Childhood and Boyhood 



77 



" You see it is now tit for tat, the birds are not more afraid of you than the fish are 



of me. Hope Delly' is well, give my love to all. Good bye. 



F. GaltonI" 



After the home was transferred to Leamington, Francis was sent to 

 school at the Rev. Mr Atwood's, who was Vicar of Kenilworth. This 

 was a small private school with about half a dozen boys. Atwood was 

 a relative of the inventor of Atwood's machine, a man who, to quote 

 Galton's own words, " without any pretence of learning, showed so much 

 sympathy with boyish tastes and aspirations that I began to develop 

 freely'." 



At this school Galton came in touch with the two Boulton boys, 

 Mathew P. Watt and Hugh William, grandson of Boulton of the Lunar 

 Society and the close friend of Samuel Galton, Wedgwood and 

 Erasmus Darwin. Mathew Boulton became an intimate friend of 

 Francis Galton, and one of the inspiring influences of his life^ At 

 Atwood's school carpentry and turning appealed to Francis' special and 

 boyish instincts. Bird trapping, slings, archery, cricket helped to fill 

 up the time. But he had got even beyond this, the summer holidays 

 had been spent at Aberystwith and he had shot with a gun for the first 

 time. 



Half a dozen Kenilworth letters have survived. The first shows 

 us that Mr Atwood did not fail to mingle a spice of theology with his 

 other teachings : 



December 30, 1832. 



My dearest Papa, 



It is now my pleasure to disclose the most ardent wishes of my heart which 

 are to extract out of my boundless wealth in compound', money sufficient to make this 

 addition to my unequalled Library 



The Hebrew commonwealth by John 

 A Pastor advice 



Hornne's commentaries on the Psalms 

 Paley's evidence on Christianity 

 Jones' Biblical Cyclopoedia 



All books much approved of. 



' Adele. ' Letter to Darwin Galton, Sept. 8, 1835. 



' Memories, p. 19. * I.e., p. 20. 



' This and the reference in the Will, p. 68, suggest that Tertius Galton had put by 

 certain monies for Francis at compound interest. 



