clean, took his place the
following term. He had read widely, and was almost as fond of poetry
as of his glass. His young French pupil, who was picking up English in
the playground and in the home as well as in the school, long cherished
the memory of the man who first opened to him a vista of the great
treasures of English letters.

The experience, though brief, had a lasting effect. Perhaps the
English speech became rusty in the years of college life that followed
at L'Assomption, but the understanding, and the tolerance and goodwill
which understanding brings, were destined to abide for life. It was
not without reason that the ruling motive of the young schoolboy's
future career was to be the awakening of sympathy and harmony between
the two races. It would be fortunate for Canada if more experiments
like that which Carolus Laurier tried were even to-day to be attempted,
not only by French but by English families.

In September 1854, when well on in his thirteenth year, Wilfrid Laurier
returned to the normal path prescribed for the keener boys of the
province. He entered the college {7} or secondary school of
L'Assomption, maintained by secular priests, and the chief seat of
education in the country north of Montreal. The course was a thorough
one, extending through seven closely filled years. It followed the
customary classical lines, laying chief stress on Latin, and next on
French literature. Greek was taught less thoroughly; a still briefer
study of English, mathematics, scholastic philosophy, history, and
geography completed the course. Judged by its fruits, it was a
training admirably adapted, in the hands of good teachers such as the
fathers at L'Assomption were, to give men destined for the learned
professions a good grounding, to impart to them a glimpse of culture, a
sympathy with the world beyond, a bent to eloquence and literary style.
It was perhaps not so well adapted to train men for success in
business; perhaps this literary and classical training is largely
responsible for the fact that until of late the French-speaking youth
of Quebec have not taken the place in commercial and industrial life
that their numbers and ability warrant.

The life at L'Assomption was one of strict discipline. The boys rose
at 5.30, and every hour until evening had its task, or was assigned {8}
for mealtime or playtime. Once a week, on Wednesday afternoon, came a
glorious half-day excursion to the country.