eeks in the term. Once one was in the fifth form, brewing
became easy, for one had a right to a place on the class-room fire for
one's kettle or saucepan. Till then the space over gas stoves in Big
School being strictly limited, the right was only acquired "vi et
armis." Moreover, most of the fourth form boys and the "Shells," a
class between them and the fifth, if they had to work after evening
chapel, had to sit behind desks around the house class-room facing the
centre, in which as a rule the fifth form boys were lazily cooking and
devouring their suppers. Certain parts of those repasts, like
sausages, we would import ready cooked from the "Tuck Shop," and hence
they only needed warming up. Breakfast in Big School was no comfort to
one, and personally I seldom attended it. But at dinner and tea one
had to appear, and remain till the doors were opened again. It was a
kind of roll-call; and the penalty for being late was fifty lines to
be written out. As my own habits were never as regular as they should
have been, whenever I was able to keep ahead, I possessed pages of
such lines, neatly written out during school hours and ready for
emergencies. On other occasions I somewhat shamefacedly recall that I
employed other boys, who devoted less time to athletics than was my
wont, to help me out--their only remuneration being the "joy of
service."

The great desire of every boy who could hope to do so was to excel in
athletics. This fact has much to commend it in such an educational
system, for it undoubtedly kept its devotees from innumerable worse
troubles and dangers. All athletics were compulsory, unless one had
obtained permanent exemption from the medical officer. If one was not
chosen to play on any team during the afternoon, each boy had to go to
gymnasium for drill and exercises, or to "flannel" and run round the
Aylesbury Arms, an old public house three quarters of a mile distant.
Any breach of this law was severely punished by the boys themselves.
It involved a "fives batting," that is, a "birching" carried out with
a hardwood fives bat, after chapel in the presence of the house. As a
breach of patriotism, it carried great disgrace with it, and was very,
very seldom necessary.

Experience would make me a firm believer in
self-government--determination is the popular term now, I believe. No
punishments ever touched the boys one tenth part as much as those
administered by themselves. On one occasion two of the Big