12 FRANCIS ORPEN MORRIS 



took it to heart, but regarded it as in every way for 

 the best. For two years after my grandfather's 

 return to England he settled at Worcester, but 

 removed thence in 1826 to Charmouth, in Dorset- 

 shire, a pleasantly situated village on the coast. 



His school-days at Bromsgrove my father always 

 looked back upon with the greatest pleasure. He 

 many times in later years had thought of jotting 

 down what he called "A Brief Biograph of a 

 By-gone Bromsgrovian." Had he done so, "Tom 

 Brown's School-Days" would, as he playfully 

 expressed it, "be found to be as nothing to it, nor 

 those of any other boy of any other school in Eng- 

 land." The head-master was a kindly hearted man, 

 and his rule reflected his character ; learning was 

 not made burdensome to the boys, and the discipline 

 was, to say the least of it, easy. The country around 

 Bromsgrove was picturesque, and in those days well 

 wooded ; it was a happy hunting-ground for the 

 young naturalist. While there he made the most 

 of his opportunities as a student in nature's wide 

 field ; frequently in summer he would be off on long 

 expeditions to catch butterflies and other insects, or 

 to look for some uncommon bird, accompanied by 

 a congenial companion or two, of whom he found 

 several among his schoolfellows. Sometimes he 

 would go out shooting or fishing ; for, strange to 

 say, the enforcement of the game laws, as well as 

 the discipline of the school, were such in those days 

 that the boys could go out shooting or hunting 

 exactly as they liked without let or hindrance, not 



