I remember poor Flower with compassion, and not without respect, as a man who,
under more auspicious circumstances, might have passed his life happily for
himself, and perhaps honourably as well as usefully for his country. His
attainments and talents were, I have no doubt, very considerable in their kind;
and I am sure that his temper and disposition were naturally good. I never saw
so little punishment in any school. There was but one flogging during my stay
there; it was for running away, which was considered the heaviest of all
offences. The exhibition was then made as serious as possible; the instrument
was a scourge of packthread instead of a rod. But though punishments in private
schools were at that time, I believe, always much more severe than in public
ones, I do not remember that this was remarkable for severity. We stood in awe
and respect of him rather than fear. If there was nothing conciliating or
indulgent about him, there was no rigour
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Our morning ablutions, to the entire saving of all
materials, were performed in a little stream which ran through the barton, and
in its ordinary state was hardly more than ankle deep. We had porridge for
breakfast in winter, bread and milk in summer. My taste was better than my
appetite; the green leeks in this uncleanly broth gave me a dislike to that
plant, which I retain to this day (St. David forgive me!),
and if it were swimming with fat, as it usually was, I could better fast till
the hour of dinner than do violence to my stomach by forcing down the greasy
and offensive mixture. The bread and milk reminds me of an anecdote connected
with the fashion of those days. Because I was indulged with
| OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 53 |
One day in the week we had bread and cheese for dinner; or,
when baking day came round, a hot cake, with cheese or a small portion of
butter at our choice. This, to my liking, was the best dinner in the week. Some
of the boys would split their cake, lay the cheese in thin layers between the
halves, and then place it under a screw-press, so as to compress it into one
mass. This rule of going without meat one day in the week was then, I believe,
general in the country schools, and is still practised in many, retained
perhaps, for motives of frugality, from Catholic times; and yet, so stupid is
popular obstinacy, fish, even where it is most plentiful, is never used. One of
the servants had the privilege of selling gingerbread and such things. We had
bread and cheese for supper, and
| 54 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE |
| OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 55 |
One very odd amusement, which I never saw or heard of
elsewhere, was greatly in vogue at this school. It was performed with snail
shells, by placing them against each other, point to point, and pressing till
the one was broken in, or sometimes both. This was called conquering; and the
shell which remained unhurt, acquired esteem and value in proportion to the
number over which it had triumphed, an accurate account being kept. A great
conqueror was prodigiously prized and coveted, so much so indeed, that two of
this description would seldom have been brought to contest the palm, if both
possessors had not been goaded to it by reproaches and taunts. The victor had
the number of its opponents added to its own; thus when one conqueror of fifty
conquered another which had been as often victorious, it became conqueror of an
hundred and one. Yet even in this, reputation was sometimes obtained upon false
pretences. I found a boy one day, who had fallen in with a great number of
young snails, so recently hatched that the shells were still transparent, and
he was besmearing his fingers by crushing these poor creatures one after
another against his conqueror, counting away with the greatest satisfaction at
his work. He was a good-natured boy, so that I, who had been bred up to have a
sense of humanity, ventured to express some compassion for the snails, and to
suggest that he might as well count them and lay them aside unhurt. He
hesitated, and seemed inclined to assent till it struck him as a point of
honour, or of conscience, and
| 56 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE |
One of the big boys one day brought down a kite with an
arrow, from the play-ground: this I think a more extraordinary feat than
Apollo’s killing Python, though a
Belvidere Jack Steel (this was the archer’s name)
would not make quite so heroic a statue. We had a boy there who wore
midshipman’s uniform, and whose pay must have more than maintained him at
school; his father was a purser, and such things were not uncommon in those
days. While I was at this school, the corporation of Bristol invited Rodney from Bath to a public dinner, after his
great
| OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 57 |
| 58 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE |
After remaining there about twelve months, I was sent for home, upon an alarm that the itch had broken out among us. Some of the boys communicated this advice to their parents in letters which Duplanien conveyed for them; all others, of course, being dictated and written under inspection. The report, whether true or false, accelerated the ruin of the school. A scandalous scene took place of mutual reproaches between father and son, each accusing the other for that neglect the consequences of which were now become apparent.
The dispute was renewed with more violence after the boys were in bed. The next morning the master was not to be seen; Charley appeared with a black eye, and we knew that father and son had come to blows! Most, if not all, the Bristol boys were now taken away, and I among them, to my great joy. But on my arrival at home I was treated as a suspected person, and underwent a three days’ purgatory in brimstone.
