life, manners, and their motives, and everything in fact on a scale compared with which the world now is as Liliput to Brobdignag. These times, however, were no definite period, but different periods of an indefinite past. Thus the Greeks looked back on the times of the "tale of Troy divine;" the English on those of Arthur and his round table; the French on those of Charlemagne and his Palladins. This age of romance is always in the remote past, and as men's forms look greater when seen through the mists and haze of the morning, like the colossal reflections on the Hartz mountains; so do their deeds and attributes, when viewed through the dim haze which surrounds the distant past. An Heroic age is never a realised existence, and none ever considered their own times Heroic, or realised that they were living in them. We ourselves look on the Greeks before Troy as Heroes, and their age as Heroic; but in Homer we read that they contrasted the Heroic age of their ancestors with the present littleness, as we do now. But not only is the effect visible in the lapse of centuries, but also of the few years which comprise a man's existence, and the past is always a "lost age of gold." "For time remembered is grief forgotten." Perhaps it is so because the trifles which form so large a portion of the alloy with which all pleasure is mixed, the trivial needs, wants, and petty inconveniences which ever cloy the present, are forgotten in the remembrance of time past. Even so the small necessities, the trifling needs, duties, and cares which form the prosaic side of our life, do not live after us, and no chronicler tells us how they beset the men of the past, and so only the great and romantic side of their life remains. Thus we might almost fall into the same mistake as the worthy Quixote, who neglected to take a change of linen with him, because no chronicler, romancer, or ballad writer told him that the knights errant did so before him. We are not told how Lancelot, Roland, or the Cid, washed, dressed or ate their breakfast, although we read how they killed giants, and rescued princesses; but we need not seemed all romance to them, or suppose that the age all Heroic, but that they were troubled with toothache and indigestion, like the men "of these degenerate days." The primitive simplicity of these said Heroic times must have bored them as much as the formal restraint of these un-Beroic times does men now. It sounds very Heroic and romantic now to read of days passed in the saddle, of beards uncombed, and hair uncut for years, of meat rudely cooked; but it probably did not seem so to the men of those days; but "distance lends enchantment to the view," as we all know.. So none may know that the age in which he lives may not in some future day be considered Heroic, and his routine of life primordial simplicity. Even we ourselves in our short existence as a body of two and twenty years, look back on the time when there were giants, and the school was inhabited by Anakins; when deeds of fabulous skill and daring were of daily occurrence, but the memory of the petty discomforts, and vexations of these days has not yet died away, and the "dark ages have not yet been christened "Heroic." And as the "six-hundred " were as truly brave as king Arthur's knights were said to be, so our elevens and twenties are at least as good as those of the traditional past, and like our country, our school has improved in civilization, and in moral and intellectual tone, and we might answer a "laudator temporis acti," with the same proud assertion as Diomed did three thousand years ago. "We boast ourselves That we are better than our fathers wero." PHOEDO. A FAIRY LEGEND. FAR, far away in the sunny south, where the citron and the olive bloom beneath the bright blue sky, dwelt a lady fair, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. One day, when the sun was shining, and the birds were carolling joyously, Persephone, for that was her name, wandered forth into the broad plains of Enna, to gather the bright asphodel and amaranth. But while she plucked them, little thought she of her coming doom. Farther and farther from her comrades she wandered, and when out of sight, the earth opened beneath her feet, and the king of Hades, smitten with her beauty, hurried her off in his car, with its sable steeds, to his dusky realms below, to be their queen, but bitterly, bitterly wept the maid, as the earth closed over her head, shutting out from her the bright rays of the sun, and the joyous singing laughter of her comrades. Bitterly, bitterly too wept the mother, when her daughter returned not, and many a weary day and week she spent, roaming the world in search of her. At last she came to the all-seeing, never-slumbering Sun, and he, the sole witness of the deed, told her all. Then in her wrath, Demeter deprived all nature of her support, so that the flowers faded, and the grass withered. But Zeus taking compassion on the world, sent to Hades to bring back the maid, and for the future, four months of the twelve she spent in the darkness of the world below with her liege lord, the rest in the bright light of day with her mother. When the golden grain lies in its cold dark prison beneath the earth, Persephone reigns in Hades, but when the green blade comes up, and ripens into full grown gleaning ear, we know that Persephone has returned to the earth, and that Demeter in her joy smiles again. THE EXODUS OF LIFE. Why must the leaflets of the spring Be tempted from their soft retreat, To lose their freshness, withering Beneath the summer heat? Why must the morning's crimson dye 'Tis hard that they whose tender bark Who never yet have walked alone, But hand in hand, and heart in heart, Have trembling, helped each other on, Yet these must early part. The way lies set before their feet, They can but hope, hope cloyed with fears; Some day on wintry waves to meet, Or in a land of tears. Speed on brave hearts: there is a land Ye see in faith with trembling eyes; Like her who leaves the northern strand, And knows not where she flies. So trust you to the faithful wind, Life may be sad, and parting sore; Yet look not at the dark behind, But at the bright before. L.B. Correspondence. To the Editor of the Marlburian. SIR,-I venture to write to you, to call attention to the fact that little or no encouragement is given to swimming here. At various intervals of two or three years, owing to the generosity of masters and other friends of the school, prizes have been given for swimming and diving. What I would suggest is, that we should no longer depend on such casual acts of kindness which we have no right to expect, as the only encouragements we possess for swimming, &c., but give annual prizes, as we do in the cases of all other school amusements. I can see no reason, (and I believe that such is the opinion of many,) why prizes should not be regularly awarded for swimming, as they are for all branches of cricket, for running, racquets, fives, and other school sports. The only point about which any doubt can be raised is, who is to give the prizes? I would suggest the Race Committee: the amount of the prizes need not be great enough to necessitate a special subscription, and I should think no one would think the funds in the hands of the Race Committee misappropriated in being applied to such an object. There is already a good precedent, as the racquets and fives' prizes are given out of this fund. The Race Committee had last half, a large surplus, after giving the most liberal prizes for the annual athletic sports, and were at a loss how to dispose of it: I would suggest that they might reasonably apply it to swimming and diving prizes. As the foot races are only held once a year, the Committee will probably always have a similar surplus, and be enabled to make the swimming races annual, which is greatly to be desired. Should the M.C.F.R. Committee think fit to adopt this suggestion, I hope that it will be immediately, and before the weather becomes too cold. Yours truly, N.S.B. HOUSE TWENTIES. To the Editor of the Marlburian. SIR, AS the Football Season is rapidly approaching, I take the opportunity of expressing my own ideas, as well as those of many other fellows in the School, about the House matches at football. According to the present system the whole House plays, both big and little boys. Now it cannot be denied that the House matches are enjoyed more than any other matches, by the big fellows at least, but do the little fellows enjoy them? and this question can be answered by another,-Does any little fellow like being run over by one of our heavy six-footers? Common sense alone answers this question. Now the best remedy for this evil, according to my own opinion, is to form House Twenties, to which I am sure neither big nor little fellows would have any objection; moreover it would encourage every one to play better, so as to become fit for his House Twenty. C. C. To the Editor of the Marlburian. A tale to make each reader pale, For years my misery I've endured, So now I'll try by rhyme. My weakened voice, my minished tone, My broken works, so cracked they're grown, Each day some bully sets me right, And pulls about my wheels; Those hateful cats I hear each night Set up accursed squeals. I cannot drown their fearful row, Nor bear this sad disgrace; And so I keep for ever now My hands before my face. Each day I fear some keener pain, So plead for me, and I'll remain Yours faithfully, - varnished to the general view, and so to place it on a sounder basis. The report may, from its technical language, be uninteresting to the majority of readers, but the Editors have done wisely in abstaining from any remarks on their own proceedings; they ask all to judge freely for themselves of the success or ill success of their labours. We must not forget to say, that all who wish to inform themselves on subjects of really great interest, will learn a great deal of useful knowledge, by spending ten minutes in reading the short paper on Cotton, besides others in the report. We would not have the Natural History Society take the place of Institutions more peculiarly those of a public School, nor prevent any single fellow from joining in the School games; but still we would remind all, that this Society is by no means to be despised, and that knowledge is power, of whatever kind it may be. RIFLE CORPS. MONTHLY RIFLE SWEEPSTAKES. - Most of our readers, no doubt, know the result of the competition for the Cup which came off on Wednesday last at the Town Butts; nevertheless a short account, with some of the highest scores, may not be out of place. The shooting on the whole was not quite up to the average of the other competitions, but the heat, and want of a slight breeze to blow away the smoke which hung in clouds before the firing point were perhaps in a great measure the joint cause of it. At the first two ranges Dumergue led with the fine score of 28; Haunay, 2nd, 27; Turner, 3rd, 26; Mercer, with a few others 4th, 25; but at 600 yards the three leaders fell off, and it was evident the contest lay between Mercer and Lavington, who had been shooting steadily throughout; 4 rounds had been fired, Mercer and Lavington both having scored 35; now came the deciding shot. Mercer, shooting first, scored an outer; Lavington, missing the target, left Mercer the winner by two points, who thus secured the victory for the College Corps. Subjoined is the score of those who made upwards of 25. Private Mercer, M.C.C. 200 yds. 500 yds. 600 yds. Total. 12 Cricket. ELEVEN V. TWENTY-TWO.-This, the first match of the half-year, was commenced on Saturday, August 28th. The twenty-two, as usual, went first to the wickets, and, as was anticipated, took a great deal of getting out. This innings was chiefly remarkable for the fine steady innings of R. Leach, who was "in ” some three hours for his innings of 44. Bernays, Kewley, and Crawley also played well for their respective scores. The bowling of the eleven was very fair. The eleven then went in against a total of 147, a rather formidable one, considering that there were twenty-two in the field. They succeeded, however, in putting 134 to their credit, Lipscomb, Monnington, Bartholomew, Williams, and Round playing extremely good innings. In the bowling department the twentytwo were well represented by Lightfoot, Bird, Bourdillon, and Richards. The second innings of the twenty-two did not come up to their first one. Bernays again played well, with a little luck; he was at last settled by a good ball from Lipscomb, who bowled Moore and Richards added splendidly throughout. good contributions of 16 and 12 respectively. This innings closed for 117, thus leaving the eleven 130 to get, which number they fell short of by 32. The chief feature of this second innings was Monnington's fine innings of 51; he went in at the fall of the first wicket, and was the last to fall himself, being caught out by a very fine catch of Bourdillon's at coverpoint. He was well backed up by Bartholomew with 15, and by K. Mills, who carried his bat out, after a short but slashing innings of 15. This time Bird's slows did great execution, backed up as they were by the fine wicket-keeping of Bernays. So ended this wellcontested match. Annexed is the score : 13 12 37 13 12 10 12 13 9 13 15 5 A. C. Bartholomew, b. Richards 20 W. H. Lipscomb, b. Bourdillon 30 st. Bernays, b. Bird... 15 c. Wyld, b. Henderson 35 D. Round, b. Lightfoot 12 st. Bernays, b. Bird... 34 R. L. Parker, not out 7 c. Lomax, b. Bird...... 34 15 10 8 E. E. Money, c. Grant, b. Bird 7 G. K. Mills, b. Bourdillon c. and b. Bird 2 33 ...... Extras 6 29 THE TWENTY-TWO. 9 28 27 innings of 97, which included one seven, two fives, five MR. WARD'S ELEVEN. Brampton, b. P. W. Miles 11 Peters, b. R. F. Miles b. R. F. Miles Brackenbury, b. R. F. Miles 0 b. Brackenbury Bourdillon, b. R. F. Miles b. Lipscomb Trevelyan, c. Bartholomew, b. st. Money, b. Bar- 2nd Innings. 6 Lightfoot, b. A. T. Fortescue... 2 Henderson, b. R. F. Miles 1 not out 3 not out............ Wyld, b. R. F. Miles 0 c. Round, b. R.F.Miles c. Round, b. Lipscomb 0 F. E. Cobb, b. Lipscomb 2 2 Extras 6 2000 Rev.Boldero,st Bernays,b.Lipscomb 71 A. G. Meek, b. Lipscomb Capt. Rhys-Jones, b. Lipscomb 21 b. R. F. Miles 0 17 2 M. C. C. C. v. MR. WARD'S ELEVEN.-This match S. Taylor, c. Leach, b. Lipscomb 41 7 9 Extras..... 2 22 69 0 0 97 THE OLD V. THE NEW HOUSE.-SECOND ELEVEN.- |