The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-10-09

g piece of boiled beef, or some half
spoiled charcaterte whenever they had
any money, they lived as best they
could. knew many who had no other
food than this soup at noon and dry
bread the rest of the day"
NJ. Simon gives a very naive and
almost touching account of his W
struggles. Il lived" he writes, with
a certain Nine. La Normande, who
kept a clearinghouse for the choir
children in the Rue des Chanoines.
There | had a little room with no fire.
place in it. A bed, a straw chair and
a little, white-wood table TOOK up all
the room. / ate at table with the six
choir children and an able, who taught
them. 1t was agreed that when the
able should be indisposed, or called
away to the Bishop. or occupied with
his examinations for the seminary, l
should replace him, In this way l paid
but twenty-five francs a month, every
thing comprised; and as l had no tu-
ition to pay, my yearly budget was
very small. My chief p~reoccupation
was my dress. Mime. La Normande
had all the trouble in the world to piece
it and to patch it up; and as | was only
fifteen l grew constantly away from
her kindly efforts. As for pocket
money | never had any and never
felt the need of it. To let you
into my whole secret continues
M. Simon, 1.-The two hundred and
fifty or three hundred francs a veal
which l had to pay was no
easy to find. The sum certainly wa
not large, but l had nobody in the
world whom l could count upon. Hap
PLY for me, in this odd-little school
world, the pupils in the upper claSse
were in the habit of giving lessons tt
those beginning. This helped the bi!
boys to live, and did not cost the littl
boys very dear. For three francs
? month we gave a lesson every day
even on Thursdays. This brought tn
price down to two sous per hour. ha
), eight pupils, thanks to the kindness c
my professor, gave my first lesso
in the morning from halfrp past six
eight, and the other in the evenin
from six to seven. In the winter use
, to 90 to my school-room with my litt
lantern and a thin coat on, which pre-
tected neither from the cold nor frol
'S the rain, Ny eight lessons gave N
but twenty-four francs, which left NJ
one frame per month behind with N
r landlady. This debt caused me mo,
cruel sutferings in mind, but after tn
distribution of prizes, where l too
without exception all the first prizes, f0
e | was what was called fort en- theme, tn
council of Il department made me
n present of two hundred francs. | wa
now rich in my turn. | therefore pal
Y the few francs which | owed m
. hostess, bought a decent coal OF rea
broadcloth, and some shoes, whicI
t were beginning to be sorely needed
. and at last | tasted the exquisite de
light of having my own text-booASm
stead of using the dirty and dog-earet
8 volumes belonging to the college,
= M. Simon says that he has never tol,
+ the story before, and he only tells i
q now because it illustrates the custom
q of 4 little school-boy in France tltty-si.
years age. In 1872, when he wa
Minister of Public Instruction, he on
: day received the visit of the member
. Of the University. The rector of tn
+ Academy of Paris presented to hir
q his different inspectors. Meantime N
Simon saw one who was apparent
very anxious to speak with him, bu
whose features he could not recall t
: mind. So the rector said; "1hiS is
+ gentleman to whom you gave lesson
n when you were both at the College G
: Vannes.' YES, and for three franc
a MONTHS said NJ. Simon. holdin
, out his hand to his ex-pupil. Il wa
delighted to meet him. b" adds, ''bc
cause he was one of my t~avorite pu
pills, and stayed by me to the end G
, my philosophy year"
: These small details are not of 30 niue
Y interest as those which show how com
, pletely desert and barren was the edu
cation given at the college which Ma
, poleon |. had greatly Interested himsel
, in, and which he thought was a mode
institution. The events of 1914 ha'
taken the Emperor's attention ava,
from this college, and at the time NJ
Simon was a scholar there tn, walls o
an imperious building which had arisel
only half way showed that politics haC
interfered with the cause of public in
struction. Behind this new ruin was
vast court, usually very dirty, and line,
on either side by the really fine build
ings of the old Jesuit College, in whicl
were the classes of scholars. Tleil
study rooms were a suite of immense
halls lighted on n side from thu
court, on the other from the fields
The walls were covered with damp and
with dirt. In the middle of the hal
there was a beam, badly hewn
which supported the ceiling
Wooden benches with little back