_command_. My children are a family of _scholars_, each sex its
appropriate species of learning; and, I could safely take my oath, that
I never _ordered_ a child of mine, son or daughter, _to look into a
book_, in my life. My two eldest sons, when about eight years old, were,
for the sake of their health, placed for a very short time, at a
Clergyman's at MICHELDEVER, and my eldest daughter, a little older, at a
school a few miles from Botley, to avoid taking them to London in the
winter. But, with these exceptions, never had they, while children,
_teacher_ of any description; and I never, and nobody else ever, taught
any one of them to read, write, or any thing else, except in
_conversation_; and, yet, no man was ever more anxious to be the father
of a family of clever and learned persons.
291. I accomplished my purpose _indirectly_. The first thing of all was
_health_, which was secured by the deeply-interesting and never-ending
_sports of the field_ and _pleasures of the garden_. Luckily these
things were treated of in _books_ and _pictures_ of endless variety; so
that on _wet days_, in _long evenings_, these came into play. A large,
strong table, in the middle of the room, their mother sitting at her
work, used to be surrounded with them, the baby, if big enough, set up
in a high chair. Here were ink-stands, pens, pencils, India rubber, and
paper, all in abundance, and every one scrabbled about as he or she
pleased. There were prints of animals of all sorts; books treating of
them: others treating of gardening, of flowers, of husbandry, of
hunting, coursing, shooting, fishing, planting, and, in short, of every
thing, with regard to which _we had something to do_. One would be
trying to imitate a bit of my writing, another _drawing_ the pictures of
some of our dogs or horses, a third poking over _Bewick's Quadrupeds_
and picking out what he said about them; but our book of never-failing
resource was the _French_ MAISON RUSTIQUE, or FARM-HOUSE, which, it is
said, was the book that first tempted DUQUESNOIS (I think that was the
name), the famous physician, in the reign of Louis XIV., _to learn to
read_. Here are all the _four-legged animals_, from the horse down to
the mouse, _portraits_ and all; all the _birds_, _reptiles_, _insects_;
all the modes of rearing, managing, and using the tame ones; all the
modes of taking the wild ones, and of destroying those that are
mischievous; all the various traps, springs, nets; all the implements of
husbandry and gardening; all the labours of the field and the garden
exhibited, as well as the rest, in plates; and, there was I, in my
leisure moments, to join this inquisitive group, to read the _French_,
and tell them what it meaned in _English_, when the picture did not
sufficiently explain itself. I never have been without a copy of this
book for forty years, except during the time that I was fleeing from the
dungeons of CASTLEREAGH and SIDMOUTH, in 1817; and, when I got to Long
Island, the _first book I bought_ was another MAISON RUSTIQUE.
292. What need had we of _schools_? What need of _teachers_? What need
of _scolding_ and _force_, to induce children to read, write, and love
books? What need of _cards, dice_, or of any _games_, to '_kill time_;'
but, in fact, to implant in the infant heart a love of _gaming_, one of
the most destructive of all human vices? We did not want to _'kill
time_;' we were always _busy_, wet weather or dry weather, winter or
summer. There was _no force_ in any case; no _command_; no _authority_;
none of these was ever wanted. To teach the children the habit of _early
rising_ was a great object; and every one knows how young people cling
to their beds, and how loth they are to go to those beds. This was a
capital matter; because, here were _industry_ and _health_ both at
stake. Yet, I avoided _command_ even here; and merely offered a
_reward_. The child that was _down stairs_ first, was called the LARK
_for that day_; and, further, _sat at my right hand at dinner_. They
soon discovered, that to rise early, they must _go to bed early_; and
thus was this most important object secured, with regard to girls as
well as boys. Nothing more inconvenient, and, indeed, more disgusting,
than to have to do with girls, or young women, who lounge in bed: 'A
little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the
hands to sleep.' SOLOMON knew them well: he had, I dare say, seen the
breakfast cooling, carriages and horses and servants waiting, the sun
coming burning on, the day wasting, the night growing dark too early,
appointments broken, and the objects of journeys defeated; and all this
from the lolloping in bed of persons who ought to have risen with the
sun. No beauty, no modesty, no accomplishments, are a compensation for
the effects of laziness in women; and, of all the proofs of laziness,
none is so unequivocal as that of lying late in bed. Love makes men
overlook this vice (for it is a _vice_), for _a while_; but, this does
not last for life. Besides, _health_ demands early rising: the
management of a house imperiously demands it; but _health_, that most
precious possession, without which there is nothing else worth
possessing, demands it too. The _morning air_ is the most wholesome and
strengthening: even in crowded cities, men might do pretty well with the
aid of the morning air; but, how are they to _rise_ early, if they go to
bed _late_?
293. But, to do the things I did, you must _love home_ yourself; to rear
up children in this manner, you must _live with them_; you must make
them, too, _feel_, by your conduct, that you _prefer_ this to any other
mode of passing your time. All men cannot lead this sort of life, but
many may; and all much more than many do. My occupation, to be sure, was
chiefly carried on _at home_; but, I had always enough to do; I never
spent an idle week, or even day, in my whole life. Yet I found time to
talk with them, to walk, or ride, about _with them_; and when forced to
go from home, always took one or more with me. You must be good-tempered
too with them; they must like _your_ company better than any other
person's; they must not wish you away, not fear your coming back, not
look upon your departure as a _holiday_. When my business kept me away
from the _scrabbling_-table, a petition often came, that I would go and
_talk_ with the group, and the bearer generally was the youngest, being
the most likely to succeed. When I went from home, all followed me to
the outer-gate, and looked after me, till the carriage, or horse, was
out of sight. At the time appointed for my return, all were prepared to
meet me; and if it were late at night, they sat up as long as they were
able to keep their eyes open. This love of parents, and this constant
pleasure _at home_, made them not even think of seeking pleasure abroad;
and they, thus, were kept from vicious playmates and early corruption.
294. This is the age, too, to teach children to be _trust-worthy_, and
to be _merciful_ and _humane_. We lived _in a garden_ of about two
acres, partly kitchen-garden with walls, partly shrubbery and trees, and
partly grass. There were the _peaches_, as tempting as any that ever
grew, and yet as safe from fingers as if no child were ever in the
garden. It was not necessary to _forbid_. The blackbirds, the thrushes,
the whitethroats, and even that very shy bird the goldfinch, had their
nests and bred up their young-ones, in great abundance, all about this
little spot, constantly the play-place of six children; and one of the
latter had its nest, and brought up its young-ones, in a
_raspberry-bush_, within two yards of a walk, and at the time that we
were gathering the ripe raspberries. We give _dogs_, and justly, great
credit for sagacity and memory; but the following two most curious
instances, which I should not venture to state, if there were not so
many witnesses to the facts, in my neighbours at Botley, as well as in
my own family, will show, that _birds_ are not, in this respect,
inferior to the canine race. All country people know that the _skylark_
is a very shy bird; that its abode is the open fields: that it settles
on the ground only; that it seeks safety in the wideness of space; that
it avoids enclosures, and is never seen in gardens. A part of our ground
was a grass-plat of about _forty rods_, or a quarter of an acre, which,
one year, was left to be mowed for hay. A pair of larks, coming out of
the fields into the middle of a pretty populous village, chose to make
their nest in the middle of this little spot, and at not more than about
_thirty-five yards_ from one of the doors of the house, in which there
were about twelve persons living, and six of those children, who had
constant access to all parts of the ground. There we saw the cock rising
up and singing, then taking his turn upon the eggs; and by-and-by, we
observed him cease to sing, and saw them both _constantly engaged in
bringing food to the young ones_. No unintelligible hint to fathers and
mothers of the human race, who have, before marriage, taken delight in
_music_. But the time came for _mowing the grass_! I waited a good many
days for the brood to get away; but, at last, I determined on the day;
and if the larks were there still, to leave a patch of grass standing
round them. In order not to keep them in dread longer than necessary, I
brought three able mowers, who would cut the whole in about an hour; and
as the plat was nearly circular, set them to mow _round_, beginning at
the outside. And now for sagacity indeed! The moment the men began to
whet their scythes, the two old larks began to flutter over the nest,
and to make a great clamour. When the men began to mow, they flew round
and round, stooping so low, when near the men, as almost to touch their
bodies, making a great chattering at the same time; but before the men
had got round with the second swarth, they flew to the nest, and away
they went, young ones and all, across the river, at the foot of the
ground, and settled in the long grass in my neighbour's orchard.
295. The other instance relates to a HOUSE-MARTEN. It is well known that
these birds build their nests under the eaves of inhabited houses, and
sometimes under those of door porches; but we had one that built its
nest _in the house_, and upon the top of a common doorcase, the door of
which opened into a room out of the main passage into the house.
Perceiving the marten had begun to build its nest here, we kept the
front-door open in the daytime; but were obliged to fasten it at night.
It went on, had eggs, young ones, and the young ones flew. I used to
open the door in the morning early, and then the birds carried on their
affairs till night. The next _year_ the MARTEN came again, and had
_another brood in the same place_. It found its _old nest_; and having
repaired it, and put it in order, went on again in the former way; and
it would, I dare say, have continued to come to the end of its life, if
we had remained there so long, notwithstanding there were six healthy
children in the house, making just as much noise as they pleased.
296. Now, what _sagacity_ in these birds, to discover that those were
places of safety! And how happy must it have made us, the parents, to be
_sure_ that our children had thus deeply imbibed habits the contrary of
cruelty! For, be it engraven on your heart, YOUNG MAN, that, whatever
appearances may say to the contrary, _cruelty_ is always accompanied
with _cowardice_, and also with _perfidy_, when that is called for by
the circumstances of the case; and that _habitual_ acts of cruelty to
other creatures, will, nine times out of ten, produce, when the power is
possessed, cruelty to human beings. The ill-usage of _horses_, and
particularly _asses_, is a grave and a just charge against this nation.
No other nation on earth is guilty of it to the same extent. Not only by
_blows_, but by privation, are we cruel towards these useful, docile,
and patient creatures; and especially towards the last, which is the
most docile and patient and laborious of the two, while the food that
satisfies it, is of the coarsest and least costly kind, and in quantity
so small! In the habitual ill-treatment of this animal, which, in
addition to all its labours, has the milk taken from its young ones to
administer a remedy for our ailments, there is something that bespeaks
_ingratitude_ hardly to be described. In a REGISTER that I wrote from
Long Island, I said, that amongst all the things of which I had been
bereft, I regretted no one so much as a very diminutive _mare_, on which
my children had all, in succession, learned to ride. She was become
useless for them, and, indeed, for any other purpose; but the
recollection of her was so entwined with so many past circumstances,
which, at that distance, my mind conjured up, that I really was very
uneasy, lest she should fall into cruel hands. By good luck, she was,
after a while, turned out on the wide world to shift for herself; and
when we got back, and had a place for her to _stand_ in, from her native
forest we brought her to Kensington, and she is now at Barn-Elm, about
twenty-six years old, and I dare say, as fat as a mole. Now, not only
have I no moral _right_ (considering my ability to pay for keep) to
deprive her of life; but it would be _unjust_ and _ungrateful_, in me to
withhold from her sufficient food and lodging to make life as pleasant
as possible while that life last.
297. In the meanwhile the book-learning _crept in_ of its own accord, by
imperceptible degrees. Children naturally want to be _like_ their
parents, and _to do what they do_: the boys following their father, and
the girls their mother; and as I was always _writing_ or _reading_, mine
naturally desired to do something in the same way. But, at the same
time, they heard no talk from _fools_ or _drinkers_; saw me with no
idle, gabbling, empty companions; saw no vain and affected coxcombs, and
no tawdry and extravagant women; saw no nasty gormandizing; and heard no
gabble about play-houses and romances and the other nonsense that fit
boys to be lobby-loungers, and girls to be the ruin of industrious and
frugal young men.
298. We wanted no stimulants of this sort to _keep up our spirits_: our
various pleasing pursuits were quite sufficient for that; and the
_book-learning_ came amongst the rest of the pleasures, to which it was,
in some sort, necessary. I remember that, one year, I raised a
prodigious crop of fine _melons_, under hand-glasses; and I learned how
to do it from a gardening _book_; or, at least, that book was necessary
to remind me of the details. Having passed part of an evening in talking
to the boys about getting this crop, 'Come,' said I, 'now, let us _read
the book_.' Then the book came forth, and to work we went, following
very strictly the precepts of the book. I read the thing but once, but
the eldest boy read it, perhaps, twenty times over; and explained all
about the matter to the others. Why here was a _motive_! Then he had to
tell the garden-labourer _what to do_ to the melons. Now, I will engage,
that more was really _learned_ by this single _lesson_, than would have
been learned by spending, at this son's age, a year at school; and he
_happy_ and _delighted_ all the while. When any dispute arose amongst
them about hunting or shooting, or any other of their pursuits, they, by
degrees, found out the way of settling it by reference to some book; and
when any difficulty occurred, as to the meaning, they referred to me,
who, if at home, _always instantly attended to them_, in these matters.
299. They began writing by taking words out of _printed books_; finding
out which letter was which, by asking me, or asking those who knew the
letters one from another; and by imitating bits of my writing, it is
surprising how soon they began to write a hand like mine, very small,
very faint-stroked, and nearly plain as print. The first use that any
one of them made of the pen, was to _write to me_, though in the same
house with them. They began doing this in mere _scratches_, before they
knew how to make any one letter; and as I was always folding up letters
and directing them, so were they; and they were _sure_ to receive a
_prompt answer_, with most _encouraging_ compliments. All the meddlings
and teazings of friends, and, what was more serious, the pressing
prayers of their anxious mother, about sending them to _school_, I
withstood without the slightest effect on my resolution. As to friends,
preferring my own judgment to theirs, I did not care much; but an
expression of anxiety, implying a doubt of the soundness of my own
judgment, coming, perhaps, twenty times a day from her whose care they
were as well as mine, was not a matter to smile at, and very great
trouble it did give me. My answer at last was, as to the boys, I want
them to be _like me_; and as to the girls, In whose hands can they be so
safe as in _yours_? Therefore my resolution is taken: _go to school they
shall not_.
300. Nothing is much more annoying than the _intermeddling of friends_,
in a case like this. The wife appeals _to them_, and '_good breeding_,'
that is to say, _nonsense_, is sure to put them on _her side_. Then,
they, particularly the _women_, when describing the _surprising
progress_ made by their _own sons_ at school, used, if one of mine were
present, to turn to him, and ask, to what school _he went_, and what
_he_ was _learning_? I leave any one to judge of _his_ opinion of her;
and whether _he_ would like her the better for that! 'Bless me, so tall,
and _not learned_ any thing _yet_!' 'Oh yes, he has,' I used to say, 'he
has learned to ride, and hunt, and shoot, and fish, and look after
cattle and sheep, and to work in the garden, and to feed his dogs, and
to go from village to village in the dark.' This was the way I used to
manage with troublesome customers of this sort. And how glad the
children used to be, when they got clear of such criticising people! And
how grateful they felt to me for the _protection_ which they saw that I
gave them against that state of restraint, of which other people's boys
complained! Go whither they might, they found no place so pleasant as
home, and no soul that came near them affording them so many means of
gratification as they received from me.
301. In this happy state we lived, until the year 1810, when the
government laid its merciless fangs upon me, dragged me from these
delights, and _crammed me into a jail amongst felons_; of which I shall
have to speak more fully, when, in the last Number, I come to speak of
the duties of THE CITIZEN. This added to the difficulties of my task of
_teaching_; for now I was snatched away from the _only_ scene in which
it could, as I thought, properly be executed. But even these
difficulties were got over. The blow was, to be sure, a terrible one;
and, oh God! how was it felt by these poor children! It was in the month
of July when the horrible sentence was passed upon me. My wife, having
left her children in the care of her good and affectionate sister, was
in London, waiting to know the doom of her husband. When the news
arrived at Botley, the three boys, one eleven, another nine, and the
other seven, years old, were hoeing cabbages in that garden which had
been the source of so much delight. When the account of the savage
sentence was brought to them, the youngest could not, for some time, be
made to understand what a _jail_ was; and, when he did, he, all in a
tremor, exclaimed, 'Now I'm sure, William, that PAPA is not in a place
_like that_!' The other, in order to disguise his tears and smother his
sobs, fell to work with the hoe, and _chopped about like a blind
person_. This account, when it reached me, affected me more, filled me
with deeper resentment, than any other circumstance. And, oh! how I
despise the wretches who talk of my _vindictiveness_; of my _exultation_
at the confusion of those who inflicted those sufferings! How I despise
the base creatures, the crawling slaves, the callous and cowardly
hypocrites, who affect to be '_shocked_' (tender souls!) at my
expressions of _joy_, and at the death of Gibbs, Ellenborough, Perceval,
Liverpool, Canning, and the rest of the tribe that I have already seen
out, and at the fatal workings of _that system_, for endeavouring to
check which I was thus punished! How I despise these wretches, and how
I, above all things, enjoy their ruin, and anticipate their utter
beggary! What! I am to forgive, am I, injuries like this; and that, too,
without any _atonement_? Oh, no! I have not so read the Holy Scriptures;
I have not, from them, learned that I am not to rejoice at the fall of
unjust foes; and it makes a part of my happiness to be able _to tell
millions of men_ that I do thus rejoice, and that I have the means of
calling on so many just and merciful men to rejoice along with me.
302. Now, then, the _book-learning_ was _forced_ upon us. I had a _farm_
in hand. It was necessary that I should be constantly informed of what
was doing. I gave _all the orders_, whether as to purchases, sales,
ploughing, sowing, breeding; in short, with regard to every thing, and
the things were endless in number and variety, and always full of
interest. My eldest son and daughter could now write well and fast. One
or the other of these was always at Botley; and I had with me (having
hired the best part of the keeper's house) one or two, besides either
this brother or sister; the mother coming up to town about once in two
or three months, leaving the house and children in the care of her
sister. We had a HAMPER, with a lock and two keys, which came up once a
week, or oftener, bringing me fruit and all sorts of country fare, for
the carriage of which, cost free, I was indebted to as good a man as
ever God created, the late Mr. GEORGE ROGERS, of Southampton, who, in
the prime of life, died deeply lamented by thousands, but by none more
deeply than by me and my family, who have to thank him, and the whole of
his excellent family, for benefits and marks of kindness without number.
303. This HAMPER, which was always, at both ends of the line, looked for
with the most lively feelings, became our _school_. It brought me _a
journal_ of _labours_, _proceedings_, and _occurrences_, written on
paper of shape and size uniform, and so contrived, as to margins, as to
admit of binding. The journal used, when my son was the writer, to be
interspersed with drawings of our dogs, colts, or any thing that he
wanted me to have a correct idea of. The hamper brought me plants,
bulbs, and the like, that I might _see_ the size of them; and always
every one sent his or her _most beautiful flowers_; the earliest
violets, and primroses, and cowslips, and blue-bells; the earliest twigs
of trees; and, in short, every thing that they thought calculated to
delight me. The moment the hamper arrived, I, casting aside every thing
else, set to work to answer _every question_, to give new directions,
and to add anything likely to give pleasure at Botley. _Every_ hamper
brought one '_letter_,' as they called it, if not more, from every
child; and to _every_ letter I wrote _an answer_, sealed up and sent to
the party, being sure that that was the way to produce other and better
letters; for, though they could not read what I wrote, and though their
own consisted at first of mere _scratches_, and afterwards, for a while,
of a few words written down for them to imitate, I always thanked them
for their '_pretty letter_'; and never expressed any wish to see them
_write better_; but took care to write in a very neat and plain hand
_myself_, and to do up my letter in a very neat manner.
304. Thus, while the ferocious tigers thought I was doomed to incessant
mortification, and to rage that must extinguish my mental powers, I
found in my children, and in their spotless and courageous and most
affectionate mother, delights to which the callous hearts of those
tigers were strangers. 'Heaven first taught letters for some wretch's
aid.' How often did this line of Pope occur to me when I opened the
little _spuddling_ 'letters' from Botley! This correspondence occupied a
good part of my time: I had all the children with me, turn and turn
about; and, in order to give the boys exercise, and to give the two
eldest an opportunity of beginning to learn French, I used, for a part
of the two years, to send them a few hours in the day to an ABBÉ, who
lived in Castle-street, Holborn. All this was a great relaxation to my
mind; and, when I had to return to my literary labours, I returned
_fresh_ and cheerful, full of vigour, and _full of hope_, of finally
seeing my unjust and merciless foes at my feet, and that, too, without
caring a straw on whom their fall might bring calamity, so that my own
family were safe; because, say what any one might, the _community, taken
as a whole_, had _suffered this thing to be done unto us_.