Charles Dickens Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens then became a reporter for the True Sun (1830-1832), Mirror of Parliament (1832-1834), and The Morning Chronicle (1834-1836). Dickens is known as a quick and accurate reporter. In 1829 he became a shorthand Court and must learn Gurney so that he could write quickly, this can be done easily because he has strong memories. In fact he had become an actor. He even wanted to audition for the Lyceum Theater, but he fell ill. At the age of 18 years, Dickens often appear to read the works of William Shakespeare, History of England by Goldsmith, also a Short Account of The Roman Senate by Berger.
CHAPTER II
TREATS OF OLIVER TWIST'S GROWTH, EDUCATION, AND BOARD
For the next eight or ten months, Oliver was the victim of a systematic
course of treachery and deception. He was brought up by hand. The
hungry and destitute situation of the infant orphan was duly reported
by the workhouse authorities to the parish authorities. The parish
authorities inquired with dignity of the workhouse authorities, whether
there was no female then domiciled in 'the house' who was in a
situation to impart to Oliver Twist, the consolation and nourishment of
which he stood in need. The workhouse authorities replied with
humility, that there was not. Upon this, the parish authorities
magnanimously and humanely resolved, that Oliver should be 'farmed,'
or, in other words, that he should be dispatched to a branch-workhouse
some three miles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders
against the poor-laws, rolled about the floor all day, without the
inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing, under the parental
superintendence of an elderly female, who received the culprits at and
for the consideration of sevenpence-halfpenny per small head per week.
Sevenpence-halfpenny's worth per week is a good round diet for a child;
a great deal may be got for sevenpence-halfpenny, quite enough to
overload its stomach, and make it uncomfortable. The elderly female was
a woman of wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for children;
and she had a very accurate perception of what was good for herself.
So, she appropriated the greater part of the weekly stipend to her own
use, and consigned the rising parochial generation to even a shorter
allowance than was originally provided for them. Thereby finding in
the lowest depth a deeper still; and proving herself a very great
experimental philosopher.
Title: Oliver Twist
Author: Charles Dickens
Posting Date: October 10, 2008 [EBook #730]
Release Date: November, 1996
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
Author: Charles Dickens
Posting Date: October 10, 2008 [EBook #730]
Release Date: November, 1996
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
