The Osceola times., 1877-04-28

commented on our abuse of the trus
with which we were so handsomely an,
80 unacademically honored. We mildly
pleaded that the novel was dry" an,
wonder of wonder, = when we re
turned to the schoel-room after the hal
hour spent in the playground habitually
conceded TO the boys in the course of |
day, which lasted from about half-pas
nine till one, our plea was thought TO bt
feasible, ard the triumphant docto
placed before our eyes the more anus
ing "Hermann, of tnna," work trans
lated from the German, and Of which ar
English version was eagerly read at tn,
time when Ms. Anue Radcliffe was al
the heishth of her popularity. | an
able to affirm that We did find this bool
more entertaining than its predecessor
On what ground, with our very imper
feet mastery over the French tongue
We found one book more amusing thar
another, cant conjecture.
Even our studies of the vernaculsI
were sometimes pursued after td,sses-dtie'
fashion, which scarcely accorded with
the importance attached to them. DR.
Saunders had an aged father-in law, who
had cut off whatever communication
was left between himself and the other
world by taking strong and frequent
pinches of coarse rappee, and this re-
srectable but somewhat dingy gentle
man was occasionally trusted with the
superintendence of body of readers.
One day, observed from a distance
that the boys, who were ostensibly read
ing by turn Goldsmith's Abridged His
tory of Rome" we're all shaking with
laughter, which they scarcely attempted
to suppress, but which was utterly un-
noticed by their auditor. What could
it mean To my delight ! was sum
moned to take place in the class, and
the boy whom | found next to me i'm
mediately solved the mystery by whis-
pering into my ear
"Such iunl Whenever a word ends
with ing say 'ink' instead. We are all
doing IT, and he don't find it out"
I.entered at once into the scheme, which
was, indeed, productive of much amuse.
ment. When we had to utter such
words as approaching, or consider
ink" the mirth was mild; but when it
eli to the lot of one fortunate youth to
state that Tarquin was "kink" of Rome,
there was almost roar. Still our ex-
cellent old gentleman never discovered
that anything abnormal had occurred (;
and, when we were dismissed, no doubt
that he confessed, in his inward heart,
like England in the old sea-song, "that
every man that day had done his duty"
As might be supposed, corporal pun
ishment was not much in vogue at a
school so extraordinarily lax in discip-
line. What would have been the fate of
the kinkmaker" under the rule of
Mrs. Jackson, | dread to conjecture.
But the learned doctor did not wholly
ignore the use of the cane, though it
might be observed that this was regu-
lated rather by the state of the doctor s
own temper than by the state Of boys
delinquency. One popularity showed at
least that he had studied his Roman his
tory TO some advantage, and had taken
the elder Brutus for his model. Among
the pupils were his two sons; and if ever
the cane was in requisition with ex-
ceptional vigor, what clouds Of dust rose
from the jackets of those devoted lads !!
If we--chosen few--who stood at the
head of the classical scholars had been
passed into the first part of the Eneid,
we should have been reminded of the il
lustrious Trojan concealed in cloud by
his divine mother. But we knew of no
book but the second.
All things considered, am of opinien
that, if any of the pupils at the academy
which have tried to describe, and of
which saw the end, are alive now, they
still look back with kindly feeling upon
the figure of DR.. Saunders himself. His
notions of instruction were detestable; 4;
but, in spite of occasional outbursts of
anger, he was essentially good-natured,
kindly man, endowed with much native
humor; and, in his most cheerful moods,
he loved to tell droll stories that would
make the benches rock with laughter
And as for his gloomier mements, it
must be remembered that he had very
large family, and that he was very poor
All The Year Round.