He could not go to school; he could not go to church by virtue of the obvious limitations of its cubical content.

There was some attempt to satisfy the spirit of that "most foolish and destructive law"-- I quote the Vicar--the Elementary Education Act of 1870, by getting him to sit outside the open window while instruction was going on within.

But his presence there destroyed the discipline of the other children.

They were always popping up and peering at him, and every time he spoke they laughed together.

His voice was so odd! So they let him stay away.
Nor did they persist in pressing him to come to church, for his vast proportions were of little help to devotion.