ral of the sciences were included in those required in the school "for the benefit of the whole town," in towns of 4000 inhabitants.   Hingham had grown to this required population, and from this time until the establishment of our High School in 1872, the legal requirements were not carried out.
   That no such school, in accordance with the requirements of the later statute, was kept in Hingham until 1872 must not be attributed to any desire of the town to avoid the law.   The principal reason for this neglect arose probably from the fact that the branches usually taught in High Schools were taught in the Derby

Academy, and in great measure the children of the town were furnished with such instruction as to comply with the spirit of the law.   Two unsuccessful efforts were made by the town to make the Academy serve the purpose contemplated by the Statute, a more particular account of which will be found in the history of the Academy.   But the Academy was not recognized by the Commonwealth as a High School, and the town's portion of the Massachusetts School Fund was consequently withheld.   There was no choice for the town.   Any inhabitant could demand a free education for his child, such as the law made provision for.
   All hope of utilizing the Academy as a High School having disappeared, the town took the necessary action, and in 1872 the Hingham High School became a reality.   The school has maintained a high rank from the beginning.   Mr. Jacob O. Sanborn has been its principal teacher from the opening of the school to