Mr Plowden selected for me a large school near London; it was
considered a first-rate one. There were a good many sons of noblemen
and men of landed property, as also of officers of the East India
Company's service, of West India proprietors, and of merchants. It was
a little world in itself, influenced, however, by the opinions of the
greater planet within which it revolved. The boys took rank according
to that of their parents, except that a few, either from their talents,
their independent spirits, or from their sycophantish qualifications,
had become the more intimate associates of those generally considered
their superiors.
The proprietor was considered an excellent school-master. I do not say
he was a bad one, though he was not capable of teaching much himself.
He, however, paid liberally for good ushers, and thus his pupils were
tolerably well instructed in Greek and Latin; but as the junior master
was appointed to teach geography, history, and other branches of useful
science, of which he had a very superficial knowledge, they gained but
little information on those subjects. It struck me, also, that they
were not sufficiently instructed in their future duties and
responsibilities in life. It was not sufficiently impressed on those
destined to become landed proprietors, that they should consider
themselves in the light of stewards over their estates, and guardians
and advisers of their tenantry; and that it was as much, if not more,
their duty to study hard to fit themselves for the station of life, to
which they were called, as it was that of those boys who had to fight
their way through the world.
Though I was not older than many of the boys, I had far greater
experience and knowledge of mankind than they had; and I accordingly
made observations on many things which escaped their notice. Little
attention was paid to the moral cultivation of the boys, and still less
to their physical development.
Gymnastic exercises were not thought of; and, except cricket, they had
no manly games to strengthen their muscles and improve their forms.
There was a dancing-master; but as he had the art of making a toil of a
pleasure, few of the boys learned. A drill-sergeant came once a week,
but few seemed to benefit by his lessons. However, as every care was
taken to fill the heads of the boys with as large an amount of Greek and
Latin as they would hold, the school was considered a very good one;
indeed, as they were tolerably well fed, and not flogged over much, and
as the bedrooms were clean and airy, and as a respectable matron
presided over the establishment, no complaints were made, and parents
and friends were pleased with all they saw.
It must be understood that I think Greek and Latin very important
branches of a gentleman's education but, at the same time, there are
many other things which should on no account be neglected, and which are
so too often.
The knowledge I possessed was of too varied a kind to enable me to take
my place in any class; and I therefore sometimes did duty with one and
sometimes with another, generally getting to the top in a very short
time. Of mathematics, history, and modern languages I knew more than
the oldest boys, while some of the younger ones surpassed me in making
verses, and in Latin and Greek. In consequence of my accomplishments
and information, I was a general favourite with most of my companions,
whom I used to teach to fence, to knot, and splice, which I learned on
my voyage home, and to some I imparted a few words of Hindustanee.
I also entered into all their amusements; and as I had a great dislike
to anything like bullying, I would never allow those I could master to
ill-treat the weaker ones, and I, on more than one occasion, stood up
against a boy much stronger than myself, to defend a little fellow he
was going to thrash. We fought, and though he got the best of it, he
suffered so severely that he never again attempt to interfere with me.
I thus gained all the advantage a victory could have given me. I was
not unhappy at the school; but I found the life rather irksome after the
freedom I had been accustomed to enjoy, and I studied as hard as I was
able, to emancipate myself from it.
Although I had many friends, I had few intimates--indeed, to no one did
I confide the story of my being discovered at sea in a boat with my
sister; and I was supposed to be the nephew of Sir Charles Plowden.
Among the boys I liked best, was one called Walter Blount. He was
almost friendless, though his birth was good; and he had fortune
sufficient to enable him to be sent to this school, with the intention
of his proceeding afterwards to Oxford or Cambridge. He was a
fine-spirited lad. He was nearly two years younger than I was, and
accordingly looked up to me as his superior. I first gained his
friendship by saving him from a thrashing which Hardman, the greatest
bully in the school, was about to give him.
"If you touch him you will have to fight us both," I exclaimed; "and I
alone am not afraid of you."
The bully doubled his fists, and looked very fierce, but stalked away
without striking a blow. I got Blount out of several scrapes; once he
had been letting off fireworks in a part of the garden not seen from the
house, and being disturbed by the report that one of the ushers was
coming, he thrust a handful of touchpaper, part of which was ignited,
into his pocket. I luckily met him as he was passing the washing-room,
and turning him as he was smoking away, I tore out his burning pockets,
and plunged them into the water. We afterwards had to cut away the
burnt lining, and to sew up his pockets, so that what had happened might
not be discovered.
Another time, he, with a dozen or more other boys, had planned an
expedition into the master's garden at night to get fruit. He did not
join it, I am sure, for the object of obtaining the fruit, but merely
for the sake of the excitement. Another boy, who had been asked to
join, told me of it directly after the party had set out. I immediately
dressed and followed in their track, determined to bring them back
before they had committed the robbery. I, however, only fell in with
Blount, who had been separated from the rest; and, with some difficulty,
I induced him to return. We had got back to our rooms, when one of the
ushers discovered the whole party. The master was called up, and, with
birch in hand, went round the room, and inflicted summary punishment on
all offenders. The next morning they were called up by name, their
crime announced, and severe tasks being inflicted, they were all sent to
Coventry for a fortnight. As the whole punishment was very disagreeable
and irksome, Blount was very much obliged to me for having saved him
from it.
The winter holidays I spent with Mr Plowden in London, and in the
summer he took me on a tour through a considerable portion of England,
Scotland, and Ireland. I thus became acquainted with what I was taught
to consider my native land, and was able to compare other countries with
it. I own that, although I have always felt proud of the name of an
Englishman, and of what Englishmen have done, yet there are many things
in which the people of other nations are their superiors. Some of the
faults of the English, as they appeared to me, were a want of
unostentatious hospitality, a due respect to parents and superiors in
age, and a churlishness of behaviour to those of the same rank, with an
unwarrantable suspicion of their motives, and an inclination to
criticise and find fault with their behaviour and appearance.
My summer holidays I enjoyed very much; but I was not fond of London;
though, I believe, had I made a point of visiting all the spots of
interest contained within it, and of gaining information about their
history, I might have passed my time more profitably than I did. In
those days there were fewer sights, so called, than at present; and the
great lion was Exeter Change, truly a den of wild beasts. It was,
indeed, painful to see animals deprived, not only of liberty, but of
fresh air. I, who had faced the royal Bengal tiger and the fierce lion
in their native wilds, could not help feeling some amount of contempt
for the exhibition.
When I got back to school, I was welcomed by all the boys, especially by
Blount and by John Prior, one of the oldest and most steady of them. He
was, indeed, more particularly my friend and my constant companion. He
was the son of a merchant connected with India, and reputed to be of
great wealth. Of his father he said little, but his constant theme was
his mother, who must have been a very excellent person. He averred that
he had gained from her all the good in his composition; and certainly,
judging from what I saw of him, she might well be content with the
result of her prayers to Heaven for his improvement in virtue, and her
own watchful and constant exertions. I do not mean to say that any one
is perfect; but certainly John Prior was, in the true sense of the word,
one of the best fellows I ever met. He gave me much of that advice and
instruction which I have ever since found so important. He knew the
great aim of life; he saw things in their true light, and taught me to
see them also; he called things by their proper names; and while he
could make ample allowance for the faults of others, he never attempted
to extenuate his own errors; nor did he mistake vice for virtue, or the
semblance of virtue for the reality. From the companionship of such a
person I could not fail to reap much benefit. I did not enjoy it long.
We afterwards met under very different circumstances in a far-off
region, which he at that time did not dream of visiting. I had many
other friends; I mention Prior and Blount because they will appear again
in my narrative. I was pursuing my usual course of study, when one day
I was summoned into the study. Mr Liston held an open letter in his
hand.
"This is from your uncle, I mean Mr Plowden," he began: "Sir Charles is
ill, and wishes to have you with him. You are to return to India
immediately, unless you desire the contrary."
The first feeling this announcement created was somewhat selfish, I am
afraid, or rather I did not realise the fact of my kind guardian's
illness; and my heart leaped at the thought of returning to India, with
which country all my pleasantest recollections were associated.
"I wish to go, sir, as soon as I can," I replied.
"You do not appear to regret leaving your school-fellows, and your other
friends here," observed Mr Liston, who naturally wished that all his
boys should be fond of his school; and as he was making his fortune by
means of it, had taught himself to believe that they must regard it with
the same eyes of affection that he did.
"Yes, sir, I am though. I am sorry to leave many of the fellows; but
you know Sir Charles is my oldest friend. Does he say that he is very
ill, sir?"
"No; he talks of his declining strength, and of his wish to have some
one about him, in whom he can thoroughly confide," said Mr Liston,
fixing his eyes on me, as if he would read every thought passing in my
mind.
"I long to be with him," I answered quickly. "And, sir, if you knew
what a kind and indulgent friend he has been to me, you would not be
surprised."
"Well, well, I hope that you will find him in better health than he now
is," said Mr Liston, in a kinder tone than usual. "Mr Plowden has
also written to say that your old friend, Captain Willis, is on the
point of sailing, and that a cabin in his ship will be secured for you.
Now go and wish your friends good-bye, for you have no time to lose, as
you must go up to London this afternoon to get your outfit."
On being thus dismissed, I hurried off into the playground.
"I am very, very sorry that you are going, Seaworth," said Prior,
leaning on my shoulder as we walked up and down apart from the rest.
"Do remember all the things I have often talked to you about. The more
I think of them the more I feel their importance, and so will you, I am
sure, if you continue to think; but you are going to join in the active
busy world, with men of all shades of religion, and some without
religion and thought--I mean serious thought; and reflection and earnest
prayer may be forgotten."
As I never knew my mother, it seemed as if God had sent me this friend
to afford me the inestimable precepts which he had received through his
parent. Soon afterwards Blount came up, and wringing my hand, burst
into tears.
"I wish that I was going with you," he exclaimed. "I would follow you
everywhere. I can't stay behind you, that is very certain--you'll see."
The other boys now crowded round us, and in a thick mass we continued
walking up and down, talking of the wonders I was to see, and all
expressing regret at my going. Thus the play-hours flew quickly away.
I did not remark it at the time, but I now distinctly recollect that
there was a subdued tone among all the boys; there was no wrangling or
loud shouting; and a few of the little fellows, whom I had at times
befriended and aided, were in tears. It was very gratifying to me; and
it showed me what a little exertion of power in a right cause will
effect. Whether as schoolboys or in manhood, we shall do well to
remember this. We talk of being repaid for good actions: now I think
that the very feeling which results from doing good, more than amply
repays us for the trouble to which we may have been put. The remaining
result is a gift Heaven kindly bestows as an incentive to virtue, but in
no way gained by us.
I was allowed to pack up my books during school hours. The greater
number, however, with some trifles I possessed, I distributed among my
friends, as parting tokens. When I went round to wish the ushers
good-bye, they shook my hand warmly, and wished me happiness and
prosperity; and as I passed up the schoolroom to the door, there was a
general shout of "Good-bye, Seaworth; good-bye, old fellow. We'll not
forget you." The tears rose to my eyes, and I could say nothing in
return.
Prior, Blount, and a few others accompanied me to the coach; and by them
I sent back my last remembrances to all the rest. In less than an hour
I stepped into a hackney coach at the White Horse Cellar, Piccadilly,
and was rumbling away to Mr Plowden's house.