Lewis Carroll in Wonderland and at Home

ciated with the fine old building which was his Alma Mater. The men of Christ Church called it the "House," and were very proud of their college, as well they might be, for Oxford could not b

are to be found in some of our modern American universities, we may have some idea of the

those early days, he could be found in his boat upon the river, floatin

o'er the l

mic groves

tower, the

olemn state

Mary; the tower of All Saints; the twin towers of All Souls; the dome of Radcliffe Library; the massive tower of Merton, and the beautiful pinnacles of Ma

I built the Palace of Beaumont at Oxford, because he wished frequent opportunities to talk with men of learning. It was from the Castle of Oxford that the Empress Maud escaped at dead of night, in a white gown, over the snow and t

h, and indeed, for the first few years of his college life, he had little oc

his many misdeeds, obtained the royal license to found the college as early as 1525; how, in 1529, as Shakespeare said, he bade "a long farewell to all his greatness," and his possessions, including Cardinal College

he Cathedral and the Chapter House, and the homes of the dean and his associates. There was another smaller quadrangle called Peckwater Quadrangle, where young Dodgson had his rooms when he first entered college, but later

iption in praise of the saint. It was brought from the famous Abbey of Oseney, when that cloister was transferred to Oxford, and on the accession of Queen Mary, the ruling dean rechristened it Mary, out of compliment to her; but this was not a lasting change; "Tom" was indeed the favored name. After "Bon

also spoke of the new bell tower over the hall staircase in the southeast corner. This new tower was built to hold the twelve bells which form the famous Christ Church peal, some twenty years after his entrance as an undergraduate. This, and the

nel" (here we have the three T's). The architect, whose initials are G. B., he thinly disguises as "Jeeby," and his d

rue knight, a

er live

be the ru

d this gha

retary's clerk [

on or t

own the loa

t Church Q

s shoeblack

and to

most impressive. There was much about the college routine to remind him of the old Rugby days. Indeed, it was not so very long before his time th

hs of serious work, the news of his mother's sudden death sent him hurrying back to Croft Rectory to join the sorrowing household. It was a terrible blow to them all; with this young family growing up around her,

can only glean from the love and reverence with which the memory of her was guarded; for this Engli

years. Charles went back to Oxford immediately after the

he young student was thinking seriously of a life devoted to his college. George Henry Liddell came into residence as dean of Christ Church, an office which he held for nearly forty years, and as Dean Liddell stood for a

first year won him a Boulter scholarship; the next year he took First Class honors in mathematics, and a

fe for a young man. A Student remained unmarried and always took Holy Orders; he was of course compelled to be very regular at chapel service, and t

, whose homes looked out upon the Great Quadrangle. Here on sunny days the nurses brought the children for an airing; chubby little boys in long trousers and "roundabouts," dainty little girls, with corkscrew ringlets and long pantalets and muslin "frocks" and poke bonnets, in the depths of which were hidden the rosebud faces. These were the fav

in his quaint way, filling their little heads with odd fancies which would never have been there but for him. The "bunnies" held animated conversations with these small maids; every chirp and twitter of the birds grew to mean something to them. He took them across the meadow, and showed them the turtles swimming on the river bank; so

ir many sports. Athletics never appealed to him, even boating he enjoyed in his own mild way; a quiet pull up or down the river, a shady bank, an hour's rest under the trees, a companion

seven, and chapel at eight. Then came the day's lectures i

oom, completed at the time of Wolsey's fall, 1529, an interesting spot full of memorials of Henry VIII and Wolsey. The great west window with its two rows of shields, some with a Cardinal's hat, others with the royal arms of Henry VIII, is most interesting, whil

fellows were in the hands of the cook and butler, and consequently were cheated up to their eyes. They did not complain in Charles Dodgson's time, but after he graduated and became a master himself he no doubt took part

ems scarcely to have been touched by time. Of course there are some modern improvements, but the great ranges are still there, and the wide fireplace and spits wor

many vacations were spent either at home, where his father made much of him, his brothers looked

s on either side of the central aisle. One statue he particularly noticed. It was called the "Amazon and the Tiger," and many of us have doubtless seen the picture, the strong, erect, girlish figure on horseback, and the tiger clinging to the horse, his teeth buried in his neck, the girl's f

of Cardinal Wolsey, and Mrs. Kean shone forth as poor Queen Katharine, the discarded wife of Henry VIII. What impressed him most was the vision of the sleeping queen, the troops of floating angels with palm branches in their hands, which they waved slowly over her, while

rs a day during the last three weeks, but the subjects which he had to prepare were philosophy and history,

ege walls, and congratulations poured in upon him until he laughingly declared that if he had shot the Dean there could not have been more commotion. This meant a great deal to him; to begin with, he stood head on the list of five very able men who were close to him in the marking. He came out number

House," meaning that under the roof of Christ Church College he had all the privileges of a Master of Arts, which is the next higher degree; but he did not become a Master of Arts in the Uni

hope of better work hereafter, and this we know had been his dream through his boyish years; it was his dream still, but where his talent would lie he had no idea, though hazy poems and queer jumbles of words popped into his mind on the slightest notice. Still he could not settle down seriously to such work just at first; there was other work

n heard to declare that mathematics was never a dull study with Mr. Dodgson to explain. We can imagine the slight, youthful figure of the young college "don," his clean-cut, refined face, ful

le kept him awake half the night, often he was up at dawn to renew the battle, but he usually "won out," and this is what made him so g

n-making, fun-loving, story-telling nonsense rhymer could turn in a twinkling into the grave, precise "don" and di

hose days they seldom went further than the "first steps" in plain arithmetic. Girls, especially the little girls of Charles Dodgson's immediate circle, rarely went to school; they w

cation is

on is

Three, it

ions driv

n were considered finely grounded if they had mastered the three R's-("Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic") and the young "don" knew pretty well how far they were led along these paths, for if

y the regul

that?" inq

k Turtle replied, "and then the different branches of Ari

ou to learn?" as

with Seography; then Drawling-the Drawling-master was an old Conger-eel that used to come once a week; he taught us Drawlin

hat like?"

the Mock Turtle said, "I'm too sti

"I went to the Classical master t

tle said, with a sigh; "he taught L

hon, sighing in his turn, and both cr

and Grief" unless she was very ambitious, but many a quick, active young mind a

by one special journey to the English lakes, where Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge lived and wrote their poems. These trips were often afoot, and Charles Dodgson was very proud of the

ent, anxious for independence, interested in his work, simple, sincere, devout, a dreamer of dreams which had not yet taken shape, and above all, a true lover of little girls, no matter how plain, or fretful, or rumpled, or even dirty. His kindly eyes could see beneath the creases on the top, his gentle fingers clasped the shrinking, trembling little hands; his low voice charmed them all unconsciously, and no doub