pointed at him by the oppidan with whom he is brought into a superficial contact, but who chooses his friends, with rare exceptions, among his own caste. The great problem to be solved at Eton is this,-to make the expense of educating a boy upon the foundation as large as possible,, so that none but parents of a certain property shall think of entering their children; to make the situation of a boy when entered as disagreeable as possible, so that a line of demarcation shall be drawn between the collegers and the oppidans, which may keep Eton, in spite of its statutes, a purely aristocratic school, We have no objection to a purely aristocratic school, provided the aristocrats are not kept too far behind the humblest classes in what they learn; but we are clearly of opinion that to build and uphold such an anomaly as Eton upon a magnificent endowment for the liberal instruction of poor and indigent boys,' is not a fit work for these times, and belongs to a past age, when Exclusiveness had stronger garrisons and more faithful soldiers than now belong to her. And this reminds us that we have forgotten our friend 'the Vindicator,' with his two-edged sword. Let us hear what he says, for and against this college system:

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It will be evident that the position of the scholars is now completely changed.

The scholars are now, in general, on an equality with their fellowstudents in wealth and respectability, and this total change has had a considerable effect on the workings of the institution. The charities were adapted to a class of boys that no longer exists. Though the scholars still receive the chief and essential benefits of the foundation, yet the supplies granted for their support are inadequate to their present wants, and in some cases they are become unfit objects for the intended charities.'-pp. 54-57.

Here, then, we see that the templated by the founder to his large endowments, are on

'It is due, in fairness to the scholars, and to the classes of society to which they belong, that their real position should be accurately ascertained and openly avowed. They now bear much of the opprobrium which is vulgarly attached to the condition of charity-boys, while, in fact, they are, in many respects, on an equality with their schoolfellows in expenditure, as in birth and education.

It is a necessary part of this mode of life, that practices are enforced, and menial offices of a disreputable nature are exacted of the lower boys, which establish a marked distinction between them and their schoolfellows of a very painful kind; and which tend to produce coarse and ungentlemanly habits.'-pp. 62-3. poor and indigent boys,' conreceive the principal benefits of an equality, in general, with the

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oppidans in wealth and respectability.' The same writer says, in a preceding page (54), they were originally poor boys, of the same rank and estimation as the choristers, &c. ; they are now, with very few exceptions, gentlemen by birth, and of families of comparative opulence.' We leave our readers to decide whether this vital change is an abuse, or not: but the change having taken place, and the gentlemen by birth' being established in Long Chamber, costing little to the foundation, and paying a great deal to persons about the foundation, it appears somewhat strange that such customs should be maintained as will compel them to bear much of the opprobrium which is vulgarly attached to the condition of charity-boys,' and such discipline preserved as leads to produce coarse and ungentlemanly habits.' Assuredly, in this 'madness' there is method' as well as 'mischief. Things have not got into this state by accident. The charity-boy 'opprobrium,'-the menial offices,'-the marked distinctions' which draw the line between the Eton colleger and the Eton oppidan, are ingenious inventions to reconcile the association together of boys of the middle ranks (who, in truth, have succeeded to the poor and indigent boys' of the statutes), and boys of noble and haughty families who have long resorted to Eton, whether for fashion or for interest. Raise the condition of the scholars on the foundation, but make the education at least thoroughly gratuitous; give them decent lodgings and ample food; surround them with the unexpensive comforts which every boy ought to find at a public school; destroy the system of menial service;' and teach them that the feelings and manners of gentlemen are not incompatible with the state of being educated upon a charitable foundation; and we should doubtless have a much more satisfactory exposition of the intentions of the founder as regarded his 'scholars.' But would the oppidans' continue almost exclusively of the class that have so long formed the glory of Eton? We think they would not, at least for the present. When parents, whether of high or of humble birth, shall look at education as the means of establishing the moral character of their children -of teaching what is sound and useful in elementary knowledge of enabling self-education to go on when school instruction is finished;-when parents, whether of high or humble birth, shall despise a school in proportion to its exclusive pretensions shall consider school connexions as utterly worthless for worldly advancement-shall be proud to see a boy rely on his integrity and his acquirements as the only sure foundations of his after-prosperity;-then the Eton_colleger, in all respects a gentleman, however poor, and the Eton

oppidan, in all respects a humble student, however rich, shall be friends and associates, without any line of distinction being raised by avarice or subserviency. Till that time shall arrive, Eton will not be greatly reformed; and the low and unworthy habits' which even the Vindicator' acknowledges to belong to the college life, will remain in full force, because they are the foil to that high and honourable tone' which distinguishes the 'moral condition' of the more fortunate aristocratic students. We fear that, in essentials, this 'moral condition' will not be found to bear any very accurate examination, however plausible may be its high and honourable tone.'

We shall again take the liberty to illustrate our meaning, by a comparison of the different opinions of our candid Vindicator:'

'To encourage a spirit of honourable competition, a love of generous pursuits, a tone of social elegance, a high sense of honour, an extensive knowledge of human nature, a schooling of the affections, a courageous independence of mind, an attachment to intellectual grandeur and the glories of past ages; whatever imparts vigour and loveliness to youth, and ease and dignity to age, is the object of all such establishments. Tried by this standard, Eton will continue to enjoy the pre-eminence it has so long sustained among our public schools.'-p. 69.

'The greatest moral evil now operating at Eton, and which, as I understand, is yearly increasing, to a large amount, arises entirely from the mistaken fondness of the friends of the boys, and is beyond the control of the masters. I allude to the means of indulgence afforded by the large supplies of money received from their homes. Habits of extravagance, and of coarse and sensual gratification, are thus formed a spirit of vicious emulation is sustained, which forces even those who have no resources of their own to keep pace with their wealthier schoolfellows, at the sacrifice of their principle and the ruin of their peace. Many are led to

contract bills, which can be evaded only with the loss of honour; and all in common acquire tastes and habits of expense which infallibly deteriorate the young mind, though the means of gratification may be still afforded in after-life, but of ruinous consequences when they are unbefitting their rank and resources. By these means, a whole corps of idle and worthless persons are retained about

the college, who live upon the illicit and immoral indulgences of the scholars.'-pp. 75-6.

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The grandiloquent phrases of the Vindicator' about 'generous pursuits' and 'social elegance,' and 'high sense of honour, and schooling of the affections,' remind us exceedingly of the old eulogies of the days of chivalry, or, to come nearer our own times, of the servile admiration of the flashy vices of the courts of Charles II. and Louis XV., both of which are to be found in many writers who give us phrases instead of facts. But our excellent author, when he looks at the 'Capability' side of the matter, paints the real Eton with as much accuracy as any of the scandalous chroniclers' who show us what honour, and loyalty,' and 'ladies' love' actually meant in the olden times. The striking passage about 'the greatest moral evil now operating at Eton' is the last paragraph of this singular pamphlet. It winds up the whole matter of Eton discipline' with almost as much precision as a list of errata. In truth, the thing will be more intelligible if we throw it into this form:

a spirit which forces those who have no resources of their own, to keep pace with their wealthier schoolfellows.'

'tastes and habits of expense

whi infallibly deteriorate the young mind.'

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This is rather a fearful inventory of whatever imparts vigour and loveliness to youth, and ease and dignity to age.' The evils thus summed up are, we are informed, beyond the control of the masters.' Let us examine what that control is. And here we must again first advert to the peculiar condition of the foundation scholars, as distinguished from the oppidans.

The seventy scholars' of Eton have their commons in the college-hall: the four or five hundred oppidans board at private

houses. The 'scholars' sleep in one barrack-like room; the oppidans have mostly separate apartments in their boardinghouses. The scholars' are locked up every evening (in the winter at a very early hour) in Long Chamber, where no one in authority visits them afterwards: the oppidans have to answer evening absence* in their houses, which they cannot subsequently leave, but where they may enjoy their leisure free from interruption. It is not for us to depict the traditionary iniquities of the tedious nights of Long Chamber-the persecutions and the sufferings-the gross revellings of the elder boys, and the wearisome ministerings of the younger-the curses and the tears-the riot, the ribaldry, the practical jokes, the base outrages. The writer before us says, 'There is an entire want of effectual control over the boys while they are in their chambers.'-'There are temptations and tendencies in this unnatural freedom, which few boys have the will, and still fewer the courage to withstand.' We have already seen how this same writer speaks of the effects of the menial offices' which belong to this system. The Quarterly Reviewer, in an article intended as a palliative for the complaints against Eton, says it is almost impossible for a lower colleger to be a gentleman.' Under these contaminating habits, then, do the collegers pass their evenings and nights-in this way do they live, for one half of the year, twelve hours out of the twenty-four. During the day they are subjected to the same control as the rest of the school. Let us see what that is.

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There is a great deal of freedom-and, to a certain extent, we think not objectionable freedom-in the life of an Eton boy. He is not for ever cooped up between four walls, or, when allowed to go out, marched in solemn files the most melancholy of processions,' as this pretence for exercise has properly been called. He has many holidays-too many: and the worst of this matter is, that they are not holidays of regular occurrence, but depend upon the high days of the calendar.' Most of his labours must be performed out of school, for the school is not a place for learning his lessons, but for exhibiting his proficiency. But still he has much leisure. There are distinctions between the 'bounds' of an upper and lower boy: but all go out of bounds;' and the lower boys, who are in the condition of fags,' are compelled by those whom they serve to go beyond the legal limits, at whatever peril of flogging they may incur. The only practical check upon the limits of the freedom which an Eton boy enjoys is the system of frequently calling absence.' The Vindicator' says, The regulations by which the amusements are

* Answering absence in Eton phrase means answering to the roll-call.