"
He called his servant and told him to ring the boys into school. Then,
turning to my father he said, "Stand here, sir, by the window; you will
see them all come trooping in. H'm, h'm, I am sorry to see them still
come back as soon as they hear the bell. I suppose I shall ding some
recalcitrancy into them some day, but it is uphill work. Do you see the
head-boy--the third of those that are coming up the path? I shall have
to get rid of him. Do you see him? he is going back to whip up the
laggers--and now he has boxed a boy's ears: that boy is one of the most
hopeful under my care. I feel sure he has been using improper language,
and my head-boy has checked him instead of encouraging him." And so on
till the boys were all in school.
"You see, my dear sir," he said to my father, "we are in an impossible
position. We have to obey instructions from the Grand Council of
Education at Bridgeford, and they have established these institutions in
consequence of the Sunchild's having said that we should aim at promoting
the greatest happiness of the greatest number. This, no doubt, is a
sound principle, and the greatest number are by nature somewhat dull,
conceited, and unscrupulous. They do not like those who are quick,
unassuming, and sincere; how, then, consistently with the first
principles either of morality or political economy as revealed to us by
the Sunchild, can we encourage such people if we can bring sincerity and
modesty fairly home to them? We cannot do so.
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