Mr. Rivers came up as, having seen the classes, now numbering sixty girls, file out before me, and locked the door, I stood with the key in my hand, exchanging a few words of special farewell with some half-dozen of my best scholars: as decent, respectable, modest, and well-informed young women as could be found in the ranks of the British peasantry. And that is saying a great deal; for after all, the British peasantry are the best taught, best mannered, most self-respecting of any in Europe: since those days I have seen paysannes and Bauerinnen; and the best of them seemed to me ignorant, coarse, and besotted, compared with my Morton girls.
John Rivers llegó cuando yo, después de haberme despedido de las sesenta muchachas alineadas ante mí, cambiaba nuevos adioses con las mejores de mis discípulas: media docena de muchachas recatadas, modestas e instruidas como no se encontrarían fácilmente en el resto de Inglaterra ni en toda Europa.