hat the head of the school
ever afterwards referred to Mr. McGuffie as "a man of great resolution
of character and endowed with the gift of forcible speech." As regards
the son, his affectionate father gave him some brief directions before
leaving, and in the presence of his fellow-scholars, of which this only
was overheard, and seemed, indeed, to be the sum and substance: "Never
give in, ye de'il's buckie." With these inspiriting words Mr. McGuffie
senior departed through the front door amid a hush of admiration,
leaving Peter to his fate not far from that "well" which was to be the
scene of many of his future waggeries.

With the progress of civilisation school life in Scotland has taken on a
high degree of refinement, and rumour has it--but what will people not
say?--that a new boy will come in a cab to the Seminary and will receive
a respectful welcome from the generation following Peter, and that the
whole school will devote itself to his comfort for days--showing him
where to hang his cap, initiating him into games, assisting him with his
lessons, and treating his feelings with delicate respect. It has been my
own proud satisfaction, as a relic of a former barbarian age, to read
the rules, which, I believe, are now printed in black letters with red
capitals and hung in the rooms of Muirtown Seminary. My feelings will
not allow me to give them all, but the following have moved me almost to
tears:--

Rule 1.--That every boy attending this school is expected to behave
himself in speech and deed as a gentleman.

Rule 2.--That anyone writing upon a wall, or in any way marking the
school furniture, will be considered to have committed an offence, and
will be punished.

Rule 3.--That every boy is exhorted to treat every other with courtesy,
and anyone guilty of rudeness to a fellow-scholar is to be reported to
the headmaster.

Rule 4.--That it is expected of every boy to cultivate neatness of
appearance, and especially to see that his clothes, collars, cuffs, and
other articles of clothing be not soiled.

These admirable rules suggest a new atmosphere and one very different
from that in which we passed our stormy youth, for no sentiment of this
kind softened life in earlier days or affected our Spartan simplicity.
The very sight of a newcomer in a speckless suit, with an irreproachable
tie and both tails on his glengarry bonnet, excited a profound emotion
in the school and carried it beyond self-control. What coul