Chapter 11

School-work nowadays cannot be mere training and foundation-laying. It would be absurd to expect it to cover every department of the higher education, but there is a happy mean discoverable between the two. A compromise can be established by which, while a preference is given to such studies as science and mathematics, which may be held to represent the inductive and deductive training, boys may yet carry away from school a reasonable amount of practical knowledge, which, if they do not allow it to get altogether rusty, can be of use to them in its direct application to their after-life, as well as in its indirect influence. To meet some such views as these, the heads of our best schools are allowing considerable latitude of subjects in their upper classes; but in most cases it would probably be better for the man if the boy's future career, being once settled, and his own and his parents' tastes consulted, the decision as to what optional subjects he should pursue were left with the head-master, the parent, of course, retaining a right of veto.

But I am lapsing into an educational dissertation, and must hasten back to colonial school-work. Leaving out of consideration exceptionally clever boys, the average of learning at our better grammar schools is higher than in middle-class ones, which form the fairest standard of comparison obtainable, but lower than at public schools. The four or five top boys in the upper sixth would invariably be in the sixth at Harrow or Rugby: at times eight or ten would. The rest of the upper sixth would probably be well up in the upper fifth, or in what at Rugby is called the 'Twenty,' while the lower sixth would compare with the lower half of the upper fifth, and higher half of the middle fifth. Here I am taking as our standard our three or four best schools, all of which, except the Sydney Grammar School, are Victorian. The two South Australian colleges and other leading New South Wales establishments fall far below this standard.

I think I alluded before to the want of preparation for secondary education, and the interruption of the age-equality of the schools by the advent of boys of fifteen and sixteen, who have to be put in the first or second form Between them, these two causes lower the age-standard so much that one must, on the average, estimate that a colonial boy is two years behind an English one in point of education. This is most visible at the beginning of school-life, where, as you will have noted, the first form averages over thirteen years old, but is partially made up by the superior rate of progress if the boy remains long enough. At seventeen he should not be more than a year behind his English contemporary.

The setting up of the matriculation examination as a standard up to which the average boy strives to make his way, has undoubtedly had a beneficial effect. Being a reachable proximate ideal, it works strongly upon every boy's _amour propre_, egging on the average and lazy to work, and by a system of honours holding out hopes of distinction to the able. The practice of giving text-books for it encourages cram, and its width allows of shallowness; but, to counteract this, distinction in any particular subject is very highly marked.

That there should be a disposition here to look coldly upon the old-fashioned classical education is not wonderful. You are beginning to have your doubts about its superiority even in England. Here the majority of parents would just as soon bury the past, and everyone who becomes a _bonâ fide_ Australian must feel that the history of his country is yet only in embryo. Besides this, the tendency of a new country is towards practical knowledge--small profits, and quick returns; and in classics the outlay of time is considerable, the returns slow, and the profit not always very perceptible. Science receives daily increasing attention, as at home. Geography is better realized by colonial children, and, I should fancy, better taught. In fact, all English subjects, as they are called, get their fair share. Mathematics, even in those lower branches which come within the scope of a school, are not a favourite subject, although about the same number of school-hours are devoted to them as at home.

The school-hours generally begin about nine a.m.; but school lasts till twelve. Second school begins at two, and lasts till four, when the day-boys go home. Half-holidays, ordinary or extraordinary, are rare; but Saturday is always a whole holiday. The main bulk of holidays are at Christmas, when some seven weeks are usually given. The midwinter vacation rarely lasts a month, and short breaks are allowed at Easter and Michaelmas, after the fashion of all schools comprising any large number of day-boys. As in England, the Easter term is the laziest; but here it is so for a good and sufficient reason--the heat during that period being often intolerable.

Nearly every Australian school has a stable attached, in which boys who ride to school put up their horses during school-hours. It is most amusing to watch half a dozen 'fellows' galloping their ponies up the avenue, not to be late for first school, just as we used to scurry across quad to chapel of a morning! The ordinary sleeping and living arrangements for boarders are much the same as at home. At the Sydney State Grammar School, which is in reality purely and simply a day-school, several of the masters take boarders, in imitation of public-school boarding-houses. At the Melbourne Grammar School the second-master has a house, the property of the school; but, so far, there are not more boarders than will fill the school-house.

The bill of fare of public schools has, I believe--thanks to scarlet fever and doctors--improved considerably since my day; but I do not suppose it has yet reached the luxury of unlimited meat and jam three times a day, with frequent bountiful supplies of fresh fruit. It is as necessary to the credit of an Australian school to keep a liberal table, as it is for an Atlantic steamship company. Where several schools are pretty well on an equality, the table often turns the scale.

In Victoria, especially, the boys are inordinately fond of games and outdoor sports of every kind; but too many of the day-boys prefer playing cricket and football with local clubs to joining in the school games, and this makes _esprit de corps_ only possible between school and school. There are no divisions sufficiently strongly marked in the school to become parties. Sixth and school are perhaps the nearest approaches; but the day is far distant when intellectual differences will be appreciated by grown-up colonists, much more by schoolboys; and it is only in a few schools where a 'sixth' and 'school' match is possible. Untidiness in dress, and indeed in all of their belongings, is another of the colonial schoolboys' weaknesses. At the Melbourne Grammar School the boys have studies which they in a certain way appreciate; but they are quite content with the bare floor and walls, and would despise the little attempts at comfort and prettiness which an English boy makes. The latter's pride in his study would be quite incomprehensible to the colonial, who not unnaturally imbibes his ideas from the rough-and-ready mode of living in his home. As for uniformity in dress, he would be a bold master who would even attempt to carry it out.

What I have written of the grammar-schools and denominational colleges of course applies more or less to all secondary schools. There is at this moment near Melbourne a private-venture college, which, owing to the great ability and reputation of its head, ranks with the best Victorian grammar schools. I should doubt whether the tone that is possible in a non-proprietary school can easily be brought about in a private one, but in teaching power it is certainly not inferior. With this one exception, the private-venture colleges established in each suburb of the different capitals are little better than the commercial academies of England. There is the same bad tone, want of sufficient numbers of boys of equal standing in the school-work, and other disadvantages, which make the very name of a private school malodorous. The boys are rough and unmannerly, the discipline slack, the teaching staff inferior in ability and social position. The public schools of Australia may not be all that could be wished, but [Greek characters] that a boy of mine should ever go to a colonial private school, unless it were a preparatory school--a class of institution greatly needed and not yet provided, because parents do not appreciate the need.

The existence of three universities in a country with less than two million inhabitants speaks well for the colonists' appreciation of the higher instruction, which they themselves have rarely had the opportunity of enjoying. The Sydney University, founded in 1851, was the first in the field, but in spite of fine buildings, affiliated colleges, able professors, and a very fair supply of funds, it has never succeeded in attracting any considerable number of students, and can hardly be said to have won even a _succès d'estime_. No little of its failure is attributable to the success which has attended its Melbourne rival, founded in 1855, at the height of the gold-fever, and which may be said to have been floated on gold directly, and kept in deep water by it indirectly. Before Sydney could recover the effects of the emigration of those years, Melbourne was well under way, and the size and central situation of the latter city contributed no little to the success of its young university, which, under unusually politic as well as able management, increased annually in size and usefulness, until now no less than 1,500 students have graduated in its halls, and the number of undergraduates attending its lectures exceeds 280. It confers degrees in arts, laws, science, medicine, surgery, and engineering--the standard for which is above that of Oxford and Cambridge, and in medicine is higher than that of London itself. All the professors are men of first-rate ability. Amongst them are an F.R.S. (M. McCoy, Professor of Palaeontology), and Dr. Hearn, the well-known authority on jurisprudence and constitutional law. By acting as an examining body for the secondary schools, the university has not only widened its sphere of usefulness and materially raised the general educational standard of the colony, but has gained influence in circles, into which not even its name would probably otherwise have entered. Already a certain healthy tone and _esprit de corps_ obtains amongst the students, and _ceteris paribus_ a Melbourne graduate is professionally to be preferred to an Oxonian or Cantab., at any rate for colonial work. Thanks in no small degree to its educating and civilizing influence on the community, an anti-materialistic voice is beginning to make itself heard in Victoria, and if it does not occupy itself too much with politics, it promises to become an intellectual centre. It would not be difficult to find faults in either its constitution or its teaching, but it has the great merit of taking the trouble to understand and keep abreast of the times. All things considered, the Melbourne University may claim to have deserved the success it has commanded, and to be one of the greatest achievements of Victoria.

The present prosperity and bright prospects of New South Wales, together with the educational influence of the late exhibition, and an opportune bequest of £180,000 by a wealthy colonist, have lately stirred up the authorities of the Sydney University to make a grand effort to justify its existence. A medical school--_the_ most successful side of the Melbourne 'varsity is to be established, and other improvements introduced. But although the principal, Dr. Badham, is a better classic than any that the Melbourne University possesses, there is an indolence and _laissez-faire_ about the Sydney University which must long keep it in the background. Not until there is a thorough reformation in the whole style, tone, and management of the university will there be any real progress, and the centripetal influence of successful Melbourne is so strong, that I do not believe Sydney will ever be able to catch up lost ground, or even to considerably decrease the interval between itself and its rival, advance though it may, and undoubtedly will, when the present governing body has died out, and the public insists upon an entirely new regime. As for the Adelaide University, it is bound either to federate with Melbourne on the best terms it can obtain, or to drag on in extravagant grandeur. In five years of existence it has conferred five degrees at a cost of £50,000, and the professors threaten to outnumber the students. The vaulting ambition of the little colony has somewhat o'erleaped itself; but by a federation with Melbourne there would undoubtedly be practical benefit gained, and little but sham glory lost. If Sydney would also forego its jealousy, and acknowledge the success of its rival by federating on a basis which should allow the Melbourne University the position of _prima inter pares_, all colonies would profit; but even if Sydney would federate--which I do not think in the least probable--it could hardly expect its successful _confrère_ to meet it on terms of perfect equality, especially as, comparatively speaking, Melbourne has little to gain by federation.

As regards the cost of secondary and higher education, it must be considered exceedingly small, remembering that the value of money is less here than at home; and that the salaries paid to masters are from £50 to £200 a year higher than the same men would obtain in England. The highest terms for boarders at any secondary school are £80 per annum, and from £50 to £60 is the usual charge. Day-boys pay from £12 to £24, according to the school. The University fees are very light, amounting to not more than £20 to £30 a year, including all charges.

As the Universities are purely teaching and examining bodies, with but little control outside their walls, the religious denominations are beginning to supply the want of a college system such as obtains at Oxford and Cambridge, by founding affiliated colleges in which the regime approximates as closely to that of the English Universities as the circumstances of the case allow. At Melbourne there are two of these colleges--Trinity College, belonging to the Church of England, and Ormond College, erected at the cost of some £70,000, and richly endowed by a wealthy colonist, Mr. Ormond, belonging to the Presbyterians. At Sydney, the Roman Catholics, the Church of England, and the Presbyterians, have all three erected affiliated colleges, but they are smaller and less successful than those at Melbourne, and in a large measure serve merely as theological colleges for training young men for the ministry. The Church of England in Adelaide has also founded St. Barnabas College, where, however, the relative importance of the two duties is reversed--the college being more especially a theological college. The Sydney colleges have not at all fulfilled the expectations which had been formed about them, largely owing to the want of success of the university; but the Melbourne colleges, and especially Trinity College, which is the least richly endowed, and has the smallest buildings, are doing excellent work. The atmosphere which the students breathe in them is conducive to greater steadiness of work and exertion to achieve university honours than is generally found in the unattached student; besides, they offer some social advantages, and are also morally tonic. In founding Trinity College, which was the first of these institutions in Victoria, four years ago, the Bishop of Melbourne may be said to have conferred an educational boon upon the colony only second to that which it owes to Sir Redmond Barry. Every year it is increasing in usefulness, and I can well understand that many parents who before preferred the expense of sending their sons to Oxford or Cambridge, will now see their way to allowing them to complete their education at the Melbourne University.

The provision for the secondary education of girls in Australia is miserably poor. The only school that really combines the social and intellectual qualifications requisite is to be found at Perth, in Western Australia. At that school the teaching is admirable and the social tone excellent. The only other school where girls are well taught is the High School at Adelaide, but being a day-school and a State-school, it cannot be expected to pay much attention to the social side of education. The private schools for girls attain but a poor standard in instruction, and a worse one still, when socially considered. There is one in Melbourne considerably superior to the rest; but if I had daughters of my own, I should certainly not send them to any as boarders, and would think twice before I sent them as 'day-girls', if the expression be allowable. But it is only fair to these schools to say that my standard of what a girls' school should be is very high. It is, however, satisfied by the Bishop's Ladies College at Perth.

POLITICS.

The chief interest of Australian politics lies in their relation to those of the Mother Country. Having imported their whole constitution and law books holus-bolus from England, each colony has been engaged ever since its foundation in fitting them to its circumstances. The legislative equipment of the young Australias corresponded pretty nearly to the tall hats and patent-leather boots which fond mothers provided for the aspiring colonists. An exogenous growth has prevented originality of ideas, which for the most part have been supplied by English thinkers, but the adaptability and less complicated social machinery of a young colony have permitted the carrying into execution of many valuable measures long before they emerged from the region of theory in their native land. It would not be hard to multiply instances where important reforms have been hastened and made practicable in England by their adoption and favourable operation out here, or avoided on account of their failure here. Australia is the _corpus vile_ on which England makes her legislative experiments. In this direction there is a great deal of useful information in the study of our politics to an outsider; but to go into the question at large would take up a three-volume publication instead of a short letter, and my present purpose is merely to give an outline of the existing situation in each colony, only touching upon so much of their past history as is necessary for the understanding of their present position.

The most interesting, history is that of Victoria, the youngest colony of the three, which up to the time of the gold discoveries formed a district of New South Wales, not inaptly named by its first explorer 'Australia Felix.' Practically, its history may be said to date from these gold discoveries in 1851. For the next five years adventurers of all nations and classes flocked to the diggings, and quiet settlers from other colonies left their sheep to look after themselves while they hastened to reap a share of the golden harvest. Fortunately the diggings only gave place to mines which are still a staple of wealth. But during the period of the American war the gold tide ebbed too swiftly, leaving high and dry not only diggers, but the thousand-and-one classes who were indirectly dependent upon the gold supply. The better portion of these found occupation on the land--the richest in Australia, though neglected during the gold mania. But there remained a large number without any visible means of support, and not particularly inclined to go out of their way to find any. What to do with this large class of 'electors' became the question of the day, until in 1865 Sir James M'Culloch introduced a scheme for making work for them. By turning the tariff into an industrial incubator he forced manufactures into existence, and gave employment to those who had nothing better to do. It was in this manner, to meet a temporary crisis, and with no deliberate economical purpose, that the thin edge of the protectionist wedge was introduced. When once the purpose for which the duties had been imposed was served, the originators of protection in Victoria thought they could be quietly dropped. Needless to say, it was easier to call in the spirit of Protection than to lay it again. The gold produce continued to decrease, and the cry was for more duties and heavier duties, until a please-the-people Ministry extended the list to every possible article of manufacture, and raised the duty to a prohibitive amount-for many articles as high as 27½ _ad valorem_. The colony has now committed itself to an almost irrevocable extent. Even the relative idea of imposing duties temporarily for the sake of giving new industries a start, which marked the second stage of public opinion, is giving way to the absolute one that Protection means more work and higher wages whenever and wherever introduced. It may in course of time be possible gradually to take 5 per cent off the duties at a time. But any reduction of the tariff would instantly put hundreds of electors--and very noisy hundreds too--out of employment, and reduce the earnings of thousands, while the general effect upon prices would take a long time to become perceptible. At the present time, come Conservative, come Liberal into office, neither's tenure would be worth twenty-four hours' purchase if he made any attempt in that direction. The whole subject of Free Trade and Protection has for the present completely passed out of the region of practical politics.

A distinguishing feature of Victorian public life is the existence of an approach to definite political parties bearing the same names and starting originally from the same bases as in England, though their principles by no means correspond to those of English Liberals and Conservatives. The main factor which led up to these divisions was class dislike, embittered by the remembrance that both plutocracy and democracy started in life on an equal footing. The diggings caused a general shaking up of the social bag, and the people who came out uppermost were mostly those who had been lowest before. In matters political they grabbed the public lands wholesale; socially they flaunted their wealth more openly than was wise. _Du haut en bas_ came badly from those who had only a few years ago been hail-fellows-well-met. On the other side was jealousy, embittered often by a feeling that it was a man's own fault that he had not got on better in the world. The change had been brought about too suddenly to allow of people shaking down into their new positions. In this state of public feeling demagogues were not slow to see their advantage. They fanned the flames of discontent and jealousy till they broke out in Mr. Berry's 'platform,' the bursting-up of the landed estates, reform amounting to revolution, protection _ad absurdum_, and so forth.

For a short time feeling ran so high over the Reform Bill, as almost to threaten civil war. One minister talked of settling the question with 'broken heads and flaming houses.' Another boasted at a public meeting that he had 'got his hand upon the throat of capital'--all bombast, of course, but dangerous bombast at a time of great public excitement. Happily a vent was found for these angry passions in the ridiculous incident of Mr. Berry's 'embassy' to the Colonial Office, which set both parties laughing, and after three years of turmoil which had led to considerable commercial distress, everybody got tired of agitation.