BARBARISM IN ENGLISH EDUCATION. 671 



BARBARISM IN ENGLISH EDUCATION. 



By E. E. WHITE. 



PROF. W. H. YOUNG, formerly of Athens, Ohio, now United States 

 consul at Carlsruhe for Baden and Alsace-Lorraine, has sent us a 

 very interesting epitome of the recent odd discussion in the English pa- 

 pers, chiefly in the Times, of the oddest feature of English public 

 schools. The discussion contains so much that is English, unique, and 

 suggestive, that we regret that we are obliged to condense the epitome 

 to bring it within our space. We have made as few changes as possi- 

 ble, but, that Prof. Young may not be responsible for the sketch in its 

 present shape, we have given it an editorial position. 



The term public school is commonly applied in England to such 

 schools as Eton, Rugby, Harrow, Winchester, etc., which correspond 

 with an American endowed boys' academy on the dormitory plan. 

 Each school comprises several " houses " and about six classes called 

 " forms," and is under the immediate management and instruction of 

 ten to twenty assistant " masters " presided over by a " head-master," 

 and subject to a corporate board of control. In all of these schools 

 Monitorial Discipline has prevailed more or less for centuries, with this 

 striking feature, that all the boys in the lower "forms" are subject, 

 not only in ordinary school discipline, but for personal service of what- 

 ever kind, as cleaning rooms, brushing clothes, bringing wood and 

 water, all kinds of errand-running, etc., to the " sixth form," commonly 

 limited in number from fifteen to thirty of the best of the most ad- 

 vanced boys, who are clothed with authority, and are held responsible 

 for keeping order at all times, in study, in dormitory, on the play- 

 ground, etc. This service by the lower form is called " fagging," and 

 is enforced with rigor just as other discipline the ashen rod being in 

 constant use. Of the " sixth-form " boys a designated few, called in 

 the school " preposters " or " prefects " and in sports " leaders " or 

 " captains," are of still higher authority a sort of court of appeal, and 

 the real disciplinarians of, the school. A boy when abused may appeal 

 to these, next to an " assistant master " (teacher), and finally to the 

 " head-master " or principal ; but these appeals are, in fact, almost 

 never made. The " code of honor " is against it, and an English boy 

 will bear almost any amount of cuffing, kicking, and beating, before he 

 will appeal. Of course such a system is liable to the grossest abuse. 



Further, in these, as in other English schools, physical prowess in 

 sports ranks little, if any, behind mental excellence. The " prefects " 

 in the schools are " captains " in the field-sports, and feel themselves 

 responsible, rather to the English sport-loving public, than to the 

 school authorities, for the athletic proficiency of their several divisions. 

 All of these sports involve a large amount of slang that must be famil- 



