Frederic W. Farrar - Eric: Or Little by Little a Tale of Roslyn School

Eric, or Little by LittleVOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE. CHILDHOOD.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWO. A NEW HOME.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER THREE. BULLYING.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FOUR. CRIBBING.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FIVE. THE SECOND TERM.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SIX. HOME AFFECTIONS.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SEVEN. ERIC A BOARDER.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER EIGHT. TAKING UP.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER NINE. DEAD FLIES, OR YE SHALL BE AS GODS.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TEN. DORMITORY LIFE.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ELEVEN. ERIC IN COVENTRY.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWELVE. THE TRIAL.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE ADVENTURE AT THE STACK.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FOURTEEN. THE SILVER CORD BROKEN.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FIFTEEN. HOME AGAIN.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER ONE. ARDIEL.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWO. WILDNEY.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THREE. THE JOLLY HERRING.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER FOUR. MR ROSE AND BRIGSON.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER FIVE. RIPPLES.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER SIX. ERIC AND MONTAGU.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER SEVEN. THE PIGEONS.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER EIGHT. SOWING THE WIND.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER NINE. WHOM THE GODS LOVE DIE YOUNG.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TEN. THE LAST TEMPTATION.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER ELEVEN. REAPING THE WHIRLWIND.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWELVE. THE STORMY PETREL.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTEEN. HOME AT LAST.
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER FOURTEEN. CONCLUSION.

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VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE. CHILDHOOD. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWO. A NEW HOME. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER THREE. BULLYING. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FOUR. CRIBBING. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FIVE. THE SECOND TERM. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SIX. HOME AFFECTIONS. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SEVEN. ERIC A BOARDER. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER EIGHT. TAKING UP. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER NINE. DEAD FLIES, OR YE SHALL BE AS GODS. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TEN. DORMITORY LIFE. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ELEVEN. ERIC IN COVENTRY. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWELVE. THE TRIAL. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE ADVENTURE AT THE STACK. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FOURTEEN. THE SILVER CORD BROKEN. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FIFTEEN. HOME AGAIN. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER ONE. ARDIEL. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWO. WILDNEY. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THREE. THE JOLLY HERRING. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER FOUR. MR ROSE AND BRIGSON. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER FIVE. RIPPLES. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER SIX. ERIC AND MONTAGU. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER SEVEN. THE PIGEONS. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER EIGHT. SOWING THE WIND. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER NINE. WHOM THE GODS LOVE DIE YOUNG. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TEN. THE LAST TEMPTATION. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER ELEVEN. REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWELVE. THE STORMY PETREL. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTEEN. HOME AT LAST. VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER FOURTEEN. CONCLUSION.

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Eric, or Little by Little, by Rev Canon F.W. Farrar.

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This famous book tells the story of a boy at a boarding school on the Isle of Man, which lies between England and Ireland, and within sight of Scotland. The boy succumbs to various forms of ill-behaviour, with illicit trips to a bar in the near-by town. There are various scary episodes. Overcome with shame at something he has done Eric runs away to sea, which he finds so horrible an experience that when he is next in England he jumps ship, makes his way home, by now very ill, and dies.

Author's Preface (Farrar was Headmaster of Marlborough College).

The story of `Eric' was written with but one single objectthe vivid inculcation of inward purity and moral purpose, by the history of a boy who, in spite of the inherent nobleness of his disposition, falls into all folly and wickedness, until he has learnt to seek help from above. I am deeply thankful to knowfrom testimony public and private, anonymous and acknowledgedthat this object has, by God's blessing, been fulfilled.

The fact that new editions are still called for thirty-one years after its publication, shows, I trust, that the story has been found to be of real use. I have not thought it right to alter in any way the style or structure of the narrative, but I have so far revised it as to remove a few of the minor blemishes. I trust that the book may continue to live so longand so long onlyas it may prove to be a source of moral benefit to those who read it.

April 21, 1889.

_____________________________________________________________ ERIC, OR LITTLE BY LITTLE, BY REV CANON F.W. FARRAR.

VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE. CHILDHOOD.

Ah dear delights, that o'er my soul
On memory's wing like shadows fly!
Ah flowers that Joy from Eden stole,
While Innocence stood laughing by.
Coleridge .

Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! cried a young boy, as he capered vigorously about, and clapped his hands. Father and mother will be home in a week now, and then we shall stay here a little time, and then , and then , I shall go to school.

The last words were enunciated with immense importance, as he stopped his impromptu dance before the chair where his sober cousin Fanny was patiently working at her crochet; but she did not look so much affected by the announcement as the boy seemed to demand, so he again exclaimed, And then, Miss Fanny, I shall go to school.

Well, Eric, said Fanny, raising her matter-of-fact quiet face from her endless work, I doubt, dear, whether you will talk of it with quite as much joy a year hence.

Oh ay, Fanny, that's just like you to say so; you're always talking and prophesying; but never mind, I'm going to school, so, hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! and he again began his capering,jumping over the chairs, trying to vault the tables, singing and dancing with an exuberance of delight, till, catching a sudden sight of his little spaniel Flo, he sprang through the open window into the garden, and disappeared behind the trees of the shrubbery; but Fanny still heard his clear, ringing, silvery laughter, as he continued his games in the summer air.

She looked up from her work after he had gone, and sighed. In spite of the sunshine and balm of the bright weather, a sense of heaviness and foreboding oppressed her. Everything looked smiling and beautiful, and there was an almost irresistible contagion in the mirth of her young cousin, but still she could not help feeling sad. It was not merely that she would have to part with Eric, but that bright boy, thought Fanny, what will become of him? I have heard strange things of schools; oh, if he should be spoilt and ruined, what misery it would be. Those baby lips, that pure young heart, a year may work sad change in their words and thoughts! She sighed again, and her eyes glistened as she raised them upwards, and breathed a silent prayer.

She loved the boy dearly, and had taught him from his earliest years. In most things she found him an apt pupil. Truthful, ingenuous, quick, he would acquire almost without effort any subject that interested him, and a word was often enough to bring the impetuous blood to his cheeks, in a flush of pride or indignation. He required the gentlest teaching, and had received it, while his mind seemed cast in such a mould of stainless honour, that he avoided most of the weaknesses to which children are prone. But he was far from blameless. He was proud to a fault; he well knew that few of his fellows had gifts like his, either of mind or person, and his fair face often showed a clear impression of his own superiority. His passion, too, was imperious, and though it always met with prompt correction, his cousin had latterly found it difficult to subdue. She felt, in a word, that he was outgrowing her rule. Beyond a certain age no boy of spirit can be safely guided by a woman's hand alone.