"It was but this moment thou didst state that thou hadst received none
from Barnaby Bracegirdle. Thou hast contradicted thyself, Mr Knapps.
Jacob did not draw his mother; and the pencil is the same as that which
drew the rest--ergo, he did not, I really believe, draw one of them.
_Ite procul fraudes_. God, I thank thee, that the innocent have been
protected. Narrowly hast thou escaped these toils, O Jacob--_Cum populo
et duce fraudulento_. And now for punishment. Barnaby Bracegirdle,
thou gavest this caricature to Mr Knapps; from whence hadst thou it?
Lie not."
Barnaby turned red and white, and then acknowledged that the drawing was
his own.
"You boys," cried the Dominie, waving his rod which he had seized, "you
gave these drawings to Mr Knapps; tell me from whom they came."
The boys, frightened at the Dominie's looks, immediately replied in a
breath, "From Barnaby Bracegirdle."
"Then, Barnaby Bracegirdle, from whom didst thou receive them?" inquired
the Dominie. Barnaby was dumbfounded.
"Tell the truth; didst thou not draw them thyself, since thou didst not
receive them from other people?"
Barnaby fell upon his knees, and related the whole circumstances,
particularly the way in which the Cornelius Nepos had been obtained
through the medium of Mr Knapps. The indignation of the Dominie was
now beyond all bounds. I never had seen him so moved before. He
appeared to rise at least a foot more in stature, his eyes sparkled, his
great nose turned red, his nostrils dilated, and his mouth was more than
half open, to give vent to the ponderous breathing from his chest. His
whole appearance was withering to the culprits.
"For thee, thou base, degraded, empty-headed, and venomous little
abortion of a man, I have no words to signify my contempt. By the
governors of this charity I leave thy conduct to be judged; but until
they meet, thou shalt not pollute and contaminate the air of this school
by thy presence. If thou hast one spark of good feeling in thy petty
frame, beg pardon of this poor boy, whom thou wouldst have ruined by thy
treachery. If not, hasten to depart, lest in my wrath I apply to the
teacher the punishment intended for the scholar, but of which thou art
more deserving than even Barnaby Bracegirdle."
Mr Knapps said nothing, hastened out of the school, and that evening
quitted his domicile. When the governors met he was expelled with
ignominy. "Simon Swapps, hoist up Barnaby Bracegirdle." Most
strenuously and most indefatigably was the birch applied to Barnaby, a
second time, through me. Barnaby howled and kicked, howled and kicked,
and kicked again. At last the Dominie was tired. "_Consonat omne nemus
strepitu_" (for _nemus_ read schoolroom), exclaimed the Dominie, laying
down the rod, and pulling out his handkerchief to wipe his face.
"_Calcitrat, ardescunt germani coede bimembres_, that last quotation is
happy." [cluck, cluck.] He then blew his nose, addressed the boys in a
long oration--paid me a handsome compliment upon my able defence--proved
to all those who chose to listen to him that innocence would always
confound guilt--intimated to Barnaby that he must leave the school, and
then finding himself worn out with exhaustion, gave the boys a holiday,
that they might reflect upon what had passed, and which they duly
profited by in playing at marbles and peg in the ring. He then
dismissed the school, took me by the hand, and led me into his study,
where he gave vent to his strong and affectionate feelings towards me,
until the matron came to tell us that dinner was ready.
After this everything went on well. The Dominie's kindness and
attention were unremitting, and no one ever thought of caballing against
me. My progress became most rapid; I had conquered Virgil, taken
Tacitus by storm, and was reading the Odes of Horace. I had passed
triumphantly through decimals, and was busily employed in mensuration of
solids, when one evening I was seized with a giddiness in my head. I
complained to the matron; she felt my hands, pronounced me feverish, and
ordered me to bed. I passed a restless night the next morning I
attempted to rise, but a heavy burning ball rolled as it were in my
head, and I fell back on my pillow. The matron came, was alarmed at my
state, and sent for the surgeon, who pronounced that I had caught the
typhus fever, then raging through the vicinity. This was the first time
in my life that I had known a day's sickness--it was a lesson I had yet
to learn. The surgeon bled me, and giving directions to the matron,
promised to call again. In a few hours I was quite delirious--my senses
ran wild. One moment I thought I was with little Sarah Drummond,
walking in green fields, holding her by the hand. I turned round, and
she was no longer there, but I was in the lighter, and my hand grasped
the cinders of my mother; my father stood before me, again jumped
overboard and disappeared; again the dark black column ascended from the
cabin, and I was prostrate on the deck. Then I was once more alone on
the placid and noble Thames, the moon shining bright, and the sweep in
my hand, tiding up the reach, and admiring the foliage which hung in
dark shadows over the banks. I saw the slopes of green, so pure and so
fresh by that sweet light, and in the distance counted the numerous
spires of the great monster city, and beheld the various bridges
spanning over the water. The faint ripple of the tide was harmony, the
reflection of the moon, beauty; I felt happiness in my heart; I was no
longer the charity-boy, but the pilot of the barge. Then, as I would
survey the scene, there was something that invariably presented itself
between my eyes and the object of my scrutiny; whichever way I looked,
it stood in my way, and I could not remove it. It was like a cloud, yet
transparent, and with a certain undefined shape. I tried for some time,
but in vain, to decipher it, but could not. At last it appeared to
cohere into a form--it was the Dominie's great nose, magnified into that
of the Scripture, "As the tower which looketh towards Damascus." My
temples throbbed with agony--I burned all over. I had no exact notions
of death in bed, except that of my poor mother, and I thought that I was
to die like her; the horrible fear seized me that all this burning was
but prefatory to bursting out into flame and consuming into ashes. The
dread hung about my young heart and turned that to ice, while the rest
of my body was on fire. This was my last recollection, and then all was
blank. For many days I lay unconscious of either pain or existence:
when I awoke from my stupor, my wandering senses gradually returning, I
opened my eyes, and dimly perceived something before me that cut across
my vision in a diagonal line. As the mist cleared away, and I recovered
myself, I made out that it was the nose of Dominie Dobiensis, who was
kneeling at the bed-side, his nose adumbrating the coverlid of my bed,
his spectacles dimmed with tears, and his long grey locks falling on
each side, and shadowing his eyes. I was not frightened, but I was too
weak to stir or speak. His prayer-book was in his hand, and he still
remained on his knees. He had been praying for me. Supposing me still
insensible, he broke out in the following soliloquy:--
"_Naviculator larvus pallidus_--how beautiful even in death! My poor
lighter-boy, that hath mastered the rudiments, and triumphed over the
Accidence--but to die! _Levior puer_, a puerile conceit, yet I love it,
as I do thee. How my heart bleeds for thee! The icy breath of death
hath whitened thee, as the hoar-frost whitens the autumnal rose. Why
wert thou transplanted from thine own element? Young prince of the
stream--lord of the lighter--`_Ratis rex et magister_'--heir apparent to
the tiller--betrothed to the sweep--wedded to the deck--how art thou
laid low! Where is the blooming cheek, ruddy with the browning air?
where the bright and swimming eye? Alas where? `_Tum breviter dirae
mortis aperta via est_,' as sweet Tibullus hath it;" and the Dominie
sobbed anew. "Had this stroke fallen upon me, the aged, the ridiculed,
the little regarded, the ripe one for the sickle, it would have been
well--yet fain would I have instructed thee still more before I quitted
the scene--fain have left thee the mantle of learning. Thou knowest,
Lord, that I walk wearily, as in the desert, that I am heavily burdened,
and that my infirmities are many. Must I then mourn over thee, thou
promising one--must I say with the epigrammatist--
"`Hoc jacet in tumulo, raptus puerilibus annis,
Jacob Faithful domini cura, doloroque sui?'
"True, most true. Thou hast quitted the element thou so joyously
controlledst, thou hast come upon the terra firma for thy grave?
"`Sis licet inde sibi tellus placata, levisque,
Artifices levior non potes esse manu.'
"Earth, lay light upon the lighter-boy--the lotus, the water-lily, that
hath been cast on shore to die. Hadst thou lived, Jacob, I would have
taught thee the Humanities; we would have conferred pleasantly together.
I would have poured out my learning to thee, my Absalom, my son!"
He rose and stood over me; the tears coursed down his long nose from
both his eyes, and from the point of it poured out like a little
rain-gutter upon the coverlid. I understood not all his words, but I
understood the spirit of them--it was love. I feebly stretched forth my
arms, and articulated "Dominie!"
The old man clasped his hands, looked upwards, and said, "O God, I thank
thee--he will live. Hush, hush, my sweet one, thou must not prate;" and
he retired on tiptoe, and I heard him mutter triumphantly, as he walked
away, "He called me `Dominie!'"
From that hour I rapidly recovered, and in three weeks was again at my
duties. I was now within six months of being fourteen years old, and
Mr Drummond, who had occasionally called to ascertain my progress, came
to confer with the Dominie upon my future prospects. "All that I can do
for him, Mr Dobbs," said my former master, "is to bind him apprentice
to serve his time on the River Thames, and that cannot be done until he
is fourteen. Will the rules of the school permit his remaining?"
"The regulations do not exactly, but I will," replied the Dominie. "I
have asked nothing for my long services, and the governors will not
refuse me such a slight favour; should they, I will charge myself with
him, that he may not lose his precious time. What sayest thou, Jacob,
dost thou feel inclined to return to thy father Thames?"
I replied in the affirmative, for the recollections of my former life
were those of independence and activity.
"Thou hast decided well, Jacob--the tailor at his needle, the shoemaker
at his last, the serving boy to an exacting mistress, and all those
apprenticed to the various trades, have no time for improvement; but
afloat there are moments of quiet and peace--the still night for
reflection, the watch for meditation; and even the adverse wind or tide
leaves moments of leisure which may be employed to advantage. Then wilt
thou call to mind the stores of learning which I have laid up in thy
garner, and wilt add to them by perseverance and industry. Thou hast
yet six months to profit by, and, with the blessing of God, those six
months shall not be thrown away."
Mr Drummond having received my consent to be bound apprentice, wished
me farewell, and departed. During the six months the Dominie pressed me
hard, almost too hard, but I worked for _love_, and to please him I was
most diligent. At last the time had flown away, the six months had more
than expired, and Mr Drummond made his appearance, with a servant
carrying a bundle under his arm. I slipped off my pepper-and-salt, my
yellows and badge, dressed myself in a neat blue jacket and trousers,
and with many exhortations from the Dominie, and kind wishes from the
matron, I bade farewell to them and to the charity-school, and in an
hour was once more under the roof of the kind Mrs Drummond.
But how different were my sensations to those which oppressed me when I
had before entered. I was no longer a little savage, uneducated and
confused in my ideas. On the contrary, I was full of imagination,
confident in myself, and in my own powers, cultivated in mind, and proud
of my success. The finer feelings of my nature had been called into
play. I felt gratitude, humility, and love, at the same time that I was
aware of my own capabilities. In person I had much improved, as well as
much increased in stature. I walked confident and elastic, joying in
the world, hoping, anticipating, and kindly disposed towards my
fellow-creatures. I knew, I felt my improvement, my total change of
character, and it was with sparkling eyes that I looked up at the
window, where I saw Mrs Drummond and little Sarah watching my return
and reappearance after an absence of three years.
Mrs Drummond had been prepared by her husband to find a great change;
but still she looked for a second or two with wonder as I entered the
door, with my hat in my hand, and paid my obeisance. She extended her
hand to me, which I took respectfully.
"I should not have known you, Jacob; you have grown quite a man," said
she, smiling. Sarah held back, looking at me with pleased astonishment;
but I went up to her, and she timidly accepted my hand. I had left her
as my superior--I returned, and she soon perceived that I had a
legitimate right to the command. It was some time before she would
converse, and much longer before she would become intimate; but when she
did so, it was no longer the little girl encouraging the untutored boy
by kindness, or laughing at his absurdities, but looking up to him with
respect and affection, and taking his opinion as a guide for her own. I
had gained the _power of knowledge_.
By the regulations of the Waterman's Company, it is necessary that every
one who wishes to ply on the river on his own account should serve as an
apprentice from the age of fourteen to twenty-one; at all events, he
must serve an apprenticeship for seven years, and be fourteen years old
before he signs the articles. This apprenticeship may be served in any
description of vessel which sails or works on the river, whether it be
barge, lighter, fishing smack, or a boat of larger dimensions, and it is
not until that apprenticeship is served that he can work on his own
account, either in a wherry or any other craft. Mr Drummond offered to
article me on board of one of his own lighters free of all expense,
leaving me at liberty to change into any other vessel that I might think
proper. I gratefully accepted the proposal, went with him to Watermen's
Hall, signed the papers, and thus was, at the age of fourteen, "_Bound
'prentice to a Waterman_."