DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES AT THE BISHOP'S SCHOOL.

Colonist, Volume XII, Issue 1174, 25 December 1868, Page 2

DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES AT THE BISHOP'S SCHOOL.

The annual examination of the Bishop's School was •'-> held on Friday last. The .prizes were distributed by ;'j his Lordship the. Bishop. of Nelson, aud ; after . per-j]i forming this du?y,

His Lokdship said:—Last year my address to you, who are parents and, friends of boys, in Uißyj, school, was in general terms, I had beard much, of ;? the B'hool and had of course to take much upon ~: credit, but I am very happy to preside now, because I ■'.' have a twofold advaptage over last year •, I know, ■'.„■ from occasional visits during the year and from a very particular examination just concluded, the exact ~ working of the school, and on the other hand I have J. seen the want of the school, and the way in which it ; , is used by parents residing in;, almost every; part of the diocese. lam glad to say that I have full con- V fidence in the way it is administered by Mr. Lee, ..' and in the valuable assistance he derives from Mr. G-uerin, as second master. It is not a pretentious school, it lias not largk meaii9 at its disposal, it doe* a good deal of work at small cost; it doer : not promise much, but it does carry out what it promises, and so long as it does so in' a modest, unassuming way; so long, I believe, it will have the support of the* public, winch it has received increasingly. There, are some features which, "injustice to those who. have laboured:himjt,to.bring it to what it is, I ought to point out. It presents, in my opinion, the best form of school life—that where the greater part of the .boys live at; home and go to school in the day; they meet and mix with their fellow-scholars sufficiently to engender a certoin degree of esprit de corps, and yet are licit so exclusively school-boys as to lose the peculiar benefit* of homo influences. But there are some peculiar, dangers even in this, and,the friends of the. Iboys , will, lam sure, bear them in mind. There is dunger lest the regularity of home lessons be interfered with, and excuses too readily .offered and of rieces- • sity accepted for work neglected. > Sometimes, too, a boy, when passing through a trial of temper, which may lust for a few days, if lie is at school, is reduced ufter that time to obedience; but, i( at home, he'"" sometimes finds an unseasonable refuge and solace in his mother's maternal, affection, who k'nowß;not;:.: the exact sfate of the ease, and the battfe i»,bnly prolonged or postponed for another seasdp. ;.I, ana, sure that every thoughtful parent will take care tjjaji' full justice is done to the authority and discipline enforced by a ipasterj leaning tp the sjde of the nroii.7. ter as miieh as possiblp." X have been agreeab]i£ surprised with the 'general''tone, and bearing pftjip; boys here, and I may say, the sairjp generally as ,Jt(j' r those .w|th wlfom.J have; met in the colpny.Ji_J,])aFp . been quite struck with their self-possessed, jj^fuj. unobtrusive and unselfish demeanour; this Jeadsiife'W to congratulate the masters on the good feeling eyi*' dently existing between theinselyes ftiid the boys,; Jt is well t-Uia feature-of tho present ''jjjngjjjjh. publjp school }ifc should .be.'-introduced and developed; jn Jfaw jgealand. I hare been reacjing U)e Reportjpf two French genf.lempn wjjq liaye htfelybpeij Ppm? missioned to examine the aeco)|dttry schpol? of England, according to tlie arrangement of bcjjpo)b "in ' France, where the primary schools are those'-'in which tho rudiments of learning are given. These ; Commissioners were much struck with the excellent -'■ feeling of sympathy;existing between boys and riiasters. Speaking of a well-known public school, t^hey say "It is all smilihg and happy. , It all breathes peace and the absence..'of restraint. English edv^car tipu is paternal, bu'l;.' not enervat|i(g ; stem, bfjt not niedtilespmp; religfous, without bigqtry; morel, wjtlv out pre|fenljoußnes!>. Jfc seen^s tp hare' solved tlje problem of uniting discjpjiiie with libe^y ; jf secures a twofold res|)lt, which sy.steips of paore rjgjd SHperin? tendencp sometimes fiiil to o|)fa}n j it cauaes pupils pot to bate i(u'U)orij;y,;Qn;d?i.o-lbje:'itb'le.'|;9'()p;^|thr6|it it' 1 The' French Comniigßi'nior? were niuph str'upV the way in which the public middle Bphpssi!of Eng' hind prepared the way for after ljfe, and jthe> indet pendence wliioh must f«l] to the .lot of "the boys : sooner or later. " The pupils," they say, "learn to .1 govern themselves, to shift for themselves \ the man- : ters labour,,according to the paradoxical expression of Fontenelle, to make themselves useless. Thus.the young English acquire from their childhood that urfc which is tho glory aud strength of the nation-— ?: personal initintire, or eelf-reliaiice." On the other hand, they admit that a "French public school is a regiment proud of its uniform, obedient to authority though ever growling and grumbling against it, marchin^O'the sound of the drum, and taking by storm Greek, Latin, History, and Mathematics." Jam happy to think.that we have hero a specimen of this English feature, and that one. of the objects of this school is a homely place, to accustom the boy to swim without corkß, helping him gradually to feel and prove his strength, and ultimately to be ready for the deeper waters! of daily outside life. One peculiar feature of the school cannot be passed over. try to educate, hot only to instruct the boygj and we are quite/ sure tf\&% nil education pegins m tlie reepgnjtion qffpe l«|9 a moral' being,, hot 'only as an in'teliepNiu),!it^itiJkt^K machine or a receptacle for fects.', i-h'e 8C"fiol rj? cognizes this'and th> parents know it, b^t they know also that thpso who l|ave to do the schpp[ while insisting-upon the rojigioifc elemenj; being hel(J prominently fprward, never wish to iinppse the religions teaching; it supplies upon any bpv contrary tp tlie expressed wish pf t^e paren^tß., Ojjering »p«eiee religions teaching, |t J|as tljerehy ocqj}iit«d|itielf of responsibility; and und6ubted.ly thpre are fflaW c|P' parlments pf religiowe t^ruth ftrtdji^r^tiouilfhieh probably all the parehts pf the c^|t\ren will bewaa» ; anxious that the boys should be Uught. One is the •tudy of the contents of the Bible j *Uh o«r ti«W|

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