Languages were to be taught at Bellechasse, and as far as possible by the direct method. The “second Valet de Chambre” was a German, who not only played the piano very well, but understood the principles of his native language thoroughly. It was he who taught the Duke German. He had an Italian valet who was supposed to speak nothing but Italian to his young master, and an English tutor, “who gave him lessons in my own room.” But, and it is here that Madame de Genlis shows herself so astonishingly modern, what about utilising their play hours, too, for learning English by getting a little English-speaking child to play with them? Mr. Forth, who is buying horses for the Duke in England, receives the commission to look for one, and finds her in little, nameless, five-year-old Pamela, who, after a short delay, is installed at Bellechasse, and made to share the education of the Princes and Princesses of the Blood Royal! It had been arranged that the Duke should buy a country-house for the children, and choice was made of Saint Leu, where they spent all the year except the winter. “In the beautiful park I had little gardens made for each of my pupils, which they dug and planted for themselves.” (So Pamela knew something about her business when she set about planting her “sweet pea and mignonette” in the garden at Kildare Lodge). The children had a chemist and botanist among their teachers, a Monsieur Alyon, who accompanied them in all their walks, made them pick flowers, and taught them Botany. M. Alyon gave them, every summer too, a practical course in Chemistry, at which Madame de Genlis made a point of being present. A Pole, called Merys, who was very clever at black-and-white drawing, and water-colours, and had executed many commissions for the Duchess, was employed by Madame to prepare slides for an historical magic lantern. Four different sets of slides were painted by him, from written descriptions made by Madame, and in this attractive way the children learned their Bible History, Ancient History, Roman History, and History of China and Japan. The youngsters, we learn, took their turn week about lecturing with the lantern. Can anything be more modern? Except, indeed, it be the way they learned Geography! She tells us of “a delightful game” she invented for her pupils. “I made them stage and play out in the garden, or inside the Château, according to the subject, the most celebrated voyages.” Everybody in the house, including Madame herself, had a rôle in these representations. They had wooden horses for the cavalcade; “the lovely river in the park represented the sea; a number of pretty little boats were our fleets. We had a wardrobe of suitable costumes. The best ‘Voyages’ we played were those of Vasco de Gamma and Snelgrove.”