1S23.] Establishment at St 



the time v.itli a prayer of acknowledg- 

 ment for the tardy justice of their na- 

 tive couniry. Tlic little band beins 

 poor, and utterly destitute of iili 

 means, Mr. Weld ])resentcd I'leiir 

 •with Stonyhiirst, and loOD adjiiiiiin;^ 

 acres, at a yearly rent of 30/. tbe acre, 

 for an establishment of Catholic edu- 

 cation. His own sons he confi<led.to 

 their care: many others followed so 

 great an example; and the manage- 

 ment of the farm allows the associa- 

 tion to receive and elotbe boarders 

 for 50/. anuually. 'J lie musical, dan- 

 cing:, and paiulinn;, masters' charges 

 are moderate. The additions made to 

 the house arc large and convenient, 

 and, ail together, the visitor inspects an 

 establisl:ment in every respect good, 

 in many perfect. 



At Stonjhiirst the number of boys 

 has varied from 200 to 250 ; and the 

 ecclesiastics, whet'ncr actually ordain- 

 ed or intended, number abont fifty. 

 The former are divided, according- to 

 their proficiency, into six schools, 

 from which there is yearly a gradual 

 ascent: abecedarians begin the course, 

 and learn French grammar and fables, 

 begin Latin grammar, read a little 

 Florus, and essay-composition in 

 French and English. At the close of 

 the year these boys ascend to the next 

 room, still under the tuition of the 

 same master, and become figurations. 

 Their studies include Cornelius, the 

 first part of Murray's French I'eader, 

 CSret-k granmiar, and a few of Esop's 

 Fables, and begin to write Latin, 'i'ho 

 third year's school is called Grammar; 

 jL'aesar, Sallust, the remaining Greek 

 fables, Telemachus, are the classics 

 read, when Greek composition aom- 

 mcnces. The next step is ternicd 

 Syntax, because in the former style 

 grammar and prosody were largely 

 and in a philoso|)hical view studieii 

 during it; but the grammar, an ab- 

 struse and tedious compilation, be- 

 came disused ; the prosody is indis- 

 jiensablc. Cicero de Seneetufe ct dc 

 Amicitifi, Livy, Xer.ophon's Cyrus, 

 and another division of the French 

 Reader, constitute the year's task. 

 Next arc the poets: Homer, Virgil, 

 and Ovid's F',()istle3 from Pontus, in- 

 troduce them to th<; beauties of the 

 art; they versify in the elegiac and 

 heroic measures of the three lan- 

 guages, English, Latin, and Greek. 

 In the last yeur our sluiients' name is 

 Hlietorieians : Demosthenes', Cireio's, 

 and BosMiet's, Orations, Soplioclos and 



onnlnint College. 453 



Horace, engage tluir labours ; their 

 themes are odes and oraiions ; and the 

 course of humanities is concluded un- 

 der one ai:d the same master,— a ma- 

 terial advantage: the obstacles to a 

 pupil's prolieieney, until a ieci|)roc;;l 

 tact is familiar between him and his 

 teacher, are ever great, and often in-' 

 calculable. 



'I'lie system of education observed 

 by t]:e order of Jesus is in itself a 

 plan of excellence, perhap.s the best 

 that has been sketeiied, cert:iinly thc" 

 bcst lliat has been practised ; but it is 

 the method and perseverance, the con- 

 stant eye and preventive iiaiid, that 

 strengtiiens so cfT-eaciousiy their in- 

 struction, and preserves so nuich mo- 

 rality in the boy. Indeed i;jdi!Verent 

 ability, viiJi so guardian an inten- 

 dance, would sulilee to produce a 

 scholar and a man of steady actions. 

 In education it is not so much the 

 means and the end as the way and the 

 end, tl'.at one should contemplate. 

 The administration of tlie establish- 

 ment is peculiar. 'I'he masters only 

 see their boys in school ; bcyoiid the 

 communication of knowledge their 

 province does not extend. At play 

 and during study, to the dormitory 

 and to the chapel, the attendance of 

 one of three prefects is unremitting. 

 The master and the prelect notice and 

 award penance for any disorder and 

 deficiency during their respective su- 

 perinlendanee ; but it is the part of the 

 prefect only to administer it, and it is 

 not even usual for ti-.e same prefect to 

 award punishmont and administer it: 

 the culprit is generally sent to solicit 

 his penal due fiom another's hand. 

 Idleness or noise are occasionally pu- 

 nished by an hour's study during a tirrc 

 of recreation. Chat duringstudy,ai!(I 

 ignorance in school, are feruled : this 

 ferule is rather a severe instrument, 

 made of soleing-leather by the cobler, 

 to slap the |'alm of the hand ; the num- 

 ber of slaps never exceeds nine on 

 each hand. For insolence to a supe- 

 rior, or ir.fleeency during prayers, they 

 are publicly s<t on their knees during 

 dinner in the relectory. For any 

 greater ofienee or high excess of those 

 mentioned, there lies in the first pre- 

 fect's room an instrument vulgarly call- 

 ed cat-o' -nine-tails. The culprit, as in 

 other cases, is .sent to rap at the door: 

 " Come in," sounds a dee]) voice; a 

 trembling liand withdraws the bolt, 

 and, in a feeble voire, the |)o(ir fellow 

 says, "I'm sent for a disciidine, sir." 



• I'm 



