“The Committee has the management of the School Fund. It amounts now to upwards of £100 per annum, and is partly furnished by the proprietors of the school, and partly by the parents of the boys. It is expended, for the most part, in the purchase of philosophical instruments, musical instruments, apparatus for printing, maps, school-coin, and books for the school library, the pupils being invited to recommend the purchase of books or other articles by entries in a register kept for the purpose. To those who have not witnessed the prudence and uprightness with which very young persons can be taught to use power, it may appear a dangerous arrangement to intrust boys with the disposal of such a fund; but we have never had the slightest reason to regret the experiment. At the end of each session—the interval from vacation to vacation—the Committee prepares a statement of the expenditure, which is printed at the school press, and each pupil takes home a copy for the perusal of his friends. Thus a powerful check is furnished, if any were required, to improper expenditure. The advantages derived to the boys from the management of this fund are very considerable. To discuss the various merits and defects of books and instruments, to ascertain where and how they can be best procured, to transact the business attendant on their purchase, and to keep the necessary accounts, must all be useful exercises. Neither can it be doubted that these preliminaries to the possession of a desired object, very much tend to heighten its value, and increase the wish for its preservation. Thus habits of care are induced which are of the highest importance. Our school-rooms are all hung with valuable prints and maps. The musical instruments are constantly accessible to all the boys. The library contains many costly books, and property of a great variety of kinds is constantly exposed to the use of our pupils with almost perfect safety.”[53] The punctuality that was established in the school was very striking. To use the words of “Public Education,” it was “an almost superstitious punctuality.” “Punctuality of attendance entitles a boy to a reward, which goes on increasing from week to week during all the half-year, until the progression is interrupted by a failure, after which it commences anew.”