At the onset of puberty childhood comes to an end, and the period of adolescence begins.  Into these further stages of development it is not proposed to enter, but it may be well to consider a question which is apt to present itself for answer at this period:  “Should the boy, or girl, of nervous temperament, or whose development up to this point has been accompanied by symptoms of nervous disorder, be sent to a boarding-school?” So long as the child remains at home the home environment is the force which alone is concerned in moulding his character.  We have seen how plastic the young child is, how imitative, how suggestible, how prone to form habits good or bad.  The diversity of type shown by the homes is reflected in the diversity of character and conduct exhibited by the children.  The home is the culture medium, and in no two homes is its composition the same.  For each child home influence remains to a great extent unchanged, and in great part unchangeable.  Its action upon the child is constant and long sustained.  Hence, it is not surprising that the growth of his character and powers is commonly unequal.  At one point we may find a good crop of virtues, at another a barren tract; and the home influences which have ripened the one and blighted the other are calculated by the lapse of time to increase the contrast rather than to diminish it.

I suppose it is for this reason that the custom of sending children to boarding-schools has so firm a hold among us.  The boarding-school forms an environment selected to correct the inequalities which result from the special action upon the child of individual homes.  The life of a boy in one of our large public schools is well calculated to act as a corrective in this way not only by reason of its ordered routine and discipline, but still more because it is affected, perhaps for the first time, by the strong force of public opinion.  It is the strength of this public opinion which gives to our public schools their peculiar character and produces their peculiar effects.  That which the schoolboy most despises is what he calls “Bad Form,” and he bows down and worships an idol he himself has set up, the name of which is “Good Form.”  Public opinion forms the code of morals observed in the school.  The standard set is commonly not so high as to be very difficult of attainment.  It demands many good qualities.  To lie, to sneak, to tell tales, to bully, to “put on side,” are bad form.  In some respects the definition of what is virtuous may be a little hazy.  Thus it may be wrong to cheat to gain a prize, but to copy from one’s neighbour only so much as will enable one to pass muster and escape condemnation is no great sin.  In short, good form demands that a boy should have all the social virtues:  that he should be a good fellow, easy to live with, and possessed of a high sense of public spirit—­good qualities certainly, though perhaps not those which help to make the reformers or martyrs of this world.