Dickens and Education

267 Pages·1963·27.023 MB·English

by  Philip Collins (auth.)

DICKENS AND EDUCATION
By the same author
*
DICKENS AND CRIME
DICKENS AND
EDUCATION
BY
PHILIP COLLINS
SENIOR LECTURER IN ENGLISH
UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER
Palgrave Macmillan
1963
ISBN 978-1-349-81704-7 ISBN 978-1-349-81702-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-81702-3
Copyright © Philip Collins 1963
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1963 978-0-333-06662-1
MACMILLAN AND COMPANY LIMITED
St Martin's Street London WC 2
also Bombo,y Calcutta Madras Melbourne
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA LIMITED
Toronto
ST MARTIN'S PRESS INC
New York
TO MILDRED
WITH THANKS
PREFACE
S
TARTING from the same accumulation of material about Dickens
and his world, I have written two books: the present one, and
Dickens and Crime (published in 1962). I often found it difficult to
decide in which book to discuss certain topics, so much does
Dickens's concern for education arise out of his ideas on how to
prevent crime. I have made various cross-references in the Notes,
and must apologise for so often appearing to advertise my other
wares: but the two books are complementary, and I must hope
that anyone who finds my approach to Dickens useful will, at some
stage, turn from the one to the other. Readers may, however, be
relieved to learn that I do not intend to produce an infinite series
of books entitled Dickens and Such-and-Such. I hope some time to take
part in one on Dickens and Politics, but not just yet.
Dickens and Education was written first, but there is perhaps some
advantage in its being published second. When Dr Johnson was
taken to task for criticising Shakespeare, he replied: 'We must
confess the faults of our favourite, to gain credit to our praise of his
excellencies. He that claims either for himself or for another the
honours of perfection, will surely injure the reputation which he
designs to assist.' It was a decidedly imperfect Dickens that ap
peared in my earlier book - though I did not profess or intend to
'demolish completely' his reputation as a reformer, which one of
my reviewers took to be the result of my survey; One of Dickens's
colleagues called him a 'wobbler' on political issues. He wobbled
on penology, too, and often in the wrong direction. There is
certainly much to deplore in his journalistic writings about crime
and punishment; nor, I think, is crime one of his best subjects in
the novels, though it was indeed one of his favourite themes. He
will appear a good deal more favourably in the present book,
and I hope that the J ohnsonian adage will prove true: that my
praise will weigh somewhat the heavier since I have elsewhere
made ample confession of my subject's faults. Not that I now
propose to write a 'honeysuckle' study (if another Johnsonian
term may be pardoned). Dickens had his liInitations as an educa
tionist, too, as I shall try to show; but, I hardly need insist, he is
v
vi PREFACE
a large enough writer to suffer without severe damage many
more subtractions from his perfection than I make or would want to
make.
The aims of this book are to show what Dickens wrote and did
about education, not only as novelist but also as journalist, editor,
public man, philanthropist and parent: and to relate this on the
one hand to the schools and educational ideas of his time, and on
the other to the ethos and qualities of his fiction. By comparing
what he had actually observed in schools with the fictional episodes
he based upon these memories, I have tried to show some of the
processes of 'the shaping spirit' of his imagination. My earlier
chapters are chiefly concerned with his observations and activities,
and my later ones with the treatment of education in the novels,
but I try throughout the book to maintain a continual interplay
between fact and fiction.
I have tried to make the book interesting and comprehensible to
three sorts of reader - those primarily interested in Dickens, in
the nineteenth century, and in the history of education. I cannot
hope to have equally satisfied all three at every point, and the
historian and educationist will realise that I start, not from their
specialities, but from a delighted, though not uncritical, interest in
Dickens's life and work. My main predecessors on this aspect of
him - James L. Hughes, author of Dickens as an Educator (1900),
and Dr John Manning, whose Dickens on Education appeared in
1959 - were both educationists by profession, so my point of view
will, happily, have at least the merit of novelty. 'The more you
want of the master, the more you'll find in him,' said one of
Dickens's servants after he had surmounted a sudden crisis, and I
hope that I have been able to add something to these earlier
accounts.
Readers who are less interested in Dickens, or less knowledgeable
about him, may find it useful to begin by glancing at the Appendix,
which lists the main events and writings of his career which are
relevant to the present study.
Many friends, and many strangers, have helped me with informa
tion or advice. A number of specific debts are acknowledged in the
Notes: lowe a more general indebtedness to several colleagues,
who read various parts of the book in manuscript or discussed its
PREFACE vii
topics with me. Particularly I would name Professor A.J. Allaway,
Professor A. R. Humphreys, Mr G. H. Bantock, Mr G. S. Fraser,
and Dr R. P. Draper (all of the University of Leicester), and Mrs
Madeline House, who kindly answered many enquiries, and gave
me invaluable advice, long before I joined her and Mr Graham
Storey on The Pilgrim Edition of the Letters of Charles Dickens.
Dr K. J. Fielding generously allowed me to use his typescript
of Dickens's Speeches, when his indispensable edition was still un
published, and I have often drawn upon his vast knowledge of
Dickens, in letters as well as through reading his numerous publi
cations. Mr V. C. Clinton-Baddeley also kindly showed me his
researches on the Yorkshire Schools, including much unpublished
material.
At an early stage of my studies I conducted an extra-mural
Research Group in Vaughan College, Leicester. Its members not
only helped me to clarify my ideas, but also dug up much useful
information. They worked hard, and thought hard, and many
ideas from our discussions have been incorporated into this book.
Two members, Mr Peter Nixon and Mr G. H. Franey, have done
me many scholarly services since then.
Mr H. C. Dickens has granted me permission to quote un
published Dickens letters, and Dr Robert O. Dougan and Dr
Frederick B. Adams, Jr., have given me permission to quote those
in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, and in the
Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, respectively. Dr Harald
Ostvold has similarly allowed me to use the Gad's Hill Gazette in
the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection, New York Public
Library. Various transcripts, microfilms and pamphlets have been
lent to me by Mr L. C. Staples, Mr W.J. Carlton and Mr George
Chadwick. I thank them all.
The Librarians of the University of Leicester, and of its Institute
of Education, and their staffs, particularly Miss Joanna Hatfield,
have given much time to helping me to discover obscure books and
pamphlets. Miss D. L. Minards, of Dickens House, has been most
hospitable during my many visits there, to study in its fine collec
tion of Dickensiana. The several drafts of my book, generally
illegible palimpsests, have been patiently and accurately typed by
Miss Doreen Hodson, Miss Olive Wood, Miss Ann Knight, Miss
Caroline Herbert, Mrs D. L. Aston and MrsJoan Hill.
I must thank the Editors of The Dickensian, English Studies,
Researches and Studies, The Journal of Education and The Educational
viii PREFACE
Review for their permission to use material from articles originally
contributed to their journals.
P.A.W.C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER
May 1963
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAG"
PREFACE V
I THE REpUTATION AND THE MAN I
II FATHER OF NINE
III 'DEDICATED TO MY OWN DEAR CHILDREN' 53
IV THE DUTY OF THE STATE 70
V TEACHERS IN THE NOVELS: VICE AND VIRTUE 98
VI LESS DEADLY THAN THE MALE
VII GOOD INTENTIONS AND BAD RESULTS
VIII THE RIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD
IX CONCLUSION
ApPENDIX: A chronological table of Dickens's main
educational activities and writings 222
NOTES 226
BIBLIOGRAPHY 248
INDEX 253
ix