THE SCHOOLMASTER’S TALE

In all the ups and downs of my adventurous career I have only once filled the unenviable position of schoolmaster, in a large country school, where the superabundance of boys was in vigorous contrast to the meagreness of my salary. I was not, I must confess, particularly adapted for the work and drudgery of a pedagogue's life, but, when circumstances are pressing, we consciously overlook many faults which we should otherwise have minded. The reason for my incapacity was not that I was lacking in scholastic ability, but rather that I was entirely unblessed by that useful virtue, patience.