They say schools in England are so numerous,
competition so great, that without some such step towards attaining
superiority, we shall probably have a very hard struggle, and may fail
in the end. They say, moreover, that the loan of 100_l_., which you
have been so kind as to offer us, will, perhaps, not be all required
now, as Miss W--- will lend us the furniture; and that, if the
speculation is intended to be a good and successful one, half the sum,
at least, ought to be laid out in the manner I have mentioned, thereby
insuring a more speedy repayment both of interest and principal.
"I would not go to France or to Paris. I would go to Brussels, in
Belgium. The cost of the journey there, at the dearest rate of
travelling, would be 5_l_.; living is there little more than half as
dear as it is in England, and the facilities for education are equal
or superior to any other place in Europe. In half a year, I could
acquire a thorough familiarity with French. I could improve greatly
in Italian, and even get a dash of German, i.e., providing my health
continued as good as it is now. Mary is now staying at Brussels, at a
first-rate establishment there. I should not think of going to the
Chateau de Kokleberg, where she is resident, as the terms are much too
high; but if I wrote to her, she, with the assistance of Mrs.
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