Section 179. A LETTER FROM DR. HENRY DANSON TO[1] MR. JOHN FORSTER, ON[2] CHARLES DICKENS’S[3] SCHOOL-LIFE. I.
Reading edition
Section 179. A LETTER FROM DR. HENRY DANSON TO[1] MR. JOHN FORSTER, ON[2] CHARLES DICKENS’S[3] SCHOOL-LIFE. I.
My impression is[4] that I was a schoolfellow of Dickens for nearly two years. He left[5] before me, I think about fifteen years of age. The school, called (S. 7, N. 3, B) the Wellington Academy, was in the Hampstead Road at the north-east corner of Granby Street. The school-house was afterwards taken down[6] on account of the London and North-Western Railway. It was considered at the time[7] a very superior sort of school, one of the best indeed[8] in that part of London; but it was most shamefully mismanaged[9], and the boys[10] made but very little progress. The proprietor, Mr. Jones, was a Welshman[11]; a most[12] ignorant fellow, and a mere tyrant, whose chief employment was[13] to scourge the boys. Dickens has[14] given a very lively account of this place in his paper entitled “Our School,” but it is very mythical in many respects, and[15] more especially in the compliment he pays in it to himself. I do not remember that Dickens distinguished himself in any way[16], or carried off any prizes. My belief is[17] that he did not learn Greek or Latin there, and you will remember[18] there is no allusion to the classics in any of his writings. He was a handsome, curly-headed lad[19], full of animation and animal spirits, and[20] probably was connected with every mischievous prank in the school.