and he wrote him
a long letter by that post, indignantly denying the supposition that his
friendship had ever done him anything but good.

The postscript about Vernon suggested a thought that had been often in
his mind. He could not but shudder in himself, when he thought of that
bright little brother of his being initiated in the mysteries of evil
which he himself had learnt, and sinking like himself into slow
degeneracy of heart and life. It often puzzled and perplexed him, and
at last he determined to open his heart, partially at least, in a letter
to Mr Rose. The master fully understood his doubts, and wrote him the
following reply--

"My Dear Eric--I have just received your letter about your brother
Vernon, and I think that it does you honour. I will briefly give you
my own opinion.

"You mean, no doubt, that, from your own experience, you fear that
Vernon will hear at school many things which will shock his modesty,
and much language which is evil and blasphemous; you fear that he will
meet with many bad examples, and learn to look on God and godliness in
a way far different from that to which he has been accustomed at home.
You fear, in short, that he must pass through the same painful
temptations to which you have yourself been subjected; to which,
perhaps, you have even succumbed.

"Well, Eric, this is all true. Yet, knowing this, I say, by all means
let Vernon come to Roslyn. The innocence of mere ignorance is a poor
thing; it _cannot_, under any circumstances, be permanent, nor is it
at all valuable as a foundation of character. The true preparation
for life, the true basis of a manly character, is not to have been
ignorant of evil, but to have known it and avoided it; not to have
been sheltered from temptation, but to have passed through it and
overcome it by God's help. Many have drawn exaggerated pictures of
the lowness of public school morality; the best answer is to point to
the good and splendid men that have been trained in public schools,
and who lose no opportunity of recurring to them with affection. It
is quite possible to be _in_ the little world of school-life, and yet
not _of_ it. The ruin of human souls can never be achieved by enemies
from without unless they be aided by traitors from within. Remember
our lost friend; the peculiar lustre of his piety was caused by the
circumstances, under which he was placed. He often told m