It's like any letter written by an affectionate dad to his student son at university: work hard, keep a close eye on your spending, and if you have any problems, let me know.
A revealing missive penned by Charles Dickens to his son Henry nearly 150 years ago has been highlighted by Cambridge University today on the 200th anniversary of the great writer’s birth.
The letter was written while the author of Great Expectations was staying at a hotel in Liverpool, in October 1868. Dickens’ son, Henry, then just 19 and the first of the writer’s 10 children to go to university, had just arrived at Trinity Hall in Cambridge, to study maths.
His message to his son, which begins "Dear Harry", reveals that student debt is by no means just a 21st century phenomenon. It says: "I enclose you another cheque, for £25," and goes on to discuss his allowance, £250 a year ("handsome for all your wants") his requirements for furniture and clothes ("I strongly recommend you to buy nothing in Cambridge") and his decision to send him a consignment of drink, so he can enjoy the undergraduate life – three dozen bottles of sherry, two dozen bottles of port, three dozen light clarets, and six bottles of brandy.
Dickens Senior then exhorts his young son to be prudent when handling money: "Now observe attentively – we must have no shadow of debt." Throughout his life, Dickens was haunted by the memory of his own father sinking into debt, and being sent to prison as a result. Charles was sent to the pawnbroker’s with the family books and much of their furniture, and was later sent to work at Warren’s Blacking Factory, aged just 12.
The letter, given to the Cambridge college in 1957 by Christopher Dickens, one of Henry’s grandchildren, tells the young student: "You know how hard I work for what I get, and I think you know that I never had money help from any human creature after I was a child. If you ever find yourself on the verge of perplexity or difficulty, come to me. You will never find me hard with you while you are manly and truthful."
Dr Jan-Melissa Schramm, fellow in English at Trinity Hall, has written two books for Cambridge University Press about Charles Dickens. She said: "The letter speaks very powerfully to the parents of students today, not only about caring for their children’s spiritual well-being, but also about supplying their material wants.
A revealing missive penned by Charles Dickens to his son Henry nearly 150 years ago has been highlighted by Cambridge University today on the 200th anniversary of the great writer’s birth.
The letter was written while the author of Great Expectations was staying at a hotel in Liverpool, in October 1868. Dickens’ son, Henry, then just 19 and the first of the writer’s 10 children to go to university, had just arrived at Trinity Hall in Cambridge, to study maths.
His message to his son, which begins "Dear Harry", reveals that student debt is by no means just a 21st century phenomenon. It says: "I enclose you another cheque, for £25," and goes on to discuss his allowance, £250 a year ("handsome for all your wants") his requirements for furniture and clothes ("I strongly recommend you to buy nothing in Cambridge") and his decision to send him a consignment of drink, so he can enjoy the undergraduate life – three dozen bottles of sherry, two dozen bottles of port, three dozen light clarets, and six bottles of brandy.
Dickens Senior then exhorts his young son to be prudent when handling money: "Now observe attentively – we must have no shadow of debt." Throughout his life, Dickens was haunted by the memory of his own father sinking into debt, and being sent to prison as a result. Charles was sent to the pawnbroker’s with the family books and much of their furniture, and was later sent to work at Warren’s Blacking Factory, aged just 12.
The letter, given to the Cambridge college in 1957 by Christopher Dickens, one of Henry’s grandchildren, tells the young student: "You know how hard I work for what I get, and I think you know that I never had money help from any human creature after I was a child. If you ever find yourself on the verge of perplexity or difficulty, come to me. You will never find me hard with you while you are manly and truthful."
Dr Jan-Melissa Schramm, fellow in English at Trinity Hall, has written two books for Cambridge University Press about Charles Dickens. She said: "The letter speaks very powerfully to the parents of students today, not only about caring for their children’s spiritual well-being, but also about supplying their material wants.
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