ommonly
supposed to have been established by William of Wykeham at Winchester,
and imported to Rugby by Arnold, more for the sake of the lines which
were learnt by heart with it, than for its own intrinsic value, as I've
always understood) that it is a short exercise, in Greek or Latin verse,
on a given subject, the minimum number of lines being fixed for each
form. The master of the form gave out at fourth lesson on the previous
day the subject for next morning's vulgus, and at first lesson each boy
had to bring his vulgus ready to be looked over; and with the vulgus, a
certain number of lines from one of the Latin or Greek poets then being
construed in the form had to be got by heart. The master at first lesson
called up each boy in the form in order, and put him on in the lines. If
he couldn't say them, or seem to say them, by reading them off the
master's or some other boy's book who stood near, he was sent back, and
went below all the boys who did so say or seem to say them; but in
either case his vulgus was looked over by the master, who gave and
entered in his book, to the credit or discredit of the boy, so many
marks as the composition merited. At Rugby vulgus and lines were the
first lesson every other day in the week, or Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays; and as there were thirty-eight weeks in the school year, it
is obvious to the meanest capacity that the master of each form had to
set one hundred and fourteen subjects every year, two hundred and
twenty-eight every two years, and so on. Now to persons of moderate
invention this was a considerable task, and human nature being prone to
repeat itself, it will not be wondered that the masters gave the same
subjects sometimes over again after a certain lapse of time. To meet and
rebuke this bad habit of the masters, the school-boy-mind, with its
accustomed ingenuity, had invented an elaborate system of tradition.
Almost every boy kept his own vulgus written out in a book, and these
books were duly handed down from boy to boy, till (if the tradition has
gone on till now) I suppose the popular boys, in whose hands bequeathed
vulgus-books have accumulated, are prepared with three or four vulguses
on any subject in heaven or earth, or in "more worlds than one," which
an unfortunate master can pitch upon. At any rate, such lucky fellows
had generally one for themselves and one for a friend in my time. The
only objection to the traditionary method of doing your vulguses