be found to possess a penetrating understanding, and to be able
to strike into a path of intellect that was truly his own. How
common is it to hear the master of such a school say, "Aye, I am
proud of that lad; I have been a schoolmaster these thirty years,
and have never had such another!"

The society above referred to, the dinner-party, or the club, was
to a considerable degree select, brought together by a certain
supposed congeniality between the individuals thus assembled.
Were they taken indiscriminately, as boys are when consigned to
the care of a schoolmaster, the proportion of the brilliant would
not be a whit greater than in the latter case.

A main criterion of the superiority of the schoolboy will be
found in his mode of answering a casual question proposed by the
master. The majority will be wholly at fault, will shew that
they do not understand the question, and will return an answer
altogether from the purpose. One in a hundred perhaps, perhaps
in a still less proportion, will reply in a laudable manner, and
convey his ideas in perspicuous and spirited language.

It does not certainly go altogether so ill, with men grown up to
years of maturity. They do not for the most part answer a plain
question in a manner to make you wonder at their fatuity.

A main cause of the disadvantageous appearance exhibited by the
ordinary schoolboy, lies in what we denominate sheepishness. He
is at a loss, and in the first place stares at you, instead of
giving an answer. He does not make by many degrees so poor a
figure among his equals, as when he is addressed by his seniors.