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in the Greek and Latin languages, but also in the more elementary branches of a good English education. The extraordinary recitations of exhibition days, and the declamation and original debates of the pupils on the public Saturdays, have been as remarkable during the past year as heretofore, and have been listened to by large and apparently well-pleased audiences.

The principal part of the visitation of the school in July was devoted to the graduating class, for the purpose of deciding who should have the Franklin medals; six of which were adjudged to individuals who had received the highest number of marks for the year, and whose examination had also been the most satisfactory. The appearance of the whole class was in a high degree satisfactory to the Committee, and reflected much credit upon the students, and upon the excellent master under whose charge they had been during the year. The Franklin medals were assigned to the following young gentlemen:

Sumner Paine, aged 17 years,

William Brunswick Curry Stickney, aged 16 years,
George Harrison Mifflin, aged 16 years,
George Augustus Goddard, aged 17 years,
Charles James Ellis, aged 16 years,

William Carleton Ireland, aged 18 years.

The usual number of the class entered college, having completed the course of instruction at the school. Fourteen entered Harvard College, having passed an examination which showed that they were among the best fitted of those who were presented; one entered Amherst College, one Dartmouth College, one Monmouth College, and one Tufts College. Thus eighteen

young gentlemen were prepared during the year to take honorable positions in college, thereby carrying out the cherished wishes of the friends of the school and the general object of its establishment upon its present basis; for, although many young men join the lower classes of the school to obtain an education preparatory to entering upon a business life, they, in most cases, leave the institution before reaching the highest class. The following table will exhibit interesting statistics relating to the young gentlemen educated at the school during the last ten years, for entering college:

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By an examination of the preceding table, and by a few simple calculations, the following particulars, being annual averages of the last ten years, are deduced, viz:

Annual average number of those entering college, 16.8 Annual average number of these who were re

ceived from the public schools,

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Annual average number of the same who were received from other schools,

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Annual average age at entering college, (which is probably too low by nearly six months, as the months which exceed the years as fractional years have been omitted in every case in the table above given,)

17.3

It will, therefore, be seen that during the last ten years one hundred and sixty-eight boys have been fitted for college at the Latin School, — seventy-seven who entered the school from the public schools, and ninety-one from private schools. Of these, one hundred and forty-four entered Harvard College, and twenty-four went to other colleges. In this connection it may be well to look back a few years, and see what the school has heretofore done towards producing college-educated men. In the year 1814 the school took a fresh start, recovering from the effects of the war then just terminated, and was restored to its proper standing under the excellent administration of our late distinguished citizen, Benjamin A. Gould, Esq. Mr. Gould was followed, in succession, by the eminent scholars, Frederic P. Leverett, Esq., Charles K. Dillaway, Esq., and Epes S. Dixwell, Esq., and these, by the present learned head of the school, Francis Gard

ner, Esq. The whole number of young men prepared for college by each of the above-named gentlemen, together with the years of service of each master to the school, and his average annual contribution to the colleges, can be seen at a glance in the following table:

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Do not these figures show how eminently useful the Latin school has been in its highest vocation - the production of classical scholars? During the last forty-six years nearly six hundred young men have received their first instructions in classical learning within the walls of this school, and with such thoroughness that they have been admitted to honorable standing in the several universities and colleges of New England; and, undoubtedly, many more who have not proceeded immediately from the school to college have been indebted to the school for a large part of their preparation for college. Many of these young men are numbered among the first scholars of the country; and, indeed, we have the highest authority for stating

that the Boston Latin School has a most important influence in sustaining the high standard of excellence demanded by most of the colleges in New England in the examination of applicants for entrance, arising chiefly from the eminent standing of the Latin-school boys after their joining classes at college. No school, we believe, is more thorough in imparting elementary knowledge of Latin and Greek to its pupils than is ours, an advantage which its scholars always prize and acknowledge.

The history of the Latin School extends back to the earliest dates in the records of the town, and is, unquestionably, the result of a vote passed by the townsmen of Boston, on the thirteenth day of April, 1635, entreating Mr. Philemon Pormort to become schoolmaster, for the teaching and nurturing of their children. This person, who, it appears, yielded to the entreaties of his townsmen, has the reputation of having been a scholar; and it is generally acknowledged by all acquainted with the early history of Boston, that he was employed to teach the higher branches of education as well as those of a more rudimentary character. During the first century of the existence of the school, the masters seem to have been scholars of more than ordinary standing. They had charge of the school in the following order, as far as has been ascertained, viz., Mr. Philemon Pormort, Rev. Daniel Maude, Rev. John Woodbridge, Mr. Robert Woodmansey, Mr. Benjamin Tompson, Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, and Rev. Nathaniel Williams. These were succeeded by Mr. John Lovell, Mr. Samuel Hunt, Mr. William Biglow, and other gentlemen, whose names have been mentioned

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