CORRESPONDENCE. Contribution! will bo received at the Advertiser Offloo, o r at Mr. Pepperday’g, under coyer to the “ Editor o f the M eteor.* H O U SE F E E L IN G . To the Editor of the Meteor. Sib,—-I am not without fear lest the sub ject of this letter should, after the lapse o f three months, have lost its interest; B ut as 1 see that the question o f Black H ats has snrvived the holidays, perhapB this question (which is nearly as important) m ay he, suf fered to survive them also. I read with great interest the letters o f “ Cosmopolitan ” and “ Senior ” on “ House F e e lin g a n d your own article on the same subject. W ith the letter o f “ Cosmopolitan ” I heartily agree. H e upholds,, if I u n der, stand him aright, strong House Feeling and strong School Feeling, hut deprecates any excess o f either sentiment. H e finds such an excess in the bar which is placed by pub lic opinion upon intercourse between mem bers o f different Houses. Lam not sure that I grasp the meaning o f this part o f his letter, but so far as I do so I differ from him . I remember the time when a House at R ugby was burnt down, and the members of it Were dispersed among the remaining Houses o f the School. And I remember that public opinion in our House encouraged rather than dis countenanced intim acy with those strangers who were thrown upon our hospitality. I hope you w ill pardon me if I venture to think that in the leading article o f your seventh number yon took a totally different line from “ Cosmopolitan.” I . cannot find that he anywhere maintains that “ Rugbeiana let House Feeling sometimes extinguish School Feeling.” Again, yon say that yon saw among Old Rugbeians at the Tercentenary “ nothing o f that which staunch present Rugbeians call House Feeling.” A nd far ther on yon say that present Rugbeians ought, in everything, to imitate O ld R ug beians. T our argument, therefore, is th at TH E METEOR. 7 among staunch present Rugbeians ought to be seen nothing of what they call H ouse Feeling. B ut what says “ Cosmopolitan ?” “ The good effects o f the feeling o f the mem bers o f each House for their own more lim ited society, are beyond praise.” H e seems to me to stand at the opposite pole from you. W ill you allow me to make a few remarks on these statements o f yours ? Firstly, as to the analogy which you draw from the case of Old Rugbeians. I confess that this objection does not seem to me to possess much weight. For, in the first place, the mere fact o f leaving a great School like this m ust necessarily affect the way in which we think o f it and the light in which we look a t it. In such a case, House Feeling, to a certain extent, dies a natural death, not b e cause it was ever in itself bad, but because we have removed from the sphere in which its excellence and utility were m ost plainly manifested. This difference is only the dif ference which may be seen between the sen timents o f the Queen and of any ordinary Englishman with respect to Scotland. The breadth and largeness o f mind which induces the Queen to regard Scotland with far less prejudiced eyes than the ordinary English farmer, is precisely the same as that which modifies the feeling o f Old Rugbeians with respect to their own House and other H ouses. Or, to make use of a H om eric sim ile, it is as with the traveller who, when he retires from a well-known landscape, sees the less prominent features o f it fade away in the distance till nothing but the strong outline is distinguishable; in like manner the Old Rugbeian gradually loses the more transitory part o f his School Feeling— namely, his love fbr his House— and retains only the more abiding part o f it, his love for bis School. B ut, in the seoond place, I do not think that this argument can be used with any fairness, for the simple reason that in no in stance is the affection o f an old member o f a Public School, fbr his School, so strong as that o f a present member. The affection o f the Old Rugbeian undergoes a change not only in kind but also in degree. I do not see that we need be ashamed to confess th is; men would be mortal beings no longer if this were not the case. A t Oxford or at Cam bridge, in the Indian Arm y, or in the Bush of Australia, his old School can no longer be to a man what it has been in bygone days. H e may, indeed, love it passionately, and feel that he owes to it more than he can ever folly realize; but it is impossible that he should ever again be swayed, as he has once been swayed, by the foil tide o f its life and thought,— should ever again know the hopes and fears, the pride in its fame and the an guish at its defeat, which stirred his inmost soul so powerfully a few years ago. This is one o f those points in respect o f which the past is irrevocably past; and therefore to build upon it an argument against House Feeling is, I think, an entire misapprehen sion. - ' B ut House Feeling (you say again) is apt to produce bitterness between Houses. Un questionably ; and School Feeling is apt to produce bitterness between Schools. It is bad that Jones’ house should nourish a spite against Sm ith’s House because they have had two goals kicked against them ; but it is at least equally bad that Eton should nourish a spite against Harrow because they have been beaten by six wickets. Nothing in this world is perfect, and therefore every question resolves itself into a balance of advantages and disadvantages. The question with re spect to House Feeling, no less than School Feeling, is, does the good which it produces preponderate over the evil ? T on object further that the love for the House tends to stifle love for the School. This I emphatically deny. I maintain that the less necessarily im plies the greatest; that love for the House pre-supposes love for the School; that the man whose sympathies are apparently most bounded, is really the man whose sympathies are widest. I never yet m et a fellow who was devoted to his House 8 THB ME1IBD11. and who was not also enthusiastically en am oured'of his School. “ I never knew a dutiful son,” said an eminent man, “ who m ade an unpatriotic citizen.” . Volum es of philosophy are condensed in that remark. W ith your correspondent “ Senior ” I m ust also quarrel. H e says that your lig h t Blue is your true cosmopolitan, because his interest in the Eleven outweighs his interest in his House. Is your correspondent really in earnest ? Does he call it cosmopolitanism to sdt the narrow clique, the narrow aristo cracy to which he belongs, above the House to which he is bound by the strongest natural tie s? This cosmopolitanism surely is like the cosmopolitanism of the Stoics, who dig nified therilselves with the title of the “ W ise,” and stigmatized all the rest of mankind as ‘ ‘ Fools.” To me it always seemed, when I was at Rugby, the peculiar evil of two bodies for which I otherwise felt the highest respect — the Sixth and the Eleven— that the mem bers of them were apt to form habits of thinking compared with which the most per verted and most bigoted H ouse. feeling is generous and large-m inded; and to cling, through evil report and good report, to those who happened to wear the same ribbon, or sit in the same Form with themselves.. Tour correspondent “ Senior ” is an ardent advocate of cosmopolitanism, but is he also a consistent advocate ? If cosmopolitanism means anything, it means that natural divi sions ought to be nothing to U s; that it is cur duty to love Russians as much as A nglo- Saxons ; to care for France as much as for E ngland; to be as enthusiastic about Eton as we are about Rugby. Let him give me his reasons for preferring Rugby before Eton, and I w ill prove that every one of those rea sons would induce me equally to prefer m y House to Smith’s House, It has, indeed, always appeared to me that, except in the rare cases o f minds o f the highest orddr> cosmopolitanism is apt to de generate on the. one hand into a m ilk-and- water sentimentalism, and on the other into a cynical indinerentism. I have no doubt that the latter is more frequently the case; and that men who’ begin by trying to like everyone equally, generally end by liking n o body but themselves. That Roman cosmos politanism produced some fine characters I w ill not deny; but I confidently, assert that its results, as a whole,, were far'inferior to the results of the narrow-minded patriotism developed in the Greek cities. Julius Caesar represents the type of character which School cosmopolitans would wish to realize: Pericles represents the type o f character which the Honse system produces. I know which typo I should choose. To a cosmopolitan, nothing, I should imagine, would appear more odious than the feeling which inspires a Honse match at. foot ball. B at it seems to me that the sentiment which, theoretically, animates a Sixth match is incomparably worse than the feeling which, theoretically, animates a House, match. I do not mean that either is practically bad-; but I do mean that it is the'-height o f in justice to abuse the one and extol the other. Something more I had to say, but I m ust reserve it for another time. One remark I would make before I conclude. I f the con fession w ill give any satisfaction to m y op ponents, I confess that I can neither think nor Write impartially on this subject. I have loved m y Honse too passionately to be able now to argue dispassionately upon the dis advantages o f having loved it. A nd if I am told that the ideal state is never to have loved it at all, or having loved it to get rid o f m y love as soon as possible, I confess, with the deepest hum ility, that it is an ideal to which I have neither the power nor the w ill to aspire. I am, Sir; Ac., T R E B L A . F O O T B A L L . To ihe Editor of the Ifeteor. DBAS S ib,-~I hope you will allow me to . say a few w ords in answer to the letter o f vourcorrespondent “ Football” thatappeaTed in your hast number. H is first proposal w ill THE METEOR, 9 no doubt generally be allowed to be a good one, for the gravel path by the white gate on the Barby road is a very awkward place to fall upon, and there seems no reason why the touch-line should not be carried in a curve round the edge o f the path in the same manner as it is round the edge o f the Island moat and the Pavilion. His second proposal, however, viz.— “ that a fellow be allowed to have his cap i f he be thought thoroughly worth it, without reference to the time he may have been in the School” — I do con sider both radical and revolutionary, as he expects. To say that it would be very easy for a new fellow to learn the rules is all very w ell„in theory : it is hardly the same in practice. Reading the rules over three or four times does but very little g o o d : they need to be illustrated by the game itself. A nd for that matter three or four Below Caps effect but little ; the rules are not sufficiently drilled into a new fellow’s brain by the first few matches, and though “ Football” says that many new fellows with this short ex perience would be as well acquainted with the game as some o f the present “ caps,” surely he would not willingly add to the number o f those who are out o f place on Big-Side because o f their ignorance. A n e w fellow, who m ight seem to know the rules and be tolerably at home in a smaller match, would not be the same man on Big-Side and b y an egregious piece o f off-side play might spoil the most interesting struggle o f the afternoon. I might quote the case o f a fellow who got his cap his second football half and in his first match on Big-Side com pletely lost his head and made the most aw ful mistake in the very heart o f a crisis. A nd yet he was far from slow at learning the rules and eventually turned out the best back-player o f his year. O f course there are at long intervals new fellows who are perfect enough for a cap, but why make a rule for these exceptional cases ? W hat with wanting “ straws” and “ caps” their first half, new fellows must be getting much more impatient o f their term o f probation than they were in the time of Tours faithfully, A C O N S E R V A T IV E O LD RU G . To the Editor of the Meteor. Dear Sir ,— I should not have ventured to offer any remarks on the desirability o f a Football X X at Rugby, had not a letter, signed “ O .R . at Oxford,” expressly invited discussion on the subject. A s it is, I should like to say a few words. Y our correspondent begins, as it seems to me, by begging the question; he calls the non existence o f a Football X X a “ defect.” Nowf though I am quite prepared to agree with him in his next assertion, that the result of remedying a defect is likely to be beneficial, I deny that this is a d efect; while I conceive that in calling it so, he is assuming the very point which he has to prove. Unless, indeed, the defect, which he deplores, is the fact that he wasn’t himself in a school X X . However, let us turn to his arguments. Firstly, To the question, “ W hat are they to do P” he answers at once, “ Oh, play the other Caps because “ it would equal in Cricket the X I playing the X X I I .” I don’t know what it would equal in Cricket, but in Foot ball I should say that after a time it would get monstrous. A nd I am sure that our ex perience o f the Football X I and X X I I match is not such as to make us wish for more like it. A t least, I know that in m y time, though the X I and X X I I thought it a point o f honour to keep up the match (and, indeed, the play o f their backs and half-backs usually gained for them the victory), yet, in conse quence o f the disproportion o f numbers, both sides were always heartily glad when it was over. And in the present case that disposi tion would be still greater. B ut “ it would be the means o f getting down twenties from Oxford and Cambridge, which, at the same time, would not interfere with the Old Rugbeian.” A nd yet we know that Cambridge men are, with very few ex ceptions indeed, unable to come down even for the Old Rugbeian, and a canvas among Oxonians with the view o f bringing them down to play a school X X this month, re sulted in the appearance o f three individuals. Secondly, he goes on to say, “ it will im prove the play on Big-Side.” I doubt it. A man who wishes to play well for his House must play up on B ig-side; and if a fellow, when he has got his Cap, proceeds at once to “ take it easy,” he will find that when he tries to do his best for his Rouse, that best will be but a sorry performance. A nd I fur ther protest against the notion that games must flag, if there isn’t a Cap or a Cup to be won in everything ; and I sincerely hope, for the credit o f the School, that this is not found to be the case at R ugby now. Thirdly, “ In the end it might bring about a match with some other School, such as M arlborough!” So it m ight. W hat then ? 10 TH E METEOR. A s for the hackneyed objection that “ School feeling would be sure to run high,” and that unpleasant consequences might result, your correspondent cannot entertain the thought; it is too degrading. For a Football match to end in a “ fight,” I quite agree with him would be degrading; but when it was once suggested that the players on Big-Side should leave off their “ disgusting hacking” and “ fight it out like men,” I, for one, thought that the speaker had mistaken the spirit o f Rugby Football; and the suggestion was certainly not accepted. But if the writer only means by “ fight” that there might be a good deal o f hacking, I feel quite sure that such would be the case, and as for its being a degrading confession, I do not for a moment hesitate to make it. I f strangers wish to play Football with us they must con form to our rules. A t the same time I think it more than probable, that in a Public School match, the hacking would pass all reasonable or desirable limits ! But, how ever that may be, we should do “ something towards liberalising Football.” Quite so. Though what is meant by this I am at a loss to conceive. Never mind ; it is a glorious thought, and it is very sad that it should be marred by any fear that Cricket is in danger “ o f becoming Radical.” For my own part, however, if, as he says, “ Football is a strongly Conservative game,” the more Conservative games we have, the better, say I, though at the same time I should be inclined to think that the reason why Cricket now encloses “ all classes in its ranks,” while Football “ has not flourished as it ought,” is partly, perhaps, owing to the different nature of the game, and the different kind o f exercise which it entails, and not altogether because the latter is “ hedged round with all sorts of prejudices.” In conclusion, I beg to assure your cor respondent that I quite enter into his feel ings, when asked at Oxford, “ W ere you in the School Twenty ?” and unable to answer “ Y es.” Although, if his remarks about the play o f Caps on Big-Side apply to himself, it is, perhaps, as well that he is able to say, “ There was no such thing in existence.” I am, dear Sir, Your obedient servant, P SITTA CU S. To the Editor of the Meteor. Sir ,— In your last impression, there are two letters, about which I venture to send you a few remarks, notwithstanding the double amount o f abuse I shall bring upon myself in your next number by so doing. In the first place then, “ Principle” pro poses that the old system o f notes o f excuse for being absent from Big-Side be renewed. I did not know it had ever been discon tinued, but anyhow I think some distinction between the old and new caps being com pelled to have notes for absenting themselves, shpuld be made. Could not a rule be introduced, allowing caps of three or more years’ standing, to be absent one Big-Side a week if they like. This would not diminish the size o f a Big- Side'very much, as the old caps are generally too fond o f football to absent themselves often ; and it would be giving them a privi lege, which the amount o f hard play at foot ball they must necessarily have gone through previous to obtaining it, fully entitles them to, in m y opinion. In the next place, I neither quite agree with “ Football’s” proposal to allow a new boy to get his cap his first foot-ball term, if thoroughly worth i t ; nor with his suggestion for an examination in football rules previous to being allowed to get one’s cap. For it is not those who best know the rules that put them best into execution, and therefore an examination (as it only shows the knowlege and not the practice,) would be useless. I think that a boy, previous to his getting his cap, should be watched (as I believe is the usual custom) by the head o f his house and others, to see if he plays fairly, and he should not obtain his cap till he has given full satisfaction on that point. Now there would not be time in one half to see if a new boy plays fairly, and I therefore contend he should not get his cap his first football term. I presume it was for this reason that the rule forbidding them to do so wAs passed. I have no doubt, Sir, that I shall be told that I am (on this subject) what I venture to sign my self, A L L A B R O A D . To the Editor o f the Meteor. Oxford, Nov. 8. Sir ,— Permit me to correct a slight mis statement in the last number o f the Meteor, which says there is no Rugby football played at Oxford. Allow- me to say that it has just been started at Wadham College, and that the meetings are, I believe, held on W ednes day, and each member can introduce two strangers to the game. Ms MME6& ii The opening day was on Wednesday, Oct. 30th, when a very good game was played, thongh the numbers were rather small, and there was some confusion, owing to many not having played the rules before. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, O. R. To the Editor of the Meteor. Sie,— W e troubled you several weeks ago with suggestions in reference to attendance at Big-Side. Little did we then think that we should have to apologise for so d oin g ; but i f to miss goals is the primary object o f a Big-Side it seems rather hard to make caps follow up, and certainly offers them very little inducement to play their best. In proof o f this we beg to remind you of the unnecessary length o f the Sixth, and later still o f the A . to K . matches. No one can say that the tries (P) in either were few. Yours truly, T R IO . To the Editor of the Meteor. Sib.— M ay I be allowed to ask by what “ precedent,” or b y what rule the X I. and X X I I . Match was broken off in the middle ? Did such happen by the vote o f B ig Side Levee? Yours truly, P H IL O R U G B Y . P .S.— W ill the match be continued or rest as it now stands ? [O ur correspondent will see that the match has been continued, but we sympathize with him in his complaint.— Ed.~] HATS. To the Editor o f the Meteor. Rugby, Nov., 1867. Sie,— Once more, with your permission. I do think that the Hats are a mere annoy ance, without any compensating good effects whatever. So m y “ middle term ” is, after all, correct,. “ Marcellus” notwithstanding. H e may demur to the truth o f m y premises, if he pleases; but he cannot impugn the accuracy o f my conclusion. Our difference is this. H e thinks that the new boys show a tendency to arrogance, a tendency which is even on the increase; and that slight discomforts are desirable to im press upon them a due notion o f their posi tion. I think that neither are they, generally speaking, at all arrogant; nor if they were, would such discomforts be anything but the clumsiest and most ineffectual method o f cure. So far on this particular question. But I should like to go a little further. The tra ditional view o f new boys, (which is at the root o f “ Marcellus’s” remarks) is one which seems to me to be as groundless as it is per nicious. I had hoped it was becoming obso lete ; but “ Marcellus” reproduces it with the authority o f an 0 . R., an authority to which even an undue weight may possibly be attached. In this view the new boy is re garded not as a person likely to be timid, and almost certain to be awkw ard; not as a per son eager to learn the ways o f the place, and sure to need and to be grateful for any kindness or help that can be shown h im ; but he is considered an object, at least o f suspi cion and criticism, and probably for a little “ wholesome” discipline also. Sir, this is essentially a mean v ie w ; and as such I must vehemently protest against it. It is one o f the last remnants o f the spirit o f bullying, in an age when bullying is every where condemned. Civilization has rid us o f very much that is brutal; it is time that an enlightened public opinion should declare decisively against what is left. A s to “ Marcellus’s” illustrative story, I can scarcely think that he seriously relies much upon that. I f it is a single real inci dent, it is irrelevant, for isolated instances may occur at any time- I f it is meant to describe what generally happens, it is simply untrue. To his “ practical suggestion” I have no objection, except the great ugliness o f a black straw ; but that is a question o f taste, and o f detail. It would certainly be a great gain to get rid o f the Hat. I f it is thought conve nient to have a distinctive colour for the new boys, I do not see why it should not be adopted. Not for “ Marcellus’s” reason, o f course, that they may be cured o f their “ up start f e e l i n g f o r , as I have said, I believe neither in the disease nor in the treatment; but simply because it is a natural and harm less principle, and one already, to some ex tent, recognised, to distinguish by different colours the different degrees o f standing in the School. I am, Sir, yours, COSM OPOLITAN. P .S .— M ay I remind “ Marcellus” . that M B HETEOH. 12 nothing is gained b y attributing to bis oppo nents an “ assumption o f superiority.’’ I f anything I have said has really so impressed him, I can only regret the strange miscon ception. W e think our cause right and our case strong, naturally; and do our best to make others think so too. But nothing is further from our thoughts than to assume any superiority whatever. T O W N B O Y S. To the Editor o f the Meteor. Sir,—I am a being who is very well known byallRugbeians. A being notheld in the high est esteem, usually, I am afraid, very much the contrary. I have some peculiarities which are special to m y genus— peculiarities o f dress, o f appearance, o f pursuits, altogether different from the rest o f the School. I f you, Sir, notice a particularly dirty and slovenly boy, with a battered hat, rumpled collar, and unlaced boots, and a cravat well greased and tom , who has a natural affinity for playing fives where he ought not, o f running between everybody’s legs, and, in fact, making him self generally obnoxious, you can safely set this boy down as one o f m y class, that singular anomaly o f Rugby School— a Town Lout. Y ou will, perhaps, wonder why I can have any reason to write to you, but I, being the only one o f m y confreres who can spell, have been made the spokesman, who is to state the grievances o f the worst used and least appre ciated body in the School. M y father is a cobbler, and cannot afford to pay the School subscriptions, I am, therefore, debarred from playing any game in the Close. I hear o f Town Little Sides, &c., but, alas! we who want something to do, to keep us out o f mischief, are left out. I have heard that a high author ity has taken our part, and showed the ab surdity o f keeping any Rugbeian, and we, allow me to state, are the real Rugbeians, from enjoying what is the common property o f the School, viz., the Close,— but nothing has as yet happened. Sir, cannot you employ your powerful pen in aiding us, and try and per suade the head o f the “ Town” to let us take part in their games ? This letter has been corrected by Mr. Sale, our writing master, and I hope contains no blunders. Signed on behalf o f twenty-three “ Town Louts,” M E N E R G E T IC C O B B L E R . To the Editor o f the Meteor. Dear M r. P epperday —I dont know who to rite my letter to the Meteor to except you and I ’ll Pay you part o f that Tuppence ha- penny tomorrow if y o u ’ll put it in. I ’ve too grate greevances and old Grub says I oughtn’t to stand it any longer and you’ll print anything that’s a shame even if you’re quite small and not a Swell. first they won’t allow us to right anything on the walls any more and they’ve all got new witewhashed and you get lines i f you do and it wasn’t me last Time and I was only going to Scratcht it out that I ain’t a beestly Bully and I know who has wrote it because I only emtied the Inkpot down his cholar. A nd then they all laugh at m y hat and it wasn’t too big at first but its got so and its very hard lines as somebody like mesopo- tamia said in the Meteor that I should have to ware it at all and its got most o f the Brim on except the little square bit I wipe m y pens on in m y pocket. A nd i f your had been sat on for four first Lessons and all the B ig Bullies in Mr. Buckle’s had puntabouted it most Callingovers it would be very knew now and I shall have a straw after Christ mas. Please tell them not. I remain, L O W E R SCH OOL.