War Letters of a Public-School BoyJones, Henry Paul Mainwaring
History
War Letters of a Public-School Boy
Jones, Henry Paul Mainwaring
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British
The education you get from a correspondence course is of a kind
which, while useful for acquiring a knowledge of facts, is of
very little value in the development of that culture which is the
first and essential element in obtaining a 'Varsity--above all, a
Balliol--scholarship. If a boy decides to go in for a history
scholarship, the Dulwich authorities ought to provide him with
adequate tutorship as part of his school training. Were the boy
to go to an outside institution, the school would lose part of
the honour gained by the winning of the scholarship. But
remember that no one would have the ghost of a chance for an
Oxford scholarship on the knowledge gained from a correspondence
course taken by itself. Finally, any honour gained by a Dulwich
boy ought to redound to the credit of Dulwich; the school alone
should have the credit of the achievements of its members.
From masters and boys I learnt that my son's influence was specially
marked in his last two years at the College. It was an influence that
was always thrown on the side of what was lovely, pure and of good
report. Frank, free-spirited, open-hearted, his buoyancy and his rich
capacity for laughter diffused an atmosphere of cheerfulness; his
unflagging enthusiasm stimulated interest in athletics; his love of
learning and passion for work were contagious; his high ideals of
conduct helped to set the tone in morals and manners. The qualities he
most prized in boys were courage, purity, veracity. No one loved books
more, but book-learning by itself he placed low on the list. To use
his own words: "It is character and personality that tell." Purity in
deed and thought was with him a constant aspiration. He reverenced the
body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. From the ordeal of the
difficult years between 14 and 16 he emerged like refined gold. A boy
he was
With rosy cheeks
Angelical, keen eye, courageous look,
And conscious step of purity and pride.
His serene and radiant air was witness to a soul at peace with itself.
Things coarse and impure fled from his presence. It was the union in
him of moral elevation with physical courage that explained the secret
of his remarkable influence in school.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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