Coercion was unpopular, parents had exalted notions of giving their
offspring a good time. They spoiled their rods, spared their children,
and anticipated the results with enthusiasm.
And yet, in his inner tissue, there was something of the old founder of
his family, a secret tenacity of soul, a dread of showing his feelings, a
determination not to know when he was beaten. Sensitive, imaginative,
affectionate boys get a bad time at school, but Jon had instinctively
kept his nature dark, and been but normally unhappy there