My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
30 MY LIFElaziness and ignorance were found out, and we eitherhad to stay in an hour and go over it again, orcopy it out a dozen times, or some other stupidimposition. But as this only occurred now andthen, of course it did not in the least affect ourgeneral mode of procedure when supposed to belearning our lesson. Mr. Crutwell read well, witha good emphasis and intonation, and I obtained abetter idea of what Virgil really was from his readingsthan from the fragmentary translations wescrambled through.Next to Latin grammar the most painful subjectI learnt was geography, which ought to have beenthe most interesting. It consisted almost entirelyin learning by heart the names of the chief towns,rivers, and mountains of the various countries from,I think, Pinnock's "School Geography," which gavethe minimum of useful or interesting information.It was something like learning the multiplicationtable both in the painfulness of the process and thepermanence of the results. The incessant grindingin both, week after week and year after year, resultedin my knowing both the product of any two numbersup to twelve, and the chief towns of any Englishcounty so thoroughly, that the result was automatic,and the name of Staffordshire brought into my mindStafford, Litchfield, Leek, as surely and rapidly aseight times seven brought fifty-six. The labour andmental effort to one who like myself had little verbalmemory was very painful, and though the result hasbeen a somewhat useful acquisition during life, Icannot but think that the same amount of mentalexertion wisely directed might have produced fargreater and more generally useful results.History was very little better, being largely a
MY SCHOOL LIFE AT HERTFORD 31matter of learning by heart names and dates, andreading the very baldest account of the doings ofkings and queens, of wars, rebellions, and conquests.Whatever little knowledge of history I have everacquired has been derived more from Shakespeare'splays and from good historical novels than from anythingI learnt at school.At one period when the family was temporarilybroken up, for some reason I do not remember, I wasfor about half a year a boarder in Mr. Crutwell'shouse, in company with twenty or thirty other boys ;and I will here give the routine of a moderately goodboarding-school at that period.Our breakfast at eight consisted of a mug of milkand-waterand a large and very thick slice of breadand-butter.For the average boy this was as muchas he could eat, a few could not eat so much, a fewwanted more, and the former often gave their surplusAny boy could have an egg or a slice ofto the latter.bacon cooked if he bought it himself or had it sent fromhome, but comparatively very few had such luxuries.For dinner at one o'clock we had hot joints ofmeat and vegetables for five days and hot meat-pieson Saturdays. On Sundays we had a cold joint ofmeat, with hot fruit-pies in the summer and plumpuddingin the winter, with usually some extraEvery boy had halfdelicacy as custard or a salad.a pint of fairly good beer to drink, and any one whowished could have a second helping of meat.At half-past five, I think, we had milk-and-waterand bread-and-butter as at breakfast, from seven toeight we prepared lessons for the next day, and ateight o'clock we had supper, consisting of bread-andcheeseand, I think, another mug of beer.
- Page 3: UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL10
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- Page 11 and 12: PREFACE TO THE NEWEDITIONAmong the
- Page 13 and 14: PREFACE TO THE ORIGINALEDITIONThe p
- Page 15 and 16: CONTENTSCHAPTERPAGEI. My Relatives
- Page 17 and 18: ILLUSTRATIONSAlfred R. WallaceFront
- Page 19 and 20: MY LIFEA RECORD OF EVENTS AND OPINI
- Page 21 and 22: MY RELATIVES AND ANCESTORS 3How or
- Page 23 and 24: MY RELATIVES AND ANCESTORS 5master
- Page 25 and 26: MY RELATIVES AND ANCESTORS 7in 1837
- Page 27 and 28: MY RELATIVES AND ANCESTORS 9England
- Page 31: MARY ANNE WALLACE. AGED 1 8.{.4i ti
- Page 34 and 35: 12 MY LIFEwere told it was a histor
- Page 36 and 37: 14 MY LIFEtrout in their season. It
- Page 38 and 39: i6MY LIFEtwo to the woods beyond, t
- Page 40 and 41: 18 MY LIFEamid which I have lived a
- Page 42 and 43: 20 MY LIFEhair was of a very light
- Page 44 and 45: 22 MY LIFEwe often saw him standing
- Page 46 and 47: 24 MY LIFEwas an old-fashioned mill
- Page 48 and 49: CHAPTER IIIMY SCHOOL LIFE AT HERTFO
- Page 50: 28 MY LIFEThis was appropriate, as
- Page 56 and 57: 32 MY LIFEOur regular games were cr
- Page 58 and 59: 34 MY LIFEIn an article on the civi
- Page 60 and 61: 36 MY LIFEoutside by which hay coul
- Page 62 and 63: 38 MY LIFEmy father's family, to be
- Page 64 and 65: 40 MY LIFEof Wakefield," and some o
- Page 66 and 67: 42 MY LIFEextempore prayers, the fr
- Page 68 and 69: 44 MY LIFEemployed all lived in the
- Page 70 and 71: 46 MY LIFEopportunity one day to re
- Page 72 and 73: ;48 MY LIFEdenied free-will, becaus
- Page 74 and 75: soMY LIFEexpired at the ages of thi
- Page 76 and 77: 52 MY LIFEchildren ; but difficulti
- Page 78 and 79: 54 MY LIFEword of censure, for the
- Page 80 and 81: 56 MY LIFEbeneficial results at whi
- Page 82 and 83: CHAPTER VSURVEYING INBEDFORDSHIREIt
- Page 84 and 85: 6oMY LIFEchurch spires of Barton an
- Page 86 and 87: —!—;62 MY LIFEexcited much indi
- Page 88 and 89: 64 MY LIFEthe roadside, were six an
- Page 90 and 91: '"66 MY LIFEBedfordshire, to which
- Page 92 and 93: •68MYLIFEtwo shops, and, like mos
- Page 94 and 95: '70 MY LIFEAt the same time the can
- Page 96 and 97: 72^MY LIFEa development of glaciers
- Page 98 and 99: —CHAPTER VIRADNORSHIREIn the autu
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30 MY LIFElaziness <strong>and</strong> ignorance were found out, <strong>and</strong> we eitherhad to stay in an hour <strong>and</strong> go over it again, orcopy it out a dozen times, or some other stupidimposition. But as this only occurred now <strong>and</strong>then, <strong>of</strong> course it did not in the least affect ourgeneral mode <strong>of</strong> procedure when supposed to belearning our lesson. Mr. Crutwell read well, witha good emphasis <strong>and</strong> intonation, <strong>and</strong> I obtained abetter idea <strong>of</strong> what Virgil really was from his readingsthan from the fragmentary translations wescrambled through.Next to Latin grammar the most painful subjectI learnt was geography, which ought to have beenthe most interesting. It consisted almost entirelyin learning by heart the names <strong>of</strong> the chief towns,rivers, <strong>and</strong> mountains <strong>of</strong> the various countries from,I think, Pinnock's "School Geography," which gavethe minimum <strong>of</strong> useful or interesting information.It was something like learning the multiplicationtable both in the painfulness <strong>of</strong> the process <strong>and</strong> thepermanence <strong>of</strong> the results. The incessant grindingin both, week after week <strong>and</strong> year after year, resultedin my knowing both the product <strong>of</strong> any two numbersup to twelve, <strong>and</strong> the chief towns <strong>of</strong> any Englishcounty so thoroughly, that the result was automatic,<strong>and</strong> the name <strong>of</strong> Staffordshire brought into my mindStafford, Litchfield, Leek, as surely <strong>and</strong> rapidly aseight times seven brought fifty-six. The labour <strong>and</strong>mental effort to one who like myself had little verbalmemory was very painful, <strong>and</strong> though the result hasbeen a somewhat useful acquisition during <strong>life</strong>, Icannot but think that the same amount <strong>of</strong> mentalexertion wisely directed might have produced fargreater <strong>and</strong> more generally useful results.History was very little better, being largely a
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