The advantages for English girls in Paris are very great. There are a number of excellent schools, as well managed as any of our schools at home. It is not usual to receive very young girls or day boarders in the best schools. For the most part they are finishing schools, and the girls do not usually stay more than one year. I need hardly say anything to commend the old-established school founded by Madame Yeatman in the Boulevard Victor Hugo, Neuilly. Her name is well known in England and America, and other parts of the world. Some eight to nine hundred young ladies passed through this school during my sojourn in Paris, and the classes I held there will always be a pleasant memory. Madame Yeatman is now enjoying a well-earned rest, although she continues to take the kindliest interest in the school, and her charming house with access to it enables her to pay frequent visits. Madame Yeatman displayed her knowledge of character in the choice of Miss Easton to carry on the work, a lady eminently suited to the position, who has already attained to a well-merited success. An interesting gathering of old pupils is held every year at the Grand Hotel in London, known as the “Yeatmanite tea.”
Another school which I can speak of in equally commendatory words is that carried on at “The Maronneries,” Auteuil, by Mlles. Hogg and Guyomard. This is quite an up-to-date establishment, and has largely increased of late years. Two houses standing in extensive gardens, and a large field for recreation, make one feel quite in the country. Nothing can exceed the kindness and care of the principals—the teaching is excellent, and many of the pupils have gained high distinction in French examinations. These two schools occupy the galleries in the Embassy Church every Sunday morning, forming an important part of the congregation. I always felt the responsibility of speaking to so many young people, who would so soon occupy important positions in English life.
Besides these two large schools there are several excellent smaller ones where equal advantages may be obtained. Some of them take a certain number of French girls, who take their lessons with the English—an arrangement for and against which something may be said. The more important of these, and all of which I knew well, and can speak of in the highest terms, are Mlle. Lacarrère, Rue St. James, Neuilly; Mlle. Bourré, Auteuil; Madame d’Almaine, Passy; Madame Morel de Fos, Bolougne-sur-Seine; Mlles. Expulson and Metherell, Auteuil. The Marquise de San Carlos has a successful school at Bornel, about two hours from Paris, which is a delightful country home for girls, for whom it may be well to add a country life to the advantages of education. There are other schools, French and partly French and English, which I do not mention, not because of any reason against them, but only that I was not brought into contact with them in the way that I was with the above.
Sometimes parents have written to me asking if it was safe to send English girls to France at all, and many have sent their daughters in fear and trembling. My answer was that if parents would only be careful in the choice of a school, and consult those on the spot, who had no object to serve but to give the best advice they could to enquirers, no harm would result. Schools in Paris cannot be carried on cheaply—the necessaries of life are all taxed, and consequently living is dearer than in the country in England. Many mistakes have been made from choosing a school where the fees were a few pounds less than others. Those who cannot afford a good school had better keep their daughters at home. Convents have been a temptation to some owing to cheapness, and I would warn parents who are anxious (as all should be) about the religious education of their children that they should avoid these establishments for their daughters. The food is often insufficient for English girls, who find it hard to work on the “petit déjeûner” up to midday, and I have known many become anæmic from this cause. But this is not the only difficulty. While the promise is frequently made that there shall be no interference with the religious belief of the pupil, it is rarely kept. Parents should remember that it is after all the business of a convent to propagate the religion of the Church of Rome, and if parents, for the sake of cheapness, allow their children to go, they must not be surprised at the consequences. I had several most painful cases while in Paris where the parent was inclined to blame the chaplain for what had happened—whereas his advice had not been asked in the first instance. I do not as a rule recommend French families for girls. There are some most excellent homes (French pastors and others) where every care is taken. But I have known others where there was culpable laxity. English girls cannot go out alone in Paris as they do in England, it would not be safe, and in some families it is not easy to find a chaperon, and mischief follows. In seeking a family for an English girl, it is well to ask if there are any daughters about the age of the pupil, as if so the above difficulty is lessened.
One further point about learning French. It is important for both sexes that they should (if beginners) learn colloquial French from one who speaks some English—at least sufficient to explain the meaning of words. I have known some ludicrous mistakes arise from this cause.
On the whole I recommend Paris rather than the country parts of France for the education of young people; it is the centre for music and art in all its branches, and the best professors congregate there. Moreover, in case of illness or difficulty of any kind, it is better not to be too far from home, or an English doctor, and may I say, an English clergyman.
The children of the working classes in Paris are well provided for in the British schools, where they receive a good sound elementary education, both in French and English. The children trained in these schools do remarkably well, as they are taught shorthand and typewriting in both languages, and are thus able to take positions in French commercial houses, and earn good salaries. There are often more applications for boys than can be met. The schools are managed by a committee of which Sir Henry Austin Lee, C.B., is the chairman, who takes the warmest interest in their welfare. A small fee is collected from those able to pay, and the very poor are paid for by the British Charitable Fund.