[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—Poor Public Schools ! 1 May I say this for them, they are no worse than the Council Schools ? We wanted a garden boy, and got one leaving the Council School. After a week his mother said he must leave ; he could not stand having no young companionship between 8.30 a.m. and 5 p.m., his home being too far for him to go in his dinner-hour. His successor also stopped a week, his mother telling me, if we wished to keep a garden boy, we must get a more amusing gardener ! Both boys became errand boys, which means usually eventual casual labour. The third boy we got was sickly, the doctors saying he would never thrive till his tonsils were taken out, but he did not fancy that, so was to remain a weakling. The out-of-door life has improved his health, and having his wages docked, when well enough to play in the streets, but not well enough to come and work, has had a still better effect upon his health.
No, Sir ! what is wanted is, for the nation to take to heart what the Jesuits say, " Give me a boy till he is seven, and he is mine for ever." Until parents realize that the responsibility for framing their children's characters—for giving them grit and concentration—is theirs, the schools can do very little.—
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