I was born to collect

When I was eight years old, I was sent to a day school. By this time my taste for natural history, and especially for gathering, had greatly developed. I tried to name plants and collected all kinds of things, such as shellfish, seals, letters, coins, and minerals. The desire to collect, which leads one to become a categorical natural scientist, was strong in me, and it was born in me; none of my brothers or sisters had ever had such a taste.

One small incident of the year left a deep impression on me, I hope because it has since struck me with a strong sense of shame; Oddly enough, at such a young age, it was clear that I was already interested in plant variation. I told a boy that I could put some colored liquid over the primroses and primroses, and make them of all colors. This was a lie, of course; I had never done such an experiment. I am willing to confess here that in my childhood I invented many elaborate lies, often to stir people up. For example, I once collected valuable fruits from my father's tree, hid them in the bushes, and then ran as fast as I could to spread the word that I had found a pile of stolen fruits.

In the summer of 1818, I entered Dr. Butler's High School in Salusbury and stayed there for seven years until the middle of the summer of 1825, when I was sixteen years old. I boarded at this school, so I got a lot of benefits from real student life. But the school was less than a mile from my house, and I used to run home at night after roll call and before closing time. I believe it will do me a lot of good to keep my family's affection and interest. In the early days of my school life, I remember that to catch time, I often had to run very fast, because I was a fast runner and always succeeded in not losing time. But when I'm not sure, I pray. I remember distinctly attributing my success to prayer rather than to running fast, and marveling at how generously I had been helped.

My father and sister have told me that when I was very young I took a great interest in long solitary walks. But I can't remember what I was thinking. I am often completely lost in thought. I once walked back to school on top of the old castle that surrounds Salisbury, which had been made into a public walkway and had no parapet on one side. I fell off it, but it was only six or seven feet high. But in that moment of sudden and wholly unexpected fall, the abundance of thoughts that sprang up in my mind was astonishing.

I venture to say that from an early age I have been merciful, owing entirely to the guidance and example of my sisters. I doubt whether kindness is an innate, inborn quality. I am very fond of collecting eggs, but I have never taken more than one from a nest. Only once have I taken all the eggs from a nest, but this was for intimidation, not for value.

Throughout my life, I have been particularly unable to master any language. I was very keen on poetry, and I never got it right. When I left this school, I was neither too old nor too young. I thought all my teachers and my father that I am a very ordinary child, with far below average intelligence, makes me feel deep regret is what my father had once said to me: "in addition to hunting, a dog, catching mice, you what all don't worry, in this way, will defile yourself in the future, will defile your whole family." My father is the most charitable man I know, and I love him with all my heart. He must have been angry, which was somewhat unfair.

My character at school, as far as I can recall, was that I had strong and diverse interests, loved what interested me, and liked to understand any complex problem or thing. Besides science, I enjoyed reading all kinds of books, and I used to sit for long hours in front of the old-school window reading Shakespeare's plays and other people's poems. When I rode along the Welsh border in 1822, I began to evoke in me a passion for the landscape that has lasted longer than any of my other aesthetic tastes.