PRIZES.

Colonist, Volume XII, Issue 1276, 17 December 1869, Page 4

PRIZES.

Classics, and English, and Histoby.—Form IV • Barnicont (i.)— Macaulay's Eutory oj England. Form III.: Adams (i.) Shakespeare Vorm II. : Campbell— Don Quixote, .Form I.: Maclean (II) — Columbus. Mathematics and Phystoai. Geogbaphy. — Division I.: Campbell (i.); Scholarship passes to Blackett— BuMctnd. Division II.: Pratt— Dante. Division III.: Wastney (I.) ; S.-holarsbip passes to Armitage {i.)—Herschel. Division IV.: CampbellSelfffelp. Division V.: Scaife (n.)— Lays of Ancient Rome. . ■~-.-..•

Spsciai Prizes. . XJPPEB 80H00L., .;■■.... Histoby.—Barnicoat (i.)— Hallam. Shakespeare.—Barnicoat • (ii)— Shakespeare GalPhysical Geogbaphy.—Biackett (x)—Maury. English Composition.-IWither— Half-Kours. Fbench.—barnicoat (i.)~Microscope. lOWBB SCHOOL Histoby.—Penny:— Lays of Rome. w t .-- English Composition.—Richmond (i.)— Robinson Crusoe. ...... Tbench.—Vickerman (i.)— Battles, g-c. Speciai Pbizb fob Cabe, Diligence, and Progress in Mathematics.—Cox (i.)— Enoch Arden.

Mr. Simmons said that Barnicoat having obtained the first prize in classics might have taken the scholarship along with it, but us he had already a scholarship whichlwas better than the one connected with this prize, and he could- not hold the two scholarships, the present one would go to Blacfctlt (i.), the next in order of merit, and the prize to Barnicoat. Boy made an exceedingly good third. .Respecting the second Mathametical scholarship, which fell to Wastney, primus, some reference, he said, had j been made as to the fact of the examination for that I scholarship, having taken place in the absence of three of the boys who intended to compete for it. The day happened to be an exceedingly wet one, and three boy* stayed away, two of whom certainly would have had a chance of successfully contending for the prize, and they were of course disappointed because of the examination having taken place in their abs&rce. For his part he was not sorry this had happened, and he hoped it would be a lesson to pupils and their parents, and cause regular attendance. Absence from the class room was a source of great annoyance; it delayed the work of both the masters and pupils, stopping progress and interfering with the necessary regularity of the classes. Bain should not stop attendance, and he hoped this would be a lesson, that the pupils must come to college wet or dry. Percy Adams who gained the 3rd form prize was a most deserving boy and had exhibited careful study. The studies in the College were divided into sections; one the ClassicsLanguage and History, indeed all that formerly was called the Humanities, and properly so because they •concerned man and his history; the other Mathematics Physical Geography, and natural laws. In the first section the examination in Shakspeare had been placed, and the prize-taker had shown a very perfect acquaintance with the play examined on, as no doubt his Honor the Judge would say. Mr. Pooi/K explained, with reference to the prize taken by Penny in the lower school, that in the examination for that prize, Penny made one of five who were perfectly equal, and he had to make second examination of these in which Penny outstripped the othprs. Mr. Simmons said that.athissnggestion, theG-over-nors had agreed to give an extra prize to Roy, who had worked most assidiously. He was always very near the prize, and certainly his steady work deserved it; but he was generally a little over-matched ; either by a few months in point of age, or some other cause, he had just missed the prize. Barnicoat had got the Stafford Scholarship as he deserved, but Boy was very near it'; no boy in school had made such progress, and he was'glad therefore that the Directors had consented totgive him a prize—a handsome desk— ■which he certainly well merited.

example, to be upright and honorably as well for the sake of right and dut.v, as for the benefit of o'h<>rs.; and be was glad to find that it. wns si in the CoHeep. With rpsrieet to a cer'am prizp gained by one of the bo?s, somebody was suggesting in the hearing of another and a younger pupil, that "he may have looked at the b"olt." "Oh, no," was the immediate renly, " So-and-so is one of the noblest of our boys, and, wouM never think of such a thing." These wpr* spn'iments tocherisht»nd topl active ,nrtd such as would tend to fit them for their duties os colonists. These duties were of far greater indvicln»l magnitude thim. those which fell to the lot of th« people at home. At home, as we still called England nnd Scotland, it did not much matter what were the individuol opinions of a few, because there was such an enormous population that such individualities were sunk in the great mns9. Here it, wns very different; people here found themselves in a position, and with individual influences far beyond those which they would have held at, home, and greater than many of them ever expected to exercise or possess. We were here, though few in numbers, the actuul founders of a new nation ; nothing less than that,; and our responsibilities wer* consequently hugely augmented b} the turn political i vents might fake. As young colonists, therefore, with a future before them in this Colony the students would have a greater burden on their shoulders than they ever would have had a* home. We had, then, to lay the foundations of a new nation, and the foundations in i such case were the most important part of the building ; -if the foundations were unsound.it mattered not what kind of; a superstructure was raised upon them, for they would certainly give way, and the building with them. These islands would yet be filled with millions of people, and much of the success of these millions would depend on the course taken by the people who preceded them. In numerous unexpected ways the rising youth of this Colony would be called upon to undertake duties they would never have had to perform in a thickly populated country; and it was the-efore necessary that we should'always feel, have always present with us a sense of the unusual responsibilities laid upon us, teaching us to frame for ourselves nerfectly distinct views of what is good and right. Selecting the comparison he had made of the ancients nnd the moderns in the matter of the conduct of life, he added,—We are inheritors of a grace not held out to them ; we knew ofTlove that to them was unrevealed, and we jhad the power of entering into a fellowship of which they were unable to conceive. That was a power to enable them to realise and understand the high and noble nature to which all good men aspired. And now he would conclude by wishing them a merry Christmas in the midst of happy homes; and he hoped he would npxt year see them all again, for there was none of them who would not be better of still further training. He trusted they would enjoy their holidays, and begin a new year with fresh vigor and fresh determination to make the most of their great opportunities. (Loud applause.) Mr. Simmons had to thank the Governors for their courteous attention to his suggestions, He was especially grateful to them for having given effectto that which had reference to founding scholarships for the Provincial schools. These scholarships could scarcely fail to stimulate both the pupil and the masters in the school, while the elite of those schools must benefit the College. He hoped to see still further extension given to the idea. He had heard that some trash had been talked about these scholars not being likely to be gentlemen. But moneyed men aye not necessarily gentlemen, nor poor men the reverse ; indeed, any talk about class distinctions is especially out of place in a Colony, if indeed it is not silly and mischievous everywhere. "If I myself, if my masters, if mv boys are good for anything, we shall make them gentlemen, if, unfortunately, which we have not the slightest, right to presume, we do not find them to be so." He had to thank Judge Eichmond for hi* presence that day, for the interest he took in the College, and for the trouble to which he had put himself in examining the boys, no less than Mr. Poole and Mr. Mules, who had discharged a_ tedious task with the utmost patience and most conscientious care. He begged also to tender his warmest thanks to the Masters for their covrlial co-operation and unflagging interest in the school. The boys had done well in bis opinion, and he was happy to find that opinion endorsed by Judge Bichmond and the examiners. The elder boys had set a good example, which, to the best of his belief, had had its natural effect. The general tone of aschool necessarily depended upon them, since, though a master may influence the seniors, they set the fashion to their juniors. He referred to the College sports, and assured the boys that Cox's leap of 18ft. 2in., Vickerman's jump within H inche.9 of his own height, Warnock's gallant lead throughout the All Comers' Steeplechase, gave him no less pleasure than the intellectual progress which the Judge and. the examiners.had eulogised. Crickett and football are a school of certain virtues —still indispensable—contempt, of pain, unselfishness, and ready submission to discipline. He congratulated the boys on their remarkable progress and success in these games. He wished Nelson -College to turn out men as well ns scholar?. He informed them that the holidays would terminate on Thursday, February 3, and concluded by wishing them a merry Christma) and a happy New Year. (Applause.)

The Jttdge, after the delivery of the prizes, which consisted chiefly of boots, said, in reference to the prize for Shakspeare, that several of the boys, besides the "winner, had produced very good papers. In the course of that examination, he had observed how well the science of language was cultivated in the college, and especially how the study of the classics was telling effectively on the study of English. He had teen exceedingly pleased with the knowledge they had displayed in the Shakspeare etymologies. Greek and Koman studies were really of value, and ought to be prosecuted if parents can at all afford their sons the time to devote to these studies. Every day in the work of life they would find that such studies were, as he had said last year, an effective^ mental discipline, a kind of gymnastics of the mind, an exercise of much use as preparing for after experience. He would point special attention to this. In the daily business of life he found that men were continually called on to distinguish between the meanings of words, to detect and properly value the slightest shades of difference in such meanings ; and if the question, " What does it mean ?" were fairly put and correctly answered in men's minds it would clear away a good many fallacies which are hidden by words, and which, in these days of frequent writing in newspapers and the like, would be all the better for being tested in that way, and it would then often he found that there was not much in the real meaning, or tliat the conclusion was erroneous. The study of the classics enabled one to detect such fallacies, and prevented the being led away by them. He touched on what he considered was the closeness of the views .regarding the religious belief, or what should be the moral result of it in our days, and the views of life and duty exhibited in the Latin classics. These bore almost uniform testimony to the existence among the ancients.of the moral standards recognised in these days. In Sallust, in the first chapter of the Jugurtha, and in the narrative of the Catiline conspiracy, these views would be found Sallust asserted with particular emphasis, the necessity of upholding the moral and spiritual ends of life, he taught temperance, self-devotion to the public welfare, and even the higher motive of self-sacrifice o that cause. Seneca : and Epictetus, showed the same teachings; and Juvenal and other ancient authorg.all concurred as to the rule of life. From this Ins hearers must not conclude that they were to expect to arrive at great positions. They should strive for, not wealth, not political power, not military glory; nor were they to dream that it was a desirable thing in life that each should be a Demosthenes or a Cicero; not personal beauty either were they, to seek, but like as the Bomans asked the gods, tW too should ask for a sound mind in a sound body. It was very important to have a distinct purpose x?n life, for a true direction of their efforts was even \f more importance than actual powers and abilities\ Questions might seem to be raised as to the true ru\ o f life—he said " seem" to be raised," andhe said so b^ause traced to their bases it was merely apparent, asSijere was but little real difference between ancient A^l modern thought. There were some important poin\. into a discussion of which he would not enter, but it\^ s enough to say that they would not find any great »|{Ference among wise and good men as to what really confuted a good, honorable,! and holy man. Amongst m\.h that was fixed, and much that was apparently fluctu^^ they would find that the main points bearing^ n the onduot of life were not difficult of discovery.\rphey had aids whiob were not possessed by the anew 8i »nd he hoped they would take advantage of these ah. They should I^JI2^ rogS^oS^ boys could exercise muehinfluence amongstthe others, sometimes even iwni &« *• w»tw, wd therefore ittrMMOMWjfftriU to **w. * lhafl

The Court Journal announces that the Royal Highness the ( f recess of Wales is expected to take place j n thViatter end of November or the beginning

The following is a report by his Honor the Judge :— St. Katharine's, Nelson, 16th December, 1869.

Gentlemen,—Having been requested by you to take some part in the recent examinations at the Nelson College, I have great pleasure in reporting that, to the best of my judgment, and judging from what I have myself seen,'the teaching is thoroughly sound and effective.

I have examined the upper form in viva vooe translations from the Latin. They have been reading Sallust and Virgil. My examination was confined to the Jugurtha of the former author. The translations were correct and spirited, and a good, in some instances a thorough, acquaintance with the Syntax seemed to be displayed. A junior Latin class went through a similar exercise in my presence in Dr. Win. Smith's " Principia Latino," Part 11. I was much struck by the promptitude of the replies in parsing. Individual mistakes were, of course, numerous; but the whole class was at fault only once in an examination lasting, perhaps, three-quarters of an hour, in which question followed question with extreme rapidity. These little fellows are evidently fast acquiring a knowledge of the logical structure of language. It is quite plain to me that the Latin language, as it is now^ taught at the College, is almost as direct an exercise of the logical faculties as the Mathematics themselves; in addition to the discipline which the study affords to other powers of the mind. The Upper form was also examined by me in Shakspere's play of " Macbeth," by means of a printed examination paper. Many of the replies were very good. Several of the boys seem to know by heart all the more important passages of the play. In the explanation of obsolete or peculiar words and phrases, I could see that their classical studies promise to bear fruit in mastery of their own tongue. I have no special report to make of the teaching in other departments of learning, not having myself taken any part in the examinations in those branches. Prom the report of the Rev. 0. Mules, and in many other ways, you will, I know, be assured (as I am) that M.'. Mackay is an effective and indefatigable Teacher.

I have only to add, that if now, or at any time, in connection with the work of the College, I have dwelt on the advantages of instruction in the Greek or Latin classics, it is solely because, in the existing state of public opinion, it has seemed to me that there is some danger that the value of this part of education should be underrated; not because I regard instruction in the Mathematics otherwise than as an essential part of the education of boys.

I have, &c,

C. W. Eiohmond. The Governors of Nelson College.