and laughter.) He had only to say very briefly now what he said once before—that he oonld never adequately express his thanks for the loyal reception given him When he took charge of the Boys’ High School in March of last year. The other masters had from the first worked ln loyal accord with him, and the mere acquaintanceship then begun had ripened into fins chains of friendship; and therefore it gave him great pleasure on this occasion to propose the health of the masters, past and present, And with regard to those gentlemen who had served in the Boys’ High School and bad left it, there was present that evening owe who had for ton years presided over its English department, till the prudence and sagacity of the Board of Governors—the members at which body both collectively and individually posewed those virtues in a marked degree— (laughter!— had shown them that he wae the right man for the right place, and had taken Mr Wilson from his already responsible office and put him m a position of, if possible, more (Cheers.) It was therefore that he called on Mr Wilson to respond for fife past masters of theschooL Buthe oonldnot forget,anotherfriend who was present, and who had grown—if one might venture to eay so In a metaphorical way grey in the service of the school; one who had attended at the opening of the school that day twenty-four yeairs, and whose memory was very dear to all those who had the privilege of being assisted in their studies by Mr Brent—(Prolonged Cheering.) Any words ho eonld use on this occasion would find a ready echo in the old boys’ hearts, and he left their generous feelings to give vent to them as best they eonld. He called on them to drink (he health of masters, past and present, coupled with the names of Messrs A. Wilson and D. Brent—(Cheers.) Mr Wilson said that he felt almost as if he most accept half this toast exclusively to himself, because, when he looked round, he bad a difficulty in discovering any other past master. - However, he had succeeded afterwards in recollecting that there was one sitting beside him in the person of the Bev, Brace Todd, who, it might be remarked, had been just drinking, to himself. (Laughter.) r .To begin with, he should like, to congratulate fexpnpils belonging to the Boys’ High School Club upon' the happiness and the way in which. they had initiated the’ celebration of the "foundation of the school. The existence of such a club tnnst strengthen education and fortify the school in various ways. The honor of initiating'(to ex-High School Club, however, belonged to the institution: over, which bei presided, and; though the girls, had had many social gatherings they had not yet initiated an annual dinner., Notwithstanding that there was some piquaney and novelty in such an idea he was not sore that tt ought not' to be -carried into effect,to which case he could promise those present that one of the most impressive toasts would be the brother school and the brother club.—(Cheers.) Ho looked back on the time he had spent in the Boys’ High School with feelings of ah entirely pleasurable kind,, He had always found the boys a set of very good fellows—they always were ready to allow him.hu rights so long as he. respected theirs, and the conseqnehes,.was that they got on fairly well together. In oondneion Mr Wilson said: Qentlemen,-my.Bojovm ac the Boys’ High School!* ohisfly toiMaoraHffpr

the close friendship it was my happiness io form \fith a gentleman whom tq know intimately was. itself a liberal education—my dear friend, colleague, and chief, Dr Macdonald: the most genial, the most scholarly, the most upright and able man it has ever been my privilege to conie into close relations with, and such a master of. his craft as ,1 cannot hope again over to be associated with.—(Loud applause. Gentlepen, I have expressed warmly the aifaction and the interest with which I have regarded the Otago Boys’ High School, but I would not have it thought that there is in my heart any hankering after the “flesh-pots of Egypt.” The Otago Boys’ High School is very high in my regard; but there is another institution that is higher in my regard, and tnat is the Girls’ High School.— (Applause.) I than* you, gentlemen, for so kindly receiving t flame of the Girls’High School. .I»b° r that when I had reluctantly to _ toy connection with the Boys High - c y ftrends Were ready enough to Question‘ wisdonl of the change. In all c .°, ~ . there are both optimists and pessimists, but In this matter, like in all others, the pessimists were wrong. I can also remember that just before I undertook my present duties the head of a large and important girls college in Melbourne in conversation with myself assured me that girls were very “ kittle cattle. I am prolld to say that I have found ihem neither kittle nor cattle.—(Laughter.) If I ihay judge the girls of this province by the samples that passed through my hands I can only say that they are docile and taodest.—(AYßlCß: “Rough on the Bishop, am} applause.) Gentlemen, in sitting down I Will just give you this comforting and encouraging assurance, that next to association with the Girls’ High School it is well to be associated. with the Boys’ High School. If I were hot Alexander, I should like to be Diogenes,— (Laughter and applause.) The Chairman : Before Mr Brent replies Mr J. R. Sinclair wishes to make a few remarks. Mr Sinclair : Mr Brent, I have to ask you to accept the clock which has boon p'aced upon the table, together with the accompanying teaset for Mrs Brent, as mementoes of your long connection with our old school. These articles have been procured by a few of your friends connected with the Boys’ High School and its sister institution in Dowling street, and by a very laigo number of old High School boys. _ I am sure, Mr Brent, that not the _lo st pleasing feature of this occasion to you will bo to know of the high esteem in which you are held by so many of your old pupils. I have been the medium through which letters have been received referring to this occasion from old High School boys from all parts of New Zealand. In those the writers give expression to their high regard for you, and many of them dwell with gratitude upon the lasting benefits received from you as their teacher whilst passing through our old school. On behalf of all, I have to express the hope that you may long bo spared to fill the position to which you have given, with such advantage to your pupils, so many of the best years of your life.—(Cheers.) Mr Brent said that he hardly knew how to respond to the very kind remarks of the Rector, and for the way in which his name had been received. Certainly he had been at this school longer than any other of his colleagues, and he was glad to find that his efforts had been appreciated by all of his pupils. He had done his best according to the best of his ability. Of course all were human, and must make mistakes at times, and any mistakes he had made in the past he saw they would pardon. Ho thanked the donors for their gifts, and promised that they should rtmain as treasured heirlooms in his family. He feelingly referred to the death of the first rector (Mr Thomas iuMu ), who with his family was drowned in the Pride of the Yarra, and said that though the repeated changes in the staff might certainly have been exceedingly unfortunate for the school, in other respects such changes might have another side. Rev. Dr Stuart proposed the toast of “The Club,” and said that he had prepared a speech for the occasion, but as the time was so far advanced and there were other speakers to follow, ho felt ho would not be justified in giving it. As it was twelve o’clock he would ask to hold it over, and request the rector to put him higher “ on the list ” the next time, and then they would have his speech.—(Loud applause.) Ho would couple with the toast of “ Prosperity to the Old Boys’ Club” the names of his old friends Milne and Stilling, distinguished alumni of the school and vicepresidents of the Club. Violin solo: Mr Barrett. Mr Stilling said the promoters of the Club I desired to express the amount of pleasure which had been afforded them in bringing together so many friends actuated by a common feeling and deep interest in the institution in which their memories were associated, and with which they had such pleasant recollections. The idea of a dinner emanated from tbo chairman, and the intention was to make it an annual affair.

Mr Milne said that the Club had not yet extended its ranks so far as many of the old boys would like, and they trusted that the meeting that evening would be the means of strengthening the slight bond of union existing among old High Schi ol boys. Future gatherings would, he hoped, be larger than that one had been. The Right Rev. Bishop Nevill, in proposing “The Memory of our Founders and Benefactors,” said this was a toast which would meet with general satisfaction, and could not possibly occasion any controversy.—(Laughter.) There could bo no two opinions on this subject ; and some of the speeches delivered that evening were sufficient of themselves to prove that the institution had been one of value in the past. Judging by its fruits it seemed to him the merest logic that a great deal of the credit must be assignable to the founders of the institution. He referred especially to the services rendered to the cause of higher education by the late Mr James Macaadrew and Sir John Richardson; and to the liberality of Mr G. G. Russell—a model benefactor of the school.—(Applause.)—He wished to put before old High School boys the Latin quotation—“ Pectora plena vobits sipitfeiU”

Song; Mr Adams. Mr Russell said that they all owed a lasting debt of gratitude to the founders of the school for the handaame building which had been provided—and which was one of the chief ornaments of this City—and for the education which had been afforded. The building itself would for years to come be an ornament to the sagacity and forethought which they had shown. The presence of so many ex-High School boys also showed a mark of respect to the founders of the school; and seeing the grand inheritance that had been left them, they would be failing in their duty and in their responsibility wore they not to make some substantial provision for carrying on the education of the High School. (Cheers.) He thanked them for coupling his name with this toast. He could assure them that he could not expect a greater honor than to have his name associated with the founders of the school. Hitherto the school had depended upon endowmeats and grants from the Government for carrying on its work. As the Colony progressed and the wants of the institution increased, the revenue from endowments would be inadequate, and the grants from the Government might fail. It was therefore necessary that other provision should be made, and he confidently looked to some of the old scholars for such assistance.— (Hear.) . . Mr Ftnmore said that as one of the original High School boys, and as a parent who now had a boy at the school, he had been asked to propose “ The Board of Governors.” He was sure all present would agree that those gentlemen carried out their duties efficiently. The toast was drunk with enthusiasm. Dr Brown said that notwithstanding that the company had declared that the Board of Governors were jolly good fellows, they were told the very reverse at their monthly meetings, and were in pretty much the same position as tho Irish landlords who had a difficulty in collecting their rents from tenants in arrears.— (Laughter.) He could not allow this opportunity to pass without protesting against what seemed to be the organised attack made on secondary education. It was a most disastrous thing that many of those who were clamoring for the protection of native industries seemed to overlook the importance of fostering what-was the most important product of the nation—its intellect and culture.—(Cheers.) By so doing they were merely strengthening the hands of Eeople who could afford to pay for the igher education of their children, and were encouraging the influx into this Colony of children trained elsewhere. If Dr Belcher’s statement of the cost of secondary education were correct, the discrepancy between it and primary education was nothing like what had been stated; for, although the capitation allowance for primary education was L3lss per head, there were extra allowances which brought its cost up to from L 4 to Ls. (Dr Stuart: “Hear.”) Looking round the table that evening he thought that possibly the Board of Governors might be reformed in one direction. There were so many ox-High School boys coming forward that be thought, considering the democratic nature of other institutions in the country, it would not be at all a bad plan for a member of the Board to be elected by exHigh School boys.—(Great cheering ) If this suggestion were given effect to, he would request some of the legal alumni to make sure that the provision did not become a dead letter. Mr G. L. Dknnibton (in the absence of the Mayor, who had had to leave the meeting) proposed our “ Football Team.” Ho had been told that the game that afternoon was a well-fought one; that it was one of the finest games that had been played in Dunedin; and that the High School team (past and present) had won by a considerable number of points. He believed that the brilliant passing was specially noticeably, and that some triumphant goals were kicked. With the toast he coupled the name of Mr A. W. Morris. . , M The toast was suitably acknowledged by Mr Morris, captain of the High School team. (> The Chairman, in proposing The Press, said that he had to thank the newspapers for the generous and equitable way in which they had treated tho High School since he had been connected with it. It must be a source of great gratification to this community at large to find that the newspapers, in Dunedin at any rate, were managed with so much judgment and justice as both our leading newspapers were.— (Hear.) He looked on the newspapers as a great digesting machine, by which the raw material and the food of the world reached the readers in a form that was palatable, sgree-

able, and acceptable, With the . toast ho Coupled the names of Messrs G. Bell and Tw • Bell said that the usual i dea was that criticism was the function of the Press, 011 !} that view he differed, and if tune had permitted ho intended to make some remarks as to the bearing of the High School on the old boys and on the Press itself. Ho,was an old man now, and the schoolboys had advantages now which did net i exist to K>a youth; and therefore he began to think that at tos age ho had better retire and leave the work to some younger • mind. The progress of the High School ho bad had an bpportunity of watching; He came here in the same year that the school was instituted; and at that time, although the Press here was well managed Under Sir Julius Vogel, so much was not expected from It as was now. Each yedr as we advanced more would bo expected from the Press; And those who had been educated iu the higher branches of learning would have a great influence on the. Press, and they would be looked to to elevate themselves and to elevate the tone of society. It must also be recollected that although the Pre s were said to bo leaders of public opinion, the writers only represented the highest tone that prevailed in the country. As he should like to hear Mr Twopenny’s opinion on the subject, perhaps they would allow him to sit down.—(laughter.) Mr Twopeny : Mr Chairman and Gentlemen, —I have only to i’ethrn my thanks to you for the very pleasant evening we have had; and to assure you of the great interest thut I have always taken in the school. Mr Bell has said for the rest all that need bo said;

The Chairman said thht the success of the dinner was due to Messrs E. R. Smith, A. W. Morris, and Stillii g. They must also acknowledge the kind services of Mr Getirge Thomson sis accotopanist.—(Cheers.)