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.