MR. J. L. JOYNES AND THE HEAD MASTER OF ETON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume X, Issue 514, 16 February 1883, Page 5

MR. J. L. JOYNES AND THE HEAD MASTER OF ETON.

The following letter has been published :—

Eton College, December 7. Deab Db. Hornby,— On my publication of a book consisting of a series of letters, to the first of which you had offered no objection when it appeared in the Times, you called on me to suppress the book on pain of dismissal from my mastership. I had but a short time to consider what was to me a very important matter, and I wrote at once to my publisher and withdrew it. thinking it my duty **jfile I remained a master ta obey even an arbitrary exercise of your authority. But although I deferred to your orders, I cannot admit that your censorship is just, or that assistant masters ought to be debarred from holding and expressing opinions at variance with those of the Government and the majority. You informed me at the same time that as a penalty for the want of judgment which I had displayed by my holiday tour and by writing several lettera to the public papers on topics of the day, you must refuse your consent to my ever taking a boarding house, thus ruining my prospects by cutting me off from the most lucrative part of my profession. The incidents ot my tour were not of my own seeking, while as to the letters to the papers lean only say that, however ill-judged they have seemed to you, it would have been fair to give me a word of warning at the time of their publication. You read my lettej to the Daily Times, and knew of my contribution to the Times (which you now tell me greatly shocked all right minded people), but I was left in entire ignorance of your disapprobation ; indeed during the seven years of my mastership I have never received from you a word of praise or blame, advice or assistance. Your unexpected severity in my case may be contrasted with the fact that you have never yet refused to allow either a classical or a mathematical master to try his success with a boarding-house. You complain of my views as being extreme, but, whatever my own opinions may be, I have never tried to influence the politics of my pupils. But in this matter I can but submit to your sentence. It remains to me, however, to protest against it by the only means in my power, namely, by my resignation of the position of master at Eton— in which position I may say that I have tried to do my duty to the school, although I have been unfortunate enough to incur your displeasure in matters with which it is totally unconnected.— Yours truly, J

J. L. JoYNKS, JUN.