ni:
I)!I
the other about six years of age. The
elder was explaining to the younger the
cause of the sun appearing to move and
sink below the earth, from the earth s
turnino; round on its axis. A conversation
so unlike that of the poorer children in
England, excited our surprise; and on mentioning
the circumstance, we were informed
of the evening schools. We learned also,
that the elder boy (whom we saw frequently
afterwards) was remarkable for his display
of talent. There are also two Lancasterian
schools, and an orphan school for the poor.
The latter establishment is for the orphan
daughters of c itiz en s: they are boarded
and educated till they are fifteen years of
age.W
ith respect to the eligibility of Geneva,
as a place of temporary residence for
families, or for the education of British
youth, I must leave parents to make what
inferences they please from what I have
already stated. It may, however, be right
to say something respecting the expense
of education. Those who wish to economize
should not send their children to
Geneva for education: the terms for respectable
boarding-schools for boys or
girls under fourteen years of age, are eighty
napoleons and upwards per annum. Young
men received as parlour boarders, or as
pupils, into the houses of professors who
take only from four to five pupils, pay very
high. I have heard of three hundred napoleons
jjcr annum being given. Parents who
have large families, and who educate their
daughters at home, may save something
in the expense of masters; the price per
hour for attendance is from two to five
francs. There are excellent drawing masters
; but the music-masters are regarded
by the English as inferior to our own. In
every respect Geneva may be considered
as dearer than other towns on the continent
; but it possesses the advantage
of being a Protestant city, and of being
free from the immorality and dissipation
that prevail in many cities, which might
in other respects be more eligible.
One of the objects generally sought in
sending young Englishmen to Geneva, is
to acquire a facility of speaking the French
language. The French of the Genevese is
in a great measure free from the vicious
pronunciation of the Germans, but it is less
distinctly articulated than at Paris.
L 3