Prominent among the most prominent
upon the most prominent shelf were a series of splendidly bound
volumes entitled "Skinner's Works."
Boys are sadly apt to rush to conclusions, and Ernest believed
that Dr. Skinner knew all the books in this terrible library, and that
he, if he were to be any good, should have to learn them too. His
heart fainted within him.
He was told to sit on a chair against the wall and did so, while Dr.
Skinner talked to Theobald upon the topics of the day. He talked about
the Hampden Controversy then raging, and discoursed learnedly about
"Praemunire"; then he talked about the revolution which had just
broken out in Sicily, and rejoiced that the Pope had refused to
allow foreign troops to pass through his dominions in order to crush
it. Dr. Skinner and the other masters took in the Times among them,
and Dr. Skinner echoed the Times' leaders. In those days there were no
penny papers and Theobald only took in the Spectator- for he was at
that time on the Whig side in politics; besides this he used to
receive the Ecclesiastical Gazette once a month, but he saw no other
papers, and was amazed at the ease and fluency with which Dr.
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