Litchfield enquirer., 1838-01-25
Rcminiscence of YOuth.-.Thcre is no na-

1CcWtutSCeNCe 0I 1OuLRsss hpre IS no Iia- ton upon earth that lives so chesply as the French. Place Ffencl,man upon 6 plank in the Ocean-on the scorching sands of | Arabia, or in the frozen regions of Zealand, n" matter where you put him, give hin, air and his .fddlc, and hunger and disconlcnt may knock Jill doonsdsy, tie French"lan forms no acquaintance with either. lt is | as impossible to Starve hn, as 10 gaze up- on the sun in a cloudless day. The sour krout and spec ofa Dutchman, or tLe pork and molasses of the Yankee are not more necessary to their existence, than fiddle to Frenchman. lnamy earIies, youth became acquainted wilh an old gentleman of'Ie noblesse of ofFrance; during the reign iof terror he was compelled to abandon fam lily, friends and fortune, and the greatest, nay, the only cause of regret, was leaving his beloved and sun shiny France, tue land l nf dancing and fidd'ing. On his arrival in Philadelphia, ,pennyless and unknown, he commenced tue highly honorable and lu- crative profession of ofshaving; it was not the kind of shaving which is so prevalent now a days, the rich shaving the poor; then il was the poor man shaving the rich one.- Often and often have I seated myself in lhe old arm chair in his shop 10 listen to his stories of-by. gone times, or 10 see him trip on the Eight fantastic toe whilst his violin sent forth harmonious music. Kind, good old man, the world with all it's changes of bright and gloomy days, or mans ever changefnl friendship. could never vex you and yet the boyish pranks of him who loved you whose happiest days were those he spent with you, could make you miserable.
 It was customary for all the boys in the neighborhood to assemble on flew years eve at the barber's shop, where we were always certain of getting sugar plumbs and cakes, end music to our hearts content.- Upon one ofthese festive meetings, the att tcntion of the old gentleman was fur mo- ment diverted from his violin ;. T seized the opportunity and rnbbed along it's strings piece of shoemakcr's wax. Never shall forget the look ofllorror which he gave no resuming the instrument to play again, and as he repeatedly drew his bow across its strings in the vain attempt to make it sweets ly speak, he would exclaim, mon dieu, my
 fiddle is dead, ma femme, mon .fLs wha, make you sick.. For time all was e0nfu- sion; the rapidity with which he spoke, half French, half English. and the violen, gestures which he made, deterrcd US from making any attemptto to pacify him. During the uproar, unperceived by him, l succeed cd in wiping the wax from the strings, and handed him the violin with tears in my eyes, caused not by remcrsc, but by the unbound ed gratiicaiion at the snccess of my trick. As he mechanically drew his fingers across the strings, it gave it's usual sound when. with one bound, he sprung into a chair, de- claring that his wife, his child was alive a. gain. The scene which then ensued could be described only by Hogarth's pencil
 The Frenchnan singing, dancing and play- ing, whilst we kept chorus with our hands and feet; and, as he pressed us to his bo- som, with all lhe warmth of renovated hap l piness, each one would yell and clap his hands. So great tnmult soon attracted the attention of the neighbors, who sent US home,, as may be supposed, very much d. eainst our wishes. Ata subsequent period, I attached wire 10 his front shop bell, and posted myself on the opposite side of the street, when giving it pull, the old gentle man made his appearance but finding no one there went in. He had scarcely closed the door, when gave a stronger jerk 10 the wire, which brought him out again, ev- idenily vexed, as I could hear him speak ing to himself. After looking up aud down the street, being unable to discover who it was disturbing him, he slammed the door. After giving him time as ] thought to get into bed. began to pull at the wire bni this time he gave me more trouble. Pull, pull. and ring, ring went the bell, but my friend did not appear. Determined at all hazards, to bring him down once more, ] kept pulling aud pulling, when at length ! perceived him slowly open the door. My intention then was to desisi, and escape as soon as he retired; but, unfortunately for him, he continued standing upon the step. Tn this state ofaf1airs it was out the ques- iion to leave my hiding place undiscovered. My plan was instantly arranged. gave the wire powerful jerk, and with spring which terror alone could" have produced, he landed in the middle of the street, Then commenced as unintelligiblc jargon as ever passed the lips of an exasperated Frenchman. Aftcr partially recovering from his fear and his anger, he cautiously approached the door, holding it will, one hand, whilst with tlhe other he took ri,e can- dle and examined the bell. At that mo- meBt twang went my wire, and down went the candle. but he maintained his hold of the door. probably unable to move. In a li,,Ie while the candle was again in his hand. and again did pull. He looked first at the door, then at the bell, and as it contin- ued to ring he kept lodging his head from one to the other, until nature no longer