MS Cheltenham Ladies College 5351 Gor/1

My dear Miss Beale
I can’t resist telling you, apropos to your article about Mrs Dorothy Kilner’s books, that somehow they did gain a curious hold of children’s minds. In ‘Lecture graduées a translation of Tommy Piper appears, with Mr Makegood as Monsieur Réforme!¹ A reproduction of the old book (how well the ‘cuts’ are given) was mine some 60 years ago. My young nephews and nieces constantly were borrowing it when the elder ones were small. Then it was lost for some time, and when found, there was great jubilation, they were all grown up by that time but they read it aloud with great delight to me, the remarkable thing is that Mr & Mrs Piper thank Mr Make Good instead of giving him in charge for an assault. But the Perambulations of a Mouse are really very clever.

I do not think the School my mother was at could have failed in thorough teaching, though it must have been stupidly given. She used to tell me that she lost her place for hesitating to say whether Henry III was good or bad. She was made an excellent French and Italian scholar and knew much more astronomy than girls do now. She was wretched there, from London air and from the people’s ignorance of what was fit for a delicate girl. Her Step brother told me some 30 years later that he thought she pined for want of companionship, among the girls. It was a great surprise to her but I believe it was true for she had always lived with older people. But she always got ‘médiocrement for her marks: and I believe the great fault of the place was want of comprehension of health. The girls walked round Russell Square every morning before breakfast time. She used to say she would have given anything to have her bonnet carried to the top of the house afterwards and that made her languid all day. But judging by the effects, the teaching must have been good

yours truly
C M Yonge