COWLEY DIOCESAN SCHOOL. THE Public Presentation of Prizes to the boys of this School took place on Thursday, December 18, in the presence of the Vice-Chancellor, the Rev. J. A. Warburton, the Rev. R. Benson, Rev. E. G. Shapcote, Rev. A. Harrison, Rev. E. C. Peel, Rev. G. Wilgress, Professor Burrows, and several of the parents and friends of the pupils. The following report was read from the Committee:"The Rev. Humphrey Cholmeley, the Examiner in Holy Scripture, expressed himself thoroughly satisfied with the papers in the First Division, and the Rev. L. Gilbertson reports several of the boys as having answered admirably. "The Rev. J. Cholmeley considered the Algebra very creditably done, and after the experience of examining several other Schools considers the average of Arithmetic to be higher than in many others. Some of the papers in Mensuration are reported by the Rev. F. Harrison as very good. "Professor Burrows expressed the greatest satisfaction with the progress which the boys had made in History, and was kind enough to give two prizes in consequence. "Several of the boys have sent up Drawings which gave the Examiners great pleasure, especially G. Dodge should be mentioned with approbation, for his Map of England. "The Literature and Geography are also satisfactory." The VICE-CHANCELLOR, before distributing the prizes, spoke with much affectionate earnestness to the boys upon the importance of doing their best at these half-yearly examinations whether they felt themselves likely to carry off a prize or no. God's gifts in this world are very unequally distributed-perhaps not so unequally as may at first sight appear to us to be the case-but whether He have given to us small talents or great, He expects us to turn them to the greatest advantage, and proportions His final blessing not to what He gave in this world but to the use which we have made of it. We should therefore make our progress in learning and our cultivation of all those talents which God may give us a matter of real devotion to Him. The obtaining of a prize should be only a şecondary stimulus-although, as such, a very legitimate encouragement to our exertions. He could well enter into the pleasure which their fathers and mothers would have in welcoming home any who had been successful in obtaining such distinctions; and at the same time he was sure that those parents would give an equally hearty Christmas welcome to their children, who felt assured that their boys had done their best, whatever might be their accidental position in relation to other boys in the same class. Being a father himself he could well enter into those feelings, and having been a boy he could well remember the feelings with which he from time to time went home. He thought that no event of his boyhood had left upon his mind a keener sense of pleasure than his first receiving a prize for writing. Since that time God had granted him other successes of various kinds, but he had often had pleasure in later life in pointing out to his children the prizes of his school boy days. The pleasure which is to be found in the approval of good men was one which they were right to cherish. "I think," said he, "we can even see something of this in the most sacred of all biographies. Little is told us of the first thirty years of the life of our Blessed Lord. But there is one thing which we do know respecting that mysterious time,-His continued obedience to his parents; and then we are told-as if He would sanction in His own Person the holy exercise of those natural affections implanted by Himself within us, which lead us to desire subordinately to our Heavenly Father's approval the esteem of our earthly superiorsthat He advanced in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men."" He was very glad in reading the letters from those members of the University who had conducted the Examination, to see the very high praise which they were able to give to most of the work done in the School. He particularly noticed the historical examiner's report, for he knew the interest which Professor Burrows had so long taken in that department of the Examination. It was a great thing for the School that a gentleman so distinguished in that branch of learning in the University, should at each half-year give them his experienced judgment as to what they required. He therefore felt great delight in seeing that hints from so able a teacher had begun to bear the fruit we should desire. In Divinity the School still maintains the high character which it always had. He should be very sorry if advance in other parts of teaching had been purchased by neglect of that which was the most important of all. Other studies indeed might lead the mind of the student from nature up to nature's God, but in the study of the Christian Faith we are led not |