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college was originally modelled from Winchester, and the first 
head_master, William of Waynflete, came from that seat of 
learning, accompanied by five Fellows and 35 scholars, who 
formed the nucleus of the institution which has ever since held 
a high place in the educational records of the nation. For the 
first few years, and in the perilous times of unsettled govern- 
ment, Eton passed through various vicissitudes, but by a judicious 
compliance with the changing circumstances of the period, the 
college continued to hold its own, though Henry VIII. forced 
the Fellows to make a disadvantageous exchange, taking from 
them 64 acres on the southern side of the great London 
thoroughfare, Piccadilly, 94 acres on the opposite side of that 
road, and 18 acres at Knightsbridge ; he also took the Hospital 
of St. James’, which was then a Leper Hospital, and built on 
the site the Palace which still bears the name of St. James. In 
exchange he gave them three insignificant farms in Sussex. 
Queen Hlizabeth came several times to Eton, and was addressed 
in the then general terms of extravagant adulation. James i ® 
was entertained at a banquet, and knighted the reigning head- 
master. Lord Bacon once applied unsuccessfully for the 
Provostship. We find Eton firmly established in the time of 
Charles II. ; in 1719, we have record of a bill for Mr. Wiliam 
Pitt, afterwards Lord Chatham, from which it appears that the 
cost of half a year’s board amounted to £123, and half a year’s 
tuition to six guineas ! 
Passing on, the paper dealt with Dr. Keate, the most 
famous head-master HKton ever possessed—famed amongst more 
important characteristics for his powers with the birch, so 
much so, indeed, that according to some his name was derived 
from two Greek words meaning “I shed woe.” Keate had 
practically the whole teaching of the school to do himself, 
and out of his pupils may be selected the late Duke of 
Devonshire, Mr. W. E. Gladstone, the late Lord Iddesleigh, the 
late Earl Granville, two Speakers of the House of Commons, ten 
Judges, and no less than seventeen Bishops! Surely Keate 
must have been a great head-master. The paper proceeded to 
give some interesting details of the school days of Mr. Gladstone, 
Arthur Hallam, and others, who have since become well-known, 
and after reviewing Dr. Goodford’s and Dr. Hawtrey’s reigns, 
proceeded to a description of Eton of to-day, which was too 
largely conversational and anecdotical to bear summary in the 
Club transactions. Gray's celebrated ode, the Eton boating 
song, and some other literary works dealing with Eton, were also 
introduced and discussed. | 
