1864.] The Great School at Winchester. 325 to begin at the point where "taking place" called officers, are invested also with speends. cial authority, and have charge respectively of the hall, school-room, library, and chapel. The prefect of hall is the chief of these five, and has large powers of general superintendence; he is "the governor of the school among the boys," and their organ of communication will the head master. All the prefects, except the five and the ten respectively, obtain their positions by seniority; the five officers are chosen by the warden, with the advice of the head master, with reference to their character and power of influencing their schoolfellows. All are invested with authority by the warden in a traditional and appropriate form of words (præficio te sociis concameralibus præficio te aulæ, &c). They are empowered to punish corporally. It is not the practice for them to set impositions. The hours of work and play at Winchester, like most other parts of the system, are fixed by ancient usage. The boys prepare, as well as say their lessons in school, and the rule is to allow, for every lesson an hour long, an hour of preparation. Speaking roughly, on two days in the week a boy is in school between six and seven hours, on the other days between four and five hours, besides the time given to composition or private work in the evenings. Of the school-hours, he spends about half in preparing his lessons, and the other half in saying them. A hard-working sixthform boy would generally work about seven hours a day; before an examination, perhaps nine or ten hours. If he also made a study of cricket, he would probably give, one day with another, three hours a day to the game; and it is worth observation, not only that Winchester, with very inferior numbers, has played a great number of successful matches againgst Eton and Har row, Winchester, the oldest of our great schools, undoubtedly produced the earliest type of what is called the monitorial system, and appears to have preserved that type almost unaltered during several centuries. The beginning of the systen may be traced to the founder's statutes. "In each of the lower chambers let there be at least three scholars of good character, more advanced than the rest in age, discretion, and knowledge, who may superintend their chamber-fellows in their studies, and oversee them diligently, and may from to time certify and inform the warden, sub-warden, and head master, respecting their behavior and conversation, and progress in study." There were six chambers, and therefore 18 "Prefects," and the number was not increased when the original school-room was turned into a seventh chamber. The 18 chamber-prefects still exist; of these, eight have power only in the inner quadrangle, practically only in the chambers; the remaining ten (plena potestate præfecti) have power everywhere; and five of the ten, The system of fagging among the scholars is connected with that of government by prefects. The 18 prefects, and they only, have power to fag; all the scholars who are not prefects are, strictly speaking, liable to be fagged, but the burden falls chief ly on those more recently elected, whatever may be their position in the school. A junior scholar who was examined by the commissioners, and who had come in at the head of his election a few months before, was, at the time he was examined, in the senior part of the fifth, which is considerably above the middle of the school. It would be a year and half, he informed us, before he ceased to be liable to be fagged. The system is somewhat complicated. A boy may be "valet" to one prefect, whom he waits on in his chamber; "breakfast fag" to another, whom he attends at tea-not at breakfast—in hall; and liable also to be sent on errands, and to be obliged to field at cricket, at the bidding of any prefect who may happen to want those services. This would ordinarily be the case with a boy who was not one of the seven juniors, but was just above them. If he were one of the seven juniors, he would be general fag (instead of "valet") in his own chamber. The expenses of a commoner boarding in the head master's house are estimated by Dr. Moberly at about 1157. [about $557] a year, including travelling money, pocket money, and the tradesmen's bills. There are three boarding houses in addition to the head master's-two kept by assistant masters, and the other by a retired tutor-but the expenses appear to be about the same in all. The "scholars," who are elected annually by competitive examination, are boarded, lodged, and educated without any expense to their parents beyond a payment of thirty shillings a year to the French master (with an addition of two guineas if they learn German), and if not pre further payment of two guineas to th tutor." The system of open comp for the scholarships (of which there a average about ten vacant every yea rendered obligatory in the college ordinance of "the Oxford Universit mission," in 1854, and appears to worked well. Notice of every "el is given in the Times, and circula veying every information are sent to person who makes inquiries on the s THE POSSESSIVE AUGMENT THE addition to the English noun in the possessive case has always been somewhat of a mystery. Some assert it to have arisen from the abbreviation of his-as "Jolin's book" is equivalent to “John his book"'-a mode of writing the phrase which had not entirely passed out of vogue in our younger days. But then there is the possession of the female, and "Mary'r book," which would be the abbreviation for "Mary her book," is not written at all. One writer holds that the noun is converted by the 8 into a possessive adjective; and this can be very well supported also. Perhaps the best explanation is to proclaim the existence of a real genitive case in English. A recent writer on this subject, Mr. James Manning, enumerates nineteen instances of the use of the possessive addition, and discusses each with considerable care. Some of these are, however, only repetitions, for "William's book" and "the book is William's" amount to the same thing, the word "book" being expressed in the one instance, and implied in the other. So with "Mary's pencil" and "the pencil is Mary's." So, also, with "the skin is a calf's" that is, "the skin is a calf's skin." Other of the instances are scarcely admissible, except among the vulgar, as, "Upon Caesar's passing the Rubicon," where the 's is superfluous. And the 's in the nineteenth instance is hardly a possessive augment. It is rather a mere abbreviation of "as." "I mentioned the high ti Deptford's being the cause." After all, why inquire into the mat all? We do not agree with the L Athenæum which asserts that "to all discussions no one can object, so long is understood that ancient learning to dictate to our English tongue." W and do object, because it is a waste o to enter on the discussion. An E barrister might find something better even though he is in his eighty-third has left the law, and has entered u literary life-literally, it would seer taking the letter s for a subject. 66 The truth is that from the earliest the genitive case in English was m by the addition of es to the nomin form. Chaucer, if our memory be co did not say man his bliss,” but “m bliss." In process of time some p cut out the e, and substituted an ap phe; and the novelty was imitated grew into universal use. Whether, ever, the possessive augment be an a viation, or the sign of a true geniti the mark which degrades a respectabl substantial noun, into a beggarly and neyman-like adjective, is a matter great moment. It is enough that cus which makes the language, has rend the possessive augment a necessary of English. All we have to do is to and obey. If such a thing should be lish, is not the question; but, if it is. The Possessive Augment. tics-those terrible fellows who going about the dark places of ces with a lantern in their hands, defects are fond of giving reatain modes of expresssion. A er in Notes and Queries, informs cant phrase "As sure as eggs not ungrammatical, because, oh, Phoibos!' it is a misprint unciation, or mis-something or "As sure as X is X," the uner being algebraical to the last. true, why not say, "as sure as and be done with your plural e late Edgar A. Poe once wrote ought was a review upon a twok on English grammar, in which ed away the subjunctives, denying ice of such a mood altogether. was merely "if I should be," be," there being an ellipsis of the or "shall." Of course he would "if I am," in certain contingenvery nicely explained, to be sure. id nothing about another tense. ot give us the invisible auxiliary Fere." We cannot conjecture his on on that point, unless he put the us-"If I [had been] w [ith you which carries the absurd too far. f the grammarians squabble about tion of a noun. Lindley Murray's 327 to make up the compound word by which that particular Miss Julia Squiggles is distinguished before all the other Miss Julia Squiggleses, past, present, or to come; and the whole twenty syllables are to all intents and purposes a noun-a name dependent upon certain peculiarities of the party described. On the other hand, the alternate definition is open to objection. "Brains" is a noun, beyond doubt; but the brains of a writer who devotes ninety octavo pages to discussing the possessive augment, in these days of labor-saving contrivances, certainly do not exist, nor can we have any notion of them whatever. It is very evident how the possessive augment has grown to its present shape. An examination of the leading writers of English, from the earliest time until the present day will show us that. As to why it has assumed the present shape, is a more difficult matter to determine. It is, perhaps not impossible-few things are, except the attempt of a man to raise himself two inches from the ground by tugging at the straps of his boots. But what is to be gained by the inquiry, except a consumption of pens, paper, and ink, and a waste of time? By way of ending the subject upon which we are in danger of becoming as tedious as Mr. Sergeant Manning himself, and by way of a noun was for a while acof showing our sense of the defect of the out the people said, "can there be English language in forming its genitive by which shall be the name of any a sibilant, we will repeat a story found in t does not have actual or supposed an old English magazine. The English ." One writer, James Brown, who people, having discovered that hissing prevolume to prove no one under- vailed in their language, petitioned Satan structure of the English language to give them a better vocabulary. Either self, gave a definition as the best because they were old friends, or that he and printed it partly in small cap- was in an obliging humor, he endeavored to how how very perfect it was: "A comply with their wishes. He got together an INDEPENDENT name." This had a collection of old books, in various lanfaults, namely: it did not define guages, mummy rags, and other odds and and a noun is not independent. ends, and boiled them all in a huge caldron. noun and name are the same thing; The froth which arose he sent to his Engat part of speech would a depend- lish clients, who were well satisfied. It is ne be? A noun is a name beyond added, that just as the boiling was nearly nd it may consist of one word or over, the Council of Nice broke up, and fifty. "The-never-to-be-too-much the books and papers thus rendered useless -and-constantly-beloved-Miss-Julia- by being deprived of authority, were sold es dances" consists of a noun and It is true that the first sixteen svl cheaply to his infernal highness. They were thrown in with the rest, but not hav the hard words that tumble from some people's mouths now and then. The author assures us that "the language would have been an excellent language, if it had not been for the Council of Nice, and the words had been well-boiled." He might, with equal truth and aptness, perhap added that the hissing sound was no hurt by the boiling, or that Satar ciously neutralized the benefits h ferred, by adding to the language t sessive augment. PRIMARY INSTRUCTION. Requisites for the lessons. The teacher should be provided with laths or thin strips of wood, varying in length from one inch to one yard. At least six of the shorter measures should be procured, viz.; six laths one inch long, six two inches long, etc, up to twelve inches. These will afford employment for several children at the same time. Outline for early lessons. The different measures from one inch to one foot being placed on a table, several children may be requested to find the shortest measure or lath upon the table. The attention of all being gained, the teacher may tell them that those selected are one inch long. All will repeat in concert looking at them carefully-"The laths are one inch long." The measures being thrown upon the table, six children may be directed to find a lath one inch long. Let them arrange themselves in a line facing the school, holding their laths in their hands, and the rest observe and decide whether correct. The teacher may now take a two-inch lath and after gaining the attention of all, may place the one-inch lath upon it twice and allow the class to decide how long it is. All will repeat "The lath is two inches long." Six of the class may be sent to pick up laths two inches long, others one inch. All should observe and decide as before. Proceed in the same manner to give the children practice in distinguishing the length of other measures. We usually send seven or eight little ones to the table upon which the laths are lying at the same time to pick up measures of different lengths. After they have selected them they arrange themselves in a line facing the school and each one in succession holds un the measuro and says “I was told to find a lath (for exampl inches long." All observe, as the t measures it by the one-inch, and cou number of inches as it is proved wh it is right or not. Practice may be in counting by two's and three's i measuring process. The questions be frequently asked how many time the one-inch measure it? How many did I place the two-inch measure upon How much longer is the four-inch than the two-inch? etc. The idea of ion as well as addition and multiplic may be developed in this manner. Drawing Lines. Children may b lowed to find measures of a specified le and pass to the board to draw lines of same length. We usually send six to lines of the same length and request t in their seats to draw upon slates. T at the board after drawing are allowe pass among the desks and measure lines upon the slates giving each chil opportunity of seeing whether he is r or not. The class may be kept very m interested during these exercises. As m children should be kept busy as possi "Activity is the law of childhood;" acting upon this law, they never wea even when there is a sameness in lessons. Order of Exercises for Following Lesso 1. Review previous lessons; 2. Distingu 1, 2, and 3 feet; 3. Class draw lines 4, 8, 10, and 12 inches long, and bisect them; Class judge of the length of books, slat pencils, etc; 5. Draw parallel lines (for ample) 6 inches long two inches apart; Draw circles having a specified diamet 7. Measure off one, two, and three feet cord on tape: 8. Class make out by actu ience of music proposes two cipal methods, the analytic and In my first article I treated the Piano keyboard in the former, nd to treat the same subject in method, to give a sample of both. represents a tone, or, since we Piano alone in view, a key. All are of the same shape. We are now how the same character can all the keys of the Piano. Let us orizontal line, and write below, Dove it, a note, the letter O. We is three differently situated notes. is call the note below this line b, on the line c, and the note above , and we see the principle of the angement at once. The note on represents the long key c, in or the middle of the keyboard; the w-the long key b, next to and at of the key c; and the note above, key next to and at the right of the ve see from this that the notes b, c, actly situated like their correspondb, c, d; we see also that notes in instance represent only long keys. snow draw the second line below line, and call it the lower second. ce again a note below, on, and above will be seen at once. that the note his line occupies the same place below the first line bones it on this second line is a new note representing the key a, at the left of and next to b; this note begins our musical alphabet, although it has long ago ceased to be a starting point; the tone c with its note and key having assumed this prerogative. By drawing the upper second line (above the first), we obtain again three notes, although all of them do not occupy new positions, the note below being identical with the note above the first line, hence representing the same key d; but the note on this second line represents the key e, at the right of and next to d, and the note above-the key f-next to e at the right. If we draw one more (the third upper) line, we can finish our musical alphabet, since it consists of only seven letters. By writing a note below, on, and above this third upper line, we obtain again two new notes (one of them being identical with the note above the second line), viz.: g and a, representing the keys g and a lying next to each other, and at the right of f. This a is said to be an eighth (or an octave) higher than the first a, the reason of which I need not explain. These two a's are easily discerned one from the other by the great distance of their position, both on the staff and on the Piano. In the same manner every note and key has its six or seven octaves above or below them; all the eight |