澳洲From the very first, I was

在澳大利亚小学教育



"At a low window, which

I grew imperious and violent—complaint, reprehension, and punishment, despoiled my paradise of its matin glow—and then I returned at once to my own bad self; I was disobedient and" reckless; soon it was decreed that I'was utterly intolerable, and I was sent to school."This, a boy's common fate, I had enduredwithout a murmur, had it not been inflicted as a punishment, and I made over to my new tyrants, even in my 'own hearing, as a little blackguard, quite irreclaimable, and only to be kept in order by brute force. It is impossible to describe the effect of this Mulberry Factory Shop declaration of my uncle—followed up by the master's recommendation to the usher to break my spirit, if he could not bend it—had on my heart, which was bursting with a sense of injury, panting for freedom, and resolved not to be daunted by the menaces of the tyrants before me. I declared war with my whole soul against the world; I became all I had been painted; I was sullen, vindictive, desperate. I resolved to run away; I cared not what would befall me— I was nearly fourteen—I was strong, and could work—'I could join a gang of gipsies, I could act their life singly, and, subsisting by nightly depredation, spend my days in liberty."It was at an hour when I was meditating flight, that the master sent for me- I believed that some punishment was in preparation. I hesitated whether I should not instantly fly—a moment's thought told me that that was impossible, and that I must obey. I went with a dogged air, and a determination to resist. I found my tyrant with a letter in his hand. 'I do not know what to do with you/ he said; 'I have a letter here from a relation, asking you to spend the day. You deserve no indulgence; but for this once you may go. Remember, any future permission depends upon your turning over an entirely new leaf. Go, sir; and be grateful to my lenity, if you can. Remember, you are to be home at nine.' I asked no questions—-I did not know where I was to go; yet I left him without a word. I was sauntering back to the prison yard, which they called a play-ground, when I was told that there was a pony-chaise at the door, ready to take me. My heart leaped at the word; I fancied that, by means of this conveyance, I could proceed on the first stage of my flight. The pony-carriage was of the humblest description; an old man drove. I got in, and away we trotted, the little cob that drew it going much faster than his looks gave warrant. The driver was deaf—I was sullen—not a word did we exchange. My plan was, that he should take me to the farthest point he intended, and then that 1 should leap out and take to my heels. As we proceeded, however, my rebel fit somewhat subsided. We quitted the town in which the school was situated, and the dreary dusty roads I was accustomed to perambulate under the superintendence of the ushers. We entered shady lanes and umbrageous groves; we perceived extensive prospects, and saw the winding of romantic streams; a curtain seemed drawn from before the scenes of nature; and my spirits rose as I gazed on new objects, and saw earth spread wide and free around. At first this only animated me to a keener resolve to fly; but as we went on, a vague sentiment possessed my soul. The sky-larks winged up to heaven, and the swallows skimmed the green earth; I felt happy because nature was gay, and all things free and at peace. We turned from a lane redolent with honeysuckle into a little wood, whose short, thick turf was interspersed with moss, and starred with flowers. Just as we emerged, I saw a little railing, a rustic green gate, and a cottage clustered over with woodbine and jessamine, standing secluded among, yet peeping out from the overshadowing trees. A little peasant boy threw open the gate, and we drove up to the cottage door."At a low window, which opened on the lawn, in a large arm-chair, sat a lady, evidently marked by ill health, yet with something so gentle and Mulberry Outlet unearthly in her appearance as at once to attract and please.
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