The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood

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Accept, my dear old friend, my _heartiest_ wishes for
happiness, of all sorts and sizes, for yourself, and for him
whom you have chosen as your other self. And may you love
one another with a love second only to your love for God--a
love that will last through bright days and dark days, in
sickness and in health, through life and through death.

A few years ago I went, in the course of about three months,
to the weddings of three of my old child-friends. But
weddings are not very exhilarating scenes for a miserable
old bachelor; and I think you'll have to excuse me from
attending _yours_.

However, I have so far concerned myself in it that I
actually _dreamed_ about it a few nights ago! I dreamed
that you had had a photograph done of the wedding-party, and
had sent me a copy of it. At one side stood a group of
ladies, among whom I made out the faces of Dolly and Ninty;
and in the foreground, seated in a boat, were two people, a
gentleman and a lady I _think_ (could they have been
the bridegroom and the bride?) engaged in the natural and
usual occupation for a riverside picnic--pulling a Christmas
cracker! I have no idea what put such an idea into my head.
_I_ never saw crackers used in such a scene!

I hope your mother goes on well. With kindest regards to her
and your father, and love to your sisters--and to yourself
too, if HE doesn't object!--I am,

Yours affectionately,

C.L. Dodgson.

P.S.--I never give wedding-presents; so please regard the
enclosed as an _unwedding_ present.

Ch. Ch., Oxford, _December_ 8, 1897.

My dear Kathleen,--Many thanks for the photo of yourself and
your _fiance_, which duly reached me January 23, 1892.
Also for a wedding-card, which reached me August 28, 1892.
Neither of these favours, I fear, was ever acknowledged. Our
only communication since, has been, that on December 13,
1892, I sent you a biscuit-box adorned with "Looking-Glass"
pictures. This _you_ never acknowledged; so I was
properly served for my negligence. I hope your little
daughter, of whose arrival Mrs. Eschwege told me in
December, 1893, has been behaving well? How quickly the
years slip by! It seems only yesterday that I met, on the
railway, a little girl who was taking a sketch of Oxford!

Your affectionate old friend,

C.L. Dodgson.

The following verses were inscribed in a copy of "Alice's Adventures,"
presented to the three Miss Drurys in August, 1869:--

_To three puzzled little girls, from the Author._

Three little maidens weary of the rail,
Three pairs of little ears listening to a tale,
Three little hands held out in readiness,
For three little puzzles very hard to guess.
Three pairs of little eyes, open wonder-wide,
At three little scissors lying side by side.
Three little mouths that thanked an unknown Friend,
For one little book, he undertook to send.
Though whether they'll remember a friend, or book, or day--
In three little weeks is very hard to say.

He took the same three children to German Reed's entertainment, where
the triple bill consisted of "Happy Arcadia," "All Abroad," and "Very
Catching." A few days afterwards he sent them "Phantasmagoria," with a
little poem on the fly-leaf to remind them of their treat:--

Three little maids, one winter day,
While others went to feed,
To sing, to laugh, to dance, to play,
More wisely went to--Reed.

Others, when lesson-time's begun,
Go, half inclined to cry,
Some in a walk, some in a run;
But _these_ went in a--Fly.

I give to other little maids
A smile, a kiss, a look,
Presents whose memory quickly fades,
I give to these--a Book.

_Happy Arcadia _may blind,
While _all abroad,_ their eyes;
At home, this book (I trust) they'll find
A _very catching_ prize.

The next three letters were addressed to two of Mr. Arthur Hughes'
children. They are good examples of the wild and delightful nonsense
with which Lewis Carroll used to amuse his little friends:--

My dear Agnes,--You lazy thing! What? I'm to divide the
kisses myself, am I? Indeed I won't take the trouble to do
anything of the sort! But I'll tell _you_ how to do it.
First, you must take _four_ of the kisses, and--and
that reminds me of a very curious thing that happened to me
at half-past four yesterday. Three visitors came knocking at
my door, begging me to let them in. And when I opened the
door, who do you think they were? You'll never guess. Why,
they were three cats! Wasn't it curious? However, they all
looked so cross and disagreeable that I took up the first
thing I could lay my hand on (which happened to be the
rolling-pin) and knocked them all down as flat as pan-cakes!
"If _you_ come knocking at _my_ door," I said,
"_I_ shall come knocking at _your_ heads." "That
was fair, wasn't it?"

Yours affectionately,

Lewis Carroll.

My dear Agnes,--About the cats, you know. Of course I didn't
leave them lying flat on the ground like dried flowers: no,
I picked them up, and I was as kind as I could be to them. I
lent them the portfolio for a bed--they wouldn't have been
comfortable in a real bed, you know: they were too thin--but
they were _quite_ happy between the sheets of
blotting-paper--and each of them had a pen-wiper for a
pillow. Well, then I went to bed: but first I lent them the
three dinner-bells, to ring if they wanted anything in the
night.

You know I have _three_ dinner-bells--the first (which
is the largest) is rung when dinner is _nearly_ ready;
the second (which is rather larger) is rung when it is quite
ready; and the third (which is as large as the other two put
together) is rung all the time I am at dinner. Well, I told
them they might ring if they happened to want anything--and,
as they rang _all_ the bells _all_ night, I
suppose they did want something or other, only I was too
sleepy to attend to them.

In the morning I gave them some rat-tail jelly and buttered
mice for breakfast, and they were as discontented as they
could be. They wanted some boiled pelican, but of course I
knew it wouldn't be good _for_ them. So all I said was
"Go to Number Two, Finborough Road, and ask for Agnes
Hughes, and if it's _really_ good for you, she'll give
you some." Then I shook hands with them all, and wished them
all goodbye, and drove them up the chimney. They seemed very
sorry to go, and they took the bells and the portfolio with
them. I didn't find this out till after they had gone, and
then I was sorry too, and wished for them back again. What
do I mean by "them"? Never mind.

How are Arthur, and Amy, and Emily? Do they still go up and
down Finborough Road, and teach the cats to be kind to mice?
I'm _very_ fond of all the cats in Finborough Road.

Give them my love.
Who do I mean by "them"?
Never mind.

Your affectionate friend,

Lewis Carroll.

[Illustration: Arthur Hughes and his daughter Agnes. _From
a photograph by Lewis Carroll._]

My dear Amy,--How are you getting on, I wonder, with
guessing those puzzles from "Wonderland"? If you think
you've found out any of the answers, you may send them to
me; and if they're wrong, I won't tell you they're right!

You asked me after those three cats. Ah! The dear creatures!
Do you know, ever since that night they first came, they
have _never left me?_ Isn't it kind of them? Tell Agnes
this. She will be interested to hear it. And they _are_
so kind and thoughtful! Do you know, when I had gone out for
a walk the other day, they got _all_ my books out of
the bookcase, and opened them on the floor, to be ready for
me to read. They opened them all at page 50, because they
thought that would be a nice useful page to begin at. It was
rather unfortunate, though: because they took my bottle of
gum, and tried to gum pictures upon the ceiling (which they
thought would please me), and by accident they spilt a
quantity of it all over the books. So when they were shut up
and put by, the leaves all stuck together, and I can never
read page 50 again in any of them!

However, they meant it very kindly, so I wasn't angry. I
gave them each a spoonful of ink as a treat; but they were
ungrateful for that, and made dreadful faces. But, of
course, as it was given them as a treat, they had to drink
it. One of them has turned black since: it was a white cat
to begin with.

Give my love to any children you happen to meet. Also I send
two kisses and a half, for you to divide with Agnes, Emily,
and Godfrey. Mind you divide them fairly.

Yours affectionately,

C.L. Dodgson.

The intelligent reader will make a discovery about the first of the
two following letters, which Miss Maggie Cunningham, the
"child-friend" to whom both were addressed, perhaps did not hit upon
at once. Mr. Dodgson wrote these two letters in 1868:--

Dear Maggie,--I found that _the friend, _that the
little girl asked me to write to, lived at Ripon, and not at
Land's End--a nice sort of place to invite to! It looked
rather suspicious to me--and soon after, by dint of
incessant inquiries, I found out that _she_ was called
Maggie, and lived in a Crescent! Of course I declared,
"After that" (the language I used doesn't matter), "I will
_not_ address her, that's flat! So do not expect me to
flatter."

Well, I hope you will soon see your beloved Pa come
back--for consider, should you be quite content with only
Jack? Just suppose they made a blunder! (Such things happen
now and then.) Really, now, I shouldn't wonder if your
"John" came home again, and your father stayed at school! A
most awkward thing, no doubt. How would you receive him?
You'll say, perhaps, "you'd turn him out." That would answer
well, so far as concerns the boy, you know--but consider
your Papa, learning lessons in a row of great inky
schoolboys! This (though unlikely) might occur: "Haly" would
be grieved to miss him (don't mention it to _her_).

No _carte_ has yet been done of me, that does real
justice to my _smile_; and so I hardly like, you see,
to send you one. However, I'll consider if I will or
not--meanwhile, I send a little thing to give you an idea of
what I look like when I'm lecturing. The merest sketch, you
will allow--yet still I think there's something grand in the
expression of the brow and in the action of the hand.

Have you read my fairy tale in _Aunt Judy's Magazine?_
If you have you will not fail to discover what I mean when I
say "Bruno yesterday came to remind me that _he_ was my
god-son!"--on the ground that I "gave him a name"!

Your affectionate friend,

C.L. Dodgson.

P.S.--I would send, if I were not too shy, the same message
to "Haly" that she (though I do not deserve it, not I!) has
sent through her sister to me. My best love to yourself--to
your Mother my kindest regards--to your small, fat,
impertinent, ignorant brother my hatred. I think that is
all.

[Illustration: What I look like when I'm Lecturing. _From a
drawing, by Lewis Carroll._]

My dear Maggie,--I am a very bad correspondent, I fear, but
I hope you won't leave off writing to me on that account. I
got the little book safe, and will do my best about putting
my name in, if I can only manage to remember what day my
birthday is--but one forgets these things so easily.

Somebody told me (a little bird, I suppose) that you had
been having better photographs done of yourselves. If so, I
hope you will let me buy copies. Fanny will pay you for
them. But, oh Maggie, how _can_ you ask for a better
one of me than the one I sent! It is one of the best ever
done! Such grace, such dignity, such benevolence, such--as a
great secret (please don't repeat it) the _Queen_ sent
to ask for a copy of it, but as it is against my rule to
give in such a case, I was obliged to answer--

"Mr. Dodgson presents his compliments to her Majesty, and
regrets to say that his rule is never to give his photograph
except to _young_ ladies." I am told she was annoyed
about it, and said, "I'm not so old as all that comes to!"
and one doesn't like to annoy Queens; but really I couldn't
help it, you know.

I will conclude this chapter with some reminiscences of Lewis Carroll,
which have been kindly sent me by an old child-friend of his, Mrs.
Maitland, daughter of the late Rev. E.A. Litton, Rector of Naunton,
and formerly Fellow of Oriel College and Vice-Principal of Saint
Edmund's Hall:--

To my mind Oxford will be never quite the same again now
that so many of the dear old friends of one's childhood have
"gone over to the great majority."

Often, in the twilight, when the flickering firelight danced
on the old wainscotted wall, have we--father and I--chatted
over the old Oxford days and friends, and the merry times we
all had together in Long Wall Street. I was a nervous, thin,
remarkably ugly child then, and for some years I was left
almost entirely to the care of Mary Pearson, my own
particular attendant. I first remember Mr. Dodgson when I
was about seven years old, and from that time until we went
to live in Gloucestershire he was one of my most delightful
friends.

I shall never forget how Mr. Dodgson and I sat once under a
dear old tree in the Botanical Gardens, and how he told me,
for the first time, Hans Andersen's story of the "Ugly
Duckling." I cannot explain the charm of Mr. Dodgson's way
of telling stories; as he spoke, the characters seemed to be
real flesh and blood. This particular story made a great
impression upon me, and interested me greatly, as I was very
sensitive about my ugly little self. I remember his
impressing upon me that it was better to be good and
truthful and to try not to think of oneself than to be a
pretty, selfish child, spoiled and disagreeable; and, after
telling me this story, he gave me the name of "Ducky."
"Never mind, little Ducky," he used often to say, "perhaps
some day you will turn out a swan."

I always attribute my love for animals to the teaching of
Mr. Dodgson: his stories about them, his knowledge of their
lives and histories, his enthusiasm about birds and
butterflies enlivened many a dull hour. The monkeys in the
Botanical Gardens were our special pets, and when we fed
them with nuts and biscuits he seemed to enjoy the fun as
much as I did.

Every day my nurse and I used to take a walk in Christ
Church Meadows, and often we would sit down on the soft
grass, with the dear old Broad Walk quite close, and, when
we raised our eyes, Merton College, with its walls covered
with Virginian creeper. And how delighted we used to be to
see the well-known figure in cap and gown coming, so
swiftly, with his kind smile ready to welcome the "Ugly
Duckling." I knew, as he sat beside me, that a book of fairy
tales was hidden in his pocket, or that he would have some
new game or puzzle to show me--and he would gravely accept a
tiny daisy-bouquet for his coat with as much courtesy as if
it had been the finest hot-house _boutonniere_.

Two or three times I went fishing with him from the bank
near the Old Mill, opposite Addison's Walk, and he quite
entered into my happiness when a small fish came wriggling
up at the end of my bent pin, just ready for the dinner of
the little white kitten "Lily," which he had given me.

My hair was a great trouble to me, as a child, for it would
tangle, and Mary was not too patient with me, as I twisted
about while she was trying to dress it. One day I received a
long blue envelope addressed to myself, which contained a
story-letter, full of drawings, from Mr. Dodgson. The first
picture was of a little girl--with her hat off and her
tumbled hair very much in evidence--asleep on a rustic bench
under a big tree by the riverside, and two birds, holding
what was evidently a very important conversation, above in
the branches, their heads on one side, eyeing the sleeping
child. Then there was a picture of the birds flying up to
the child with twigs and straw in their beaks, preparing to
build their nest in her hair. Next came the awakening, with
the nest completed, and the mother-bird sitting on it; while
the father-bird flew round the frightened child. And then,
lastly, hundreds of birds--the air thick with them--the
child fleeing, small boys with tin trumpets raised to their
lips to add to the confusion, and Mary, armed with a basket
of brushes and combs, bringing up the rear! After this,
whenever I was restive while my hair was being arranged,
Mary would show me the picture of the child with the nest on
her head, and I at once became "as quiet as a lamb."

I had a daily governess, a dear old soul, who used to come
every morning to teach me. I disliked particularly the
large-lettered copies which she used to set me; and as I
confided this to Mr. Dodgson, he came and gave me some
copies himself. The only ones which I can remember were
"Patience and water-gruel cure gout" (I always wondered what
"gout" might be) and "Little girls should be seen and not
heard" (which I thought unkind). These were written many
times over, and I had to present the pages to him, without
one blot or smudge, at the end of the week.

One of the Fellows of Magdalen College at that time was a
Mr. Saul, a friend of my father's and of Mr. Dodgson, and a
great lover of music--his rooms were full of musical
instruments of every sort. Mr. Dodgson and father and I all
went one afternoon to pay him a visit. At that time he was
much interested in the big drum, and we found him when we
arrived in full practice, with his music-book open before
him. He made us all join in the concert. Father undertook
the 'cello, and Mr. Dodgson hunted up a comb and some paper,
and, amidst much fun and laughter, the walls echoed with the
finished roll, or shake, of the big drum--a roll that was
Mr. Saul's delight.

My father died on August 27, 1897, and Mr. Dodgson on
January 14, 1898. And we, who are left behind in this cold,
weary world can only hope we may some day meet them again.
Till then, oh! Father, and my dear old childhood's friend,
_requiescalis in pace!_

* * * * *

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"NOTES ON THE FIRST TWO BOOKS OF EUCLID." 1860
Oxford: Parker. 8vo. 6d

"PHOTOGRAPHS." (?)1860
(Printed for private circulation; a
list of negatives taken by the Rev. C. L.
Dodgson.) Pp. 4, 4to

"A SYLLABUS OF PLANE ALGEBRAICAL GEOMETRY," 1860
systematically arranged, with formal definitions,
postulates, and axioms. By Charles Lutwidge
Dodgson. Part I. Containing Points, Right Lines,
Rectilinear Figures, Pencils and Circles.
Oxford: Parker. Pp. xvi + 164, 8vo. Cloth, paper label. 5s

"RULES FOR COURT CIRCULAR." 1860
(A new game, invented by the Rev. C.L. Dodgson.)
Pp. 4. (Reprinted in 1862).

"THE FORMULAE OF PLANE TRIGONOMETRY," 1861
printed with symbols (instead of words) to express the
"goniometrical ratios." By Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.
Oxford: Parker. Pp. 19, 4to. Stitched, 1s.

"NOTES ON THE FIRST PART OF ALGEBRA." 1861
Oxford: Parker. 8vo. 6d

"INDEX TO 'IN MEMORIAM.'" 1862
[Suggested and edited by the Rev. C.L. Dodgson;
much of the actual work of compilation was
done by his sisters]
London: Moxon.

"THE ENUNCIATIONS OF EUCLID, Books I. and II." 1863
Oxford: Printed at the University Press.

"GENERAL LIST OF (MATHEMATICAL) SUBJECTS, AND 1863
CYCLE FOR WORKING EXAMPLES."
Oxford: Printed at the University Press.

"CROQUET CASTLES." 1863
(A new game invented by the Rev. C.L. Dodgson).
London(?) Pp. 4. (Reprinted, with additions
and alterations, in 1866 at Oxford.)

"THE NEW EXAMINATION STATUTE." 1864
(A letter to the Vice-Chancellor.)
Pp. 2, 4 to. Oxford.

"A GUIDE TO THE MATHEMATICAL STUDENT IN READING, 1864
REVIEWING, AND WORKING EXAMPLES." By Charles
Lutwidge Dodgson. Part I. Pure Mathematics.
Oxford: Parker. Two leaves and pp. 27, 8vo.
Stitched, 1s.

"THE DYNAMICS OF A PARTI-CLE, with an Excursus on 1865
the New Method of Evaluation as applied to pi."
Oxford: Vincent. Pp. 28, 8vo. (Three editions).

"ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND." By Lewis 1865
Carroll, with forty-two illustrations by John
Tenniel. London: Macmillan. Pp. 192, cr. 8vo.
Cloth, gilt edges. 6s.
The 1st edition (recalled) was printed in Oxford,
and is very rare; all subsequent editions (1865
onwards) by Richard Clay in London. Now in its
86th thousand. [People's Edition, price 2s. 6d.;
first published in 1887. Now in its 70th
thousand.]

"CONDENSATION OF DETERMINANTS," being a new and 1866
brief method for computing their arithmetical
values. By the Rev. C.L. Dodgson. From "The
Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 84, 1866."
London: Taylor and Francis. Pp. 8, 8vo.

"AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON DETERMINANTS." 1867
London: Macmillan. (Printed in Oxford.)
Pp. viii + 143, 4to. Cloth. 10s. 6d.

"THE FIFTH BOOK OF EUCLID TREATED ALGEBRAICALLY, 1868
SO FAR AS IT RELATES TO COMMENSURABLE MAGNITUDES."
With notes. By Charles L. Dodgson. Oxford and
London: Parker. Two leaves and pp. 37, 8vo. In
wrapper, 1s. 6d.

"ALGEBRAICAL FORMULAE FOR RESPONSIONS." 1868
Oxford: Printed at the University Press.

"THE TELEGRAPH CIPHER." (?)1868
(Invented, in 1868, by the Rev. C.L. Dodgson.)

"PHANTASMAGORIA AND OTHER POEMS." 1869
By Lewis Carroll.
London: Macmillan. (Printed in Oxford.)
Pp. viii + 202, small 8vo. Cloth, gilt edges.

"AVENTURES D'ALICE AU PAYS DE MERVEILLES." 1869
Par Lewis Carroll, ouvrage illustre de 42 vignettes
par John Tenniel. Traduit de l'anglais, par H. Bue.
London: Macmillan. Pp. 196, cr. 8vo. Cloth, gilt
edges. 6s. (Now in its 2nd thousand.)

"ALICE'S ABENTEUER IM WUNDERLAND." Von Lewis 1869
Carroll, mit zweiundvierzig Illustrationen von
John Tenniel. Uebersetzt von Antonie Zimmermann.
London: Macmillan. Pp. 178, cr. 8vo. Cloth, gilt
edges. 6s.

"GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY." 1870
Oxford: Printed at the University Press.

"ALGEBRAICAL FORMULAE AND RULES." 1870
Oxford: Printed at the University Press.

"ARITHMETICAL FORMULAE AND RULES." 1870
Oxford: Printed at the University Press.

"TO ALL CHILD READERS OF 'ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN 1871
WONDERLAND.'" Pp. 4

"THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND 1871
THERE." By Lewis Carroll. With fifty illustrations
by John Tenniel.
London: Macmillan. Pp. 224., cr. 8vo. Cloth,
gilt edges. 6s. Now in its 61st thousand
[People's edition. Price 2s. 6d. First
published in 1887. Now in its 46th thousand.]

"LE AVVENTURE D'ALICE NEL PAESE DELLA MERAVIGLIE." 1872
Per Lewis Carroll. Tradotte dall'inglese da T.
Pietrocola-Rossetti. Con 42 vignette di Giovanni
Tenniel.
London: Macmillan. Pp. 189, cr. 8vo.
Cloth, gilt edges. 6s.

CIRCULAR TO HOSPITALS OFFERING COPIES OF THE TWO 1872
"ALICE" BOOKS.
London: Macmillan.

"SYMBOLS, &c., TO BE USED IN EUCLID, 1872
Books I. and II."
Oxford: Printed at the University Press.

"NUMBER OF PROPOSITIONS IN EUCLID." Oxford: 1872
Printed at the University Press.

"THE NEW BELFRY OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD." A 1872
Monograph. By D.C.L.
Oxford: Parker. Pp. 2 + 31, cr. 8vo.
In wrapper. 6d. (Five editions.)

"ENUNCIATIONS, EUCLID, I.-VI." 1873
Oxford: Printed at the University Press.

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