Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Page 13 text:

Dwing to an unlucky combination of questions or circumstances. The extreme importance attached in some quarters to the result of a competitive examination might lead to overwork and anxiety detrimental to a competitor ' s health, or even a break- down. R. OuTERBRiDGE (Whitney), opposing, agreed that competi- tive examination did not necessarily provide the surest or fairest method of discrimination, but could a better system be sug- gested? Even the Intelligence Test would not eliminate com- petition, which was essential throughout life; for instance, it was competition among store-keepers which brought down prices. If a standard of knowledge were substituted, the number of suc- cessful candidates might far exceed the number of vacancies. Selection by personal interview was already used in conjunction with some important examinations. R. Lowe (Whitney), supporting the motion, claimed that competitive examinations were apt to induce an inferiority com- plex in the unsuccessful, while not necessarily producing the best, for the best boy might be temporarily unnerved. As to competition in business, it should be realised that it had been largely superseded by amalgamation. Already, in some of the most important examinations it was personality which counted most. W. R. Kempe (S. G. S.), opposing, said that it was neces- sary for the last speaker in debate to sum up, and likewise a summing-up was necessary at the end of Term by means of the competitive examination. In that final test there was no chance of fraud, and the boy who had worked consistently well and fair- ly during the Term then came to the top. Competitive examin- ations stimulated effort; the alternative might be favouritism. There also Spoke: Mr. J. H. Kerry, Mr. F. B. Rogers, L. Gibbons, Mr. R. E. E. Booker, Mr. G. J. Butland, T. M. Adams, and H. W. Murphie. The Motion was defeated by 24 votes to 18, some abstain- ing. Lamb may have suffered from egoism but he certainly was never too egotistical. In The Sea Voyage he tells of a voyage taken by a small girl of five years and uses the first person. But this is not egotism ; it is merely egoism. Lamb here uses the first person in order to captivate the interest of the reader, and perhaps also to puzzle the reader, who knows very little of Lamb ' s earliest years. -0- 11

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The Cubs were inspected by H. E. the Governor of Bermuda on 19th October and he remarked on the good turn-out of the Cub Pack. This praise comes from a keen supporter of the Scout Movement and is therefore not unearned. The Pack is the Junior School for the Saltus Scout Troop. Meetings are held for the purpose of making it easier for Cubs to become efficient Scouts eventually — by passing elementary tests, by learning to be smart, useful, and orderly, and knowing the first principles of the movement — the Law and the Promise. The Debating Society. By J. H. K. Debating activities have been renewed during the current Term, and up to the date of going to Press three meetings have been held: — The following Officers were elected for the Christmas term, 1936. Sept. 18. General Meeting and Election of Officers. President : Mr. J. H. Kerry Secretary : T. M. Adams Committee: F. G. Lines, W. R. Kempe, L. Gibbons, and T. M. Adams (ex-officio) .Oct. 22. Debate on the Motion, That the World of To-day attaches too much importance to the Colour of a Man ' s Shirt. Proposer: T. M. Adams Opposer: F. G. Lines Third: W. R. Kempe Fourth: H. G. E. Masters The Motion was carried. Nov. 12. Debate with Whitney Institute on the Motion, Tha t Competitive Examinations should be abolished. Proposer: F. G. Lines Opposer: R. Outerbridge (Whitney) Third: R. Lowe Fourth: W. B. Kempe (Whitney) F. G. Lines ' (S. G. S.), proposing, suggested that competi- tive examination gave rise to excessive rivalry among the com- petitors; yet there was a danger that the best boy might fail 10

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In the essays that Lamb wrote for the London Magazine he often used the first person, but he always signed himself Elia , thus hiding his identity from the majority of the readers of this magazine. This alone proves that Lamb had no desire to exalt himself in his writings, and that therefore he was by no means egotistical. In many of Lamb ' s essays and also some of his letters can be found quotations from other essayists and poets. Lamb uses these quotations when he cannot express his thought nearly as well as can the poet or essayist quoted. An egotist, given to writing, would never admit that anyone else in the world could express thoughts as well as he. A good example of such a quotation as described occurs in his essay Mackery End, in Hertfordshire. Lamb is speaking of an old country house Mackery End, which he had visited as a child and which he is now revisiting with his cousin, Bridget Elia. When he at last sees it after so many years, he says, 0 how unlike it was to that which I had conjured up so many times instead of it. He then inserts a verse taken from Wordsworth ' s Yarrow Visited ; A critic of Lamb might, indeed, raise the objection that in one of his essays he includes a quotation from his own works, but he probably did this rather from humour than from egotism. In Old China Lamb cannot be accused of being too egotistical, for in his essay he reveals the humble nature of his position in life. In answer to anyone who says that Lamb is too egotistical I suggest that he read some of his poems, for in these he makes no mention of himself either directly or in- directly. Th following is an account found on the newly discovered island, Tasmain, by the celebrated mariner, John Tasmain, when he landed there in the year 1760 A.D. On the fifth of May, being a bright and sunny day, the good ship Cristobal left harbour in the endeavour to discover a new route around the continent of Africa. After five weeks of sail- ing, the watch then on duty sighted land, the Cape of Good But thou, that didst appear so fair To fond imagination. Dost rival in the light of day Her delicate creation. -0- 12