WELLINGTON COLLEGE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4243, 26 October 1874, Page 5

WELLINGTON COLLEGE

SIB JAMES FERGCS3OX OX EDCCATIOX. Three months ago a meeting was held of the governors of the Wellington College, and of persons interested in the management of that institution, when it was agreed, after some discussion, that a ball should be held commemorative of the instalment of the masters and scholars in the new building. The idea was very strongly expressed that the scholars should not be “ left out in the cold,” at a fete that should have for its object the introduction of both teachers and pupils to a college that would be alike to the credit of Wellington and the colony. The inauguration, therefore, was celebrated on Saturday, the 17th instant. The original grant of land for the purpose of founding a college was made by Sir George Grey, on October 7, 1R53, and it consisted of 10a. 3r. 17p., situated in Fitzherbert terrace, Cambridge terrace, and Willis street. Control was vested in various trustees ; and in 1803, the funds having accumulated, the old Grammar School was erected, at a cost of £I2OO. The site had been leased to the trustees by the Corporation, at a peppercorn rent; and although the building was sufficient for the day, it subsequently was found to be inadequate. Then, in 1872, the Wellington College Act was passed, and under it the Superintendent and Speaker of the Provincial Council, the Mayor of Wellington, and Messrs. Gisborne, Travers, Pearce, W. Johnston, and Brandon, became governors, with power to erect a college. They opened a subscription list, and the Provincial Council assisted liberally with a vote of £ISOO. This was to supplement private subscriptions to a similar amount, and the Corporation most liberally handed over to tho tru.tees about ninety acres of land out of the Town-belt. Subsequently, under an act of the General Assembly, a loan of £SOOO was effected. Tho rental derived from the lands vested in the hands of the governors is not inconsiderable, but, considering the merely nominal sum charged as fees for the pupils, it would be insufficient if further aid were not afforded. However, the Provincial Government has voted £IOOO per annum towards the payment of salaries, during the next four years. Towards the salary of the lecturer, Mr. T. Kirk, F.L.S., tho New Zealand University, to which the college is affiliated, contributes £3OO per annum. He gives three courses each year, in geology, botany, and zoology, respectively. The weather, early on Saturday morning, did not promise pleasantly. The wind had shifted to the S.E., and slight showers of rain fell soon after morning broke. The clouds hung around Mount Victoria in fleecy palls, and there was something more than a possibility that there would be wind, or wet, or both; but towards the middle of the day there was a decided improvement in the appearance of things. If visitors did not arrive in crowds, they did come in sufficient numbers to show that they took a genuine interest in the proceedings announced to take place '; and when there many expressed their satisfaction at what they saw. Tho fierceness of the southeasterly gales that occasionally prevail is broken by the hills at tho rear of the college. It is situated, of course, at a little distance from town ; but tho masters have now ninety acres of ground for the recreation of their pupils. The Provincial Government, with praiseworthy forethought, have constructed roads to the college. The prisoners at the gaol, when not otherwise employed, have reclaimed land and laid waste hills. The idea is in contemplation, in process of time, to make lawns, croquet and cricket grounds, A plantation has been commenced. In short, it is the determination to make of the Wellington College grounds the miniature of an English park and pleasure ground. After the sports dinner, or rather lunch, took place in the lecture hall. His Excellency presided (tho Superintendent being in the vice-chair) and made the following remarks on the special subject of the day, and education generally : Your Honor the Superintendent, and ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very heartily for your very kind recognition, not only of my office, but of myself personally'.' In response to tho toast proposed by tho Superintendent, I may say that I have very great pleasure in attending on this occasion, of which, 1 can assure you, I estimate tho importance at a very high rate. I thank tho Superintendent and tho other governors of tho college for having, to a great extent, consulted my personal convenience in the selection of the day for tho present ceremony ; and I would at this moment offer an humble apology if in any degree tho result of what was a convenience to me was tho means of inconveniencing others. As to tho day originally fixed, and upon which ray presence hero was somewhat uncertain, I had been assured by tho highest authority, namely .the captain to whom I had committed myself, that I should arrive ■ in time. That gallant individual kept his

[.word in spite of very unfavorable weal her ; and had you seated yourselves the day before yesterday, instead of to-day, I should have 1 been able to take my place. I am happy to say, however, that the delay has been attended 1 with advantage, inasmuch as we have much more favorable weather by which the success of the fete has been greatly enhanced. Ladies and gentlemen, I have been mentioned .to you specially as yourvisitor, and I regret indeed that I am not only a visitor but a parting gnes:. I will not interfere with a more important topic by travelling into a personal question ; but I tliall, with the utmost sincerity, say, that so kind has been the feeling expressed towards myself since my departure was announced, that I have over and over again felt and said that, had I the power to reconsider my decision, I do not think I could have the heart to leave New Zealand. (Loud and prolonged applause.) But, ladies and gentlemen, I am sincerely happy that it has been my fortune and privilege to take part in this celebration, which I trust is the opening and promise of a bright period of usefulness of this great institution Which, in its inception and in the progress already made, does so great credit to the province of Wellington. Whether my honorable and respected friend the Superintendent’s days are, like my own, numbered, I will not say ; but X will say that on no part of his honorable and useful career can he look back with more satisfaction than upon the recollection of having raised an institution calculated to do so much good to the community in which he held so prominent a posh ion ; because I look upon the ceremony of to-day as inaugurating a hopeful future. No one can estimate the educational question at a higher rate than I do myself ; and if it be of importance in an old country, it is of tenfold more importance in a young country, where popular institutions are of the most extended character, where the people have power in their own hands. How can we hope they will see what is to their own advantage and to the honor of the country from which they sprung if they have not been trained to the exercise of those powers and rights placed in their hands ? I trust that the time is not far distant when the poor man’s education will be of the highest kind, and will be extended to every corner of tills colony. But it is not sufficient that what is commonly called education—that is to say, that it shall be the means of raising the human intellect sothata man shall be more than a mere brute—shall be provided. Something more than that is required. We must place within the reach of the people that higher form of education .which will provide the governing classes that direct the destinies of the colony with full provision for obtaining that highest form of education without which no civilised community can be governed with advantage. It would be a grievous thing indeed, were the luxuries of education alone to be regarded, were the youth of the higher and middle classes alone to be taken care of, and the children of the working man prevented from entering shat school where they may become fitted for the duties of life. lint it would be as great a mistake if the State alone provided for the instruction of our children in the mere elements of education. We cannot mistake the fact that we must bo dependent in these young countries to a great extent upon ourselves for the provision of that education required by those who are intended for the learned professions, The competition at home is great, no doubt, but so are the inducements to remain at home ; and men who have been well educated will risk and endure great privations with the hope of the greater prizes always present, in an old and wealthy community. And in the many professions which are essential to civilisation, such as the church, the bar, the med ical profession, and even the most noble profession of the schoolmaster itself—we must depend on our own exertions to keep the ranks of those professions supplied. Should our governing bodies become insensible to this necessity and take no serious steps to supply this want, we should undoubtedly within a few years see most important positions filled by men not fitted by education and training to do their ■ duty sufficiently ; and in many respects the community would undoubtedly suffer, and the tone of public morality would decay. I rejoice to know that this colony has not been insensible to this, for we have schools which have already shown their efficiency by the success achieved by their pupils who have travelled homewards to compete with those educated in England at our own older institutions. (Applause). I think we should greatly err were we to regret that the most promising of our pupils resort to the mother country for the completion of their education by availing themselves of its superior institutions. On the contrary, I believe the best results will flow from the taking the brightest of onr youths where they may obtain that higher education which is to be found in the seats of learning of Europe, especially those of England and Germany, where they may acquire that liberality of iuforraarion which is to be found by converse with the world. But I trust that many who go home for the completion of their education will not disdain to return, and dedicate their acquirements and exertions to the welfare of the colony from which they have sprung. Such a course will, I believe, he of eminent advantage. We should have amongst us men whoso education has been wider and deeper than what we can hope to give here ; but we must look in the main to colonial institutions to give us all the essentials of education. This institution, which I hope will open a new and brighter chapter to-day, is not a new one. I have been furnished with a statement of the history of this institution, but I will only trouble you with one or two of. the loading features, which I should do wrong in not recalling to your recollection. Wellington College was founded twenty-one years ago by ray distinguished predecessor, Sir Georgo Grey, whose forethought and judgment are deeply marked in the history of New Zealand by tho establishment of similar institutions to this, to which he made sundry endowments vested in trustees. In 1872, an Act of the General Assembly was passed, incorporating the prosent Governors, who have built tho present college at a cost of about £9OOO, towards which the Provincial Council has voted £ISOO, the trustees of the late Savings Bank £I3OO, private subscriptions £ISOO, the remainder being still an encumbrance on the endowments of the college. The college is affiliated to the University of New Zealand, which contributes £3OO per annum towards tho salary of the natural science lecturer (Mr. Thos, Kirk, E.L.S.). Further endowments in the shape of reserves of land have been made by tho present Provincial Government. The scholastic arrangements are in the hands of Mr. Kenneth Wilson, A. B. Cantab, who was specially selected for the post by Dr. Vaughan, Reader of tho Temple, late head master of Harrow. A donation of £IOOO has just been made to tho college by Mr. Walter Turnbull of this city—(loud applause)—fortheenclowmentof two scholarships of £25 each, and two annual prizes of £ls and £lO respectively, tho scholarships tenable by undergraduates of tho University of New Zealand attending the Wellington College. There are also four scholarships,open to all pupils attending tho primary schools of tho province, capable being held either before or or during their undergraduate course, the two series of scholarships thus giving an opportunity of obtaining a complete course of education. The governors have supplied ample accommodation for a library and museum in connection with tho Natural Science Department, and, assisted by Mr. Kirk, have already formed the nucleus of a natural history collection, towards which it is hoped and expected that the general public will contribute liberally, a contribution of £25 towards the library having been already given by Mr. Travers, F.L.S. Ladies and gentlemen, I should not think on an occasion like the present of entering more widely than I have done already into the general question of education, and I would only say this, that while wo cannot aim at a degree of scholarship too high, v/o should, in my opinion, be doing wrong to insist upon too wide a scope for tho youth of tho colony. Some of tho greatest scholars of England have objected to tho insistence upon tho study of Greek, even in grammar schools founded especially for classical learning; and I am glad to know that it is possible for young men to receive a thorough education without aiming at high classical and mathematical attainments. I trust that ns high a standard for the degrees

conferred by the older Universities might be obtainable in that of New Zealand, arid that a liberal encouragement would always be given to the development of—higher scholarship, although a good general education would be placed within the reach of all ranks of the people, not confining it merely to those who- can find time to go into the higher branches of learning. I trust also that in this institution the education of the body, which tends greatly to the benefit and accomplishment of the individual, will be attended to as well as that of tho mind. On the whole, I think from what we have seen we may augur favorably of this institution. I think tho colony will owe a debt of gratitude to those gentlemen who have placed themselves at the head of this institution. Although it is now my pleasing and important privilege to occupy the first place on this occasion, I can take no credit for that, when I remember the services of those gentlemen to whom I have referred ; and while we wish success with all onr hearts to an institution calculated to do so much good to the colony, let us remember and cordially recognise the governors of the college, and at their head His Honor the Superintendent. (Loud applause.) I therefore give you “ Prosperity to Wellington College, and health to the Governors, and especially His Honor the Superintendent.”