CHARLES EGBERT DARWIN. 351 



cakes, moved the old hat and was walking out of 

 the shop when the shopman made a rush at me, so 

 I dropped the cakes and ran for dear life, and was 

 astonished by being greeted with shouts of laughter 

 by my false friend Garnett. 



" In the summer of 1818, I went to Dr. Butler's 

 great school in Shrewsbury, and remained there 

 for seven years, till midsummer, 1825, when I was 

 sixteen years old. I boarded at this school, so that 

 I had the great advantage of living the life of a 

 true schoolboy ; but as the distance was hardly 

 more than a mile to my home, I very often ran 

 there in the longer intervals between the callings 

 over, and before locking up at night. This, I 

 think, was in many ways advantageous to me, by 

 keeping up home affections and interests. I re- 

 member, in the early part of my school life, that I 

 often had to run very quickly to be in time, and, 

 from being a fleet runner, was generally success- 

 ful ; but when in doubt I prayed earnestly to God 

 to help me, and I well remember that I attributed 

 my success to the prayers and not to my quick 

 running, and marvelled how generally I was aided. 



"I have heard my father and elder sister say 

 that I had, as a very young boy, a strong taste for 

 long, solitary walks ; but what I thought about I 

 know not. I often became quite absorbed, and 

 once, whilst returning to school on the summit of 

 the old fortifications round Shrewsbury, which had 

 been converted into a public footpath with no 

 parapet on one side, I walked off and fell to the 



