A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



in 1797 contains some interesting details. The 

 annual pension was 40 guineas ; for those under 

 twelve 37 ; but scholars in rhetoric and philo- 

 sophy paid 45, 'on account of extraordinary 

 expenses and some particular indulgences.' 

 There was a uniform dress for Sundays — a 

 plain coat of superfine blue cloth with yellow 

 buttons, and red cloth or kerseymere waistcoats. 

 Latin and Greek, history, geography, and ele- 

 mentary mathematics were taught ; particular 

 care was taken that boys should read well, write 

 a good hand, and speak and write French with 

 accuracy. All dined and supped with their 

 masters and had the same table, no distinctions 

 being allowed in diet or clothing. The garden 

 and court used as a playground were described 

 as \'ery airy and spacious. Pocket money was 

 limited to a guinea a year. There was then 

 only one vacation — from 15 August to 15 Sep- 

 tember. \Vhile the college was conducted 

 abroad it was of course impossible to have fi-e- 

 quent vacations ; the boys mostly resided the 

 whole time from their entrance till the comple- 

 tion of their course. The semi-holiday periods, 

 such as Christmas, were utilized for acting, 

 and at Stonyhurst itself this was not entirely 

 discontinued until 1898. The hour of rising 

 was fixed at 5.30 a.m. in 181 2 instead of the 

 older custom of five in summer and six in 

 winter. 



One internal difficulty arose from the suppres- 

 sion of the Society of Jesus. The masters had 

 been bound together by their common vows, 

 and after these had been relaxed in 1773 they 

 continued to live in the old way, hoping for the 

 reconstitution of the order. As a temporary 

 expedient a brief was obtained from Pius VI in 

 1778 formally establishing the Lidge 'Academy,' 

 and this was confirmed in 1796, and again in 

 1802 after settlement at Stonyhurst. The 

 somewhat anomalous position of the rector of 

 the college and his assistants was not removed 

 till the order was restored in 1 8 14, but even 

 then local difficulties in England had to be met 

 and overcome. 



A large additional building was added in 

 1809-10, on the east side. The number of 

 boys continued to increase till there were over 

 200, but about 1815 a decline began, to some 

 extent caused by the opening of other schools, 

 especially in Ireland, some of them offshoots of 

 Stonyhurst, and in 1829 there were only 120 

 boys. The numbers rose, though irregularly, 

 until there were 150 in 1852, 200 in 1857^ 

 250 in 1 86 1, and 300 in 1884. This last figure 

 has not always been maintained, but there were 

 in October, 1907, 270 boys at the school. 



Additional buildings were constantly required 

 and f\irther portions of the Stonyhurst estate^ 

 were purchased. St. Mary's Seminary was 

 opened m 1830, and an infirmary in 1844- 

 while in 1843 the completion of the old court 



on the west side by the erection of the present 

 building was begun. This work was completed 

 in 1856. A house by the Hodder, since greatly 

 enlarged, had been occupied as a novice house as 

 early as 1803 ; this became in 1855 * prepara- 

 tory school. The first observatory was built in 

 1838 ; the second, for astronomy only, in 1866. 

 Ten years later plans were adopted for re- 

 placing the east or college building of 1 810 by 

 more suitable and artistic school rooms. This 

 was done section by section, so as not to inter- 

 fere with school work, until the whole was 

 complete — thirteen years after the commence- 

 ment. The double centenaries of Saint-Omer 

 and Stonyhurst were duly celebrated in 1892 

 and 1894. 



The scholastic traditions of Saint-Omer have to 

 some extent been preserved at Stonyhurst till the 

 present day, but many have had to be abandoned 

 owing to the rise of new studies and the entry 

 of the boys into competitive examinations for the 

 Civil Service and degrees at London University. 

 The old names of the seven classes or ' schools ' 

 are still in use : Elements, Figures, Rudiments, 

 Grammar, Syntax, Poetry or Humanities, and 

 Rhetoric being the ascending scale. Origin- 

 ally the one master took his boys through all the 

 stages, beginning afresh with a new set of boys 

 when the old ones had gone. As in other Jesuit 

 schools the stage has always had a prominent 

 place in the scholars' exercises. A school maga- 

 zine was started in 188 1. 



A peculiarity in the teaching, introduced 

 in 1855, is the division of the classes into two 

 opposite parties — Romans and Carthaginians 

 — who contend against each other individu- 

 ally, an extra holiday being the reward of the 

 victorious side each half-term. At the same 

 time was revived the institution of 'extra- 

 ordinary ' work for the more advanced boys of 

 each class. 



The Stonyhurst name for monthly holidays — 

 Blandykes — comes from a country house near 

 Saint-Omer at which the boys spent a day once a 

 month in the summer. The playground at 

 Saint-Omer was called the Line, and the boys are 

 still divided into Higher Line and Lower Line. 

 'Stonyhurst cricket,' now obsolete, is supposed 

 to have been a tradition from the same place, 

 representing perhaps an Elizabethan form of the 

 game. 



In addition to the boys of the school is a class 

 of Philosophers, pursuing higher studies, either 

 for their own pleasure or in preparation for the 

 degree examinations of London University, &c.; 

 they correspond somewhat to the undergraduates 

 at the universities, and special provision is made 

 for them. 



Many distinguished Roman Catholics have 

 been educated at Stonyhurst, of whom the best 

 known are Charles Waterton the naturalist, and 

 Cardinal Vaughan. 



592 



