The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1858-03-24
OUR CHARLEY.
BY HARRIET BEEcHER STOWE.

'1I6HEN the blaze of the wood
MN fickers up and down in ou'
snug evening parlor, there dances upon
the wall a little shadow with a pug nose,
a domestic household shadow-a busy
shadow-a little restless specimen of per-
petual motion, and the owner thereof is
"our Charley"
Now we should not write about him
and his ways if he were strictly a pecul-
lar and individual existence of our own
home circle but it is not so. EAR
"Our Charley" exists in thousand,
nay a million families; he has existed in
millions in all times back; bis name is
variously rendered in all the tongues OF
the earth: nay, there are q thousand syn
onyms for him in English = for indispu
tally sour Willie or "our Harry" or
sour George" belong to the same snub-
nosed, rosy-cheeked, restless shadow ma
kers. while in France he is "Leonce" or
'Pieree,". as well as "Charle;" in Italy he
is "Carlino," or 'Francisco," in German
"Max" or ''Wilhelm," and in Chinese he
is Cling Fung," with long silk tail on
the back of his head, but the same house
| hold sprite among them ALL In short,
we take Sour Charlie" in a generic sense,
and we mean to treat of him rs the min
iature epitome of the grown man enac-
ting in shadowy ballet by the fireside all
that men act in earnest in after life. He
is looking-glass for grown people, il
which they may see how certain things
become them--in which they may some
times even see streaks and gleamings of
something wiser than all the harsh con-
flict of life teaches them.
"Our Charley" is generally considered
by the world as an idle little dog, whose
pursuits, being very inconsequent, may
be put off or put by for every and any
body; but the world, as usual, are very
much mistaken. No man is more pressed
with business, and needs more prudence,
energy, tact, and courage to carry out
his schemes, in the face of all the oppo-
sing circumstances that grown people con-
stantly throw in his way. Has he not
ships to build and to sail? and has he
not vast engineerings to make ponds and
and docks in every puddle or brook, where
they shall lie at anchor? Is not his
pocket stuffed with material for sails and
eordage? And yet like man of the
world as he is, all this does not content
him, but he must have railroad stock too.
If he lives where a steam-whistle has Vi
brated, it has awakened an unquiet yearn-
ing within him, and some day he nar-
nesses all the chairs into train and ma
kes locomotive of your work table and
a steam-whistle of himself. He inspects
toy shop windows, gets up fiiftations with
benevolent shopmen, and when he gets
his mouth close to papa's ear, reveals to
him how Mr.. So-and-so has locomotive
that will wind up and go alone-so cheap
too-can't papa get it for him! And
so papa, all papas do, goes soberly down
and gets it, although he knows it will be
broken in week. Then what raptures
the dear locomotive the darling black
chimney sleeps under his pillow that he
may feel of it in the night, and be sure
when he first wakes that the JOY has not
eyaporated. He bores everybody to death
with it as artlessly as grown people do
with their hobbies, but at last the ardor
runs out. His darling is found to have
faults. He picks it to pieces to make it
work better; finds too late that he can't
put it together again: and so he casts it
aside, and makes locomotive out of q
| broken wheelbarrow AMI some barrel sta
yes. Do you, my brother, or grown up
sister, ever do anything like this? Do
your friendships and loves ever go the
course of Charley's toy? First enthusi-
asm; second safety; third discomfort
then picking to pieces; then dropping and
losing; How many idols are in your box
of by gone playthings. And may it not
be as well to suggest to you, when you
find flaws in your next one, to inquire be-
fore you pick to pieces whether you can
put together again, or whether what you
call defect, is not part of its nature
A tin locomotive won't draw string Of
parlor chairs, by any possible alteration,
but it may be very pretty for all it was
made for. Charley and you might botl
learn something from this. aaa
Charley's business career, as we have
before intimated, has its trials. 1t is hare
for him to find time for it; SO many i'm
pertinent interruptions. For instance
there are four hours of school, taken ou
of the best part Of the day; four morta