212 When we Old Fogeys were Boys. 



French or German. 2. A quick eye for a line of country^ 

 with power to make an intelligible sketch of it. 3. To be 

 able to ride well across it — which last qualification, he said, 

 was most important of all. And I am not singular in 

 believing that Lord Herbert was right. I am not preaching 

 that our discipline and manners and customs were perfect 

 by any means, but I believe that, as boys, we had to cut our 

 own way pretty much by ourselves, and I don't think that 

 boys of the present day would be much hurt if some of 

 their luxuries and expenses were curtailed. 



One thing is quite certain, which is that masters of large 

 schools have now run up the costs as high as possible, and 

 if their predecessors, the Consuls of our boyhood, buttered 

 their bread on one side, a good many of the present masters 

 and school authorities take precious good care to butter it 

 on both sides, and I think headmasters' conferences would 

 be more valuable if paterfamilias had his hearing at them. 



