The World’s Tragedy

PREFACE. IX the air refuse to fly over it ! May it stand as a curse, as a fear, as an hate, among men ! May the wicked dwell the- rein ! May the light of the Sun be withheld therefrom, and the light of the Moon not lighten it ! May it become the home of the shells of the dead, and may the demons of the pit inhabit it ! May it be accursed, accursed, accursed — accursed for ever and ever ! And still, standing as I stand in the prime of early manhood, free from all the fetters of the body and the mind, do I curse the memory thereof unto the ages. It was a good enough school from the point of exami- ners, I dare say. Morally and physically it was an engine of destruction and corruption. I am just going to put down a few facts haphazard as they come to my memory ; you may form your own judgment. I. We were allowed to play Cricket, but not to score runs, lest it should excite the vice of “ emulation ”. 2. Champney told me, a child of not yet twelve years old, that he had never consummated his marriage, (Only the very acute verbal memory which I possess enabled me years after to recall and interpret his meaning. He used a coarser phrase). 3. We were told that “ the Lord had a special care of the school, and brought to light that which was done in darkness ”, etc., etc., ad nauseam. “ The instrument was on this occasion so-and-so, who had nobly come for- ward, etc., etc ”. In other words, hypocrisy and sneaking were the only virtues.