BASIL, THE SCHOOLBOY; OR, THE HEIR OF ARUNDEL. Edward Monro LONDON: JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET, AND NEW BOND STREET. MDCCCLIV. 249. t. 243. PREFACE. THERE are two very common mistakes, among others, which we find made in our public and private schools. The inclination to encourage boys in estimating fifthrate virtues above first-rate ones, or sometimes even vices and infirmities above virtues at all; as if a schoolboy were not as much bound to recognise and obey the dictates of his higher and holier nature, his feelings of affection, compassion, and reverence, as the man is. And secondly, the tendency some people have to expect, or encourage the expectation of advanced religious states and expressions as the normal condition of the good youth, instead of looking on these as the rare exceptions to be accepted with hesitation when offering themselves to our notice; while a high tone of consistent morality and the diligent performance of simple religious duty, is to be considered as the staple and healthy state of the religious schoolboy. It is partly to illustrate the above remarks that the following tale of schoolboy life has been written. |