Changing Base, or What Edward Rice Learnt at School

Changing Base, Or What Edward Rice Learnt At School by William Everett. Changing Base is a moral fiction for young readers set in a New England classical school. It follows Edward Rice, a bright but impulsive boy whose confidence is challenged when a strict master degrades him to a lower division for perceived negligence; his later involvement in a campus secret society, the I.C. (Indomitable Curiosolites), tests his loyalty, self-control, and integrity. Through episodes of school discipline, a daring but dangerous prank, a Thanksgiving gathering, a major base-ball match, a shipwreck rescue, and a public prize translation, the tale examines how peer pressure, ambition, and honor shape character. Edward’s honesty is finally vindicated as he navigates deception, friendship, and duty, culminating in forgiveness, reinstatement, and a message about the value of true effort, perseverance, and moral courage.