undoubtedly better adapted than men to teach young children of either sex by reason of their wider sympathy, their natural gentleness, and above all their greater patience. How few men could, if they would, teach children to read? At those preparatory schools worked by men, where very young boys are taken as pupils, there is invariably a governess to teach the lowest class for at least a part of every day. Ladies' schools have done good and helpful work in the past, and will, it is to be hoped, do better work still in the future, by taking boys as young as they and the parents choose, keeping and teaching them till they are ten years old or thereabouts, and then passing them on to a larger Preparatory School under a man. Though, if they choose to keep boys till they are 14, there is no reason, that is, no reasonable reason, why they should not do so; of which more presently. But inasmuchas to some of these pre-preparatory schoolmistresses the Latin to be eventually required of their pupils looms from the beginning an uncertain and somewhat terrifying quantity, it may perhaps be helpful to set down in outline what a young boy should be taught first, and what he should know at different stages, if he is, without any pressure at any time or hurry at the end, to take a good place when he is 14 at one of our best Public Schools. By the time he is eight a boy should have been taught(i.) To articulate clearly and audibly. (ii.) To be, when required, attentive (not for long periods, as yet this would be impossible) and to have some knowledge of the proper attitudes in which to sit and stand, e.g.. to know that a lounging position is not necessarily restful, and if restful not always necessary or mannerly. (iii) To read quite easy books (a) aloud correctly, with due regard to (i.), and (b) to himself for amusement, and instruction by-and-bye (this last, reading to himself, is a very important point very often neglected). (iv.) To write easy words and sentences, not fast, out legibly, with constant attention to correctness of attitude, not sprawling or curling his legs fantastically. (v.) To have some knowledge of the meaning of figures; at least to be able to count, and read and write down numbers up to 100. (vi.) Placed last, not by any means as of least importance, but because it is not always required for entrance examinations: To know in outline some of the principal Bible stories, e.g., the History of Abraham, of Jacob and of Joseph, and the main facts of the New Testament. By the age of nine he should be able (i.) To read fluently any book suitable to his age. (ii.) To write freely (but still not necessarily fast) and to copy writing correctly from a blackboard. (iii.) To show some acquaintance with the elements of English Grammar. To distinguish the different parts of speech, and to conjugate the two tenses of the English verb, and the commonest of the auxiliaries--at least, "I am," "I was," "I have," "I had," and " I shall." (iv.) To read and write down numbers up to 100,000, and to do sums in simple addition and subtraction. (v.) a. To read a map and have some idea of the size shape, and divisions of the earth. b. To have some acquaintance, from stories or otherwise, with some of the heroes of other days and other countries. [Note.-History and Geography are unhappily not required at present at most entrance examinations. But the writer believes very strongly, in spite of learned opinions to the contrary, that, unless a boy is started in them quite young, there is serious risk that his mind will as regards these subjects remain a blank, or, after advanced lectures, a perhaps highly coloured but chaotic smudge.] By the time he is ten a boy should (i.) Have made a start in Latin (he should have mastered as much of the declensions, pronouns, and regular verbs as is contained in any ordinary First Latin Book. (ii.) He should be able in arithmetic to do, with accuracy and a fair amount of speed, examples in simple multiplication and division, each by at least three figures. This implies a sound and accurate working knowledge of the multiplication table up to 12 times. At the age of ten a boy should begin Latin translation in an easy book with somewhat harder Latin exercises than he had in the First Book, and, pari passu, with every translation lesson some Latin grammar. At the same time he should learn in English the outlines of the compound sentence so as to be able to distinguish substantival, adjectival, and the most common adverbial clauses, and pick out examples from ordinary English authors. In these suggestions no mention has been made of French. Schoolmistresses appear rarely to find any difficulty about this. Eight years is a good age at which to begin-colloquially. A grammar, or systematic teaching of grammar, is of little use for another year. Then French and Latin grammar side by side may be made to help each other. And no mention has been made of English poetry, singing, or drawing; because, except for the allusions to history and geography, only those subjects have been enumerated which appears essential for success in entering a Public School at the age of 14. But just as no time is gained (but the reverse) by beginning Latin too young, or before a sure foundation of English has been laid, so no time is lost by interesting a boy almost from his 4333. 2 E 2 carliest years in History, Geography, Poetry, Singing, and Drawing The Latin required at public school entrance examinations is not, or never need be, such a bugbear as to hinder any of these, or to shut out opportunities for talks and indirect lessons on flowers, birds, rocks, and the other wonders of nature, which, or at least some of which, a child must be taught to observe and love, if he is to get full happiness out of his life hereafter. Nothing is said as to the routine of work after 11. Unless in a few special cases a boy will rarely change Preparatory Schools after 11. It is better for him not to change later than ten. But, if he is at a lady's school where boys are regularly kept till the Public School age, there is no reason why he should not stay there. The difficulties of discipline and morals inseparable from the difference of sex are not insuperable. Women have evidently grappled with and mastered the momentous games question: there is no reason at all why, when they know that there is a moral question, they should not grapple with and master that. There is some reason to suppose that a large number of women are, or at any rate have been in the past, ignorant that there is a moral question anent boys, as men understand it. ages It is satisfactory that all except one of the Head Mistresses of boys' schools who replied to the queries sent them keep the supreme power and discipline in their own hands. It is absolutely essential for the well-being of a school that the real head of it should keep in his or her own hands the supreme authority in all matters of discipline and morality. It is most distinctly not enough for ladies who keep boys beyond the of 10 and 11 to have a responsible master to cope with the difficulties into which his sex will perhaps naturally give him a readier insight. The chief part of the teaching may be relegated to a wisely-chosen subordinate without any risk; but in matters moral and disciplinary-and especially moral-no one who does not bear the real burden of responsibility can fully realise all that that responsibility implies. CHARLES D. OLIVE. THE PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS. THE ground which is covered at what are generally called Preparatory Schools is, at Clifton, worked by two separate and entirely distinct departments, called respectively, the "Junior School" and "Preparatory School." Of these, the latter takes boys up to eleven years, at which age they pass into the Junior School, where they remain till they are about fourteen, when they enter the Upper School. Before entering into any details of the management and arrangements of these departments, it is necessary to give a short account of their history and growth, for they were originated at different times, and the Preparatory School may be regarded as an attempt to meet certain requirements suggested by the working of the Junior School. Clifton College was opened under Dr. Percival, the present Bishop of Hereford, in September, 1862, with sixty-nine boys, of whom twenty-eight were boarders and forty-one town boys. In the next term there were forty-six new boys, of whom twenty-six were town boys. Some of these town boys subsequently became boarders, but at this early stage of the school's existence it must be noted that the town or day boys were considerably in excess of the boarders. It appears from the Register that the formation of a department for younger boys was contemplated before the end of 1862, i.e., before the end of the first term of the school's life, and the idea of a Junior School may therefore be said to date from the beginning of Clifton College. But the arrangements contemplated were not completed till April, 1863, when a small private Preparatory School was incorporated with the College, and the Junior School was opened with twenty-seven boys, of whom ten were town boys and seventeen boarders. Both Upper and Junior School continued to grow, but while in the former the proportion of the town boys to boarders showed a tendency to diminish, in the latter it steadily increased. It would seem that while the Junior School provided for the Upper School a certain number of boys who were trained on the lines adopted at Clifton, and thereby helped to keep up a high standard among candidates for entrance, it was found that in the case of boys entering the Junior at the age of from ten to twelve years there was something wanting both in the method and scope of their elementary training. It was therefore decided to open a department which should take boys at an earlier age and so prepare them for entering the Junior School. The Preparatory School was accordingly begun in January, 1874. 4333. 2 E 3 The proportion of town boys to boarders in the Junior School having increased as has already been pointed out, the Preparatory may be said to have been primarily intended to supply a want among town boys, and though a Preparatory Boarding-house was opened in this year, this department was and has remained mainly a Day School. Apart from the original intention, this is, of course, the development that was to be expected, as on any theory of education the younger the boy the less obvious is the gain to be derived from the exchange of the influences of home life for those of a boarding school. This is well illustrated by experience at Clifton, where the proportions of town boys to boarders are roughly as follows: In the Upper School as one to two, in the Preparatory School as three to one, while in the Junior School the numbers are equal. To sum up, it may be said that while the Junior School was founded almost with the College itself, the Preparatory School was founded to meet a definite want in the education of little boys living in the town. Clifton claims to have largely solved the problem of successfully educating day boys and boarders. together in such a way that day boys are in no sense in an inferior position, and the inter-relation of these two elements will be found, when the detail of organisation is explained, to be an important factor in the life of a young boy at Clifton. In explaining the organisation of these departments, it is necessary to point out first that although each of them is an integral part of the school, they are, as regards the life of the boys, entirely separated from each other. Both Preparatory and Junior Schools have severally their own school buildings and boarding houses, and the only time at which the three departments of the school are assembled is at the chapel services on Sunday, and occasionally at lectures or school concerts. The boys of one department may not mix in any way with those of another, the only exception being in the case of brothers, who may walk together on Sundays. Preparatory and Junior boys are allowed to look on at certain school football and cricket matches, but for this purpose each has its own part of the Close. Baths and gymnasium are used by all alike, but at totally different times, so that for instance boys in the Preparatory School are being taught swimming and gymnastics while the Juniors are in school. The Preparatory School is divided for teaching purposes into three forms of from twelve to fifteen boys each. Latin, French, English subjects, Scripture, Drawing, with a little elementary Natural History or Science, are taught in all forms, and as form subjects. For Mathematics the boys are classified separately into sets. No one learns Greek. Boys are moved into the Junior School at the age of eleven, but this, as will be pointed out later, may or may not mean promotion. All learn swimming and gymnastics under the school instructors, and the three form-masters personally superintend the cricket and football. There is one boarding house which takes about fifteen boys |