The prizes were given away to the accompaniment of a rolling
thunder of applause; we had familiar and ingenuous recitations from
youthful orators, who desired friends, Romans, and countrymen to
lend them their ears, or accepted the atrocious accusation of being
a young man; and then a Bishop, who had been a schoolmaster
himself, delivered an address. It was delightful to see and hear
the good man expatiate. I did not believe much in what he said, nor
could I reasonably endorse many of his statements; but he did it
all so genially and naturally that one felt almost ashamed to
question the matter of his discourse. Yet I could not help
wondering why it is thought advisable always to say exactly the
same things on these occasions. The good man began by asserting
that the boys would never be so happy or so important again in
their lives as they were at school, and that all grown-up people
were envying them. I don't know whether any one believed that; I am
sure the boys did not, if I can judge by what my own feelings used
to be on such occasions.
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