2 — 3—

and nothing so soon teaches a fellow his right place.“¹ Indeed a nice point of view for justifying such a shocking tyranny!

At our School, there were two big fellows who were the leaders of the two play- parties at cricket and football and exercising, as such, of course, a certain power over the other boys. One of them— as far as I remember— was often called„a bully“ by the other boys. But I cannot remember that the little boys rendered any services to them or to any of the other big boys.

Another characteristic trait of the majority of English youths is their great love of trulh. They know and are educated in the belief that it is a great disgrace to them not to tell- the truth, that telling lies is a baseness to which they are not supposed to stoop; they are believed upon their mere word, and therefore they think it, on the one hand, far below their dignity to lie; on the other hand, the boys already possess a remarkably deep feeling for good manners and entertain a great respect for justice, so that the punishment fixed for a transgression and given to them is considered and recognised by them as something fully deserved. Mr. Raydt says:„Ich kann hier nur noch einmal, was ich schon erwähnt habe, konstatieren, dass auch schon der englische Knabe eine stärkere Achtung vor Gesetz und Sitte hat, als wir sie bei uns oder in irgend einem andern Lande bemerken.“2

As to candour and veracity, I am sorry to say, the English boys surpass by far the German ones. Before my pupils I always praise the laudable quality of English boys, whom I must recommend, in this regard, as examples worthy of being imitated. An English boy rightly thinks it an infamy to be called a liar by a school-fellow, and he will immediately have his fight with the insulter who has called him such a name. A German boy, un- happily, has not this feeling, and uses and hears used the words„lie“ and„liar“ only too often, without intending to offend or being offended. And how many German pupils, besides, are such cowards as not to be able to accept the consequences of their veracity, thinking it an heroic action to belie and to cheat their Masters. We German teachers should try with all our might to extirpate such an evil in our pupils. It is mostly the fear of punish- ment which causes a boy to lie. Let us therefore, above all, not give so many punish- ments. Do not immediately punish a fault, a transgression, with hard and hasty words. Try to win the full confidence of your pupils and to place full confidence in them. I am sure, this would bring about an improvement.

It is not to be disputed that at English Schools there is as much frivolity, insolence, wantonness, and, occasionally, even rudeness as among the boys of our own schools, especial- ly in large communities, and, according to my experience, even more than at our German schools. But the English boy has the frankness to confess his fault. I remember the boys at our English school sometimes made a noise during the night by dancing, screaming, and shouting. If the Head Masters asked in the morning which boys had made the noise, the respective offenders stood up and got their fifty or more lines, without making any fuss about it. Only once, the Head Masters could not find out, much to their astonishment, which of the boys had written something upon the desk of the first Head Master.

In another respect, English boys have a great advantage over German ones. Their hearing is without constraint, their demeanour is freer and more natural, especially in their behaviour to older persons.„Diese Offenheit und Freimütigkeit im Benehmen und in der Unterhaltung mit Alteren,“ says Mr. Raydt,„hat mich bei der britischen Jugend sehr sympathisch berührt.“ They look fresher and healthier, and are more cheerful than our over-satiated boys, who often think it below their dignity to be joyful and merry. The state of health at English schools is, in spite of all prejudicial arrangements of school- rooms and bed-rooms, far better than in our schools. I have no statistics before me which could show me the state of health of our boys at the Higher Schools— I doubt even that. they exist. According to my experience, I think that out of 30 pupils, possibly, one pupil

Pall Mall Gazette. November 20, 1890. ² Page 166. 2 Page 192