THE HOMEWORK PROBLEM
[To the Editor of TIIE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—As a contemporary of Mr. Calder-Marshall, may I be permitted a brief reply ? School ended at 5 o'clock, and three hours' homework could be done by 10, or as much of it as we thought fit to do. Of course, there was not much time to spare. We were not inveterate first-nighters, and our com- bined ignorance of current fiction was probably abysmal. But we had our hobbies, which we took pretty seriously. Classics alone covered a great deal, even an inducement to pick up a smattering of modern tongues and to think about many things ; and we were further stimulated by the Upper Eighth masters, one of whom hunted otters and optatives with equal enthusiasm, while the other coached and refereed games and could be sidetracked from Horace to ornithology or Keats. I cannot remember finding it all so dull and circumscribed ! Admittedly, " not all could stay the course," and others succumbed to the enervating air of University life afterwards. But were these failings the prerogative of Dr. Hillard's pupils ? It was not so in my experience at Cambridge.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, G. ERIC YEULETT. 13 Westbourne Park Road, W.2.
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