If he possess by nature a few harmless peculiarities, calculated to cause merriment, so much the more is he esteemed by his employers.

The class naturally regards him as an animated joke.

The two to four hours a week that are deliberately wasted on this ancient farce, are looked forward to by the boys as a merry interlude in an otherwise monotonous existence.
And then, when the proud parent takes his son and heir to Dieppe merely to discover that the lad does not know enough to call a cab, he abuses not the system, but its innocent victim.
I confine my remarks to French, because that is the only language we attempt to teach our youth.

An English boy who could speak German would be looked down upon as unpatriotic.

Why we waste time in teaching even French according to this method I have never been able to understand.