No More Learning

Frank looked as if he waited to know
whether the lady wished to hear or not.
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? FRANK.
"Oh yes, pray do read it Master
Frank," said the lady; " I am sure I
shall like to hear it of all things. "
Frank began with the description of
this bat, and then read as follows: --
" ' In the autumn of 1810, I had for
a short time a living vampyre bat, of a
large size, from the East Indies ; and,
contrary to what has been asserted,
found it a most inoffensive, harmless,
entertaining creature ; it refused animal
food, but fed plentifully on succulent'
(or nourishing) ' fruits, preferring figs
and pears; it licked the hand that pre-
sented them, seeming delighted with
the caresses of the persons who fed it,
playing with them in the manner of a
young kitten: it was fond of white
wine, of which it took half a glass at
a time, lapping it like a cat. This
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? 24 FEANK.
had an evident effect on its spirits; it
then became extremely frolicsome and
diverting, but never once attempted to
bite. It slept suspended, with its head
downwards, wrapping its satin-like
wings round its body, in the form of
a mantle. I several times permitted
it to enclose the end of my finger in
its mouth, for the purpose of observing
if it would attempt to draw blood, but
not the slightest indication' (or sign)
' of such intention appeared; and I
have strong reason to doubt the stories
related so greatly to its disadvantage. '"
" Thank you, sir," said the lady,
when Frank finished reading. " A
charming anecdote, and charmingly
read. "
Mary looked delighted as the lady
said these words, but Frank looked
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25
down and seemed ashamed: perhaps
he had some recollection of the flatter-
ing lady, who, when he was a very
little boy, had first praised him for his
reading, and laughed at him after-
wards.
** I am sure," continued the lady,
" I wish my Tom, there, could read half
a quarter as well; and he is, I dare say,
a year older than master Frank. Tom
stumbles at every word of four sylla-
bles, even in the common newspaper.
Really, ma'am, English reading, and
writing, and spelling, altogether, are
shamefully neglected at his school
here in the country: I must speak
about it. "
" If you speak ever so much,
mother," cried Tom, suddenly burst-
ing. out with a loud voice, "the masters
cannot do it now, because of getting
vol. i. n
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? 26 PRANK.
me on with Latin. English, and tkem
things, should be taught at home, they
say, before one goes to school, for
there's no time after, when one's get-
ting from form to form, and fitting for
Westminster or Eton; and then we
must get on to Oxford or Cambridge,"
added he, nodding his head and slash-
ing his whip.
Frank and Mary held their breath
from astonishment at this speech, and
at the manner in which it was spoken.
Tom's mother seemed a little ashamed
of the manner, and perhaps to turn off
attention from her son, she addressed
herself to Mary. " Pray, my dear
little lady," said she, " what is that
entertaining book, in which you found
that charming vampyre bat? " i '
Mary said she believed it was an
account of the curiosities in a museum.
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? FRANK.
The little book bad a long title, but
Frank could write it.
Frank wrote it, and took care to
spell every word rightly, and some
were rather difficult.
" The Catalogue of Bullock's Mu-
seum," said the lady, reading the title.
" Tom, you have seen Bullock's Mu-
seum. "
" Yes," said Tom, " and might have
got the catalogue at the door if I'd
wanted it. " .
" Oh, Frank! " cried Mary, " he has
seen Bullock's Museum. Do you think
he has seen the bird of Paradise, and
the beautiful little humming bird, which
feeds its young with honey from its own
tongue? "
" And the great snake, the boa,"
said Frank; " did you see the boai? "
To these and many other questions,
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? FRANK.
which Frank and Mary askedi as. it
must be owned, very rapidly, Tom
made no answer. He was quite dumb,
not even vouchsafing his usual mono-
syllables, yes or no. Frank and Mary
began to describe the animals for which
they inquired, but he turned away ab-
ruptly; . . " " . i . "
" I don't remember any thing about
it, but that we paid a shilling at the
door," said he; and he added, muttering,
as he went off to the window, " I wetttito
Bullock's for my diversion, and not to get
them by heart. I wonder when they'll
bring the carriage to the door;'' . if. . m
"Oh Tom! that is very silly--this
is quite rude," said his mother; " but
school-boys do grow such shy, strange
creatures sometimes; the masters at
those schools should pay more attention
to the manners. "
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29
The lady endeavoured to make
amends for her son's rudeness, by her
admiration of Frank and Mary. Frank
at first had been ashamed of her praises
of his reading; but when he heard her
regret so bitterly, that her son could
not read half a quarter so well, he
pitied her, and believed in her sin-
cerity; and when she now rose, and
eame to admire his triumphal arch, he
could not help being pleased with her,
and with himself, and he could not re-
frain from showing her a little more of
his knowledge. He asked if she
knew which was the key-stone, and
which were the buttments of the arch.
" How glad I should be," said she,
" to know all these things, and to
be able to teach them to my poor
Tom! "
" Ma'am," cried little Mary, " Frank
d3
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? FRANK.
could tell them all to him, as he told
them to me, and a great deal more.
Frank knows--"
" My dear Mary," said Frank,
" don't tell all I know. "
" Oh, pray let her, pray do," said
the lady.
" Mary," said her mother, " put by
these prints. " ' '
" Yes, mamma; but first, in this
print, ma'am," persisted Mary, return-.
ing to the lady, who seemed to desire
so much to be taught, " here are a
great number of things you would like
to see, and that Frank knows: here
are all these pillars--all the orders of
architecture. "
Frank could resist no longer, and
quite forgetting his modesty and his
fear of flattery, and without observing
his mother's grave look, he went on
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? FRANK. 3T
with " Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corin-
thian, Composite. " Encouraged by
Mary's sympathy, and by the lady's
exclamations of delight, he showed
off his whole stock of learning between
the time when the bell had been rung
for the carriage, and when it arrived
at the door*
" Here's Jack, mother: here's our
carriage, ma'am," cried Tom; and, as
he passed, whether on purpose or by
accident cannot be known, he threw
down, with one stroke of his whip,
Frank's triumphal arch.
The moment they were out of the
room, scarcely was the door shut, when
Mary and Frank, both at once, began
to express their opinions in no gentle
terms of master Tom.
" What a very disagreeable creature;
what a shockingly stupid, ignorant
boy," said Frank.
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FRANK.
" What a very ill-humoured, hor-
ribly ill-mannered boy," said Mary.
" Gently, gently," said his mother,
" lest I should think you horribly ill-
natured. "
" But, mamma, can you like a boy,"
said Mary, u who is neither sensible,
nor well-bred, nor good-natured, nor
good-tempered? "
" No, my dear; did I say that I
liked him? "
" Then I do not understand you,
mamma. You are just of the same
opinion as we are, and yet--"
" And yet I do not express it so
violently. "
" I acknowledge I was wrong to say
he was horribly ill-natured. But I can-
not help thinking he is shockingly
stupid. My dear ma'am, only think
of his not remembering the humming
bird, or the "yampyre bat, or any one
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? FRANK.
33
thing he saw at the museum," said
Mary, i
" And think of his not having read
any one of all the books we have read,"
said Frank, " and not wishing for any
of them when we offered to lend them. "
* Yes, mamma, only consider that
he is a year older than Frank. "
" Almost," said Frank.
. " And half a head taller," said Mary;
" yet Frank knows so much more than
he does, and reads so much better: even
his mother said so, indeed, mamma. "
" I do not doubt it, Mary. "
'& '* But you do not seem glad of it,
mamma; I do not quite understand
why. " .
" My dear, I am glad that Frank
knows how to read, and to read well
for a boy of his age; but I need not
be glad to find that another boy reads
ill. "
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FRANK.
" No," said Frank, " that would be
ill natured; besides, his poor mother is
so sorry for it. "
" There was some truth, was not
there, mamma," continued Mary, " in
what the boy said, though he said it
very disagreeably, that his mother
ought to have taught him to read well,
and write, and spell before this time. "
" I am much obliged to you, my dear
mother," said Frank, " for having taught
me all these things; particularly if what
that boy said be true, that there is no
time at school for learning such things
afterwards. Is this true, mamma? "
" It may be true in this instance;
but we must not judge of all schools by
one, nor of any school by what one
boy says of it. "
" Whenever Frank goes to school,
mamma, his school-fellows and every
body will see that he has been taught
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? 35
something'--a great deal too," said
Mary. . ; i
" Something, but not a great deal,"
said his mother. " What appears to
you a great deal, compared with an
unfortunate boy, who has not been
taught any thing, will appear very
little compared with others, who have
learnt a great deal.
"
" That is true, I suppose? " said
Mary.
" That is true, certainly," said
Frank.
" But, mamma, do not you think,"
resumed he, " that Tom's mother will
directly set about, and try to teach
him all those things which I taught
her--I mean all the things she said I
knew so much better than her son, and
that she would give the world if he knew
as well as 1 do ? --Why do you smile,
mamma? " ' .
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? 36
FRANK.
A sudden thought, a sudden light
seemed to come across Frank's mind at
this moment; his countenance changed,
his look of self-satisfaction vanished;
and, in a tone of mortification and
vexation, he exclaimed: " Perhaps
that woman was laughing at me all
the while ! 0 mother, O Mary, what
a fool I have been! " ;. i
Frank hid his face in his hands.
" My dear, dear Frank," said Mary,
going to comfort him, " I am very sorry
I asked you to tell her all you . knew.
Bui, mamma, it is that foolish mother's
fault if she laughs at Frank. Why
should he blame himself? Was not hue
very good to tell her what would be of
so much use to her stupid Tom ? Was
not Frank good-natured, mamma? " . .
" No, no,". said Frank, " I did not
do it from good-nature to the boy, I
forgot him; I wanted to show his mother
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? FRANK.
37
how much I knew. Now I am sure
that woman is laughing at me, and
that boy too is, I dare say, laughing at
me at this instant; that is the worst
of it. "
" No," said his mother, " I do not
think that is the worst of it. It is of
little consequence to you what that
lady or that boy thinks of you, since
she is, as you say, but a foolish woman,
and the boy but a stupid boy; and you
may perhaps never see them again in
your life. "
" I hope that I never may," said
Frank. " Mamma, I am provoked
with myself. I thought, after what
happened, mamma, about the nattering
lady, long ago, I was cured for life of
loving flattery. "
" My dear boy," said his mother,
" that was too much to expect from
VOL. I. E
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? FRANK.
one lesson. You will find this love
of flattery returning upon you, as long
as you have any vanity. "
" And how long shall I have any
vanity, do you think, ma'am ? "
" As long as you are a human crea-
ture, I am afraid, my dear, you will
have some vanity; but watch over
it, and you will conquer it, so far as
to prevent it from making a fool of
you. ""
" I will try to conquer it," said Frank.
" But, mamma," continued he, after a
pause, during which he seemed to be
thinking very deeply, " if I really see
that I am better, or know more than
other people--I mean than other boys
of my age--how can I help being
pleased with myself? And is this to
be called vanity? "
" That depends upon whether you
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? FKANK.
39
are or are not too much pleased with
yourself, and whether you do or do not
overvalue yourself. Even that boy,
Mary, whom you think shockingly stu-
pid, may be superior to Frank in some
things. "
" Perhaps so," said Mary, doubt-
fully.
" Certainly, in Latin," said Frank;
" for he said he was reading Virgil, and
you know that I have not yet learnt
the Latin grammar. I will try to im-
prove myself in Latin before I go to
school; because, if even this boy knows
so much more than I do, I suppose I
shall find almost every boy at school
knows more of Latin than I do. "
" That is very likely, my dear," said
his mother. .
" Well then," said Frank, " there is
no. danger of my being vain, mamma,
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FRANK.
when I go to school, and see other boys
cleverer than myself. "
" True, my dear; that is one great
advantage of going to a public school;
you will live with a number of boys of
your own age; you will be compared
with them, and you will then find what
you really do know, and what you do
not know. We are never so vain of
that which we are certain we know
well, as of that of which we are doubt-
ful. "
" I have observed that of myself,
mamma," said Frank. " Even this
morning, I did not feel vain of my
reading, because I was quite sure I
could read, and I did not want to show
that off. "
" When you go to school," said
Mary, " take care to talk always of the
things you know quite well, and of
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41
those things only, that you may not be
laughed at. "
" And, if you will take my advice,
Frank," said his mother, " even of the
things you know, talk only to those
who want to hear of them, and then
your companions will like you. "
" I should be very sorry to be disliked
by my school-fellows," said Frank.
" Disliked! Oh, it is impossible
that they should dislike Frank, he is so
good-natured," said Mary. " Mamma,
I hope he will not go to school this great
while. When will he go, mamma? "
" In about a year and a half," said
his mother.
"Then we need not think about it
now," said Mary; " a year and a half
is such an immense time ! "
" In that year and a half I shall have
plenty of time," said Frank, " to learn
e3
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FRANK.
the Latin grammar, that I may not be
finely flogged, as the boy said, when I
go to school; and, in a year and a half,
I shall have time enough to cure myself
of my vanity, mamma, and of all my
faults. "
" Mamma, except vanity, what are
Frank's faults? " said Mary; "I did
not know he had any. "
" Oh, my dear, I must have some;
but, except vanity, what faults have 1,
mamma? Will you tell them to me
all? "
" Cure that one first, my dear," said
his mother, " and then I will try and
find another for you. "
" If you can, ma'am," said Mary; "in
the mean time I will put by his trium-
phal arch; and let us go out, now
it has done raining, and let us have a
good race. "
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43
" Aye," said Frank, " for do you
remember, that boy asked whether I
could run, mamma. He said, that he
never knew a boy, bred up at home,
that could run. Now, I dare to say
that I can run as well as he can, and"
1 better he would have said, but,
checking himself, he added, " I will
not say what I was going to say, lest
some people should call it vanity, but
it is very true notwithstanding. "
Iif pursuance of his good resolu-
tion to learn the Latin grammar be-
fore he went to school, Frank said he
would get up at six o'clock the next
morning to learn his lesson. Unluckily,
he overslept himself, and dreamed that
he was getting up and dressing, till he
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FHANK.
was wakened by his cuckoo clock strik-
ing nine. It was now, as he thought,
too late to do much, but he dressed
himself as fast as he could, and he
learned the first declension, and said it
that day to his father, without missing
one word. The next day, and many
succeeding days, he learned an example
of one of the declensions, which he said
with equal success; and 'his father
having explained to him the three de-
grees of comparison, he went through
them superlatively well.
" But oh ! Mary," said Frank, " what
comes next ? All these verbs ! And,"
said he, sighing, " when I come to this,
what shall I'do? I will read it to you,
Mary, and understand it if you can.
" ' The subjunctive mood differs not
in form from the potential, but is always
rendered into English as if it were the
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45
indicative: it is subjoined to another
verb going before it in the sentence,
and has therefore some conjunction or
definite word joined to it, as eram miser
cum amarem, I was a wretch when I
loved. '
" No," said Frank, interrupting him-
self, " he should say, ' I was a wretch
when I learned the Latin grammar. '"
" I do not understand this grammar
at all," said Mary.
" It is very hard to understand, in-
deed," said Frank.
" I did not know that Latin grammar
was so difficult," said Mary. " Very
different from English grammar, at
least as papa taught it to us. "
" That was easy work, indeed," said
Frank: " after my father had once
explained to us what is meant by a verb,
and a noun, and a pronoun, and a noun
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FRANK.
substantive, and a noun adjective, I
remember that I understood them all,
and found out the verb, noun, and ad-
jective in the first sentence he spoke. "
"Yes," said Mary, " I remember
the first sentence was, ' Frank, shut
the green door. '"
" Aye, fine easy work," said Frank;
" but listen to this.
" ' Of verbs ending in o, some are ac-
tives transitive, when the action of it
passes on the noun following. ' "
Mary groaned. . .
" All you can do is to learn it by
rote without understanding it," said
she* . i . . _ r . . . ,i
" But it is so difficult to learn by
heart what one does not understand,"
said Prank, " especially as I have never
^eeni used tphijf. " ( i 4 h:A
" It seems to me very difficult eyep
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