ENGLISH PREPARATORY SCHOOLS.

On the left bank of the river Thames, some twenty miles from London, right opposite the town of Windsor, lies Eton, or rather the school, which gives its name to the few surrounding hamlets. The school was founded as early as 1441, by Henry the Sixth, and has ever since come under the care and personal supervision of the monarchs of England, who frequently were visitors on account of the nearness of the school to Windsor Castle. From a paltry hundred, including masters and fellows, the attendance has now increased to 850 scholars alone, and the roll of instructors equals many a small college. As in the case of most of the large English schools, all the governing power was first centered in the provost and masters, but this absolute rule was soon changed by an act of Parliament ; and now, in Eton, as in all other schools of its kind, the fellows must be chosen from Oxford, Cambridge, and the Royal Society,

The faculty, if it may be so called, consists of a provost, ten fellows, a headmaster and undermaster, and "not more" than two chaplains. The boys must be between twelve and fifteen, who apply for admittance, but need not be natives of England to gain the privileges of the school ; although a foreigner is not well received. As the dormitory room is limited, a large number of the boys are obliged to board in the village, and hence are called "oppidans," probably from "oppidum," a town, the expenses of an "oppidan," amounting to over $1,000. From a classical school exclusively, Eton now teaches mathematics, physics, etc., and all the branches of learning necessary for admittance into the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and the school has a number of fellowships connected with either university. A singular custom called "montem" was practiced at Eton triennially, but was abolished in 1844, as it created too

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much disturbance. A procession of boys, arranged in military order and headed by a "captain," used to march on Whit Tuesday with flags and music to a small hill or mount outside of the village, and there collect toll or "salt" from the bystanders and passers by, sometimes getting in this way over $5,000. After deducting a certain amount from this sum to cover expenses, the surplus was handed over to the happy "captain of the school."

The school buildings are not extensive, consisting of a block of recitation rooms, an observatory, a chemical and a physical laboratory. The residence of the provost and fellows, with the dormitories, inclose a small quadrangle in the centre of which stands a bronze statue of the founder. The chapel is a good gothic structure, and the library is well supplied with the usual amount of manuscripts, etc. There is, however, another library for the use of the boys, the first being too valuable for schoolboy use. Like all English schools, Eton boasts of a long list of celebrated graduates, too long to enumerate, and it will be sufficient to say that Horace Walpole, Chatham, Gray, Shelley, Hallam, the historian, and the Duke of Wellington, were all Eton boys.