Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1858-02-18
From the NeEr York indepen.feHs.
OUR CHARLEY.

When the blaze of the wood hr
flickers up and down in our snug even
ing parlor, there dances upon the wal
little shadow with pug nose. do
mestic household shadow bus
shadow little restless specimen Q
perpetual motion. and the owner there
of is 'our Charley
Now we should not write about hin
and his WAYS If he were strictly I
peculir and individual existence of on
own home-circle, but il is not Sc
"Our Charley" exists in thousand
nav million families; he has existed
in millions in all time back; his nam,
is variously rendered in all the tongue.
of the earth; nay, there are thousanc
synonyms for him in English-ior in
disputably Our Willie, +" or lou
Harry or ''our George" belongs t,
the same snub-nosed, rosv-cheeked
restless shadow maker SO in France
he is ''Leonce. )" or Pierre, as wei
as "Charle;;" in Italy he is "Carlino'
or Francisco" in German, Max" o.
Nv ilhelm;" and in Chinese he is littl,
Ling -Fung.'' with long silk tail OF
the back of his head, but the same
household sprite among them all; il
short, we take "our Charley" in {
generic sense, and we mean to treat o.
him as a miniature epitome of the
grown man--enac.ing in shsdowy
ballet by the fire-side all that men ac
in earnest in aftcr-life. He is a look
ing glass for grown people, in which
they may see how certain things be-
come them-in which they may some
times even see streaks and cleaning,
of something wiser than all the harsh
conflict of life teaches them.
Our Charley" is generally consid-
cred by the world a. an idle little dog
whose pursuits, being very inconse-
quent, may be put off or put 10y foi
every and anybody; but the world. as
usual, are very much mistaken. Nc
man is more pressed with business, and
needs more prudence, energy. tact. and
courage to carry out his schemes, in
face of all the opposing cireum stances
that grown people constantly throw III
his way. Has he not ships to build
and to sail? and has he not vast engi-
neerings to make ponds and docks in
every puddle or brook, where they
shall lie at anchor? Is not his pocket
stuffed with material for sails and cor
dagc? And yet. like a man of the
world as he is, all this does not con
tent him, bat he must own railroad
stock too If he lives where a steam
whistle has vibrated, it has awakened
an unquiet yearning within him, and
some day he harnesses all the chairs
into Il train and makes locomotive of
your work table and q steam whistle
of himself He inspects toy shop
windows, gets up flirtations with be-
nevolent shopmen; and when he gets
his mouth close to papa's ear, reveals
to him how Mr.. So-and 80 has a loco
motive that will wind up and so alone
so cheap too-can't papa get it for
him? And so papa Gall papas do
goes sobcrly down and buys it. though
he knows it will be broken in a week
Then what rapturcsl The dear loco
motivel 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 10Y is not
cvaporatcd. He bores every body 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 il work better: finds
too late that he can't put it together
again; and so he casts il aside and
makes q locomotive out of broken
wheclbarrow and some barrel slaves.
Do YOU. my brother or grown-lip sis
ter, ever do ANYTHING like this? Do
your friendships and loves ever go the
course of our Charley's toy? First
enthusiasm; second safety; third dis
content; then picking to pieces; then
dropping and loosing? How many
idols are in your box of by-gonc play
things? And may it not be as well TO
suggest to you, when you find flaws
IN your next one, 10 enquire before you
pick to pieces whether you can put to-
gcthcr again. OF whether what you call
defect is not a part of its nature. \
tin locomotive won't. draw string of
parlor chairs, by any possible altera-
ton, but il may he very pretty for all
il was made for. Charley and YOU
might both learn something from this.
Charley's business career, as we
have before intimated, has its trials
II is hard for him to find time for it;
50 many impertincnt Interruptions
For instance, there are fore hours OF
school, taken out Of the best part OF
the day; four mortal hours, in which
he might make ships, OF build dams, or
run railroad cars, he is obliged TO leave
all his affairs, often in very prccarious
situations. and 60 through the useless
ceremony of reading and spelling
When he comes home the houscmaid
has swept his foremast into the fire,
and mamma has put his top-sails into
the ragbag. and all his affairs are in a
desperate situation. Sometimes he
gets terribly misanthropic; all grown
people seem conspiring against him
he is called away from his serious av-
ocations so often, and his attention
distracted with such irrelevant matters,
that he is indignant. He is rushing
through the passage in hot haste,
hands full of nails. strings, and twine,
and Mary seizes him aud wants to
brush his hair; h. is interrupted in a
burst of enthusiasm and told to wash