(Vol. viii., p. 220.)
I can answer MR. WELD TAYLOR for at least one public school having no
library, nor any books for other purposes than tasks, _i.e._ Christ's
Hospital, London: whether any other metropolitan schools are provided with
books I do not know. When I was at the above school, at all events, we had
no books except for learning out of; whether reform has crept in since I
was there, twenty-five years ago, I cannot say. I speak of then, not now.
I remember very well a dusty cupboard with "Read, Mark, Learn," painted in
ostentatious letters on it. And these profound words were just like a park
gate with high iron railings, where you may peep in and get no farther--no
more could we: for we never saw the inside of it, and nobody could say
where the key was, therefore what flowery _pleasaunce_ of knowledge it
contained nobody perhaps knows to this day. I also remember how greedily
any entertaining book was borrowed, begged, and circulated; and thumbed and
dog's-eared to admiration. _Rasselas_ and _Gulliver's Travels_, _Robinson
Crusoe_, or _Sandford and Merton_, poor things! they became at last what
might be supposed a public arsenal of umbrellas would at the last.
When I reflect on that time, and the dreary winter's evenings, trundled to
bed almost by daylight, my very heart sinks. What a luxury if some
Christian had been allowed to read aloud for an hour, instead of lying
awake studying the ghastly lamp that swung from the ceiling in the
dormitory; or if some one with a modicum of information had given half an
hour's lecture on some entertaining branch of science. Perhaps these
antique schools are reformed in some measure, or perhaps they are waiting
till their betters are.
I observe, however, that certain parish work-house schools have, within
these few days, taken the hint. Perhaps our public schools, for some are
very wealthy, may be able to afford to follow their example.