 the child to a good public school; his mother, that Briggs was a capital
mistress for him, and had brought him on (as indeed was the fact) famously in
English, the Latin rudiments, and in general learning; but all these objections
disappeared before the generous perseverance of the Marquis of Steyne. His
lordship was one of the governors of that famous old collegiate institution
called the Whitefriars. It had been a Cistercian Convent in old days, when the
Smithfield, which is contiguous to it, was a tournament ground. Obstinate
heretics used to be brought thither convenient for burning hard by. Henry VIII.,
the Defender of the Faith, seized upon the monastery and its possessions, and
hanged and tortured some of the monks who could not accommodate themselves to
the pace of his reform. Finally, a great merchant bought the house and land
adjoining, in which, and with the help of other wealthy endowments of land and
money, he established a famous foundation hospital for old men and children. An
extern school grew round the old almost monastic foundation, which subsists
still with its Middle-Age costume and usages; and all Cistercians pray that it
may long flourish.
    Of this famous house some of the greatest noblemen, prelates, and
dignitaries in England are governors; and as the boys are very comfortably
lodged, fed, and educated, and subsequently inducted to good scholarships at the
University and livings in the Church, many little gentlemen are devoted to the
ecclesiastical profession from their tenderest years, and there is considerable
emulation to procure nominations for the foundation. It was originally intended
for the sons of poor and deserving clerics and laics; but many of the noble
governors of the Institution, with an enlarged and rather capricious
benevolence, selected all sorts of objects for their bounty. To get an education
for nothing, and a future livelihood and profession assured, was so excellent a
scheme that some of the richest people did not disdain it; and not only great
men's relations, but great men themselves, sent their sons to profit by the
chance. Right Rev. Prelates sent their own kinsmen or the sons of their clergy,
while, on the other hand, some great noblemen did not disdain to patronize the
children of their confidential servants; so that a lad entering this
establishment had every variety of youthful society wherewith to mingle.
    Rawdon Crawley, though the only book which he studied was the Racing
Calendar, and though his chief recollections of polite learning were connected
with the floggings which he received at Eton in his early youth, had that decent
and honest reverence for classical learning which all English
