Section 181. A LETTER FROM DR. HENRY DANSON TO MR. JOHN FORSTER, ON CHARLES DICKENS’S SCHOOL-LIFE. III.
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We were very strong, too, in theatricals[1]. We mounted[2] small theatres, and got up very gorgeous scenery to[3] illustrate “The Miller and his Men,” and other pieces. I remember the[4] present Mr. Beverley, the scene painter, assisted us in this (S. 4, N. 5). Dickens was always the leader[5] at these plays, which were occasionally presented with much solemnity before an audience[6] of boys, and in the presence of the ushers. My brother, assisted by Dickens, got up[7] “The Miller and his Men” in a very gorgeous form. Master[8] Beverley constructed the mill for us, in such a way[9] that it could tumble to pieces with the assistance of crackers. At one representation, the fireworks in the last scene, ending with the destruction of the mill, were so very real[10] that the police interfered, and knocked violently at the door. Dickens’s after-taste for theatricals might have had[11] its origin in these small affairs.
I quite[12] remember Dickens[13] one day heading us in Drummond Street in pretending to be poor boys, and asking the passers-by for charity, especially old ladies, one of whom told[14] us she had no money for beggar-boys.
On these adventures, and especially when the old ladies were quite staggered[15] by the impudence of the demand, Dickens would explode with laughter and then take to his heels.
I met him one Sunday morning shortly after he had left the school, and[16] we very piously attended the morning service at Seymour Street chapel. I am sorry to say[17] Master[18] Dickens did not attend in the slightest degree to the service, but (S. 6, N. 10) incited me to laughter by declaring (S. 111, N. 6) his dinner was ready, and the potatoes would be spoiled[19]. In fact, he behaved in such a manner[20] that it was lucky for us we were not ejected from the chapel.—From J. Forster’s “Life of Charles Dickens.”