SCHOOLS 



usher lectures on Monday and Thursday to III 

 and II on Terence, and to I on Vives ; on 

 Wednesday and Thursday to III on Sturmius' 

 Select Ephtlet of Cicero, to II on Lucian's Dia- 

 logues, and to I on Lewis Vives. 



At each lecture the boys take down ' flowers 

 of speech ' (a reminiscence of Udal) and idioms, 

 also antitheses, epithets, synonyms, proverbs, 

 similes, comparisons, anecdotes, descriptions of 

 seasons, places, persons, fables, sayings, figures 

 and apophthegms. 



At 9 the masters go out of school. The hour 

 to 10 o'clock was presumably spent on the theme 

 and notes of lectures. At IO the prepostor of 

 school shouts, 'Get up for prayers.' Standing 

 on either side of school, they follow the words 

 of a leader named by the prepostor. Then two 

 and two they go to Hall ; and dinner over, re- 

 turn to school in the same order. At 12 the 

 usher comes back and hears IV, who are under 

 him till I o'clock, repeat what the master had read 

 them before dinner. At I p.m. form IV return 

 to their own place. The master returns at 

 i p.m., and from I to 3 p.m. examines VII and 



VI on the lecture, and makes ' Vulgars ' out of it 

 to exercise them in Latin ; but always at 2.30 

 the themes are handed to and looked over by 

 the master. The usher is similarly employed. 

 From 3 to 4 the masters are out of school. At 

 4 the forms say (reddunt) to the master what has 

 been set them on the request of a prepostor, viz., 



VII and VI, Greek grammar, and V, Valerius 

 Maximus, Lucius Florus, Cicero's Epistles, or 

 Susimbrotus. The usher looks over the themes 

 of III, and the sentences of II. Grammar rules 

 and ' Vulgars ' are said over, ' that the grammar 

 rules may be better understood and the Latin 

 tongue be thoroughly familiar.' 



At 5 the boys go to Hall and return as before. 



At 6 those of form VII who have been told 

 off to teach the rest of the forms begin their 

 work, and exercise their charges in explaining the 

 lessons and turning English into Latin. Also 

 they recite and correct the dictations given out 

 by the masters. The prepostor of each form 

 does this, so that the schoolmasters may remark 

 on all to their proficiency in learning and be- 

 haviour. 



At 7 p.m. they go [to Hall] to drink (patum, 

 probably supper). On coming back they exer- 

 cise themselves as in the hour from 6 to 7, 

 except at certain times of the year, when, at the 

 discretion of the master and by custom, they 

 play. At 8 they go to bed, after saying their 

 prayers. 



Friday and Saturday are separately treated. 

 Friday here, as elsewhere, was the day of woe. 

 'After lecture* (i.e. about 9.30) 'those who have 

 committed any grave crime are tried, they call it 

 "corrections," and pay the penalty worthy of 

 malefactors.' The masters do no prelection 

 before dinner. From I to 3 they examine on 



the prelections of the week, and at 4 hear the 

 renderings of the exercises done between 4 and 

 5 p.m. during the week. Before 5 the master 

 lectures to VII and VI on Lucan or some other, 

 to V on Horace, and to IV on Apophthegm* [of 

 Erasmus], Martial's Epigrams, Catullus, or Thomas 

 More ; and the usher to III and II on &sop's 

 Fables, and to I on Cato [MoraKa\. 



Saturday was entirely given up to repetition. 

 At 7 they ' render ' the lectures of Friday. 

 ' Varyings ' are given up. From 9 to I the 

 masters are out of school ; later they hear repeti- 

 tions of ' dictata.' Themes are given in. Then 

 Declamations are held on a given theme by boys 

 named for the week, who speak against each 

 other. 



Malim's time-table may be thus summarized : 



5 a.m. Surgitt. Prayers. Make beds. Wash. 



6 a.m. School Usher enters. Prayers. 



Repetition. 



7 a.m. H.M. enters. Repetition. 



8 a.m. Subjects for varyings given out. 



9 a.m. Lecture expounded by custos of each 



form, and then by masters. 

 10 a.m. Prtcei. 

 10-12 a.m. Hall. 

 12 a.m. School. Usher enters. 

 i p.m. Master enters. 



3 p.m. Both masters exeunt. 



4 p.m. Masters return. 



5 p.m. Bever. 



6 p.m. Exposition by pupil teachers. 



7 p.m. Supper. 



8 p.m. Bed. 



j 

 I 



The whole school-day was thus a nine-hours' 

 day. 



One of the once most celebrated of Eton cus- 

 toms, now defunct, is related by Malim at length 

 and with evident relish that of ' Montem.' 



About the Conversion of St. Paul (25 January), on 

 a day selected by the master, in the same way in 

 which they go gathering nuts in September, the boys 

 go to Salt Hill (ad montem). The Hill is a sacred 

 place in the school religion of Eton. This they make 

 a holy see of Apollo and the Muses and celebrate in 

 verses for the beauty of the cornfields, the pleasant- 

 ness of the grassy meadows, its tempered shades [not 

 much in request at the end of January !], the concert 

 of singing birds. Tempe they call it and prefer it 

 above Helicon. Here the novices or freshmen 

 (rtcentei) who have not yet stood up in the Eton 

 ranks to the lash like men for a year, are first anointed 

 with salt and then characterized in verses, with as 

 much salt and humour as possible. Then they make 

 epigrams on the freshmen, each trying to beat the 

 other in eloquence and wit. They can say whatever 

 comes into their mouths, as long as it is in Latin, witty 

 and not obscene. At the end they dip their face and 

 checks in salt tears, and are then initiated into all the 

 rites of veterans. Ovations and triumphs as of a 

 general follow ; and they are really pleased both at 

 having passed through the ordeal, and at being en- 

 rolled in the company of such witty fellow-soldiers. 



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