A considerable sensation has been created in Boulogne lately, by
the discovery of a Squeers—a schoolmaster named Debree, who treated his boys with frightful cruelty. He had a beautiful house and grounds at Capelle, a little distance from the town, and was a man of imposing manners. All his scholars were from England. Without entering into details of their treatment, suffice it to say that the fine school-house at Capelle famished abundant evidence that Bois account of "Dotheboy's Hall" is no caricature. After a long impunity, the man's conduct became publicly known ; a burst of horror and general indignation caused the breaking up of the establishment, and Debree was prosecuted by the public authorities. In France, no person can legally keep a school without having passed certain examinations to test his acquirements, or without a Government licence, which subjects his premises to repeated and unprepared visitation by officers appointed for the purpose. This law Debree evaded, by making his place wear as much as possible the outward appearance of a mere boarding-house ; but it was for its infraction that he was tried on Tuesday. His counsel did his best for him, and mustered a few letters from parents of Debree's scholars, expressing satisfaction at the treatment of their children. He was sen- tenced to pay a fine of 200 francs, the highest which can be inflicted for the first committal of the offence with which he is charged. A heavier punishment, however, is the disqualification which the notoriety will prove to his ever continuing his profession in France : he never could procure the requisite licence after what has happened. A schoolmaster of considerable repute in Boulogne has made a very bold move. That gentleman, M. Bonnefoy, has taken the beautiful house at Capelle, suddenly rendered vacant and endowed with a re- markable publicity, in the expectation that the high character which he bears in England as well as France will counteract all the dangerous notoriety of the house, while he secures a prominent place for himsel4 and the best possible abode for his pupils. Those who know M. Bonne- foy, and the estimation in which he is held, say that his experiment is not so perilous as at first sight it looks. He has, however, other things to depend on besides his private character—first, the publicity which is rigidly enforced by the Government in all authorized schools ; and then he has set up an omnibus to run daily between the town and his house, that the sceptical may see for themselves.
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