The Youthful Nelson.NELSON’S SCHOOL-HOUSE.NELSON’S SCHOOL-HOUSE.Lord Nelson, our great Naval Commander, was, in his youth, remarkable for his disinterestedness and intrepidity. Among his school-fellows, he was always the first to do a noble thing; and, whenever he thoughtlessly joinedothers in doing a foolish one, he never shrank from the responsibility; but, instead of trying to shift the blame upon others, was always ready to take it upon himself. On one occasion, while at school, upon an approaching Fifth of November, the Rev. Mr. Jones, with whom Nelson went to school, at North Walsham, strictly prohibited any of the scholars from leaving the house or grounds, to go in search of what is called “Plunder;” that is, wood, sticks, and loose stubble, with which bonfires are generally constructed, and the getting of which sometimes plays sad havoc with hedges, railings, and the like. This was, indeed, a sad misfortune to the school-boys, who always feel that the best part of the fun of a Fifth of November is the prowling about for forage; and a glorious thing it has ever been and ever will be, to see boys bearing their boughs of trees, roots of trees, stumplings and hedgelings, into the grand square of the play-ground, with almost military honors. The shouting, the warm hands and hearts, the cheerful faces, the mad pranks, and the thousand laughable incidents which occur, give to these sports a charm unknown to any other youthful frolics. Nelson was not a boy to relinquish this old custom; and therefore, when before going to bed on the Fourth of November, the Reverend Dominie pronounced the interdiction, and solemnly warned the school-boys not to attempt any wild freaks on that day of brimstone-matches and fire-works, Nelson’s blood rose into his face, and he said, loudly—“I hope you don’t include me, Sir.”“Not include you, Sir?” replied the indignant Clergyman. “Indeed I do include you, Sir! and positively insist upon your keeping with the other boys in the school-room, and not to leave the play-ground.”“I can’t answer for myself, Sir,” replied Nelson; “and you can’t answer for the boys, I am sure. Such a thing was never heard of since the days of James the First.”“I do positively enjoin the strictest obedience to my commands,” said the Master, “and positively forbid any one from leaving the school premises to-morrow,” and, with a severe look at Nelson, the Master ordered the boys to bed on the instant.The lads of the school, in number about forty, were domiciled in one large bed-room. As soon as the doors were shut and the lights out, little Nelson leaped out of bed, and whispered, loud enough to be heard by all—“Who is for a sky-lark?”“I—I—I—I—I—I am,” responded a dozen voices; and, in the same moment, as many lads leaped out of their beds, and were jumping about the dormitory in their long bedgowns.“It is bright moonlight,” said Nelson.“What a beautiful night for a ramble,” said little Eugene Harris, the schoolmaster’s nephew.“What a beautiful night for ‘plunder’ for a bonfire,” rejoined Nelson; and thereupon all the boys leaped out of bed, and ran to the windows.“’Tis too soon yet,” said Nelson; “it is but nine o’clock: let us wait till twelve and then sally out, and get as much fire-wood into the play-ground as will reach to the level of the old Clock-house, and set fire to it in the morning, and begin our day as we are wont to end it,” cried Nelson. “In the meantime put on your clothes, and get ready for a start.”The boys did as they were told; for, although Nelson was smaller than many, and younger than most, he had obtained such an influence over his schoolfellows, that every oneseemed quite ready to do his bidding. They knew that they could depend upon him; that, if he got them into a scrape, he would, somehow or other, contrive to bring them off again with honor, although he suffered in their stead. Thus, the boys made themselves ready for the enterprise; and Nelson began by tying the sheets and blankets together, by which the boys were to descend from the bed-room to the ground; and long before midnight all was ready for the exploit.The moon, which had been shining brilliantly, had, however, now become obscured by darkened, dismal clouds, and the wind began to howl fearfully. Some of the boys were disturbed at this state of the elements, and ventured to suggest a postponement of the enterprise.“The more the danger the greater the fun,” cried Nelson; “besides which, the less likely are we to be seen or heard—‘So, let the wind blow;Our ship rocks so.’The wilder the night, the frisker we will be.“ He then opened the window, and let down the first knotted set of blankets; and, calling on all those who had got any spirit for a good thing to follow him, he descended by the said blankets into the shrubbery underneath.Most of the boys followed; but a portion of the younger branches were too timid to descend, and kept a good look-out at the windows. In the meantime, Nelson mustered his followers in three divisions—ten in each—placing a captain to each “corps.” He then directed them to proceed in three several directions, and to capture all that was burnable, and bring it to a grand rendezvous, underneath the great clump oftrees at the further end of the shrubbery contiguous to the play-ground.PLUNDER.“PLUNDER.”Noble and exciting was the work of that dreary night. The wind blew, and the rain came; but, nothing daunted, the little heroes went long distances for their “plunder;” and, like bees in search of honey and wax, went and returned with all the delight and joy imaginable. Young Nelson was here and there, and everywhere; now guiding, now directing, now cautioning, and now cheering his little army. At last, by the time morning dawned—which was not very early at that time of the year—such a tremendous lot of matters were brought together as had never been known on any former occasion. It filled all the back avenue of the shrubbery, and there seemed almost enough of material to set a town on fire. Nelson, who beheld this accumulation of igneous matter, felt his heart beat with joy; and a thought suddenly seized him of bringing the whole into the play-ground, and of setting fire to it, to begin the day. This idea was no sooner communicated to his playmates than it was eagerly adopted; and, in less than half-an-hour, bushes, straw, branches of trees, blocks of wood, tarred palings, and a variety of odd things, such as it would be puzzling to describe, were piled up in the centre of the play-ground to the height of twenty feet, and with a base equal to it, so as to form a most noble pyramid.The day was breaking; and, just as the full light broke upon the pile, worthy of a Sardanapalus, all the merry workers felt proud of their labours. Some capered, some danced, some almost shrieked with joy; and Nelson, beholding the excitement, could not refrain, in the true spirit of a sailor that was to be, from crying out, at the top of his voice—“Three cheers for an old Guy! Hurrah for a bonfire!”Three cheers were immediately given, shrill and loud as thewild war-whoops of so many ferocious Indians. Again, and again—for, once begun, the youngsters seemed as if they could never leave off, and the welkin rang with the noise.Its effects had not been anticipated; and the cheering had scarcely subsided, when up flew a window, and in the centre of it appeared the head of the Reverend Doctor. In a moment the boys vanished, as if by instinct; and, rushing round the gable end of the premises, regained their bed-chamber by the same means they had escaped from it. Not so, however, with their leader. He only hid himself behind the laurels and evergreens; feeling it a point of honor not to leave the post of danger till the very last. At the same time, the Dominie kept vociferously shouting from his chamber-window—“You wicked boys! you shall all of you smart for this! I will flog every one of you who have dared to disobey my orders; and, as to a bonfire, you shall never have one as long as I live.” So saying, he disappeared from the window, with the intention of coming down to the court-yard; and ringing furiously at the bell to awaken the servants, and calling loudly for John and Richard, the groom and gardener, he made the best of his way down stairs.In the interim, Nelson, who had heard the threat, fearing that after all he and his companions would be deprived of the fun, frolic, and glory of a bonfire, determined to be beforehand with the Magister,—crept slyly into the stable, where he knew a tinder-box and matches were always kept, speedily struck a light and, as quick as light itself, ran to the immense pile, and set fire to it. In a few seconds all was in a blaze; and as the flames rose up, and thick volumes of smoke on every side, and the whole atmospherebecame illuminated, the Dominie appeared with his servants, male and female, at the back-door. He, indeed, wore a look of most odd consternation, while a sly laugh peeped from the peering eyes of the groom and gardener, and twinkled out of the corners of the mouths of the cook and housemaid. Nelson had mounted a fine old Scotch fir-tree a short distance off, to observe the fun—and rare fun it was—for the Reverend Doctor took to pulling the fire to pieces; and in so doing set fire to the thatched roof of the cow-house, which required the united aid of John and Richard to extinguish. All was hubbub and confusion; no one knew exactly what to do—and one ran one way and one another. The stable-boy, a sly rogue, thought he could not do better than run for the parish-engine; but the flames rose so high and furiously, that they threatened, long before the parish-engine arrived, to make up their minds to burn themselves out, with “all the honors.” By this time the boys had all dressed themselves, and came to the scene of conflagration as meek and astonished as if they knew nothing whatever about it. The Master was in a furious fever, and had under his arm his very best strapping-cane, determined to use it woefully so soon as the fire was got under. At last, the great blaze slackened; sundry crackings and bangings were heard. Now the upper parts fell in, and made a great dust and smoke—then again it blazed out for a few brief moments with redoubled fury, at which the young gentlemen could not refrain from testifying their infinite approbation, to the extreme mortification of their Master. The engine at last arrived to play on the expiring embers; and, in the language of that part of the country, the fire was “douted.”But “after pleasure cometh pain,” as the old round-hand copy used to preach. The period of retribution walked quietly forth. It was not yet the hour of breakfast, and the first thing the enraged Dominie did was to issue a mandate for the stoppage of the breakfast supplies, till the bold, daring, impudent, disobedient authors of the freak were discovered, and brought to condign punishment. The whole of the boys were speedily mustered, (to be soon peppered) and brought into the school-room, where they stood trembling for their fate. Fierce with rage—his pig-tail bristling with indignation—the Master, with cane under arm, and with a frown on his face, appeared at his desk. Forty boys stood before him, uncertain of their coming tortures, and Nelson foremost among them. “I demand,” said the Master, in a voice of thunder, “who it is that has dared to brave my authority; and I promise free pardon and a holiday to those who will——”“Betray their companions?” said Nelson.This was a flash of lightning on a touch-hole of powder, and immediately made the Master spring from his desk, and taking hold of Nelson by the collar, brought him into the middle of the school.“You are one of them!” said the enraged Clerical, “and unless you immediately tell me who are the guilty parties in this exploit, I will strip the skin from your shoulders.”“The skinning of an eel is a difficult job,” said Nelson—“but as to who did the deed, I can inform you at once. It was I.”“Yes, I know it was you—for you are the mover of allsuch harum-scarum exploits; but who were your abettors and instigators?”“I instigated myself,” said Nelson.“No doubt, no doubt—but I will know who your companions were, and I’ll warrant this cane shall bring it out of you.”“Try it,” said Nelson.Exasperated by this cool impudence, the Master applied the cane vigorously to the young hero’s shoulders, who stood the process with much about the same indifference as a gate-post. At the end of the caning, Nelson said, mildly—“Stop and take breath, Sir—you will hurt your constitution.”This was too much for human endurance, and the Master gave it to Master Nelson again, with a hearty good will, and only ceased when the cane split into two. Nelson, standing as obdurate as before, said—“I think that tree will bear no more good fruit, and ought to be cast into the fire. But Sir, let me tell you, had that cane been a crab-stick, and had that crab-stick been knobbled all over, and had each of those knobs had a sharp spike on it, it would not have made me dishonourably betray my companions. I am quite ready to bear this, and as much more, for their sakes. Thirty were with me, and ten were not—you cannot thrash the real heroes, because you cannot tell which they are; but give me twenty times my share, and I shall be thankful—I am the ring leader of the affair, and ought to be punished. I instigated thirty Spartans to the noble work of keeping up Guy Faux Day—I am proud of it.—A bonfire on the Fifth of November is a charteredright of school-boys, and we only say, ‘Pro aris et focis.’ Do not be unmerciful to us, good Sir—you were once a boy—and how many ‘bonfires’ may you not have had—and how many ‘Guys’ may you not have dressed? Do look over this offence, if it be one, and we’ll all do double tasks for the next month, and say you are a good master, as you always have been.”This pertinent, but noble speech, found an echo in the breast of the good old Clergyman, for he was, notwithstanding this somewhat stringent prohibiting, a kind old man at heart. He could not conceal his emotion—and hid his face behind his desk, under the pretence of having dropped his key. Presently, after a short season of cool reflection, he descended from the rostrum, and coming among the boys, thus addressed them:—“My boys,” he said, “obedience to my orders is not only a duty to me, but to yourselves—you are not old enough to know at all times what is really good for you. Nor is it proper at all times that I should give you reasons for my conduct. It ought to be enough, that when I lay down a rule you should have good faith in my intentions, and you ought to be well aware that I would in no way restrict your enjoyments but for some good reason. By your conduct you have not only disobeyed my commands, but you have probably inflicted a very serious wound in the breast of one who is a stranger in this place, deserves all the rights of hospitality, and of Christian charity. Our new neighbour here, Sir Thomas Alton, is a Roman Catholic; his gardens adjoin ours. As a school, our doings must be a sufficient nuisance to him. He only came amongst us last Michaelmas, and yet he gaveyou peaches by the hat-full, and nectarines by scores. He is a Roman Catholic, as I said before, and it was not for us to poke a ‘Guy Faux’ or a ‘bonfire’ under his nose—we should not have liked it ourselves—and there is nothing like the religion that teaches us to do as we would be done by. The first duty we owe to a neighbour is to be charitable to his opinions; if they are not the same as ours, that is the very reason why we should act the more forbearingly and lovingly towards him. But, by your conduct, you have thwarted all my good intentions, defeated my charity, and spoiled my love.”“If we had known this,” said Nelson, “we would not have touched a billet or a faggot for the world.”“Would that I had informed you of it,” replied the Master; “and from the circumstance I may also learn a lesson: That it is wiser to teach by appeals to reason and to conscience, than to expect much from a blind obedience. Boys are, indeed, but men of a smaller growth. Yet still, if you love me, and have faith in me, you will obey me without asking the reason.”“We will do anything,” said Nelson, “to show our love to Sir Thomas.”“You can do nothing, Sir,” replied the Master. “You will probably have inflicted a wound which I shall find some difficulty in healing.”“Not in the least, my dear Sir,” said a voice, in an Irish accent, from the door, which stood partly open. “By my faith, I think the boys are all heroes; and if they want a Guy, if they will come up to the Hall, I will be a Guy myself, and we will have a good fire, and roasted apples, and roasted chesnuts, and sure we willroastone another; which is a vastdeal better than so muchbasting. So come along my lads, and take me for your Guy Faux.”Three cheers simultaneously burst forth at this speech. The Doctor was overcome with agreeable emotion. Nelson ran to kiss the hand of Sir Thomas; and after mutual congratulations, the boys had a cheerful breakfast, and made the merriest day at the Hall that they ever before enjoyed, by the most grotesque Guy on the most splendid bonfire.
NELSON’S SCHOOL-HOUSE.NELSON’S SCHOOL-HOUSE.
NELSON’S SCHOOL-HOUSE.
Lord Nelson, our great Naval Commander, was, in his youth, remarkable for his disinterestedness and intrepidity. Among his school-fellows, he was always the first to do a noble thing; and, whenever he thoughtlessly joinedothers in doing a foolish one, he never shrank from the responsibility; but, instead of trying to shift the blame upon others, was always ready to take it upon himself. On one occasion, while at school, upon an approaching Fifth of November, the Rev. Mr. Jones, with whom Nelson went to school, at North Walsham, strictly prohibited any of the scholars from leaving the house or grounds, to go in search of what is called “Plunder;” that is, wood, sticks, and loose stubble, with which bonfires are generally constructed, and the getting of which sometimes plays sad havoc with hedges, railings, and the like. This was, indeed, a sad misfortune to the school-boys, who always feel that the best part of the fun of a Fifth of November is the prowling about for forage; and a glorious thing it has ever been and ever will be, to see boys bearing their boughs of trees, roots of trees, stumplings and hedgelings, into the grand square of the play-ground, with almost military honors. The shouting, the warm hands and hearts, the cheerful faces, the mad pranks, and the thousand laughable incidents which occur, give to these sports a charm unknown to any other youthful frolics. Nelson was not a boy to relinquish this old custom; and therefore, when before going to bed on the Fourth of November, the Reverend Dominie pronounced the interdiction, and solemnly warned the school-boys not to attempt any wild freaks on that day of brimstone-matches and fire-works, Nelson’s blood rose into his face, and he said, loudly—
“I hope you don’t include me, Sir.”
“Not include you, Sir?” replied the indignant Clergyman. “Indeed I do include you, Sir! and positively insist upon your keeping with the other boys in the school-room, and not to leave the play-ground.”
“I can’t answer for myself, Sir,” replied Nelson; “and you can’t answer for the boys, I am sure. Such a thing was never heard of since the days of James the First.”
“I do positively enjoin the strictest obedience to my commands,” said the Master, “and positively forbid any one from leaving the school premises to-morrow,” and, with a severe look at Nelson, the Master ordered the boys to bed on the instant.
The lads of the school, in number about forty, were domiciled in one large bed-room. As soon as the doors were shut and the lights out, little Nelson leaped out of bed, and whispered, loud enough to be heard by all—
“Who is for a sky-lark?”
“I—I—I—I—I—I am,” responded a dozen voices; and, in the same moment, as many lads leaped out of their beds, and were jumping about the dormitory in their long bedgowns.
“It is bright moonlight,” said Nelson.
“What a beautiful night for a ramble,” said little Eugene Harris, the schoolmaster’s nephew.
“What a beautiful night for ‘plunder’ for a bonfire,” rejoined Nelson; and thereupon all the boys leaped out of bed, and ran to the windows.
“’Tis too soon yet,” said Nelson; “it is but nine o’clock: let us wait till twelve and then sally out, and get as much fire-wood into the play-ground as will reach to the level of the old Clock-house, and set fire to it in the morning, and begin our day as we are wont to end it,” cried Nelson. “In the meantime put on your clothes, and get ready for a start.”
The boys did as they were told; for, although Nelson was smaller than many, and younger than most, he had obtained such an influence over his schoolfellows, that every oneseemed quite ready to do his bidding. They knew that they could depend upon him; that, if he got them into a scrape, he would, somehow or other, contrive to bring them off again with honor, although he suffered in their stead. Thus, the boys made themselves ready for the enterprise; and Nelson began by tying the sheets and blankets together, by which the boys were to descend from the bed-room to the ground; and long before midnight all was ready for the exploit.
The moon, which had been shining brilliantly, had, however, now become obscured by darkened, dismal clouds, and the wind began to howl fearfully. Some of the boys were disturbed at this state of the elements, and ventured to suggest a postponement of the enterprise.
“The more the danger the greater the fun,” cried Nelson; “besides which, the less likely are we to be seen or heard—
‘So, let the wind blow;Our ship rocks so.’
‘So, let the wind blow;Our ship rocks so.’
‘So, let the wind blow;Our ship rocks so.’
‘So, let the wind blow;
Our ship rocks so.’
The wilder the night, the frisker we will be.“ He then opened the window, and let down the first knotted set of blankets; and, calling on all those who had got any spirit for a good thing to follow him, he descended by the said blankets into the shrubbery underneath.
Most of the boys followed; but a portion of the younger branches were too timid to descend, and kept a good look-out at the windows. In the meantime, Nelson mustered his followers in three divisions—ten in each—placing a captain to each “corps.” He then directed them to proceed in three several directions, and to capture all that was burnable, and bring it to a grand rendezvous, underneath the great clump oftrees at the further end of the shrubbery contiguous to the play-ground.
PLUNDER.“PLUNDER.”
“PLUNDER.”
Noble and exciting was the work of that dreary night. The wind blew, and the rain came; but, nothing daunted, the little heroes went long distances for their “plunder;” and, like bees in search of honey and wax, went and returned with all the delight and joy imaginable. Young Nelson was here and there, and everywhere; now guiding, now directing, now cautioning, and now cheering his little army. At last, by the time morning dawned—which was not very early at that time of the year—such a tremendous lot of matters were brought together as had never been known on any former occasion. It filled all the back avenue of the shrubbery, and there seemed almost enough of material to set a town on fire. Nelson, who beheld this accumulation of igneous matter, felt his heart beat with joy; and a thought suddenly seized him of bringing the whole into the play-ground, and of setting fire to it, to begin the day. This idea was no sooner communicated to his playmates than it was eagerly adopted; and, in less than half-an-hour, bushes, straw, branches of trees, blocks of wood, tarred palings, and a variety of odd things, such as it would be puzzling to describe, were piled up in the centre of the play-ground to the height of twenty feet, and with a base equal to it, so as to form a most noble pyramid.
The day was breaking; and, just as the full light broke upon the pile, worthy of a Sardanapalus, all the merry workers felt proud of their labours. Some capered, some danced, some almost shrieked with joy; and Nelson, beholding the excitement, could not refrain, in the true spirit of a sailor that was to be, from crying out, at the top of his voice—
“Three cheers for an old Guy! Hurrah for a bonfire!”
Three cheers were immediately given, shrill and loud as thewild war-whoops of so many ferocious Indians. Again, and again—for, once begun, the youngsters seemed as if they could never leave off, and the welkin rang with the noise.
Its effects had not been anticipated; and the cheering had scarcely subsided, when up flew a window, and in the centre of it appeared the head of the Reverend Doctor. In a moment the boys vanished, as if by instinct; and, rushing round the gable end of the premises, regained their bed-chamber by the same means they had escaped from it. Not so, however, with their leader. He only hid himself behind the laurels and evergreens; feeling it a point of honor not to leave the post of danger till the very last. At the same time, the Dominie kept vociferously shouting from his chamber-window—
“You wicked boys! you shall all of you smart for this! I will flog every one of you who have dared to disobey my orders; and, as to a bonfire, you shall never have one as long as I live.” So saying, he disappeared from the window, with the intention of coming down to the court-yard; and ringing furiously at the bell to awaken the servants, and calling loudly for John and Richard, the groom and gardener, he made the best of his way down stairs.
In the interim, Nelson, who had heard the threat, fearing that after all he and his companions would be deprived of the fun, frolic, and glory of a bonfire, determined to be beforehand with the Magister,—crept slyly into the stable, where he knew a tinder-box and matches were always kept, speedily struck a light and, as quick as light itself, ran to the immense pile, and set fire to it. In a few seconds all was in a blaze; and as the flames rose up, and thick volumes of smoke on every side, and the whole atmospherebecame illuminated, the Dominie appeared with his servants, male and female, at the back-door. He, indeed, wore a look of most odd consternation, while a sly laugh peeped from the peering eyes of the groom and gardener, and twinkled out of the corners of the mouths of the cook and housemaid. Nelson had mounted a fine old Scotch fir-tree a short distance off, to observe the fun—and rare fun it was—for the Reverend Doctor took to pulling the fire to pieces; and in so doing set fire to the thatched roof of the cow-house, which required the united aid of John and Richard to extinguish. All was hubbub and confusion; no one knew exactly what to do—and one ran one way and one another. The stable-boy, a sly rogue, thought he could not do better than run for the parish-engine; but the flames rose so high and furiously, that they threatened, long before the parish-engine arrived, to make up their minds to burn themselves out, with “all the honors.” By this time the boys had all dressed themselves, and came to the scene of conflagration as meek and astonished as if they knew nothing whatever about it. The Master was in a furious fever, and had under his arm his very best strapping-cane, determined to use it woefully so soon as the fire was got under. At last, the great blaze slackened; sundry crackings and bangings were heard. Now the upper parts fell in, and made a great dust and smoke—then again it blazed out for a few brief moments with redoubled fury, at which the young gentlemen could not refrain from testifying their infinite approbation, to the extreme mortification of their Master. The engine at last arrived to play on the expiring embers; and, in the language of that part of the country, the fire was “douted.”
But “after pleasure cometh pain,” as the old round-hand copy used to preach. The period of retribution walked quietly forth. It was not yet the hour of breakfast, and the first thing the enraged Dominie did was to issue a mandate for the stoppage of the breakfast supplies, till the bold, daring, impudent, disobedient authors of the freak were discovered, and brought to condign punishment. The whole of the boys were speedily mustered, (to be soon peppered) and brought into the school-room, where they stood trembling for their fate. Fierce with rage—his pig-tail bristling with indignation—the Master, with cane under arm, and with a frown on his face, appeared at his desk. Forty boys stood before him, uncertain of their coming tortures, and Nelson foremost among them. “I demand,” said the Master, in a voice of thunder, “who it is that has dared to brave my authority; and I promise free pardon and a holiday to those who will——”
“Betray their companions?” said Nelson.
This was a flash of lightning on a touch-hole of powder, and immediately made the Master spring from his desk, and taking hold of Nelson by the collar, brought him into the middle of the school.
“You are one of them!” said the enraged Clerical, “and unless you immediately tell me who are the guilty parties in this exploit, I will strip the skin from your shoulders.”
“The skinning of an eel is a difficult job,” said Nelson—“but as to who did the deed, I can inform you at once. It was I.”
“Yes, I know it was you—for you are the mover of allsuch harum-scarum exploits; but who were your abettors and instigators?”
“I instigated myself,” said Nelson.
“No doubt, no doubt—but I will know who your companions were, and I’ll warrant this cane shall bring it out of you.”
“Try it,” said Nelson.
Exasperated by this cool impudence, the Master applied the cane vigorously to the young hero’s shoulders, who stood the process with much about the same indifference as a gate-post. At the end of the caning, Nelson said, mildly—
“Stop and take breath, Sir—you will hurt your constitution.”
This was too much for human endurance, and the Master gave it to Master Nelson again, with a hearty good will, and only ceased when the cane split into two. Nelson, standing as obdurate as before, said—
“I think that tree will bear no more good fruit, and ought to be cast into the fire. But Sir, let me tell you, had that cane been a crab-stick, and had that crab-stick been knobbled all over, and had each of those knobs had a sharp spike on it, it would not have made me dishonourably betray my companions. I am quite ready to bear this, and as much more, for their sakes. Thirty were with me, and ten were not—you cannot thrash the real heroes, because you cannot tell which they are; but give me twenty times my share, and I shall be thankful—I am the ring leader of the affair, and ought to be punished. I instigated thirty Spartans to the noble work of keeping up Guy Faux Day—I am proud of it.—A bonfire on the Fifth of November is a charteredright of school-boys, and we only say, ‘Pro aris et focis.’ Do not be unmerciful to us, good Sir—you were once a boy—and how many ‘bonfires’ may you not have had—and how many ‘Guys’ may you not have dressed? Do look over this offence, if it be one, and we’ll all do double tasks for the next month, and say you are a good master, as you always have been.”
This pertinent, but noble speech, found an echo in the breast of the good old Clergyman, for he was, notwithstanding this somewhat stringent prohibiting, a kind old man at heart. He could not conceal his emotion—and hid his face behind his desk, under the pretence of having dropped his key. Presently, after a short season of cool reflection, he descended from the rostrum, and coming among the boys, thus addressed them:—
“My boys,” he said, “obedience to my orders is not only a duty to me, but to yourselves—you are not old enough to know at all times what is really good for you. Nor is it proper at all times that I should give you reasons for my conduct. It ought to be enough, that when I lay down a rule you should have good faith in my intentions, and you ought to be well aware that I would in no way restrict your enjoyments but for some good reason. By your conduct you have not only disobeyed my commands, but you have probably inflicted a very serious wound in the breast of one who is a stranger in this place, deserves all the rights of hospitality, and of Christian charity. Our new neighbour here, Sir Thomas Alton, is a Roman Catholic; his gardens adjoin ours. As a school, our doings must be a sufficient nuisance to him. He only came amongst us last Michaelmas, and yet he gaveyou peaches by the hat-full, and nectarines by scores. He is a Roman Catholic, as I said before, and it was not for us to poke a ‘Guy Faux’ or a ‘bonfire’ under his nose—we should not have liked it ourselves—and there is nothing like the religion that teaches us to do as we would be done by. The first duty we owe to a neighbour is to be charitable to his opinions; if they are not the same as ours, that is the very reason why we should act the more forbearingly and lovingly towards him. But, by your conduct, you have thwarted all my good intentions, defeated my charity, and spoiled my love.”
“If we had known this,” said Nelson, “we would not have touched a billet or a faggot for the world.”
“Would that I had informed you of it,” replied the Master; “and from the circumstance I may also learn a lesson: That it is wiser to teach by appeals to reason and to conscience, than to expect much from a blind obedience. Boys are, indeed, but men of a smaller growth. Yet still, if you love me, and have faith in me, you will obey me without asking the reason.”
“We will do anything,” said Nelson, “to show our love to Sir Thomas.”
“You can do nothing, Sir,” replied the Master. “You will probably have inflicted a wound which I shall find some difficulty in healing.”
“Not in the least, my dear Sir,” said a voice, in an Irish accent, from the door, which stood partly open. “By my faith, I think the boys are all heroes; and if they want a Guy, if they will come up to the Hall, I will be a Guy myself, and we will have a good fire, and roasted apples, and roasted chesnuts, and sure we willroastone another; which is a vastdeal better than so muchbasting. So come along my lads, and take me for your Guy Faux.”
Three cheers simultaneously burst forth at this speech. The Doctor was overcome with agreeable emotion. Nelson ran to kiss the hand of Sir Thomas; and after mutual congratulations, the boys had a cheerful breakfast, and made the merriest day at the Hall that they ever before enjoyed, by the most grotesque Guy on the most splendid bonfire.