him perhaps more inclined to view favourably the offer he had
that morning received than would otherwise have been the case. Two
years before he had attended professionally a young French nobleman
attached to the embassy. It was from him that the letter which
had been the subject of conversation had been received. It ran as
follows: - "Dear Doctor Sandwith, - Since my return from Paris
I have frequently spoken to my brother, the Marquis of St. Caux,
respecting the difference of education between your English boys
and our own. Nothing struck me more when I was in London than your
great schools. With us the children of good families are almost
always brought up at home. They learn to dance and to fence, but
have no other exercise for their limbs, and they lack the air of
manly independence which struck me in English boys. They are more
gentil - I do not know the word in your language which expresses
it - they carry themselves better; they are not so rough; they are
more polite. There are advantages in both systems, but for myself I
like yours much the best. My brother is, to some extent, a convert
to my view. There are no such schools to which he could send his sons
in France, for what large schools we have are under the management
of the fathers, and the boys have none of that freedom which is
the distinguishing point of the English system of education. Even
if there were such schools, I am sure that madame my sister-in-law
would never hear of her sons being sent there.

"Since this is so, the marquis has concluded that the best thing
would be to have an English boy of good family as their companion.
He would, of course, study with them under their masters. He would
play and ride with them, and would be treated as one of themselves.

They would learn something of English from him, which would