THE
PET[RITE. VoL. NII .
JULY, 1892 .
No . 99.
SCHOOL LETTER. HEN first we take upon us the burden, or as we think at the
W/ time, the honours, of an Editor, our heart glows with patriotism. We will make the Pcterite a vehicle of noble thoughts, of sparkling wit, and of splendid English, aye, so renowned shall it be, that the light of the Spectator and the glory of the Tatler shall pale before it as stars in the light of mid-day sun . But this sort of feeling soon wears off. The other Editors come, with a determined and murderous expression on their faces . Our heart sinks . We know what they seek. Our remarks about weather and cricket meet with but a cold and uninterested grunt . " Cease, vain babbler," they say, " and try to write a School Letter . 'Tis months since thou did 'st aught for the enlightening of our toil . Astonish the Old Boys and the other schools with thy foolishness ; we, and the School know it already . " And we obedient forthwith begin. When we had finished the above paragraphs we wrote down on a little piece of paper the headings of the various subjects which suggested themselves to us as material for the School letter . We wrote them alphabetically, thus :—Baby, Cricket, Degrees . Who shall decide the knotty point of precedence? We daren ' t. We are going to treat them as we wrote them down, alphabetically . The baby mentioned has become the joy, and doubtless will become the ornament, of Mr .