Correspondence

writing this loiter : —( a ) A lovo of change for the sake of change ( b ) A preference for tho German system of education over the English ; ( c ) Hostility towards tho " many well-paid Masters , Matrons , Secretaries , and all sorts of other officials , " who " make thoso Charities of ours their means of subsistence . " I will deal with

these seriatim . ( a ) A love of change , for tho sake of change . There is an old proverb , which Bro . Riach , with his figures and capital letters , may consider unworthy of his notice . This proverb enjoins on people the necessity of leaving well alone . Before we dream of changing the system afc present in force in our Schools , wo

shall do well to ask ourselves the plain question , Does ifc work satisfactorily or not ? If the answer is in tho affirmative , then I say , leave well alone . While we aro pottering over the introduction of a new system , which may , or may not answer , we are losing ground ; aud when , in tho order of things , the requisite changes have been made , it will cost us something to make good all deficiencies . To

speak more precisely . Heretofore , we have followed tho English boarding school system in its most approved form . Thafc system has answered well , as is evidenced by tho success of our pupils in various public competitive examinations . Suddenly we make a change . We keep tho boarding house , and look for tho education at our public middle class schools . That is , instead of concentrating our efforts in

tho endeavour to fit our boys and girls for the battle of life , wo distribute them . Wo shall havo them trained morally in tho boarding house , and mentally in the middle class school . Bufc this cannot be done at once . We must give our educational staffs " notice to quit , " and pending this notice the training will proceed as now . In due course , however , the pupils will commence under the new system ,

and it will necessarily take them somo time to become accustomed to ifc , and still longer to benefit by ifc . Ifc may bo , however , the middle class system and our own aro equivalent , which is a strong argument against any departure from tho latter ; or the middle class may bo inferior , which is a still stronger argument against any change . Bro . Riach must be able to show there is a manifest superiority of the

ono over the other , before ho advises our School authorities not to leave well alone . Possibly Bro . Riach may argue—I havo a great respect for the particular proverb you quote , bufc I cannot admit thafc ifc furnishes a reason for not doing something else which may be of greater benefit . I have jusfc said thafc before insisting on his proposal , he must show

a manifest superiority of the new plan over the present as regards education ; but he must go still further , and show the financial advantages of his scheme . I imagine he will have some difficulty in doing this . We have yet to be told thafc ifc will cost less to maintain our children in a boarding-house , and have them instructed afc middle class schools than to pursue our present system . We have a right

to assume that the cost of clothing and maintenance will be the same . Ifc will still be necessary to have in the case of tho girls a staff of matrons , and in the case of the boys a staff of wardens to take charge of them in the house . As to cost of education , the terminal fees at the Middle Class Schools Corporation , Cowper-streefc , City , road , aro £ 1 15 s each boy , or five guineas per annum ; bnt for

German and the classics extra charges are made . Taking , however , the cost of the ordinary curriculum as our guide , we shall find that tho total charges for 200 boys will amount to 1000 guineas per annum . The salaries of tho educational staff afc Wood-green for 1876 amounted to £ 1031 17 s , matron inclusive , and though thero were only 186 pupils , still ifc must nob be overlooked that , with a

resident stall' of masters , the cost of 200 would nofc exceed thafc of 186 . Noxfc year thero will be 216 boys , ancl they together would cost , at five guineas each , 1 , 0 S 0 guineas ; or , in round figures , £ 100 more than was paid last year for masters and matron . At tho Camden Middle Class School for Girls , tho fees a short time since were five guineas per annum . Afc this rate 200 girls will cost £ 840

in the aggregate , whereas only the sum of £ 637 10 s was paid in 1876 for the salaries of educational staff , and of matron and assistant matron , and the wages of servants . In this instance , the advantage is still moro manifestly in favour of leaving things as they are . There are two other points which must not be lost sight of . At boarding school , the masters and mistresses have an opportunity of

studying the character ancl disposition of the pupils entrusted to their charge . At a day school , they have time to hear lessons and award marks , and this is all that can be expected of them , considering the numerical strength of the classes over which they are placed . At boarding school , the relations between masters and boys , matrons and girls , are those of parents towards their children ; at day school ,

they are magisterial . Finally , boys who are herded together in a good public school , as far as my experience goes—I am an old public school man myself , and have devoted many years of my life to tuition—make hardier and sturdier , ancl , generally speaking , more useful men than mero day school boys . There is a significance in the saying attributed to Wellington , that Waterloo was won at Eton .

We are going ahead so rapidly in matters educational , that we are apt to lose sight of the important fact thafc boys and girls require physical and moral , as well as mental , training . Cricket aud football and athletic sports , generally , are as necessary a part of a boy ' s education as the threo R ' s , and ifc is because sports form parfc of the boarding school curriculum that it has tho advantage over the day school .

( b ) A preference for the Gorman system of education over the English . I cannot blame Bro . Iliach for holding thafc the German system is better than ours . I , too , have a great respect for ifc , knowing well thafc it answers admirably . As regards knowledge , tho average German boy ia better informed than the English boy of equal

standing . But looking afc the youth of tho two nations , not from a single point , bub from all necessary points together , I say thafc English boys are men , ancl German boys aro children . The former may not be so apt at writing theses , so well read in history , or so well versed in modern languages , bub they can ride , shoot , run , walk , and do generally those , things , which knit the frame well together aud make

Correspondence

strong men of them . This is tho result , not of any physical superiority , but of out * school training . The German system is admirably suited to tho genius of the German people , and ours , 1 believe , to be equally well suited to that of the English people ; bub I think it would bo a mistake to alter what has answered so well for so many generations . Here , again , I say , let us leavo well alone .

( c ) Hostility towards the " many well-paid Masters , Matrons , Secretaries , and all sorts of other officials , " who " make theso Charities o ! ours their means of subsistence . " I consider these expressions of Bro . Riach ' s aro wholly unjustifiable . Tho stipend of tho head master of our Boys' School is about the same as that of a second class Government clerk , and perhaps one-half of

what is paid to the secretary of an insurance company . Yet the demands on the master ' s time , to say nothing of the cares aud responsibilities of his office , aro far heavier than in tho case of the Government clerk or the secretary . Far be it for mo to say the latter aro overpaid ; but well and ill are relative terms , and if the clerk is well paid , the master is ill paid . The Craffc provides the wherewith to

carry on tho School , but it is tho master who trains tho boys , and ifc is to him we look that tho boys under his charge shall grow to bo honest and honourable men , and useful subjects of Her Majesty . Tho other masters and the matrons , too , have their duties , and they discharge them efficiently . The stipends they receive are no more than they would receive elsewhere in similar positions . As for the "

secretaries , and all sorts of other officials , " Bro . Binckes with one clerk , and Bro . Little with two clerks , do all the work of their respective offices . We should still need their services , oven if the pupils attended the middle-class schools , for it is thoy by whoso energy wo hop © aud expect to obtain the necessary means to carry on the Schools . They are , everywhere and always , in Lodge and out of Lodgo , pressing

the claims of thoso charities upon the notice of the Craffc . One this year was able to havo announced for him a subscription of about £ 10 , 000 , the other announced a list of over £ 13 , 000 . The time and labour they bestow on their official duties is not excessively reran nerated , and Bro . Riach when he comes to revise his letter will

seo and , I hope , acknowledge thafc he has judged hastily . Bufc I must nofc forget that you , Sir , have claims on the forbear , ance of your correspondents . I shall close my remarks , therefore , for the present , having confidence that should any other points strike me , which may seem of public interest , you , with tho courtesy you invariably sho . w , will accord me space to insert them .

I remain , Dear Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , AN OLD PUBLIC SCHOOLMAIY .

Freemasonry In The Sandwich Islands.

FREEMASONRY IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS .

A Honolulu paper just to hand gives somo interesting Masonic tidings . It says : — Afc tho last regular monthly meeting of Locige le Progres do l'Oceanie No . 121 , A . F . ancl A . M ., held on the 28 th ulfc ., after tho usual business was concluded , his Majesty tho King , who filled tho position of Worshipful Master during tho last year , was made tho

recipient of a very handsome gold Past Master s jewel , manufactured to the order of the Lodge in San Francisco , ancl garnished with a turquoise , a sapphire ancl pearls . Ifc bears the following inscription : — " Presented to his Majesty Bro . D . Kalakana , Past Master of Lodge le Progres de l'Oceanio No . 12 'i A . F . and A . M . by its members . Honolulu , H . I ., A . L . 5876 . " The presentation was made by P . M .

John O . Dominis , who spoke as follows : — Worshipful Past Master Bro . Kalakna , —Onr Lodgo " Le Progres do l'Oceanie" has clone me tho honour to deputise me , in their name , and in their behalf to present you with this Past Master ' s iewol , as a token of . their appreciation of your services to the Masonio fraternity , and to their Lodge in particular , as Worshipful Master for the last

year of Le Progres , and as a kind and fraternal memorial of the high personal regard which they individually entertain for you . The occasion is ono of those few instances iu life when duo and genuine homage is offered to the man , and not to his surroundings ; when the upright Mason and the skilful Master receives at the hands of his fellow-workers in all the works of Brotherly Love , relief and

truth , thafc meed of acknowledgment which he has richly earned by his faithful practice of the precepts of the Order , and his correct and impartial government of his Lodge as its master . As such , and in that spirit , I now invest yon with this jewel , satisfied that in honouring yon the Lodge has honoured itself , and that tho memory of this occasion will be another of the many bright links that bind you to the

Masonic Order . You see thafc some of tho brethren , yourself included , wear the crape that tells of some one dear who has gone to thafc higher Locige " nofc mado with hands , eternal in the Heavens . " I would not havo alluded to that circumstance on this occasion , were it not thafc that " loved and lost ono" was yonr own brother , ancl to assure von thafc

while we respect you as a Master Mason , ancl honour you as a W . P . Master of " Le Progres de l'Oceanie Locige , " we trniy and most sincerely sympathise with you in the great loss you havo sustained . His Majesty was very evidently and completely taken by surprise , ancl said iu substance : — Worshipful Master , Officers and Brethren , —Tho presentation of

this valuable gift , ancl tho manner in which it has been clone , has indeed taken me by surprise . I am not aware of anything thafc I have clone during my incumbency of a single year that could warrant the gift of this very beautiful jewel . Nevertheless , you will please accept my sincere thanks for the token of your esteem , and I assure yon that I will ever ch . oris , h it with a high appreciation ,