The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-01-09

iuvenile humanity is made the subject of a
yery lively paper in recent number of Once
a Week. 1t is from the pen of the author of
AFlemish Interiors" We subloin an extract
or two: ~ kAn
The little rascal has lived frightfully fast;
his precosity is absolutely startling. AT ten
he looks fifteen, and talks like five-and-twen-
ty; while his knowledge OF all he ought not to
know has attained its maximum. We stand
aghast at his self possession under no-matter
what circumstances and as we watch his un-
embarrassed air and steady gait his matured
expression and selfconscious aspect we men
tally admit the melancholy fact, III NY plus
d'enfansw The gdnin is mp to everything
he smokes, he drinks, he CANDLES; but then
we must remember, il he indulge in the wees
of man, he is often expected also to exercise
the strength and the skill OF one. Many
galnin is the soutien de la maison; sick faith
err widowed mother and several young SIS I
tiers. often depend on his earnings Tor their
daiIv bread. of course it is only bread: still it
is he who gets il for them, and gets it brayely,
too. But unhappily-though as naturally-if
man. he is also child, and in growing into
the one, he has not grown out of the other;
so that his frolics, and the vagaries TO which,
often ia spite of himself he is wont to yield,
are disasterOus to others as well as to himself,
and when the mischief is done, he is the first
to lament it. 8l.J sHa sz e
How the ganlin ever learns anything is
mystery which has never bSen solved; one Of
his peculiarities consisting in the fact that he
is entirely self taught. He takes in knowl-
edge-Heaven knows all that it includes -
just as he does air and sunshine, in his pere-
CARNATIONS through the crowded and instruc-
tive rues de Paris. There is a great deal to
be learnt there, end he learns it. Put him to
school and you make nothing at all Of him.
The best you can hope oflis future is that one
day he will naturally grow into Zouave, for
he is one in embryo already, and no power we
know of could train him into domesticated
character.
"Tell me, my child,' said cure one even
ingto one of The most promising, at the close
of long lecture on the subject, show many
Gods are there?'
"Iwo Msieur lie Cure" promptly replied
the boy. TI
1.-TWO Godsw exclaimed the miserable cure,
aehast, and wondering what he could have
said to leave such an expression. 1.-TWO Gods
Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! What can you meanY
"Why," replied the imperturbabe catechu-
men, ''of course / have not forgotten there.
were three to begin with, but as the Jews
made away with one, there can be only two
LETT .sl aas fa'u .a3lisi i9tl - .sAs
In the same class was another with whom
his Reverence had taken equal pains. .ns 4.
sch bien, mon petit" enquired he of this
urchin III eonciliating tone, can you tell me
in what manner our Lord was put to death ~
80 yes, m'sieur; the Jews guilotined him.
"Guillotined him, my dear child! Why, do
think little. The euillotine was not invent
ed hundred years ago, and our Lord was put
to death something like two thousand years
back" 3IoS p, FL \. 80 e. s,l.l.is
"Ah yes, that is true" was the ready re-
Spouse; Sthey must have shot him ~. s
There is provoking aptitude in the gamln's
repartees, which are prompt and flashing as
the lightning, for he is always equal to the oc-
casion. a.s
Chow old are you?' said we once to a. di-
minutive urchin at the corner of the Boule-
vard selling newspapers, counting his receipts,
and giving change with the accuracy and
gravity Of practised hand. j. .sles ~
"Six,n was the curt reply.
Sand how long have you been in the bush
ness?D Nd aM 90
's With roguish sparkle of his eye, which we
shall not readily forget, and stopping down to
arrange his stock-n-trade on the pavement
with the attitude of a man who is quite capa-
Bile of attending to two things at once, he re-
joined, t'4 09gs
= "How long? o, ever since was child.1
We very much doubt ii he ever had been
"Give me to-morrow's Moniteur, petit"
said we one day to a. young imp of the same
calling, and NOT much older.
Sorry can't obli9e you, sir; sold them all
last week. replied the promising youth, who
was not to be caught mapping. 4.l.1.s -
aas However, we may forgive the follies of his
youth when we reflect on what he often be-
comes; if he sows wild oats. he not unfre-
quently reaps harvest OF glory. and stores up
worldwide fame. In what country in the
world shall we lind regiment like the Zou-
aves? yet the majority OF the dauntless feI-
lows spring from this origin. .ai...ls.xs
We have all heard OF Eugene Libaut nom
commissioned officer of tins brave corps, the |
first who assembled the heights OF Sebastopol, |
and planted the flag of France upon its here |
tofere impregnable summit His general well I
discerned the stuff OF which he was made;
he placed the French standard in his
hands, simply saying, "C'est lie drapeau
signal-partez." ~, ~
And 1t was enough: Libau darted from the
trenches, leading after him the whole column.
Struck on the head as he reached the ditch by |
heavy stone, this intrepid young fellow did |
not slacken his progress; he continued to |
scale the heights, regardless of the shower Of
projectiles which assailed him, and, overcom-
ing all obstacles. he gained his point, tor the
colors of the First Division were seen floating
from the Aalalloff tower, forming a rallying
point, round which the allies grouped them
selves and maintained their post with charac-
teristic determination. l..-
Eugene Libaut, the enfantperdu OF the Ma
lakof, began lite as GAsIN DE PARIS.