,note3 ,images of the original pages are
 available through        ,internet     
,archive_/,american ,libraries4 ,see    
https3_/_/archive4org_/details_/publicsc
hoollife#jjwaug            ,,public     
,,school ,,life            99      99   
99      99      99      99              
,,countries ,,of ,,the ,,mind           
,,middleton ,,murry  ,demy #hvo4 #ajs4  
#f;d4 net    ,,ibsen ,,and ,,his        
,,creation  ,professor ,,janko ,,lavrin 
,cr4 #hvo4 #gs4 #f;d4 net    ,,the      
,,return  ,,walter ,,de ,,la ,,mare     
,cr4 #hvo4 #gs4 #f;d4 net          99   
99      99      99      99      99      
,,public ,,school ,,life    ,boys       
,parents ,masters    by    ,,alec       
,,waugh    ,author of ',the ,loom of    
,youth1' ',pleasure1' etc4              
,illustration3 ,logo    ,london3 #dh    
,pall ,mall  ,w4 ,collins ,sons  ,co4   
,ltd4  ,glasgow ,melbourne ,auckland    
,copyright1 #aibb    ,manufactured in   
,great ,britain          ,a ,,dedicatory
 ,,letter ,,to ,,arnold ,,lunn          

,december #f1 #aiba3    ,,my ,,dear     
,,arnold1--,it was with genuine surprise
 that ,i read the other day1  while     
turning over the pages of ,the          
,harrovians1 the date #aiac upon the    
title-page4 ,only eight years ago1 and  
since then so much has happened4  ,what 
a long while it seems since ,the        
,harrovians was the most borrowed  book 
in the house1 and we passed the hours of
 evening hall1 that should  have been   
spent in the study of irregular verbs1  
in eager discussions on  your book4 ,it 
was a revelation to us--we schoolboys of
 #aiac4 ,it  explained us to ourselves4 
,we thought then that the last word on  
the  subject had been said4    ,but one 
can never say the last word on such a   
subject as the ,public  ,schools1       
especially in a novel4 ,in a novel one  
is constrained to tell a  story or to   
reveal a character4 ,in ,the ,harrovians
 you dealt with the  ,public ,school    
,system only in as far as it effected   
the development of  ,peter1 and in      

,loose ,ends you found yourself equally 
fettered with  regard to ,maurice4 ,it  
is for this reason that ,i feel there is
 still  room for a book such as this1   
which1 though a narrative1 has for its  
object simply the analysis and          
presentation of public school life4 ,at 
any rate ,i hope that you may think1    
when you come to read it1 that it  was  
worth doing4 ,if you do not1 well then  
at least here is your name  after the   
title-page in grateful tribute to many  
pleasant hours spent in  the company of 
yourself and of your books1 and in the  
hope of many more  such hours4    ,for  
their sake1 if not for its own sake1    
please accept this book1 and  believe   
me1    ,as ever1 your sincere friend1   
,,alec ,,waugh4          ,,contents     
,,chap4                                 
,,page     ,i4 ,,introductory           
#a      ,,ii4 ,,the ,,preparatory       
,,school                       #bj      
,,iii4 ,,the ,,new ,,boy                
#ch      ,,iv4 ,,the ,,second ,,year    

#fj       ,v4 ,,athleticism             
#gf      ,,vi4 ,,the ,,true ,,ethics    
,,of ,,cribbing                  #ia    
,,vii4 ,,morality ,,and ,,the ,,romantic
 ,,friendship        #abd    ,,viii4    
,,the ,,middle ,,years                  
#afa      ,,ix4 ,,prefectship           
#aga       ,x4 ,,the ,,last ,,term      
#aih      ,,xi4 ,,the ,,old ,,boy ,,as  
,,schoolmaster ,,and ,,parent      #bae 
,,xii4 ,,some ,,suggestions3 ,,the      
,,leaving ,,age ,,with          ,,regard
 ,,to ,,morals                          
#bca    ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,leaving ,,age   
,,with ,,regard ,,to ,,athletics    #bef
     ,,xiv4 ,,conclusion       #bfc     
,,chapter ,i    ,,introductory          
,twenty years ago a father said to his  
son1 who had just come down from        
,oxford with a batting average of #ce4g3
 ',for ten years1 my boy1 you have  been
 playing cricket all through the summer 
at my expense4 ,you can now  either come
 into my business and play first-class  
cricket during your  month's holiday in 

,august1 or1 if you want to continue to 
play cricket  all through the season1   
you can go down to the ,oval and apply  
to be  taken on as a professional4' ,the
 moral1 the obvious moral1 that is to   
say1 is admirable4 ,and the elderly     
gentleman whom ,i overheard repeating   
this story in the pavilion1 leant back  
in his seat and affirmed proudly1       
though with a deep sense of the passage 
of good things1 that it was in  such a  
spirit that the game had been played    
when he was young4 ',that's  what       
cricket meant to the ,studds1 the       
,lyttletons1 the ,fosters4 ,we didn't   
have any of these amateur professionals1
 none of these fine fellows who  get    
found soft jobs by their county         
committees4 ,what's the difference1 ,i  
should like to know1 between the fellow 
who gets paid five pounds a  match and  
the fellow who is presented with the    
directorship of a ladies'  corset       
factory at a comfortable salary1 and who
 has only to go to the  office once a   

week to sign his name in the directors' 
attendance book8'  ,the elderly         
gentleman shrugged his shoulders with   
disgust4    ,he was quite right1 of     
course4 ,there are too many cricketers  
who make as  much money out of the game 
as any professional1 yet are entitled to
 put  initials before their name upon   
the score card4 ,and the father was     
quite  right when he insisted on the    
industry of his son4 ,he was none the   
less  right because things probably     
failed to turn out as they had been     
planned4 ,they rarely do4 ,we can guess 
what happened4    ,for a year the son   
worked hard4 ,during his month's holiday
 he made a  couple of centuries in      
first-class cricket1 and various papers 
commenting on this achievement expressed
 their regret that so promising  a      
cricketer should only be available in   
,august4 ,it is needless to add  that   
the other members of the family saw to  
it that these references did  not escape
 the attention of their father4 ,next   

season the county started  so well1 that
 by the end of ,may it stood at the head
 of the  championship1 and the young    
financier was entreated to turn out for 
the  ,yorkshire match in the middle of  
,june4 ,on such an occasion parental    
discipline was naturally relaxed4 ,and  
an innings of #hg on a tricky  wicket   
was followed by an invitation to play   
for the ,gentlemen at ,lords4  ,parental
 pride was flattered4 ,next season the  
same thing happened1 only  more         
frequently4 ,there was1 in fact1 an     
understanding that he was  available for
 all the important matches1 and very    
soon not only the  fixtures with        
,middlesex1 ,kent1 and ,surrey1 came to 
be regarded as  important1 but also     
those with ,hampshire1 ,gloucestershire1
 ,somerset1 and  ,worcester4 ,indeed1 in
 five years' time the son found himself 
playing  county cricket steadily from   
,may to ,august and as an amateur4      
,things  happen like that4 ,still the   
pact1 as the elderly gentleman in the   

pavilion asserted1 had been made in the 
right spirit4 ,and it was1 after  all1 a
 family affair4    ,but the fine        
distinction between the amateur and the 
amateur  professional is defined only by
 the obvious moral to this story1 and   
the  subtler moral had passed unnoticed 
by the elderly reactionary in the       
pavilion4 ,a young man1 twenty-three    
years of age1 has been expensively      
educated for some ten to twelve years4  
,and he is faced at the end of his      
education1 when it is assumed1 that is  
to say1 that he is equipped with  the   
knowledge and trained ability that will 
enable him to take up that  portion of  
the world's work for which he is best   
fitted1 with two  alternatives4 ,either 
he can go into his father's business1 or
 else he  can lose his caste and sign on
 as a professional cricketer4 ,it       
occurred  neither to the father nor to  
the son nor to the elderly gentleman who
  repeated the story in the pavilion    
that any other alternative was          

possible1 or1 indeed1 desirable4 ,the   
son was not in a position to say to  his
 father3 ',of course ,i wouldn't become 
a pro4 ,but ,i'm really not keen  on    
your business4 ,i shouldn't be a success
 at it4 ,i'd rather do  something else4'
 ,he could not say that1 because there  
was nothing else  for him to do4 ,six   
years earlier he could have gone to     
,sandhurst4 ,if he  had worked harder at
 school he might possibly have passed   
into the  ,egyptian civil service4 ,it  
is possible that his blue would have    
obtained  for him a schoolmastership1   
but his gulf in mods1 would have limited
 his  choice of schools4 ,and the       
prospects of a junior master at a       
second-rate  ,public ,school are not    
inviting4 ,so1 whatever his own         
inclinations might  have been1 he had to
 accept his father's offer4 ,it is here 
that we find  the true moral of the     
story2 and we ask ourselves whether this
 young man  was1 in spite of his ten    
years at ,oxford and at a ,public       

,school1 really  educated4 ,he had      
learnt how to make centuries in county  
cricket1 and he  had acquired a certain 
quantity of uncorrelated information4   
,but he had  not developed the ability  
to perform properly the type of work for
 which  he was best fitted1 nor1 indeed1
 had he discovered what that type of    
work might be4 ,as likely as not his    
father's business was the last that  he 
should have chosen4 ,we all react from  
our surroundings1 and he had  probably  
become heartily sick of his father's    
particular form of 'shop4'  ,he had so  
often sat wearily at the dinner table1  
fingering his bread1  piling the salt   
into pyramids on the edge of the cruet1 
while his father  had explained to his  
mother the minute details of his latest 
deal4 ',you  see1 my dear1 ,i bought in 
at twenty-six4444' ,of all hideous      
employments  the buying and selling of  
shares had seemed to him the weariest4  
,and yet  there was nothing for him but 
to accept a desk beside a telephone with

  the files of the ,financial ,news     
spread out before him4    ,he can have  
brought no enthusiasm to his work4 ,out 
of a sense of duty1  and in order to    
improve his own position1 he may have   
worked hard during  the winter months1  
but he must have worked without         
pleasure1 with his  work not as an end  
but as a means4    ,yet nothing in a    
man's life is of more importance than   
his profession4  ,if he does not enjoy  
his work he values too highly the       
privileges that  success in it will     
bring to him4 ,he asks too much of his  
private life1  and if he is             
disappointed1 he embarks on a desperate 
search for  pleasure4 ,half of the      
discontent of modern life1 the          
discontent that  expresses itself in    
endless parties1 dances1 and            
entertainments1 can be  traced to the   
reactions of men and women engaged in   
uncongenial  employment4 ,and so we     
return again to that first question4    
,can we call a  man educated who has not

 discovered in what capacity he is most 
likely  to be of service to society1 or 
who1 having discovered it1 has not taken
  steps to qualify himself for that     
profession4 ,that1 in a sentence1 is    
the case against the ,english ,public   
,school4 ,a system stands or falls by   
its products4    ,and it is only natural
 that parents who are not particularly  
well off1  and who have no private      
business into which they can draft their
  children1 should ask themselves       
whether or not a public school education
  is worth the considerable personal    
sacrifice that will be entailed if      
their sons are to be sent to            
,wellington1 ,clifton1 or ,uppingham4   
',we  want to do the best for ,tommy1'  
they say4 ',but after spending #bej a   
year on him for five years what do we   
get in return8 ,tommy is not clever     
enough to pass into the civil service2  
he may get a mastership on a  salary    
only slightly better than that of a     
,metropolitan policeman4 ,is it  worth  

it8' ,when the head master to whom these
 doubts are carried1  commences to      
enlarge on the moral qualities that are 
revealed and  strengthened by 'the      
honest give and take of public school   
life1' the  parent is still unsatisfied4
 ',are you quite sure8' they say4 ',of  
course  we know it's all exaggerated1   
but where there's smoke1 you know1 and  
one  has heard4444' ,is it surprising   
that under such circumstances the       
mandarins of the public school          
profession should have erected a        
barricade of prejudice between          
themselves and criticism4 ,their        
maintenance is at stake4 ,they have to  
persuade the parent that he is  getting 
his money's worth4 ,otherwise he will   
send his son to a day  school1 or1 worse
 still1 to some pension in ,rome or     
,brussels4    ,and so it has happened   
that any critic of the ,public ,schools 
is  immediately driven into a false     
position4 ,for so long the ,public      
,schools  have been accepted with an    

unquestioning reverence--for so long1   
that is  to say1 the authorities have   
been able to persuade the world that the
  goods they are selling are the best1  
in fact the only goods upon the         
market--that if any one breathes a word 
against them now he is labelled  a      
revolutionary2 it is assumed that       
politically he is a ,socialist1 that  he
 wishes to substitute co-operation for  
competition1 that he is a  harbinger of 
red ruin1 concealing a bomb intended for
 ,william of  ,wykeham's ,tower or the  
green sward of ,agar's plough2 that his 
programme  involves the complete        
destruction of the existing fabric1 and 
that he  proposes to erect about its    
ruins some bizarre construction of      
eugenics  and modernity4 ,nothing1 as a 
matter of fact1 is further from the     
truth4    ,the majority of assailants   
are anything but socialists4 ,they      
consider an  enlightened oligarchy the  
ideal form of government1 and their     
chief  quarrel with the ,public ,schools

 is the absence of that enlightened     
oligarchy4 ,no one wants to destroy the 
,public ,schools4 ,no one would be  so  
foolish4 ,but we do maintain that the   
public school system--a very  old1 a    
very magnificent1 a very venerable      
mansion--stands in drastic  need of     
repair4 ,it is some years since the     
drains were attended to2  electric light
 is more serviceable than gas2 the      
tapestries are a little  moth-eaten2 the
 books in the library are dusty4 ,the   
house wants to be  spring cleaned4      
,it is easy1 of course1 to say that1 but
 it is very difficult to know how  to   
set about it4 ,our institutions are     
mirrors in which are reflected our      
personal imperfections4 ,they can be no 
better than ourselves2 and the          
merchants of panaceas take for granted a
 world which has left behind it  envy1  
greed1 malice1 and desire4 ,to that     
degree of perfection we shall  never    
attain1 but we can at any rate be honest
 with one another4 ,and  there is no    

side of ,english life about which rulers
 and ruled1 fathers  and sons1 old and  
young have been so consistently         
dishonest with one  another in the past 
as they have been about the standards   
and ideals of  the ,english ,public     
,schools4    ,it is the old trouble of  
the merchant and his goods1 and though  
the  ,english ,public ,schools do not   
insert double-column advertisements in  
the  daily papers1 they are at least    
beholden not to prejudice the value of  
their stock4 ,the greengrocer does not  
inform you that1 on the whole1 his      
potatoes are not bad1 considering that  
he bought them from a farmer with  a    
leaking shed4 ,a head master does not   
tell a parent that1 if he is  going to  
send his son to a ,public ,school1 his  
own school is not worse  than any other4
 ,yet the same man who views with grave 
suspicion eulogies  of a patent         
medicine1 accepts complacently the      
house-master's assurance  that ,tommy is
 improving enormously both morally and  

intellectually under  his care4 ,a      
schoolmaster spends a large part of his 
life boosting the  value of his goods1  
and in time1 of course1 he comes to     
believe that  every word of what he says
 is true4 ,the commercial traveller of  
two  years' experience will wink his    
eye3 ',i spun him the tale6' ,but the   
commercial traveller of ten years'      
experience has a solemn countenance4    
',people know good stuff when they see  
it4'    ,a few weeks ago ,i was staying 
in the country with some friends1 and   
was  taken over by them to the          
prize-giving of the ,preparatory ,school
 at  which their sons were being        
educated4 ,the ceremony was enacted in  
the  gymnasium4 ,the staff sat at the   
end of the room on a raised dais1 in the
  centre of which was a table covered   
with 'calf-bound mementoes of           
industry4' ,behind this table stood the 
head master4 ,he was a large1  genial1  
middle-aged man1 rubicund with a surfeit
 of golf1 and he smiled  down upon the  

school and upon its parents4 ',well1 you
 boys1' he said1 ',i  want to tell you  
how pleased ,i am with the way you've   
backed me up this  term4 ,you've worked 
hard and you've played hard3 ,i don't   
really know how  long it is since we've 
had such a thoroughly satisfactory term3
 of  course there are one or two young  
gentlemen'--and at this point a  twinkle
 appeared in the corner of his eye--'who
 have been a little1  well1 shall we    
say1 difficult2 but that's past history1
 we won't say  anything more about it2  
and1 as a whole1 as ,i've already said1 
,i don't  think ,i've ever had such a   
satisfactory set of fellows4' ,there    
were a  few more remarks of mutual      
congratulation1 and then he proceeded to
 the  distribution of the prizes4       
,afterwards ,i had a chat with one of   
the assistant masters1 with whom ,i     
happened to be on fairly intimate terms4
    ',a wonderful fellow1 the ,head1' he
 told me4 ',do you know he's made that  
same speech at prize-giving for the last

 twenty years4 ,hardly a phrase         
different4 ,he wants to send the parents
 away in a good temper4 ,they'll  get   
their account to-morrow4 ,of course he  
doesn't know that's why he's  doing it4 
,but it's the reason right enough4 ,and 
how clever that bit is  about the young 
gentlemen who've been a little          
troublesome4 ,it makes  every mother    
feel that her boy is better than her    
neighbour's4'    ,i suggested that such 
an opinion was likely to be revised     
under the  influence of the terminal    
report4 ',not a bit of it1' he answered4
 ',all  our reports are strictly        
censored4 ,we write them out on a piece 
of  foolscap and the ,head gets them    
typed2 but where we write lazy and      
unintelligent1 the parents read         
moderate4 ,you can take my word for it  
that the boy who gets moderate in his   
report from here is one of  earth's best
 dunces4'    ,that was1 of course1 at a 
private school2 but1 even at the most   
prosperous ,public ,schools there is a  

tacit understanding that parents  should
 be stroked down after the manner of    
refractory cats4 ,the  half-term report 
contains frequently enough a quantity of
 pungent  critical writing1 but the     
parental visit to the school is         
invariably the  occasion for much       
conversational flattery4 ,freddie1      
unless he has become  involved in any   
particularly unfortunate adventure1 is  
the object of  restrained1 perhaps      
qualified1 but still potential          
commendation4 ,the  father is assured by
 the house-master that everything is    
going on  splendidly3 ',a little low in 
form1 perhaps1 rather too boisterous at 
times in the day room1 but a sound      
fellow at heart1 the sort of fellow     
that the house will be proud of one     
day4' ,and the mother's qualms are  put 
at rest by the house-master's wife4     
',the tone of the house is so           
excellent1 you see4 ,no bullying at all1
 and ,freddie's manners are so          
charming4 ,every one likes him4'    ,it 

is possible that if the house-master    
were taken to task in the  privacy of   
his own study1 he might be persuaded to 
confess himself a  pragmatist4 ',one has
 to keep them quiet1' he might say4     
',the young  rascal'll get on all right 
as long as they don't start meddling    
with  him4' ,but it is hard to be honest
 with oneself4 ,the schoolmaster cannot 
help regarding the parent in much the   
same way that the junior subaltern      
regarded the brigadier4 ,we all know    
what happened when the runner  brought  
the news that at such an hour the       
brigadier would visit  ,lieutenant      
,jones's gun emplacements4 ,lieutenant  
,jones specially called  the brigadier's
 attention to what he knew would please 
him4 ,he put his  smartest men on guard4
 ,he assured the brigadier that         
everything was  going quite all right1  
that the men were perfectly comfortable 
and that  the supply of rations was     
adequate2 ,lieutenant ,jones did        
everything1 in  fact1 to get the        

brigadier into the next trench as soon  
as possible4    ,which was1 of course1  
all very rational4 ,the brigadier's     
interest in  ,lieutenant ,jones's gun   
emplacements was remote and theoretical1
 and  either way was of small           
importance4 ,but it is a different thing
  altogether when house-masters wave    
parents out of the way with  comfortable
 excuses4 ,it establishes at once a     
dishonest relationship4  ,the           
schoolmaster does not trust the parent4 
,he regards him as a nuisance  that     
periodically has to be appeased4 ,and1  
as long as things go  smoothly1 he is   
content to leave him in the dark4 ,there
 is no  co-operation4 ,and that is      
absolutely fatal4 ,it means that the two
 people  who are chiefly responsible for
 the boy's welfare are working at cross 
purposes4    ,the trouble does not end  
there4 ,for between the parents         
themselves there  is frequently an      
incomplete mutual appreciation of the   
difficulties of  school life4 ,women1 in

 the nature of things1 can only know    
about ,public  ,schools what men choose 
to tell them4 ,that is usually          
remarkably little4  ,many a husband     
encourages in his wife the illusion that
 before he met  her his life was a      
vague1 indeterminate1 ineffectual thing1
 the  incidents of which are unworthy to
 be recorded4 ,and many others on such  
matters as public school life consider  
that a lie that saves friction is       
justifiable4 ,it is so easy to see how  
it happens4    ,husband and wife are    
sitting after dinner on either side of  
the  fireplace4 ,the wife has just      
finished reading ,the ,harrovians1 and  
she  looks up with a puzzled1 unhappy   
look4 ',harold1 dear1' she says1 'it's  
not like that really1 is it8 ,if it were
 true ,i couldn't think of sending      
,freddie to such a place4' ,and what is 
,harold to say8 ,he has read ,the       
,harrovians4 ,he knows that             
substantially it is true1 but equally   
well he  knows that if he acknowledges  

this to his wife his domestic life for  
the  next six years will be complicated 
by incessant arguments and anxieties4   
,to begin with he will have to spend    
many evenings of discussion before  he  
can persuade his wife of the            
advisability of sending ,freddie to     
,rugby4 ,and afterwards there will be   
constant uneasiness4 ,his wife will     
fret4 ,she will want to pay visits to   
,rugby1 to interview the head  master1  
to ask her son uncomfortable questions4 
,his own life would  become unbearable4 
,and a lie smooths out so much4 ',oh1   
no1 dear1 quite  unlike the ,rugby of my
 day4 ,an exaggerated picture of a bad  
house in a  bad school1 that's all it   
is4'    ,such a situation must arise    
fairly frequently4 ,and at least one    
instance  of it has come within the     
circle of my own experience4 ,while ,i  
was a  prisoner in ,germany ,i lent a   
copy of my school story1 ,the ,loom of  
,youth1 to a fellow-prisoner1 who had   
expressed a wish to read it4 ,a few     

days later he returned it to me with    
such a flattering display of  enthusiasm
 that1 in a moment of unusual generosity
 ,i promised to send  him a copy on our 
return4 ,the sequel reached me a few    
days later4 ,he had  returned to his    
room and remarked that ,waugh had       
promised to give him a  copy of that    
book of his1 'the thing that's all full 
of oaths4 ,i don't  know what ,i shall  
do with it1' he said4 ',i shall have to 
be jolly  careful that my wife doesn't  
read it4'    ,if one may generalise from
 such an incident1 and ,i believe that  
one may1  for it has its root in the    
eternal indolence of human nature1 then 
not  only schoolmasters and parents1 but
 fathers and mothers are working at     
cross purposes4 ,and so the boy finds   
himself alone1 stranded in a  society   
the nature of which he has to discover  
for himself4 ,he never  regards his     
house-master as one working in          
co-operation with his  parents for the  
welfare of his soul4 ,schoolmasters will

 be to him a  separate caste4 ,and      
although he will never reason this out  
with himself1  he will appreciate it    
intuitively in the natural cunning with 
which he  will exploit one or the other 
in the furtherance of his own ends4 ,i  
do  not mean that he is deceitful4 ,but 
he may want to specialise in ,history1  
or to abandon ,german in favour of      
,greek1 and he will think whether he    
would do better to approach his father  
or his house-master4 ,there is a  sort  
of dual monarchy1 and if one sovereign  
is opposed to a favourite  scheme1 it is
 but natural to try one's fortune with  
the other4    ,his parents' interest in 
his school life must appear to him      
superficial4  ,when his father comes    
down at half term1 he has to answer     
innumerable  questions as to his prowess
 on the cricket field2 and very often   
indeed  the chief pleasure that his     
athletic successes brings him is the    
thought  of the delight that his father 
will experience4 ,but the intimate side 

of  his school life1 his thoughts1 his  
friendships1 his troubles1 his          
ambitions1 do not enter into his        
relationship with his parents4 ,in the  
same way his house-master's interest in 
his home life seems to him  superficial4
 ,on his return to school he is asked a 
few questions about  the theatres he has
 visited2 whether he is in training for 
the football2  has he done any private  
work8 not a word of his intimate life4  
,the boy  ceases to regard his school   
life as a continuation of his home life4
 ,the  two are entirely separate1 and it
 depends on the temperament of the      
individual as to which of the two he    
will consider the more important4  ,we  
hear a great deal of talk about the     
influence of the home2 it is1  indeed1  
the stock argument of the pedagogue who 
would shelve his own  responsibility on 
to other shoulders1 but ,i believe that 
its influence  is greatly overrated4    
,home and school present to the average 
boy two  watertight compartments4 ,they 

are different lives1 a different        
technique  is required4 ,and human      
nature has at least one property of the 
chameleon4    ,a schoolboy sets out1    
therefore1 to discover school life for  
himself4 ,he  knows what his parents    
expect him to make of it2 he has a      
fairly shrewd  idea of what his         
schoolmaster expects him to make of it4 
,it remains for  him to investigate     
school life as his companions have made 
it4 ,naturally  he does not announce his
 investigations4 ,he lets his parents   
think what  they like and his           
schoolmasters think what they like4 ,he 
goes his own  way4 ,and it is thus that 
school life as it is1 differs so        
enormously  from the traditional concept
 of it4 ,there must be always a gulf    
between  the reality and the imagined   
idea4 ,but in public school life the    
gulf is  between1 not the schoolboy     
reality and his idea of it1 but between 
the  schoolboy reality1 and the confused
 idea of it that is held by parents  and

 masters4 ,it is two degrees from the   
truth4 ,in consequence1 when any  one   
does attempt to tell the truth there is 
an outburst of indignant  protest4 ,and 
the worst of it is that it is an honest 
outburst4 ,when head  masters write to  
the ,press and say 'these accusations   
are entirely  false1' they honestly     
believe what they say4 ,that is what    
makes  everything so difficult4 ,they   
have forgotten their own schooldays1 and
  for so long they have been persuading 
parents of the value of a public  school
 education that they have come to       
believe in their own  advertisements4   
,and yet what they have come to believe 
is far more  remarkable than the truth4 
,in sermons and addresses they assure   
the boy  and his parents that school    
life is a miniature of the larger world2
  which is the statement of a fact3 yet 
every subsequent act and utterance  is  
in contradiction to this initial axiom4 
,for1 if that larger world did  really  
resemble the official concept of school 

life1 what a bizarre1  what an          
extravagant affair it would be4 ,it     
would be filled with high  lights1 with 
breathless escapades1 with impossible   
heroics4 ,it has been  accepted as quite
 credible that a boy should be capable  
of the most  extreme and loathsome      
brutalities1 that a percentage of every 
school  should spend its life in        
gambling and heavy drinking1 that at    
least one  prefect in every school      
should contract inconvenient liabilities
 at the  ,baron's ,arms1 and that to    
extricate himself he should forge his   
house-master's signature4 ,indeed1      
anything may happen provided that the   
course of life follows a simple process 
of right and wrong which leads  to the  
triumph of virtue and the downfall of   
vice4 ,it is something like  a ,lyceum  
melodrama4 ,and1 though we can all      
manage to enjoy for a couple  of hours  
the fine sensationalism of ,the ,beggar 
,girl's ,wedding1 we  should hardly     
accept its values as a philosophical    

background for our  daily life4 ,and yet
 that has actually happened in the case 
of the ,public  ,schools4 ,mr ,p4 ,g4   
,wodehouse1 in his delightful ,mike1    
makes ,psmith say  to a new             
acquaintance3 ',are you the ,bully1 the 
,pride of the ,school1 or  the ,boy who 
is led astray and takes to drink in     
,chapter ,sixteen8' ,such  figureheads  
exist in the popular imagination4 ,the  
world believes in  bullies1 in villains1
 in straight heroes and in the weak     
character who  goes wrong1 but is saved 
through the influence of either the hero
 or the  head master1 or the head       
master's daughter1 or through the sermon
 of an  occasional preacher4 ,it is all 
very jolly1 of course1 and no doubt the 
world would be a far more comfortable   
place if it were possible to label  and 
pigeonhole all our friends and          
acquaintances4 ,but life cannot be      
simplified by any arbitrary process4 ,we
 have our standards of conduct1  but    
they are shifting and relative4 ,they   

are the measures that each  successive  
society arranges for what it considers  
to be its convenience4  ,and we accept  
them for what they are4 ,at a ,public   
,school1 however1 a  traditional        
conception has formed a code of rules   
for the convenience of  a society that  
does not exist4 ,which is confusing3 and
 when ,desmond ,coke  wrote in ,the     
,bending of a ,twig a very entertaining 
skit on the  behaviour of a boy who had 
read a number of school stories1 and    
went to  ,shrewsbury expecting to find  
bullies behind every cloister1          
schoolmasters laughed over the book1 but
 did not read into it any  criticism of 
themselves4    ,and yet there is nothing
 that we need more than an honest facing
 of the  facts of public school life4   
,facts are a solid neutral ground on    
which  parents and boys and masters may 
meet to discuss their ideals and their  
difficulties4 ,and1 in the course of    
that discussion1 they may discover1  as 
likely as not1 a way out of their       

troubles4 ,the hope of this book is  to 
provide that statement of facts4 ,it    
does not set out as an  educational     
treatise4 ,it accepts the ,public       
,schools as the system best  suited to  
the material with which it deals4 ,it   
suggests no new system of  teaching4 ,it
 does not advocate co-education4 ,it    
does not advance any  plea for          
,montessor methods4 ,it will contain no 
discussion of the  advantages of ,greek 
over ,german4 ,there will be no appendix
 with  time-tables and suggested        
curriculum4 ,for1 as things are now1 it 
does  not matter whether ,sanscrit is   
substituted for mathematics3 the boy    
will  learn equally little of either4   
,it is intended as a human study of     
public school life1 as an attempt to    
break down that conspiracy of  silence1 
that relationship of evasion and deceit 
that exists officially  between parents1
 boys1 and masters2 and from time to    
time it will  suggest solutions4    ,it 
is1 of course1 only an attempt4 ,for no 

one person can see more than a  side of 
the truth4 ,however impartial we try to 
be1 we can see in a  situation only what
 the limitations of our personality     
allow us4 ,we are  all at tether4       
,during the last three years many public
 men have visited  ,russia2 they have   
been honest men1 and we know quite well 
that they went  there with the firm     
intention of telling nothing but the    
truth4 ,but1  before they went1 we could
 have told them exactly what they would 
say on  their return4 ,yet the analogy  
does not quite hold good4 ,for we1 too1 
have gone1 each of us1 to a ,public     
,school with a preconceived idea of     
what school life would be1 and each of  
us in turn has had that  conception     
destroyed by actuality1 and each in turn
 has had to create  for himself his own 
picture4 ,it follows then that there    
must in each  picture be a certain      
measure of truth4          ,,chapter    
,,ii    ,,the ,,preparatory ,,school    
,we hear much of the embarrassed misery 

of a boy's first week at school4  ,and1 
certainly1 it is pretty wretched4 ,mr   
,vachell compared it to the  first      
plunge into an ice-cold swimming bath3  
the sudden shock1 and1  afterwards1 the 
glory of a swim4 ,but it is the         
inaction1 the loneliness  of the first  
week that is so difficult4 ,it is more  
like standing on the  edge of the       
swimming bath on a cold day waiting for 
the signal that will  start the race4   
,and yet the change must have been a    
great deal more  difficult for our      
parents than it was for us4 ,the        
preparatory school  system is of more or
 less recent growth1 and1 when one      
considers how  much one learnt at a     
,preparatory ,school1 in esprit de      
corps1 in  patience1 in sportsmanship1  
in the give and take of a communal life1
 one  wonders how an earlier generation 
managed to survive the first term4      
,school life by all accounts was a      
fairly barbarous business in the        
eighties1 and by what strange roads our 

parents came to those rough  waters4    
,some came straight from home1 some from
 private tutors3 the  majority from the 
old-fashioned dame school4 ,it is not   
surprising that  the ,preparatory       
,schools should have so increased in    
number and improved  in quality4    ,for
 the ,preparatory ,school fulfils a most
 important function1 and it  fulfils it 
extremely efficiently4 ,it is what it   
sets out to be1 a school  that will take
 a small boy almost from the nursery1   
and train him in the  course of four or 
five years to take his place in a large 
,public ,school4  ,the task that the    
head master of a ,preparatory ,school   
has to tackle is  not1 however1 anything
 like so hard as that which confronts   
the head  master of a ,public ,school4  
,for a ,public ,school has to equip a   
boy for  life2 and life is vast1        
indeterminate1 a swiftly moving river   
that is  never the same from one moment 
to another4 ,the ,preparatory ,school1  
on  the other hand1 has only to equip a 

boy for a ,public ,school1 and the      
,public ,school is a fixed quantity4 ,as
 regards curriculum1 the task is        
simple4 ,the required standard of       
education is known4 ,a certain          
percentage in the common entrance       
examination has to be obtained4 ,the    
school has not to discover the career   
for which its individual members  are   
best suited4 ,it has merely to decide   
which of them are good enough  to be    
trained specially for scholarships4 ,the
 main object of the  ,preparatory       
,school1 however1 is to produce         
presentable specimens of  society1 boys 
who will do the right thing in the right
 circumstances4  ,and this the          
,preparatory ,school does admirably     
well4    ,it is at a ,preparatory       
,school that boys learn manners1        
courtesy1 the  proper behaviour in the  
presence of ladies4 ,but these things1  
you may  say1 a boy will learn at home4 
,no doubt he ought to1 but any          
preparatory  schoolmaster will disabuse 

you on that point4 ,how many small boys 
of  seven who have not been to a school 
will1 when they are handed a plate  of  
cakes1 take the one nearest to them     
rather than the one of which they  fancy
 the appearance4 ,how many small boys   
will think of opening a door  for a     
lady1 of offering her his chair when she
 enters the room1 of  apologising to his
 hostess if he arrives late for         
breakfast4 ,these are  the little things
 that a boy learns at a ,preparatory    
,school and that he  will learn nowhere 
else2 at all good schools a great value 
is placed on  these points of etiquette2
 if anything1 'good manners' are rather 
overdone1 and the precipitate charge of 
twelve or thirteen urchins  towards a   
door handle is likely to prove          
embarrassing to the lady  visitor who   
has risen from her chair4    ,at my own 
school1 for instance1 music lessons     
always took place  immediately after    
lunch2 so that1 if lunch was a little   
late1 the first  boys were allowed to   

leave the table before grace4 ,it was a 
rule1  however1 that no boy should ever 
leave the dining-room till he had asked 
the permission of the ladies4 ,and many 
visitors were much perplexed by  the    
repeated inaudible apologies of nervous 
small boys who came  stumbling towards  
them between two close-packed tables4   
,the good manners  of a preparatory     
school boy are indeed slightly          
pedagogic4 ,their elbows  are pressed   
into their sides when they eat1 their   
wrists are raised  above the table1 and1
 in a precise voice1 they request       
permission to  trouble their next door  
neighbour for the salt4 ,they are like  
the  critics who insist that a sonnet is
 not a sonnet if the last lines of  the 
sestet form a couplet4 ,but it is a     
fault on the right side4 ,for  manners1 
as well as morals1 relax in the greater 
freedom of a ,public  ,school1 and at   
the age of fifteen one has managed to   
substitute ease for  stiffness4    ,it  
is1 indeed1 impossible to say how much  

one learns at a ,preparatory  ,school4  
,at the age of ten one has not the      
necessary detachment to view  oneself as
 an objective reality4 ,it is           
impossible1 for instance1 to  remember  
where1 or when1 was learnt the spirit of
 comradeship and  sportsmanship that is1
 perhaps1 the most lovable quality of   
the old  public school boy4 ,it is      
hardly inherited4 ,for the average small
 boy is  greedy1 selfish1 and           
acquisitive2 and1 when one is given leg 
before to a  left-hand round the wicket 
bowler who is turning the ball from the 
off1  the temptation to protest against 
the umpire's decision is natural4 ,the  
primitive man1 indeed1 would have       
uprooted a stump and walked to the      
other end of the pitch4 ,where does one 
learn to turn straight round and  walk  
towards the pavilion8 ,i think it is at 
the ,preparatory ,school4 ,a  small boy 
knows that he has got to play cricket   
like a sportsman2 he  knows that a      
sportsman does not question the umpire's

 decision2 and he  is terribly afraid of
 doing the wrong thing in the presence  
of his  schoolfellows4 ,the first time  
he is given out caught at the wicket off
  his pad1 a blind anger seizes him4    
,his mouth opens to make a protest4     
,the same thing happened last year when 
he was playing cricket in the  garden   
with his brother and sister1 and1 when  
they insisted that he was  out1 he sat  
down in the middle of the field and     
howled till they told  him he could     
continue his innings4 ,the temptation to
 repeat the  experiment is considerable4
 ,but he dare not make any exhibition of
  himself4 ,he would be mercilessly     
ragged2 and so he returns to his seat   
under the trees and contents himself    
with the announcement that ,jones is  a 
mean sneak who was trying to get a      
revenge for the kicking he got that     
morning4 ,and of course the incident    
will be repeated4 ,umpires make         
mistakes in first-class cricket3 small  
boys make them with a melancholy        

frequency on lower grounds1 and few     
batsmen are satisfied with an l4b4w4    
decision4 ,the young cricketer has many 
opportunities of displaying the         
,christian qualities of patience and    
restraint1 and every time the           
temptation to sit down in the middle of 
the pitch and howl grows weaker4  ',the 
monster custom is angel yet in this1'   
and1 by the time he goes to  his ,public
 ,school1 his features have learnt to   
assume a good-natured  smile1 and he    
says something about it being all in the
 game and that  last week he had a      
decision in his favour4    ,i am        
inclined to think that in that example  
can be found the essence of  preparatory
 school life2 the habits of courtesy and
 sportsmanship are  acquired till they  
become a second nature4 ,we are told    
that man is a  logical creature1 that   
when he has been properly educated it   
will be  possible for forty million     
people to live in one country without   
competition2 that in an enlightened     

society there will be no need for       
policemen1 for every man will           
instinctively appreciate what is right4 
,it  may be so4 ,no one knows what the  
world will be like two thousand years   
hence4 ,but1 in the meantime1 ,i think  
we do wisely to train small boys as  we 
train an animal4 ,we thrash our dog if  
he plays havoc in our  neighbour's      
chicken run1 and we rag the small boy   
who disputes the  umpire's decision4    
,the dog does not chase chickens again1 
nor does the  small boy argue in the    
middle of the pitch4    ,it is a strange
 business1 though1 this acquiring of    
social habits1 and1  though preparatory 
school life has been only dealt with in 
a small way  by educationalists and     
novelists1 the process is certainly     
interesting4  ,everything1 to allow for 
the subsequent relaxation at the ,public
 ,school1  is slightly overdone1 and the
 small boy tends to become a prig4 ,it  
is  only natural that he should4 ,by    
nature he is at that time a somewhat    

poisonous little beast4 ,he is the      
victim of numberless petty faults and   
jealousies2 and when he becomes reformed
 he is self-righteous4 ,he would  never 
think of sneaking1 of course1 but he    
would not hesitate to whisper  just as a
 master is coming into the class-room1  
',oh1 shut up1 ,jones4' ,he  always     
enjoys putting some one else in the     
wrong1 and ,arnold ,lunn has1  in ,the  
,harrovians1 an incident that provides  
an admirable example of  this attitude4 
,a member of the school has just died4  
,he was not a  popular boy2 he was not  
distinguished in games or work4 ,no one 
really  minded1 but the school felt     
bound to present a countenance of       
appropriate melancholy4 ,a certain      
,clayford1 however1 had a set of stamps 
he wished to sell1 and he accosted      
cheerfully a couple of boys who were    
discussing the last hours of their lost 
comrade4 ',i say1 you chaps1 like  to   
buy a complete set of ,borneos          
surcharged ,labuan8'    ',not to-day1   

thank you1' said ,peter stiffly4        
',we're not much interested in stamps   
to-day1' added ,morgan4    ,it is a     
perfect picture4    ,and as there is no 
stricter moralist than the potential    
rake1 there is  no one with a more rigid
 code of honour than the preparatory    
school boy4  ',owning up' becomes a     
fetish4 ,popular opinion drives the     
wretched urchin  into the head master's 
study4 ,i remember once that on the eve 
of a  school match a member of the      
eleven went sick with a headache4 ,there
 was  immediate consternation4 ,ferguson
 might not be a good bowler1 his        
batting was indifferent and he missed   
his catches more often than not1  but he
 was a distinct improvement on ,evans1  
the twelfth man4 ,the chances  of a     
victory were prejudiced3 and then some  
one recollected that that  morning      
,smith had smacked ,ferguson's head in  
the changing room4 ,it also  happened   
that1 for the moment1 ,smith was        
extremely unpopular4 ,morison's  people 

had just paid their half-term visit to  
the school1 and when the  ,head had     
brought ,morison's mother into the room1
 ,smith had not stood up4  ,it had been 
a direct insult to ,morison's mater4    
,every one had said so1  and none of us 
would listen to ,smith's excuse that he 
had had his back  to the door1 and was  
filling his fountain pen1 a combination 
of  circumstances that rendered a sudden
 leap to the feet impossible4    ',don't
 argue1 ,smith2 you're a cad4' ,that's  
what every one had said2 and  when it   
was remembered that ,smith had punched  
,ferguson's head that  morning1 the fury
 of popular opinion knew no limit4      
',you've lost the match1 ,i hope you    
know2 you'll have to own up1 of         
course1' we said4    ,smith was         
resentful4 ,he did not see why he       
should4    ',because1 ,smith1 that is   
what a gentleman does under such        
circumstances4'    ,smith was still     
obstinate4 ,he did not see why ,ferguson
 should have got a  headache just       

because of this4 ,people had had their  
heads punched before  without getting   
headaches4 ,there was a murmur of       
contumely4    ',but that wasn't an      
ordinary punch1 ,smith2 you hit him with
 all your  force4'    ,the suggestion   
that it was not an ordinary punch       
flattered ,smith's  pride4 ,he1 too1 was
 inclined to think that there had been  
about that  punch a certain something4  
,he grudgingly admitted that it had been
 a  pretty hard smack4    ',even so1    
though1 ,i don't see how things are     
going to be made any better  by my      
owning up4'    ,such an attitude was    
opposed to every idea of preparatory    
school honour4  ,there was a shudder of 
supreme contempt4    ',perhaps you      
don't1 ,smith4' ,and there the argument 
stopped4 ,but for  the rest of the day  
,smith's life was made miserable4 ,every
 time any one  passed him they said3    
',owned up yet8' ,no one would talk to  
him at  tea-time2 when he joined a group
 afterwards the group dispersed and he  

was left alone4 ,finally1 of two evils1 
confession appeared to him the  less1   
and1 after prayers1 he pushed open the  
door of the head master's  study and    
blurted out to the accompaniment of big 
quivering sobs that he  had punched     
,ferguson's head in the changing-room   
and given him a  headache1 and1 perhaps1
 lost the match4    ,a couple of years  
ago ,i went down to my old school1 and1 
just before  lunch1 when the whole      
school was collected in the hall1 the   
head master  announced that he wanted   
the name of the boy who had left the tap
  running in the bathroom4 ,there was a 
slight commotion in a far corner2  one  
boy was being nudged and pressed        
forward4 ,there was a whisper of ',go   
on1 ,hunter4' ,all eyes were turned in  
his direction4 ,there was no course  for
 ,hunter but to come forward into the   
open and confess4    ,and yet1 as likely
 as not1 some one else was the offender4
 ,it was the  sort of offence that any  
one might commit4 ,it is not easy to    

remember  what one has forgotten4 ,no   
doubt he thought he had turned off the  
tap1  otherwise he would hardly have    
left the bathroom2 yet he might very    
likely have done it4 ,his companions    
told him that he had1 and his faith  in 
their loving kindness was not sufficient
 for him to have wondered  why they had 
not repaired his mistake4 ,if ,hunter   
had not owned up he  would have had to  
say definitely that he had not left the 
tap running1  and that he could not     
truthfully have done4 ,so he owned up4  
,the fear of being thought a coward very
 often makes the preparatory  school boy
 confess to sins that he has never      
committed1 and it is  usually the ones  
who are most often in trouble who find  
themselves in  this position4 ,after    
all1 if you are always getting into     
scrapes1 are  always engaged in some    
misadventure1 it is very hard to tell   
whether1 on  a particular occasion1 you 
are innocent or not4 ,the head master   
comes  into a class-room in the         

afternoon4    ',now look here1 you      
fellows1' he says1 'you know ,i've told 
you that ,i  won't have you running down
 that steep path to the football field4 
,you  are bound to fall down2 you must  
walk4 ,i've told you that a hundred     
times4 ,now the matron tells me that she
 saw one of you running down  there this
 morning4 ,i want to know that boy's    
name4'    ,what is ,jones mi4 to do8 ,he
 has run down that path so often4       
,whether or  not he did so that morning 
he cannot remember4 ,he has had so much 
to  think about since then4 ,yet1       
suppose he did run down the hill1 and   
suppose that some one saw him4 ,if he   
does not own up1 he will be called  a   
coward all over the school4 ,far better 
'own up1' and receive some  small       
punishment4 ,indeed1 it may be said that
 the ,jones mi4's of the  world form a  
rule for themselves1 that they own up to
 every offence of  which they are not   
dead certain that they are innocent4    
,head masters1  like batsmen1 have to   

have the benefit of the doubt4    ,it is
 equally difficult to acknowledge       
innocence in the midst of crime4  ,at my
 old school there was an excellent rule 
that for half an hour after  lunch we   
should sit in our class-rooms and read  
quietly4 ,one afternoon  this peaceful  
siesta was disturbed by a loud and      
fierce and general  discussion of the   
superiority of ,yorkshire cricket over  
that of  ,lancashire4 ,the particular   
class-room unfortunately happened to be 
situated beneath the nursery of the head
 master's children1 and the  angry      
voices of the disputants roused from her
 slumbers a recent  addition to the     
family4 ,the complaints of a very       
indignant nurse forced  a very busy     
master to disturb the repose of that    
restful half-hour after  lunch4 ,on this
 occasion the usual formula was         
reversed4 ,he did not ask  the names of 
the boys who had been talking1 he asked 
for the names of  the boys who had not  
been talking4 ,now1 as it happened1 ,i  

had taken no  part in the argument4 ,i  
am a ,middlesex supporter1 ,i had just  
received as  a birthday present a bound 
volume of ,chums1 ,i was also1 at the   
time1  in popular disfavour4 ,so ,i had 
seated myself in a far corner of the    
room  and read steadily1 with my fingers
 pressed into my ears4 ,but ,i did not  
dare to say so4 ,i should never have    
been forgiven4 ,it would have been  the 
action of a conscientious objector4 ,no 
one would have believed me4  ,i realised
 how hopelessly out of things ,i should 
feel while the rest of  the school were 
receiving their punishment4 ,suppose a  
half-holiday was  stopped--what on earth
 should ,i do with a half-holiday all to
 myself8 ,i  should be much happier     
working out theorems in a class-room4   
,and it was  also possible that ,i might
 have said something that some one had  
overheard--at any rate1 ,i was not going
 to risk it4 ,i sat silent at my  desk  
and accepted meekly the common lot4     
,from the outside a ,preparatory ,school

 looks very much like a miniature       
,public ,school4 ,it presents the same  
features1 the same routine1 the same    
curriculum2 there is even some attempt  
at a prefectorial system4               
,superficially they have much in common4
 ,but there the resemblance ends4  ,the 
scale of values is altogether different4
 ,indeed the ,preparatory  ,school is   
very like the ,public ,school of        
traditional conception4 ,talbot  ,baines
 ,reed is only read by boys of under    
thirteen2 and boys of under  thirteen   
have moulded themselves after his image4
 ,there are1 of course1  none of the    
high-lights1 the heroism1 the sacrifice4
 ,there are no  nocturnal visits to     
ostlers2 but otherwise it is not unlike 
,the ,fifth  ,form at ,st ,dominic's4   
,the smallest boys do resemble the      
',tadpoles' of  that popular romance4   
,in spite of frequent visits to the     
bathroom their  hands and collars are   
continually smeared with ink2 when they 
go for  walks at least one of them falls

 into the ditch and cuts his trousers2  
they are all dog-eared except at meal   
times and at the start of the  morning's
 work4 ,and they have the same attitude 
to life4 ,they are  continually forming 
rival gangs2 they are on the brink of   
feuds and  jealousies4 ,they side       
against one another4 ,each boy in turn  
becomes the  object of general dislike4 
,there is a certain amount of bullying1 
a  great deal more than there is at most
 public schools4 ,new boys1 for         
instance1 are subjected to an           
inquisition4 ,they are asked what their 
father is1 and whether they would rather
 be a bigger ass than they look1  or    
look a bigger ass than they are4 ,at a  
,public ,school only one boy in  every  
twenty gets really ragged1 and usually  
for obvious reasons4 ,but at  a         
,preparatory ,school every one has to   
put up with a certain amount of         
persecution4 ,there is a good deal of   
sycophancy1 and the independent  learn  
many lessons4    ,but when all is said  

and done1 the really big difference     
between the  ,preparatory and the       
,public ,school is the absence of the   
cult of  athleticism4 ,the scholar is   
entitled to and receives as much respect
 as  the cricketer and for obvious      
reasons4 ,the ,preparatory ,school has  
to  contend with a far more competitive 
system than the ,public ,school4        
,schools have their ups and downs4      
,numbers rise and fall1 but a ,public   
,school that has a name can be always   
certain of the support of its old  boys4
 ,it has a firmly established tradition4
 ,only a few ,preparatory  ,schools1 on 
the other hand1 possess this            
questionable advantage4 ,the  name of   
only a few are familiar4 ,none of them  
would justify the  journalist in the    
employment of his clich 'a household    
word4' ,the  ,preparatory ,school       
depends largely on the energy and       
personality of one  man1 and the        
scholars are1 after all1 his exhibition 
blooms4 ,he may  produce cricketer after

 cricketer1 but the ,public ,school will
 take all  the credit4 ,we speak of     
,hedges and ,chapman and ,stevens as    
products of  ,tonbridge1 ,uppingham1 and
 ,u4,c4,s4 respectively4 ,we do not know
 where they  learnt the groundwork of   
the game4 ,the scholar1 however1 comes  
into  prominence while he is still at   
his ,preparatory ,school4 ,the name of  
the  school is put after the name of the
 successful candidate4 ,it is the       
scholar1 not the cricketer1 who         
advertises a school4 ,if the head master
  of a ,preparatory ,school told you    
that seven of his old boys were at that 
time playing in their ,public ,school   
,eleven1 you would not feel that he  was
 entitled to any extravagant credit4    
,if1 however1 he told you that in  one  
year seven of his boys had won          
scholarships you would be  considerably 
impressed4 ,the boys themselves         
naturally1 of course1 are  more         
interested in cricket than in ,greek1   
but they appreciate that  scholastic    

triumph has a marketable value1 and the 
school officially is  prouder of its    
,winchester scholar than of its slow    
left-hand bowler4 ,the  small boy who   
goes home for the holidays knows that he
 can impress his  uncle by the          
announcement that ,hughes got the second
 ,eton scholarship1  but that the       
statement that they beat ,southdown by  
#ajj runs and that  ,evans took seven   
wickets for twenty-three will elicit    
only a polite  'really4' ,it is exactly 
the opposite at a ,public ,school4 ,the 
new boy  will proudly announce that the 
captain of his house had played for     
,notts4 ,there is a standard by which   
one can judge public school cricket  and
 football2 there is no more a standard  
for the performances of  preparatory    
school athletes than there is for the   
startling figures of  the village fast  
bowler4 ,naturally there is more        
excitement when a new  boy shows an     
uncanny apprehension of the theorems of 
geometry than over  a new boy who brings

 the ball back naturally from the off4  
,as a result  the preparatory master is 
inclined to push the clever boys on too 
fast4  ,it is the one real mistake that 
the ,preparatory ,school makes1 and it  
should be noticed4 ,for it is serious4  
,a boy of eighteen can stand the strain 
of systematic coaching2 a boy of  twelve
 cannot4 ,the preparatory scholar is    
more often than not a  hot-house        
product4 ,he has drawn on his reserves  
too early2 his mind has  been forced    
into a groove at the start4 ,he is      
trained like a pet  ,pomeranian1 and he 
is kept in blinkers2 he is not allowed  
to explore  bye-paths that are of       
interest to him4 ,that would be         
prejudicial to his  chances4 ,he has to 
keep on the straight road of            
scholarship4 ,he may get  his           
scholarship2 he probably will1 for such 
,preparatory ,schools are  specialists  
at the game1 but1 in the long run1 it   
does not pay4 ,the boy  has been forced 
too soon and he is stale by the time he 

gets to his  ,public ,school4    ,it is 
very interesting to note how often1 in  
the course of a year or  two1 boys who  
did not get scholarships are higher up  
in the school than  their successful    
rivals3 a man who starts the half-mile  
at a hundred  yards pace leads at the   
end of the first lap1 but he does not   
win the  race4 ,and the preparatory     
school master is inclined to forget     
that1  while a ,winchester scholarship  
is the whole race for him1 it is only   
the  first lap for the boy4 ,he         
naturally wants the credit of the       
scholarship  for his school1 but on the 
other hand he has to be unselfish4 ,he  
has to  ask himself whether1 in the long
 run1 it is not better for the boy to   
carry on with the general routine and   
take the scholarship examination  in his
 stride4 ,if he succeeds well and good2 
if not1 there is plenty of  time4 ,and  
the wise parent will insist on this4    
,the boy himself1 however1 realises that
 his world is that of the green  leaf   

and the bud4 ,it is a time of sowing4   
,and the fruits will show  elsewhere4   
,he knows that his career will only     
start when he reaches his  ,public      
,school4 ,the fact is always being      
forced upon his attention4 ',this  sort 
of thing is all very well here1' his    
masters will tell him1 'but it  won't   
work at your ,public ,school4' ,in the  
same way the commandant at  ,sandhurst  
used to adjure us in his speeches1 'to  
keep always before you  the thought of  
the day when you will join your         
regiment4'    ,there is the fear and the
 attraction of the unknown future4 ,and1
 for the  sake of it1 a boy will work   
far harder than he would otherwise have 
done4 ,he looks beyond the rewards and  
position that his own school  offers4   
,it is not enough to be in the highest  
form1 not enough to be in  the first    
eleven4 ,he must improve himself so as  
to be able to take a  high place in the 
next stage of his career4 ,a public     
school boy1 on the  other hand1 regards 

the honours that his school has to offer
 as an end  sufficient in themselves4   
,in occasional addresses he is adjured  
to think  of the day when he will have  
to step out of that cloistered peace    
into  the rush and traffic of life2 but 
that day is distant4 ,he has little     
ambition beyond 'a ribboned coat' and a 
seat at the high table4 ,his  horizon is
 contracted1 and his behaviour is that  
of those who do not  believe in a       
survival after death4 ,he places an     
undue value upon the  immediate and the 
present4 ,the preparatory school boy    
always looks ahead  to a future stage of
 life4 ,and so it is that1 when the last
 day at  school comes1 he is not the    
victim of the surprised sentimentality  
that  overcomes the public school boy4  
,he has begun to feel that he has       
outgrown his surroundings4 ,he has      
chafed at the restraint of childhood4   
,he has felt that success or failure is 
of little importance3 so soon he  will  
be making a fresh start4 ,he has lived  

in the future4 ,he has spent  long      
summer evenings reading the history of  
his new school4 ,he has  studied        
photographs of its buildings2 he has    
pored over old numbers of  the school   
magazines1 and has formed a romantic    
conception of the giants  of whose      
prowess he has read4 ,the future opens  
before him with  limitless              
opportunities1 and he can face it with  
an eager confidence  after his five long
 years of discipline4 ,how long they    
have taken in the  passing1 and yet in  
retrospect how flat they appear1 how    
colourless1 how  tiresome4 ,nothing has 
happened2 day has followed day4 ,ah1    
well1 that is  over now4 ,life is to    
begin4 ,the new boy sets out hungry for 
experience4  ,on the last day at his    
,preparatory ,school he is addressed1 in
 company  with the other boys who are   
leaving1 by the head master4 ,his       
egotism is  flattered by the assurance  
that the honour of his old school lies  
in his  hands4 ,he is told that he will 

need a firm upper lip and a stout heart4
  ,he listens to a recommendation of    
honesty1 truthfulness1 and  courage--all
 this he has heard before4 ,he has read 
so many school  stories4 ,and then1     
suddenly1 he is startled by a warning   
against  temptations1 the nature of     
which he imperfectly understands4 ,his  
curiosity is roused4 ,he learns that if 
he yields to these temptations  his     
career will be spoilt1 his health and   
brain will be ruined4 ,how this  fate is
 going to be brought about he is not    
certain1 but he agrees with  his head   
master that it is a fatality at all     
costs to be avoided4 ,he  asks a friend 
for enlightenment and receives a        
superior answer of3 ',oh1  don't you    
know6' which makes him think that his   
friend knows even less  about it than he
 does4 ,at any rate this particular     
temptation has not  yet presented       
itself1 and the acknowledgment of its   
existence fades from  his contemplation 
of a golden future4          ,,chapter  

,,iii    ,,the ,,new ,,boy      ,alpha  
and ,omega are the most widely known    
letters of the ,greek alphabet4  ,and   
the first and last weeks of a public    
school career have inspired  more essays
 and sermons than the other two hundred 
and fifty weeks put  together4 ,yet in  
neither the beginning nor the end is to 
be found the  essence of school life4   
,the last week is a period of agreeable 
sentiment4 ,the first of embarrassed    
loneliness4 ,the new boy feels that  he 
has no part in the life of the school4  
,on that first afternoon1 when  he has  
said good-bye to his parents1 and turns 
to walk away from the  station1 the     
school buildings1 chapel1 studies1      
cloisters1 assume in the  mellow        
,september sunlight the prospect of a   
distant city that one day he  may be    
privileged to enter4 ,at present he is  
outside it1 as he stands at  the edge of
 the courts1 forlorn in his black tie   
and wide brimmed straw  hat1 while the  
stream of boys in bowler hats and gaily 

coloured ties  pours up from the        
station4 ,on all sides he hears shouts  
of welcome1  snatches of eager          
conversation4 ,no one takes the least   
notice of him4 ,he  is an unrecognised  
foreigner4    ,during supper1 he sits   
silent and nervous among the new boys at
 the  day-room table4 ,from time to time
 he casts hesitating glances at the     
raised table where the prefects sit4    
,what giants they seem4 ,he wonders     
which is ,featherstone1 the head of the 
,house8#a ,is that imposing figure  with
 the black hair brushed back from his   
forehead1 the ,g4 ,o4 ,evans1 who  made 
#aba in the ,public ,school's match at  
,lords8 ,can it be possible that  he and
 they are members of the same society8  
,a prefect rises from the high table and
 leaves the hall4 ,immediately  forms   
are pushed back and the long narrow     
passage leading to the  dormitories is  
filled with sound4 ,the new boy is taken
 with the stream4  ,what will happen to 
him now1 he wonders8 ,he has always     

understood that  most of the ragging    
takes place in the dormitories4 ,will   
all new boys be  subjected to some      
common lot8 ,in a way he almost hopes   
that they will4  ,he may thus be given  
an opportunity of showing his courage4  
,he will be  marked down at once as 'a  
bit of a sport4'    ,but nothing        
happens4 ,he walks timidly into the     
large airy room with its  bare boards1  
its row of wash-hand stands and         
red-quilted beds4 ,he sees  his bag     
lying in the middle of the floor4 ,three
 hours earlier when he  and his parents 
had been shown round by the             
house-master's wife1 he had  placed his 
bag on the corner bed4 ,it had seemed to
 him a good idea to  reserve that       
particular bed4 ,he would then be open  
to attack only on  one side4 ,memories  
of ,horatius ,cocles had stirred his    
imagination4 ,but  some one else is     
already undressing there4 ,he picks up  
his bag1 and is  about to place it on   
the bed nearest him when a warning voice

 informs  him that ,jones has bagged    
that bed4 ,he looks round him in dismay4
 ,there  are only two vacant beds4 ',may
 ,i have that one8' he asks4 ,the boy   
with  the warning voice looks surprised 
at being questioned4 ',i should think   
so1' he says1 'unless ,hughes wants it4 
,he had it last term4' ,the new boy     
does not know whether or not he dare    
begin to undress beside the bed  that   
,hughes may possibly commandeer4 ,he    
stands irresolute2 then decides  to take
 the risk4 ,there is nothing to choose  
between the two positions1  and ,hughes 
would probably prefer a change4    ,he  
begins slowly to undress4 ,no one takes 
the least notice of him4 ,no  one       
evinces the slightest inclination to    
test the courage of the new  man4 ,no   
hardened bully enters with a blanket4   
,it is possible that two  blas young    
gentlemen from another dormitory will   
stroll in 'just to  have a look at the  
new men1' will make a cursory           
examination1 and having  expressed their

 disgust at 'such an appalling crew1'   
will seek better  fortune elsewhere4    
,that will be all4 ,the inquisition of  
preparatory  school terrors is a myth4  
,this generation is not more timid than 
its  predecessors1 but it is more       
subtle4 ,the boy who has just ceased to 
be  labelled 'new' wishes to impress his
 importance on the new boy4 ,forty      
years ago he achieved this object by    
putting the new boy on a chair and      
throwing boots at him4 ,the appeal to   
physical force was not1 however1        
invariably successful4 ,sometimes the   
small boy retaliated1 and there is  no  
reason why a boy of thirteen should not 
be a match for one of  fourteen4 ,at any
 rate the 'year older' has accepted the 
twentieth  century doctrine that the    
easiest way to impress a person is to   
ignore  him4 ,and so the boy of a year's
 standing assumes an air of ,olympian   
superiority4 ,the new man is beneath his
 notice4 ,he prefers to lean in  the    
doorway of the dormitory1 and talk of   

the days when ',meredith had  that far  
bed1 and ,johnstone had the wash-hand   
stand beneath the window4'  ,he will    
casually let fall the names of the      
mighty and note their effect  on the    
young4 ,in the daytime he is probably   
quite an insignificant  person1 low in  
form and a funk at football4 ,he can    
only appear great in  the presence of   
his juniors during the quarter of an    
hour between supper  and lights out4 ,he
 therefore takes enormous pains to      
secure the  admiration of those whom he 
affects to despise4    ,it is the same  
everywhere4 ,at ,sandhurst1 on the first
 night of each  term1 the seniors used  
to cluster round the piano and sing till
 'rooms'  with incredible violence and  
discord4 ,it was done entirely to       
impress  the juniors1 and on the whole  
,i am inclined to think it was          
successful4  ,the junior is a shy       
person1 and the din has on him an effect
 not unlike  that of an intensive       
bombardment4 ,as the junior sits in a   

far corner of  the anteroom1 cowed and  
unhappy by an exhibition that is being  
conducted1 though he does not know it1  
entirely for his benefit1 so does  the  
new boy lie back in bed on his first    
night1 wondering what it is all  about4 
,the jargon puzzles him2 the attitude to
 life puzzles him4 ,the boy with  the   
warning voice is lamenting that he has  
got his 'budge4'    ',rotten luck1' he  
says4 ',i should like to have stopped in
 old ,moke's for  at least a year4 ,i   
did just well enough in each paper to   
avoid being  bottled4 ,fourteenth ,i    
came out1 and now they've started a new 
form1 so  we've all got shoved up4' ,the
 rest of the dormitory express sympathy4
  ,then some one wonders whether        
,davenport will turn 'pi' now he's a    
'pre'2  the opinion is expressed that   
,ferguson will find himself pretty      
lonely  now that ,wodehouse has left4 ,a
 lot of people have apparently been     
waiting a long time to kick him with    
impunity4 ,some one says1 ',let's  make 

up the ,fifteen1' and the rival claims  
of ,bradshaw and ,murray are  carefully 
weighed4 ,and all the while four        
wretched new boys listen in  silent1    
confused wonderment4    ,the            
conversation gradually becomes          
spasmodic4 ,there are longer and  longer
 pauses between the conclusion of one   
topic and the introduction  of another4 
',well1' says the senior boy1 'about    
time we were going to  sleep4           
,good-night all4' ,there is a murmur of 
'good-night'3 silence3 and  then again  
the warning voice4 ',oh1 but ,i say1    
,stewart1 what about the  new men's     
concert8' ,there is immediate interest  
among the senior  members4 ,of course1  
they had forgotten that 444 the new     
men's concert4    ',too late now1' says 
,stewart4 ',let's have it on ,sunday4'  
',hear that1 you new fellows2 you must  
all have a song by ,sunday4             
,good-night4'    ,but there is little   
sleep for the new boy4 ,where is he8    
,what has  happened to him8 ,such a     

little while ago he was secure1         
garrisoned1  sheltered by his home4     
,only twelve hours4 ,he begins to wish  
that he had  not been so anxious to     
leave his prep4 ,why hadn't he stayed on
 there  another year8 ,he would have    
been head of the school4 ,at this very  
moment  if he had not been so absurdly  
impetuous he would be turning over to go
  to sleep1 having wished his dormitory 
'good-night4' ,just as ,stewart had     
done4 ,the thought of the concert       
terrifies him4 ,he is a bad singer4     
,will  they make him stand on a chair8  
will they throw boots at him if his     
voice quavers1 or if he forgets the     
words8 ,it will be a long-drawn  agony4 
,and for a couple of days he is made    
wretched by the prospect of this        
ordeal4 ,it allows him no peace of mind4
 ,in form1 on the football field1  as he
 walks up to the tuck shop1 the         
disquieting thought descends to  torture
 him4 ,but in the end it is a very tame 
affair4 ,it takes place  after lights   

out1 and new boys1 as well as lovers1   
win a strange courage  of the darkness4 
,moreover1 the object of the concert is 
to amuse the  senior members of the     
dormitory1 and bad singing amuses no    
one4 ,myself1  ,i remember being stopped
 before ,i had completed one verse of   
',the  ,british ,grenadiers1' whereas   
the boy next to me1 who had an agreeable
  treble voice was made to sing1 ',put  
on your ta-ta1 little girlie1' every    
other night for the rest of the term4   
,the concert is practically the sole    
direct ordeal that a new boy has to     
face3 yet it is probable that he would1 
on the whole1 prefer the  old-fashioned 
methods4 ,it is better to be ragged than
 to be ignored4 ,and  he spends most of 
his first week wondering whether he has 
done the right  thing4 ,it is especially
 difficult if he finds himself placed   
high in the  school4 ,the lower forms   
are mainly composed of new boys1        
companions in  calamity1 and the master 
in charge of the second is lenient      

during the  early days4 ,it is different
 for the boy who finds himself in the   
,lower  ,fifth1 or ,upper ,fourth4 ,as  
likely as not there is only one other   
new boy  in his house in the same form1 
and1 when he cannot find that particular
  boy1 there is no one to whom he may   
turn for advice4 ,he soon learns that   
it is not wise to carry his troubles to 
his seniors4 ,he may find himself  in   
his house-master's study1 waiting to    
hand in the list of books he  will      
require1 and suddenly he remembers that 
he has forgotten to put  down his ,latin
 prose book on the list2 he has also    
forgotten what ,latin  prose book his   
form uses4 ,he casts a despairing eye   
round the room and  recognises1 leaning 
against a bookcase the languid1         
supercilious figure  of ,watney4 ,what  
luck1 he thinks1 ,watney has been in the
 ,upper ,fourth  two years4 ,he is sure 
to know4 ,the new boy edges towards him4
 ',please1'  he asks1 'what ,latin prose
 book do we use8'    ,his query is met  

by a look of amazed1 outraged           
disapproval4 ,watney looks  him up and  
down4 ,then at last3 ',who are we8' he  
says4 ,the experiment  is not repeated4 
,the new boy arrives in form without his
 ,latin prose  book and is threatened   
with an imposition4    ,the geography of
 the school is very puzzling4    ,no new
 boy could be expected to gather much   
help from the information  that his     
class-room is 'under the library1 up on 
the right1 next to  ,uncle ,ned's4' ,for
 at least a week he is always entering  
the wrong form  room4 ,in the lower     
forms it is customary for the master to 
glance round  the class1 see that five  
boys are missing1 and send the senior   
member in  search of them as a matter of
 course4 ,indeed the first week of term 
is  very pleasant for the senior member 
of the lower forms4 ,he spends most  of 
his time searching for lost lambs1 and  
he is in no frantic haste to  complete  
his task4 ,but that is in the lower     
form1 and1 in the middle and  upper     

schools1 form masters do not care to    
have their time wasted4 ,the  absence of
 ,jones mi4 is not regarded as a joke4  
,nicknames are confusing4    ,the new   
boy does not realise that ',crusoe' and 
,mr ,robinson are the same  person4     
,and1 when he finds himself a quarter of
 an hour late in ,mr  ,robinson's       
class-room1 his excuse that he thought  
he had to go to ',mr  ,crusoe' is not an
 official success4 ,he is always on the 
brink of a  mistake4    ,probably his   
life is further complicated by the fact 
that he is playing  ,rugby football for 
the first time1 and1 for at least a     
month1 his  performances on the field   
can give him little satisfaction and    
less  amusement4 ,in the course of two  
or three puntabouts he is taught by his 
house-captain how to pack and how to    
take a pass4 ,he is then drafted on  to 
pick ups and house-games to fare as best
 he may4 ,he fares extremely  badly4 ,he
 hangs about on the edge of the scrum4  
,he catches hold of his  opponents when 

they are dribbling and attempts an      
,association barge when  they are       
running4 ,for a long time he never      
touches the ball with his  hands at all1
 and on the rare occasions when he      
discovers it at his  feet1 he takes a   
terrific rout at it and is              
contemptuously informed that  he is not 
playing soccer4 ,he is playing with boys
 older and heavier than  himself4 ,he   
has little chance of acquiring          
self-confidence3 no  footballer is      
really any use till he has scored a try1
 and that day is  slow in coming4 ,the  
new boy's chief anxiety on the field is 
to avoid the  notice of any house caps  
that may be on the touchline4 ,at       
half-time he  will rub worm-casts on his
 knees to present an appearance of muddy
  valour4 ,he is terribly afraid he will
 be reported and beaten for  slacking4  
,this fate rarely1 as a matter of fact1 
overtakes a small boy4  ,a beating for  
slackness is usually reserved for the   
boy about half-way  up the house who has

 committed no definite offence1 but has 
been making  a nuisance of himself      
generally4#b ,slackness on the field is 
the excuse  for an official reprimand1  
and its effect is usually salutary4     
,this1  however1 the new boy does not   
know4 ,games1 when the house-captain is 
on  the touchline1 become a misery4     
,during his first term he looks forward 
to the ,first ,fifteen matches chiefly  
because on those days he will not       
himself have to play4    ,but it is in  
his spare time that he most acutely     
feels himself outside  the general life 
of the school4 ,he is oppressed by      
liberty4 ,he does not  know what to do  
with it4 ,at his ,preparatory ,school an
 elaborate  time-table was posted on the
 notice-board1 and every moment of his  
day  was pigeonholed4 ,a boy had no     
excuse for not knowing at any given time
  what he ought to be doing1 and where  
he ought to be doing it4 ,there was     
constant supervision4 ,but1 at a ,public
 ,school1 provided a boy answers  his   

name at roll-call1 and fulfils his      
social engagements in the form  room and
 on the football field1 no one worries  
much what he is doing  during the rest  
of the time4 ,he can search for plovers'
 eggs1 or hunt  for fossils1 or develop 
photographs1 or overeat at the tuck     
shop4 ,he is  his own master1 and this  
the new boy cannot understand4 ,when he 
has  changed after football on a        
half-holiday he asks himself3 ',what    
ought ,i  to be doing now8' ,the answer 
is1 of course3 ',nothing in particular4 
,whatever you like4' ,a disconcerting   
answer1 for there is nothing in         
particular that he wants to do4 ,the day
 room is inhospitable4 ,the big  chairs 
round the fire are occupied by the      
mighty4 ,the library is only of  less   
interest to him than the museum4 ,the   
tuck shop at such an hour is  full of   
bloods in whose presence he feels       
embarrassed4 ,he wanders  disconsolately
 round the courts4 ,all the other new   
boys seem to have  found something to do

 7a common delusion this74 ,in the end  
he succeeds  in finding some one equally
 lonely with whom he goes for a walk3   
and a  walk1 unless one is a botanist1  
is such a strange way of spending an    
afternoon1 that ,i have since wondered  
whether any one after his first  term   
ever goes for a walk at school without  
an ulterior motive1 except  when he is  
in training4    ,it is a strange        
business that first term1 and its       
importance is1 ,i  think1 overrated4 ,it
 is not public school life4 ,it is      
composed of the  hesitations1 the       
reactions of a novice4 ,school life is  
on the other side  of it4 ,the new boy  
sees that life in fragments4 ,it puzzles
 him4 ,he tries  to fit it into shape   
with the scale of values he acquired at 
his  ,preparatory ,school4 ,and fails4  
,the ,preparatory ,school belongs to    
childhood1 the ,public ,school to       
adolescence4 ,the new boy understands   
little of what is going on round him4   
,indeed there is no person whose        

testimony can be less relied upon than  
that of the new boy of four  weeks'     
standing4 ,he never knows what he       
should1 and what he should not1         
believe4 ,the new life is so strange to 
him that he is prepared to accept  any  
absurdity for the truth4 ,the veriest   
nincompoop can pull his leg4    ,the    
following story is true4    ,it was the 
custom in my house for the matron to put
 out clean  underclothes for each boy on
 ,saturday evening4 ,on my first        
,saturday ,i  noticed that no clean     
pants had been put out for me4 ,i asked 
an elder  boy why this was4 ',oh1 don't 
you know8' he said1 'we only have clean 
pants twice a term4' ,i believed him4   
,the matron thought that ,i1 in  common 
with many others1 did not start wearing 
pants till well into the  winter4 ,in   
consequence ,i wore the same pair till  
the second week in  ,november4 ,it is   
the same with regard to the more serious
 issues of  school life4 ,mischief is   
often caused by the mistaken ideas that 

new  boys give their parents of what    
does and what does not go on in their   
house4    ,i was provided the other day 
with a good example4 ,at a certain house
 in  a famous school it was the practice
 of the house-master's wife to sit at   
the day-room table for lunch4 ,the idea 
was admirable4 ,the house-master's  wife
 was a sympathetic woman who wished to  
recall to the small boys the            
regenerating atmosphere of their homes4 
,the results1 however1 were             
unfortunate4 ,the small boys became     
communicative4 ,in their innocence  they
 repeated stories of which the true     
significance had escaped them4  ,in     
their ignorance they misinterpreted     
stories of which the nature  happened to
 be direct4 ,in neither case did the    
reputation of certain  light-hearted    
sportsmen on the ,va4 table rise in the 
official esteem4  ,indeed of that       
particular house there was composed a   
limerick1 the exact  wording of which   
has more humour than propriety1 to the  

effect that the  house reports of the   
,sixth ,form table were written by the  
fags4 ,few  parents1 however1 would     
accept this explanation4    ,officially 
the first term is usually an unqualified
 success4 ,the new boy  is not          
distracted from his studies by the      
stress of house politics nor  by the    
ambitions of the football field4 ,the   
weekly form order is his  chief         
excitement4 ,and it would be surprising1
 considering the qualified  enthusiasm  
with which the majority of the form     
welcome this occurrence1  if the new boy
 did not soon find himself in the       
running for promotion4  ,there is1      
indeed1 little else for him to do4#c ,he
 lives in a world of  his own4 ,he sees 
a good deal of new boys in other houses1
 and the usual  question in break on    
,saturday morning is3 ',where were you  
this week8'  ,his offences against      
discipline are inconsiderable4 ,it is   
'side' for a  new boy to rag in the day 
room1 in the changing room1 and in the  

dormitories4 ,that is the privilege of  
his seniors4 ,he is not hardened  enough
 to rag in form4 ,he still regards work 
as important4 ,i remember  once seeing a
 very small and inoffensive scholar     
crumple up a sheet of  paper and fling  
it at the head of his chemistry master4 
,he maintained1  however1 that he was   
aiming at the waste-paper basket1 and1  
though the  excuse was not accepted1 the
 offender's subsequent performances on  
the  cricket field have inclined me to  
think he spoke the truth4 ,at any rate  
this is the sole piece of audacity on   
the part of a new boy that ,i have      
witnessed4 ,indeed the new boy who does 
not return home with a thundering  good 
report is a well-placed candidate for   
expulsion4 ,most of us start  well4 ,how
 many public school boys would have to  
confess that they won  their only prize 
in their first term4 ,the new boy       
returns home as from a  ,roman triumph4 
,the indulgent father is prodigal of    
largess and  theatre-tickets4 ,his      

secretary is instructed to type out the 
report and  send copies of it to aunts  
and uncles and his former head master4  
,it is  a great occasion1 and we do well
 to make the most of it4 ,it does not   
come twice4    ,the change begins1 ,i   
suppose1 on the first evening of the    
second term1  when the novice1 clad     
appropriately in bowler hat and coloured
 tie1 is  accosted by a member of the   
form into which he has been promoted and
  informed that he will be expected to  
do the 'con' for them that term4  ,there
 is no threat4 ,it is merely the        
announcement of an arrangement for      
mutual help4 ,the old stagers who have  
slowly moved up the school1 with  the   
danger of superannuation camping on     
their trail1 consider that their  last  
terms should pass in a soft tranquility4
 ,they expect the newcomer  to provide  
them with that peace4 ',here1' they say1
 'is a smart lad who  has got his       
promotion straight away2 he can be of   
great service to us4'  ,it is a form of 

practical communism of which the scholar
 is particularly  the victim4 ,there is 
a general conscription of intellect4    
,scholars are  expected to do the work  
of the bloods4 ',you are paid to come   
here1' say  the great men1 'you must    
prove yourselves worthy of your hire4'  
,arnold  ,lunn has described how the    
captain of his house used to hold an    
educational raffle4 ,slips of paper on  
which were written3 ',greek ,prose'2    
',latin ,prose'2 ',essay1' were placed  
in a hat and the scholars took their    
chance of drawing a blank4 ,i can still 
hear the voice of the school            
fast-bowler shouting over the banisters 
to a wretched goggle-eyed youth1  ',no4 
#fi1 ,becke1 and shove it in my study   
before prayers4'    ,but the scholar is 
an exceptional person1 and the novice   
who is accosted  in the courts has an   
easier fate4 ,he does not have to do    
other people's  work4 ,he merely has to 
do his own out loud4 ,he is1 moreover1 a
  privileged person4 ,he does not have  

to look the words up in a  dictionary4  
,that is the task of another member of  
the combination4 ,he is  spared the hack
 work of translation4 ,it is for him to 
discover the  sense4 ,at a first glance 
it would seem that this arrangement     
would be to  the advantage of the new   
boy2 certainly it will ensure his       
industry4  ,there is no chance of his   
scamping his work4 ,the fate of others  
depends  on his efficiency1 and it does 
not pay him to guess at the sense4 ,i   
remember once translating ,remotis      
arbielis1 surrexit e lectulo1  'having  
kicked off his bedclothes he rose from  
his bed4' ,no one  questioned the       
interpretation1 so ,i proceeded to the  
next sentence4 ,none  of us luckily was 
put on to translate that passage1 but ,i
 can recall now  the icy looks of the   
other members of the combination when   
the sentence  was correctly rendered4 ,i
 made a bolt for it afterwards1 but they
 caught  me4 ,i did not guess again4    
,the form interpreter is never able to  

say to himself3 ',i went on to con      
yesterday1 and ,i went on the day       
before1 there's not the least           
likelihood of my being put on to-day4 ,i
 shan't prepare it4' ,he has to  labour 
for the general good1 and probably1 by  
the end of the term1 he  knows the      
,latin and ,greek books pretty well4    
,but he has not only learnt  the correct
 rendering of certain obscure classical 
passages2 he has  learnt also1 through  
contact with older boys1 the correct    
public school  attitude to work and the 
relative importance of football and     
mathematics4    ,this is what he learns4
    ,it is the business of the school to
 win their matches and to produce       
first-class footballers and cricketers2 
it is the business of the house  to win 
their house matches and to produce as   
many colours as possible4  ,it is the   
business of every individual member of  
the school to subscribe  to this creed4 
,the value of scholastic achievements is
 relative4 ,it is a  feather in the cap 

of a double first to be privileged to   
wear the dark  blue ribbon of the       
,sixth4 ,but it is not a necessary      
achievement4  ,scholars1 on the other   
hand1 should work4 ,they are no use to  
the school  at games4 ,it is for them to
 do what little lies within their power2
 a  scholarship has its value4 ,the     
school likes to get scholarships4 ,it is
 a  side show1 of course1 but a         
creditable side show4 ,and the ,fourth  
,former1  after recounting the feats of 
,lewis in the big school match1 comments
 on  the fact that ,bevan won a ,balliol
 scholarship in the same way that the   
village greengrocer will say3 ',oh1 yes1
 sir1 we have a drapery  department1    
too4' ,real brains are accorded a sort  
of grudging  admiration4 ,they are      
entitled to respect4 ,a ,fellow has done
 his job  well4 ,it may not be an       
important job1 but he has done it4 ,our 
,fourth  ,former remembers the parable  
of the talents4 ,the ,balliol scholar   
has  converted his one talent into two4 

,the boy1 however1 who1 without being a 
scholar1 shows unusual signs of         
industry1 is a swot4 ,valuable time is  
wasted4 ,the school is divided into  two
 parts3 the scholars and the rest4 ,the 
rest brings to its work  whatever energy
 is saved from its more arduous         
activities4 ,no one thinks  any the less
 of a man for being low in form4        
,slackness on the football  field is    
anti-social4 ,in the long category of an
 unpopular boy's offence  the final     
evidence of worthlessness is the        
statement3 ',he doesn't even  work4'    
,even that resort1 'that last           
infirmity1' is denied him4 ,what        
purpose has his existence8 ,these are   
the articles of faith2 these are  the   
conventions4 ,and the new boy who is    
ambitious1 who wishes to win  the       
respect and admiration of his comrades  
realises that athletic  prowess will win
 him a position that is beyond the reach
 of the  liveliest intellect4 ,he begins
 to look on his work as a side show4 ,it

  does not particularly matter what     
happens to him in the class-room4 ,it   
would be nice to reach the ,sixth4      
,there are agreeable privileges4 ,but it
  is not of first importance4    ,no    
sooner has he decided this1 than he     
discovers that his form work is         
intolerably dull4 ,of course he does4   
,he brings no enthusiasm to it4 ,the    
masters who can inspire the indifferent 
are rare4 ,and the mind wanders  from   
the inky desks1 the hunched row of      
shoulders1 and the far voice of  a      
master droning monotonously1 to the     
swimming bath and the cricket  field4   
,will ,butler get the cricket cup8 ,did 
,frobisher get his firsts  because he   
was worth them1 or because he was in the
 ,captain's house8  ,these topics offer 
inviting prospects2 speculation follows 
speculation  till suddenly the tired    
voice breaks into the day-dream3 ',will 
you  continue now1 please1 ,dunkin8'    
,there is a scuffle as ,dunkin collects 
his  books and thoughts4 ,there is a    

whisper of3 ',where's the place8' ',what
  does crates favorum mean8' ,and the   
delinquent begins to stumble  through   
his lines in a fashion that may1 or may 
not1 result in an  imposition4 ,to the  
unresponsive the atmosphere is one of   
intolerable  listlessness4    ,he makes 
another discovery1 namely1 that during  
his first term he did  far more work    
than was strictly necessary4 ,that he   
should discover the  idiosyncracies of  
certain masters was a matter of course4 
,sooner or  later he would have been    
bound to learn that in ,old ,mouldy's he
 could  pin the repetition on to the    
back of the boy in front of him1 that   
the  ,moke's mathematical class provided
 him with an admirable opportunity for  
writing the imposition that his         
house-master had given him the evening  
before4 ,a good batsman soon sizes up   
the opposing fieldsmen2 he knows        
whether he can risk a single to cover1  
or whether there is one for a  throw    
when the ball goes slowly to third man4 

,that is part of the game4  ,the new boy
 makes more important discoveries than  
that4 ,he comes to  understand the      
intricacies of the set system by which  
the middle and  upper schools learn     
,french1 ,german1 ,science1 and         
,mathematics4    ,for the days have     
passed when a boy learnt only ,latin and
 ,greek and a  little ,french grammar4  
,a liberal education is supposed to give
 him a  general idea of a wide number of
 subjects4 ,a choice of subjects is     
allowed1 and it is hard to arrange a    
fair system of marking that will  bring 
the boy who does ,german into line with 
the boy who does ,greek4  ,each school  
tackles the situation in a different    
way1 but each system  probably leaves a 
loophole for the idle4 ,it could hardly 
be otherwise1  and it is enough to      
describe one system and the tactics that
 are adopted  to cope with it4    ,this 
particular system works as follows3 ,it 
is accepted that the only  universal    
subjects1 that is1 the only subjects    

that are studied by the  whole form     
under the same master1 are ,latin and   
,english1 and1 under  ,english1 are to  
be included ,history1 ,literature1      
,geography1 and  ,divinity4 ,on the     
marks earned in these subjects the form 
order and  promotion depends4 ,all other
 subjects1 ,greek1 ,german1 ,french1    
,science1  and ,mathematics are treated 
independently of the form order and are 
taught in sets of varying standards4 ,it
 would seem to be a very sound  scheme4 
,a boy1 for instance1 may be a bad      
historian and a poor classic1  but a    
fine mathematician4 ,if all subjects    
were included in the same  order he     
would be kept back by his bad ,english  
and ,latin and would have  to do algebra
 that he had long outgrown1 yet at the  
same time his  mathematical ability     
would place him in a form where the     
,english and  classics would be too     
difficult for him4 ,under the set system
 it is  possible for the boy to reach   
the highest set in the school at        

mathematics and yet remain in the ,shell
 or ,lower ,fourth4    ,during his first
 term the new boy worked with equal     
industry at form and  set subjects4     
,during his second term he realises that
 he is wasting his  energy4 ,proficiency
 in ,greek will not help him to secure  
his promotion  into the ,lower ,fifth2  
whereas1 if he takes things easily at   
,greek1 he  will be able to spend more  
time on ,history and ,latin4 ,indeed1 it
 might  be said that the wily one 'makes
 a book' in form and set subjects4 ,he  
appreciates the need of reserve         
strength4 ,he ought always to have a    
little in hand4 ,he casts his eye down  
his time-table4 ,there is no  reason why
 he should not spare himself during the 
hour in the  laboratory4 ,the time might
 be so much more profitably devoted to  
his  ,latin 'con'2 and at the time1 of  
course1 he will not consider the        
possibility of allowing such an         
arrangement to divert in any way his    
classical activities in 'prep' on the   

previous night4 ,far from it4 ,he  will 
have an opportunity to revise4 ,he again
 studies his time-table4  ,french with  
',bogus4' ,a little relaxation there is 
possible4 ,greek with  ',crusoe1'       
however1 presents difficulties4 ,crusoe 
is something of a  martinet2 he expects 
lessons to be prepared1 and he has a way
 of  remembering what impositions he has
 set4 ,he will have to work hard for    
,crusoe4 ,indeed it would be as well if 
he tried an honest1 or the  equivalent  
for an honest term's work for ,crusoe4  
,is not the next set  conducted by the  
,moke on admirably communal grounds4 ,in
 the ,moke's every  one helps every one4
 ,there is no haste1 no envy1 no        
striving for  position4 ,a few scholars 
hurry through on their way to ,balliol  
scholarships4 ,they do not matter4 ,they
 are only ripples on the surface  of    
that calm1 deep pool4    ,sometimes 'the
 book is made' the other way4 ,a member 
of the school  eleven has at last       
reached the ,lower ,fifth1 and is       

content for a term or  two to rest upon 
his achievements4 ,he decides to do just
 enough work to  avoid being bottled4   
,he realises1 however1 that it will be  
as well for  his father's peace of mind 
if a few single figures appear after his
 name  in the report4 ,and so he devotes
 himself to ,chemistry and ,french4 ,two
  subjects appear on the time-table for 
each evening's preparation4 ,and it  is 
a bad day when it is impossible to      
dismiss at least one of them in a       
quarter of an hour4    ,examinations    
present difficulties4 ,and it is here   
that the new boy1 at  the end of the    
summer term1 makes his first serious    
compromise with the  rigid code of      
ethics that he has brought with him from
 his ,preparatory  ,school4 ,why should 
he not crib in set subjects4 ,they are  
unimportant4  ,promotion does not depend
 on them4 ,he is not taking an unfair   
advantage  of any one else4 ,he will    
only do just well enough to avoid having
 to do  the paper again4 ,why should he 

have to spend hours sweating up a       
useless  subject4 ,it is absurd4        
,besides1 cribbing is rather an exciting
 game4 ,it  is a daring feat to smuggle 
the principal parts of the irregular    
verb1  into a waistcoat pocket4 ,it     
needs courage to open a ,french         
dictionary  beneath the desk4 ,he will  
be able to talk about it afterwards1 and
  fellows will say he is a sport4 ,it is
 the first step1 and afterwards the     
compromise becomes increasingly easy4   
,he returns home at the end of his first
 year fortified with a deal of  worldly 
wisdom4 ,he looks forward to the next   
year hopefully4 ,he knows  where he is  
now4 ,he has learnt the tricks of the   
trade4 ,it is all going  to be splendid 
fun4    ,,footnotes3    #a ,i have used 
throughout this book the idiom of my own
 school4 ,the  ,head of a house or of   
the school is the head boy in work4 ,the
  ,captainship of a house or of the     
school is a term applicable only to     
athletic prominence4    #b ,i am        

speaking of the average house4 ,there   
are frequent occasions1 of  course1 in  
bad houses where this privilege of the  
house-captain is  abused4    #c ,it has 
even been known for a new boy to work in
 his spare time4          ,,chapter ,,iv
    ,,the ,,second ,,year      ,and it  
is splendid fun4 ,let us make no mistake
 about that4 ,it is  splendid fun4 ,for 
the ordinary boy1 for all those1 that is
 to say1 who  have not been designed by 
nature for the contemptuous             
entertainment of  their companions1     
nothing is much better than the second  
and third  years4 ,it is a              
light-hearted1 swash-buckling period4   
,the anxieties of  the fag have been    
forgotten1 the responsibilities of the  
,sixth ,former  are still remote4 ,the  
second yearer can rag1 and his ragging  
is not  taken seriously4 ,at the end of 
the term house-masters do not address   
him  solemnly and appeal to his better  
nature4 ,they beat him1 and that makes  
it a square fight4 ,he knows where he   

is4 ,he has to remain on the right  side
 of the law4 ,if he passes the limit1 he
 knows what to expect4 ,later  on the   
issue will be complicated by his        
position3 for a while he can  afford to 
be an irresponsible free-lance4    ,it  
is a happy time of eager unreflecting   
action4 ,there is a good deal of        
noisiness and 'showing off4' ,but it is 
harmless4 ,a boy has just begun to  find
 himself4 ,he is free at last4 ,at his  
,preparatory ,school he was  always     
under the eye of authority4 ,his freedom
 was enmeshed by a network  of          
regulations4 ,his first year at his     
,public ,school his freedom was         
fettered by nervousness and prejudice4  
,that is over now4 ,i sometimes  think  
that we love ,charlie ,chaplin so dearly
 because he does all the  things we have
 not the courage to do ourselves4 ,when 
a waiter hurries  past us with a pile of
 plates1 how delightful it would be1 we 
think1 to  drive our feet between his   
legs2 who would not love to hurl a brick

 at a  retreating foe2 who is not       
tempted to crook his walking-stick round
 the  ankles of the pompous4 ,we never  
do these things2 not as we should like  
to do them4 ,but we come as near as we  
ever shall come to the attainment  of   
this desire during our second year at   
school4 ,on a small scale it is         
permitted us to destroy furniture4 ,we  
can pull chairs from beneath an         
unsuspecting foe4 ,the strings of a     
hammock have been cut to the            
discomfiture of the occupant4 ,the      
terminal bill for breakages is often    
considerable1 but no one is ever really 
hurt4    ,for what little bullying      
exists nowadays the second and third    
yearers  are in the main responsible4   
,the effect of a new-found freedom is   
intoxicating4 ,and there is always a boy
 in every house who is an  irresistible 
butt4 ,there is a compound ,german word 
that means                              
'face-that-invites-a-box-on-the-ear4'   
,and such a physiognomy is the          

invariable possession of at least one   
scholar2 in its own way the  magnetic   
influence of such ugliness is as        
irresistible as the charm of a  pretty  
woman4 ,one has only to see that        
particular brand of face to want  to    
heave a boot at it4 ,one refrains       
seldom4 ,it used to be held that  every 
house contains one bully4 ,it would be  
truer to say that every  house contains 
one boy who is bullied4 ,most boys go   
through their  schooldays without being 
subjected to any bullying1 but most boys
  indulge in a little spasmodic bullying
 themselves4 ,it is a sort of bull      
baiting1 and it is in the main          
good-natured4    ,four or five fellows  
are sitting in a study after tea4 ,there
 are still  twenty minutes before       
lock-up1 and the conversation has grown 
desultory4  ,they all feel a little     
bored4 ,one of them suggests that they  
should go  and see how that ass         
',sniffy' is getting on4 ,it is a       
popular suggestion1  and a raid is made 

upon ,sniffy's study4 ,sniffy is        
discovered working4  ,this is considered
 to be a disgrace to the house1 and     
,sniffy is informed  of the fact4 ,he   
invites his guests to get out4 ',but1 my
 dear ,sniffy1  what hospitality6       
,surely you are going to offer us a     
chair6 ,no8 ,then we  must teach you    
manners6' ,sniffy's chair is suddenly   
jerked from under  him and ,sniffy is   
flung forward on to his table4 ,he jumps
 up and lets  fly at one of his         
assailants4 ,it is no fun ragging some  
one who does not  retaliate1 and        
proceedings are soon less cordial4 ,in  
the end ,sniffy's  study is pretty      
effectively wrecked4 ,this happens about
 once a  fortnight1 but1 beyond this1 ,i
 am inclined to think that1 except in a 
bad house1 there is very little bullying
 now in ,public ,schools4    ,the tone  
of a house changes far more quickly than
 the tone of a school4  ,and1 in every  
school1 there is usually a thoroughly   
bad house4 ,as a  house-master grows old

 he tends to leave the management of the
 house  more and more in the hands of   
his prefects4 ,as long as his prefects  
are  efficient all goes well2 but1      
sooner or later1 a weak head is bound to
  come1 and then the swash-buckling     
element gets out of hand4 ,one of the   
houses when ,i first went to school had 
got into this state4 ,the head boy  was 
easy-going1 and there were in the day   
room two members of the ,first  ,fifteen
 who had in school failed to reach the  
,lower ,fourth and who were  thorough   
'wrong 'uns4' ,terrible tales of refined
 torture used to be  repeated in the    
upper dormitories1 and ,i can well      
believe that life  there was pretty     
wretched4 ,but ,i always distrust       
second-hand accounts4  ,nothing is more 
easily distorted than the story of      
atrocities1 and1 for  my part1 ,i have  
neither been a victim1 nor the witness  
of any serious  bullying4 ,the only case
 that reached official notice during my 
time  savoured strongly of the          

ludicrous4    ,a parent had complained  
that his son had been ill-treated1 and  
all the  house prefects were summoned   
into the head master's presence4 ,the   
offenders were leaning nervously against
 the wall2 their victim was  enduring   
tortures of self-consciousness2 the head
 master was fingering  his pen1 and the 
avenging father blocked up the entire   
fireplace4 ,there  was a dead silence4  
,we were all hard put to it not to      
smile4 ,the  offenders looked so much   
smaller than the prey4 ,at last         
proceedings were  opened by the boy's   
parent4 ,he followed the traditional    
line4 ,he had  been a boy4 ,he knew what
 boys were4 ,he knew the public school  
code of  honour4 ,he loathed sneaking4  
,his boy had not sneaked4 ,the          
confession had  been dragged out of him4
 ,what he1 the father1 wanted1 was not  
punishment1 but the assurance that such 
a thing would not happen again4  ',and  
now1 ,john1' he concluded1 'show the    
head master that bruise upon  your arm4'

 ,very sheepishly the boy drew off his  
coat1 rolled up his  sleeve and revealed
 a bruise1 certainly of extensive       
proportions4    ',how did they do that8'
 asked the chief4    ',by flicking him  
with wet towels1 head master1' said the 
parent4    ,a simultaneous denial came  
from both offenders4 ',we didn't make   
that  bruise1 sir4'    ',but did you    
flick him8' asked the chief4    ',well1 
sir2 yes4'    ',then how on earth can   
you tell that you did not make that     
bruise8'    ,there was a moment's       
silence1 during which the smaller of the
 offenders  surveyed the wound with an  
almost envious eye4    ',it couldn't    
have been me1 sir1' he said at last4 ',i
 can't flick well  enough to have done  
that4'    ,i hope ,i may be pardoned for
 retelling this story1 which ,i have    
already  told elsewhere4 ,but it seems  
to me to interpret perfectly the        
attitude  towards bullying that exists  
in most houses4 ,no doubt there was a   
great  deal of bullying fifty years ago4

 ,and people think that what was true of
  the ,rugby of ,tom ,brown's           
,schooldays is true of the ,shrewsbury  
of  to-day4 ,they still think that the  
three chief sins of a ,public ,school   
are bullying1 stealing1 and midnight    
escapades into the town4 ,but those     
days have passed4 ,in ,desmond ,coke's  
,the ,bending of a ,twig the new boy    
who sought for bullies behind every     
cloister quickly won the nickname of    
,don ,q4    ,it is usually during the   
course of his fourth term that a boy    
first  begins to swear4 ,for swearing   
is1 on the whole1 confined to members of
  the ,middle ,school4 ,it is side for a
 fag to swear1 and an oath1 except on   
rare occasions1 is considered beneath   
the dignity of a blood4 ,he is  supposed
 to dwell in an ,olympian fastness      
beyond the reach of  inconvenience1     
where the need for violent language is  
infrequently  presented4 ,for the second
 yearer1 however1 life is full of       
emotion that  demands to be registered  

forcibly4    ,i can never quite see why 
so many people refuse to believe that a 
schoolboy's conversation is punctuated  
with 'damns' and 'bloodys4' ,we  employ 
the idiom of our surroundings4 ,a boy   
does not swear at home2 at  school he   
does4 ,and there is no particular reason
 why he should not4 ,an  oath means     
little to him4 ,he knows that some      
indecency is implied4 ,but  the meaning 
of the word is not defined by his use of
 it4 ,he rarely  employs it             
appropriately4 ,he recommends the most  
contradictory  performances4 ,a powerful
 expression is needed4 ,he wishes the   
world to  know that he has been moved   
powerfully either to anger1 or to       
delight4  ,that is all4 ,any word that  
would have this effect would suit him1  
and ,i  remember a dormitory captain    
insisting that the only expletive to be 
used in his presence should be          
'daggers'2 this crasis satisfied every  
one4 ,the language a boy uses is no     
index to his character4 ,swearing and   

'talking smut' are very different       
things4    ,it is also in his fourth    
term that a boy who is anything of an   
athlete  begins to discover himself on  
the football field4 ,he finds himself   
scoring tries in home games4 ,he is     
noticed by the bloods as a coming  man4 
,he makes friends among his seniors4 ,he
 is no longer outside the  life of the  
school4 ,the road of ambition lies clear
 and straight before  him4 ,it is marked
 out in distinct stages4 ,he learnt1 of 
course1 during  his first term that a   
house cap may put one hand in his       
trouser pockets1  that a seconds may put
 both1 that a first may walk across the 
sixth form  green in break2 but these   
facts were distant in the imagination   
like the  ritual of a medival court3    
they now become realities4 ,in a year1  
he  reminds himself1 he will be in his  
house fifteen4 ,the year after he       
should get his house cap4 ,in four years
 he should be a first4 ,it might1       
indeed1 be maintained that the blood    

system is at the same time the  magnet  
and the expression of the second        
yearer's ambition4 ,the blood  would not
 value his performances so highly were  
he not encouraged by  others in the     
belief that he is of supreme importance4
 ,and1 at fifteen1  one idealises the   
future4 ,it seems splendid to be a      
blood1 to play for  the school against  
,blackheath1 to saunter across the      
courts with one's  hands in one's       
pockets1 one's books stuck under one's  
arms2 to be on  terms of friendly       
intercourse with masters1 to be beyond  
the reach of  punishment4 ,and1 because 
the future seems so glorious1 the second
 yearer  idealises the dwellers in it4  
,in the same way that in ,chelsea the   
latest  poet or draughtsman can         
disregard the social laws of property   
and of  propriety1 in the eyes of the   
junior the blood can do no wrong4 ,his  
voice is hushed when a blood passes him 
in the cloisters4 ,if one should  speak 
to him1 he blushes and stammers and     

feels proud of it for days4  ,the blood 
naturally endeavours to realise the     
popular conception of  himself4 ,he owes
 his position to it4 ,for the higher up 
the school we go1  the less important   
the blood appears1 and1 when our time   
comes to sit at  the high table1 we can 
hardly believe that we are occupying the
 same  chair that ,meredith sat in four 
years ago4 ,it is absurd4 ,how the house
  must have come down4 ,to think of that
 little ass1 ,barton1 being a  prefect4 
,how short a time since he was playing  
in junior house games and  getting      
cursed for funking4 ,and for            
ourselves--it is only yesterday that  we
 were trembling1 a diffident new boy1 at
 the far corner of the  day-room table4 
,we cannot but believe our generation to
 be vastly  inferior to those that have 
preceded it1 and we do not think        
otherwise  even when we win the senior  
cricket cup1 although in ,meredith's    
year the  house was beaten by an innings
 in the first round4 ,it is not in our  

nature to desire1 or even value highly1 
what we possess4 ,the last year  is     
often a disappointment4    ,no such     
foreknowledge mars the enjoyment and    
anticipation of the second  yearer4 ,it 
is indeed hard to imagine a more        
fortunate combination of  circumstances4
 ,from an agreeable present he surveys  
the prospect of a  delightful future4   
,the days may pass slowly1 or swiftly1  
as they  will--their passage will be a  
long enchantment4    ,it is during this 
period that a boy gets through the      
majority of his  ragging in form4 ,now  
the ragging of masters is a very        
specialised art4  ,the master holds all 
the cards4 ,he has behind him the       
marshalled forces  of the law4 ,he can  
cane1 he can give lines4 ,he has every  
implement1  physical and moral1 for the 
preservation of order4 ,he ought to be  
able  to keep order4 ,yet the boy       
usually wins4 ,indeed1 ,i often wonder  
how a  master1 who has once begun to be 
ragged1 can ever hope to regain order4  

,he is fighting a confident foe4 ,the   
new boy learns during his first week    
that 'one can do anything one likes in  
,musty's4' ,musty stands no chance4  ,he
 enters the form room nervously2 he is  
on the lookout for trouble2 he  is      
afraid to turn his back on the class    
when he is working on the  blackboard4  
,for ten minutes there is silence1 a    
suspicious silence1  perhaps1 but still 
a silence4 ,musty tells himself that if 
any one  attempts to break that silence 
he will make him sorry for it4 ,he will 
punish the first whisper3 that is the   
only way4 ,and then1 suddenly1 from  the
 back of the room1 comes an ominous     
sound4 ,it is not a cough3 it is  not a 
sneeze3 it is a hideous nasal and vocal 
croak that ,musty has  learnt to        
recognise as the prelude to rebellion4  
,he observes that some  one is cramming 
a handkerchief into his mouth1 and is   
choking in the  subdued manner of one   
who is unsuccessfully stifling a laugh4 
,musty decides on action4 ',jones1 take 

that handkerchief out of your  mouth    
immediately1 and you'll spend the       
afternoon doing me a hundred  lines4'   
,jones withdraws the handkerchief from  
his chin1 and his face  assumes an      
expression of outraged innocence4 ',but1
 sir----' he begins4    ',a hundred and 
fifty lines1' snaps ,musty4    ,at this 
point the democracy of the class feels  
that its independence has  been         
violated4 ,there is a murmur of         
disapproval4 ,and a tall1 cadaverous    
youth rises from the front desk4        
',please1 sir----'    ',silence1        
,evans4'    ',no1 sir1 but really1'     
,evans persists1 ',i must explain to    
you1 sir1 that  the younger ,jones is   
suffering from a very severe cold4'     
',yes1 sir1 ,i am1' blurts out the      
victim4 ',and the matron said ,i was not
  to play football this afternoon4'     
,at this point ,musty should1 of course1
 be firm4    ',i am sorry1' he should   
say1 'but1 at the same time1 that will  
allow  you1 ,jones1 to do me two hundred

 lines instead of a hundred and fifty4  
,and perhaps you1 ,evans1 will do me a  
hundred and fifty4 ,thank you4 ,we  will
 now proceed with the lesson4'    ,such 
tactics might succeed4 ,but ,musty      
hesitates2 for a moment he wonders      
whether ,jones is telling him the truth4
 ,and the delay is fatal4 ,already      
other members have started to produce   
testimonials to ,jones mi4's  integrity 
and disease4 ',he really is awfully bad1
 sir4 ,my study's next  door to him1 and
 he was coughing all last night4 ,he    
made such a noise  that ,i was only able
 to do you three problems instead of    
six6'    ,a general conversation begins4
 ,members cease even to address the     
chair4  ,when ,evans assures ,musty that
 ',jones would never tell a lie1' ,power
  retorts that the other day ,jones sold
 him a watch as new which went  smash at
 once4 ',dirty little liar1 ,i call     
him6' ',you wait till  afterwards1' is  
,jones's reply4 ,and1 by the time honour
 has been  vindicated1 there is no      

chance of restoring order that day4 ,the
 class is  already out of hand4 ,jones  
mi4 has the general permission to sneeze
 as  often as he likes1 a permission of 
which he generously avails himself4     
,such a disturbance should have been    
quelled by a firm hand4 ,masters have   
to run the risk of being unfair4 ,there 
is1 of course1 the possibility  that    
,jones's cold may have been genuine1 but
 his previous record should  preclude it
 to a #ajj to #a chance4 ,at any rate1  
it is unlikely that ,jones  would be    
anxious to carry the case to the head   
master4 ,criminals avoid  ,bow ,street4 
,it is not usually1 however1 so easy to 
distinguish the preliminary  manoeuvres4
 ,when1 for instance1 a boy walks       
quickly up to the master's  desk and    
says that he thinks there is a peculiar 
smell in the room1 the  master is taken 
off his guard4 ,he assumes interest4 ,he
 walks to where  the boy was sitting and
 sniffs4 ,a polite boy rises and asks   
respectfully  if anything is the matter4

 ',no1 nothing1' says the master1       
',jones  thought there was a curious    
smell where he was sitting4' ,the       
interest of  the form is quickened4     
,there is a general sound of sniffing4  
',well1 sir1  now that ,jones comes to  
mention it1 ,i do seem to recognize--,i 
don't  quite know what it is1 sir4'     
',come1 come1' says the master1 'that'll
 do4'    ',no1 but really1 sir1 ,i don't
 know if it's quite healthy4 ,do you    
think  the drains are all right8'       
,the information is hazarded that there 
have been several cases of  typhoid     
recently in the town4    ',it must be   
the drains4'    ,then some one suggests 
that it may be the gas4 ,the school     
custos is  notoriously careless in these
 matters4 ,the suggestion is welcomed4  
,at  any rate it deserves investigation4
 ,and such investigations1 when         
conducted by twenty clumsy boys1 whose  
clumsy feet are shod with heavy  boots1 
are a long and noisy business4 ,books   
fall with a clatter on to  the floor4   

,the hindquarters of the inoffensive are
 accidentally kicked4  ,smith endeavours
 to jump from one desk to another1      
misses his footing  and crashes on the  
desk4 ,musty is lost4    ,he stands in  
the middle of the room4 ,he says ',come1
 now6' a great many  times4 ,he varies  
it occasionally with ',that'll do4' ,he 
asks ,smith  whether he considers that  
what he is doing 'is really necessary4' 
,at  last a piping unrecognisable voice 
rises from the far corner4 ',it isn't   
the gas4 ,it must be ,musty himself4 ,he
 never washes4'    ,in most schools     
there are at least two masters who are  
the continual  victims of such          
treatment4 ,such ragging1 however1 is   
too simple to  content the truly        
adventurous4 ,the ,mustys of the        
scholastic world are  objects of        
contempt1 and we prefer to respect our  
enemies4 ,it is far  more entertaining  
to rag a disciplinarian4 ,one has to    
guard oneself4 ,the  master has all the 
weapons4 ,among other things the ragster

 has to work4  ,if he is unexpectedly   
put on to con1 flounders through a      
couple of lines  and breaks down        
completely at the third1 he has played  
into his  opponent's hand4 ,he has      
deserved the imposition that he will    
most  certainly get4 ,the ragster must  
prepare his work4 ,that is part of his  
defence4 ,he cannot say to himself3 ',i 
have been on twice running4 ,i  shall   
not go on to-day4' ,if he makes a cheeky
 remark in form1 the  master's just     
retort is3 ',jones1 you seem to like    
talking4 ,i think you  had better       
translate the next passage4' ,and1 if   
,jones translates the  passage          
successfully he feels that he is one up4
 ,such ragging is very  different from  
the general rag of the complete         
incompetent4 ,it is a  free-lance       
affair4 ,it is an art4 ,the majority of 
masters meet it in some  form or other4 
,it is only a few who are subjected to  
displays in which  the whole form take  
part4    ,yet it is a puzzle to find out

 how exactly this ill-fortune selects   
its  particular victims4 ,personality is
 limited4 ,there are only a few who     
have a real genius for teaching4 ,the   
majority are merely competent4 ,and     
competence must fall before invention4  
,why is it that some are ragged  and    
others not4 ,the ragged master may be an
 excellent fellow4 ,he may be  good at  
games2 he may be just as exemplary a    
member of society as his  colleagues1   
and yet he is selected for this refined 
torture4 ,there are  some masters for   
whom one never works hard2 one does     
enough and no more  to avoid being      
bottled4 ,one sits in the class-room for
 long1 sultry1  tedious hours2 the      
insipid sunlight moves across the wall4 
,one watches a  fly crawl up the        
window-pane4 ,one writes 'is a fool'    
upon the desk after  the inscribed name 
of an enemy4 ,one sticks a compass into 
the back of  the man in front4 ,perhaps 
one revises the next hour's lesson4 ,it 
may be  that there is an imposition to  

be completed4 ,the minutes pass slowly2 
one longs for the strike of the clock4  
,and yet no one attempts to  enliven the
 hour with some geniality4 ,the few     
attempts that are made are  spasmodic   
and unsuccessful4    ,we had a master   
who was nicknamed1 ,i never knew why1   
,marchand4 ,and1 one  day1 a boy who was
 doing translation paused at the ,french
 word  marchand4 ',please1 sir1' he     
said1 ',i don't know what marchand      
means4' ,there was no laugh1 not even a 
titter4 ,we were all too  surprised4    
,the master's face did not alter4 ',it  
means merchant1 ,smith1'  he said1 'and 
you will stay behind afterwards and     
speak to me4' ,he  received six of the  
best4 ,and it was1 no doubt1 such a     
master who made  the historic retort to 
the boy who1 during an hour that was    
devoted to  the discussion of ,old      
,testament history1 inquired what       
'harlot' meant4  ',a harlot1 ,jones1'   
the master answered1 'is a lady who     
finds herself in  unfortunate           

circumstances1 and you will take two    
hundred lines4'    ,if such an answer   
had been made by ,musty1 the boy would  
have  expostulated freely2 other members
 of the form would have interested      
themselves in the cause of justice4 ,as 
it is1 ,smith gets his half-dozen  and  
,jones his two hundred lines1 and the   
world says 'silly ass6'    ,there are   
certain masters who inspire neither     
industry nor  insubordination1 and yet  
,i suppose that once they1 too1 had     
their hour  of trial4 ,so much depends  
on the first impression4 ,arnold ,lunn  
has  recounted in ,the ,harrovians the  
story of one ,crabbe1 who was so        
unmercifully ragged that he had to leave
 at the end of his first term4  ',he    
went on to another school where his     
reputation had not preceded him4  ,he   
opened his first lesson by setting a boy
 a hundred lines for  sneezing4 ,after  
having successfully established a       
reputation for  unbridled ferocity1 he  
was able1 by slow degrees1 to relapse   

into his  natural kindly self4' ,it is  
typical of much4 ,the master who has    
once  allowed himself to be ragged is   
lost for ever4 ,he may beat1 he may     
line1  he will never restore order4 ,his
 only chance is to try elsewhere4       
,the ragging of prefects is of very much
 the same order4 ,there is less of  it1 
because the head of the house has a way 
of jumping suddenly on the  turbulent4  
',i hear you were ragging ,beetle last  
night in hall4 ,you've  got to stop     
it--see8 and you're going to get six as 
a warning6' ,the head  of the house has 
more authority than an assistant master4
 ,if a boy felt  that an assistant      
master was unjust he might very well    
complain to the  head master4 ,but no   
boy would care to appeal against a      
boy--that would  be sneaking4 ,a good   
head of the house sees to it that none  
of the  prefects are indiscriminately   
ragged1 but there is always one of them 
for whom the rest of the house has but  
little respect1 and to whom the  taking 

of prep is always an anxiety4 ,he beats 
and lines more than the  rest of the    
prefects put together4 ,but it has small
 effect4 ,indeed the  second yearer     
acquires a hardened hide4 ,punishment is
 no deterrent to  him2 it is merely a   
pawn in the game4          ,,chapter ,v 
,,athleticism      ,by this time the new
 boy may be truly said to have reached  
the inner  circle of a public school    
philosophy4 ,he knows to what gods he   
must bow  the knee4 ,and he serves      
dutifully before the altar of the god of
 sport4    ,the cult of athleticism has 
been for a long while the target at     
which  the enemies of the ,public       
,school have launched their abuse4 ,and 
until  this cult is understood1 it is   
impossible to understand the standards  
and the scale of values of a ,public    
,school4 ,every community must have a   
religion of sorts1 a faith to which all 
faiths are subservient1 a  service which
 makes the first demands4 ,a man1 when  
called to decide  between two claims1   

must be able to know which way his duty 
lies4 ,he may  not follow the claim of  
duty1 but he should be able to          
distinguish which  it is4 ,in some      
communities it is the observance of     
social custom1 in  another the making of
 money is all important1 in one the     
honour of the  regiment1 in a second the
 teaching of the ,scriptures4 ,at a     
,public ,school  it is athletic         
prominence4    ,the position of a school
 is decided by its performances on the  
field4 ,if  two men in a club are       
discussing the merits of a certain      
school1 the  first consideration will be
 athletics4 ',oh1 yes1' they will say4  
',fernhurst stands very well just now4  
,it beat ,tonford and ,merton last      
season1 and it's got two fellows in the 
,varsity eleven4' ,the social  status of
 a school is judged1 not by the number  
of ,balliol scholars it  has produced1  
but by the quality of the schools it    
plays4 ',oh1 ,marestone  can't be much  
of a place1' you will hear said4 ',they 

only play a few  grammar schools4'      
,this fact the new boy realises at once4
 ,his father's friends are  impressed   
when he can tell them that his school   
has beaten ,haileybury4  ,they display a
 mild interest at his casual reference  
to ,bennett's  scholarship4 ,the new boy
 reads in the daily papers enthusiastic 
articles  on the performances of the    
school eleven1 and he learns that       
,haslett is  being watched by the county
 authorities4 ,there is an air of       
publicity  about every school match4    
,there will be reports in the           
newspapers4 ,the  new boy feels himself 
to be participating in a function of    
considerable  general interest4 ,all    
over the country people will be         
wondering what  will chance in this     
particular encounter4 ,he is on the     
spot4 ,the ,press  accentuates his      
keenness4 ,how could he1 in the face of 
such a testimony1  doubt the supreme    
importance of athletics4 ,we believe in 
the goods that  are most widely         

advertised4 ,who ever read an article on
 the prospects of  the various          
competitors for a certain exam4 ,who has
 read in the ,times  that 'enormous     
interest is being taken in the          
approaching scholarship  examinations4  
,clifton has several promising scholars4
 ,marston may be  poor at unseen1 but he
 is very deft in his handling of ,latin 
prose1 and  he has a good ear for       
hexameters4 ,haileybury1 on the other   
hand1 place  their faith in ,johnson1 a 
steady1 industrious worker who can be   
trusted  to perform consistently in all 
subjects4444' ,yet1 two or three times a
  week1 we can read in the ,sportsman   
that ,fernhurst has a vastly  improved  
side and that with ,evans back again in 
the three-quarter line1  is hopeful of  
emerging triumphantly from the          
approaching contest with  ,tonford4     
,public ,school sport is awarded at the 
present moment a preposterous  amount of
 publicity4 ,it is bad for the schools2 
it is bad for the boys  themselves1 and1

 as far as one can gather1 it has not   
helped ,english  sport to any           
appreciable degree4 ,it encourages in   
schools the belief  that games matter   
more than anything else4 ,very often it 
makes boys  swelled-headed1 certainly it
 makes them think they are bigger than  
they  are1 and is preparing for them a  
big disappointment4 ,it is so easy to   
appear a giant among pigmies4 ,in my own
 short experience ,i can remember  more 
than one player who was described while 
at school as being an  ,england batsman 
in the making1 and who now experiences a
 difficulty in  getting into the county 
side4 ,every summer we know by name a   
whole host  of public school cricketers 
that are never heard of afterwards4     
,they  have averages of sixty during    
their last term2 their exploits are     
described in fervid journalese4 ,they go
 up to ,oxford1 fail to reach  double   
figures in the ,freshmen's match1 and   
are quickly submerged in  college       
cricket4 ,others go up with enormous    

reputations1 making  centuries in the   
trial match1 and then find that there is
 a difference  between club and county  
cricket4 ,they just get their blue with 
a batting  average of twenty-five2 they 
play for the county during ,august and  
do  nothing exceptional4 ,they are just 
average cricketers1 useful members of  a
 side and nothing more4 ,in the         
meanwhile the journalists are shrieking 
of the natural offbreak of a            
sixteen-year-old ,rugbeian4 ,this       
particular  type of writer resembles the
 literary critic who hails every new    
poet as  a 'second ,keats1' and every   
new novelist as 'a second ,hardy1' but  
loses  interest in his discoveries after
 the appearance of their fourth book4   
,there is no need to dive back into past
 history4 ,we can find enough  examples 
in post-war cricket4 ,n4 ,e4 ,partridge 
in #aiai had a batting  average of #dc1 
and took #ga wickets for under #ab runs 
each4 ,he had a  magnificent press4     
,next to ,stevens1 and perhaps ,hedges1 

he was the most  discussed boy cricketer
 of the year4 ,on the strength of this  
boosting he  very nearly received an    
invitation to play for the ,gentlemen at
 ,lords4  ,as a matter of fact1 ,i am   
not certain that he did not actually    
receive  an invitation1 and that his    
head master refused to let him go--but  
on  that point ,i am not certain4 ,at   
any rate his claims were seriously      
advanced by a great many reputable      
judges of the game1 among whom ,i  think
 ,sydney ,pardon has to be included4 ,he
 went up to ,cambridge with a           
tremendous reputation2 he did only      
moderately4 ,at one time1 indeed1 it    
seemed improbable that he would get his 
blue4 ,last season he did nothing       
exceptional for ,warwickshire4 ,i may1  
of course1 be misjudging a  cricketer   
whom ,i have never seen play1 but       
everything would seem to  suggest that  
,partridge will develop into nothing    
more exciting than the  average county  
cricketer4#d    ,we could also take the 

example of ,l4 ,p4 ,hedges4 ,i spent the
 summer of  #aiah in a ,german prison   
camp2 but even to that distant city came
 news of  the brilliant ,tonbridge      
batsman who was greater even than       
,hutchings4  ,during the summer of #aiai
 the assiduous student of the ,sportsman
 heard  much of him4 ,every week        
appeared the score of some fresh        
triumph1 and1  to crown it all1 came    
that brilliant #afc at ,lords4 ,it was a
 gorgeous  show4 ,i was thankful not to 
be fielding at coverpoint4 ,but1 let it 
be  whispered gently1 the bowling did   
not look particularly difficult1 and1   
though ,hedges's innings was dazzling1 a
 quite ordinary batsman should1  off the
 same bowling1 have been able to help   
himself to a generous  allowance of     
fours4    ,that particular innings      
marked1 ,i suppose1 the height of       
,hedges's career  from the point of view
 of press publicity and popular esteem2 
the height  had been reached1 that is to
 say1 before his qualities had been     

placed  on the open market and tested by
 the stress of three days' cricket and  
the accuracy of professional bowling4   
,we do not hear much of ,hedges         
nowadays4 ,he has played useful cricket 
for ,oxford and for ,kent2 but he  has  
done nothing sensational4 ,and yet1 when
 ,i saw him last summer make a  #ej     
against ,middlesex at ,lords1 ,i could  
not help feeling that he is a  better   
bat to-day than he was in #aiai1 and    
that that #ej in an important  match1   
against confident bowling1 and while    
,woolley was scratching  uncomfortably  
at the over end1 was in every way a     
finer performance than  his #afc of two 
years earlier4 ,he drove ,haig and      
,durston through the  covers as easily  
as in #aiai he had plastered the ring   
with boundaries4  ,and yet the pressmen 
remained calm4    ,it is vain and it is 
unfair to attempt to form a judgment of 
a person  whose wares are not upon the  
open market4 ,no one can tell who is1   
and  who is not1 going to prove a test  

match cricketer4 ,equally it is         
impossible to tell from public school   
form which boys are potential           
cricketers4 ,who1 for example1 who saw  
in #aiaj ,f4 ,h4 ,knott and ,d4 ,j4     
,knight batting in the ,public ,school's
 match at ,lords realised that  ,knight 
was going to develop into an            
incomparably greater batsman than       
,knott4 ,and yet sportsmen continue to  
write about boy cricketers with the     
seriousness that they devote to ,hobbs4 
,they draw the most ridiculous          
comparisons4 ,i discovered last summer  
in one of the most influential  daily   
papers the following passage in the     
account of the ,public  ,school's match 
at ,lords3 ',there is probably no       
cricketer1 with the  exception of ,r4   
,h4 ,spooner1 who sees the ball more    
quickly than ,j4 ,l4  ,guise4' ,now     
anything much more ridiculous ,i can    
hardly imagine4 ,it is  like the        
literary critic1 who shall be nameless1 
who described the work  of a minor poet1

 who shall be also nameless1 as having  
given him more  pleasure than anything  
since the first flights of ,swinburne4  
,it is  preposterous to speak of ,guise1
 who is an extremely promising          
cricketer1  as seeing the ball more     
quickly than any batsman except         
,spooner4 ,it all  depends on what      
manner of ball he is seeing4 ,in the    
,eton match he1 no  doubt1 saw ,allen's 
deliveries with considerable speed4     
,spooner1 however1  was in the habit of 
seeing in this manner the deliveries of 
,cotter1  ,tarrant1 and ,schwarz4 ,speed
 of eye is relative to the quality of   
the  bowling4 ,i should hesitate to call
 myself a batsman1 but there is a type  
of ball that ,i can see with incredible 
rapidity4 ,it is bowled to me1  alas1   
too occasionally1 in village matches4   
,it is medium paced1 it  pitches on the 
middle stump1 a little more than        
half-way down the pitch1  and it turns  
away ever so slightly towards the leg4  
,any one can look a  good bat who is    

opposed to bad bowling4 ,and ,i maintain
 that it is no  sort of sense indulging 
in wild panegyrics about schoolboys who 
have  never been tested by first-class  
bowling4    ,if a boy seems promising   
the county authorities should give him a
 trial1  and1 if he does well1 then let 
the pressmen get busy4 ,every one is so 
terrified lest a good man may be        
overlooked4 ,but how unlikely that is if
  the county authorities are at all     
keen4 ,trial matches can be arranged4   
,visits can be paid to schools4 ,there  
is no need for this hectic  discovery of
 twenty ,spooners every season4 ,the    
school figures of players  like ,stevens
 and ,chapman and ,hubert ,ashton would 
have been quite  sufficient to ensure a 
proper trial for them4 ,and the fact    
remains that  in spite of this press    
work amateur cricket is at a lower ebb  
now than  it has ever been before4 ,the 
,gentlemen and ,players match has become
 too  one-sided to stimulate interest in
 anything save individual  performances4

 ,very few amateurs are good enough to  
play for ,england4  ,douglas is2 and he 
was not one of the marked men of cricket
 articles4  ,his entrance was as        
untheatrical as his batting4 ,d4 ,j4    
,knight1 is on his  form of #aiai1 the  
second best batsman in the country2     
,stevens1 at his  best1 is a great      
match-winning factor2 ,tennyson and     
,fender are useful  players4 ,but it is 
impossible to maintain that there are   
to-day any  amateur batsmen comparable  
with ,maclaren1 ,spooner1 ,fry1         
,stoddart1 and  ,jackson1 than the      
cricketers1 that is to say1 who passed  
unheralded on  their merits into        
first-class cricket4 ,the low standard  
of amateur  cricket cannot be argued    
away4 ,and this trumpeting of the press 
could  only be excused1 could it be     
proved to further the interests of      
amateur  sport in ,england4 ,instead of 
furthering those interests1 it works    
against them4 ,it makes games at a      
,public ,school too much of a business  

and too little of a sport4 ,it          
introduces professionalism4 ,and ,i am  
prepared to wonder how far one really   
enjoys one's games at school4    ,one is
 frightfully excited about them2 one is 
very pleased when one does  well and    
depressed if one does badly4 ,one works 
oneself into a state of  nervous misery 
before a match1 and one of hysterical   
excitement after  it4 ,victory and      
defeat mean a great deal4 ,and it was   
with a real  surprise that ,i realised a
 few months ago at the end of a very    
pleasant  season that1 although ,i      
should continue to play football for    
another ten  years1 and cricket1 ,i     
hope1 for another forty1 ,i should never
 again  really care whether the side for
 which ,i am playing wins or            
loses--care1  that is to say1 as ,i     
cared at school about a house match4 ,in
 club  cricket and football one asks for
 a good game in pleasant company1 and   
victory is incidental4 ,while one is    
playing1 of course1 one is keen1 but    

one will not brood afterwards over one's
 mistakes1--not as one does  after a    
school match4 ,there is1 ,i suppose1 no 
public school man under  the sun who    
does not now and again on some winter   
evening drop his paper  on his knees and
 curse himself because1 fifteen years   
ago1 he missed a  catch at an important 
crisis--that is one of the things one   
never ceases  to regret4 ,that awful    
moment when one picks up the ball with  
tingling  fingers and tosses it back to 
the bowler2 it is for all time a vivid  
memory4 ,one does not feel like that    
about an ordinary catch in an  ordinary 
club game4 ,one is annoyed with oneself2
 one is sorry for the  bowler2 one      
apologises to the captain1 but one      
remembers that one is  out1 after all1  
to enjoy oneself4    ,that is the       
difference between school and club      
cricket4 ,at school one is  not out to  
enjoy oneself4 ,it is a business1 this  
getting of runs and  taking of wickets4 
,there are cups for house matches1 and  

there are cups  for batting and bowling 
averages1 and it is a sin to miss a     
catch4 ,there  are few worse things than
 the anxiety attendant on those who play
 on the  fringe of a school side4 ,not  
only is one worried about one's own     
performances1 but about one's rivals4   
,if one has made a duck oneself one     
cannot1 in spite of one's patriotism1 be
 anxious for a particular rival  to     
retrieve the fortunes of the side with a
 century4 ,a first eleven cap  is valued
 far too highly for such unselfishness4 
,it is equally little  fun to be a      
member of a bad fifteen4 ,one is        
subjected to a series of  complaints and
 recriminations4 ,one grows sick of the 
whole business4 ,and  ,i can remember   
during the first winter of the war the  
relief with which  we learnt that the   
,tonbridge match had been scratched4 ,we
 had a poor  side4 ,we knew that we     
should be thoroughly trounced1 and that1
 for the  next week1 the lives of those 
who had not distinguished themselves    

would  be made wretched4 ,we never for a
 moment questioned the justice of this  
tyranny4 ,the ,lord our ,god was a      
jealous ,god4 ,we had to serve him4 ,but
 we  were not sorry that an occasion for
 his wrath should be removed4 ,i very   
much doubt whether the actual playing of
 games was as pleasant at  school as it 
is outside it4    ,the intensity and    
rapture are irrecoverable4 ,there is    
nothing to compare  with the elation    
that follows a victory over a stronger  
side4 ,but in the  long run ,i find     
cricket more enjoyable to-day than ,i   
did six years ago4  ,it is less         
complicated4 ,one takes a day off from  
one's work and spends  it in agreeable  
company4 ,one can field out all day and 
never take a  wicket1 miss a couple of  
catches1 and then crown everything by   
making a  duck1 and yet thoroughly enjoy
 oneself4 ,at school that would have    
been a  rotten day1 and one would have  
spent the evening in deep despondency4  
,yet everything is in favour of one     

enjoying one's game at school4 ,it is   
so simple4 ,one strolls down after lunch
 in a leisurely fashion to the  field4  
,one changes one's boots in the         
pavilion4 ,a hot bath is waiting  for   
one afterwards4 ,but1 in order to play  
football after one has left1  one has to
 rush off to catch impossible trains    
from impossible stations4  ,one has no  
time for lunch4 ,the train always seems 
to start at #a4ah4  ,there is as likely 
as not a long walk from the station4    
,one changes in a  converted army hut2  
one is more than a little tired before  
the game  starts4 ,there are no proper  
baths afterwards1 and one has to hurry1 
or  one will miss the only train to     
town3 for it is amazing the number of   
football fields which are on loop lines 
with trains at hourly intervals4  ,and  
yet1 personally1 ,i enjoy my football   
now a great deal more than ,i  ever did 
at school4    ,it would not be just1    
however1 to lay the blame of this       
professionalism  to the account of the  

sporting press4 ,journalists are rarely 
responsible  for anything4 ,they do not 
lead public opinion4 ,they follow it or1
 if  they are clever1 they anticipate   
it4 ,had not the worship of athleticism 
been already firmly established in the  
schools themselves it would never  have 
occurred to them to run it as a stunt4  
,the journalist spends most  of his time
 searching for a town of blind men over 
which he1 with his  one eye1 may rule4  
,and the journalist discovered that the 
,public ,school  had enthroned an       
unofficial king who had not received his
 due of public  recognition4 ,the       
journalist decided to officialise his   
position4 ,to this  king was paid       
extensive homage2 and1 as there is no   
more pleasant  reading for              
ladies-in-waiting than court gossip1 he 
commenced a column  of court news4 ,but 
he did not set up the court1 or crown   
the king4 ,he is  only a herald4 ,and we
 must regard these tiresome articles as 
a proof1  but not a cause of this       

peculiar ritual4 ,the trumpeting of the 
herald  adds certainly to the glamour of
 the court1 but his absence would not   
start a revolution4 ,if not another     
article appeared on public school       
sport1 the cult of athleticism would    
still continue2 it would continue       
because as things are at present there  
is no other focus for the  enthusiasm   
and partisanship of a boy of seventeen4 
,there is really  little else about     
which a schoolboy could reasonably      
become excited4    ,indeed it is hard to
 see what other results could have been 
expected  from such a combination of    
circumstances4 ,four hundred boys are   
divided  into ten houses4 ,they are     
encouraged to feel an intense loyalty   
for  their house and for their school4  
,they are told that it is up to them to 
make their house the best house in the  
school1 and their school the best       
school in the country4 ,they set out in 
all good faith to accomplish  their     
task4 ,in what1 they ask themselves1    

does the goodness of a house  consist4  
,it is not much sense to speak to them  
of the moral tone of a  house or school4
 ,they desire a tangible manifestation  
of virtue1 'an  outward and visible sign
 of an inward and spiritual grace4' ,and
 the only  available outward and visible
 sign is the row of silver challenge    
cups  on the dining-hall mantelpiece4   
,it is natural to assume that the house 
which has the most cups is the best     
house2 a school can only prove its      
superiority over another school by      
victory on the football field4          
,scholarships are an indirect form of   
competition4 ,for the best boys from    
one school may not come into touch with 
the best boys of another4 ,but a        
victory by #cj points is a direct       
statement of a fact4 ,the victorious    
school is superior to the defeated      
school4 ,it is in athletic contests     
alone that a house or school can express
 a united will1 can become  indeed one  
person4 ,the loyalty of a boy for his   

house or school is a  fine thing1 but it
 renders athletic worship almost        
inevitable4 ,were  there not this       
intense house and school feeling        
individual boys would  cultivate their  
individual tastes2 forty boys would be  
grouped together  for convenience of    
boarding--that is all a house would be4 
,but as soon  as a boy comes to regard  
himself as a member of a fine community1
 he  feels a natural pride and loyalty  
in its performances and in its  welfare4
 ,there is no other focus for           
partisanship3 form work is              
uninteresting4 ,boxing1 fives1 the      
corps1 and the gymnasium are side       
shows4 ,cricket and football are what   
count4 ,a boy must have a religion  of  
sorts4 ,he must have some ideal to which
 the demands of his own  temperament may
 become subservient4    ,on this worship
 of games is based the scale of social  
values4 ,the ethics  of cribbing1 for   
example1 are based entirely on the      
assumption that a  success in form is of

 inconsiderable importance2 it is       
permissible for a  boy to crib in order 
to save his energies for worthier       
causes4 ,the blood  system is built on  
an intense admiration for those who are 
upholding the  honour of the house1 and 
is an expression of the small boy's     
longing to  reach such a position       
himself4 ,the attitude to morality on   
the part of  masters is intimately      
connected with athletics1 and on the    
boy's part1  the belief that a member of
 a school side is1 ipso facto1 an       
invaluable asset to the school1 allows  
the blood to do very much what he       
likes2 as long1 in fact1 as a boy can   
satisfy his companions and himself  that
 he is exerting all his power on the    
football field1 he can amuse  himself in
 other ways as he thinks fit4    ,there 
is no other criterion for a boy's       
worthiness1 or unworthiness1 as  a      
member of a house1 and the half-bloods  
consider that a very big  responsibility
 has descended on them4 ,they have to   

keep the house up to  the mark4 ,the big
 men cannot bother themselves about     
individuals4 ,but  the half-bloods who  
are1 as it were1 emissaries between     
heaven and  earth1 can investigate      
closely the behaviour of the coming     
generation4  ,they can notice who is    
showing signs of slackness4 ,they       
individually  give themselves enormous  
airs4 ,they form a sort of improvement  
society4    ,i remember that1 in the    
course of one term1 our house lost every
  challenge cup that it had possessed4  
,this was considered a disgrace4 ,and   
several of us decided that it was for us
 to reform the house4 ,we did not       
consider ourselves to stand in any need 
of improvement4 ,but we used to  wander 
round the studies between tea and hall  
inquisitioning fags and  scholars1      
asking them what use they thought they  
were to house or  school1 and informing 
them that they would be well advised to 
make more  strenuous efforts4 ,it was1  
,i suppose1 a form of bullying2 or      

rather  perhaps an aid to vanity4 ,what 
we really needed was for some one to    
kick  us hard4 ,no one did1 however4 ,it
 seemed to occur to no one else1 any    
more than it did to us1 that there were 
objects of a public school  education   
other than the acquiring of caps and    
cups4 ,you might as well  expect an     
,indian priest to doubt the omnipotence 
of ,buddha4    ,,footnote3    #d ,the   
proofs of this book were corrected in   
,april4 ,should anything  unforeseen    
change during the cricket season1 before
 its appearance1 ,i  can only plead the 
fallibility of the prophet4             
,,chapter ,,vi    ,,the ,,true ,,ethics 
,,of ,,cribbing      ,the boy who thus  
exhausts in ragging the residue of      
energy that the  football field allows  
him1 has1 it follows1 to be careful not 
to burn  the candle at both ends4 ,he   
has to spare himself1 and to spare      
himself  he abandons the spasmodic      
cribbing of his first year's summer     
examination for sustained1 systematic   

methods4 ,now the true ethics of  this  
subject are as little understood as     
those relating to any other  sphere of  
public school life4 ,cribbing is        
generally regarded as a  dishonest      
practice to which only the ignoble few  
have regular resort4  ,the habitual     
cribber is as morally lost as a thief4  
,for what1 after all1  is cribbing1 say 
our aunts1 but the stealing of marks    
from your  companions4 ',when you crib1'
 they tell us1 'and say that you are not
  stealing1 you argue from the          
standpoint of the housemaid who would   
return conscientiously the sixpence you 
have left on your  dressing-table1 but  
would not think twice of filling a      
medicine bottle  with your best brandy  
and handing it over to her young man4'  
,while we  are at our ,preparatory      
,schools we are inclined to agree with  
this4 ,we  ourselves would never think  
of cribbing4 ,at a ,preparatory ,school 
it is  not done4 ,but at a ,public      
,school we learn otherwise4 ,to the     

public  school boy cribbing is not      
dishonest4 ,it is not wrong1 because it 
is not  anti-social4 ,there are no doubt
 somewhere1 if we could discover them1  
fixed immutable standards of            
righteousness4 ,but we have not found   
them  yet4 ,in the meantime we are      
content to frame conventions that alter 
with  each generation to safeguard what 
we consider to be our comfort4 ,we put  
a thief in prison because we are anxious
 to protect our property4 ,his  actions 
are anti-social4 ,they are only         
anti-social1 however1 because we  happen
 to value our property4 ,we should not  
object if he took from us  what we did  
not prize4 ,it is thus indeed that the  
dustman earns his  living4 ,and the     
public school boy does not usually set  
much greater  value on his marks than   
the housewife on her egg-shells4    ,i  
remember reading several years ago a    
short story that appeared in ,the       
,captain4 ,it was about an ,american who
 came to an ,english ,public ,school4   

,on the result of a certain examination 
depended the position of head boy  in   
the house1 and the ,american broke into 
the head master's study and  extracted  
the examination paper4 ,the theft was1  
however1 discovered1 and  the ,american 
summoned to the head master's study for 
an interview that  was the certain      
prelude to expulsion4 ,this fact was    
made known to him4  ',waal1' he said1   
',i guess that's fair4 ,my father often 
said to me when a  big bluff fails1 it's
 down and out for the guy that misses4' 
,the head  master was surprised4 ,he    
appreciated the difference between a big
 bluff  and a piece of calculated       
deceit4 ,he saw that the ,american had1 
because  of the atmosphere of business  
in which he had been brought up1 a      
standard different from his own4 ,the   
,american had honestly believed  himself
 to be attempting 'a big bluff4'        
,now1 in the world at large1 ignorance  
of the law is no excuse4 ,if it  were1  
law court procedure would be infinitely 

complex4 ,at school1  however1 the      
intention matters more than the result4 
,the means are set  before the end4 ,the
 head master in the story realised that 
the  ,american's offence was actually   
far less serious than it appeared1 and  
the ,american was not expelled4    ,in  
this case1 of course1 the theft of the  
examination paper was  definitely       
anti-social4 ,it was a real theft4 ,the 
,american was  endeavouring to acquire a
 position that others valued through    
means not  at the disposal of his       
competitors4 ,but this story1 which     
appeared in a  paper the moral tone of  
which has necessarily to be above       
suspicion1  establishes officially the  
principle that the seriousness of an    
offence  depends largely on the attitude
 adopted to it by the offender4 ,and    
therein lie the true ethics of cribbing4
 ,what public opinion approves  cannot  
be anti-social4 ,only a few recognise   
the distinction between the  immoral and
 the anti-social4 ,and public opinion   

is1 on the whole1  inclined to condone  
cribbing4    ,every boy is anxious to be
 a power in his house2 he wants to be a 
prefect1 he looks forward to the day    
when he will be safe from  authority1   
will be1 indeed1 authority itself4 ,but 
he knows that1 without  unduly exerting 
himself in the class-room1 he will be   
able to achieve  prominence through     
success at football4 ,a house cap has to
 sit at the ,va  table3 as a second1    
probably1 and certainly as a first1 he  
will be  raised to the dignity of the   
dais2 thence the process of seniority   
will  carry him quickly to his          
prefectship4 ,it is assumed that by that
 time  the same process of seniority    
will have carried him to the ,upper     
,fifth4  7,it is hard to avoid being    
promoted once a year47 ,the hours spent 
in the  class-room are a dull setting   
for the vivid hues of the life that lies
  outside it4 ,occasionally the setting 
is relieved by a bright patch of        
colour--an ingenious rag1 a successful  

piece of cribbing--but1 on the  whole1  
it is dull and monotonous4 ,a boy works 
spasmodically1 sometimes  to get a      
promotion1 sometimes to secure the      
good-will of a master he  admires1      
sometimes to reach a form where it will 
be only rarely  necessary for him to    
prepare his work4 ,and he cribs more or 
less  consistently out of laziness1 to  
avoid being bottled1 to save himself    
trouble1 to be able to devote as much of
 his evening as is possible to  more    
sympathetic forms of employment4 ,he    
does not consider he is doing  anything 
wrong4 ,he knows that1 if he is caught1 
he will be punished4 ,but  then he sees 
the relationship of boys and masters as 
a long1  intermittent struggle1 a game  
played in good faith1 with fixed rewards
  and penalties4 ,he does not expect his
 conduct to be condoned officially4     
,his form master has set him so many    
lines of ,virgil to prepare4 ,it is     
assumed that he will take an hour to    
prepare those lines properly4  ,however1

 with the help of ,dr ,giles's          
translation1 he has managed to  prepare 
those lines satisfactorily in twenty    
minutes4 ,he has gained1  therefore1    
forty minutes2 naturally the master     
demands1 and exacts1 a  reparation4 ,but
 his companions do not mind4 ,and he    
regards as  anti-social only what will  
offend them4 ,if he were a thief it     
would be  in their eyes that he would be
 guilty4 ,but a theft only becomes      
criminal  when the injured party has    
taken proceedings against the offender4 
,in  this case no proceedings have been 
taken4 ,he has not been reported to  the
 head master1 nor has he been kicked    
round the cloisters4 ,he  considers     
himself to be innocent4 ,indeed1 popular
 opinion is far more  likely to be      
directed against the boy who is         
scrupulously honest4 ,his  behaviour may
 be anti-social4    ,there was a form1  
for instance1 in which it was the custom
 for the boys  to correct their own     
papers and give up their own marks4     

,they would pass  their papers to the   
next boy but two4 ,the answers would be 
read out and  the marks awarded4 ,when  
all the answers had been given the marks
 would  be added up4 ',any one over     
#ij8' a couple of hands would rise4     
',any one  over #ie8' one of the hands  
would sink4 ',right1' said the master4  
',divide  all marks by #aa4' ,the names 
of the boys would then be read out in   
turn1  and the marks earned by each     
would be delivered by the corrector4    
,now the correction of exercises and the
 addition of marks entails a  measure of
 labour1 and no one does unnecessary    
work4 ,it had become the  custom1       
therefore1 to doze pleasantly while the 
answers were being given  out1 to insert
 various hieroglyphics in the margin1   
and to return at the  conclusion an     
average total4 ,the system had been in  
existence a long  while1 and it was     
known that the top mark usually lay     
somewhere between  #ajj and #ij2 a top  
mark of over #aaj or beneath #hj would  

rouse comment1  perhaps inspire         
investigation1 and that was1 of course1 
the last thing  the form desired4 ,so   
that1 when the form master said any one 
'over #ij'  some one on the front bench 
raised a hand4 ,it happened in rotation 
more  or less2 at the end of the term   
there was little to choose between the  
top ten in the marks for those          
particular exercises4 ,certainly        
whatever  difference there was could be 
easily counteracted by superior         
proficiency in some other field4    ,all
 went well till a certain ,miller was   
promoted into this particular  form4    
,miller was a prig3 he came from an     
undistinguished house4 ,he was          
excessively industrious4 ,he had the    
prude's morality4 ,he was desperately   
honest4 ,he corrected the papers passed 
to him accurately and gave up the  right
 mark4    ,during his first week in the 
form1 when the top mark was #ia1 ,miller
 gave  up #fc4 ,the form master was     
surprised2 ,miller had corrected the    

paper of  quite a senior member of the  
form4 ',really1 ,jones1' he said1 ',i'm 
surprised4' ,jones also was surprised4  
,after the lesson he expressed his      
surprise with a well-aimed kick that    
landed ,miller at the foot of the       
second landing4 ,he considered that no  
further explanation was required4  ,he  
was wrong4    ,the next day1 when the   
top mark was #ajc he received #eg4 ,on  
the occasion  of this second essay in   
originality the whole form decided to   
interest  itself in ,miller's welfare4  
,there was an informal meeting at the   
end of  the hour1 in which ,miller was  
given to understand that on this system 
exercises had been marked in the ,middle
 ,fifth for upwards of twenty  years4   
,tradition had approved the system4 ,the
 form was conservative4 ,it  meant to   
uphold that tradition4 ,in earnest of   
its intention it proceeded  to          
demonstrate what defensive method it    
would adopt4 ,miller made no  answer1   
but the next day he not only returned   

,jones's paper with #fe at  the head of 
it1 but when a certain ,burton announced
 that the paper he  had marked was worth
 #ajc1 ,miller said something to the    
effect that the  maximum was #ic4       
,such a thing had never happened before 
in the ,middle ,fifth4 ,it was an       
orderly form1 but there was very nearly 
a popular demonstration4  ,burton's     
honour had been questioned4 ,the form   
master agreed that such an  imputation  
had not been made upon a boy during the 
five-and-twenty years  that he had sat  
in that class-room4 ',we'll go through  
the questions one  by one and see what  
the maximum is4'    ,now1 luckily for   
,burton1 the master had not kept a check
 upon the marks4  ,he had gone through  
question after question1 saying after   
each3 ',now  let me see1 ,i think that  
should be worth #aj1' or 'that #ae4' ,so
 that1  when he went through the        
questions again1 he appealed1 on each   
occasion1  to the head boy of the form4 
',how many did ,i give you for that1    

,evans8'  ,and1 on each occasion1 ,evans
 was generous4    ,once ,miller timidly 
suggested that for ,question #f1 #ae    
marks and not #cj  had been the maximum1
 but there was a complete unanimity of  
opinion  among the rest of the form4    
',thirty1 sir1 certainly it was #cj4 ,it
 must  have been--,i've got #bc down to 
,firth for that1 sir4' ,miller was      
overruled4    ,the maximum was finally  
discovered to be #acj4 ',so you see1    
,miller1' said  the master1 'you've not 
only questioned ,burton's word1 but     
you've been  inattentive during the     
lesson4 ,you will do me #bjj lines1 and 
if you will  hand me up ,jones's paper  
,i will correct it myself4' ,with this  
generous  addition to the maximum ,jones
 received a heavy mark4    ,after such a
 disaster the form felt certain that    
,miller would bow to the  convention2   
but there is no limit to the obstinacy  
of the martyr3 ,miller  continued to    
mark according to order4 ,he was kicked1
 but kicking was of  no avail4 ,his own 

paper was undermarked4 ,this1 too1 was  
unavailing4  ,finally the form decided  
to accept him as an inevitable          
affliction4 ,they  ceased to kick him4  
,each of the ten top boys took it in    
turn to sit two  places away from him so
 that no one person should suffer unduly
 from the  general evil4 ,and the one   
who sat two places on the other side of 
,miller had instructions to over-mark   
his paper so that he should be got  out 
of the form as speedily as possible4 ,at
 the end of the term ,miller  was       
promoted2 and the ,middle ,fifth        
relapsed into its placid communal       
existence4    ,now ,miller's conduct    
would no doubt appear worthy of the most
 intense  approval4 ,he had behaved like
 the hero of the school sermon4 ,he had 
done  what every new boy is adjured to  
do4 ,he had taken a firm stand against a
  dishonest practice4 ,he had been      
bullied1 but he had remained firm4 ,his 
honour had withstood the shock of his   
opponents4 ,such a splendid example     

would shine like a candle in a dark     
cathedral1 and from this simile the     
preacher1 as a runner reaching the      
straight1 can stride into the rounded   
periods of his peroration4 ',if only    
others of you would light your  candle  
from that flame2 if only in that large  
cathedral there were a  hundred burning 
candles instead of one1 how soon would  
not the whole  building be filled with  
light4 ,the beautiful tracery of the    
roof would  emerge from shadow4 ,a soft 
glow would be shed on the strong carved 
pillars4 ,the brasses would glimmer on  
the wall4 ,the splendid  architecture of
 the building would be plain4 ,so is it 
with the human  soul4'    ,we have heard
 that sermon many times4 ,miller is a   
splendid handle for  rhetoric1 but his  
behaviour remains anti-social4 ,if it is
 wrong to place  oneself in a position  
of inequitable advantage1 it is equally 
wrong to  place a rival in a position of
 inequitable disadvantage3 and that is  
what ,miller had done4 ,jones had done  

his work as thoroughly and as           
conscientiously as the others1 but he   
had received lower marks for it1        
because ,miller had chosen to apply to  
it a standard that was not imposed  on  
that of his companions4 ,it is not      
unfair in a hundred yards' sprint  to   
start a second before the pistol is     
fired if you know that the other        
runners are going to do likewise1 but it
 is hard lines on the one runner  who is
 compelled to wait for the proper       
signal4 ,true morality plays an         
insignificant part in business and      
competition4 ,we all have different     
ideas of what is sport4 ,if ,w4 ,g4's   
much-criticised running out of ,jones   
in the ,test ,match of #ahhj had taken  
place at a house match at school1 we    
can assume that ,w4 ,g41 whatever his   
batting average1 would not have been    
invited to play for the school again4   
,what is moral and what is  anti-social 
become practically synonymous terms as  
long as every one  starts fair and plays

 the game by the same code of rules4 ,no
 one must be  allowed opportunities that
 are not at the disposal of his         
opponents4  ,and1 in the case of the    
,middle ,fifth's corrections1 the rules 
of the  game ordered generous marking   
and no great gulf between the first and 
last4 ,miller played the game by        
different rules4 ,the form was          
righteously indignant4 ,it is doubtful  
even whether ,miller's immortal  soul   
drew sustenance from the conflict4 ,it  
was probably confirmed in its           
priggishness4 ,certainly ,miller became1
 in the course of time1 a highly        
officious prefect4 ,i do not know what  
fortune the 'romance of destiny'  may   
hold in store for him1 but ,i can       
imagine that he will occupy some  post  
of prim1 precise officialdom4 ,he will  
create nothing4 ,whereas  ,evans's      
opportunism is largely responsible for  
the rapidly increasing  market for      
,messrs4 ----'s patent cookers4    ,the 
schoolmaster asserts that between       

himself and his form there exists  a    
compact of square dealing4 ,but the     
signature of the form has not been      
obtained1 and it is an agreement every  
clause of which is very clearly  to the 
advantage of the schoolmaster and to the
 disadvantage of the  form4 ,the form   
does not recognise the treaty4 ,it      
refuses to commit  itself1 and indeed in
 this singular document the true nature 
of cribbing  has not been defined4 ,the 
exact line between cribbing and         
co-operation  has not been drawn4 ,we   
are safe when dealing with 'con1' that  
is to say1  the translation of ,greek or
 ,latin into ,english4 ,we know1 for    
instance1  that boys are allowed to     
prepare their work together4 ,two brains
 are  better than one4 ,well and good4  
,but1 if two soldiers have to dig a     
trench one uses the pick and the other  
the shovel4 ,so it is with ,latin       
'con4' ,one boy looks up the meaning of 
the words in a dictionary2 the  other   
unravels the sense4 ,that means that the

 boy who looks up the words  never      
brings his mind to bear on the          
translation of the text4 ,yet such a    
combination is accepted as fair by any  
master4 ,and1 once this  combination has
 been accepted1 a master's position     
becomes logically  impossible4 ,for it  
must be remembered that a schoolboy has 
a fairly  sound grasp of consecutive    
reasoning4 ,he studies the theorems of  
geometry4 ,he struggles with the        
dialectic of ,plato4 ,he is capable1    
that  is to say1 of following out to    
their logical conclusion such lines of  
argument as will1 in the end1 assuage   
his conscience4 ,he could  construct1   
for instance1 an imaginary conversation 
between ,socrates and  his form master4 
,soc43 ,you object1 ,mr4 ,featherbrain1 
to the cribbing that is prevalent  in   
your form8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,certainly4     
,soc43 ,now1 as ,i am inexperienced in  
this matter1 never having been  myself  
to a ,public ,school1 perhaps you will  
be so kind as to make me  better        

acquainted with the methods adopted by  
these members of your  form4    ,mr4    
,f43 ,certainly4 ,some of the boys use  
,english translations with  which to    
prepare their ,virgil and ,homer4       
,others copy the ,greek prose of  their 
more clever companions1 inserting1 from 
time to time1 certain  gross errors that
 they expect will throw me off the      
scent4    ,soc43 ,i understand4 ,now1 in
 this matter of ,english translations3  
you  expect each boy to prepare his     
,virgil by himself1 and to produce in   
form  the results of solitary unaided   
labour8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,certainly4        
,soc43 ,if1 therefore1 you discovered   
one boy asking another to explain  to   
him a difficult passage1 you would      
punish him severely8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,no4  
,you have misunderstood me4 ,i should   
not4    ,soc43 ,but how is that8 ,have  
you not just told me that each boy must 
produce in form the results of solitary1
 unaided labour8    ,mr4 ,f43           
,certainly1 but we allow boys to prepare

 their 'con' together4    ,soc43 ,i     
understand4 ,on the assumption that two 
brains are better than  one1 you permit 
two boys to unravel the sense together4 
,mr4 ,f43 ,certainly4    ,soc43 ,now1 if
 two people attempt a certain task1 what
 procedure would  they follow8 ,would   
they not divide the task into two       
portions4 ,if two  men are building a   
house one man stands at the top of a    
ladder and lays  the bricks that his    
companion1 who is standing below1 throws
 up to him4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,certainly4    
,soc43 ,time would be wasted were each  
man to do the same work3 that is  to    
say1 were two ladders to be placed      
against the wall and were the two  men  
to descend and ascend the ladder        
carrying bricks to the top8    ,mr4 ,f43
 ,certainly4    ,soc43 ,therefore1 we   
may assume that in all tasks that are   
undertaken  by two persons1 the work is 
divided into two duties8    ,mr4 ,f43   
,but ,i do not see1 ,socrates1 that this
 line of reasoning has  any bearing on  

the subject we are preparing to discuss4
    ,soc43 ,that may very well be1 for1 
as ,i have told you1 ,i am ignorant of  
these matters and have come to you for  
guidance4 ,it does seem to me1  however1
 that in this matter of translation1    
which is the discovery of  an unknown   
thing1 the unknown may be divided into  
two parts4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,how is that8   
,soc43 ,when a boy reads over the       
passage that he has to translate1 two   
things are unknown to him3 the general  
meaning of the passage and  certain     
words in the passage4 ,that is so1 is it
 not8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,certainly4    ,soc43
 ,then do you not think that two boys1  
before setting out to  translate a      
passage1 would make some arrangement by 
which one of them  should be responsible
 for unravelling the sense1 while the   
other should  look up the unknown words 
in a dictionary4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,it is    
possible4    ,soc43 ,and to which of the
 two would be entrusted the task of     
unravelling the sense4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,to 

the cleverer1 undoubtedly4    ,soc43    
,therefore the less clever would do the 
drudge work3 that is to  say1 he would  
never bring his mind to bear upon the   
passage3 and the  imaginative work would
 be done for him by his companion4      
,mr4 ,f43 ,it would seem so1 ,socrates4 
,soc43 ,yet the system is approved as an
 honest one by the authorities  and the 
work of the drudge is accepted as       
solitary and unaided labour4    ,mr4    
,f43 ,that is so1 ,socrates4    ,soc43  
,now1 is this task of translation       
limited to the co-operation of  two     
persons1 or may three or more persons   
take their share in it8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,as
 many persons may take their share in it
 as may  conveniently be crowded into a 
study measuring eight feet by four4     
,soc43 ,i understand4 ,suppose now that 
three persons are preparing a  passage  
together4 ,we have agreed1 have we not1 
that this work can be  divided into two 
duties only8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,that is so4  
,soc43 ,then what share of the work will

 the third partner take8    ,mr4 ,f43   
,he will act as a reserve and will bring
 assistance to either  party when it is 
necessary4    ,soc43 ,but1 to whom have 
we allotted the task of unravelling the 
sense3  to the cleverest1 have we not8  
,if the help of the third party1 then1  
is  only requested when the cleverest   
finds himself in difficulties1 does it  
seem to you likely that the third party 
will succeed where one cleverer  than   
himself has failed8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,it is 
unlikely4    ,soc43 ,and1 if this third 
party is higher and more important than 
the  second party1 it is unlikely1 is it
 not1 that he will content himself  with
 what we have admitted to be the        
drudge's work of looking up words  in a 
dictionary8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,it is         
unlikely4    ,soc43 ,then the third     
party will do nothing save profit by the
 industry  of his two companions1 and   
the work that he will produce in the    
class-room next day will1 strictly      
speaking1 be not his at all1 but        

theirs4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,it would seem so1 
,socrates4    ,soc43 ,now1 let us take a
 further example4 ,for ,i am anxious to 
discover  at what exact point the work  
that a boy produces in form will cease  
to  be1 in the official eye1 the result 
of solitary and unaided labour4         
,suppose that the third party is a      
member of the ,eleven1 who has various  
social duties3 it is possible1 is it    
not1 that he would prefer to spend  over
 his translation less than the          
three-quarters of an hour that his  two 
companions require8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,it is 
possible4    ,soc43 ,then1 is it        
impossible that he might arrange for the
 cleverer of  the two to come to him    
after breakfast and explain to him in   
twenty  minutes the meaning of the      
passage8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,it is possible4  
,soc43 ,and such an arrangement would be
 accepted by you8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,i do not
 see that ,i could object4    ,soc43    
,now let us suppose that the cleverer of
 the two finds that he  will have to    

clean his corps clothes during the      
twenty minutes between  breakfast and   
chapel4 ,he will feel himself bound in  
honour1 and also by  fear1 to translate 
the passage to the third party1 but he  
will obviously  be unable to do it in   
person4 ,is it not likely1 therefore1   
that he will  write out the meaning of  
the passage and hand it to the third    
party8  ,would such conduct be          
unacceptable to you8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,i do 
not know1 ,socrates4    ,soc43 ,but1    
surely in your own mind you have clearly
 defined the line  that separates what  
is honest from what is dishonest4       
,surely that is  your profession--to    
teach the young to distinguish between  
what is good  and what is not good8     
,mr4 ,f43 ,that is so1 ,socrates4       
,soc43 ,then do you see any real        
difference between hearing a            
translation and reading a translation8  
,is there any difference between a      
meaning that is apprehended through the 
ear and a meaning that is  apprehended  

through the eyes2 for are not both eyes 
and ears channels  through which        
meanings are carried to the brain8      
,mr4 ,f43 ,it would seem so1 and1 when  
you put it that way1 ,i can  distinguish
 no essential difference4    ,soc43     
,very good3 then we have established    
that it is fair for a boy to  come to   
his study after breakfast1 find in his  
hand a written  translation of his      
,virgil1 and1 with that written         
translation1 prepare  in twenty minutes 
his morning's lesson4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,it  
would seem so1 ,socrates4    ,soc43 ,if1
 however1 he were to take from his      
drawer a printed  translation of        
,virgil1 and with that prepare his      
morning's lesson1 you  would consider   
him capable of dishonest behaviour and  
you would report  him to the head       
master4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,most certainly1   
,socrates4    ,soc43 ,in what1 then1    
lies the essential difference between   
the printed  translation and the one    
that was copied out for him by his      

companion8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,but that is    
surely obvious4    ,soc43 ,it is not to 
me1 and it is for this reason that ,i   
seek  enlightenment of you4 ,for to me  
it seems that the work produced in form 
by the boy who has studied the printed  
translation is every bit as much  the   
result of solitary and unaided labour as
 that which is informed by  the study of
 a written translation4 ,but is it that 
you appreciate a  difference between the
 written and the printed word8    ,mr4  
,f43 ,perhaps that is it1 ,socrates4    
,soc43 ,then would you allow a boy      
during the holidays to copy out one  of 
,dr4 ,giles's aids to the classics8     
,mr4 ,f43 ,most certainly not4    ,soc43
 ,then it is not between the written and
 the printed word that the  difference  
lies8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,it would seem not4  
,soc43 ,then where does it lie8    ,mr4 
,f43 ,i do not know1 ,socrates4         
,soc43 ,then we must surely assume that 
there is no difference2 and we  must    
further add that you have not dealt     

honestly with your form in so  severely 
punishing them for conduct that you1    
yourself1 are not able  logically to    
condemn4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,as ever1         
,socrates1 you have succeeded in making 
me say what ,i  did not mean to say4    
,soc43 ,then1 in order that you may     
extricate yourself1 let us consider     
this question of the prose4    ,mr4 ,f43
 ,certainly4 ,for1 here at least1 my    
position is impregnable4    ,soc43 ,i1  
too1 am certain of it1 and1 in order    
that ,i may know the true  nature of the
 offence1 you will1 ,i hope1 permit me  
to ask you certain  questions4 ,you say 
that the more stupid members of your    
form are in the  habit of copying the   
exercises of their more clever comrades8
    ,mr4 ,f43 ,that is so4    ,soc43    
,now is it a rule that a boy may not    
give another assistance in  his ,latin  
prose8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,certainly4         
,soc43 ,the position is not the same as 
that of the ,latin translation1  where  
two boys were permitted to co-operate8  

,mr4 ,f43 ,certainly not4    ,soc43 ,i  
presume that you have explained to your 
form the essential  difference that     
exists between the nature of ,latin     
'con' and ,latin  prose4    ,mr4 ,f43   
,how do you mean1 ,socrates8    ,soc43  
,why1 surely1 if in the preparation of  
,latin 'con1' which is the  translation 
of ,latin into ,english1 two boys are   
allowed to co-operate1  and1 if in the  
preparation of ,latin prose1 which is   
the translation of  ,english into       
,latin1 they are not allowed to         
co-operate1 it follows that  there must 
be some essential difference in the     
nature of the two  studies4    ,mr4 ,f43
 ,it would seem so1 ,socrates4    ,soc43
 ,it would certainly seem so1 and this  
difference you have1 no  doubt1 made    
clear to your form1 for1 at present1 ,i 
must confess myself  unable to discover 
in what it consists4 ,the exercise of   
,latin prose as  of ,latin 'con1' for   
each study is the translation of a      
language and the  correct rendering of  

the idiom of that language into the     
language and  idiom of another tongue1  
is no doubt intended to train1 inform1  
and  quicken the intelligence4 ,each    
would appear to be branches of the same 
study1 and for each the same method of  
instruction should be employed4  ,you   
tell me1 however1 that there is between 
these two branches an  essential        
difference4    ,mr4 ,f43 ,you are right1
 ,socrates1 and1 though ,i cannot       
explain the  difference in so many      
words1 its nature is plain to me4       
,soc43 ,of that1 ,mr4 ,featherbrain1 ,i 
am certain4 ,i understand that you      
apprehend this fine distinction as you  
apprehended the fine distinction        
between the written and the printed     
'crib4' ,we should consider1 though1    
whether this distinction is equally     
plain to your form4 ,such intuitive     
knowledge may be denied to them1 and1 if
 they sin through ignorance1  their sin 
is slighter than if they sinned through 
knowledge4 ,tell me1  now1 whether1 if  

you overheard one member of your form   
say to another on  the way to chapel3   
',i'm absolutely tied up with that piece
 of prose4  ,shall ,i put it in ,o4 ,r4 
or ,o4 ,o48' would you immediately      
report that boy  to the head master8    
,mr4 ,f43 ,i should not4    ,soc43 ,you 
would no more report him than if you had
 overheard him  asking his friend to    
make clear to him a passage of ,virgil  
that had  puzzled him4    ,mr4 ,f43     
,that is so4    ,soc43 ,do you not      
think1 therefore1 that the boy who knows
 he is  allowed to ask for help in his  
,latin 'con1' and who does not know for 
what reason he is not allowed to ask for
 help in his ,latin prose1 who  has     
never1 that is to say1 been able to     
apprehend the fine difference  between  
the nature of the two studies1 is likely
 to consider that the  same technique is
 permissible for both branches1 and     
would not that  third party of whom we  
spoke and who is in the habit of getting
 his  ,latin 'con' done for him by his  

friend1 consider himself morally        
justified in accepting the same         
assistance in his ,latin prose8    ,mr4 
,f43 ,but ,i have told him that it is   
not allowed4    ,soc43 ,certainly1 but  
good can only come from a reasoned      
knowledge of  what is good1 and you have
 not explained to him in what his fault 
consists4 ,moreover1 if you have granted
 him permission to seek advice in  small
 matters1 you must tell him at what     
exact point the thirst for  information 
becomes dishonest2 a line must be drawn 
between what is good  and what is bad4  
,is a boy responsible for a percentage  
of his prose1  and1 if so1 for what     
percentage4 ,have you made these things 
plain to  him8    ,mr4 ,f43 ,i have not1
 ,o ,socrates4    ,soc43 ,then how do   
you expect the unformed mind of a boy to
 draw this  line for himself4 ,it would 
seem to me1 ,mr4 ,featherbrain1 that you
 are  not training the youth as it      
should be trained1 when you order its   
conduct not by the results of logical   

deduction but by arbitrary ruling4  ,for
 if in your own mind you are not certain
 at what exact point the good  becomes  
the bad1 and indeed are not certain of  
what the bad consists2  what confusion  
must you not expect to discover in the  
minds of those  that are taught by you4 
,you must remember that on the football 
and  cricket field a boy is under orders
 which he accepts1 but of whose moral   
nature he is ignorant4 ,he knows that if
 he is offside in football a free  kick 
is awarded to the other side2 he knows  
that if he knocks the ball  forward with
 his hands a scrum is given4 ,he has    
made a mistake4 ,he has  committed a    
tactical1 but not a moral offence4 ,the 
rulings of the ,rugby  ,union are       
arbitrary and subject to frequent       
alteration2 whereas the  rulings        
concerning what is good and what is bad 
are fixed and  irradicable4 ,is it not  
likely1 therefore1 that a boy will come 
to regard  your rulings in these matters
 of cribbing as arbitrary rulings that  

may  be altered4 ,his life is a game1   
you must always remember that1 and it is
  on that basis that he accepts it4 ,he 
knows that he will be punished if  he   
uses a crib2 he knows that you appear to
 apprehend a distinction  between the   
written and printed word2 he knows also 
that you have  discovered a difference  
in the nature of the studies of         
translation and  prose1 and that while  
you will allow him to ask advice on     
certain points  you will not allow him  
to seek advice on the whole1 though at  
the same  time you do not define the    
point at which these same certain points
  cease to be certain points and become 
sufficiently part of the whole to  be   
called the whole4 ,can you expect him1  
then1 to regard such a system  as       
anything but the complicated rulings of 
a game played between you and  him4 ,and
 can you expect him to attach to these  
regulations any moral  significance4 ,on
 the cricket field he places his leg in 
front of the  wicket and tries to hit a 

short length ball over square-leg's     
head4 ,if  he misses the ball he is leg 
before1 and goes to the pavilion4 ,in   
his  study he prepares his translation  
with a crib2 he is discovered by his    
house master2 he goes to the head       
master4 ,and it is in this spirit1 ,mr4 
,featherbrain1 that your form deceives  
you4 ,you have to make clear to the     
young many things before you can expect 
them to attach a moral  significance to 
what has no logical proof4      ,there  
may be flaws in the argument1 for the   
,socratic method is  insidious1 but ,i  
have not1 myself1 been able to discover 
them4 ,the  ethics of cribbing from the 
master's point of view are illogical4   
,the  exact point where co-operation    
starts and cribbing begins is not fixed4
    ,cribbing goes by form and houses4  
,its activities expand and contract     
according to the demands of popular     
opinion4 ,it is always communal4  ,there
 is a conscription of intellect and     
knowledge4 ,no boy would  prejudice his 

chances of winning his house cap2 but   
most boys would  assist their most      
dangerous rivals in promotion4 ,we hear 
in chapel sad  stories of the large and 
brutal bully who cribs steadily         
throughout the  term and wrests the     
prize from the pure innocent who looked 
up every  word in a large ,lewis        
,short4 ,but it rarely happens like     
that4 ,no one  cribs for a prize1       
because few really want a prize4        
,occasionally  cribbing wins a prize1   
but it is usually through a fluke4    ,a
 boy is particularly nervous about the  
results of a certain paper4 ,he  takes  
elaborate precautions to make sure that 
he will not have to spend  the last     
,saturday of term rewriting the paper1  
and1 in consequence1  unexpectedly      
discovers himself at the head of the    
list4 ,i recall one  such instance in   
particular1 and1 because it seems to me 
so singularly  appropriate1 ,i may be   
pardoned1 ,i trust1 for retelling a     
story that ,i  have incorporated        

elsewhere4    ,divinity in the army     
class was a casual affair2 a knowledge  
of the ,old  ,testament not being       
considered a necessary part of the      
intellectual  equipment of a subaltern1 
the ,sandhurst authorities did not      
examine  candidates on the subject1 and 
both the form and its master regarded   
the  hour's lesson on ,sunday morning as
 a pause in the exertions of the week4  
,the yearly divinity examination always 
occasioned1 therefore1 a measure  of    
panic among the soldiers1 for the form  
master1 when confronted with            
irrefutable proofs of his own indolence1
 was in the habit of punishing  not only
 the form but himself by keeping in for 
two hours on the last  ,saturday those  
of the form who had failed to score an  
adequate  percentage4 ,during the       
preceding days feverish and spasmodic   
attempts  were made to cope successfully
 with the complicated relations of kings
  and prophets4 ,one year1 however1 the 
form was fortunate4    ,a certain       

,mallaby1 while searching in the        
class-room just before lock-up  for a   
book he thought he had left there1 saw  
lying among the papers on  the master's 
desk1 the rough draft of the questions  
for the divinity  exam4 ,in surprised   
delight he copied them all down4        
,according to the  popular conception of
 schoolboy honour1 ,mallaby1 being a    
potential  thief1 would have kept the   
information to himself4 ,being a boy1   
however1  he imparted it to his         
companions4 ,the form entered the       
examination room  in a mood of quiet    
confidence1 and left it in a mood of    
deep content4  ,two days later1 however1
 it was announced that this year the    
annual  interest of a bequest would be  
devoted to a series of divinity papers  
throughout the school4 ,the next day    
,mallaby learnt that he was head of  the
 army class in divinity4    ,his        
conscience was fluttered4 ,he could not1
 he felt1 take a prize which  he would  
have won through cribbing4 ,it would be 

dishonest4 ,it would be  stealing4 ,he  
announced his intention of explaining   
matters to the chief4  ,this            
announcement was not1 however1 received 
with the enthusiasm that  should have   
welcomed the imminence of so noble1 so  
disinterested1 so  sacrificial a        
performance4 ,the form was indeed       
seriously perturbed4 ,it  explained to  
,mallaby that1 if he went to the chief1 
he would be queering  not only his own  
pitch1 but theirs as well1 and that     
there were certain  members of form who 
did not stand well enough in the eyes of
 authority  to be able to risk such an  
addition to their score of discovered   
crimes4  ',and1 after all1' they said1  
'why shouldn't you take the prize8 ,we  
all  knew the questions2 you took the   
trouble to prepare them4 ,you worked    
hard1 and prizes are the reward of hard 
work4 ,you've worked for the  prize1    
harder than we did4 ,therefore you      
deserve the prize4 ,and let's  have no  
more of this nonsense about confession4'

    ,in these matters each form and each
 house works out its own salvation4  ,in
 some houses cribbing is not general1   
and in some forms cribbing is  not      
general2 and1 in such cases1 cribbing is
 anti-social4 ,it might be  urged that  
boys from houses that do not crib find  
themselves at a  disadvantage in        
relation to boys from houses that do4   
,but life usually  manages to adjust    
itself1 and a boy's position in form is 
chiefly  important as regards the       
relation it bears to that of the other  
members  of his house4 ,it does not     
matter much to a boy in the school house
 if he  is passed by a boy in ,buller's4
 ,it will not affect his seniority in   
his  own house1 and it is his seniority 
in his own house that matters4 ,only a  
very few are concerned with the         
specialised rivalry of the ,upper ,sixth
  that decides who will be the official 
head of the school4 ,scholastically  the
 ambition of few passes outside their   
house4 ,in games it is  different4 ,but 

then the eleven is not a fluid body like
 the ,sixth2 it is  a close corporation1
 and once the reputation of being the   
best slow  left-hand bowler is lost1 the
 chance of a ribboned coat grows        
distant4    ,i remember once a parson   
from the ,east ,end preaching a sermon  
in the  school chapel1 in which he      
intimated that in comparison with the   
loathsome atrocities that had for       
setting the ,mile ,end ,road1 a         
schoolboy  merely played at sin4 ,this  
was reassuring to certain genial        
sportsmen  who had hitherto been unable 
to view with any confidence the prospect
 of  immortality3 and the phrase        
'playing at sin' passed into the        
vocabulary  of the school4 ,to such an  
extent1 indeed1 that the head master was
  forced to deliver a special midweek   
address1 in which he pointed out  that  
the degree of sin was relative to       
environment1 and that the moral         
offences of a man who had been nurtured 
in surroundings of bestiality  and filth

 were less grave than those of the boy  
who had spent his  childhood in the     
clean atmosphere of a decent home4 ,the 
complacence of  the aforesaid sportsmen 
was broken4 ,not only were their        
offences as  serious as those of their  
less fortunately placed brethren1 they  
were  actually more grave3 a disquieting
 reflection4 ,but ,i have often felt    
inclined to question1 not the           
irrefutable logic of the head master's  
sermon1 but the truth of that original  
contention about 'playing at  sin4'     
,are1 that is to say1 the vices of the  
lower orders actually more  startling   
than those of ,mayfair8 ,are they more  
startling8 ,i wonder3 a  higher standard
 of civilisation refines our pleasures1 
quickens our  powers of appreciation1   
makes us more subtle1 more complex2 does
 it not  also sharpen the edge of       
misbehaviour8 ,it is a point on which   
perhaps  ,casanova would be able to     
enlighten us4 ,but1 certainly1 in the   
matter of  cribbing1 the methods of the 

lower forms are clumsy1 unimaginative1  
bourgeois in comparison with those of   
the ,fifths and ,sixths4    ,a master   
who expects to discover in the ,third   
the guile of the ,fifths  will be       
disappointed2 and1 equally1 the master  
who has successfully  combated the guile
 of the ,lower ,second may discover     
himself completely  outwitted by the    
,middle ,sixth4 ,in the ,lower ,school  
the use of the actual  crib is rare4 ,it
 is easy for the ,sixth ,former to      
possess himself of a  translation4 ,the 
,everyman series contains excellent     
renderings of  ,thucydides and ,plato4  
,the ,loeb library is not useless4      
,gilbert ,murray  may be a poet1 but his
 translations of ,euripides have proved 
of  assistance to many a harassed       
student4 ,jebb's version of ,sophocles  
is to  be found in the shelves of the   
school library4 ,it is a different job  
to  find a crib of ,ovid and ,livy4 ,dr4
 ,giles has done some excellent research
  work1 but questions are apt to be     

asked about bona fide students2 an      
address such as ',the ,school ,house1   
,fernhurst1' is likely to wake          
suspicion1 and the ,third ,former has   
not read enough ,french novels to       
appreciate the value of the poste       
restante4 ,he considers that a crib  is 
more trouble than it is worth4 ,and what
 is cribbing but laziness6  ,moreover1  
he has a distrust of cribs4 ,he is      
naturally stupid or he would  be higher 
in the school1 and he knows that when a 
boy gives the right  meaning to the     
wrong words there are unpleasant        
investigations4 ,he  prefers to rely on 
the inspiration of the moment3 as a     
result the  offences of the ,lower      
,second are trivial4 ,they rarely reach 
the green  baize of the head master's   
study4 ,one boy looks over another's    
paper1  another is prompted during      
'con1' there is a strange similarity    
between  two ,latin proses1 an unusual  
mistake is repeated in several          
exercises4  ,the offender is beaten     

afterwards1 and no more is heard about  
it4 ,as a  matter of fact there is less 
cribbing in the ,lower ,school than in  
the  ,upper4 ,opportunities are rare and
 the example of hardened criminals is   
absent4 ,the second yearer only becomes 
a practised deceiver under the          
influence of his seniors1 and there are 
not many third yearers in the  ,lower   
,school4 ,higher up it is different4    
,but it is to be doubted whether  the   
effects of cribbing are as serious as   
they are depicted4    ,the case against 
them comes under two main headings3 7#a7
 ,the moral  issue2 7#b7 ,the expediency
 issue4 ,with the moral issue ,i have   
already  dealt4 ,most boys crib at      
school1 but the public school man is    
straighter  in business than the        
self-made man and the ,american4 ,nearly
 all men will  boast in their clubs of  
the way they bamboozled 'old ,moke1' of 
how they  pinned up the rep4 on the back
 of the boy in front1 and of how they   
used  to strip off the cover of the     

translation book and sew it round one of
  ,dr4 ,giles's publications2 but the   
man who has forced a young inventor     
into a hard contract remains silent4 ,it
 is a matter that he prefers to  keep to
 himself4 ,i do not believe that        
cribbing saps the moral sense4    ,the  
expediency issue is more complicated4   
,and1 on the surface1 it does  seem that
 the use of a crib is the very worst    
thing for a boy who hopes  to win       
scholarships and fellowships4 ,it is a  
short cut4 ,he does not  need to use his
 brain4 ,his thinking is done for him4  
,that is true1 but  there are points on 
the other side4 ,he is set fifty lines  
of ,virgil to  prepare4 ,if he comes    
into form next morning with those lines 
half learnt  he will derive little      
benefit from the hour's lesson4 ,the    
whole time he  will be worrying at the  
sense4 ,he will not be able to give his 
full  attention to the points of grammar
 and history that will arise in the     
course of the hour4 ,if1 on the other   

hand1 he is free from the anxiety  of   
failure he is able to give his full     
attention to what is perhaps the  more  
important part of the lesson4 ,also a   
boy remembers what he has  worked out   
for himself2 and a crib used            
intelligently provides just  enough     
struggle to impinge the result of the   
effort on the memory4 ,and  the wise do 
use a crib intelligently4 ,they not only
 want to know their  'con' for the next 
day3 they also wish to be able to       
remember it for the  examination4 ,they1
 therefore1 read a sentence over first  
in the  original4 ,some one wonders what
 a certain word means4 ,the word is     
looked  up4 ,then a shot is made at the 
sense1 not a very serious shot perhaps1 
and speedy reference is made to the     
crib4 ,the ,english is read out loud4   
',now1 how does he get that out of it8' 
some one asks4 ,there is a minute  of   
tussle and explanation--then all is     
clear4 ,and the next sentence is  read  
out loud4    ,that is the way to use a  

crib4 ,and if one has worked out for    
oneself1  even if it be with the aid of 
a crib1 the meaning of a long passage of
  ,virgil1 one remembers that passage4  
,i have forgotten now nearly all my     
,greek and ,latin1 but ,i can still read
 currently and with pleasure the        
,eclogues1 for which ,i used a crib4    
,whereas the memory of other books1     
through which ,i struggled honestly1 but
 less successfully1 has faded           
altogether4 ,for the average member of  
the ,sixth ,i believe the  intelligent  
use of a crib is to be recommended4 ,a  
greater number of  lines could be       
prepared at one time1 and there would be
 leisure for  acquiring that knowledge  
that comes to us indirectly from the    
classics4  ,plato is a window through   
which we see the gymnasiums of ,ancient 
,greece4  ,but it will be shuttered for 
those to whom the struggle is ever with 
correct rendering and syntax4    ,the   
real scholar1 whose life will be spent  
largely with the classics1  must avoid  

short cuts2 he should glory in          
difficulties that will quicken  his     
wits3 he has his whole life before him4 
,he does not have to pass1 as  the rest 
of us do1 swiftly into a world of       
politics and business4 ,and1  indeed1   
the real scholar realises this4 ,i can  
recall few instances in  which a boy    
with a really fine brain has deadened   
his perceptions by the  use of          
translations4 ,the scholar1 when he     
reaches the ,sixth1 and is no  longer   
forced to write the proses and prepare  
the translations of his  less clever    
comrades1 prefers to work alone1 if not 
in the company of  boys who are equally 
brilliant4    ,but the real scholar is  
the exception4 ,this book is written    
for1 and  about1 the average schoolboy4 
,i know that in the matter of cribbing  
,i  am pleading a lost cause4 ,cribbing 
will always1 of course1 be a  forbidden 
thing2 therein lies its charm4 ,but it  
is important that master  and parents   
should realise in what light these      

questions appear to the  boy4 ,a boy is 
frequently misunderstood4 ,he is accused
 of dishonesty4 ,he  resents the        
accusation1 but he is unable to explain 
why his offence does  not deserve so    
stern a label4 ,he is tempted to lose   
heart1 to console  himself with the     
reflection that 'they don't understand1'
 and so further  estrange himself from  
sympathy and mutual understanding4 ,the 
boy stands  before the house master and 
lets the wind of words flow over him4   
,what  use is it for him to attempt an  
explanation4 ,if he argues his          
punishment  will be increased4 ,it is   
better to assume contrition2 to say1    
',yes1 sir1  ,i hadn't seen it in that  
light before1' and to be more clever    
another  time4 ,it would be far more    
just were the master to regard cribbing 
as a  boy regards it3 as a game1 to be  
punished effectively when discovered1   
but not to be associated with the       
welfare of the human spirit4    ,if     
school authorities wish1 however1 to    

find a lasting cure they have in  their 
own hands the remedy4 ,they will not    
achieve their ends through  increased   
vigilance2 that will only make the boy  
more clever4 ,they  should make work    
more interesting4 ,there is little      
cribbing in form  where boys are        
interested in what they are learning4   
,boys are not  anxious to learn what a  
master is not anxious to teach4         
,laziness begets  laziness1 and cribbing
 is a form of laziness4    ,systematic  
cribbing will not disappear till popular
 opinion regards as  important success  
or failure in the class-room4 ,success  
at games is  considered important2 games
 are1 in consequence played fairly4     
,but1 as  popular opinion sets no value 
on school work1 it does not seem to     
matter  much what happens in school     
hours4 ,success in form needs to be     
brought  into some sort of relationship 
with success at football4 ,athletic     
prowess will always1 naturally1 and     
perhaps rightly1 be rated more  highly  

than intellectual achievement4 ,but that
 is no reason why  intellectual         
achievement should be disparaged in the 
case of all save  the brilliant few     
whose feats are received with a mild    
enthusiasm4 ,at  ,sandhurst we used to  
have weekly examinations1 and1 as far as
 ,i  remember1 there was no cribbing at 
all in these exams4 ,to a certain       
extent promotion depended on one's      
performance in them1 and each ,g4 ,c4   
was anxious to work out the problems for
 himself so as to be able to  judge how 
much1 or how little1 progress he had    
made4 ,this did not mean  that we were  
more interested in topography than late 
cuts1 but that we  realised that1 at    
this stage of our career proficiency in 
topography  would be of service to us4  
,i believe that a similar state of      
affairs  would exist at a ,public       
,school were the social values to be    
readjusted4    ,cribbing1 like so much  
else in public school life1 is a        
side-shoot of  athleticism4             

,,chapter ,,vii    ,,morality ,,and     
,,the ,,romantic ,,friendship      ,it  
is at this period1 also1 of a boy's     
development that the moral  question    
assumes a definite significance4 ,there 
is no phase of school  life that is more
 generally misunderstood and            
misrepresented1 and there  is no phase  
that a writer tackles with greater      
misgiving and  disinclination4 ,he is   
confronted with the barricaded          
prejudices of a  vested interest1 with  
the tremulous ignorance of mothers who  
seek to be  deceived1 with the          
conspiracy of silence that exists       
between boys1  parents1 and masters1    
and1 last of all1 with the wilful       
jealousy of the  yellow press that is   
only too ready to decry the value of    
what it is  pleased to call the 'trades 
union of snobbery4' ,there are times1   
indeed1  when it seems better to        
acquiesce in that conspiracy of silence 
rather  than to give those speculators  
in contention another opportunity of    

mud-slinging4 ,there are times when it  
seems hopeless to attempt to  explain   
the nature of public school morality to 
those who have not  themselves been to a
 ,public ,school4 ,it is like looking at
 a  stained-glass window from the       
outside4 ,one reminds oneself that for  
many  years1 without1 perhaps1 any very 
disastrous results1 we have muddled     
along in contented ignorance and        
self-deceit4 ,why not leave things      
where they are8 ,why stir up trouble8   
,and yet the moral question is such  an 
essential part of school life1 it       
exercises such an influence on the      
development of the boy2 indirectly it   
colours so considerably the  attitude of
 the master to every other phase of     
school life1 that it is  impossible to  
omit all reference to it in a detailed  
study such as this1  and1 if it is      
impossible to avoid mention of it1 it is
 fatal to content  oneself1 as one may  
very well do in a novel1 with stray     
suggestions and  inferences4    ,a novel

 is an abstraction4 ,one compresses into
 a few pages the action of  several     
years1 so that one has to suggest rather
 than to state4 ,one can  withhold one's
 own opinion1 one is under no           
compunction to generalise  from the     
incidents one selects4 ,one is telling a
 story or interpreting a  personality4  
,only rarely is one constructing a      
thesis4 ,in a novel it is  not difficult
 to deal with the moral question4 ,most 
good school stories  have touched more  
or less indirectly on some side of it4  
,ivor ,brown and  ,compton ,mackenzie   
have both dealt subtly with an intricate
 relationship4  ,hugh ,walpole1 if less 
originally1 faced the same situation    
more  courageously1 while ,arnold ,lunn 
in ,loose ,ends has interpreted the boy 
as opposed to the official attitude to  
this issue with extreme  effectiveness4 
,the novelist is constrained to discuss 
only that part of  the question that    
affects the action of the story4 ,that  
is one of the  great charms of          

story-telling3 one can touch lightly    
without need of  explanation on the most
 delicate situations4 ,one can say only 
as much  as one wants to say1 and say   
it1 what is more1 obliquely4 ,in a book 
such  as this1 however1 one must deal   
with the subject thoroughly if at all4  
,one must tackle every side of it4 ,one 
is bound to follow one's thought        
through to the end4 ,and that is a thing
 that no one cares to do in  public4 ,it
 was said of a certain intrepid ,rugby  
player that he had not  the brains to be
 afraid4 ,it is certainly true that many
 soldiers lost  their nerve after they  
had been once wounded1 and that few     
soldiers were  really frightened till   
they had seen what a shell could do2 it 
may well  be that at twenty-three one   
has not sufficient experience of the    
world  to realise what risks one runs   
through honesty4    ,the first          
difficulty1 especially for those who1   
without having been to a  ,public       
,school themselves1 are the fathers of  

present or prospective  public school   
boys1 is to start investigations with a 
clear mind4 ,this  feat the majority    
never manage to accomplish4 ,for the    
moral question in  schools is concerned 
with the relationship of two members of 
the same  sex4 ,now such a relationship 
is counted in the world at large an     
unmentionable and unforgivable sin4 ,it 
is regarded with horror by the  average 
man4 ,it is a penal offence4 ,the man   
who enters into such a  relationship is 
abnormal1 and1 as such1 is considered a 
menace to  society4 ,but the same       
standards are not applicable to school  
life4    ,a man was intended by nature  
to marry at eighteen4 ,the average      
villager1  clerk1 pit-boy1 work-boy     
begins 'walking out' with a girl at the 
age of  fifteen or sixteen2 the public  
school boy has no such opportunities of 
courtship4 ,three hundred boys are      
spending three-quarters of their lives  
in a monastic world2 from the beginning 
of the term to the end the only  women  

to whom they have the opportunity of    
speaking are the matron and  the house  
master's wife4 ,they have never any     
chances of seeing girls of  their own   
class and of their own age4 ,at a       
particularly susceptible  period1       
therefore1 they have no natural object  
for their affections4 ,the  youngest    
boys are only thirteen1 the eldest are  
between eighteen or  nineteen4    ,in   
such circumstances it would be          
surprising if there were no             
uncomfortable complications4 ,the public
 school system is1 in this  respect1    
unnatural2 one must expect unnatural    
results4 ,the trouble is to  discover   
what those results are4 ,for1 although  
people speak glibly  enough of          
immorality in ,public ,schools1 it is   
extremely doubtful whether  they realise
 of what exactly that immorality        
consists4    ,it is a convenient phrase1
 but beyond it there is the conspiracy  
of  silence4 ,schoolmasters prefer to   
deal with straight issues4 ,they dislike

  the subtleties of action and character
 which are of such charm to the         
psychologist4 ,they like to say1 ',this 
is an offence4' ,finer shades of        
meaning trouble them4 ,at least that is 
their official attitude4 ,and so  it has
 come to be generally accepted that     
public school morality  resolves itself 
into one main issue3 that is1 the       
corruption of a small  boy by a big one4
 ,to protect the new boy from this      
danger elaborate  precautions are taken4
 ,it is on this point that a boy is     
given advice  before he goes to school4 
,he is warned never to make friends with
 boys  bigger than himself2 it is       
against this danger that the majority of
  school sermons are directed4 ,and1 of 
course1 this is a very convenient       
attitude for the schoolmaster to adopt4 
,the offence is obviously so  grave that
 there can be no cause to withhold      
complete official  condemnation2 it is  
also so rare that the head master is    
able to assure  prospective parents of  

the excellent tone of the school4 ,for  
,i am  convinced that the deliberate    
seduction of a smaller boy is an        
extremely  rare occurrence4 ,there are1 
of course1 certain houses--probably     
there is  one at every school--in which 
a good-looking boy stands very little   
chance of remaining straight4 ,but ,i   
have not been in such a house and ,i    
can speak with no authority4 ,i have    
heard1 certainly1 some astonishing      
stories of what can be tolerated in a   
really bad house2 but1 second-hand      
reports1 especially on such matters1 can
 only be accepted with reserve4         
,certainly in the average house cases of
 corruption are very rare4 ,few  boys   
have the nerve1 the assurance1 or the   
adroitness to attempt such a  task4 ,a  
man of twenty-five will set out         
deliberately to seduce a  housemaid1 but
 the schoolboy in such matters is a     
novice4 ,if a senior  boy is casually   
attracted by the appearance of a smaller
 boy1 he asks a  friend lower down in   

the house to make inquiries as to the   
morals of the  small boy4 ,if the       
'go-between' discovers that the small   
boy is  'straight1' the elder boy lets  
the matter fall from his mind4 ,there   
are  others who are not4 ,if1 on the    
other hand1 the attraction is more than 
casual1 the chances of seduction are    
even more remote4 ,it is unlikely  that 
the affection will be reciprocated4     
,and1 if a boy is really fond of        
another boy1 the last thing he would    
wish would be to subject his friend  to 
unwelcome advances4 ,when a boy first   
falls in love with a girl the  thought  
of sexual intimacy is1 often1           
unattractive4 ,it is only when his  love
 is returned that he really desires it4 
,it is fatal to confuse the  processes  
of life at large with the processes of  
life in a monastic  system4 ,because    
young men seduce young women with       
regrettable frequency1  it is assumed   
that much the same sort of thing is     
happening at a ,public  ,school4 ,and1  

parents believing this1 are reassured2  
they are certain  that their dear child 
when young will be strong enough to     
resist the  passive temptation2 they are
 equally certain that their dear child  
when  nearly a man would not1 for one   
moment1 consider the possibility of     
active sin4 ,and this amiable delusion  
schoolmasters encourage4 ,it saves  them
 a lot of trouble4 ,they say one thing  
in public and another in  private4 ,but 
the ,jekyll and ,hyde business breeds   
confusion4 ,they forget  what they      
should believe and what they should not 
believe4 ,they are  agreed only on this3
 that any attempt at criticism1 at      
explanation1 at  interpretation shall be
 counteracted with a concerted unanimity
 of  opinion4 ,they will deny hotly the 
prevalence of any such practices1  they 
will make slighting references to the   
bad house in the bad school4  ,they will
 complete their defence by asserting    
that for what faults there  are the     
parents are alone responsible in that   

they had not sufficiently  warned their 
sons of the evils of a ,public          
,school--evils1 be it noted1  that they 
had previously assured the parent did   
not exist outside the  perverted        
imagination of the critic4 ,and yet it  
is amazing what these  same apologists  
will be prepared to believe about any   
institution other  than their own4      
,six years ago ,sandhurst had an        
extremely bad name4 ,every kind of      
debauch  was rumoured to flourish there4
 ,sobriety was only more unpopular than 
purity4 ,the ,g4 ,c4's secreted whisky  
beneath their beds1 and actresses       
within them4 ,the glittering temptations
 of ,st ,anthony allured the unwary  in 
the tea-shops of ,camberley4 ,and ,i    
remember being shown1 before ,i went    
there1 a letter that had been sent to   
the parents of a prospective cadet  by  
his head master4 ',i hope1' the letter  
ran1 'that ,arthur is aware of  the     
temptations to which he will be         
subjected4 ,concupiscence seems to be   

the chief topic of conversation and the 
sole ,sunday afternoon amusement  of the
 cadets4' ,it all sounded fearfully     
exciting4 ,but it proved very  tame4    
,indeed ,i am inclined to think that1 on
 the whole1 fewer  temptations presented
 themselves to me during the eight      
months ,i spent  at ,sandhurst than     
during any other period of my time in   
the army4 ,a  fellow could do what he   
liked4 ,no pressure was put on him to   
drink or  gamble1 or pursue loose women4
 ,he was none the less respected for    
being  straight1 nor the more admired   
for being crooked4 ,a community such as 
this which exerts pressure on the       
individual in neither direction1 ,i     
should be prepared to call as moral as  
any that is likely to be found  this    
side of heaven1 yet this head master1   
who would1 no doubt1  repudiate hotly   
the least suggestion that immorality in 
his own school  was anything but a      
spasmodic and occasional phenomenon1 was
 ready to  believe that ,sandhurst was a

 cesspool of all the vices that         
flourished  so gracefully in the days of
 ,petronius ,arbiter4 ,in our           
investigations we  are not likely to be 
helped far by schoolmasters4 ,they are  
constrained  by the laws of exchange and
 mart to vindicate the quality of their 
wares4    ,it is generally assumed for  
the purposes of dialectic that there are
 two  classes of persons3 the normal and
 the abnormal1 and that all normal      
people follow the same process of       
development from birth to death4 ,to    
disprove this ,havelock ,ellis collected
 at the end of certain volumes of  his  
psychology authenticated histories of   
men whose development he  claimed to be 
normal1 but whose histories were as     
different from one  another as apples   
are from plums4 ,in the face of such    
evidence it is  dangerous to dogmatise  
on the gradual discovery of the sexual  
impulse by  public school boys during   
adolescence4 ,the most one can say is   
that the  majority of them come to a    

,public ,school innocent and ignorant1  
and  that they leave it certainly not   
ignorant and with a relative degree of  
innocence4 ,this at least is sure--that 
between the years of thirteen and       
nineteen the impulse will have become   
powerfully defined and that each  boy   
will have had to come to terms with its 
direction and control4    ,now the      
important point seems to me to be this3 
the sexual impulse is a  force on the   
proper direction of which depends1 to a 
large extent1 the  happiness of a man's 
life2 and marriage is the course into   
which it  should be directed4 ,no one1  
,i think1 will deny that4 ,we may talk  
of the  liberation of the sexes1 of     
greater facilities for divorce1 of the  
right  of each man and woman to repair a
 mistake caused by the first surprise   
of a newly-awakened instinct2 but there 
can be no questioning the  assertion    
that monogamy is the ideal1 and that    
while nothing can be more  wretched than
 an ill-harmonised relationship1 in the 

lifelong devotion  of man and woman is  
to be found the surest happiness4 ,that 
is the  standard by which public school 
morality should be judged4 ,but it is   
not  the standard by which it is        
officially1 and indeed generally1       
judged4 ,a  ,public ,school is only a   
phase1 a prelude in the sexual          
development of a  man4 ,head masters are
 inclined to mistake it for the         
completed rhythm4    ,in the same way   
that the head master of a ,preparatory  
,school specially  coaches a boy for a  
scholarship1 not realising that what for
 him is the  whole race is for the boy  
but a first lap1 so the head master of a
  ,public ,school regards the           
preservation of innocence between the   
years of  #ac and #ai as the entire     
battle4 ,as far as ,i can make out this 
attitude  is adopted by nearly every    
unscientific writer on the subject4     
,if the matter ended there it would1 of 
course1 be simple4 ,rigid  policemanship
 and supervision and a system of spies  

would probably be  effective4 ,they     
might stamp out impurity to a large     
extent2 they would  also destroy the    
discipline of independence1 of trust and
 of authority  that one learns at a     
,public ,school4 ,the matter is far less
 simple4 ,the  public school system is  
unnatural4 ,through unnatural channels1 
therefore1 a natural impulse has to flow
 into a natural course4    ,let us see1 
more or less1 what happens4    ,we have 
assumed that an ignorant and innocent   
boy arrives at his ,public  ,school at  
the age of thirteen1 and1 to simplify   
the matter further1 we  will assume that
 the boy is not particularly            
good-looking1 and is not1  therefore1   
likely to win the patronage of his      
seniors4 ,for the first  weeks          
everything is so strange that he lives  
in a world of his own  fashioning4      
,later on1 as he begins to enter the    
life of the school1 he  is puzzled by   
references to an offence the nature of  
which he does not  understand4 ,he hears

 some one described as being 'smutty4'  
,he does not  in any way connect this   
with the elaborate address that was     
delivered to  him on the last day at his
 prep4 ,indeed ,i knew of a new boy who 
informed  his parents on a postcard that
 a rather decent chap in his house had  
been nearly sacked for 'smut4' ',is     
this1' he asked1 'anything serious8'    
,he received in reply a reassuring      
letter telling him that he need not     
worry about such things just yet4    ,it
 is the fashion nowadays to demand open 
discussion of all subjects2  there must 
be no secrets4 ,parents are told that   
they are guilty of  criminal negligence 
if they do not instruct their sons and  
daughters in  the physiology of sex4    
,and1 no doubt1 it will be maintained   
that at this  point the father should   
have written his son a long letter      
explaining to  him the nature of the    
temptation to which he would be exposed4
 ,that is  the fashion nowadays4 ,no    
doubt the ,victorians suffered from an  

excessive  reserve4 ,we have gone to the
 other extreme4 ,we are trying to reduce
 love  to an exact science4    ,on the  
whole1 ,i suppose that the instruction  
of children by parents  depends entirely
 on the individual case4 ,but at such a 
time it would be  very easy for the     
parents to become embarrassed and lose  
the boy's  sympathy4 ,the number of boys
 who learn from their parents more than 
a  vague idea of motherhood is probably 
small4 ,and at a ,public ,school it is  
the physiology of fatherhood that       
occupies the boy's attention4    ,we are
 given to understand that in the first  
place a boy must be  corrupted by       
another boy4 ,but this is not generally 
the case4 ,a boy  usually manages to    
corrupt himself4 ,he has overheard the  
conversation of  older boys1 he has     
discussed different problems with his   
companions2  the atmosphere of school   
life with its continual references to   
immorality in sermons and addresses1    
have made him precociously curious4  ,he

 evolves for himself the practice of    
private immorality4    ,a boy's         
knowledge of sex necessarily is very    
fragmentary1 and on many  points he is  
actually misinformed4 ,he has a         
preposterous idea1 for  instance1 of the
 effects that this habit will have upon 
his health4  ,syphilis is not more      
dangerous4 ,his hair will drop out1 he  
will go  blind1 his brain will soften4  
,probably he will go mad4 ,numerical    
considerations mean nothing to him3 once
 a thief always a thief4 ,the  idea of  
restrained disorder does not occur to   
him4 ,he suffers from the  misery of an 
incommunicable grief4 ,he is apart from 
his fellows4 ,if he  told them his      
secret1 he thinks that they would       
despise him4 ,he becomes  morbidly      
introspective4 ,he makes vows to break  
himself of the habit1  fails1 and       
despises himself4 ,he begins to search  
for the symptoms of his  approaching    
physical and intellectual collapse4 ,if 
he makes a duck at  cricket1 misses a   

catch in a house game1 or fails badly in
 his  repetition1 he tells himself that 
the process has begun4 ,there are times 
when he wants to steal away by himself  
like an animal that is sick4  ,there are
 others in which he wishes at all costs 
to mix with his  companions1 to take    
part in any rag that is afoot2 to this  
cause can be  invariably attributed the 
mingled rowdyism and moodiness of       
certain  boys4 ,the idea that such      
practices are physically injurious is   
encouraged by the master4 ,it appears to
 him the most sure preventative4  ,there
 are1 indeed1 occasions when masters are
 so misinformed that they  actually     
believe in these terrible vengeances of 
the body4 ,for  schoolmasters who1 of   
all people1 ought to know most of       
hygiene and  physiology1 are1 for the   
most part1 woefully ignorant of them4   
,it would  be indeed interesting to     
discover what percentage of public      
school house  masters have read any     
serious medical writing4 ,they are only 

too willing  to believe that such habits
 have the disastrous results they       
prophesy4  ,and of course it has not1   
unless it is practised to excess and    
unless  the subject is particularly     
feeble4 ,it is foolish to throw lighted 
matches about the place1 but the habit  
only becomes dangerous when the  matches
 are flung on inflammable material4     
,it so happens that the greater part of 
active immorality in schools  takes     
place between boys of fifteen and       
sixteen2 not1 as is more  frequently    
imagined1 between junior and senior     
boys4 ,such relationships  are usually  
of brief duration4 ,they pass with the  
dawn of the romantic  friendship4 ,and  
it is here that ,i feel most acutely the
 difficulty of my  task4 ,it is almost  
impossible to explain to some one who   
has not been to  a ,public ,school the  
nature of one of these romantic         
friendships4 ,in a  book called         
,pleasure ,i published a story dealing  
with such a  friendship4 ,the majority  

of old public school boys who read it   
seemed to  like it4 ,but none of the men
 who had not been to a ,public ,school  
could  make head or tail of it4 ,they   
told me in their reviews of it that it  
was absurd1 mawkish1 and unhealthy4 ,it 
may be so4 ,it may be that ,i wrote  the
 story badly4 ,i can only repeat that   
old public school boys liked it4  ,and  
indeed it is a difficult thing to       
explain4 ,for what is a romantic        
friendship but the falling in love of   
one boy with another4 ,such a           
relationship seems preposterous4 ,i can 
only repeat that the public  school     
system is unnatural1 and that one must  
expect unnatural results  from it4      
,what1 after all1 is to be expected8    
,a boy of seventeen is passing through a
 highly romantic period4 ,his  emotions 
are searching for a focus4 ,he is filled
 with wild1 impossible  loyalties4 ,he  
longs to surrender himself to some lost 
cause4 ,he hungers  for adventures4 ,on 
occasions he even goes so far as to     

express himself  in verse1 an           
indiscretion that he will never         
subsequently commit4 ,and  what focus   
does a ,public ,school provide for this 
eager emotionalism8  ,there are the     
fierce contests of the football field1  
but they are1 when  all is said and     
done1 the business of life1 the cause   
for his existence4  ,they are an        
enthusiasm he shares with three hundred 
others4 ,he longs for  something more   
intimate1 more personal2 he is1 in fact1
 in love with  love2 he does not see a  
girl of his own age1 of his own class1  
from one  end of the term to the other2 
it is in human nature to accept the     
second  best4    ,in this environment   
there is nothing unnatural about the    
attraction  exercised by a small boy    
over an elder one4 ,a small boy is the  
nearest  approach possible to the       
feminine ideal4 ,indeed a small boy at a
 ,public  ,school has many of the       
characteristics that a man would hope   
and expect  to find in a woman4 ,he is  

small1 weak1 and stands in need of      
protection4  ,he is remote as a woman   
is1 in that he moves in a different     
circle of  school life1 with different  
friends1 different troubles1 different  
ambitions4 ,he is an undiscovered       
country4 ,the emotion experienced is    
genuine1 and usually takes the elder boy
 by surprise4 ,in a man's love  for a   
woman there is often a degree of        
premeditation4 ,a man looks at a  woman 
and wonders if he could ever come to    
fall in love with her4 ,as he  walks    
homewards from her drawing-room he asks 
himself whether or not he  is in love   
with her4 ,he analyses his emotions2    
very often he persuades  himself he is  
in love with her when in reality he is  
not4 ,either way he  is prepared4       
,but the schoolboy is taken off his     
guard4 ,he has not realised it is       
possible that he should fall in love    
with another boy4 ,he has no  previous  
experience which will enable him to     
recognise the symptoms4 ,he  has heard  

older boys spoken of as being 'keen' on 
some one or other1 but  he has          
associated such an assertion with the   
references in sermons to  the corruption
 of a young mind4 ,he does not1         
therefore1 know what is  happening when 
he finds himself becoming increasingly  
interested in some  quite small boy4 ,he
 has noticed him playing a plucky game  
on the ,lower  and has congratulated    
him4 ,they have happened to meet on the 
way up from  hall and have walked across
 together to the studies4 ,they have    
smiled  when they passed each other as  
they changed from one class-room to     
another in break4 ,the elder boy is     
surprised3 he is still more surprised   
when he finds himself frequently walking
 into the smaller boy's study on  no    
very necessary errand1 to borrow a book 
he does not want or to return  a book he
 has not borrowed2 and that he should   
stop there to talk for an  indefinite   
period4 ,the day on which he has not    
seen or spoken to his  small friend is  

empty for him4 ,he does not understand  
his increasing  wish for the company of 
an admittedly inferior person4 ,but it  
is all  very delightful4 ,he is         
desperately anxious to appear in his    
best light4  ,he makes strenuous1 and   
often successful1 efforts to abandon    
certain  habits he had contracted4 ,he  
may even work harder in form1 and       
certainly  he will make superhuman      
efforts on the football field1 feeling  
that  success will render him more      
attractive4 ,he wonders what the small  
boy  thinks of him1 and persuades one   
whose social position lies midway       
between the two of them to make         
inquiries4 ,the growing intimacy is a   
rich enchantment4 ,he becomes curious1  
and1 in a way1 jealous of the life  that
 his friend is leading2 their standards1
 their environment1 their  friends are  
so different4 ,he knows instinctively   
that one has more in  common with one's 
contemporaries than with those who lie  
outside the  circle of one's immediate  

interests1 and this knowledge distresses
 him4  ,there are times when he feels   
intensely miserable1 others when he     
feels  radiantly happy4 ,at any rate he 
is living more intensely and less       
selfishly than he did before4 ,he is on 
a distinctly higher plane of  emotional 
tension4    ,indeed in its beginnings   
such a friendship is certainly good for 
the  elder boy and probably for the     
younger one2 at any rate there is the   
comfortable knowledge that he has an    
elder friend to whom he can turn  for   
sympathy and advice2 and he is protected
 thus from many of the  dangers to which
 his good looks might otherwise expose  
him4 ,the  environment of school life   
does not allow1 however1 the friendship 
to  retain its first freshness4 ,it     
becomes conscious of itself4 ,it is     
noticed by other members of the house3  
',hallo1 ,jones1' they say1 'seen       
anything of ,morrison this morning8'    
,jones1 being the elder1 is  embarrassed
 by what seems to him an accusation of  

weakness4 ,morrison is  flattered to    
think that others have recognised and   
perhaps envied the  patronage4 ,jones   
begins to make inquiries of his friends1
 and a series  of confidences convinces 
him that he has reached the condition of
 being  'keen' on ,morrison4 ,this      
conviction places his friendship on an  
entirely  different and1 to a certain   
extent1 official basis4 ,if he had been 
left  alone it is not improbable that he
 would have made no such discovery4 ,as 
,morrison would never have more than    
liked him1 his feeling for the  smaller 
boy would not have become defined4      
,their friendship would have  remained  
in the strictest sense of the word1     
platonic4 ,but so frail a  flower could 
not hope to flourish for long in the    
rigid atmosphere of a  ,public ,school4 
,everything in a ,public ,school has to 
conform to type2  there are rules for   
the proper ordering of every situation4 
,friendship1  like personality1 has to  
pass through the mint4    ,in order to  

follow the technique of such            
relationships1 the official  point of   
view towards them has to be understood4 
,the house master on  this point finds  
himself in extreme difficulty4 ,and1    
indeed1 there is no  point on which     
schoolmasters as a whole waver quite so 
much4 ,they  realise1 for the most part1
 that it is natural1 if unfortunate1 for
 boys  to feel like this4 ,at the same  
time they have to discountenance such   
friendships4 ,where actual misconduct is
 concerned1 they think themselves  to be
 on safe ground4 ,and1 as they believe  
that immorality in schools  consists in 
the main of the corruption of small boys
 by big boys1 they  are able to speak   
with unrestrained violence against the  
majority of  such friendships4 ,they    
adjure their prefects to suppress at    
once the  least sign of intimacy between
 a small and a big boy4 ,they1          
themselves1  watch carefully to see     
whether any of their seniors are        
evincing an  interest in members of the 

day room4 ,every one in a school knows  
that a  friendship between two boys of  
different positions will be viewed      
seriously by authority4 ,a boy is given 
to understand that the romantic  emotion
 he feels for a smaller boy is an       
emotion that is unworthy of him  and of 
its object1 and should consequently be  
suppressed4 ,such teaching  is          
absolutely wrong4 ,the emotions that a  
boy has for a smaller boy are  as       
natural as those that he would feel for 
a girl were he not restrained  by an    
unnatural system4 ,it is wrong to make a
 boy say to himself3 ',i  ought not to  
feel like this4' ,such teaching is      
responsible for many of  the mistakes   
that a boy will make when he becomes a  
man2 it arbitrarily  defines the form   
which the romantic friendship takes4    
,a boy is surprised by a new1           
delightful1 interesting emotion4 ,he    
feels  strangely happy4 ,under its      
inspiration he works better and plays   
his  games harder4 ,he is told it is    

wrong to feel as he is feeling4 ,but    
that  he cannot believe4 ,the emotions  
that are condemned in the pulpit and in 
confirmation addresses must in their    
essentials be different from those  that
 he is feeling4 ,that must be lust1 the 
mere desire for sensation4  ,this1 on   
the other hand1 is love4 ,and so the    
public school boy of  sixteen makes the 
discovery that love is in its highest   
form unphysical4  ,the truth of this    
intuition is established for him by     
public opinion and  by the course of his
 own experience4    ,the slightest      
suggestion of indecent conduct between  
the big and the  small boy is regarded  
by boys as well as masters as the       
unforgivable  offence4    ,it is hard to
 know exactly how important a part these
 friendships play  in the life of a boy4
 ,it has often been said that the       
novelist falsifies  life by writing too 
much about love1 that except at certain 
periods of a  man's life love occupies  
only a small part of his attention2 he  

is  caught up by other interests4 ,this 
argument1 however1 is no sounder than   
the objection raised by an old lady     
against the number of nudes  displayed  
at the ,paris ,salon4 ',it's so absurd1'
 she said1 'one-half of  these portraits
 are nudes1 and think how small a part  
of our life we  spend without any       
clothes on4' ,a beautiful woman is most 
beautiful when  she is naked1 and a     
man's life is most interesting when he  
is in love4  ,the condensation and      
indeed the actual elimination of whole  
periods must  in a novel always falsify 
life for those who demand a direct      
transcription of it4 ,if you were to    
record one average day of a man's  life 
on gramophone and cinema and exhibit the
 result at the ,alhambra you  would     
empty the theatre in an hour4 ,a        
story-teller recounts only what is  of  
interest4 ,he is a good or a bad        
story-teller according to the degree  of
 his ability to discern what is1 and    
what is not1 of interest4 ,he  merely   

indicates the passage of the            
unimportant4    ,the man1 therefore1 who
 draws direct conclusions from a school 
story1  would imagine that a schoolboy  
spends his entire time in form ragging  
masters1 and1 when not ragging1 in      
cribbing1 and that the rest of his  time
 is divided between the fierce rivalries
 of the football field and  the         
intrigues of romantic friendships4      
,such1 it is needless to say1 is  not   
the case4 ,the story-teller has only    
written of what seemed to him to  be of 
interest4 ,he has omitted1 and he has   
expected his reader to  realise out of  
his own experience that he has omitted1 
the long1  tedious hours of good        
behaviour1 the ordered harmony of       
routine4    ,the romantic friendship has
 a modest place in the schoolboy's scale
 of  values1 but its nature is curious  
enough4 ,it has the great charm of the  
forbidden4 ,it is mixed with fear4 ,even
 after the first interest has  waned1   
its setting makes it a delightful toy   

that no one would willingly  throw away4
 ,it is the flavouring to the routine4  
,there is usually a 'go  between' who   
carries messages from one to the other4 
,and the glance  across a table stating 
that the intermediary has something of  
interest  to disclose is one of the     
exciting moments of the day1 as exciting
 as  the post is to a recluse or the    
arrival of rations to a soldier4 ,there 
are jealousies and intrigues4 ,there is 
the interchange of notes--the joy  of a 
secret4 ,there are carefully arranged   
appointments4 ,on ,sundays there  will  
be meetings in some prearranged point   
outside the town1 at which  each will   
arrive by a different route1 and they   
will sit in a wood and  talk till the   
afternoon has waned and the chiming of  
the abbey clock  warns them that        
roll-call is imminent4 ,it is not       
surprising that such an  adventure      
should appeal irresistibly to a         
schoolboy4 ,when such a  friendship is  
ended either by the appearance of a     

rival1 or more  frequently through the  
inclination of the smaller boy1 who has 
risen in  the school and feels that such
 a position is beneath his dignity1 the 
elder boy feels an immense gap in his   
life4 ,the immediate sense of           
anticipation has gone4 ,there is nothing
 particular to which he may look        
forward4 ,he is bored4 ,often he drifts 
into such another friendship out  of    
loneliness4    ,authority adopts towards
 these friendships a wavering attitude4 
,it  realises that such a friendship    
does not necessarily imply the least    
indecency1 that it often1 on the other  
hand1 has a very salubrious  effect on  
the elder boy1 but it still is vividly  
aware of the danger4  ,suppose something
 went wrong2 suppose there was a grave  
scandal1 on  whose shoulders would the  
responsibility rest4 ,we can well       
imagine a  resentful father asking a    
head master why1 if he was aware of the 
existence of such a friendship1 he did  
not take immediate steps to stop  it4   

',you knew about this1' he would say1   
'while my son was still  innocent3 why  
did you not protect him8 ,why should you
 knowingly subject  him to such a risk8'
 ,the head master has always to be      
thinking of what a  boy's parents will  
say4    ,it is difficult for him to work
 on the plan of 'circumstances alter    
cases4' ,he would thus lay himself open 
to the accusation of favouritism4  ',you
 didn't stop ,cartright and ,evans1     
sir1' is a weapon for which a  master   
has no shield4 ,there is usually a      
compromise4#e    ,the attitude of       
authority is one of nervous hesitance4  
,the schoolboy1  as in all other cases1 
evolves his own standards from his own  
life4 ,it  remains to be seen what are  
the actual effects on the partners in a 
relationship that must have a large     
influence on their subsequent           
development4    ,the first objection    
raised by authority is that it is very  
bad for a  small boy to be petted and   
treated like a girl4 ,and such is an    

undoubted  fact4 ,the small boy who is  
taken up by a 'blood' makes a very good 
thing  out of it4 ,he gets first-hand   
information on a number of disputed     
points4 ,he knows two or three hours    
before any one else in the day room  who
 is going to be given his house cap and 
who his seconds4 ,he has a  position    
among his contemporaries4 ,favours are  
sought through him4 ,his  friends get   
leave off house runs and are allowed to 
watch ,first ,eleven  matches when      
others have to attend pick ups4 ,he is  
immune from the  assaults of the        
swash-bucklers1 for no one would        
willingly run the risk  of making       
himself unpopular with the bloods4 ,he  
gets his 'con' done for  him1 and1 after
 football1 he will sit in front of a    
warm study fire4 ,he  has many          
privileges1 and1 of course1 it is very  
bad for him4    ,how far the effects    
last into manhood ,i cannot say with any
 degree of  certainty4 ,i am inclined to
 think that they pass more quickly than 

is  popularly imagined4 ,but the small  
boy who is taken up by his seniors  gets
 very little out of his schooldays4 ,if 
he gets taken up by a 'blood'  he has a 
fairly good time while that blood is    
still at school4 ,but it is  by no means
 certain that he will be taken up by a  
blood1 and he may very  likely find     
himself an object of fierce jealousy    
between two fellows in  the ,middle     
,school1 both of whom he likes1 but for 
neither of whom he  feels any strong    
attachment4 ,neither of them is         
sufficiently important  to claim a      
monopoly4 ,between them they contrive to
 make his life  wretched for him4 ,they 
worry him with notes and with pleas for 
an  appointment4 ,each tries to persuade
 him to have nothing to do with the     
other4 ,the whole of his spare time is  
divided between them4 ,and the  small   
boy who is unable to see why he should  
not choose what friends he  likes1 grows
 more and more impatient4 ,at the end of
 a term's wrangling  he decides to speak

 to neither of them again4    ,but the  
life even of the favoured-of-the-mighty 
has its disadvantages4  ,the hours that 
he spends in the day room are numbered1 
so that he makes  few friends among his 
contemporaries4 ,the majority of them   
dislike him2  nearly all of them are    
jealous and distrust him4 ,they are     
afraid to say  things in his presence   
for fear that they will be repeated4    
,his only  friends are those who hope to
 be able to gain some advantages from   
him4  ,his life is made none too        
comfortable in the dormitory4 ,he is    
accepted  as being in a higher social   
position than the rest of the room1     
which  is1 of course1 flattering to his 
pride2 but it is not nice when every    
occupant of the room only speaks when he
 is spoken to4 ,he feels himself  apart4
 ,the evenings in the dormitory which1  
with their sing-songs1 their  football  
matches1 and long talks1 provide such   
delightful material for  reminiscence1  
are for him cheerless4 ,it cannot be too

 often repeated  that the biggest       
mistake a boy can make at a ,public     
,school is to form  friendships outside 
the circle of his contemporaries4       
,the good-looking boy makes friends so  
easily among his seniors1 and the       
successful athlete can1 if he wants1    
after a year or two choose his  friends 
among boys who have been at school a    
couple of years longer than  he has4 ,it
 is very exciting for a boy to feel that
 he is outstripping  his contemporaries1
 to be able to nod to fellows in the    
,fifteen and  ,eleven1 but1 in the long 
run1 it does not pay4 ,the big man      
leaves1 and  the social aspirant is left
 stranded4 ,i have seen it happen so    
many  times4 ,one term a boy seems to be
 surrounded with friends4 ,his life is a
  continual course of tea parties and   
suppers4 ,an arm always lies through    
his as he walks down to the field1 or to
 the tuck shop4 ,and then1  suddenly1 a 
generation passes2 he is left an        
anachronism without his  friends4 ,his  

contemporaries do not welcome him4 ,they
 have made their own  friends4 ,if he   
has reached his prominence as an athlete
 he will be able  to make friends in    
other houses1 and1 before long1 in his  
own house4 ,to  the athlete everything  
is forgiven4 ,but the boy who has become
 the  associate of bloods not through   
any quality of his own1 but merely      
because he is good-looking1 never makes 
friends with his contemporaries4  ,they 
have been jealous of him and have       
distrusted him a long time4 ,there  was 
a time when they longed for the big boy 
to go1 so that they could  'jolly well  
boot the little swine4' ,but members of 
the ,sixth ,form table  consider it     
beneath their dignity to indulge        
emotions that are the  exclusive        
property of fags4 ,they remain coldly   
distant4 ,it may be that  for the       
favoured small boy these years of       
loneliness adjust the balance  and teach
 him those lessons of fortitude and     
independence that he should  have learnt

 in the day room4 ,but it is an unhappy 
time4 ,he can hardly  look back on his  
schooldays without regret4 ,he would    
wish things had  turned out otherwise4  
,and it is not thus that we should look 
back on our  schooldays4 ,certainly ,i  
could wish nothing worse for any friend 
of mine  than to be taken up as a small 
boy4    ,there remains to be considered 
the effect that such friendships have on
  the elder boy4 ,and it is generally   
conceded that though they may on        
occasions do harm to the smaller boy1   
they usually prove of benefit to  the   
elder boy4 ,authority confines its      
objection to the secrecy that is        
involved4 ,an eyebrow is raised at the  
interchange of notes and the  carefully 
arranged ,sunday afternoon walks4 ',this
 is bad1 this is bad1'  says ,authority4
 ',there would be no need for all this  
secrecy if the  thing were honest and   
straightforward4 ,they are both ashamed 
of  themselves really4 ,they wish to    
hide the thing away from their masters  

and their comrades4 ,it is a bad thing  
for a boy1 the harbouring of a  secret4 
,it will prey upon his mind4 ,he will be
 forced to lie within  himself4 ,he will
 be unable to look us squarely in the   
face4 ,he will  never be free from      
worry4' ,now all this about the subtle  
poison of a  secret life is very true   
7though it is a fact seldom taken into  
account  in the question of self abuse71
 but it is not at all applicable to the 
romantic friendship4 ,the secret is an  
open secret4 ,neither party is  ashamed 
of it4 ,and the pretence of a secret is 
little more than part of  a delightful  
game4 ,a child in a nursery lays a deck 
chair on the blue  carpet and imagines  
he is sailing the high seas in a        
schooner1 while  with a poker to his    
shoulder he shoots an albatross for     
breakfast4  ,twelve years later he signs
 notes with a false name1 rolls them    
into a  pellet1 conveys them to a       
messenger and imagines he is a diplomat4
 ,the  sending of notes is nothing but a

 game4 ,otherwise no one would write    
them1 carry them1 nor read them3 for    
they are most unnecessary1 and most     
dangerous4 ,people will drop them in the
 cloisters1 or put them in their        
waistcoat pockets and then leave their  
waistcoats in the matron's room  to have
 a button sewn on them4 ,the writing of 
notes has upset more  careers than the  
rustling of silk or the creaking of     
shoes4 ,and yet  they will always be    
written1 for they are a prelude to      
adventure4    ,moreover1 a certain      
measure of secrecy is prudent4 ,if you  
have stolen a  man's greatcoat you do   
not call at his house next day wearing  
it2 and  the schoolboy sees no reason   
why he should parade his affection      
before  his head master's study window4 
,only the ass courts trouble4 ,prefects 
who are well aware of the existence of  
such a friendship do not wish to  have  
their attention called to it officially4
 ,there are things they  prefer not to  
notice4 ,if a member of the ,eleven and 

a new boy started  out together for a   
walk under the shade of the school      
buildings the  heads of their houses    
would reluctantly feel themselves forced
 to take  some sort of action4 ,they    
would be extremely annoyed with the     
school  slow bowler for his lack of     
tact4 ,a prefect is usually on the side 
of  the house4    ,masters1 however1 are
 pleased to imagine that a pact has been
 signed  between the schoolboy and      
themselves which binds the schoolboy to 
confess to any fault he may have        
committed1 and to answer any leading    
questions that may be put to him4 ,the  
schoolboy does not look on things  in   
this light4 ,he knows that there is no  
such agreement4 ,there are  certain     
things he wants to do1 the doing of     
which1 if known1 will render  him liable
 to punishment4 ,when the wish to do    
these overrides the fear  of punishment 
he takes all reasonable precautions to  
avoid detection1  and proceeds to break 
the inconvenient rule4 ,it is up to the 

master to  find him out4 ,if the master 
came down to the dining-hall one evening
  and said3 ',now1 look here1 there have
 been complaints that some fellows1  ,i 
don't say you1 but fellows in the       
school1 have been getting out at  night 
and going down to the ,eversham ,arms4  
,if any one of you here has  been       
getting out at night1 ,i want him to    
come to my study afterwards and  tell   
me4' ,if a house master were to do that1
 the guilty one would not  feel himself 
under the least compunction to own up4  
,he has run a big  risk in getting out  
of the boothole window at half-past     
eleven4 ,it was  up to the master to    
catch him then4    ,if a form master    
were to call a member of his form aside 
and say to him3  ',jones1 last term you 
were bottom of the form2 this term you  
have  reached single figures4 ,last term
 you had to write me a hundred lines    
nearly every time ,i put you on to      
construe2 this term you have not  failed
 once4 ,i cannot understand it4 ,are you

 working honestly8' ,jones  would reply3
 ',yes1 sir4' ,he would not feel that he
 was telling a lie4 ,he  would feel1 on 
the other hand1 that his form master had
 taken an unfair  advantage of him in   
putting him a leading question4 ,no one 
thinks a  murderer lies because he says1
 ',not guilty1 my lord4' ,it is the law 
of  ,england that the ,crown has to     
prove the defendant guilty4 ,a schoolboy
  considers himself entitled to the same
 rights as the murderer and the  thief4 
,a master has to find him out4 ,and it  
is quite absurd to say that  a boy's    
soul is going to suffer because of the  
secrecy he imposes on  himself in the   
course of a romantic friendship4 ,there 
are a lot of  things that a boy is not  
anxious that his house master should    
know1 and  of which no one could expect 
him to be ashamed4 ,to smuggle into the 
dormitory a chicken1 a loaf of bread1   
and a pound of cheese in  preparation   
for a midnight feast is a natural and1  
according to one's  point of view1 a    

worthy act2 but it is not a performance 
the success of  which one would be in a 
hurry to confide in one's house master4 
,when a  schoolboy deceives a master he 
does not feel he is deceiving an        
individual1 but an impersonal body4 ,in 
the same way do we call the  grocer's   
attention to the omission of a pound of 
butter on our weekly  books1 but        
skilfully conceal from the income-tax   
assessor a number of  interesting facts4
 ,a lie is hardly a lie if the person   
telling it does  not consider it so4 ,we
 may dismiss altogether the assertion   
that  romantic friendships are bad      
because they entail secrecy4    ,if1    
then1 the objection of secrecy is to be 
discounted1 it would at  first sight    
appear that for the elder boy these     
friendships are1 on the  whole1 good    
things4 ,the emotion experienced is a   
noble one2 it is  unselfish1 it makes   
considerable demands on the patience and
  self-control of the subject2 it       
encourages the bigger boy to work hard  

and play his games harder2 it protects  
him from many of the dangers of  school 
life1 and yet ,i believe that its       
results are1 in the long run1  more     
serious for the elder than for the      
younger boy4    ,it is the worst        
possible prelude to the sexual life of a
 man4 ,it sends  a boy into the world   
with an entirely false view of the      
normal sexual  relations of men and     
women2 it is a hindrance to him in      
marriage4 ,a boy  of sixteen experiences
 for a younger boy the emotion that he  
would  naturally at such a period feel  
for a girl of his own age4 ,he is       
surprised into a new relationship1 and  
he is told that the relationship  can   
only remain worthy of him as long as it 
remains platonic4 ,sexual  emotion is1  
he is given to understand1 unclean4     
,during adolescence he  will be         
subjected to a force that he must1 at   
all costs1 resist4 ,that is  the        
official attitude1 and it is the        
attitude of nearly every  unscientific  

writer on the subject4 ,a schoolmaster  
considers the moral  question from the  
point of view of the policeman4 ',here1'
 he says1 'is  something that must be   
suppressed4' ,various writers suggest   
various  remedies4 ,the popular idea is 
to sublimate the passions1 to provide   
another focus4 ,schoolmasters usually   
select the focus that is most near  to  
the boy's interests3 namely1 athletics4 
,they encourage the athletic  worship1  
because a boy who really wishes to excel
 in this will not run  the risk of      
losing his proficiency by weakening     
practices4 ,this panacea  has not worked
 too well1 and the band of earnest      
idealists has begun to  clamour for a   
more spiritual focus3 poetry1 art1      
religion4 ,which is all  very jolly1 but
 gets us no nearer to solving the main  
problem of how a  natural force is to be
 directed through an unnatural channel  
into a  natural one4 ,it is no sort of  
use to place a lump of granite in front 
of the unnatural channel and say3 ',this

 is forbidden4' ,the stream will  only  
select another course1 and very likely  
one that will not lead it to  the       
natural waters4    ,it is1 ,i admit1 an 
extremely difficult question1 but that  
does not alter  the fact that it is     
being treated in an entirely wrong      
manner4 ,the boy  is told that sexual   
emotion is wrong2 he assumes1 therefore1
 that love  to be truly love must be    
sexless4 ,he draws fine distinctions    
between  love and lust4 ,a decent       
fellow1 he says1 would never want to do 
anything  like that with some one for   
whom he really cared4 ,and nothing      
happens in  the course of his romantic  
friendship to make him reconsider this  
opinion4 ,it is probable that his       
affection will not be returned2 and1    
indeed1 why should it be8 ,under such   
circumstances it is natural that a  big 
boy should be attracted by a smaller boy
 because the smaller boy is  the nearest
 approach to the feminine ideal4 ,it    
would be quite unnatural  for a small   

boy to be attracted by a bigger boy who 
would be to him as  far as possible     
removed from femininity4 ,the small boy 
likes the elder  boy1 is grateful for   
his kindness to him1 is perhaps even    
mildly fond of  him2 nothing more4 ,as1 
therefore1 there is no response to the  
elder boy1  it is impossible for the    
natural rhythm of mutually felt emotion 
to  carry them out of the reach of      
conventional standards1 and the         
friendship is too sacred to the elder   
boy to allow passage to the itch  of    
sensation2 while the small boy1 even if 
he happened to be casual  among his     
contemporaries on such matters1 would be
 restrained by the  shyness that he must
 always feel in the presence of a senior
 boy and by  the inevitable             
embarrassment at finding himself the    
object of an emotion  he does not       
understand4    ,nothing happens1        
therefore1 to disabuse the conviction   
that love in its  purest form is        
sexless4 ,as a boy is1 however1 on the  

whole an amoral  creature1 he sees no   
reason why he should not misconduct     
himself with a  person for whom he has  
no respect4 ,he is not sullying a fine  
romance4 ,it  is a different thing      
altogether2 this is a thing of          
sensation4 ,a  bachelor refrains from   
prostitutes more often through fear of  
illness  than through reverence for a   
moral code4 ,there is at school a type  
that  corresponds to the prostitute from
 whom boys refrain1 when they do        
refrain1 for many mixed reasons1 of     
which fear of expulsion is generally    
not one4 ,boys are not afraid of        
punishments1 nor do they think that a   
punishable offence is necessarily a     
moral offence4 ,that point must  always 
be kept in mind4 ,punishments to a boy's
 mind are part of the game  that is     
played between him and authority4 ,the  
boy has his own scale of  values4 ,he   
would think an immoral act highly       
reprehensible if he were at  the time   
engaged in a romantic friendship1 but he

 could square his  conscience to it if  
he happened to be emotionally free4     
,the reasons why a boy commits an       
immoral act are so many and so complex  
that inquiry into them for the purpose  
of a generalisation is  unprofitable4   
,it may be that he has had a quarrel    
with his small friend1  it may be that  
he is bored1 or that he is curious2 he  
may think it the  'blood' thing to do4  
,if he is literary he may be in search  
of some  equivalent for the emotional   
reactions of decadent poetry4 ,the      
confessions that a boy makes himself    
must always be accepted with  reserve4  
,the confessional is a subtle form of   
flattery4 ,it titillates  the egotism2  
it is a self-indulgence4 ,madame ,bovary
 used to invent small  crimes because   
she enjoyed the romantic atmosphere of  
the confessional1  and though most      
schoolboys would stand in no need of    
such invention1  they create the most   
ingenious setting for their offences4   
,they feel  what they want to feel4     

,they have derived emotion at second    
hand from  some book1 or the confidence 
of an elder brother2 they want to make  
themselves believe that they are        
interesting4 ,the most trivial affair is
  embellished with a wealth of motive   
that would have delighted ,henry        
,james4 ,sometimes they lie quite       
conscientiously4    ,a boy was once     
asked by his house master whether he    
felt that  confirmation had been of any 
assistance to him4 ,it had not1 but the 
boy  felt that it was up to him to      
pretend that it had4 ,the house master  
obviously expected it2 it was a social  
decency1 on a par with the  assurance to
 a hostess that one had spent a most    
delightful evening4 ,the  boy was       
inclined to think that he swore less    
than he had done4 ,the  master's        
interest was aroused4 ,where had he     
learnt to swear8 ,the boy  had1 of      
course1 acquired this knowledge in the  
day room4 ,he realised1  however1 that  
this was one of the things that one did 

not confess4 ,he  said he had learnt it 
from some navvies in the holidays4 ,more
 questions  were asked4 ',oh1 yes1' the 
boy said1 ',my people allow me to do    
more or  less what ,i like4 ,i wander   
all over the place4' ,it was quite      
untrue1 but  it confirmed the house     
master in his belief that all the faults
 of a  ,public ,school could be         
attributed to the ignorance and         
foolishness of  parents4 ,he developed  
the idea in a letter which he           
contributed to a  well-known weekly4    
,it is never safe to generalise from a  
boy's confession1 and house  masters    
would do well in such cases to base     
their conclusions on their  own         
experience and on their previous        
knowledge of the boy's character4  ,in  
their investigations1 however1 of the   
moral question1 there is one  motive    
that they can almost certainly rule out3
 the motive of strong  personal         
attraction4 ,such an act would be       
opposed to the ethics of  school        

society1 and a boy only rarely does what
 he1 himself1 feels to be  wrong4    ,he
 is inclined to enter a world of women  
with the idea that the sexual  impulse  
can only be gratified with a woman he   
does not love4 ,he realises  that in    
marriage it is necessary for the        
procreation of children4 ,but he        
regards it chiefly from his point of    
view as a 'remedy against sin1' and  on 
the woman's part an act of gracious     
compliance4 ,it is thus that a man      
comes to divide women into classes3     
one's sisters' friends1 and the  rest4  
,there is little need to elaborate the  
results of such an  attitude4 ,the      
subject has been discussed exhaustively4
 ,on this rock many  marriages have been
 shipwrecked4 ,it can do little in cases
 of strong  mutual feeling4 ,passion    
harmonises all things2 the rhythm of    
love takes  its own course4 ,but where  
the woman has not been deeply moved     
before  marriage1 where she knows her   
future husband only slightly1 and is    

timid  in his presence1 then the        
preconceived formula of the 'pure girl' 
will  achieve havoc4 ,the woman will    
sink herself in motherhood1 and the man 
will seek elsewhere diversion4 ,a cynic 
has remarked that the man who  marries a
 girl because she appeals to his higher 
nature will spend the  rest of his life 
among those who appeal to his lower     
nature4 ,and1 like  all epigrams1 that  
remark presents a facet of the truth4   
,it is now  generally accepted that     
there is no more dangerous heresy than  
the idea  that one does not 'feel like  
that about a decent girl4' ,much has    
been  written on the subject4 ,but the  
causes of the heresy have not been      
sufficiently investigated4 ,it is said1 
',boys are badly brought up4'           
,children1 we are told1 should be       
brought to regard their bodies as       
temples1 and there the matter is left4  
,but this heresy is1 ,i am certain1 very
 largely the natural result of the      
public school system4 ,it is confined to

 the upper and upper-middle  classes1 to
 those1 that is1 who have been to       
,public ,schools4 ,the collier  and the 
peasant have no such fanciful illusions4
 ,divorce must naturally  be more common
 in circles where men and women have    
leisure to indulge  their emotions1     
where temptations are frequent1 where   
the imagination is  most vivid1 the     
longing for the unattainable most acute4
 ,but1 even so1  any student of         
character cannot but feel that the      
married lives of  public school men are 
less happy than those of the lower      
classes4    ,all through the discussion 
of this delicate subject ,i have used   
marriage  as the norm4 ,it includes all 
other considerations4 ,there are those  
who  are shocked to learn of the        
existence of immorality in ,public      
,schools1  and the socialist press is   
only too ready for an opportunity of    
slinging  mud at the object of its envy4
 ,but1 however a boy is brought up1 it  
is  unlikely that he would pass         

unscathed through adolescence4          
,curiosity is  as irresistible as fear4 
,it is the power of the unknown4 ,the   
moral  offences of a public school boy  
are disgusting enough1 but because they 
are so entirely physical they have      
little lasting effect on him4 ,they     
play indeed a very casual part in his   
life4 ,nothing is at stake4 ,the        
romantic friendship1 on the other hand1 
is the dawn of love2 it is a  delicate  
and deep emotion2 it is the most        
exciting thing that up to then  has     
happened to a boy2 it touches his senses
 and his soul4 ,and1 because  he        
experiences this emotion for the first  
time in an unnatural  environment1 his  
natural reaction is misdirected and     
misinformed4 ,it is  important that we  
should find some remedy4    ,,footnote3 
#e ,it may here be mentioned that in    
girls' schools such friendships  would  
seem to be common1 and no great         
objection taken to them4 ,unnatural     
vice between women is not1 of course1 a 

criminal offence4 ,its existence  is not
 widely recognised4 ,and it has never   
been treated very seriously  by men4    
,but it was surprising to read a few    
months ago in a leading  ,london        
newspaper an article on 'schoolgirls1'  
which accepted such  friendships among  
girls as an amusing topic for popular   
journalism4 ,the  editor would probably 
have had a fit if a similar article on  
romantic  friendships in ,public        
,schools had been submitted to him4 ,the
 attitude of  the man who has not been  
to a ,public ,school to this side of    
school life  is a mixture of ignorance  
and astonished horror4                  
,,chapter ,,viii    ,,the ,,middle      
,,years      ,desmond ,coke has         
described in ,the ,bending of a ,twig1  
the middle years  of a public school    
career as being slow to pass1 but swift 
in  retrospect4 ,he devoted two chapters
 to them--',see-saw down' and ',see-saw 
up4' ,and those chapter headings convey 
more clearly than a long analysis  the  

nature of that period4 ,to begin with it
 is ',see-saw down4' ,the boy  is       
confused with his new-found liberty2 the
 future stretches endlessly  before him4
 ,there is plenty of time4 ,there is no 
need for hurry4 ,and so  he rags and    
wastes his time and makes1 on the whole1
 a pretty general  nuisance of himself4 
,his house reports are worse at the end 
of every  term4 ,his parents grow       
worried2 they remember the bright       
promise of that  first term3 the prize1 
the promotion1 the glowing panegyric4   
,the arrival  of the blue envelope      
during the second week of the holidays  
is the  occasion of considerable        
domestic stress4 ,on such a morning one 
remembers that one has promised to spend
 the day with a friend at  ,richmond4   
,and then suddenly1 when the revel is at
 its height1 some chance incident  or   
conversation forces a boy to realise    
that he has not so much time as  he had 
thought1 that the weeks are passing1    
that1 already1 the end has  drawn close 

to him4 ,clifford ,bax1 in one of his   
many beautiful poems1  has described a  
man's first appreciation of the approach
 of age4           ',there is a certain 
mid-way hour in life       ,which       
startles every man1 when the tide turns 
,and1 wave on wave1 we hear death coming
 on4'      ,in the same way the boy     
discovers that the half of his          
schooldays are at  an end1 that he has  
put them to little use4 ,and1 as the    
temporal quality  of life drives the    
epicurean to gather with what eager     
haste he may1  flowers that for him will
 soon have blossomed1 the sense of      
passing days  defines and directs for   
the schoolboy the course of ambition4   
,it is  perhaps the first moment of     
conscious thought1 of objective         
reasoning4  ,the days of unreflecting   
action are at an end4 ,he is no longer a
 child  playing in a nursery4 ,he is a  
man1 subject to the laws of time and    
space1 a mortal man aware of his        
mortality4    ,now this sudden change1  

which partakes of the nature of a       
conversion1  owes its existence1 as     
often as not1 to some perfectly trivial 
occurrence4 ,the stage is not set       
appropriately4 ,there is no long heart  
to heart talk with a schoolmaster1 a    
parent1 or a friend at the end of  which
 the boy leaps to his feet1 claps his   
hand to his forehead1 and  exclaims3 ',i
 see the evil of my ways4' ,such        
dramatic moments1 ,i suppose1  take     
place occasionally1 but they are the    
exception4 ,the boy has  reached that   
stage of his development when the idea  
of time can become  an actuality to him1
 and some quite casual incident will    
bring this  actuality before him4    ,it
 is possible1 of course1 that this      
reformation may be effected by a        
conversation4 ,but it will be an        
unrehearsed effect4 ,one is walking down
  to hall1 and1 through the open door of
 the changing room overhears some       
uncomplimentary statement of one's      
worth4 ,the statement need not be made  

by a particular friend4 ,indeed1 it will
 probably be more effective if it  is   
not4 ,we accept with composure the      
criticisms of our friends1 our          
relatives1 our enemies4 ,wherever there 
is an intimate relationship there  is   
friction4 ,we know that1 at times1 we   
must be intensely annoying to  our      
friends1 because they are at times so   
intensely annoying to  ourselves4       
,little tricks1 traits of character1    
intonations of the voice  that we should
 hardly notice in those to whom we are  
indifferent1  exasperate us in those for
 whom we care4 ,we expect our friends at
 times  to say nasty things about us4   
,we are too conscious of our own        
delinquencies4 ,but impersonal criticism
 is unpleasant2 it is like an           
unfavourable review that is unsigned4   
,if we cannot reassure ourselves  with  
the knowledge that our assailant is     
either jealous of us or  dislikes us1 or
 thinks we pay too many attentions to   
his wife2 if1 that  is to say1 we can   

detect in this criticism no ulterior    
motive1 but  simply a dispassionate     
impersonal disapproval of ourselves and 
of our  work1 then we do indeed feel    
that the need for drastic self-criticism
  is immediate4    ,when1 therefore1    
,jones on his way down to hall overhears
 ,ferguson1 who  is in another form1 who
 has never been brought into contact    
with him1  who has no possible reason   
for feeling envious or jealous1 remark  
that  ,jones is the sort of fellow whom 
the house could get on very well        
without1 he goes quickly to his study   
and communes with himself4    ,at the   
beginning of my third year at school1   
when ,i was very happy1 very            
light-hearted1 very boisterous1 and1 ,i 
suppose1 rather obnoxious  generally1 ,i
 was standing at the counter of the tuck
 shop waiting to be  served with a      
poached egg and a sausage4 ,i           
experienced considerable  difficulty in 
catching the eye of the waitress1 and   
for the better  announcing of my        

presence ,i took a knife out of the     
basket and beat it  upon the zinc       
covering of the counter4 ,the waitress1 
who was harassed by  the number of      
orders1 turned round impatiently3 ',oh1 
do be quiet1 ,mr4  ,waugh1' she said1   
',i don't know what's come over you     
lately4 ,you used to  be such a nice    
quiet boy when you first came4' ,several
 people laughed1  but her remark was a  
shock to me4 ,i had not the slightest   
romantic  interest in her4 ,i did not   
care greatly what opinion she held of my
  moral worth1 but ,i had not before    
realised that it was possible for a     
change of which ,i was myself ignorant  
to take place within me1 that a  process
 of degeneration could take its slow    
effect1 altering me in the  eyes of     
others1 leaving me unaltered in my own1 
that1 like rust on  iron1 environment   
could corrode temperament4 ,that chance 
remark had a  most profound effect on   
me4 ,it gave me a sudden insight into   
the secret  forces that lie under the   

surface of life4 ,i do not know whether 
from  the outside ,i appeared afterwards
 a different person4 ,one cannot focus  
the impression one has of oneself and   
the impression one makes on  others4    
,but to myself ,i know that ,i was      
different4 ,and some such  revelation   
invariably comes to a boy during his    
period of school life4    ,in novels and
 stories we attribute it to some        
emotional crisis4 ,the  reason of the   
change is less important than that there
 should be change1  and that the reader 
should be able to realise that for such 
a change  there was a reason4 ,but1     
actually1 the reason is usually trivial 
enough4  ,it may be that a boy's pride  
has been rebuffed2 some one has got a   
house  cap before him4 ,he begins to    
reassure himself with the old dope3     
',there  is plenty of time4 ,it doesn't 
matter4 ,i'll catch him later on4' ,but 
for  once the old dope does not work4   
,he realises with a shock that there is 
less time than he had thought4 ,he has  

allowed his rival to get too far  ahead4
 ,a house cap is only two stages distant
 from a first4 ,he may not  have time to
 catch him up4 ,in the light of the     
discovery he revises his  whole career4 
,he asks himself whither he is drifting4
 ,he sees that he  has passed beyond the
 stage of a vague promise into one of   
definite  rivalry and achievement4      
,the prospects of the beginner are      
always golden4 ,his wares are not yet   
for sale in the open market4 ,he has not
 entered into competition with  his     
contemporaries4 ,a young professional   
makes a century during his  first month 
of first-class cricket and is           
immediately the object of  generous     
enthusiasm4 ,the reporter can write of  
him as ecstatically as he  will4 ,the   
professional has not yet reached        
representative cricket4 ,at  school a   
slow left-hand bowler takes eight       
wickets for twenty-seven in a  house    
match4 ,he is spoken of at once as the  
coming man4 ,for another  season he will

 continue to take wickets in house      
matches to the delight  of every one4   
,then he will enter the lists of        
representative cricket4 ,he  will play  
on uppers1 and it will have to be       
decided1 not whether he is a  good slow 
left-hand bowler1 but whether he is     
better than ,evans in  ,buller's1 and   
,morrison in ,wilkes's4 ,it is so easy  
to say of a boy of  fifteen3 ',some day 
he will be captain of the house4' ,we   
can all of us  exclaim at the beginning 
of a ,marathon3 ',what a beautiful      
runner that  fellow is4' ,it is after   
ten miles have been run and the runners 
have  sorted themselves out that the    
real race begins4 ,it is the            
appreciation  of this moment that ends  
the 'see-saw down' period and sees the  
start of  the 'see-saw up4'    ,it must 
not be imagined1 however1 that this     
process of see-saw up  involves a       
complete moral1 spiritual1 and          
intellectual reformation2 it  sometimes 
does2 more usually it means that the    

schoolboy looks at the  same life from a
 different angle4 ,his standards1 his   
scale of values  remain unaltered4 ,he  
feels that he has not adjusted himself  
properly to  their demands4 ,he has been
 making an ass of himself3 he has been  
ragging  about1 he has allowed          
opportunities to slip past him4 ',it    
won't do1' he  tells himself4 ',i must  
stop all this4 ,i must settle down4'    
,such a resolution involves1 to a       
certain extent1 an appreciation of      
imminent responsibilities2 a boy        
realises that a series of desperate     
escapades will prejudice his prospects  
of prefectship2 it often results  in the
 exchange of a positive for a negative  
manner of life4 ,the ,sixth  ,former1   
the potential scholar of ,balliol1 is   
spurred by such an  experience to really
 hard work4 ,for him a turning-point has
 been  reached4 ,it is different1       
however1 for the second eleven colour   
who has  reached the ,lower ,fifth after
 three years of spasmodic cribbing4 ,he 

has  been in the past a free-lance1 an  
irresponsible ragster4 ,he decides that 
the time has come for him to settle     
down4 ,if the ,lower ,fifth is1 as it   
often is1 a comfortable backwater1 he is
 content to rest there4 ,he sits  on a  
back bench1 and plays an occasional part
 in the life of the form4  ,while he was
 a ragster he had to work4 ,a           
well-prepared lesson was his  armour4   
,now that he no longer rags he need no  
longer work2 he is content  to be       
inoffensive1 agreeable1 somnolent4 ,he  
considers that between  himself and his 
form master there is an unwritten pact  
by which each  agrees to leave the other
 alone4 ,it is as though he said3 ',your
 time1  ,mr4 ,featherbrain1 is fully    
occupied between the ragsters and the   
industrious4 ,you have to keep a        
constant watch upon the ragster4 ,you   
have to teach the industrious4 ,that is 
a whole-time job4 ,why worry about  me8 
,you need not keep a watch upon me4 ,it 
is agreed that ,i shall do no  ragging4 

,and why try to teach me anything4 ,your
 energies are wasted upon  me4 ,i don't 
want to learn anything4 ,you may lead a 
horse to the water1  you know4 ,why     
worry yourself and me6 ,there are all   
those other fellows  who want to learn4'
 ,and the master1 usually1 signs the    
contract4 ,he is a  busy man4 ,the      
temptation is very great4 ,he excuses   
himself in the common  room by speaking 
of 'fellows like dear old ,thomas2      
good-natured chaps1  but with absolutely
 no brains4 ,latin and ,greek are flung 
away on them4  ,but they'll make fine   
empire builders4' ,and so the boy who   
has settled  down spends the greater    
part of his day wool-gathering in       
vacuous  laziness4 ,to nothing that     
happens between chapel and lunch can he 
bring  the least enthusiasm4 ,his       
thoughts are fixed on the more thrilling
  encounters of the football field4 ,his
 whole life1 indeed1 is centred on      
sport1 and on the most entertaining     
methods he can discover for the  better 

employing of his spare time4 ,all his   
energy1 all his enthusiasm1  is         
concentrated into one1 or perhaps two1  
focuses4 ,it is not surprising  that he 
should become tolerably proficient at   
games and a source of  moral anxiety to 
prefects and house masters4    ,is the  
pursuit of athletic success a           
sufficiently engrossing occupation  for 
such a boy8 ,that is the question that a
 house master unconsciously  puts to    
himself4 ,he must put it to himself1 but
 his attitude to this  particular type  
of boy is based on a non-committal      
answer to this  question3 the           
answer--',perhaps2 but it's up to you4' 
,the house master1  therefore1 does all 
in his power to persuade the boy that   
the acquiring  of a ,first ,fifteen cap 
is his immediate object in life4 ,he    
will not  state his case in words2 but  
he will omit the uncomfortable topic of 
form work in conversations1 and discuss 
at length the prospects of the  house in
 the senior matches4 ,if he does not    

succeed in directing the  entire energy 
of the boy on games1 the results of such
 a failure may be  disastrous4 ,a fellow
 of seventeen who has nothing particular
 to do is  bound to find himself in     
mischief4 ,this fact is realised by both
 parents  and house masters1 and those  
boys who are good neither at games nor  
work  usually leave at about this       
period4 ,it is the falling out of the   
unsuccessful runner in a long race4 ,it 
is no good going on4 ,the leaders  are  
too far ahead4 ,the gap between the     
senior and the junior is thus           
considerably increased4 ,the            
stepping-stones have been removed4 ,a   
boy of  eighteen at the start of his    
last year sees very few of his          
contemporaries sitting at the ,sixth    
,form table4 ,of the eight or nine  boys
 who came there with him1 only three are
 left1 and the ,fifth ,form  table is   
filled by fellows two or three years    
junior to himself1 with  whom he has but
 a slight acquaintance4 ,it is always   

the 'blood' who is  asked to stop on    
that extra year4 ,the insignificant are 
encouraged by  silence to retire4       
',thou shalt not kill1 yet needst not   
strive       ,officiously to keep       
alive4'      ,by the time the boy comes 
to be a prefect he is able to feel      
himself  supreme1 not only because of   
the system that is at his back4         
,,chapter ,,ix    ,,prefectship         
,prefectship is the coping-stone of a   
public school education4 ,the boy  who  
leaves without becoming a prefect has   
missed1 we are continually  assured1 the
 most important part of his school      
career4 ,and yet what  percentage of an 
old boys' list1 ,i wonder1 reaches the  
dignity of house  prefectship4 ,one gets
 the impression sometimes that every    
one1 provided  he stays on long enough1 
becomes a prefect4 ,all school stories  
follow a  convention4 ,they open with   
the new boy closing behind him the      
green-baize door of the head master's   
study1 gazing wistfully down a  long    

corridor at the end of which is the oak 
door of the day room4 ,from  behind that
 door comes to him the sound of laughter
 and eager  conversation4 ,there is the 
unknown1 mysterious world he has to     
enter4  ,that is how every school story 
opens4 ,and every school story closes on
  the departure of a hero crowned with  
athletic and academic honours4 ,the     
space in between is occupied with the   
'see-saw up' process4 ,how else a       
school story is to be constructed ,i do 
not know4 ,it has to be narrative       
rather than dramatic4 ,but it gives the 
impression that public school  life for 
the average boy is a slow voyage from   
fag to prefect4 ,indeed1  if ,peg's     
,paper printed school stories1 ',from   
,fag to ,prefect' would  probably be the
 title4 ,such a tale would1 however1 be 
little more  generally applicable than a
 tale of army life entitled ',from      
,bugler to  ,brigadier4' ,the majority  
of schoolboys do not become prefects4   
,but the  people in whose hands the     

framing of the convention lies think    
they do1  because they did themselves4  
,the dwellers in ,mayfair think ,london 
consists of a few drawing-rooms and a   
few restaurants4 ,the schoolmaster      
naturally follows the conventional      
course1 otherwise he would not be a     
schoolmaster4 ,if he had not reached the
 ,upper ,sixth he would not be in a     
position to teach4 ,if he had not       
reached the ,eleven he would not be a   
games master4 ,the story-writer may not 
be an athlete1 but it is hardly         
possible that a man who can write an    
interesting book should have failed  to 
make some mark at school if he had      
stayed out his full time4 ,and so  there
 has grown up a tendency to ignore      
entirely the careers of the             
insignificant1 which form the background
 for more striking exploits4 ,and  yet1 
as always1 the insignificant are in the 
majority4    ,a couple of years ago ,i  
spent an afternoon in the company of    
some  friends at the school where their 

son was completing his second term4 ,it 
was a warm afternoon and we naturally   
walked down to the cricket field4  ,on  
the ,upper a senior house match1 which  
we should have liked to have  watched1  
was in progress4 ,our small guide       
assured us1 however1 that this  would be
 impossible4 ',it isn't our house1 you  
see1 and the fellows  would think it    
awful niff of me to watch another house 
playing4 ,but  there's a house game of  
our own going on down there4' ,realising
 that it  was impossible to overcome the
 novice's fear of doing the wrong thing1
  we reluctantly1 slowly1 and with      
backward glances1 followed our young    
friend to the far end of a big field1   
where a ridiculous junior house  game   
was being played on a sloping and       
bumping pitch4 ,the small boy was1      
however1 more interested in his friends 
than in the cricket4 ,beyond this  game 
there was the pick up4    ,now ,i do not
 believe that ,i had ever before watched
 a pick up at all  closely4 ,i had      

imagined that the cricket would be      
pretty bad1 that  firm-footed batsmen   
would mow full pitches towards long on1 
that wides  would be only more frequent 
than the fall of wickets1 that every    
third  scoring stroke would be in the   
nature of a chance4 ,i had never1       
however1  anticipated anything          
approaching the complete impotence of   
that game4  ,the batsmen could not hit  
the ball hard1 indeed it was only on    
rare  occasions that they managed to    
connect the bat with the ball4 ,there   
was  no need for any fieldsmen1 with the
 possible exception of long-stop1 to    
stand more than twenty-five yards from  
the wicket4 ,the bowler's main  object  
appeared to be the keeping down of      
wides4 ,every game has its own          
technique2 this game was certainly not  
cricket as it is played  generally1 and1
 no doubt1 the victorious side was the  
one that bowled  fewest wides4 ,for no  
other reason would any captain have kept
 on either  of those two bowlers for a  

second over4    ,and ,i could not help  
wondering what a public school career   
stood for in  the lives of those        
pitiably ineffectual cricketers4 ,it is 
possible that  one or two of them might 
be brilliant scholars1 or that a few    
played  football successfully1 though   
this ,i am prepared to doubt2 for the   
true  sportsman is self-declared the    
moment that he walks on to a field4 ,it 
seemed to me incredible that any one who
 had played any game  successfully could
 tolerate the miserable travesty of     
sport that was  being enacted on that   
sloping1 bumping pitch4 ,but even if    
there were a  few exceptions1 even if   
one or two were destined for privilege  
and  authority and a name upon the      
honour boards1 the fate of the majority 
was certain4 ,they would remain         
inconspicuous1 belonging to that large  
tribe of those whose names on the old   
boys' list are vaguely familiar to  us1 
but with whom we can connect not one    
incident1 anecdote1 or  conversation4   

,they pass and they leave no mark behind
 them4 ,they never  rise to a position  
of responsibility4 ,they never learn to 
wield  authority4 ,they never acquire1  
that is to say1 those qualities of      
administration that have made ,english  
rule so tolerant and so  universally    
respected4 ,what can public school life 
mean to such as  these8 ,i put the      
question1 but ,i cannot answer it4 ,i do
 not know4 ,public  school life is      
designed as a slow voyage from fag to   
prefectship1 and1  even if only a       
minority complete that voyage1 it is the
 process and the  stages of that voyage 
we have here to represent and interpret4
 ,it  should1 however1 be here set on   
record that1 be the advantages or       
disadvantages of the public school      
system what they may1 a great many      
public school boys never partake of     
them4    ,from the distance of early    
years the obligations of prefectship    
seems  slight in comparison with their  
enormous privileges4 ,a prefect does not

  have to answer his name at roll2 he   
can wander round the studies without    
leave during hall4 ,he has fags to clean
 his study1 to wash his plates1  to     
light his fire1 to carry his books down 
to chapel in the morning4 ,he  can      
inflict punishment without being liable 
to it4 ,the new boy who has  recently   
been caned1 in his opinion most         
unjustly1 for whispering in  prayers1   
looks forward to his day of revenge4    
,the life of a prefect must  be free    
from all the cares that so perplex him4 
,prefects can never be  troubled with   
impositions and imperfectly prepared    
exercises4 ,he glances  up to the ,sixth
 ,form table and contemplates the       
majesty of ,meredith with  his          
neatly-tied tie1 and hair brushed back  
immaculately from his  forehead4 ,what  
master would have the cheek to 'bottle' 
,meredith8 ,the  very idea is           
unthinkable4 ,meredith has the          
invulnerable infallibility of  a god4   
,the small boy reconsiders this view as 

he rises in the school4  ,the horizon   
narrows4 ,but even when he reaches the  
,sixth ,form table he  sees prefectship 
in terms of freedom rather than of      
service4 ,and it  would1 of course1 be  
absurd to maintain that the obligations 
outweigh  the privileges4 ,they do not3 
but they are none the less considerable4
 ,if  a prefect is found playing the    
ass1 ragging in the studies1 or cutting 
lock up1 he would be neither lined nor  
beaten2 but the twenty minutes          
interview with the ,chief would be far  
worse than any caning4 ,he would  feel  
humbled1 he would feel thoroughly       
ashamed of himself1 he would have  done 
a rotten thing4 ,punishments have ceased
 to be a pawn in a game  between boy and
 master4 ,and1 when a prefect realises  
this1 he realises  also that this       
particular game is finished4    ,the    
degree to which a prefect appreciates   
his obligation1 depends a good  deal on 
the way his house master treats him4    
,the boy who is trusted  usually proves 

himself worthy of that trust4 ,i do not 
mean in  everything4 ,if a master says  
to a boy3 ',now1 ,jones1 ,i am going to 
let  you prepare your lessons in your   
study in future4 ,i trust you to work1' 
,jones feels himself under no obligation
 to work4 ,by going to his study  he is 
sparing the master the irksome duty of  
supervision4 ,that is a fair  bargain4  
,he has saved the master work and the   
master has saved him work4  ,in matters 
of form work a boy will never cease to  
regard his  relationship with his master
 as that of the hunter and hunted4 ,he  
will  find when he reaches the ,sixth   
,form that instead of being told to     
prepare fifty lines of ,virgil1 he is   
expected to prepare as much work as  is 
possible in the time at his disposal4   
,if1 when put on to construe in  form he
 states as an excuse for an unsuccessful
 effort1 that the fifty  line limit has 
been passed1 he will be handled roughly3
 ',my dear ,evans1'  the head master    
will say1 'you have ceased to be in the 

,lower ,fourth4  ,you don't work to     
scale4 ,if you haven't had time to      
prepare the passage1  say so1 and ,i    
won't put you on1 but whatever you do   
don't bring forward  that middle school 
excuse about fifty lines4' ,the new     
arrival will look  abashed1 but he will 
not feel that he has been put upon his  
honour to do  an hour's work every      
night4 ,he may possibly prepare next    
time1 with the  aid of a crib1 an extra 
dozen lines1 but he will do it as       
quickly as he  can4    ,he feels        
differently1 however1 about what happens
 outside the  class-room4 ,when an      
excuse is accepted because he is a      
prefect that  would not be accepted     
without a long cross-examination were he
 not a  prefect1 a boy considers himself
 to have been put on his honour4 ,i will
  give an example4 ,the ,o4,t4,c4 was1  
with us1 practically compulsory2        
ninety-seven per cent4 of the school was
 in it1 and that three per cent4  was   
garrisoned with doctors' certificates4  

,like all compulsory things it  was     
extremely unpopular4 ,we used to employ 
elaborate devices to get  leave off4 ,in
 break we used to visit the matron and  
suggest that our  health required some  
castor oil4 ,if possible we would retain
 the dose in  our mouths till we got    
safely into the passage and then deposit
 it in  our handkerchiefs4 ,when this   
was impossible we swallowed it4 ,a dose 
alone was not a sufficient excuse4 ,we  
had to assume faintness1  sickness1 or  
some other indisposition during         
afternoon school4 ,it was an  intricate 
business that rarely proved successful4 
,the authorities were  prepared for it4 
,corps ,parade was on ,friday1 and one  
,friday after ,i had  become a prefect1 
,i decided that never before had ,i felt
 less like doing  squad drill4 ,i had a 
headache1 ,i had not finished my ,latin 
,prose1 we  were playing ,dulwich the   
next day and ,i was anxious to be as    
fresh as  possible4 ,i had also very1   
very slightly twisted my ankle4         

,remembering  my courage in the days of 
castor oil ,i thought it worth making an
  attempt to get leave off4 ,on this    
occasion ,i went to the head master4    
,i informed him of my injury1 and was   
about to embark on a lengthy            
explanation of the accident when the    
head master cut me short4 ',oh1 yes1    
,waugh1 of course1 that'll be quite all 
right4 ,i hope you'll be fit for        
to-morrow4' ,i felt thoroughly ashamed  
of myself4 ,because ,i was a  prefect1  
my word had been accepted without       
examination and without  proof4 ,i was  
trusted to tell the truth4 ,and yet ,i  
actually had produced  as feeble an     
excuse as a fellow in the ,lower        
,fourth4 ,i went on parade  that        
afternoon1 and from then onwards ,i     
never tried to get off anything  unless 
,i was absolutely certain that ,i could 
have got off it without the  influence  
of prefectship4 ,and whatever may be    
urged against the inflated  opinion of  
himself that the power to exert         

authority may give a boy1 ,i  can only  
believe that this sense of duty1 this   
obligation to be true to  himself is an 
invaluable experience4 ,it comes out in 
all sorts of ways4  ,i remember an old  
colour once telling me at the end of the
 season that  he had not enjoyed his    
cricket half as much as he had the      
previous year4  ,i was surprised4 ',i   
should have thought you'd have enjoyed  
it much  more1' ,i said2 'you haven't   
had to worry about your colours2 you've 
been  certain of your place2 you've been
 able to play whatever sort of game  you
 liked4'    ',that's just what ,i have  
not been able to do1' he replied4 ',last
 year ,i  was a free-lance4 ,i took     
risks4 ,i had a dip when ,i wanted to1  
and when  we played unimportant matches 
against the town and the regiment1 ,i   
thought more about hitting a couple of  
sixes than making a big score4  ,but ,i 
can't do that now4 ,i'm captain of my   
house4 ,i spend half my  evenings trying
 to persuade those young asses in the   

junior side that  seven singles between 
cover and mid off are of more use to the
 side than  the most tremendous six4 ,if
 they see me going in and chucking away 
my  wicket in a school match1 they'd    
think me a pretty sort of captain1      
wouldn't they8 ,i've got to set an      
example of sorts4' ,and1 though the     
captious may maintain that it would have
 been more to the point if that         
particular sportsman had worried a      
little less about the example he was    
setting on the cricket field and a      
little more about the example he was    
setting in the form room and the        
studies1 virtue is virtue wheresoever   
it is found and in whatsoever garb it is
 adorned4 ,it is a good thing to  feel  
that an example has to be set and to    
decide to set it4 ,it is the  high      
privilege of service4    ,there are     
occasions when the setting of example   
grows not only irksome1  but pointless4 
,throughout one winter my whole         
dormitory and myself  subjected         

ourselves to the miseries of a freezing 
cold bath because  neither party had the
 face to own itself defeated4 ,in the   
first warm day  of ,october the whole   
house ran cheerily to the shower bath   
down a long  passage that faced east and
 was filled with sunlight4 ,but when the
  ,november frosts came on1 the long run
 down the passage in bare feet with  a  
small towel gathered round our loins    
became increasingly unattractive4  ,by  
the time we reached the bath we were    
thoroughly cold and the zinc  tubs under
 the cascade of water were not enticing4
 ,each morning fewer  feet pattered down
 the passage4 ,but my dormitory         
maintained its courage4  ,as long as ,i 
went on having a bath ,i knew that they 
would go on having  one1 and as long as 
they went on having one ,i knew that ,i 
should have to  also4 ,there were       
mornings when ,i longed to say3 ',look  
here1 you fellows1  you don't want to   
have a bath4 ,nor do ,i4 ,let's chuck   
it4' ,the words were  sometimes on the  

tip of my tongue4 ,but just as ,i was   
about to utter them  some one would rise
 from his bed1 reluctantly divest       
himself of his  pyjamas1 wrap a towel   
round himself1 and run out into the     
passage4 ,after  that retreat was       
hopeless4 ,the thing had to be seen     
through4 ,not one of  us missed his bath
 throughout the term4 ,it may have been 
good for us3 ,i  don't know4 ,most      
things that are supposed to be are      
unpleasant4    ,as so often happens with
 preconceived ideas1 the only duties of 
prefectship which present any terrors to
 the imagination of the new boy  turn   
out singularly simple4 ,most boys are   
self-conscious2 they dread a  silence1  
they hate being conspicuous4 ,they      
regard1 therefore1 the taking  of hall  
and the reading of the house list at    
roll as terrible ordeals4  ,they are not
 so really4 ,one is a little nervous    
lest the pitch of one's  voice may sound
 curious as one shouts out the name of  
the top boy on the  list3 but it        

doesn't3 not unless one is very odd4    
,and the taking of hall  is simple1     
unless one goes down there with an      
established reputation for              
inefficiency4 ,in such a case the       
prefect does stand a poor look-out1 as  
poor a look-out as the master who has   
proved himself weak4 ,but such          
reputations are not easily acquired1 and
 the possessors of them are well        
advised to bribe some hardier colleague 
to take their places4 ,no attempt  is   
made to rag the average prefect4 ,he    
goes down on his first night  fully     
prepared to inflict a violent punishment
 on any harbinger of  insubordination4  
,he may even carry down with him his    
swagger stick as a  cautionary signal4  
,but it is unlikely that he will be     
called upon to use  it4 ,the chief      
embarrassment1 indeed1 of taking hall is
 the importunities  of small boys who   
come and ask one to help them with their
 translation4  ,one hums and hahs1 looks
 at the notes and the vocabulary and    

discovers  how extremely hard it is to  
translate ,livy without a crib4    ,to a
 great extent the proficiency of the    
prefectorial system depends on  the     
house master4 ,if prefects admire and   
respect their house master1 the  tone of
 the house will almost certainly be a   
good one4 ,if they dislike  him the tone
 may very likely be a good one4 ,it is a
 toss up4 ,dislike and  fear often go   
together4 ,and a prefect who dislikes1  
and thinks he is  disliked1 by his house
 master may very well decide out of     
affronted  dignity to perform his duties
 thoroughly4 ',the old beast hates me1' 
he  says2 'he thinks ,i'm no good4 ,i'll
 jolly well show him6' ,dislike is1 at  
any rate1 a positive emotion4 ,it will  
produce something4 ,nothing1 on the     
other hand1 is more fatal than the sort 
of genial1 indifferent  good-natured    
friendship that so often exists between 
a house master and  his prefects4    ,in
 ,chowdler1 ,g4 ,f4 ,bradly has drawn   
just such a house master4 ,chowdler     

pretends to be the elder brother3 he    
talks of 'good old ,jones' and 'dear    
old ,joe4' ,he has the prefects up in   
his study for heart to heart manly      
talks4 ,and the prefects listen1 agree  
with what he says1 echo1 when they      
speak1 his own sentiments1 and generally
 hoodwink him4 ,they treat him as  he   
treats them4 ,they call him 'good old   
,chowdler1' and leave it at that4  ,when
 there is a conscientious and an        
officious head of the house things  go  
fairly quietly2 when the head of the    
house is a lazy1 sociable  creature1 the
 house runs itself1 and with results    
that would cause  little pleasure were  
they published to the mandarins of the  
common  room4 ,no new house master1     
,arnold ,lunn says1 has to face a more  
difficult task than he whose predecessor
 has earned the reputation of  being a  
sport4 ,the house master who always     
announces to the head boy his  intention
 of visiting the studies is popular     
enough1 but he has a rotten  house4     

,yet1 however badly the prefectorial    
system may on occasions work1 it is     
impossible to dispense with it4 ,it is  
not so much the need for a heavy  hand  
as the need for a scapegoat4 ,some one  
must be responsible to the  supreme     
authority for any disturbance that may  
take place4 ,if a house  master enters  
the day room during 'prep4' and finds   
that an impromptu  concert is in        
progress1 he knows that it would be     
impossible for him to  disentangle the  
muddled evidence of interested          
witnesses4 ,he could never  find out    
what it was all about1 how it started1  
who started it1 what  happened next4 ,he
 makes1 therefore1 one person           
responsible for the  maintenance of     
order in the day room during 'prep4' ,he
 puts a house  prefect there on duty4   
,when1 therefore1 he interrupts an      
unseemly brawl1  he does not concern    
himself with the incidents of the       
affair2 ,brown's  face may be plastered 
with red ink1 the head of ,evans may be 

slowly  extricating itself from the     
wastepaper basket1 ,ferguson may be     
withdrawing a battered compass from the 
unprotected quarters of an  enemy4 ,he  
does not notice that4 ,he does not      
punish ,brown and ,ferguson  and ,evans4
 ,he asks the prefect in charge for an  
explanation4 ,if the  explanation is not
 satisfactory that prefect is relieved  
of office4 ,it  is the knowledge of this
 fate that inspires the industry of     
prefects4    ,this system is the basis  
for all administration1 for the         
delegation of  all responsibility4 ,it  
rarely fails4 ,when ,i shared a study   
with another  prefect we divided eight  
fags between us4 ,the best of these     
eight we  appointed fag-master4 ',you   
will do no fagging yourself1 ,marston1' 
we  told him4 ',to each of the other    
seven fags will be allotted one day of  
the week4 ,you will see that they do    
their job4 ,if the fire goes out1 you   
will be beaten4' ,during the whole of   
that winter our fire never went out     

once4 ,it is a regrettable fact1 but a  
true one1 that human beings will  only  
work under the influence of a bribe1 or 
of a threat4 ,in the wide  world it is  
usually a bribe4 ,one may not threaten  
the foreman of an oil  works4 ,he has   
his union behind him4 ,but there are no 
trade unions for  fags3 a judicious     
threat works wonders4 ,and1 when all    
other forces  weaken1 the wish to retain
 office helps the prefect to his task4  
,were  there no prefects1 no scapegoats1
 there would be no order4 ,they are the 
exchange of hostages4    ,suppose an    
attempt was made to run a house without 
them8 ,how long do you  imagine that it 
would last8 ,five days1 six days1 a     
week8 ,yes1 perhaps as  long as that3   
not longer3 certainly ,i would not give 
it longer than a  week4 ,such an        
experiment might be tried at the end of 
a long and  unsatisfactory term during  
which several of the prefects had1 at   
some  time or another1 come into        
collision with official ruling4 ,and the

  climax might have been reached1 shall 
we say1 on the last ,tuesday of the     
term1 when the head of the house was    
discovered during 'prep4' playing  the  
organ in the big school4    ,next day1  
after lunch1 the house would be         
astonished by the following             
announcement3 ',i don't know1' the house
 master would say1 'whether ,i  approve 
of the prefectorial system or           
not--that's neither here nor  there4 ,at
 any rate it has not worked well with my
 present set of  prefects1 and1 for the 
rest of the term ,i propose to dispense 
with them4  ,i shall occupy during      
preparation the small study at the end  
of the  passage1 and the house tutor    
will supervise preparation in the day   
room4  ,i shall occupy the small single 
dormitory by the fire escape4 ,that is  
all4' ,it is possible1 is it not1 as the
 sudden resolution of an  overworked1   
exasperated man who had not paused to   
consider the results  of his decision4  
,well1 what would happen then8 ,we can  

guess to a certain extent4 ,it is1  at  
least1 a subject of interesting         
speculation4 ,what would happen to a    
house that had no prefects8    ,for a   
couple of days all would go smoothly1 ,i
 imagine4 ,the house would  behave like 
a whipped dog4 ,its tail would be tucked
 between its legs4  ,the prefects would 
make an ineffectual stand upon their    
dignity4 ,then  the possibilities of the
 situation would become apparent4       
,authority  spreads a veneer over the   
boisterous spirits of a boy of eighteen4
 ,but  at heart he remains a ragster4   
,in a couple of years' time1 as an      
undergraduate or a medical student1 he  
will be destroying furniture and        
organising preposterous bonfires4 ,and1 
when authority is taken from him1  he   
feels once again the old itch to enter  
the lists1 to try one last  throw with  
the marshalled forces of officialdom4   
,it may1 for instance1  occur to        
,morcombe1 the head of the house1 that1 
though he has ceased to  be a house     

prefect1 he remains a school prefect1   
and that1 outside the  precincts of his 
house1 he is still a force4 ,when1      
therefore1 he sees  ,jones mi4 flinging 
stones against the cloisters1 he orders 
,jones to  appear before him that       
evening after roll4 ,it is after roll1  
during the  silence of first hall1 that 
punishments are inflicted4 ,and1 that   
night1  the house master1 sitting in his
 narrow study at the end of the passage1
  will be astonished to hear the silence
 broken by a series of resounding       
bangs4 ,he hurries down the passage and 
discovers ,jones mi4 straightening      
himself beside the water pipes1 one hand
 ruefully stroking his trousers1  while 
the head of the house proudly surveying 
his handiwork1 delivers a  last word of 
admonishment and taps his cane against  
his boots4    ',but what on earth1      
,morcombe1 is the meaning of this8' says
 the house  master4    ',i had occasion1
 sir1 to beat a boy4'    ',but you've no
 right to beat a boy4 ,you're not a     

prefect any longer4'    ',i was         
punishing him1 sir1 for a school and not
 a house offence4 ,he was  throwing     
stones against the cloisters4 ,as a     
school prefect ,i felt myself  bound to 
take official notice of his action4'    
',but you know quite well1 ,morcombe1'  
the house master would answer  hotly1   
'that you've no right to do anything of 
the sort4 ,you are only  quibbling4'    
',then am ,i to understand1 sir1 that ,i
 have ceased to be a school  prefect4'  
',you are to understand you have no     
authority over any one in this  house4' 
',but that will make it difficult for   
me1 sir2 if ,i were to discover a  boy  
in this house and a boy in another house
 smoking on a ,sunday  afternoon1 ,i    
should be able to order the boy from    
another house to put  out his cigarette 
and return to school at once1 but the   
boy in my own  house ,i should have to  
leave where he was4 ,it would be        
suggested that ,i  was favouring my own 
house4'    ,it is unlikely that the     

house master will have a reply2 he will 
order  ,morcombe to return to his study 
and to cease being impertinent4 ,it     
depends on the courage of ,morcombe and 
the respect he has for his house  master
 whether five minutes later there will  
be a tap on the door of the  narrow     
study at the end of the passage and a   
quiet voice will ask3  ',please1 sir1 ,i
 hope you'll excuse my worrying you1 but
 ,i am not quite  certain whether you   
said ,i was1 or was not1 a school       
prefect4 ,you see1  sir1 it's my turn to
 read the lessons in chapel to-morrow4  
,i wondered  whether ,i ought to run    
round and tell the head master that ,i  
am no  longer privileged to read them4' 
,there will be several such imbroglios4 
,whether or not the term will end       
without an actual conflagration is      
problematic4 ,on the whole ,i should say
 that the chances were even4 ,it is  the
 end of the term4 ,spirits run high1    
constant supervision is  impossible4 ,on
 the last morning but one1 for instance1

 there is no early  chapel4 ,there is a 
long lie in bed4 ,the house master will 
return to his  own part of the house to 
shave1 bathe himself1 and dress4 ,there 
is no  one left in the dormitories with 
any authority4 ,every one is            
good-tempered and excited with a surplus
 store of animal spirits4 ,there  is a  
lively exchange of compliments which    
terminate in a pillow being  flung      
across the room4 ,there is a moment's   
nervous hush4 ,the power of  the        
prefectorial system dies hard3 a week   
ago such an act would have  been dealt  
with instantly and severely4 ,and1 even 
now1 a single word  would be sufficient 
to restore order4    ,but the prefect   
takes no notice4 ,he sees no reason why 
he should exert  himself in the         
interests of one who considers his      
services to be of no  further use to    
him4 ,he feels justifiably aggrieved4   
,the house master  considers he can run 
the house himself--well then1 let him   
run it4 ,he  has asked for no assistance

 from his prefects4 ,he can therefore   
expect  none4 ,the pillow is returned4  
,it is inaccurately flung1 however1 and 
the  contents of a water jug streams    
across the floor4 ,again there is a     
brief embarrassment4 ,but the prefect   
reassures his dormitory4    ',my dear   
fellows1 don't worry about me1' he says1
 ',i have no authority  over you4 ,there
 is no need for you to take the         
slightest notice of  anything ,i say or 
do4 ,indeed ,i'm not at all certain that
 ,i shan't take a  hand in it4 ,ferrers1
 you brute1 take that4'    ,and with the
 sudden flick of the forearm that in the
 cricket field had  proved so disastrous
 to the batsman who had risked a short  
run to cover1  the unerring discharge of
 a pillow has prostrated the startled   
,ferrers4  ,from that moment mischief is
 afoot4 ,it takes what course it will4  
,and  that course will probably involve 
the overturning of a good many jugs1    
the stripping of innumerable beds1 the  
splitting of several pillows4 ,in  a    

brief while the air will be filled with 
feathers1 the floor with  mattresses and
 soaking sheets4 ,and when1 an hour     
later1 the house master  is summoned by 
an indignant matron to view the         
battlefield1 who will be  held          
responsible8 ,to whose account is he to 
debit the broken jugs and  the torn     
pillows8 ,whom can he deprive of office8
 ,he will1 no doubt1  collect the house 
in his study2 every one will spend the  
last day  inscribing a georgic or an    
eclogue4 ,but the house will feel that  
it has  triumphed4 ,what1 after all1 can
 the house master say8 ,if he begins to 
criticise ,morcombe the reply is        
obvious4    ',but ,i tried to stop it1  
sir1 ,i did my best4 ,but they wouldn't 
take any  notice of me1 sir4 ,i had no  
authority over them4'    ,if the house  
master is wise he will say as little as 
possible4 ,he will  announce the        
punishment1 and the next term place more
 trust in his  prefects4 ,however bad an
 individual set of prefects may be1     

without them  things would be a good    
deal worse4    ,s4 ,p4 ,b4 ,mais in his 
first1 and perhaps best1 book dealing   
with ,public  ,schools1 devoted a       
chapter to the various types of         
prefects1 the effect  that office had on
 each type1 and the use each type made  
of its  privileges4 ,he maintained that 
certain types were unfitted for         
authority1 and that no boy who had not a
 view of life that passed beyond  the   
limits of school should be given such   
authority4 ,that is no doubt  the ideal1
 but it is impracticable4 ,a house      
master has to make the most  of the     
material at his disposal3 if he is      
dissatisfied he must blame  himself4 ,he
 has had his five years in which to     
fashion the malleable  substance to his 
fancy4 ,if a boy is high in form and a  
school colour and  has been several     
years in the house1 it is impossible to 
pass him over  in favour of a junior boy
 who is lower in form and a less        
successful  athlete4 ,prefectship has to

 go by seniority4 ,the moment it was    
felt that  office went to the boys in   
whom the house master happened to have  
most  faith1 the word 'favouritism'     
would be run like a corroding poison    
through the system of the house4 ,the   
favourite would be universally          
distrusted and disliked4 ,a certain     
class of boy would develop the          
'conspiracy complex' that every hand was
 against him1 and1 in time1 he  would   
become what he imagined others took him 
for4    ,such a system would encourage  
endless sycophancy4 ,if the house master
  were married1 his wife would play too 
large a part in the politics of  his    
house4 ,there would be those who would  
not hesitate to ingratiate  themselves  
with her in the hope that at the        
critical moment her  influence might    
turn the scales in their favour4        
,when a boy whom his house master       
dislikes reaches the point where1 in    
course of seniority he would have to be 
made a prefect1 the house master  has   

only two courses open3 either he must   
make the boy a prefect1 or he  must     
write to the father saying1 though he   
has nothing definite against  his son1  
he does not feel that he is the sort of 
boy who ought to be  made a prefect1 and
 he must ask the father1 therefore1 to  
remove his son  from the school at the  
end of the summer4    ,he can do nothing
 else4 ,he cannot keep on a boy whose   
claims he has  passed over deliberately 
and without cause4 ,what house master1  
on the  other hand1 is going to write   
such a letter to a parent4 ,the parent  
is  bound to object4 ,he will appeal to 
the head master4    ',you have nothing  
against my son1' he will say4 ',during  
the four years  he has been at school he
 has never been in any serious trouble4 
,he has  worked hard and he has played  
hard4 ,i have always regarded           
prefectship  as the crown of a public   
school education4 ,i sent my son to you 
rather  than to some other educational  
establishment because ,i wished him to  

have the invaluable experience of being 
a prefect in a ,public ,school4  ,and   
now1 at the end1 when he has reached    
this position1 you say1 without  giving 
any reason1 that he is not a fit person 
to occupy it4 ,it is  scandalous4'      
,and even were the head master to       
endorse his subaltern's verdict1 were   
he to say3 ',that is all very true1 ,mr 
,evans1 but a house master is the  best 
judge of the type of boy that he wants  
to have as a prefect4 ,i am  very sorry1
 but we must abide by his decision1' the
 reputation of the  school would suffer4
    ,old boys would discuss the verdict 
in their clubs4    ',that's no school   
for my son1' they would say4            
',prefectship depends on  the caprice of
 a house master4 ,and1 if by the time   
one gets high in the  house1 one's told 
one's got to go--why1 if that had       
happened in my case  ,i know ,i'd never 
have become captain of the ,eleven4 ,my 
house master  would have got rid of me  
long before ,i had got my colours4'     

,gray heads would shake seriously over  
the port2 the numbers of the  school    
would sink4 ,seniority may1 now and     
again1 bring most unsuitable  persons to
 authority1 but it is a far more        
satisfactory system than any  that would
 be based on the choice and dislike of  
one person4    ,certainly many unlikely 
people reach the high-backed chair of   
the ,sixth  ,form table4 ,and a house   
master must often wonder how will taste 
the  strange stew that is simmering--a  
compound of so many unknown             
ingredients4 ,in spite of experience1 he
 is always guessing4 ,but the  changes  
are less considerable than might be     
expected1 or it would be  truer to say1 
perhaps1 that the changes follow a more 
or less ordinary  course4    ,a boy's   
attitude on reaching office is ordered  
by what he has read and  by example4    
,the ragster usually becomes a martinet4
 ,he has read of the  reformation of    
,prince ,hal2 the epigram about ,kildare
 ruling all ,ireland  is the one piece  

of ,elizabethan history that his memory 
has retained4  ,how nice he feels it    
will be to surprise every one4 ,what a  
shock it will  be to his old companions4
 ,every one must have said of him3 ',oh1
 ,park'll  be all right4 ,he's such a   
ragster himself1 he's sure to go pretty 
easy6'  ,in his first week1 therefore1  
he canes a quite senior boy for playing 
the piano too loudly in the changing    
room4 ,he becomes in a short while      
extremely unpopular and a general       
terror4 ,if on the start of the school  
year one were asked to tell which of the
 new prefects one would be best  advised
 to avoid1 one would almost certainly   
place one's finger on the  boy who had  
been most frequently in trouble during  
the previous term4    ,there is no sign1
 however1 by which we can detect the    
officious type of  prefect who speaks   
solemnly of his responsibilities and    
makes life  extremely unpleasant for his
 house and for his old companions4 ,it  
is  impossible to tell on whom this germ

 is going to settle4 ,it need not be    
the reformed rake3 perhaps because rakes
 reform so seldom4 ,it is not           
necessarily the religious boy1 or the   
intellectual boy4 ,but on some one  that
 germ is sure to settle1 and it is of   
all the germs the most  annoying4       
,there is nothing more exasperating than
 the officious prefect4 ,on the  third  
evening of the term he walks into the   
study of a former associate1  looks     
confoundedly uncomfortable1 seats       
himself on the table1 and then1  after a
 moment's embarrassed silence1 permits  
his features to assume an  expression of
 austere dignity1 and says3--           
',jones1 you confided in me two terms   
ago a little secret1 you'll  remember   
what it was4 ,well1 ,i feel that it is  
my unpleasant duty1 now  that ,i am a   
prefect1 to report this matter to the   
head of the house4 ,he  will take what  
action he thinks fit4'    ,jones sits   
back in his chair1 a look of horrified  
disgust upon his face4    ',but1 my dear

 fellow1' he says1 'you couldn't        
possibly--,i mean ,i told  you that in  
confidence4 ,you couldn't be such a     
sneak6'    ,the prefect would shake his 
head4    ',you do not understand4 ,it is
 not sneaking4 ,you would not call it   
sneaking on the part of a policeman if  
he arrested an old friend whom he  found
 breaking into a house4 ,this is an     
official duty that has nothing  to do   
with our personal relationship4'        
,jones is tempted to say that in another
 minute personal relationships  will    
have a good deal to do with the matter1 
but he appreciates the  necessity for   
tact4 ,he talks1 he argues1 he cajoles2 
his patience is  tried to the last      
degree4 ,it is difficult to discuss a   
matter on  grounds of personal and      
practical expediency when the other     
party  refuses to desert the platform of
 high morality4 ,in the end probably    
,jones is promised silence in return for
 reformation1 and1 as the door  closes  
behind his old friend1 he murmurs3 ',put

 not your trust in  princes4'    ,the   
officious prefect is not content with   
the exposure of confidences  received   
during his period of probation1 he      
endeavours to unearth  present scandals1
 and this is a point on which popular   
opinion is very  strong4 ,the moral tone
 of the house is not considered to be   
the concern  of the house prefect4 ,that
 is the province of the house master and
 the  head boy4    ,the position of the 
head boy is a little difficult to       
define4 ,he is the  intermediary between
 mortality and ,olympus4 ,he is supposed
 to be above  suspicion4 ,he is the only
 person who is allowed to do anything   
out of 'a  sense of duty4' ,if a house  
prefect interferes in the private       
affairs of  another1 an ulterior motive 
is always suggested1 and the suggestion 
is  probably justified4 ,whether or not 
a head boy is justified in unearthing   
scandal is an open point4 ,there are    
those who will maintain that he  should 
only take notice of what actually hits  

him in the face4 ,the  reason being that
 what hits the head of the house in the 
face will1  sooner or later1 inflict a  
similar shock to the physiognomy of the 
house  master4 ,and this should be      
avoided4 ,in the first place1 the house 
master  will lose his high opinion of   
his head boy2 in the second1 a scandal  
that might have been prevented will     
reach official notice4    ,indeed1 there
 are not a few who will go so far as to 
assert that the  function of a head boy 
is that of the taster1 the impersonal   
critic who  says3 ',no1 that is going   
too far4' ,he is the aeroplane          
photograph of a  strategic position1    
that shows what gun emplacements are    
obvious and  which are not4 ,and1       
according to this line of argument1 head
 boys should  only concern themselves   
with the obvious2 what was not apparent 
to them  would certainly not be apparent
 to a house master2 there is no need for
  them to play at ,sherlock ,holmes4    
,but this is a point on which the vote  

has not been taken4 ,there are  several 
schools of thought3 all schools of      
thought are1 however1 joined  in the    
denial of the right of the head boy to  
report to the house master  anything    
save a case of insubordination or       
disloyalty on the part of a  brother    
prefect4 ,a head boy1 it is felt1 should
 be able to deal with the  discipline   
and conduct of the house himself4 ,to   
report is to confess a  failure4    ,to 
the house prefect no such fine shades of
 motive are ascribed4 ,he is  not       
considered to be above suspicion1 and he
 is allowed to indulge  certain         
corresponding weaknesses4 ,his business 
is to see that order is  kept2 the new  
prefect forms numberless resolutions4   
,he is acutely  conscious of his        
dignity1 his bearing partakes of the    
solemnity of  ,malvolio4 ,he wonders    
whether he ought to remain on terms of  
such easy  familiarity with certain     
rowdy elements in the house4 ,a prefect 
should  not have too many friends4 ,he  

should be the calm1 implacable judge1   
impersonal1 impartial1 with bandaged    
eyes4 ,he is very haughty for a day  or 
two4 ,but within a fortnight he has     
recovered4 ,he becomes sociable  once   
more4 ,he walks down to the field with  
his old friends4 ,he does not  wonder   
whether it is wise or unwise to exchange
 confidences with those  whose conduct  
one day he may be forced to view with   
official  disapproval4 ,he takes notice 
of1 and deals with1 only those problems 
that crop up from time to time4 ,he     
acquires a wholesome tolerance of  other
 people's business1 a tolerance that    
slips over the border of  indifference1 
but remains an admirable social         
lubricant4    ,it is this indifference1 
this refusal to be upset about trivial  
matters  that can be left to adjust     
themselves1 that is the secret of the   
success  of ,british administration4    
,other nations and classes do not seem  
to  possess it4 ,the artisan when put in
 a position of authority bothers  about 

the unimportant1 he gives himself no    
peace1 and he gives those  under him no 
peace4 ,there is constant friction4     
,troops almost invariably  prefer to be 
under the command of public school men  
rather than of  'rankers4'              
,,chapter ,x    ,,the ,,last ,,term     
,the last year1 and especially the last 
term1 is popularly supposed to be  the  
happiest of a public school career4 ,and
 it is possible that this may  be so in 
the case of an industrious1 worthy1 but 
not particularly  brilliant fellow who  
reaches in his last year the privileges 
of house  prefectship1 the immunities of
 the ,lower ,sixth and the social       
hall-mark  of a second fifteen cap4 ,at 
last1 after a struggle of five years1 he
 has  extricated himself from the rut4  
,for the 'blood1' however1 for the      
double first who has stayed on an  extra
 year to be captain of the ,eleven1     
these last terms are a  disappointment4 
,he has reached the limits of ambition4 
,for a while he is  attracted by the    

charm of his new offices1 but he can    
discern beyond  them no fresh fields to 
conquer4 ,he is embarrassed by the      
finality of  his position4 ,he cannot   
value what he possesses4 ,he wonders    
what is  coming next4 ,he scores tries  
in school matches1 he makes centuries on
  the upper1 but he had already done    
that before4 ',the doing savours of     
disrelish4' ,he is expected to score    
tries and make centuries4 ,the cheer    
that greets him as he grounds the ball  
between the posts has not the  surprised
 enthusiasm that rippled down the       
touchline two years ago when  he amazed 
every one by giving two consecutive     
dummies and beating the  whole defence4 
,he is expected to do well1 and when he 
is a little below  his form1 there is a 
feeling that he has lost the school the 
match4    ,interest is focussed on the  
performance of the new men4 ,a century  
by  ,shepherd causes more excitement    
than a century by ,hobbs4 ,hobbs is     
established4 ,the world has formed its  

estimate of his qualities4 ,there  is   
little new to be said about him4 ,he    
belongs to the present and the  past4   
,shepherd belongs to the future4 ,he is 
a subject of speculation4    ,and so the
 double first at the end of the match   
hears far less talk of  his own         
performances than he did a year earlier4
 ,he is taken for  granted4 ,it is all3 
',what a beautiful drop that was of     
,smith's1 he'll be  a fine player in two
 years' time4' ,he would not analyse his
 discontent4  ,but it is there the whole
 time4 ,there is no longer a life of    
marked  stages in front of him4 ,he can 
peer now over the wall of school4 ,he is
  worried1 too1 by the increasingly     
acute demands of his physical nature1   
by the restraints that are imposed on   
it4 ,very often a quite popular boy     
makes himself generally disliked during 
his last year on account of this        
irritation that expresses itself in bad 
temper1 jealousy1 and outbursts  of     
unreasoning vindictiveness4    ,the last

 term is especially difficult4 ,a boy   
finds himself freed from  the conditions
 that had for the five previous years   
directed his  conduct4 ,he had always   
thought of 'next term4' ,now he realises
 suddenly  that there is going to be no 
next term4 ,he is no longer leading the 
normal life of his companions4 ,on all  
sides of him preparations are  being    
made for the future4 ,jones has decided 
to share the games study  with ,evans   
instead of ,smith4 ,plans are being made
 for the arrangement of  the            
dormitories4 ,ambitions are carefully   
tended1 careers are nursed4 ,so  and so 
is worried because some one else has got
 his firsts before him4  ,dunston is    
distressed because he has been caught   
cribbing3 ',there goes  my chance of    
house prefectship4' ,and the boy who is 
about to leave  slowly realises that    
these considerations have no longer any 
meaning for  him4    ,if he is caught   
cribbing he is concerned only with his  
immediate  punishment4 ,if some one gets

 his colours before him it does not     
matter4  ,he has done with the troubles 
of seniority4 ,the old life is falling  
from  him4 ,he is perplexed1 not seeing 
clearly what lies in front of him4 ,six 
years seemed such a long time4 ,he had  
not paused to wonder what lay  beyond   
them4 ,he had come to regard that last  
,sunday in the school chapel  as a final
 stage4 ,school stories always ended    
there3 in the same way  that romances   
always closed on marriage1 or on death4 
,and1 though now he  would be no doubt  
ready to admit that a man's life did not
 end at the  altar1 and might even be   
prepared to consider the possibility of 
an  existence beyond the grave1 he had  
not considered such speculation         
profitable or entertaining4    ,and1 in 
the same way that at a later point of   
his career he will awake  with a start  
six months after marriage and ask       
himself whether it is all  over3        
',heavens6' he will say1 ',i can't be   
finished with2 what's going to  happen  

now8' ,so1 during his last term1 he     
discovers that this stage has  not the  
finality he had supposed4 ,something has
 got to happen next4  ,school life was1 
after all1 no more than a prelude4 ,he  
had valued too  highly the enticing     
emoluments it had to offer4 ,and he does
 not see what  new prizes life will hold
 for him4    ,if he is going to ,oxford 
he may toy with the prospect of athletic
  honours4 ,but unless he is            
particularly gifted1 or particularly    
conceited1 he will appreciate the vast  
degree of specialised rivalry to  which 
he will be subjected4 ,if he is going   
into business he will  envisage1        
perhaps1 the days of affluence and      
power1 of private  secretaries and      
private telephones2 but all that is a   
very long way off4  ,there is no        
immediate focus for his ambition4 ,there
 is no particular  reason why he should 
not1 if he wishes1 make as big a        
nuisance of  himself as his fancy       
pleases4 ,he is passing from one phase  

of discipline  to another2 and because  
the nature of neither is definite1 he   
considers  himself free4 ,a last term is
 often indeterminate and ineffectual4   
,now if the discovery that school life  
is only a prelude is made by an         
unimaginative athlete during these last 
weeks1 we can confidently assume  that  
it will be made a good deal sooner by a 
boy of originality and  independence1   
especially by one who has not entered   
with any great zest  into the conflict  
of athletic distinction1 and has1       
therefore1 been in a  sense above the   
battle4 ,he realises a good year and a  
half before he has  to leave that life  
in its fullest is to be encountered     
beyond the limits  of a cloistered      
world4 ,the discovery does not          
contribute to his content4  ,he knows   
that if he wishes to win a scholarship  
he will have to stay on  his full time1 
and he feels that he is marking time1   
that he is sitting  in the stalls of a  
theatre waiting for the curtain to go   

up4 ,now that is  a most unsatisfactory 
position to be in4 ,in the theatre we   
kick our  heels1 read our programmes1   
turn round to see if we can recognise a 
friend1 speculate on the possibility of 
innocence in the lady who is  sitting in
 the front row of the dress circle4 ,one
 does anything to make  the quarter of  
an hour pass quickly4 ,the imaginative  
schoolboy behaves  in a similar fashion4
 ,he frets and grows impatient4 ,he     
assumes an  intellectual snobbery4 ,he  
despises the majority of his companions 
and  labels them as ,philistines4 ,he   
disparages the values of athletics and  
exalts in essays and in the debating    
society the literary standards of  the  
nineties4    ,it is possible that on    
,saturday evening he will leave a       
carnation  standing in green ink in the 
hope of emulating his divinities4 ,he is
  encouraged in his rebellion by the    
indignant astonishment of the master1   
who refuses to regard his outburst as a 
very natural and1 on the whole1         

harmless pose4 ,he is lectured severely 
on the dignity of his position4  ,he    
replies in a cryptic epigram4 ,he even  
criticises the public school  system--an
 unforgivable offence4 ,being           
unacquainted with the ways of  systems1 
and feeling that his personal liberty is
 curtailed1 he  considers that for this 
curtailment the public school system is 
solely  and peculiarly responsible4 ,he 
will not allow that all systems oppress 
the individual1 that systems are made   
for the service of the many1 and  that  
it is for the individualist to decide   
whether the privileges he  will receive 
by consenting to remain with the mass   
compensate for the  unpleasant          
restrictions that are placed on the free
 play of his  personality4 ,it is1 after
 all1 the first system with which he has
  contracted an intimate relationship1  
and in the same way that a  monogamist  
considers his wife worse than anybody   
else's1 the schoolboy  delights1 in     
spite of a deep affection for his own   

school1 in hurling at  the public school
 system all manner of accusations1 in   
which the word  sausage machine is not  
infrequently repeated4    ,there are    
such boys in every school4 ,age is an   
arbitrary definition of  development4   
,many boys reach the age of seventeen1  
and stay there for  the rest of their   
lives2 others are twenty-five years old 
before they  have done with their teens4
 ,when a boy is tired of school he has  
outgrown school4 ,and there is only one 
sure remedy--to take him away4    ,but  
there are the claims of a university    
career2 there is the parent's  natural  
wish that his son should gain a         
scholarship2 it is often  impracticable 
for the boy to leave3 in such           
circumstances we can only  recommend on 
the part of the masters a general       
leniency4 ,such outbursts  should not be
 taken seriously4 ,the school1 as a     
whole1 is not concerned  with the       
unusual behaviour of those who1 by the  
possession of brains1  are already      

considered slightly abnormal4 ,and the  
jester who is  disregarded may well     
become a monk4 ,if1 however1 a boy feels
 that notice  is being taken of him1 he 
allows his flattered vanity to dictate  
to him4  ,he cultivates his pose2 he    
wonders how best he may shock the       
mid-,victorianism of the common room1   
and there is the danger that the  pose  
may1 in the course of time1 become part 
of his intellectual  equipment4         
,sermons and addresses inform us that in
 the last term is to be found the       
significance of school life4 ,but1 as ,i
 have previously tried to show1  the    
last term is no more significant than   
the first4 ,the new boy is  outside     
school1 pausing on the fringe1 his eyes 
full of a sheltered  curiosity4 ,the boy
 who is about to leave is equally       
outside school2 he  looks backwards and 
he looks forwards2 the continuity of his
 life is  about to be broken2 its rhythm
 is temporarily suspended4 ,he is no    
longer  leading the same life as his    

companions4 ,and it is vain to compare  
the  new boy with the boy that is about 
to leave1 and by analysing and          
examining the change that there is      
between them to arrive at the meaning   
of school life4    ,they are two        
entirely different people4 ,one is a    
child2 the other is a  man4 ,the change 
that must necessarily have taken place  
during this  passage is so considerable 
that it is impossible to say how much of
 it  is due to environment and how much 
to physical growth4 ,you might send a   
man of thirty to ,timbuctoo1 recall him 
at the end of four years1 and1          
examining the change in him apprehend   
the significance of ,timbuctoo  society4
 ,he went a man and he returned a man4  
,what change there was in  him could be 
attributed directly to the wholesome1 or
 unwholesome1  atmosphere of ,timbuctoo4
    ,you cannot follow this line of     
reasoning with a public school boy4 ,a  
parent cannot say3 ',six years ago ,i   
sent you a young1 innocent boy1         

industrious1 honest1 truthful4 ,you have
 returned to me a young man who  knows  
more than ,i consider it proper that he 
should know1 whose sole  object appears 
to be to extract from life as much      
pleasure as is  commensurate with a     
minimum of work1 a young man1 moreover1 
who  considers that a lie told to an    
official is not a lie4 ,look what you   
have done6' ,but that is not a fair     
attitude4 ,anyhow1 during those six     
years1 a boy must to a certain extent   
have lost his innocence2 most  young men
 of nineteen place the claims of        
personal indulgence before  those of    
work4 ,most young men look on life as a 
game that is played  between themselves 
and a perfectly ridiculous antiquated   
body which is  called 'government1' and 
whom it is permissible to hoodwink1     
misinform1  or otherwise deceive        
whenever the opportunity is presented4  
,the  corroding forces of knowledge must
 make themselves felt during those six  
years4 ,it is unreasonable and absurd to

 attribute their effects solely  to the 
public school system4    ,one can1      
however1 by examining the mental state  
of a boy a week after he  has left      
school1 form some estimate of what he   
has learnt at such  considerable expense
 to his parents4    ,in the first place1
 he has acquired an extremely valuable  
social  technique4 ,a public school     
education is a passport4 ,its assailants
 would  describe it as the membership of
 a select trades union4 ,an old public  
school boy can enter a new mess without 
feeling any great embarrassment4  ,he   
knows how to comport himself in the more
 superficial of the  situations in which
 he will from time to time discover     
himself4 ,all of  which is distinctly   
valuable4    ,he has also learnt to     
understand the type of man with whom he 
will have  most dealing4 ,he is         
admitted1 that is to say1 to terms of   
good  fellowship with a very large      
number of persons4 ,he will be treated  
by  them as a decent chap till he proves

 himself otherwise4 ,he will have       
enough in common with them to be able to
 bridge superficially the  uncertain    
moments that precede friendship4 ,if he 
were introduced to a  man at his club1  
he would have no difficulty in finding a
 congenial  topic of conversation1      
during which conversation he would be   
able to  decide whether or not the man  
to whom he had been introduced was      
likely  to prove a sympathetic          
companion4    ,he would have learnt1    
through the exercise of these qualities 
in a  communal life1 patience and       
tolerance of a certain kind4 ,a         
tolerance1  that is to say1 that might  
condemn a man on the cut of his coat1   
the  colour of his ties1 or the use of  
an incorrect idiom1 but would allow     
each man to lead his own private life   
provided he wore the conventional       
uniform4 ,such a tolerance may be       
described as snobbish and narrow1 but   
is an admirable social lubricant4 ,an   
old public school boy would be          

unlikely1 for instance1 to cause trouble
 to a mess or company or cricket  club  
by injudicious interference4 ,he will   
have learnt that it is not  easy for an 
assorted collection of men to live      
together without  occasionally getting  
on each other's nerves1 and he will have
 learnt1 in  consequence1 the value of  
tact and compromise4    ,he will also   
have learnt a version of his duty       
towards his neighbours4  ,he would not  
tell a lie to a friend unless it was    
absolutely necessary1  and he would     
never let a friend down4 ,he has the    
sense of loyalty  developed to a high   
degree4 ,all of which goes down on the  
credit side of  the ledger4 ,on the     
debit side1 however1 there are enough   
entries to make  the cashier wonder     
whether1 or no1 the account is          
overdrawn4    ,it is amazing how little 
knowledge the average public school boy 
has  managed to acquire4 ,he has rushed 
from one class room to another1         
learning ,french for one hour1 and      

history for another1 and science for a  
third4 ,he has worked at each of these  
subjects spasmodically according  to the
 particular form and set in which he has
 happened at the time to  find himself4 
,for a whole year on end he may have    
neglected ,french  because he was under 
a lazy master4 ,then1 at the end of the 
year1 on  finding himself in a higher   
and more strenuous form1 he may have    
made  feverish efforts for a couple of  
terms1 to the detriment of his          
mathematics and history1 with the result
 that there is an enormous gap  in his  
knowledge4 ,whole periods of history are
 a blank to him4 ,he has  acquired a    
certain quantity of uncorrelated        
information4 ,within a few  years what  
little connection there was between the 
appreciation of these  isolated facts   
will have slipped away4 ,there will     
remain a few phrases1  a few catchwords1
 a few dates--an admirable framework    
indeed for social1  moral1 and political
 prejudice4    ,the average public      

school boy knows1 ,i imagine1 a great   
deal less than  the continental school  
product4 ,not only has he learnt little1
 but he  has not been encouraged to use 
his brains4 ,he does not1 indeed1 regard
  his brain as a possession to be valued
 highly and carefully trained4 ,he  will
 get out of bed five minutes earlier    
than he need do in the morning  to wave 
his legs about his head and do exercises
 with his arms that will  improve his   
physical condition1 but he would never  
think of learning a  dozen lines of     
,english verse to improve his memory4   
,no one ever appears  to have impressed 
on him the fact that at thirty-five he  
will have to  abandon football2 that1 by
 the time he is fifty1 he will be       
bowling very  slow stuff indeed1 and    
will be grateful to the opposing captain
 who  offers him a runner4 ,yet1 at     
sixty1 his brain will1 if properly cared
  for1 be as powerful as it has ever    
been4    ,now ,i do not want to suggest 
that boys should devote their whole     

spare  time to the reading of poetry2   
literature is only a part of life2 but  
,i  do maintain that every public school
 boy should take some part in the       
intellectual life of the world1 that he 
should be able to discover as  much     
interest in his mind as in his body4 ,at
 present he does not4 ,he has  very     
little inner life4 ,he depends far too  
much on outside interests1 on  games    
during the term1 and theatres during the
 holidays4 ,if he has to  rely on his   
own devices1 he is woefully deficient4  
,this fact was brought home to me       
vividly by my experience as a prisoner  
of war in ,germany4 ,the average officer
 had no resources of his own2 he  could 
draw no sustenance from the             
contemplative side of life4 ,he mooned  
round the square1 wondering how soon he 
could decently set about his  next meal1
 longing sadly for the lights of        
,piccadilly4 ,in the evenings1  when he 
had to return to his room1 he spent the 
three or four hours  before lights were 

extinguished engraving rather aimless   
pictures on the  lids of cigar boxes4   
,it was a pathetic sight to see a man of
  twenty-eight1 in the prime of life1   
sitting down night after night to       
fiddle about with a knife1 a piece of   
wood1 and a box of paints4 ,he  derived 
no pleasure from it4 ,it was a narcotic4
 ,as long as his hands  were employed   
his brain could go to sleep1 and he     
needed to contemplate  no longer the    
tedious procession of days that lay     
before him4 ,every man  should have     
sufficient part in the intellectual     
interests of life to be  able to keep   
his intelligence active for eight months
 in surroundings  that provide no       
physical outlets4    ,the public school 
boy has derived little satisfaction from
 his work4 ,he  has laboured            
spasmodically with expediency as the    
goal4 ,promotion has  promised certain  
attendant privileges1 and the historical
 ,sixth lies1  calm and pleasant1 like a
 lake in the desert4    ,there is to be 

found a rest 'for all who come4' ,it is 
a sure port after  the shipwrecks of the
 fourths and fifths4 ,the traveller need
 work no  more2 he has laboured         
faithfully1 let him enter into the joy  
of his  lord4 ,he returns one holidays  
having gained his second eleven colours4
  ,paternal pride is flattered1 and the 
spirit of welcome is only partially     
relaxed by the accompanying report4     
,about a week later the following       
conversation takes place over a glass of
 port4           ,son3 ,i say1 father1  
don't you think all these classics are  
rather       a waste of time8           
,father3 ,well1 ,i don't know1 my boy4  
,i did them myself1 you know4           
,son3 ,of course1 father1 of course2 but
 things were a bit       different then1
 and besides you were so much better at 
them than ,i       am4         ,father3 
,oh1 well1 if you put it like that1 my  
boy1 well1       perhaps----            
,son3 ,you see1 father1 ,i thought it   
would be rather a good idea       for me

 to read history4         ,father3      
,history1 my boy1 whatever for8         
,son3 ,well1 ,i was thinking of taking  
up politics1 father1 and       anyway1  
history scholarships are awfully easy to
 get4 ,that ass1       ,kenneth1 got    
one--you know1 the fellow in the ,school
 ,house with the       yellow hair4 ,if 
you'd just drop a line to ,chief1       
father1 ,i'm sure       he would be only
 too glad4444      ,one more pilgrim has
 arrived at ,mecca4    ,the higher up   
the school one goes1 the less work one  
does4 ,after a few  terms the habit of  
work is lost1 and the only real         
diligence is  displayed by that         
melancholy type of scholar who is       
trained like a pet  ,pomeranian4        
,this is not an ideal apprenticeship for
 life4 ,it starts a boy with an         
entirely false idea of the position that
 his work should occupy in his  life4 ,i
 do not wish to seem parsonic1 but1 if  
the experience of  practically every big
 man that has ever lived means anything 

to us1 we  do know that a man's         
happiness1 or unhappiness1 depends in   
the main on  whether his employment is  
congenial to him4 ,work is the finest   
antidote  to boredom4 ,and a public     
school boy has not realised this by the 
time he  is on the threshold of his     
career4 ,he does not consider that the  
choice  of his career should be the     
expression of his temperament4 ,he      
drifts  into the most accessibly        
remunerative job4 ,he brings to it no   
enthusiasm4    ,the trouble is that     
school life lasts too long and is far   
too jolly4 ,six  years is a long time4  
,a boy of thirteen can hardly be        
expected to  realise that it is only a  
prelude4 ,the years pass so happily1 the
  pursuit of ambition is so engrossing  
that he has no time to consider  whether
 the prizes he is winning have any      
lasting value4 ,as the new boy  he longs
 to be captain of the school3 and1      
having set himself a task1 he  does not 
shrink from the contest4 ,school life is

 so vast1 so varied1 so  many-coloured  
that it would be difficult for a boy to 
relinquish his  hold upon the ambition  
that lies close to him in favour of the 
shadowy  ambitions of the life that lies
 beyond it4 ,school life is too big a   
pedestal for the statue that is to be   
placed on it4 ,it dwarfs what it  should
 present4 ,the boy finds on leaving     
school that an entirely  different      
technique is required4 ,it is not that  
the standards are  changed1 but the     
whole manner of life is altered4    ,his
 school career was divided neatly into  
stages4 ,he could at any moment  consult
 a house list and see how he was        
progressing on the road to  authority4  
,at such a period he should have reached
 the ,fifth table4 ,if  he were one day 
to get into the ,fifteen1 he should by  
his sixteenth  birthday have got his    
house cap4 ,everything was mapped out4  
,the rungs of  the ladder were labelled4
 ,colt's ,cap1 ,house ,cap1 ,seconds1   
,firsts1 ,fourth  ,form1 ,fifth ,form1  

,sixth4    ,in business he finds no such
 ladder4 ,his abilities are placed upon 
the  open market4 ,he is fighting an    
intangible foe4 ,he has to come to terms
  with himself4 ,he feels that he is    
driving into the void4 ,he also finds   
that he has to rearrange his scale of   
values4 ,athletic distinction is  not   
greatly prized in ,wall ,street1 and the
 young man who1 when asked to  present  
his qualifications1 remarks that his    
batting average was over  thirty1       
without a single not-out score to help  
it1 is likely to receive  a rude shock4 
,i spent a few months before ,i went to 
,sandhurst in the  ,inns of ,court      
,o4,t4,c4 7a corps that had1 by that    
time1 ceased to be  composed of         
ex-public school men71 and it was a blow
 to discover that  the fact that ,i had 
been in my school eleven and fifteen    
made not the  slightest impression on   
any of the ,n4,c4,o4's4    ,it may be   
that a readjustment of one's standards  
is a healthy  experience4 ,but that is  

hardly the attitude that officials could
 safely  adopt4 ,the public school      
system is supposed to produce trained   
citizens1  who are in harmony with their
 environment4 ,and that is exactly what 
the  public school boy is not4 ,he tries
 to tackle life with the scale of       
values that he learnt to apprehend at   
school4 ,and it is not an easy  task4   
,some1 indeed1 never accomplish it4     
,they never readjust themselves4  ,they 
surround themselves with old friends1   
revisit their old schools1  endeavour to
 recapture the old atmosphere4 ,they    
regret vaguely that  something has      
passed4 ,like ,jurgen1 they return in   
quest of their youth1  but the distorted
 shadow of ,sereda prevents them from   
entering  completely their former       
selves4 ,in ,the ,harrovians ,arnold    
,lunn makes  two of his characters      
discuss this question4    ',there's     
,west1 for example1' ,peter said1 'he'll
 never be such a blood  again4 ,he      
hasn't any brains4 ,he couldn't even    

struggle into the ,upper  ,school1 but  
he's a mighty man here4 ,rather a pity1 
,i think1 that life  should reach its   
highest point at nineteen4 ,this ought  
only to be a  beginning4'    ,that      
states the case4          ,,chapter ,,xi
    ,,the ,,old ,,boy ,,as              
,,schoolmaster ,,and ,,parent           
,fears for the future and regrets for   
the past are alike forgotten during  the
 last week4 ,there are sad moments1 but1
 as ,arnold ,lunn remarked1  'there is a
 world of difference between the        
pleasant sorrow of sentiment  and the   
more real depression that coincides with
 an overdraft at the  bank4' ,the last  
week is passed in a mood that ,i once   
heard described as  'happy-sad4' ,on the
 last ,sunday in chapel the boy who is  
leaving  endeavours to summon the       
appropriate emotion4 ,he knows how he   
ought to  feel4 ,he has been instructed 
by so many stories4 ,he is1 in a way1 an
  actor in a drama4 ,he knows that the  
fag on the other side of the aisle  is  

looking at him1 is saying to himself3   
',this is ,jones's last chapel4  ,what  
is he feeling8' ,and1 like an actor1    
,jones does not want to  disappoint his 
audience4 ,he feels as he should feel4  
,there is a lump at  the back of his    
throat4 ,but1 on the whole1 leaving is  
an exciting  experience4    ,there is   
the auction of study furniture1 when    
pictures that cost five  shillings when 
they were new1 fetch seven and six in   
their fourth year  of service4 ,there   
are the calls to be paid to masters1 the
 'good-byes'  and 'good lucks4' ,it is  
the abdication of office when one is at 
the  height of one's authority4 ,it is a
 fine gesture that 'immeasurable  power1
 unsated to resign1' to be able to step 
straight out from the  lighted room1    
before the corroding forces of change   
have begun to work1  and before habit   
has dulled applause4 ,the exit is made  
at exactly the  right moment4 ,the      
curtain falls on a dramatic climax4 ,and
 how rarely  that happens4    ,in a     

temper of wistful sentimentality and    
self-satisfaction1 arrayed in  the      
colours of the old boys' society1 the   
ex-public school boy leans out  of the  
carriage window1 waves good-bye to the  
friends who are catching a  later train1
 makes and extracts promises to write1  
and watches as the  train moves out of  
the station the familiar landmarks slip 
one by one  behind him4    ,a           
sentimental1 that is to say1 a          
superficial emotion passes quickly4 ,and
  it depends on the kind of life which  
awaits a boy1 whether or not this       
sentimental regret will be followed by  
an acute sense of loss4    ,if he is    
going up to the university or to some   
remunerative and  interesting           
employment1 it is probable that he will 
forget school  altogether in the        
fascination of a new life4 ,if1 however1
 he is destined  for some dull          
unromantic post in the city1 the thought
 of school will  for a long time wake in
 him a deep1 hopeless nostalgia4 ,he    

will bring no  enthusiasm to his work1  
and1 as he sits at his high desk1       
balancing  ledgers1 computing insurance 
policies1 adjusting income-tax returns1 
he  will compare the monotony of his    
routine with the coloured movement and  
variety of school4 ,as he walks to his  
office he will remind himself that  at  
this moment the morning chapel is just  
ending4 ,the school will be  pouring    
across the courts4 ,if he were there he 
would be walking arm in  arm with some  
friend of his to the class-room1        
stopping on the way some  intelligent   
friend to demand the elucidation of     
certain tiresome  theorems4 ,as he      
returns to the office after lunch he    
will say to  himself3 ',if ,i were there
 now ,i should be changing for football4
 ,i  should have before me the prospect 
of a hard game and a bath afterwards1   
and a long1 lazy evening in front of the
 games study fire4' ,and1 at the  end of
 the day1 on his return to his home or  
diggings1 he is lonely with  the        

recollection of how often at such a time
 he has sat in the  class-room waiting  
impatiently for the clock to strike1    
waiting for the  moment of freedom when 
he can gather his books under his arm   
and rush  back to the house to tea1 to  
the four delightful hours of friendship 
and  discussion that lie in that        
enchanted period between lock-up and    
lights  out4 ,school life never means so
 much to a boy as it does during his few
  months after he has left it4 ,for he  
sees it transfigured in his             
imagination2 he remembers nothing of the
 tiresome demands of routine1  nothing  
of the friction between boys and        
masters1 nothing of the long  boring    
hours in form when he watched the patch 
of sunlight drift across  the wall1     
nothing of the anxieties1 the           
annoyances1 the restrictions of  a      
cloistered life4 ,he sees it purged of  
the accidental1 a city of his  own      
fashioning4    ,it does not last1 of    
course1 this intense nostalgia4 ,no     

young man can  live for very long in the
 past4 ,new interests come to him1 he   
finds new  fields for his ambition4 ,he 
makes friends in his office4 ,he joins a
  tennis club1 he takes dancing lessons4
 ,he sets out in search of life4 ,he    
ceases1 at every vacant moment of the   
day1 to compute what he would be  doing 
were he at school instead of at an      
office4 ,he thinks of the  innings he   
intends to play next ,saturday3 his eyes
 pick out on the  carpet an imaginary   
spot ten feet away from him1 and he     
considers what  shot he would play to a 
ball that pitched on it2 he also perhaps
 wonders  what exactly that charming    
lady with whom he had danced the night  
before1 had meant when she had said1    
with a peculiar inflection in her       
voice3 ',you're growing up4'    ,his    
correspondence with his old friends     
becomes spasmodic4 ,he no longer  writes
 to his house master once a month4 ,the 
arrival of a letter with  the school    
crest on it ceases to excite him as it  

did4 ,the school  magazine becomes full 
of names that are meaningless to him4   
,he notes  with disgust that ,baxter1 in
 his day a miserable little squirt1 has 
got  into the ,eleven2 and that that    
goggle-eyed ass1 ,barton1 is head of the
  school4 ,he asks himself at ,christmas
 whether it is worth his while to  renew
 his subscription1 and decides that it  
is not4 ,from time to time he  reads in 
,the ,sportsman of the feats of his     
school ,fifteen1 and  remarks without   
enthusiasm that ',fernhurst must be     
pretty strong this  year4' ,his school  
life has dropped from him as a coat that
 he has  outgrown4 ,it belongs to the   
past1 and he is living in the future4   
,school  will not mean much to him for  
another twenty years1 till the time     
comes1  that is to say1 when he will    
have to send his son to school4    ,then
 will he recover his youth1 and live    
again his school days in his  son1 only 
more intensely1 because he will be      
living them in his  imagination4 ,in the

 achievements of his son he will        
recognise the ghost  of his old         
ambitions4 ,his son's career will be    
more personal to him than  his own4 ,he 
will take more pleasure in his son's    
successes than the boy  will himself4   
,indeed a great deal of a boy's pleasure
 in his success  lies in his            
appreciation of the happiness that it   
will bring to his  father4 ,at no time  
in their lives do father and son come so
 close to one  another as during these  
years4 ,and it is at first sight        
surprising that  this intimacy should   
not produce that common ground on which 
difficulties may be openly discussed and
 quarrels healed4 ,for in spite  of this
 intimacy1 the relations between father 
and son are very often  superficial4    
,this statement may appear              
self-contradictory1 but a little        
examination  will show that this is not 
so4 ,we do not necessarily confide in   
the  people we love best4 ,let any man  
think of his friends and acquaintances1 

and he may be surprised to discover that
 he knows a great deal more  about his  
acquaintances than his friends4 ,i do   
not lay it down as a  fact that he will 
make this discovery4 ,i merely say that 
he may make it2  certainly a great many 
will4    ,at school1 where one has a    
vast number of acquaintances and a few  
friends1 ,i used to wonder sometimes how
 best one could draw the dividing  line 
between a friend and an acquaintance4   
,and ,i decided that the  difference lay
 in silence1 that with a friend one     
could be silent1  whereas with an       
acquaintance one could not4 ,if a friend
 walked into  one's study when one was  
busy1 one smiled and went on with one's 
work2  the friend picked up a book and  
read4 ,but if an acquaintance came in1  
one immediately stopped what one was    
doing2 one felt that silence would      
become embarrassing4    ,in the same way
 one does not1 in the company of a real 
friend1 feel the  need of personal      
confidences4 ,one likes being with him4 

,that is enough4  ,one sits over a fire 
and talks spasmodically1 with long      
silences  drifting into the             
conversation4 ,but with a person of whom
 one is not  particularly fond1 such    
desultory conversation is not adequate4 
,an  acquaintance is not1 in himself1   
sufficiently interesting--he is         
interesting in what he has done1 or is  
doing4 ,the need for confidences  is    
essential4 ,and so it is that most of us
 have acquaintances to whom we  recount 
all our discreditable exploits1 our     
romances1 our financial  enterprises1   
with whom we seem1 in fact1 remarkably  
intimate1 but whose  absence1 were they 
to pass out of our lives1 we should not 
greatly  regret4 ,the man who knows most
 about us very often matters least to   
us4  ,this is not a generalisation4 ,one
 cannot generalise about an abstraction 
like friendship1 that has a different   
meaning and a different message  for    
every individual man4 ,but such         
relationships are a common  experience2 

they are the more common in the degree  
that their subjects  are the more       
reserved4 ,and there is no more reserved
 class than that of  past and present   
public school boys4    ,this is1 at any 
rate1 the only explanation that ,i can  
find for the  superficial relations     
between son and father that are spread  
over so  deep a trust and intimacy4     
,they accept without appreciating this  
superficiality4 ,the father comes down  
at half term1 and he goes for a  walk   
arm in arm with his son1 along the      
slopes4 ,they discuss home  affairs and 
the external activities of school3      
football shop1 cricket  shop1 house     
politics4 ,they rarely touch on the     
boy's inner life2 the  father can only  
guess at what his boy is doing and      
thinking4 ,underneath  their love for   
each other they are strangers4    ,on   
the important issues of school life they
 are both driven to accept  the verdict 
of the house master or head master4 ,and
 he1 although he is  working in the dark

 on both sides of him1 is their only    
intermediary4    ,but the relationships 
between parents and children are too    
intricate for  so short a book as this4 
,indeed1 ,i doubt whether it is possible
 ever to  tackle satisfactorily a       
subject1 the nature of which alters with
 every  individual case4 ,one would be  
lost at once in a labyrinth of          
generalisations and exceptions2 ,lytton 
,strachey made no attempt to write  a   
history of the ,victorian era4 ,he      
selected and analysed a few  specimens2 
that is1 ,i believe1 the only way in    
which to deal with the  complex subject 
of parenthood4 ,and it can only be thus 
dealt with by the  story-teller1 by the 
man who says3 ',i care nothing for      
general  principles4 ,but this is how   
things went for one family4' ,in a      
general  study such as this1 it is quite
 impossible to dogmatise from individual
  cases4 ,but ,i would submit this facet
 of the relationship between father  and
 son as an important one in the study of

 school society4 ,it throws  the need   
for co-operation almost entirely on the 
schoolmaster4 ,it makes  his            
responsibility greater than he knows4   
,now there are three types of men to    
whom the scholastic profession makes    
its chief appeal4 ,there is the         
brilliant scholar1 the man with the     
double first1 who will turn out to be   
either completely incompetent1 or  will 
become a head master4 ,there is the     
athlete who takes a third1 or at  best a
 second in mods1 and on the strength of 
a blue1 returns as games  master to his 
old school4 ,lastly1 there is the       
idealist1 the man who  regards teaching 
as a calling and not a trade1 the man   
who may be either  an impossible crank  
or1 in his own line1 a genius4    ,the  
first class of master plays1 on the     
whole1 a small part in the  politics of 
school life4 ,if he is incompetent he is
 ragged in form and  his opinion carries
 no weight in the common room4 ,if he is
 successful1  he is a bird of passage1  

on his way to some rich head-mastership4
 ,he may  become a house master for a   
while1 but he is always looking beyond  
his  immediate surroundings4 ,he is     
ambitious4 ,he does not regard one      
school  as his compass4 ,always he is   
just outside the drama4    ,the second  
class1 however1 forms the backbone of   
tradition4 ,the old boy  comes back to  
his old school with an intense loyalty  
and with the  intention of staying there
 for the rest of his life4 ,his ambition
 is to  have the best house in the best 
school in the best county4 ,he is       
usually  a very fine fellow indeed1 but 
he represents eternally the spirit of   
reaction4 ,he lives in the standards of 
his youth4 ,he has had no  opportunity  
of testing those standards in another   
environment4 ,his whole  life has moved 
within the circle of one school4    ,he 
imbibed as a boy the public school      
spirit1 and he did not outgrow  that    
spirit at the university--hardly a proof
 of mental elasticity4 ,he  has no sense

 of progress or of change in the world  
for which he is  training the young4 ,as
 things have been1 so shall they be4    
,the old boy  turned house master is the
 most powerful force in the common room4
 ,he is  the chief obstacle that the    
enthusiast has to face4    ,with regard 
to the enthusiast1 one is tempted to put
 an asterisk against  the heading and a 
footnote1 ',vide the novels of ,s4 ,p4  
,b4 ,mais  passim1' and leave it at     
that4 ,for ,mr4 ,mais knows more about  
the  reception of this type of master   
than any other man in the kingdom4 ,he  
has himself a genius for teaching4 ,i   
cannot imagine a better ,english        
master4 ,he inspires enthusiasm in the  
confirmed slacker4 ,he is an  invaluable
 asset to any staff1 and yet nearly     
everywhere he has been met  by          
opposition4 ,his own story1 as set forth
 in ,a ,schoolmaster's ,diary1  is      
typical of the young movement4 ,only    
there is this difference1 that1  whereas
 ,mr4 ,mais has never yielded to the    

reactionary influences1 the  majority of
 young masters conform to the custom of 
the country4 ,their  position is        
extremely difficult4    ,they leave     
,oxford with high ambitions4 ,they have 
dissected and analysed  the system1 they
 have discovered the vital spot2 they   
are eager to put  their reforms into    
action4 ,they have wonderful schemes for
 inspiring  boys with a love of the     
beautiful1 with an interest in politics 
and  life4 ,they are prepared to be     
ruthless in their battle2 they will     
neither ask nor give quarter4 ,they will
 not be fettered to the  reactionary    
indolence of the intolerant and the     
effete4 ,they have a  mission and a     
purpose4 ,they bring a sword4 ,they     
arrive at school with a  quenchless     
ardour4    ,like the small boy home for 
the holidays1 they want to do everything
 on  the first day4 ,before they have   
had time to look round they are         
suggesting schemes for founding literary
 and dramatic circles3 they want  to    

open a political debating society where 
there shall be files of ,the  ,nation   
and ,the ,daily ,news4 ,they start a    
mile race at the speed of a  hundred    
yards and find themselves alone in the  
void4 ,every one else is  going at a    
very leisurely pace4 ,there is no need  
for hurry4 ,their whole  life is before 
them4 ,the school has been in existence 
a very long while4  ,it is moving in its
 own time to its duly appointed ends4   
,the young  enthusiast grows impatient3 
like most intense people he is tactless 
and  makes mistakes4 ,he ignores his    
colleagues1 or interferes with their    
arrangements4 ,he creates an atmosphere 
of opposition4 ,this is1 of  course1    
what he has anticipated4 ,the fight1 he 
feels1 is going to begin4  ,but the     
nature of the fight is very different   
from what he had expected4    ,it is not
 waged with the intolerant and the      
effete1 but with men whom he  cannot    
help admiring4 ,he cannot make himself  
hate his enemies4 ,the old  boy house   

master1 it cannot be too often repeated1
 is a very fine  fellow4 ,and his point 
of view is reasonable4 ,he has given his
 youth1 his  energy1 his ambition to his
 school4 ,he has cared for nothing else4
 ,he  has allowed many of the good      
things of life to pass him because of   
this  unwavering devotion1 and it is    
natural that he should resent the       
intrusion of a young fellow who has not 
had time to learn to love the  school1  
but who wants to overturn the most      
cherished privileges4    ,and his       
methods are so impeccably direct and    
honest4 ,he does not go  behind the     
young man's back to the head master4 ,he
 has the young man  into his study for a
 chat2 he looks him straight in the     
face4 ,he says3  ',come now1 we've got  
to have this out4' ,and the young man   
finds it so  desperately hard not to    
admire him4 ,he endeavours to open a    
discussion3  he states his case4 ,for a 
moment he seems to forget the personal  
issue  in the case4 ,confidence comes   

back to him4 ,he develops his argument1 
and  then1 just when he feels that his  
grip is closing on the contest1 he is   
beaten by that disarming sentimentality 
which is the most powerful of  all the  
old boy's weapons4    ',my dear fellow1'
 he will say1 'you have your point of   
view and ,i have  mine4 ,we are both in 
our own ways working for the good of the
 school2  why must we quarrel8 ,we are  
fighting the same fight4 ,but we can do 
nothing unless we stand together4 ,i've 
given my whole life to the cause2  you  
are just beginning4'    ,the acceptance 
of this offer of friendship and         
co-operation means  defeat4 ,the young  
man knows it4 ,but it is so hard to     
refuse4 ,the rebel  in any sphere of    
life has no harder task than the cutting
 adrift from  his own caste and the     
subsequent alliance with men of         
different  upbringing and different     
standards4 ,he sees1 on the one hand1 a 
vast  number of noble1 if bigoted men1  
men whom he can trust and admire4 ,and1 

on the other side1 as a setting for the 
few idealists in whose  principles he   
believes1 the arrayed forces of envy1   
greed1 and malice4  ,the temptation to  
cling to what he knows and what secretly
 he admires  is too great4 ,most of the 
young enthusiasts give way soon4 ,they  
join the  forces of reaction4    ,and   
those that stand out are inevitably     
broken4 ,what chance have they  after   
all8 ,the modern intellectual is        
something of a negativist4 ,his         
tolerance is composed of indifference   
and uncertainty4 ,he sees life in  the  
words of ,jurgen as a 'wasteful and     
inequitable process1' and does  not     
discern clearly how to alter it4 ,his   
philosophy is a series of               
disappointments4 ,he is bound to go down
 before a bigotry that is certain  of   
itself4 ,the forces of reaction are so  
powerfully entrenched4 ,the old  boy    
house master knows exactly what he wants
 and how he proposes to get  it4 ,he    
advances down a straight road4 ,his     

enemies pause and wonder and  question  
themselves4    ,the bigot usually makes 
the best administrator4 ,he is not      
worried by  abstractions4 ,he is certain
 of his ends and can devote all his     
attention  to the means4 ,the tolerant  
head master1 the man who sees both      
points of  view1 is overcome in the end 
by preponderating faith and sincerity of
  reaction4 ,the new man is invariably  
subjugated1 or else is made to go4  ,no 
head master would be anxious to take his
 side4    ,the games master type is     
intensely popular with parents and old  
boys4 ,he  represents for them the      
public school spirit4 ,he is a fixed1   
immutable  principle in which they can  
place their trust4 ,they would be       
intensely  worried were they to learn   
that the head master had taken the side 
of a  new man against their old friend4 
,the subject would be discussed in the  
clubs3 ',there's trouble brewing at     
,fernhurst1' they would say4 ',this new 
head master is a liberal4 ,he's         

quarrelling with old ,aiken4 ,i don't   
like  the look of it4' ,and the position
 of the school would be shaken4 ,parents
  would send their sons elsewhere4 ,the 
numbers would drop4 ,unpleasant         
questions would be put to the head      
master at the next meeting of the       
governors4 ,it is the old trouble of the
 merchant and his goods4 ,parents  have 
to be placated4 ,they have been assured 
that 'all is for the best in  the best  
of all possible schools'2 and1 when they
 hear rumours of  dissension they       
naturally imagine that something must be
 wrong with that  particular school4 ,it
 is not so everywhere4 ,they remind the 
head master  of his own official        
utterances4 ,and it is not easy after   
prophesying  smooth things to satisfy   
the complaints of those who find them   
hard4    ,a head master has to reach his
 ends through infinite tact and patience
  and through a long series of          
compromises4 ,he has to be something of 
an  opportunist4 ,he has to give reasons

 other than the true ones for what he   
does4 ,he has to promote progress       
secretly1 while he advocates            
conservatism4 ,and it is hard to remain 
true to oneself while playing the       
,jekyll and ,hyde game4 ,motives become 
involved2 there is too much  diplomacy1 
and the forces of reaction1 whatever    
else they be1 are  distinctly honest4   
,certainly he cannot allow the clumsy   
enthusiasm of a  young man to complicate
 his vexed existence4 ,and the young man
 has  either to break or bend4 ,usually 
he bends4 ,he has1 after all1 to        
consider his own career4 ,he compromises
 with himself4 ,he manages to  persuade 
himself that he is not really yielding1 
but that he is adopting  different      
tactics1 attacking the enemy from       
another side4 ,he decides to  do his    
work of reform quietly1 without         
ostentation4 ,other people can do  their
 own way if they like4    ,that         
compromise is the start of a long       
process of self-deception4 ,when  he    

becomes a house master it will be so    
simple to put off parents with  excuses4
 ,he will be able to justify himself1 to
 say3 ',these are stupid  folk4 ,they   
will worry me if ,i encourage them4 ,i  
have my work to do4 ,i  must pacify them
 and get on with it4' ,and so the circle
 completes  itself4 ,the young man who  
sets out to reform school life1 who     
brought to  the task a fine1 untried    
energy1 ends in evasion1 compromise and 
self-deception4 ,boys1 parents1 and     
masters are working at cross  purposes4 
,there are certainly a large number of  
entries on the debit side of the        
ledger4 ,it remains to be decided what  
hand has written these entries and      
whether it is possible to erase them4   
,to a large extent they are due to  four
 things3 the moral issue2 the cult of   
athleticism1 which is regarded  as an   
antidote to immorality2 the conspiracy  
of silence that exists  between parents 
and boys and masters1 and the long      
period a boy spends  at school--the six 

years that separate so unduly the junior
 from the  senior1 that accentuate the  
blood system1 that erect a wall shutting
 out  the world at large4 ,school life  
is too much of a walled garden1 too much
  of a world in itself4 ,it has remained
 monastic1 it has not established       
contact with the movements of the hour4 
,,chapter ,,xii    ,,some ,,suggestions3
 ,,the ,,leaving ,,age ,,with ,,regard  
,,to ,,morals      ,the ardent idealists
 with their thousand pretty schemes for 
the  regeneration of mankind1 find no   
difficulty in allotting a few panaceas  
to the ,public ,school4 ,we hear of the 
'new world' and of the 'new  spirit1'   
and there is glib talk about the phoenix
 and the ashes4 ,a few  laws have to be 
passed1 a few peasants educated and     
there will be an end  of competition4   
',the strong will support the weak1 the 
clever work  unselfishly for the general
 good4 ,wealth and intellect will be    
placed at  the service of the state4    
,the relations of the sexes will be     

ordered by  eugenics4'    ,it is all    
very jolly1 and unless to-day one       
subscribes unfalteringly to  this belief
 in a new world1 one is called a        
reactionary and a  materialist4 ,the    
millennium1 we are told1 is round the   
corner4 ,the  finest intellects of      
thirty centuries may have failed to find
 it1 but  the farm labourer has only to 
spend a few half-hours with an ,english 
grammar to discover it at his feet4 ,it 
must be very nice to believe all  that1 
to be able to comfort oneself in dark   
moments with the assurance  that for    
one's children's children life will be a
 happy hunting ground4  ,it must be a   
drug more potent than laudanum1 more    
sweet than hashish4  ,but it is of small
 avail in the dust and traffic of       
humanity4 ,in the  case of the ,public  
,schools we shall do well to examine    
what is at hand  and prescribe what     
cures we may1 without the indulgence of 
distant  speculation4    ,the four main 
objects of criticism1 then1 are the     

moral question1 the  evil of            
athleticism1 the false scale of values  
that is inculcated at a  ,public        
,school1 and the subsequent conspiracy  
of silence4 ,on the moral  question the 
advanced idealists have talked more and 
to less purpose  than on any other phase
 of school life4 ,they have written of  
the  discovery of the soul1 of the      
unfolding of the flower4 ,they have     
maintained that through art and         
literature the boy's emotional nature   
will be directed to a higher1 a nobler  
conception of life4 ,the  psycho-analyst
 speaks of 'sublimation1' and they have 
fastened on to  this clich4 ,was not    
this what they had been saying so long1 
in other  words--the sublimation of the 
sexual impulse8    ,now1 in the case of 
a celibate priest or a maiden lady it   
is1 no doubt1  highly desirable and     
perhaps possible to sublimate an impulse
 which has  been and in all probability 
will be1 denied natural satisfaction4   
,but it  is a pretty hopeless job to    

sublimate an impulse that has every hope
 and  prospect of complete1 direct1 and 
natural realisation2 and that is the    
task that the advocates of flowers and  
poetry and the dawn have set            
themselves4 ,if we are to change the    
moral tone of a ,public ,school we      
shall have to find either an alternative
 system1 or we shall have to  modify in 
some way the existing system4    ,two   
alternatives are offered3 co-education  
and the day school4 ,in  neither case   
should immorality be general or serious1
 and the number of  romantic friendships
 correspondingly slight4 ,it seems      
hardly possible  that a normal healthy  
boy would be attracted by a smaller boy 
when1 at a  school like ,bedales1 he    
would be constantly in the company of   
young and  charming scholars4 ,and      
though the day boarder lives for the    
greater part  of his day in a monastic  
society1 he spends the majority of his  
spare  time outside it4 ,and during the 
week-ends he has full opportunity to    

continue any romance on which he may    
have embarked during the previous       
holidays4 ,although it is only possible 
for me to speak here from  second-hand  
information1 it can be assumed1 ,i      
think1 that at the  co-educational and  
day school the moral question must sink 
to  comparative unimportance4 ,it has to
 be considered1 however1 whether this   
relegation compensates for the          
consequent disadvantages4               
,co-education is1 of course1 a new game1
 and it is difficult to write of  it    
with confidence4 ,at a lecture that ,i  
gave about three years ago1 a  young    
woman rose from the back of the hall and
 asked 'what ,mr4 ,waugh  thought about 
co-education8' ,i had1 as a matter of   
fact1 thought about  it very little1 but
 ,i felt that ,i could hardly confess as
 much4 ,i said1  therefore1 something   
about 'co-education being excellent for 
delicate  and sensitive boys who would  
find ,public ,schools too rough for     
them4'  ,the young woman then           

indignantly demanded what the girls had 
done to  deserve the companionship of   
only delicate and sensitive boys4 ,it   
was an  unanswerable protest1 but having
 since then thought the matter over more
  carefully1 ,i believe that1 if the    
same question were put to me to-day ,i  
should make the same reply4 ,it may be  
that such a reply would be based  only  
on prejudice and a preconceived idea4   
,but1 after all1 the evil that  one     
knows is better than the evil that one  
does not know4 ,and who would  wish away
 his school days4    ,if you were to ask
 a small boy of thirteen whether he     
would prefer to go  to ,uppingham or    
,bedales1 he would promptly reply       
',uppingham4' ,if1 two  years later1 you
 were to say to him3 ',would you rather 
have gone to  ,bedales than ,uppingham8'
 he would reply3 ',lord1 no4' ,if at the
 end of  his last term1 when it was all 
over1 you were to ask him whether he    
regretted his choice1 he would say3     
',good ,god1 no6' ,and1 twenty years    

afterwards1 when the time had come for  
him to decide where he should  send his 
son1 were you to ask him yet again3     
',bedales or ,uppingham8' he  would     
reply without hesitation1 ',uppingham4' 
,why1 after all1 should he depart from  
an old allegiance4 ,he knows  nothing of
 ,bedales1 nothing of the troubles and  
adversities that his son  will have to  
face there4 ,he will be unable to help  
him1 he will be  denied that greatest   
privilege of fatherhood1 the            
unquestioning trust  of the son who     
knows that his father has trod every    
inch of the way  before him4 ,father and
 son rarely come so close to one another
 as they  do during those five years at 
a ,public ,school4 ,they are living     
practically the same life2 the father   
finds his lost youth in the son4  ,is it
 likely that he will abandon such a     
certainty for a supposed and  uncertain 
good4 ,the public school system was     
formed round certain  distinct traits in
 the ,british character4 ,it is the     

expression of the  national temperament4
 ,nearly every one is happy at a ,public
 ,school4 ,it  is the manner of life    
that we enjoy1 that is in sympathy with 
our tastes  and customs4 ,the reformers 
may say what they will4 ,you cannot turn
 a dog  from the food it loves4 ,this   
attitude to co-education may be         
illogical1  it may be prejudiced1 it may
 be reactionary--,i do not know4 ,one   
can only  restate the fact that we are  
content to be old-fashioned people4     
,the case of the day school cannot be so
 summarily dismissed4 ,at a first  sight
 indeed it appears to possess all the   
advantages and none of the              
disadvantages of a ,public ,school4 ,a  
boy acquires esprit de corps1 but  is   
saved from wild partisanship4 ,he       
strengthens the qualities of courage    
and independence as fully as he would at
 a ,public ,school1 and the home        
influence is maintained4 ,his moral     
lapses1 if any1 are likely to be        
occasioned by the attractions of the    

other sex4 ,my friend1 ,mr4 ,oscar      
,browning1 has indeed often assured me  
that the day school is the only         
possible solution of the difficulty1 and
 in a symposium on the ,english  ,public
 ,schools he wrote that ',house         
rivalries and the overwhelming          
importance of house matches cannot exist
 in day schools where boys live  with   
their families1 nor is school life      
likely to be so communal4' ,many  other 
educational authorities1 whose testimony
 one must respect1 have  expressed their
 faith in day schools4 ,certainly the   
claim of the day  school must be        
carefully examined4 ,and it is with     
diffidence that ,i  approach the task4  
,at most boarding schools the day boy is
 looked down upon4 ,for some  obscure   
reason the day boy always seems to be   
inferior to the boarder4  ,he is rarely 
prominent in games or work4 ,one ceases1
 indeed1 to regard  him as a member of  
the school4 ,he comes into form1 he     
writes his prose1  he attends corp      

parade1 he plays his games4 ,but1 at six
 o'clock1 when  the bell rings for tea  
and the intimate life of the day begins1
 he  collects his books and hurries     
across the courts and passes into       
another  life4    ,the period between   
lock-up and lights out is in retrospect 
the most  charming part of the day4 ,the
 troubles of the day are over4 ,lessons 
have  to be prepared in prep41 but they 
will not be heard till the next         
morning4 ,time enough to worry about    
that after breakfast4 ,it is after  tea 
that one packs twelve people into a     
study measuring eight feet by  four and 
discusses the prospects of the house in 
the ,two ,cock1 the  'latest case1' and 
,evans's chance of getting into the     
,fifteen4 ,prep4 is  but a pause in the 
discussions of these momentous          
trivialities4 ,after  prayers there is  
an hour in which to brew coffee and     
renew the  endlessly attractive         
conversation4 ,these are the times of   
friendship and  good feeling1 and they  

are lost to the day boarder4 ,like the  
new boy1 he  is outside the life of the 
school4 ,he moves in a different        
environment2  he has different          
interests1 he cannot enter into the     
eager loyalties and  aversions of house 
politics4 ,in a school such as ,clifton1
 where there  are a large number of day 
boys1 the position is1 of course1       
different4  ,the day boy there occupies 
a definite social status4 ,instead of   
being  attached to a house for games1 he
 is grouped into that sector of the     
town in which he happens to live4 ,his  
friends are leading much the same  life 
as he is4 ,but it can scarcely be denied
 that the day boarder loses  a great    
deal of the charm of a communal life4   
,what does he gain to compensate for    
that loss8    ,he is protected to a     
large extent from the moral lapses      
peculiar to a  ,public ,school4 ,he will
 develop through normal channels4       
,though1 as he  will in chapel and in   
his school listen to addresses that are 

based on  the accepted official         
attitude1 it is a little doubtful       
whether he will  find himself in this   
respect much more satisfactorily        
educated than the  boarder4 ,at any rate
 he should be saved the disquieting     
experiences of a  romantic friendship1  
and he will be less of a slave to the   
partisanship  and house feeling4 ,but   
does he gain anything else8    ,we hear 
a great deal about the value of home    
influence1 but what does  home mean for 
the day boy8 ,he rushes home at the end 
of the day1 has  his tea1 and then      
settles down to prepare his lessons4 ,by
 the time he  has finished them it is   
time for him to go to bed4 ,he has had  
little  opportunity for talking either  
to his father or his mother4 ,in the    
morning he has only time to rush his    
breakfast and hurry off to school4  ,it 
must be remembered also that the parents
 who send their sons to day  schools are
 usually not particularly well off4 ,it 
is one thing to come  home at the end of

 a hard day to the quiet seclusion of a 
warm and cosy  study where everything   
will be quiet and undisturbed4 ,it is   
another  thing to come back to a house  
that is making strenuous efforts to get 
things straight before the master of the
 house returns4 ,middle-aged  business  
men expect to find things made snug for 
them2 they do not want  schoolboys      
kicking about the place at the end of   
the day4    ,nothing is more            
uncomfortable than breakfast in the     
average suburban  family4 ,there is the 
flutter over the post1 the opening and  
shutting of  the paper1 the constant    
glances at the clock4 ,there is a       
banging of  doors1 and running up of    
stairs1 and the shouting over banisters4
 ,a sigh  of relief is heard when the   
front door closes behind the            
wage-earner4    ,in a large1 well-run   
house the domestic machinery moves so   
smoothly that  it is unnoticed4 ,in a   
small suburban villa these moments of   
arrival and  departure provide constant 

friction1 and it is from the small      
suburban  villa that the majority of day
 boarders are recruited4    ,in         
consequence the day boy starts his day's
 work at a disadvantage4 ,it  is like   
playing a cricket match on an opponent's
 ground4 ,one arrives a  little jaded4  
,the boarder is on the spot4 ,he has    
twenty-five minutes'  leisure between   
chapel and breakfast4 ,it is possible1  
of course1 that he  will pass these     
twenty-five minutes in a feverish       
attempt to prepare the  'con' for which 
he had been allotted an hour on the     
time-table of the  previous night4 ,but 
that is his own fault4 ,he has every    
chance of  starting the day fresh4    ,i
 cannot think that the rush of getting  
off in the morning and the  journey to  
school can be good for a boy of fifteen4
 ,it is a strain for a  full-grown man4 
,that twenty minutes' jolt in tubes and 
lifts is  exhausting4 ,no one arrives at
 the office perfectly fresh4 ,by the    
time  one gets back at night one is     

really tired4 ,the tube journey at the  
end  of a hard day completes one's      
weariness4 ,and on top of that weariness
  the day boarder has to do an hour and 
a half's preparation4 ,it is not  the   
ideal setting for successful work4      
,the day boy is also leading two lives  
at the same time4 ,he cannot shut  them 
away in watertight compartments4 ,they  
overlap4 ,it is1 no doubt1 for  the     
business man a great privilege and a    
great relief to be able to  return at   
the end of the day to a quiet evening in
 his wife's company4  ,but then he has  
not got to work at home1 and work       
implies friction4 ,the  worker wants an 
absence of outside influences4 ,he wants
 the company of  quiet folk who make no 
particular demands on his energy and    
patience1  with whom his relations are  
superficial and for whom he does not    
particularly care4    ,many writers make
 a failure of marriage because they put 
their study too  near their nursery4    
,the imaginative worker wants to be     

alone1 not only  while he is working1   
but for an hour before he starts working
 and for an  hour after he has finished 
working4 ,in many ways the army is the  
ideal  career for a writer4 ,he can do  
his two hours' writing after tea1 have  
his bath and change1 and go down to the 
ante-room1 where he can read his  paper 
quietly and chat superficially with     
people who make no demands on  him4     
,wherever there is an intimate          
relationship there is friction4 ,the    
proper adjustment of his work to his    
personal life is the most delicate  task
 a man has to tackle4 ,it is beyond the 
compass of a small boy4 ,for  the very  
reason that a boy loves his parents     
there will be friction2 a  strain will  
be placed1 that is to say1 upon his     
energy and patience4 ,the  boarder has  
fewer worries and1 in consequence1 is   
happier than the day  boy4    ,the      
advocates of 'home influence' must also 
remember that the day boy  takes his    
home for granted4 ,we cannot appreciate 

the value of anything  till we have     
either lost it1 or become separated from
 it4 ,home means a  great deal to the   
boarder4 ,holidays mark for him a       
complete change of  life1 to the day boy
 holidays mean little save the          
pleasurable cessation  of certain       
irksome duties4 ,he can stay in bed     
longer in the morning1 he  has not got  
to hurry his breakfast1 a free day lies 
in front of him4 ,he  will not have to  
waste his time over ,latin ,prose and   
,thucydides4 ,during  the term-time he  
has1 except during week-ends1 very few  
opportunities of  intimate conversation 
with his parents1 and because he has    
come to  regard their presence as a     
natural environment he does not1 during 
the  holidays1 make1 as the boarder     
does1 special efforts to see as much of 
them as possible4 ,the influence of a   
place need be no more effective  because
 one happens to live in it than the     
influence of a person because  one      
happens to be in his1 or her1 company4  

,it depends on the value set  on the    
place or person4 ,the boarder values his
 home more highly than the  day boy4    
,the influence of home is more likely to
 be felt by him than by  the day boy4   
,letters from home are an event in the  
boarder's life4 ,they  mean more than a 
walk on ,sunday morning1 and the hours  
are counted to  the half-term visit4    
,the day boy also comes far less into   
contact with masters than the  boarder  
does4 ,indeed the head master of a      
school can only have a  superficial     
knowledge of the boys that are entrusted
 to him4 ,he sees  them in the form room
 and on the cricket field4 ,but he does 
not watch  the development of the boy's 
character through his reactions towards 
and  away from the intrigues1 romances1 
and jealousies of house politics4       
,there is no constant theme1 only a few 
uncertain motifs4 ,the head  master has 
not sufficient material upon which to   
work4 ,the discovery of  so many clues  
is denied to him4 ,every boy at some    

time or other must  pause and wonder how
 much his head master really knows about
 him4 ,it is  a subject1 for most of us1
 of disquieting conjecture4 ,but the day
 boy  can dismiss it with an easy       
conscience4 ,school for him is a place  
in  which he works and plays1 but does  
not live4 ,indeed he is a child of no   
man's land1 passing between two         
countries1 a true citizen of neither4   
,there are those who say that parents   
are the only people who understand      
their children1 and will maintain that  
it is criminal to take young boys  away 
from their parents at an impressionable 
age and place them in  charge of        
schoolmasters who can know nothing about
 them4 ,but parents  are1 as a matter of
 fact1 as likely to make mistakes as any
 one else4    ,we find in anything what 
we bring to it4 ,and parents expecting  
their  sons to be brave1 truthful1      
obedient1 clever1 find them so4 ,an     
outside  opinion is of extreme value1   
and a house master or a head master is  

the  ideal person to give it4 ,when a   
house master and a father meet on equal 
grounds and discuss the son's welfare   
honestly1 the auspices could  hardly be 
more fortunate4 ,they so rarely meet1   
because parents and  schoolmasters do   
not trust each other1 because they have 
adopted the  false position of buyer and
 seller2 the combination remains1       
however1  none the less ideal4    ,i do 
not myself see what advantages the day  
school possesses over the  boarding     
school1 save those that are concerned   
with a particular facet  of morality1   
and beyond the weakening of a           
partisanship that is inclined  to put a 
boy in blinkers4 ,there are some very   
fine day schools in the  country1 but   
the day school1 especially of recent    
years1 has tended to  become an         
alternative for parents with large      
families who cannot afford  to send     
their sons to expensive boarding        
schools4 ,and1 after all1 the           
suggestion that day schools should be   

generally substituted for boarding      
schools is obviously impracticable4     
,many of the finest ,public ,schools are
 situated in remote parts of the        
country1 others in small towns that were
 once honoured with a monastery4  ,how  
are these venerable institutions to be  
converted into day schools4 ,a  few     
retired colonels might possibly form a  
colony in ,shoreham and send  their sons
 to ,lancing4 ,a convenient train would 
take them to ,brighton1  where they     
might walk on the promenade and recall  
the reckless  adventures of their youth4
 ,but civilisation draws us to big towns
 for  our livelihood4 ,however much the 
stockbroker might wish to send his son  
as a day boarder to ,shrewsbury1 he     
would find it quite impossible to do    
so4 ,the town of ,shrewsbury would      
provide no scope for his activities4 ,he
  could not possibly settle there4 ,a   
scheme that would involve the  complete 
alteration of the public school system  
can only be called a  revolution4 ,a    

reformer has to work on his existing    
material4 ,he cannot  say--wash it out  
and start again4 ,he cannot put back the
 clock4    ,mr4 ,oscar ,browning has    
said that when he went to ,eton in #ahea
 only five  schools could lay claim to  
the dignity of being called a ,public   
,school4  ,there must be at least fifty 
first-class ,public ,schools to-day2    
they are  nearly all boarding schools1  
and every few years a comparatively     
unknown  school proves itself a worthy  
competitor to older foundations4 ,it is 
not  the slightest use to say1 even if  
we believed it1 that day schools are    
better than boarding schools and leave  
the matter there4 ,a politician  might  
with equal ability draw up an elaborate 
defence of the feudal  system4 ,it may  
very well be that we should be all more 
happy if we could  reconstruct society  
on a feudal basis3 we might just as well
 express a  belief that our efficiency  
would be increased were a kindly        
providence  to dower us with wings4 ,it 

may be1 though ,i doubt it1 that the    
advocates  of the day school are in the 
right1 that under such a system of      
education immorality and the blood      
system would pass4 ,but it is for us  to
 discover some method by which the      
existing system may be so modified  as  
to produce of itself the required       
change4    ,now it is very tempting for 
a controversialist1 when he has         
completed  the arraignment of his       
enemies1 to slip hastily over the policy
 he  himself proposes to adopt4 ,i      
wonder how many letters have been       
addressed  to the press during the last 
seven years in which the writer1 having 
stated in strong terms the calamities to
 which a certain line of thought  or    
policy has reduced the country1 has     
demanded in a final paragraph  that     
'something should be done before it is  
too late4' ,he suggests  perhaps a      
'change of spirit4'    ,it is a good    
weapon that 'change of spirit4' ,we can 
all of us1 when  occasion demands1      

indulge in spirited invective2 we can   
all detect  numberless flaws and        
inequalities in the existing social     
system4 ,why1  for instance1 does our   
income run to three instead of to four  
figures4  ,why are we paying away a     
third of that small sum in income-tax8  
,the flow  of indignation is swift1 and 
by the time we have written our #iej    
words1  it is not hard to devote the    
remaining '#ej' to a general appeal for 
'some one to do something before it is  
too late4' ,every contributor to  the   
press has saved his argument like that  
some time or another4 ,and1 in  the case
 of ,public ,schools1 the trouble is    
that we can do little save  repeat the  
parrot cry of 'a change of spirit4' ,for
 it is 'a change of  spirit' more than  
anything else that is needed4    ,we are
 kept wondering1 however1 how that      
change is to be effected4 ,s4 ,p4  ,b4  
,mais used to say that ',literature     
would save us4' ,but literature is  only
 a part of life1 one channel of         

self-expression1 and in the case of     
,mr4 ,mais one is troubled by the       
knowledge that he1 himself1 is in many  
ways the ideal schoolmaster4 ,he has a  
genius for teaching4 ,he happens to     
have taught literature and mathematics1 
and because he taught them so           
successfully he has imagined that they  
are the panacea4 ,he is too modest  to  
realise any subject that he taught would
 have assumed the qualities  of a       
panacea1 that it was he and not his     
subject that was important4 ,he  could  
rouse his form1 if he wished1 to a high 
pitch of enthusiasm by a  lecture on the
 properties of ,cherry ,boot ,polish4   
,but 'he is alone1 the  ,arabian ,bird4'
    ,martin ,browne suggests religion4  
,and1 no doubt1 for the truly religious 
boy many of the difficulties of school  
life would be smoothed out4             
,unfortunately1 however1 religion plays1
 and will play1 a small part in a  boy's
 life at school4 ,a boy has been told to
 believe certain things by  his parents1

 and he has accepted these beliefs      
unquestioningly and  without enthusiasm4
 ,they have not been tested by          
experience4 ,they are  not real to him4 
,religion1 in its truest form1 rises out
 of the conflict  of a man's life4      
,faith is subconscious thought4 ,i do   
not think you can  expect the average   
small boy to be deeply influenced by    
religion4 ,his  religion1 if he has one1
 is an unswerving devotion to his house 
and  school4 ,he would be ready to      
sacrifice himself for what he considered
 to  be the school's service4    ,forty 
years ago a captain of my old house died
 after a kick on the head  received in  
the ,three ,cock1 the big house match of
 the year4 ,the brass  on the chapel    
wall which is dedicated to his memory1--
           ',te duce1 care ,puer1 pueri 
cum lusimus olim       ,optimus in cursu
 quem sequeremur eras       ,caelestem  
exacto tetigisti limite metam2          
,fratribus ab1 fratrem detur ad astra   
sequi4'      appealed far more to our   

imagination than the story of early     
martyrs4  ,action rather than           
contemplation is the essence of school  
life4    ,i am aware that many will     
disagree with this assertion4 ,both     
,martin  ,browne and ,jack ,hood made in
 their books a great point of religious 
teaching and early confirmation1 but ,i 
cannot help feeling that in this        
respect they are exceptional2 certainly 
if they had not been exceptional  they  
would not have written books2 religion  
has meant a lot to them1 and  they feel 
that it should do the same for others4  
,it is a mistake we all  make in our    
different spheres4 ,the poet thinks he  
will reform the world  by placing the   
poems of ,shelley in the hands of trade 
union officials2  and the small         
craftsman sees life redeemed by hand    
weaving and hand  pottery4 ,we all think
 that the prop that has supported us    
will support  others4 ,it is part of our
 egotism4 ,for the many1 to whom faith  
is not  intuitive1 religion needs a     

solid foundation of experience4    ,a   
change of spirit requires a change of   
setting1 and ,i am inclined to  think   
that this would be provided were boys to
 leave school at seventeen  instead of  
nineteen4    ,it would not1 perhaps1    
from the point of view of the moral     
question1  cause a very great diminution
 in the actual immorality between boys  
of  the same age and the same social    
position4 ,but it certainly would       
improve matters4 ,as things are at      
present1 the boy of fifteen and a  half 
occupies a pleasantly irresponsible     
position4 ,he has left behind  him the  
anxieties of the day room1 and the      
responsibilities of seniority  are still
 far distant4 ,his peccadilloes are not 
taken seriously4 ,he can  rag in form   
and smash windows in the studies without
 prejudice to his  future4 ,he has      
imbibed the example of ,prince ,hal4    
,for a while he may  rollick with       
,falstaff at the ,boar's ,head4 ,time   
enough to settle down  when the         

privileges of power draw nearer him4    
,for a good year and a half  he may make
 merry4    ,the lowering of the age     
limit would telescope events2 it would  
reduce  the period of revelry to a      
couple of months4 ,no sooner would a boy
 have  ceased to be a fag than he would 
be under the eye of authority as a      
candidate for responsibility4 ,a display
 of rhodomontade would prejudice  his   
future4 ,he would play for safety2 and  
such considerations would  certainly    
place a check on his moral lapses4 ,he  
would think twice4 ,if he  was          
discovered he would have no time to     
recover his position by  subsequent good
 behaviour4 ,he would be passed over in 
the struggle for  promotion4    ,to a   
certain extent the lowering of the age  
limit would prevent that  type of       
immorality that takes place between boys
 of the same age and  same position1 but
 only to a certain extent4 ,there always
 will be such  misconduct in schools2 it
 will never be possible to stamp it out 

entirely1 but it is possible to overrate
 its seriousness4 ,certainly the        
romantic friendship is more important1  
and it is because of the  romantic      
friendship that ,i advocate so strongly 
the lowering of the age  limit4    ,i   
have said that the romantic friendship  
is the natural growth of an  unnatural  
system2 but even a natural growth       
develops soon or late1  according to the
 soil in which it is planted and the    
climate by which it  is nourished4 ,the 
presence of boys of #ah to #ai1 by their
 example1 force  this growth like a     
hot-house atmosphere4 ,in a boy of      
eighteen the sexual  impulse has become 
defined4 ,he understands the            
implications of its  symptoms4 ,he is   
old enough to be married4 ,but the boy  
of sixteen is not  so sure of himself4  
,in him the impulse is wavering and     
undetermined4 ,he  does not understand  
the nature of the emotions that are     
moving him4 ,and  he only comes to      
understand it through the example of    

elder boys4 ,if a  boy were told nothing
 of the existence of romantic           
friendships1 of their  technique1 of the
 complicated moral code that allows this
 and denies  that1 if his curiosity were
 not continually quickened by stray     
references in sermons and addresses1 ,i 
believe that he would not1 at the  age  
of seventeen1 have realised that the    
friendship he felt for a  smaller boy   
was essentially different from that     
which he was feeling for  his           
contemporaries4 ,it would be a deeper1  
an intenser friendship1 but he  would   
not see that it possessed a different   
nature4 ,why should he8 ,the  schoolboy 
has read ,the ,hill4 ,he expects every  
,verney to find a  ,desmond4 ,so much   
has been written about the lasting      
friendships of  school life4 ,every boy 
must have his 'special friend4' ,why    
should he be  any different from his    
fellows8 ,there would be moments when he
 might  wish to caress his friend1 but  
he would immediately smother such a     

wish1  feeling it to be foolish1        
girlish1 unworthy of him4 ,he would be  
too  young1 he would not have the       
intellectual independence to be able to 
say  to himself3 ',this is what ,i want4
 ,and what ,i want is natural to me4    
,damn  anything else6' ,shadowy         
imaginings would haunt his reveries1 but
 they  would never become defined in    
action4    ,for a boy of eighteen it is 
different4 ,his impulses are strong2 he 
knows  now exactly what he wants4 ,and  
he is prepared to get what he wants4 ,he
  knows that the emotions he feels for a
 small boy are of a different  nature   
altogether from the friendship that he  
feels for his  contemporaries1 and the  
fact that there are boys in the school  
old  enough to have defined these       
emotions1 provides a hot-house          
atmosphere  for the development of      
younger boys4    ,to most people life   
comes at second hand4 ,they learn from  
books1  cinemas1 and plays what are the 
appropriate emotions and the correct    

procedure for any given situation4 ,the 
public school boy is no less            
conventional than his elders4 ,he allows
 his inclinations to be directed  into  
the accepted course4 ,he is surprised1  
in the first place1 by a  delightful and
 unexpected emotion2 but the surprise   
soon passes4 ,he has  formed just such  
another attachment as has been formed by
 practically  every senior boy in his   
house4 ,he exchanges confidences1 he    
seeks the  advice of some older boy1 and
 follows the convention4 ,if there were 
no  senior boys1 no example1 and no     
convention1 the first surprise of       
charmed bewilderment would endure4 ,in  
the course of time it might very  well  
be that out of that first romantic story
 would grow a deep1 mutual1  and lasting
 friendship4 ,but such a development is 
hardly possible in an  unnatural society
 where children and fully grown men are 
herded  indiscriminately together4      
,the example of elder boys1 moreover1   
not only defines the nature of          

half-perceived emotions2 it also forces 
emotions that would otherwise  remain a 
long while in bud4 ,there are many who  
consider it is the blood  thing to have 
a jeune ami2 that such a relationship is
 the privilege  of a house colour4 ,they
 want to be talked about4 ,they have    
themselves  spoken when juniors with    
bated breath of supposed 'cases4' ,they 
would  like to be spoken of like that   
themselves1 to feel themselves moving in
  an atmosphere of conjecture and       
intrigue1 to gather an added sense of   
their own importance4    ,besides this  
itch1 a natural one1 to occupy the      
limelight by copying the  customs of the
 great1 there is the subtle influence of
 indirect example4  ,in the same way    
that a boy who goes often to the theatre
 and the cinema  and observes there the 
charming processes of love1 begins to   
long for  tenderness1 and caresses1 and 
endearments1 so does the schoolboy who  
hears on all sides romantic confidences1
 find himself drawn into the  glittering

 circle4 ,this lure would at least be   
removed by the lowering  of the age     
limit4 ,that it would solve all the     
difficulties ,i would not  for a moment 
maintain4    ,we cannot imagine a world 
in which men and women will not desert  
or  betray each other2 in which husbands
 will remain faithful and the  unmarried
 chaste4 ,why should we expect school   
life1 which is the world  in little1 to 
be so startlingly different4 ,parents   
refuse to believe  that their own       
children are mortal3 ',these things1'   
they say1 'may  happen to our           
neighbour's children4 ,they do not      
happen to our own4' ,and  schoolmasters 
are only too anxious to reassure them4  
,parents have such  faith in their sons 
that they will believe in the most      
superficial  testimonials4 ,they are so 
anxious to be deceived4    ,for this    
reason ,i believe that a mere statement 
of facts has value4  ,there is much     
clamour to-day for reconstruction1 and  
the  controversialist who has not a cut 

and dried scheme for regenerating the   
world is looked on with disfavour4 ,but 
on sex questions1 which are after  all  
intensely personal questions1 which     
concern the individual in the  first    
place and society in the second1 only   
the superficial will  dogmatise4    ,i  
cannot do better than quote from        
,havelock ,ellis's ,general ,preface to 
,the ,psychology of ,sex3--             
',a resolve slowly grew up within me1'  
he writes1 'one main part of       my   
life-work should be to make clear the   
problem of sex4 ,that was       more    
than twenty years ago4 ,since then ,i   
can honestly say that in       all that 
,i have done that resolve has never been
 far from my       thoughts4444 ,now    
that ,i have1 at length1 reached the    
time for       beginning to publish my  
results1 these results scarcely seem to 
me       large4 ,as a youth ,i had hoped
 to settle problems for those that      
came after2 now ,i am quietly content if
 ,i do little more than state           

them4 ,for even that1 ,i now think1 is  
much4 ,it is1 at least1 the       half  
of knowledge4 ,in this particular field 
the evil of ignorance       is magnified
 by our efforts to suppress that which  
can never be       suppressed1 though in
 the effort of suppression it may become
       perverted4'      ,if this is the 
conclusion at the end of his work and of
 his life1 of  perhaps the greatest     
living authority on sex1 by what right  
does the  amateur produce cheerful      
remedies4    ,in the case of the ,public
 ,school it is indeed something to state
 the  problems4 ,there is so much       
ignorance to dispel2 the ignorance of   
mothers1 the ignorance of fathers who   
have themselves not been to a  ,public  
,school1 the conspiracy of silence of   
boys1 old boys and masters4  ,too much  
and1 at the same time1 too little1 is   
made of immorality4  ,schoolmasters     
assure us that its appearance is        
occasional1 but their  attitude to it is
 that of a doctor who suspects that his 

patient is  suffering from a malignant  
disease and watches all the time for    
signs of  it to appear4 ,the            
schoolmaster is always afraid lest he   
may be sitting  on a volcano4 ,he       
encourages the athletic cult as a       
preventative1 in the  belief that the   
boy who is keen on games will not wish  
to endanger his  health1 and that the   
boy who has played football all the     
afternoon and  has boxed between tea and
 lock-up will be too tired to embark on 
any  further adventures4 ,it does not   
occur to him that the boy will be       
equally too tired to do his prep4       
,such encouragement of the athletic cult
 is a confession of failure4 ,it  is as 
though the master were to say3 ',i know 
,i cannot interest you in  your work4 ,i
 know that unless ,i look after you1 you
 will land yourself  in all manner of   
mischief4 ,a man must have a god of     
sorts1 therefore  make unto yourself    
whatsoever manner of god you choose1 and
 ,i will see  that it receives a fitting

 reverence4'    ,the public school code 
of honour1 the majority of the          
standards1 indeed1  of school life are  
dependent on the athletic worship1 and  
the athletic  worship is in its turn    
largely dependent1 not so much on the   
moral  question1 as on the official     
attitude to the moral question4 ,too    
much  energy has been devoted to the    
damming of trickles1 while on another   
side of the hill the main stream has    
passed into the valley1 laying  waste   
the plains4    ,greater honesty between 
boys1 parents1 and masters would        
undoubtedly  achieve much4 ,but more    
than a change of spirit is required4 ,if
 no boy  was allowed to stay on at      
school after the term in which he became
  seventeen years old1 ,i believe that  
the moral question would1 to a large    
extent1 simplify itself4                
,,chapter ,,xiii    ,,the ,,leaving     
,,age ,,with ,,regard ,,to ,,athletics  
,but it is not only on account of the   
moral question that ,i would  advocate  

the lowering of the age limit4 ,such a  
reform would1 ,i believe1  make its     
influence felt on every side of school  
life4 ,it would not  alter1 but it would
 modify certain conditions4 ,the blood  
system would  still exist1 but less     
acutely4 ,the gap between the junior and
 senior  would be small4 ,at present a  
man of nineteen who has been tried for  
his  county eleven appears to the junior
 as a gorgeous giant4 ,he and his       
friends live in a world apart1 and they 
know it4 ,a good three years  separates 
him from the anxieties and indignities  
of the day room4 ,no  one1 save his     
actual contemporaries1 remember him as  
being anything but  a blood4 ,he is1 and
 has been1 a prince among mankind4 ,he  
idles through  his last two years1 a    
very splendid1 a very attractive figure2
 but1 as  we have already seen1 his is  
hardly the ideal apprenticeship for     
life4    ,if the leaving age were fixed 
at seventeen instead of nineteen1 so    
proud  a position would be unattainable4

 ,there would still be bloods1 still    
elegant creatures to saunter across the 
courts1 languidly arm in arm4  ,but a   
certain refinement would be missing4    
,the languor would be less  certain of  
itself1 it would seem to fear a sudden  
assault and a fierce  shout of ',jones1 
you young swine1 what right have you to 
shove on side8'  ,there is a difference 
between the blood of eighteen and the   
blood of  sixteen4 ,it is only four     
terms since the blood of sixteen was    
suffering  the last exaction of the law4
 ,he remembers vividly being beaten for 
ragging in the dormitories2 it is not so
 long since he was a fag4 ,if we  were  
suddenly transplanted on a magic carpet 
into the luxury of an  ,eastern court we
 should stand for some time in dazed    
bewilderment1  marvelling at what had   
happened to us1 wondering who were these
 comely  ,ethiopians that prostrated    
themselves before us4 ,for quite five   
minutes  we should lack the courage to  
give an order4 ,the blood of sixteen    

feels  like this2 can he have achieved  
so swiftly his ambition8 ,it is only    
yesterday that he was trembling in the  
presence of the great4 ,by the  time he 
has recovered from his bewilderment and 
is preparing to exert  his authority his
 year of office is at an end4    ,not   
only1 moreover1 is the sixteen year old 
blood unable to hold so  exalted an     
opinion of his own importance1 but his  
immediate juniors  refuse to recognise  
him as the gilded figure of romance4    
,the men on the  ,fifth ,form table     
remember when the head of the house     
helped them to  wreck ,bennett's study4 
,they cannot feel him to be so vastly   
superior to  themselves4 ,it is         
different for the blood of eighteen4 ,he
 has passed  slowly through many circles
 to the dignity of an ,olympian4 ,he has
  served his period of probation4 ,he   
was not a colt's cap one season and  the
 next a colour4 ,he took a year to pass 
from house cap to seconds1 and  another 
year from seconds to firsts4 ,he        

discovered himself gradually4 ,he  rose 
slowly to his greatness4 ,by the time he
 has reached his last year  the days of 
conflict are infinitely remote4 ,he can 
hardly believe it  possible that he was 
ever caned4 ,he is1 in fact1 a great    
deal too old  for a ,public ,school4    
,and as things are now it is impossible 
for any1  save the exceptional boy1 to  
reach a position of authority till he is
  eighteen1 or at least seventeen4    ,a
 great many boys do undoubtedly leave   
between the ages of sixteen and         
eighteen1 but by doing so they lose the 
most valuable lessons they  should learn
 at school4 ,a boy who leaves before he 
has been a house  prefect fails to put  
the coping stone to his education4 ,the 
responsibilities of prefectship are an  
invaluable experience4 ,and when  the   
house master begs the parent to let     
',arthur stop on another year1'  the    
parent naturally gives way4 ,and it is1 
of course1 always the wrong  type of    
person who stays on that extra year4 ,it

 is the clever1 the  brilliant1 the     
athletic boy1 the boy who already stands
 out above his  contemporaries and in   
the course of the next year will be even
 more  prominent1 that is encouraged to 
remain4 ,it would not matter if the dull
  boy stayed on another year4 ,his      
natural talents would not be sufficient 
to lift him to the rarefied atmosphere  
of ,olympus4 ,it is the second  eleven  
colour who is urged to stay on to get   
his firsts4 ,the fast bowler  who is    
asked to captain the side next year1 the
 exhibitioner who hopes  that another   
year's work will win him a scholarship  
at ,balliol4 ,the  great become more    
great1 and1 as their undistinguished    
contemporaries  fall out of the race1   
the gap between the prefect and the fag 
grows more  pronounced4 ,the            
intermediate steps are few and dimly    
seen4 ,it is not  surprising that the   
blood system should gloriously flourish4
 ,it would  not so flourish were the    
leaving age to be fixed at seventeen4   

,we have  the proof of this in the      
knowledge of what happened during the   
war1 when  the big men left suddenly in 
,august1 #aiad1 when boys of sixteen sat
 at  the ,sixth ,form table1 and when no
 one stayed on at school after his      
eighteenth birthday4    ,war conditions 
were1 of course1 abnormal4 ,it was      
inevitable that at such  a time the     
rewards of school life should lose their
 value4 ,it was  impossible to feel the 
old excitement about the result of a    
house match  when the morning paper had 
brought with it the story of ,neuve     
,chapelle4  ,the winning of cups and the
 gaining of colours ceased to be an end 
in  themselves4 ,for the boy who was    
prevented by lack of years from joining 
the army in #aiad school life became a  
period of probation1 of marking  time4  
,life in its fullest sense was waiting  
for him on the other side2  no prefect  
ever looked forward to ,oxford more     
eagerly than those of us  who were still
 at school in #aiae looked forward to   

the day when we  should join the army4  
,our imagination was quickened by the   
stories told  us by old boys returning  
from depts and from the front4 ,was it  
possible  that ,smith1 who had played   
with us only eight months earlier in the
 ,two  ,cock1 should be in charge of a  
company in the front line trenches8 ,we 
fretted at our tether2 our eyes were    
fixed on the future4 ,we scorned the    
prizes that lay to our hand4 ,we began  
to reconstruct our scale of  values3 it 
was not only the giants of the football 
field who were  winning honours for     
themselves and for the school in        
,france4 ,queer1  insignificant fellows 
who had never risen above the ,upper    
,fourth1 and  had never been in the     
running for a house cap1 came home on   
leave with  the blue and white riband of
 the military cross4 ,we began to       
realise  that it was not only the blood 
that was entitled to our respect4 ,the  
blood system received a rude shock in   
,august1 #aiad4 ,it will never1  unless 

we become involved in social revolution1
 receive such another4 ,i  believe1     
however1 that it would be considerably  
modified were the  leaving age to be    
altered4    ,there would be also less   
hooliganism and less bullying4 ,the     
third yearer  would no longer be in a   
position of reckless freedom4 ,studies  
would  still be stripped1 scholars would
 still be ragged1 but the process would 
be compressed4 ,the swash-buckling      
element would find itself sooner in     
authority4 ,the scholar would reach     
sooner the immunity of the ,sixth4 ,and 
the prefect would be no less capable of 
keeping order4 ,for1 after all1  the    
prefect owes his power as much to the   
system that is behind him as  to        
himself4    ,but perhaps the greatest   
difference that the change would effect 
would  be in the boy's attitude to his  
own life4 ,six years is a very long time
  to be in one place4 ,i remember at the
 end of my first year overhearing a     
conversation between the barber and a   

boy who was leaving the next day4       
',well1 ,mr4 ,meredith1' the barber was 
saying1 ',i suppose this is the last    
time ,i shall cut your hair4 ,i have cut
 it a good many times4'    ',i have been
 in this town1' said ,meredith1 'for ten
 years3 five years at  the prep1 and    
five years at the school4 ,i'm jolly    
well sick of it4'    ,it is certainly a 
mistake to send a boy to the prep4 of   
the school to  which he will one day go4
 ,ten years is too long4 ,but six is too
 long1  too--at that age4    ,it is not 
easy for any one under thirty to picture
 himself in six years'  time4 ,we look  
back and remember ourselves six years   
ago in the  discomfort and disquiet of  
khaki4 ,what a lot has happened since   
then4  ,who can tell what the next six  
years may hold8 ,very few men under     
thirty  can look far ahead1 and the new 
boy at a ,public ,school who can see his
  life mapped out for six years         
naturally does not look beyond them4 ,he
  hardly realises that there is a world 

outside4 ,he will have to travel so  far
 before he reaches it4 ,he comes to     
consider his ,public ,school not as  a  
prelude1 but as the whole sphere in     
which his personality has to move4      
,certain prizes and certain honours     
await him4 ,he does not pause to  think 
whether those prizes and those honours  
will be of much or little  service to   
him after he has put the cloistered     
world behind him4 ,not  only is he      
incapable of viewing his life under the 
hard light of  eternity1 he is incapable
 of viewing it under the light of the   
fifty odd  years of traffic that wait   
for him among phenomena4 ,he accepts    
unquestioningly the standards and values
 of his school4 ,he does not feel  that 
he is preparing for a contest4 ,that    
phase of endeavour belonged to  his     
'prep4' ,he has started the race4       
,there is a big difference between four 
years and six4 ,it is a wall over  which
 even the fag can peer on tiptoe4 ,the  
passage of ambitions and  loyalties and 

jealousies is much more swift4 ,it is   
possible to consider  four years as a   
prelude2 and as soon as public school   
life is regarded  as a prelude the scale
 of values becomes changed4 ,the boy    
begins to  wonder whether he is doing   
his best to fit himself for after life4 
,he  will cease to be contented with the
 honours that come to him on the way4   
,because his school is a fixed          
institution1 because the scope of his   
masters is fixed within its walls1 there
 is a tendency to regard him as  an     
inhabitant and not a sojourner there4   
,that is what the schoolboy  should     
never be allowed to forget--that he is  
passing through one phase  of his life  
into another2 it is because he has      
forgotten that that he so  often pauses 
bewildered and irresolute on the        
threshold of life4          ,,chapter   
,,xiv    ,,conclusion      ,were the    
moral question to be tackled sensibly1  
and were the reduction  of the age limit
 to modify the 'blood' system1 and      

insist upon the fact  that school life  
is only a prelude1 ,i believe that      
athletics would  occupy their proper    
place in the life of the school4 ,the   
social force of  religion depends1 to a 
large extent1 on the appreciation of the
  importance of what will follow the    
'here and now4' ,during the war1 when   
the future was insecure1 and no one     
could see anything certainly beyond  the
 limits of a fortnight's leave1 the     
country plunged recklessly in  search of
 pleasure4 ,no one looked ahead4 ,no one
 paused to consider what  would be the  
harvest of their sowing4    ,the eyes of
 the preparatory school boy are fixed   
upon the future4 ,he  knows that the    
successes and failures of the moment are
 unimportant4 ,he  knows that a         
strenuous contest lies in wait for him4 
,in consequence  there is at a          
,preparatory ,school little of the      
fanatical devotion that  colours the    
fabric of public school life4 ,i        
remember a house master once  saying    

that it was impossible for a member of a
 house side to do much  work while the  
house matches were in progress4 ,and1 as
 the house matches  covered a period of 
six weeks1 this was a pretty generous   
allowance4 ,at  the same time the house 
master only spoke the truth3 it was     
practically  impossible to do much work 
during the house matches term2 we could 
think  of little else4 ,every evening we
 would discuss at considerable length   
the afternoon's punt-about and the      
morrow's match4 ,we would devise        
schemes for the better outwitting of our
 opponents4 ,we would discuss the       
weakness and strength of individual     
players4 ,and the majority of  masters1 
certainly of house masters1 shared this 
fervour4 ,it is true  that a certain    
house master1 when presented with the   
excuse for an  indifferent prose that   
house matches were too exciting1        
remarked3 ',i  don't know whom they     
excite1 they don't excite me4' ,but this
 assertion  was belied by his subsequent

 behaviour on the touchline4 ,during    
house  matches there is an educational  
moratorium4 ,in peace time the energies 
and interests of a nation are directed  
into a thousand different  channels1 but
 in war time every interest is secondary
 to that of war4  ,and1 while house     
matches are in progress1 the atmosphere 
of a house is  not unlike that of a     
nation that is at war4 ,individual      
members may have  their private         
troubles1 but they realise that these   
troubles are of  small account at such a
 time4 ,and1 though it is no doubt      
admirable for  the individual to feel   
himself of less importance than the     
community1 it  will hardly be conceded  
that self-negation in such a cause is   
likely to  prove of any very permanent  
value to him4    ,now there are those   
who will urge that boy nature cannot be 
altered1  that it is natural for a boy  
to worship games1 and that you cannot   
expect him to be otherwise4 ,but that ,i
 shall never believe is so4 ,for        

myself1 ,i know that ,i play cricket and
 football as keenly as ,i did seven     
years ago1 that ,i spend a great many   
evenings with a ,wisden in my hands2    
but that ,i manage to get through a fair
 amount of work between each  ,january  
and ,december4 ,that is not in itself a 
fair argument4 ,one cannot  arraign the 
enthusiasms of sixteen before the       
enthusiasms of  twenty-three any more   
than one can arraign the enthusiasms of 
twenty-three before those of forty4     
,there is no more fallacious argument   
than the 'when you have reached my age1 
young man4' ,at different stages  of our
 life we are vexed by different         
problems4 ,at twenty-three our  sexual  
life is of vast importance2 it stretches
 before us1 a wide field  for courage1  
enterprise1 adventure4 ,in the man of   
forty1 curiosity has  been satisfied4   
,he has settled many of the problems    
that perplexed him  when he was a young 
man4 ,and he says3 ',my dear fellow1 all
 this that is  worrying you does not    

really matter4' ,but he is wrong4 ,it   
does matter to  a young man of twenty4  
,and nothing is trivial that has ever   
exercised  deeply the human spirit4     
,in a world that is in flux the         
permanence or impermanence of any       
emotion  is of less matter than its     
intensity while it lasts4 ,sooner or    
later  everything must desert us4 ,is   
the brain a useless possession because  
it  will one day soften4 ,are teeth less
 efficacious now because one day  they  
will decay4 ,is a young man of twenty   
going to listen to the  impotent man of 
sixty who mutters3 ',young man1 the     
charms of woman are a  snare and an     
illusion4 ,when you have reached my age 
you will be no  longer moved by them4'  
,for that is where the 'when you are my 
age1 young  man1' argument finally lands
 us4 ,and it is not fair to say to a boy
 of  seventeen3 ',this mad excitement   
about games is absurd4 ,in six years    
even  you will have outgrown it4' ,it is
 for us to decide whether this mad      

excitement is the natural expression of 
a boy's temperament1 or whether  it is  
the peculiar growth of a peculiar       
environment4    ,i will take as an      
example ,sandhurst as it was in the     
autumn of #aiaf4 ,it  was composed      
almost entirely of boys straight from   
the ,public ,schools1  and ,i should    
imagine that the average age of a       
company was about  eighteen1 the age1   
that is to say1 at which most of them   
would have been  about to start on their
 last year4 ,they brought with them the 
standards  of public school life4 ,one  
would have expected them to establish   
their  standards at ,sandhurst4 ,they   
did nothing of the sort4 ,there was     
nothing  that bore the least approach to
 a blood system4 ,there were seniors and
  juniors1 that was all4 ,there was no  
fierce cult of athleticism4 ,the ,g4,c4 
who scored tries in company matches was 
not granted a general permission  to    
drive his bayonet through college       
furniture4 ,in the daily life games     

played a prominent part4 ,indeed1 the   
under officer whose company did not     
make use of the ground allotted to it   
would have had to face an  unpleasant   
half-hour with the commandant4 ,but     
games never became the  business of     
life4 ,they were played for their own   
sake4 ,they were  untouched by          
professionalism4 ,if a three-quarter    
missed a pass five  yards from the line 
he did not bury himself in a far corner 
of the  anteroom1 apart from the gaiety 
of his companions4 ,the average company 
side played just as keenly as a house   
fifteen at school4 ,while we were  on   
the field we were as desperately anxious
 to win4 ,but we did not spend  the     
morning in a state of nervous           
irritation1 nor did the issue of the    
contests drive us to deep despondency1  
or to hysterical elation4 ,a  certain   
intensity had passed4 ,yet ,i do not    
think that ever before had ,i  derived  
such pleasure from the actual playing of
 the game as ,i did at  ,sandhurst4     

,one would not1 of course1 hold up a    
military institution as the model  for  
an educational system4 ,but1 from the   
point of view of athletics1 the         
,sandhurst that ,i knew in the winter of
 #aiaf and the spring of #aiag          
possessed all the merits and none of the
 faults that one associates with  the   
average ,public ,school4 ,and yet that  
,sandhurst was composed of the  same    
boys that a few months earlier had1 at  
their ,public ,schools1  rigidly        
observed the exacting ritual of the     
great god of sport4    ,reasons for this
 change are not difficult to find1 and  
it may be noticed  that they are in line
 with the improvements suggested in an  
earlier  chapter4 ,there is no blood    
system1 because there is little         
disparity of  age between the ,g4,c4's4 
,juniors belong to a lower caste than   
the  seniors1 but they inhabit that     
lower world without worrying much about 
what is happening in the superior world4
 ,contact between the two is not        

established4 ,there is a hard dividing  
line4 ,a junior may not sit on a        
certain side of the anteroom4 ,there is 
no social fluidity4 ,one is one  thing  
or the other4 ,athletic worship in      
school was due largely1 ,i  suggested1  
to the absence of any other focus for a 
boy's enthusiasm4 ,at  ,sandhurst       
several such focuses were provided4 ,to 
begin with1 the work  was interesting4  
,the morning was not a mere succession  
of tiresome hours  relieved by a quarter
 of an hour's break4 ,the ,g4,c4 did not
 listen to  lectures and tactics with   
the listless condescension that he had  
paid  formerly to the ,greek syntax2 he 
realised that the knowledge of the      
subjects he was studying would be of    
practical value to him at a later  date4
 ,he was anxious to be a good officer4  
,he was1 therefore1 interested  in his  
work4 ,he was also at ,sandhurst for a  
very little while4 ,he  regarded        
,sandhurst quite definitely as the      
anteroom to a career2 he  never imagined

 it to be anything else4 ,in a few      
months he would have  joined his        
regiment4 ,the honours he won at        
,sandhurst would be of little  value in 
themselves1 and were only worth the     
gaining in as far as they  would enhance
 the reputation which he would take with
 him to his  regiment4 ,a ,sandhurst    
cadet was always looking beyond the     
present4    ,nor did the officers in    
charge of companies feel any compunction
 to  prescribe athleticism as an        
antidote to immorality4 ,in the first   
place1  they were not responsible for   
the ,g4,c4's moral welfare1 nor was     
there1  indeed1 any occasion for alarm4 
,the amount of immoral conduct between  
,g4,c4's1 if there was any1 must have   
been extremely small4 ,such conduct  is 
essentially faute de mieux3 women were  
abundantly available for  those who     
wanted them4 ,and in a town such as     
,camberley there were  endless          
opportunities for innocent romance4     
,the three main causes for athleticism  

were removed1 and in consequence  there 
was no athleticism4 ,now it is obviously
 impossible for all these  conditions to
 be introduced into a ,public ,school4  
,there must be a  disparity of age1     
schoolmasters must feel some anxiety    
about the morals  of the boys that are  
to be entrusted to them4 ,but1 if we can
 show that  the complete removal of     
certain conditions of public school life
 can  entirely remove certain evils1 we 
can only assume that the modification   
of these conditions would cause         
considerable improvement4 ,the smaller  
the disparity of age between the eldest 
and the youngest boy1 the less  intense 
will be the blood system4 ,the shorter  
the period that a boy  spends at school1
 the less will be the tendency to regard
 school life as  the complete compass of
 his life4 ,the supply of another focus 
for a  boy's enthusiasm will diminish   
the strength of his athletic ardour4    
,the  greater the honesty in tackling   
the moral question1 the less will       

masters feel themselves forced to       
recommend athleticism as an antidote  to
 immorality4 ,and these changes are1 ,i 
believe1 possible without  altering     
appreciably the principle of public     
school education4 ,the  supply of other 
focuses may1 at first glance1 seem a    
highly difficult  job4 ,it may1 indeed1 
be advanced that were there another     
focus1  athleticism could not exist in  
its present state1 and that there would 
be no need for a reduction of the age   
limit4 ,but ,i am inclined to think     
that it would be hardly possible to run 
any school which contained boys  of     
thirteen and boys of nineteen and not   
have a blood system and an  athletic    
worship4 ,the forces of a natural       
inclination are too strongly  entrenched
 behind the barricade of six years4 ,the
 masters do not stand a  fair chance4   
,but the weakening of one force means   
the strengthening of  another4 ,a       
lowering of the barricade by a couple of
 years would give the  other side a     

chance of contending equally4 ,the      
moment a boy realised  that the prizes  
of school life had only a temporary     
value1 he would  question his blind     
devotion to the religion of athleticism4
 ,he would  wonder whether other things 
were not worth while4 ,his allegiance   
would  be divided4    ,but the passing  
of regulations cannot in themselves     
effect a  reformation4 ,they can be of  
great assistance2 they can support and  
they  can protect4 ,they cannot build4  
,and1 in the study of public school     
life1  we have to return in the end to  
the point from which we started4 ,boys  
and parents and schoolmasters must meet 
on a common ground and discuss  their   
mutual welfare4 ,they can do nothing    
till they are honest with  each other1  
till they face the facts together4 ,when
 they had once done  that they would not
 find the road hopelessly barricaded4   
,the solutions  that ,i have1 from time 
to time1 suggested in these chapters1   
would1 ,i  believe1 prove beneficial4   

,but it is as a statement of facts1 an  
analysis of certain conditions1         
tendencies1 and lines of thought1 that  
,i  would chiefly submit this book to   
the consideration of parents and        
schoolmasters and those others who are  
interested in these questions4  ,for    
nothing can be done till the conspiracy 
of silence1 the policy of  evasion and  
self-deception1 the diplomacy of the    
merchant and his goods  is broken down1 
till1 that is to say1 parents and       
schoolmasters meet on  the common ground
 of co-operation1 till they can look    
each other in the  face and say3        
',things are so1 and it is for us to    
find a remedy4'      ,,glasgow3 ,w4     
,,collins ,,sons ,,and ,,co4 ,,ltd4     
,some ,new ,publications    from        
,,messrs ,,collins' ,,list    ,published
 from their ,london ,offices1 #dh ,,pall
 ,,mall1 ,s4,w4         ,,note4--,messrs
 ,collins will always be pleased to send
 lists of       their forthcoming books 
to any one who will send name and       

address4      ,old ,england             
,,bernard ,,gilbert    ,royal #hvo1     
,cloth1 #bj_/- net    ,a ,god's-,eye    
view of a village4 ,this book is unique 
in ,english literature  both in         
conception and treatment4 ,the author   
presents a whole community  to the      
reader1 taking for his subject our      
largest social unit--an  ,english       
village--where everybody knows          
everything about every one4 ,he  has    
taken a typical village during one day  
of the war and given a camera  obscura  
presentment of the multitudinous        
intrigues1 ambitions1 desires1          
disputes1 relationships1 and interests  
which thread its fabric so  closely4    
,there is no hero or heroine1 for the   
author presents some  hundreds of       
characters1 each all important to       
himself4 ,these speak their  own        
thoughts1 throw startling sidelights on 
their neighbours2 and from  the whole1 a
 picture of a village community takes   
definite shape4 ,the  author has snapped

 his village at one instant on one day1 
so that there  is no 'action4' ,the     
village is frozen motionless whilst the 
reader  inspects each inhabitant4 ,there
 is no sentimentalism1 no 'kailyard'    
gloss2 the villagers expressing         
themselves with immense force from the  
,earl to the mole-catcher4 ,mr ,gilbert 
has done intensely for the ,english     
countryside what ,balzac did for his    
nation on a great scale4 ,not only is   
each of the great array of characters   
set forth vividly1 but the larger       
problems of the countryside are         
illuminated from various angles4 ,a map 
of the village shows every cottage1 some
 fifty genealogical trees  explain the  
relationships of the villagers1 and a   
',who's ,who' gives full  information   
about each inhabitant4 ,the author has  
taken three years to  write this book1  
and it is the fruit of a life-time's    
close observation4  ,all who were born  
in the country or have any interest in  
rural life and  problems must be        

interested in ,old ,england4      ,the  
,carpenter and ,his ,kingdom    ,,dr    
,,alexander ,,irvine    ,crown #hvo1    
,cloth1 #g_/f net    ,dr ,irvine has    
already secured a very high place in the
 affections of the  people of this      
country through his books1 ,my ,lady of 
the ,chimney  ,corner and ,the ,souls of
 ,poor ,folk4 ,the ,carpenter and ,his  
,kingdom1  as the name denotes1 is a    
,life of ,christ1 a re-interpretation of
 ,his  life as seen by a very simple yet
 very subtle1 very human yet very wise  
idealist and ,christian4 ,no writer on  
social tendencies after the war has     
failed to point out the great loss of   
prestige suffered by the ,churches4     
,speaking broadly1 they are regarded    
with a disinterested tolerance  almost  
amounting to contempt by the great      
majority of people1 and this  attitude  
has as its general effect a marked      
decrease in 'belief' in  ,christianity4 
,dr ,irvine's book may prove a very real
 antidote to that  progressive          

agnosticism1 for he still believes that 
the ,life of ,christ  is the greatest   
example mankind has ever been given1 and
 that the  influence of ,his message is 
vastly greater than that of any other   
single  influence in history4 ,but to   
show that he has to draw a new picture  
of  ,christ emphasising ,his ,humanity  
as well as ,his ,divinity1 and make ,his
  teaching intelligible to a ,society   
still hardly approaching  convalescence 
after a prolonged and virulent disease4 
,it is an original1  beautiful1 and     
timely book4      ,a ,london ,mosaic    
,w4 ,l4 ,,george    ,small ,crown #dto1 
,cloth #ae_/- net4    ,illustrations by 
,p4 ,forbes-,robertson    ,a series of  
brilliant satirical sketches of ,london 
places and ,london  people by one of the
 most popular novelists of the day4 ,mr 
,george is  always interesting and his  
point of view original and challenging4 
,he  knows ,london intimately and loves 
her well1 but his affection does not    
blunt his critical sense4    ,to go with

 him to the ,caf ,royal and listen as he
 points out and  discusses the great    
ones sitting therein2 to follow him on  
his  pilgrimage ',in ,search of ,vice'2 
to accompany him to theatre or music    
hall1 are most amusing and instructive  
experiences which no lover of  ,london  
should miss4 ,mr ,philippe              
,forbes-,robertson's illustrations      
perfectly interpret the mood of the     
book4      ,south with ,scott           
,,capt4 ,e4 ,r4 ,g4 ,r4 ,,evans ,c4,b41 
,d4,s4,o41 ,r4,n4    ,demy #hvo1 ,cloth1
 #aj_/f net    ,with photogravure       
portrait of ,captain ,evans    ,captain 
,evans was second in command of the     
,british ,antarctic expedition          
commanded by ,captain ,scott1 and took  
over ,captain ,scott's position as      
leader after his death4 ,it will be     
remembered that1 during the war1        
,captain ,evans was in command of       
,h4,m4,s4 ,broke1 which1 together with  
,h4,m4,s4 ,swift1 engaged six ,german   
destroyers1 sinking two and  torpedoing 

a third4 ,it is an interesting1         
intimate1 racy1 and absorbing  account  
of the expedition compressed into a     
comparatively small compass1  and fully 
brings out the intense difficulties the 
expedition had to  face1 the heroism    
displayed by every member of the party1 
and the  magnificent scientific results 
obtained4      ,labour3 ,the ,giant with
 the ,feet of ,clay    ,,shaw ,,desmond 
,demy #hvo1 ,cloth1 #aj_/f net    ,mr   
,shaw ,desmond is very well known as a  
versatile writer and as a great         
champion of the ,labour ,cause4 ,his    
book1 therefore1 is of singular         
interest at the present time4 ,it is a  
critical and sympathetic analysis  of   
the ,labour ,movement from the inside1  
by a man who1 after being a  member of  
the ,labour ,party for fourteen years1  
is frankly disillusioned4  ,in what     
amounts to a sweeping but reasoned      
indictment1 the writer shows  the 'feet 
of clay' of the ,labour ,movement1 and  
claims that though  outwardly united the

 movement is split from crown to heel by
  fundamentally opposed ideals1 tactics1
 and objectives1 that it might  collapse
 at any moment1 and that such 'success' 
as has been obtained has  been purchased
 at the price of principle4 ,in so doing
 he gives many  vivid and revealing     
portraits of great ,labour figures of   
the last  generation1 from ,keir ,hardie
 to ,rosa ,luxemburg1 'the ,red         
,tigress4' ,the  book is not merely     
destructive1 the latter portion is given
 over to a  constructive examination of 
the problems facing democracy with a    
very  interesting foreshadowing of what 
the writer calls ',the ,new ,democracy' 
or ',the ,spiritual ,democracy4' ,he    
shows not only how ,labour may set its  
house in order but how the ,house of    
,society itself may be saved from  that 
'unrest' which is slowly destroying it4 
,mr ,desmond's writing is at  once      
stimulating and suggestive1 instructive 
and illuminating1 and will  certainly be
 widely discussed4      ,the ,island of 

,youth      ,,edward ,,shanks    ,author
 of ,the ,queen of ,china1 ,the ,people 
of the ,ruins1 etc4    ,small ,crown    
#hvo1 ,cloth1 #e_/- net    ,the ,island 
of ,youth is the fourth volume of verse 
by a poet whose  powers have been       
steadily maturing4 ,two years ago ,mr   
,shanks's ,the ,queen  of ,china won the
 ,hawthornden ,prize1 and the present   
volume contains all  the poems he has   
since written4 ,it contains one long    
poem1 a beautiful  idyll in blank verse1
 and a number of short poems4 ,mr       
,shanks's language  is refreshingly pure
 and his rhythm refreshingly musical1 in
 an age  which has made many attempts to
 glorify gibberish and raucous discord4 
,he is1 as all good poets must be1 at   
once original and in the stream of      
national tradition1 and in no respect   
more traditional than in his  affection 
for and knowledge of the ,english       
landscape which has breathed  its       
fragrance into so much of our great     
poetry in all ages4 ,those who  know his

 previous books1 or the selections from 
them in ,georgian  ,poetry1 do not need 
to be told this1 and those unacquainted 
with ,mr  ,shanks's previous work can be
 most emphatically assured that they    
will  not be disappointed in ,the       
,island of ,youth4 ,it is one of those  
books  familiarity with which breeds an 
ever deepening admiration and love4     
,ibsen and ,his ,creation      ,,janko  
,,lavrin    ,crown #hvo1 ,cloth1 #g_/f  
net    ,this is a further contribution  
to 'psycho-criticism' by ,mr ,janko     
,lavrin1  whose able study of           
,dostoevsky was so favourably received4 
,his aim is to  present a new and       
original solution of the central problem
 of ,ibsen1 and  to show how ,ibsen's   
individual psychological conflict is    
worked out in  his plays4    ,mr ,lavrin
 reveals in a new light the great       
significance of ,ibsen as a             
representative of modern consciousness1 
and in so doing illuminates not  only   
,ibsen's dilemma but also our own4      

,last ,studies in ,criminology      ,h4 
,b4 ,,irving    ,demy #hvo1 ,cloth1     
#ae_/- net4    ,with photogravure       
portrait of ,h4 ,b4 ,irving    ,with the
 death of ,h4 ,b4 ,irving one of the    
most remarkable figures of the  ,english
 stage disappeared1 for not only was he 
an actor of great merit1  but a man of  
very versatile mental attainments4 ,his 
bent was always  towards criminological 
study1 and his various studies in crime 
and  criminals are familiar to many     
readers4 ,these1 the last of his essays1
  will be read with great attention4    
,they are mainly studies of persons     
accused but not convicted of crime1 men 
such as ,adolph ,beck2 and the  element 
of uncertainty that attaches to so many 
of these cases gives  them an added     
point of interest for so subtle and     
penetrating a mind as  that of the late 
,mr ,h4 ,b4 ,irving4      ,from         
,waterloo to the ,marne      ,,count    
,,pietro ,,orsi    ,small ,crown #dto1  
,cloth1 #ae_/- net    ,this is a book   

which should be read by all those who   
wish to arrive at  an accurate knowledge
 of the causes and condition which led  
up to and  provoked the ,great ,world   
,war of #aiad-aiah1 and are responsible 
for the  world unrest of to-day4 ,the   
author1 the well-known ,italian         
,professor of  ,international ,history1 
describes in this book1 clearly and     
logically1  the rise1 the ebb and flow  
of the international democratic spirit  
which  floods the world of to-day4 ,he  
shows the nexus which unites all races  
and nations of the world into one       
coherent whole1 and traces with         
admirable clarity the birth1 life1 and  
struggles of that desire for  popular   
liberty which first penetrated into     
every corner of ,europe with  the armies
 of the great ,napoleon4 ,it is a       
compendium of the history of  each      
country of the world1 and should be read
 by each student who not  only wishes to
 familiarise himself with the history of
 the last century  of his own country1  

but desires also to gain a solid        
acquaintance of  that of the remaining  
countries of the globe4 ,the arrangement
 of the  book is excellent and original2
 the libraries of every nation have been
  ransacked for its compilation1 and the
 work1 without being in the least       
degree scrappy1 gives all the salient   
points of universal history4 ,this      
historical encyclopedia should be in the
 hands of every thinking man4      ,the 
,riddle of the ,rhine      ,,victor     
,,lefebure    ,demy #hvo1 #aj_/f net    
,this book establishes beyond any shadow
 of doubt the importance of  chemical   
warfare in the recent war and its       
supreme significance for the  future4   
,it shows1 in addition1 the intimate    
connection between the new  war method  
and chemical1 scientific1 and industrial
 development4 ,what  chemical steps must
 be taken for national safety in an     
armed or disarmed  world8 ,what         
international disarmament measures can  
be taken in this  field8 ,it proves     

beyond refutation that if the second    
question remains  unanswered all other  
disarmament measures are farcical4      
,these general  questions1 although of  
enormous importance1 were1 however1 all 
introduced by the menace and critical   
war activities of the ,german  organic  
chemical or dye combine4 ,this menace   
still exists1 and can only  be removed  
by a redistribution of the organic      
chemical forces of the  world4      ,a  
,history of ,english ,furniture         
,,percy ,,macquoid1 ,r4,i4    ,with     
plates in colour after ,shirley         
,slocombe1 and numerous illustrations   
selected and arranged by the author2 in 
four volumes3           ,i4--,,the ,,age
 ,,of ,,oak        ,,ii4--,,the ,,age   
,,of ,,walnut       ,,iii4--,,the ,,age 
,,of ,,mahogany        ,,iv4--,,the     
,,age ,,of ,,satinwood    #ba net per   
set1 or #e #es4 net per volume4         
,size1 #ae in4 #aa in42 bound in red    
buckram1 gilt4    ,with a new index4    
,the subject has been divided into four 

periods1 the first dating from  #aejj to
 #affj1 comprising furniture that can be
 attributed to the  ,renaissance1 and   
its evolution from the ,gothic4 ,the    
second from #affj to  #agbj1 when the   
change is varied by the ,restoration and
 ,dutch influence1  followed by a       
distinctly assertive ,english spirit4   
,the third period  covers the           
introduction from ,france of fresh ideas
 in design1 clearly  marking another    
change1 lasting from #agbj to #aggj4    
,the fourth1  #aggj-ahbj1 which was     
inspired by an affectation for all      
things  classical4 ,while the book only 
purports to deal with ,english          
furniture1  it is obvious that reference
 is freely made to foreign styles in    
order  to keep the matter in            
perspective4    ,illustrated ,prospectus
 will be sent on application4