Part 9 (1/2)

exclai out her black boress within her ”If she don't like it, Mr Doht to luion of children,” and ”the wild ones went ho for a fewthe off their wings and legs, and then saying, ”See how tame they are”

Teachers used to boast about their ability to tame children, when their ability really meant the power to destroy the tendency to put forth effort, to substitute negativeness for positiveness

Susan Nipper, in her usual graphic style, expressed her views regarding the coercive practices of Mrs Pipchin and the Blimbers

”Goodness knows,” exclaimed Miss Nipper, ”there's a-many we could spare instead, if numbers is a object; Mrs Pipchin as a overseer would coe of black slavery should be required, them Blimbers is the very people for the sitiwation”

One of Mrs Pipchin's favouritewas to send children to bed

”The best thing you can do is to take off your things and go to bed this acious woman's remedy for all complaints, particularly lowness of spirits and inability to sleep; for which offence hton Castle had been co

Another assault on coercion was made in Dombey and Son in the brief description of the Grinders' school

Biler's life had been rendered weary by the costume of the Charitable Grinders The youth of the streets could not endure it No young vagabond could be brought to bear its conte hi him a mischief His social existence had been more like that of an early Christian than an innocent child of the nineteenth century He had been stoned in the streets He had been overthrown into gutters; bespattered with ers to his person had lifted his yellow cap off his head and cast it to the winds His legs had not only undergone verbal criticiss, but had been handled and pinched That veryhe had received a perfectly unsolicited black eye on his way to the Grinders' establishment, and had been punished for it by the e disposition, who had been appointed school and wasn't fit for anything, and for whose cruel cane all chubby little boys had a perfect fascination

Poor Biler rong, and when he was taken to task for it by Mr Carker he gave his theory to account for the fact that he had not done better at school

”You're a nice young gentle his head at him ”There's hemp-seed sown for _you_, my fine fellow!”

”I'ain, and again having recourse to his coat cuff: ”I shouldn't care, soging, sir, but what could I do, exceptin' wag?”

”Excepting what?” said Mr Carker

”Wag, sir Wagging froo there, and not going?” said Mr Carker

”Yes, sir, that's wagging, sir,” returned the quondah the streets, sir, when I went there, and pounded when I got there So I wagged and hid an it”

When Mr Dorace Biler had been sent to the Charitable Grinders' school, upbraided the boy's father for his failure to turn out well,

the simple father said that he hoped his son, the quondaht, as parrots are, by a brute jobbed into his place of schoolht not have been educated on quite a right plan

Sagacious teachers and parents often bla what they made them

Still another illustration of the cruel coercion practised on children is found in Do of Alice Marwood

”There was a child called Alice Marwood,” said the daughter, with a laugh, and looking down at herself in terrible derision of herself, ”born aht her, nobody stepped forward to help her, nobody cared for her”

”nobody!” echoed theher breast

”The only care she knew,” returned the daughter, ”was to be beaten, and stinted, and abused soht have done better without that”

The picture of George Silver of all the appeals of dickens on behalf of childhood He lived in a cellar, and when he was reer, thirst, and the pain of being beaten” The poor child used to speculate on his ood or ill temper as she descended the stairs to their cellar home, and he watched her knees, her waist, her face, as they came into view, to learn whether he was likely to be abused or not Manysuch descriptions of cruelty toward little children

The whole systerind and his teacher, Mr

M'Choakumchild (the latter name contains volumes of coercion) was a scientific system of coerciveness and restraint, planned and carried out by a goodand character building Coercion was only one of several bad elements in his system, but he was terribly coercive His children were lavishly supplied with al they did not care for, and robbed of everything they should naturally be interested in