Mr. Dick’s Every-Other-Wednesday Visits

Mr. Dick’s Every-Other-Wednesday Visits are a recurring episode in David Copperfield’s years at Doctor Strong’s school in Canterbury, transforming an anticipated separation into an enduring pattern of companionship. The meetings are more than a family arrangement: they bring Mr. Dick into the life of the school, give David a regular point of connection with Betsey Trotwood’s household, and gradually draw Mr. Dick into Doctor Strong’s circle. Recalled by David as an adult, the Wednesdays acquire the glow of a ritual whose pleasures are shared by visitor, pupil, and school community.

From Separation to a Regular Meeting

When Betsey Trotwood decides that David will leave her home for school, Mr. Dick is so distressed by the prospect of their separation that he plays badly and offers David all the money he has. Betsey limits the gift, first to five shillings and then, at Mr. Dick’s earnest request, to ten. Their parting at the garden gate is affectionate, but the arrangement makes future meetings possible: David is to come to Dover on some Saturdays, while Mr. Dick may visit on Wednesdays.

Once David is established at Doctor Strong’s, Betsey makes several visits to Canterbury, sometimes at deliberately unseasonable hours, apparently hoping to surprise him. She stops when she sees that he is working well, has a good character, and is progressing quickly at school. David continues to see her in Dover every third or fourth week, while Mr. Dick comes to him by stagecoach every other Wednesday, arriving at noon and staying until the following morning. The distinction between Betsey’s less frequent Saturday treats and Mr. Dick’s alternate-Wednesday visits gives the latter a particular regularity. What began as reassurance at a painful departure becomes a settled part of David’s school life.

Mr. Dick at the School

The Wednesdays are described as the happiest days of Mr. Dick’s life and among David’s happiest as well. Mr. Dick soon becomes known to every boy, although he takes an active part in only one game, kite-flying. His pleasure in the others is no less vivid: he watches marbles and pegtop with absorbed attention, cheers the runners in hare and hounds from a knoll, delights in the cricket field, and stands in winter weather to watch the boys slide. David remembers him clapping his gloved hands in excitement. The visitor who arrives because of one child’s separation becomes a familiar and warmly welcomed presence among the pupils.

Mr. Dick’s inventiveness helps secure that affection. He makes elaborate patterns from oranges, boats from whatever materials are available, chessmen from cramp-bones, Roman chariots from old court cards, wheels from cotton reels, and birdcages from wire. String and straw are especially associated with his skill. These small acts of making complement his enjoyment of the boys’ play: he is not simply watching school life from outside but bringing his own resourcefulness and enthusiasm into its shared pleasures.

The visits also have a settled practical character. Mr. Dick travels with a leather writing desk stocked with stationery and the manuscript of his Memorial, which he increasingly feels must be completed. Betsey arranges for him to buy gingerbread at a cake shop, but limits the daily purchase to one shilling. His bills at the county inn are sent to her before payment, and David comes to understand that Mr. Dick is expected to account for his spending. Mr. Dick does not try to deceive her and wants to please her; he accepts her oversight, convinced of her wisdom. The visits therefore combine independence of movement with the careful financial supervision Betsey provides.

A Wider Circle of Companionship

Mr. Dick’s repeated presence brings him into contact with Doctor Strong. After hearing David describe him, Doctor Strong asks to be introduced. He invites Mr. Dick to wait at the school whenever he does not find David at the coach office, and the invitation develops into a custom: Mr. Dick walks in the courtyard if David and the others are late, then waits inside in a particular corner on a stool that comes to be called Dick.

He listens intently to what is happening in the school, with deep respect for learning he has not been able to acquire. His regard for Doctor Strong is especially visible in their growing friendship. At first Mr. Dick never speaks to the Doctor without removing his hat; even after they become companions and walk together for hours along the courtyard walk, he periodically takes it off in respect. Doctor Strong reads passages from his Dictionary during these walks, and Mr. Dick listens with pride and pleasure, regarding the book as a delight. Through this routine, a visit arranged for David becomes the beginning of an additional friendship and a shared habit of conversation.

Mr. Dick also becomes acquainted with Annie Strong, Doctor Strong’s young wife. David observes that she is paler and less often seen than before, while remaining beautiful. The visits thus place Mr. Dick within the Doctor’s household as well as among the boys, without making him a mere accessory to David’s school story. His affection, attention, and reverence give him distinct relationships within the community the Wednesdays gradually assemble.

Memory and Significance

The adult David’s repeated recollection of the Wednesdays emphasizes their recurrence: individual visits blur into a sequence of games, weather, school routines, and encounters. The remembered scenes range from summer cricket to winter sliding, and from the courtyard stool to Doctor Strong’s readings. Their cumulative effect is more important than any single occasion. Regular arrival makes Mr. Dick’s companionship dependable, while the school’s welcome extends the comfort of that relationship beyond David alone.

The visits also mark a contrast with David’s earlier experience of schooling under Mr. Creakle, where he had been sent to Salem House during the holidays as punishment. At Doctor Strong’s school, Mr. Dick is welcomed, boys’ games are occasions for shared pleasure, and a visitor may wait within the school and become part of its customary life. The contrast is grounded in the different treatment of children and in the different atmosphere surrounding David’s education. The Wednesdays do not erase the loneliness of separation, but they give it a human answer: a promised visit becomes an established rhythm, and an anxious parting grows into a source of happiness for both David and Mr. Dick.