school defrays the expenses of professionals &c., for those who do battle at "Lord's" on our account Thanking your correspondent for his gratuitous sneer, and the good advertisement he has given us, Believe me, yours truly, CADET. To the Editors of the Marlburian, each and all. GENTLEMEN,-Faint amusement, some surprise, a little irritation, and not a little contempt, will be depicted on the faces of those of your readers, as now for the first time, learn the following facts :-Whereas a letter appeared in your columns last term signed "O.M. Oxon "; and whereas the same latter vehemently denounced the "Marlburian" and all in it ; and whereas the same provoked untold comment, and criticism; and conjectures of authorship, and answers from the ends of the earth, and abusive editorials: that the same letter was an editorial freak; that one and the same acting member of your staff wrote both that letter and the official fulmination against it; and that the rest of your staff were accomplices before and after the fact, and supported the preliminary falsehood and libel of an assumed signature by unanimous, universal, and consistent concealment of the truth: and that this charge is proved by the tardy avowal of some of the perpetrators. Gentlemen, you are found out. In your small way, you have put a fraud on your small public. Henceforth you know what to expect. Who will seed an unsigned letter, when in the eyes of the public, you, forsooth, will reap the credit of his wit and sagacity? And be assured that you will also win the credit of the authorship of any anonymous grammarless fledgling of a grievance that you may insert. But hardly again will you libellously forge the title of a class of persons, not less judic. ious or more ungenerous than yourselves as the O.M's of Oxford. Permit one of them to recommend you not to play with edged tools. The wit of your inglorious colleague is an implement with a blade so fine that one cannot quite see it edge. ways. Had he meant his letter seriously, he could have made a case more damaging against himself. In fact others as well as me have been quite converted by him: we only object to his signing other people's names. Thus you are pierced, gentlemen, with a shaft feathered from your own wing, not an eagle's plume indeed, but an editorial goose's quill. Should you decline to insert my letter, even as one of those stopgaps which you must frequently require, your only motive will be cowardice. That cowardice would be ineffectual, for the facts shall be notorious whether you insert it or not. I am, Sirs, yours constantly, C.C.C., Oxon, Oct., 1881. O.E. [We hasten to assure O.E. that we do not insert his charac. teristically inane and "grammarless fledgling of a grievance," as one of the "stopgaps, which, as editor, he used frequently to require;" but because the pointlessness of his attack is the best possible refutation of the abuse with which he threatens to overwhelm the Marlburian at Oxford. Why should he assail the present Editors in such terms of abuse for a supposed error of our predecessors, for which, if true, we can hardly be responsible? What if the last editors did desire a full and perfect vindication of their efforts, and were misguided enough to take O.E. into their confidence? Anyhow O.E. might have spared us the agony of imagining that his "wit and sagacity" could possibly be debited to ED. M.] THE SHOOTING SEASON. It is not without a feeling of regret that we look back on the season that has just passed, a season notable in many ways. Our Eight was certainly one of the best, if not actually the best, that Marlborough has ever produced; and yet another year is gone without the Ashburton Shield adorning the Adderley walls. The Eight went up to Wimbledon full of hope, for they had won all their nine matches, and in only one of these had their opponents succeeded in coming within twenty points of them. That their hope was not groundless all will allow, but it was not to be; the Fates were unpropitious and the eight returned empty handed; their failure lying where they least expected. The few points they were behind; and the remembrance of the handsome beating they gave the winners earlier in the season, only heighten our vain regrets. But enough on that head, let us turn to a more pleasing subject. We commenced the season well by beating Winchester at Reading, and bringing back the Hunter Cup amongst us for a change of air, after an absence of four years. The next event was the remarkable score of 442, made against Cheltenham. This we believe is the highest ever made by any school VIII in a match. For the Farrar Cup the score of the winner was the same as that of last year, averaging over 55 at each stage; while the Common Room Cup total was 248, 3 points less than last year; but we must not forget to mention Callendar's brilliant score of 93 at 200, 500 and 600 yds., at which latter range he made 28 with a miss his first shot. The shooting for the House Cup was the best on record 1; it was won, as every one expected, by Mr. Upcott's House, with a total of 172. The Corps can boast no less than fourteen marksmen, and all the class shooting was far better than usual, both as regards the scores and the numbers who passed. In the face of all these facts it is idle to deny that the shooting of the Corps has vastly improved, and though we have not had many scores of 65, as we had last many less scores of 60 and over, has been more uniformly good. year; and yet the shooting A glance at the Thus averages will confirm this. This result has been mainly brought about by the erection of double butts last year, and the greater interest taken by the School and Common Room in the Corps. instead of having to pick an VIII out of nine (or at most ten) competitors, we could now, besides our VIII and two files for the Cadets' trophy, furnish a very fair second VIII. We may perhaps mention that the outlook for next year is very brilliant; Sergt. Purdey is still amongst us, we have only lost three of our representatives, and there are plenty of recruits from whose ranks we may fill their vacancies. In conclusion therefore let us, on the "Le roi est mort, vive le roi " principle, take fresh hope for next year, only to repeat the process if necessary when the Wimbledon of 1882 shall have come and gone. CHARACTERS OF SHOOTING VIII. Lieut. E. G. Waddilove, Captain (average 52·1). Has met with great success in his Captaincy. Except when labouring under the disadvantage of a bad rifle, a good steady shoot. Has left. Col.-Sergt. P. H. Eliot (54.3) a thoroughly safe and reliable shot; and though perhaps not so brilliant as last his shooting has been steadier. Winner year, of Farrar Cup, and Highest Average Cup 1881. Has left. Corp. H. L. Callendar (53.3). Has greatly improved since last year. Shot well in practice; but sometimes got headaches in matches. Winner of Common Room Cup, 1881. Captain for 1882. Sergt. O. F. Waterfield (51.6) a variable shot, being handicapped by shooting first throughout the season; came off well at Wimbledon. Winner of Highest Aggregate in Class Firing, 1881. Corp. L. A. Turner (53.4) did not shoot as well as he might at the beginning of the season, but improved wonderfully towards the end, and could always be relied on for a good score. Has left. Sergt. D. M. Wauchope (50.6). Fell off towards the end of the season, Wants more skill at the long range to make a good shot: should develop next year. Priv. M. Tanner (51.0) is well worth his place; and for a recruit, shot well throughout. Lance Corp. H. G. Goodacre (49.7) nervous and consequently variable in his shooting. Should not overpractice. AVERAGES OF SHOOTING VIII. No. of Best Worst Average Average Total Matches. Score. Score. at 200yds. at 500yds. Average 58 44 28.4 23.7 52.1 60 42 30.0 24.3 54.3 60 47 27.8 25.5 53.3 9 56 41 28.6 Lieut. Waddilove... 9 Col. Sergt. Eliot 9 Corp. Callendar 9 Sergt. Waterfield ... Corp. Turner......... 9 Sergt. Wauchope 9 Privt. Tanner L.-Corp. Goodacre Average of VIII 9 The averages are far better than usual, Col.-Sergt. Eliot is far ahead at the short range with the brilliant average of 30; and most of the rest are good. At the long range Callendar heads the list with 25.5, a good average considering that he always shot first with Waterfield, to find the aiming. 390 223.1 191.0 414-1 With the same luck as last term Turner won the toss, and elected to go to tho wickets. Rowe and Wynne appeared first at the wickets, to face the bowling of Messrs. W. G. Roff and V. Head; when the score stood at 17 Head clean bowled Rowe, which let in Turner; no other wicket fell before lunch, but in the first over after lunch Head got Turner caught at point; Prest came in, and the stand of the match was made; when Frest was bowled by Mr. Horner the score stood at 60: Wynne had played very steadily but no one could stay with him; however Leaf and Rose put on a few runs at the end. When the last wicket fell the score was only 96. Mr. Ford's bowling at the end was very effective, as he took four wickets for 26 runs. After a short delay Messrs. Ford and Leaf appeared at the wickets, against the bowling of Buckland and Marley; after a few runs were put on Mr. Leaf, in pulling a long-hop round to square-leg, gave a chance to Wynne, which he accepted. Mr. Ford gave us a good deal of trouble, but was finally well stumped by Rowe off Buckland. Mr. Way and Mr. Voules knocked up a few runs, but they did not last very long, and the innings closed for 148. Appended is the score: S.F.C.C. 9 W. J. Ford, st. Rowe, b Buckland 77 6 14 0 C. G. Ratcliffe, c Druitt,b Buckland 0 F. C. Batson, not out 0 Extras 8 The committee remains the same as last term. Three sections are in existence-the entomological under T. N. Hart-Smith, Esq., and Maddock, the ornithological, mainly busied in the art of skinning, under Rev. J. P. Way and Cardew, and the newlyformed astronomical section under G. F. Rodwell, Esq., L. E. Upcott, Esq., and Callendar. The members number 89. On Saturday, Oct. 22nd, the Rev. J. G. Wood will give another of his popular skotch lectures on "the Spider," which will be given in the Bradleian, and will be open to any members of the school who desire to attend. On Nov. 3rd, G. H. Dawson, Esq., O.M., will read a paper on "Instinct in Birds." For Nov. 17th, Dr. Fergus has "First aid in accidents," and R. promised one on W. Merriman, Esq., on Dec. 1st, another called "Casual glances at the Moon." The prospect of a new Museum has grown visibly nearer since the recent visit of the school architect, and we may reasonably hope to see it in existence within a couple of years. At the preliminary meeting, on Oct. 22nd, the. chief feature was the very varied collection presented by H. C. Berwick from Ceylon. There were gods and catamorans, and jars, and whips, masks, and coral from the Red Sea, &c., &c., and the whole will form a valuable addition to our stock. On Oct. 6th, F. E. Hulme, Esq., read a most amusing paper on "Unnatural History," pointing out a few of the strange beliefs which our ancestors of a hundred years ago held with regard to animals, knowledge of which had only reached them by report. The amusement and interest of the paper were considerably increased by the clever and rapidly executed sketches, which the lecturer made on the black board. Hearty approval greeted the Rev. A. G. Bleeck, when he proposed a vote of thanks, and pointed out that he had not to travel many miles from Marlborough to find people still holding notions about Natural History hardly less extravagant than those which the lecturer had instanced. Marley Callendar 2 Swinton Leaf Mahon Templer Hayward Rowe Back numbers of the Marlburian may be had of the Printers, Waterloo House, Marlborough. Printed by C. PERKINS & SON, at their General Printing Office, Waterloo House, Marlborough. WE have often wondered if Horace and Cicero displayed as much perverse ingenuity in the study of foreign tongues as boys do in this year of grace, and if that grim old dog Orbilius and his brethren. of the birch chuckled over their mistakes of nights when they met to discuss Falernian and phlebotomy. Did they ever record any of their anecdotes ? and what terribly stiff construing the record would have been had it ever been unearthed! Haply we might have missed the fact that they were jokes altogether; or some fellow of a college, with nothing to do and two or three hundred a year for doing it, would have annotated all the fun out of them, as completely as some editors have crushed all the freshness out of the Eclogues with their cumbrous criticism, and all the poetry out of Hamlet. For instance, some future student of English as a dead language might be a good deal puzzled, before he discovered the ludicrous side of this answer, given by a boy who was construing Xenophon. Coming to the word rayù he stopped. 'Get on, boy. What's the matter?' 'Please, sir, it won't make sense' (It of course; not the translator). 'What does the word mean ?' Answer. 'Ships.' PRICE 3d. 'Ships, boy? what in the world do you mean?' Chorus of five, who worked together-'Please, sir, it gives 'fleet' for raxus in the dictionary.' Equally unconscious, and equally atrocious was a pun perpetrated by a boy, who, when asked the Latin word for an hour, gathered his books together to go up three or four places, and cheerfully answered 'Noster.' Fearfully misleading is the sound of words to those reckless youths who persist in making shots, but occasionally one meets with an exception. Some small boys, having the word "puppets" in their repetition, were asked what it meant. One of them after some thought answered 'Punch and Judy.' This seemed too near the bull's eye to be altogether a shot; but the question why Punch and Judy was called a puppet show brought the answer, "Because they bring in Toby, and he's a little dog." In spite of italics it may not occur to some readers that there could be any connection, even in a boy's mind, between puppies and puppets. It is rather disconcerting, at the end of a careful explanation of the different mountain ranges and river systems of England, to be told, on casually asking what a watershed means, that it is drawn |