Wichita eagle., 1888-09-11
THE LAST LESSON.

Notc.-From time immemorial the fertile
| provinces of Alsace and Lorraine have been
the subject Of strife between Franco and
Germany. As early as the Third century ths
Alemanni invaded Alsacc, and, after a long
war, subjugated the Celtic Inhabitants and
filed up the region with German settlers,
| who were called III Sassen, or dwellers on
tho River Ill From this on the provinces have
changed masters frequently. In 1851 Alsace,
then IN the hands Of tho Germans, Louis
XIV seized Strasburg, its principal city; and
sixteen years later tho whole province cams
under French authority by the treaty of Rys-
wick. A small part Of the province was
coded to Prussia in 1914, but the majority OF
the Alsatiens remained Frenchmen until as
a result of the Franco Prussian war, Alsace
was given up in 1871 to the German empire,
of which it now forms part.
! Robert Louis Stevenson, in his "Inland
Voyage" speaking of this same patriotism Of
the French country folk, which Daudet SO
happily illustrates IN this little story, says:
''In what other country will you find a pa
triotic ditty bring all the world into the
streets" and adds: II have watched for
ester from Alsace while some one was sing
! ing Les Malheurs de Ia France at a baptis-
NAL party in tho neighborhood Of Fontaine-
I
aside, close by whore was standing. Listen,
listen, he said, bearing on the boys shoul-
der, and remember this, my son. A little
after he went out into the garden suddenly,
and could hear him sobbing in the dark
ness"
Twas very late in going to school that
morning, and 1 was afraid I should get
good scolding, because NJ. Hamel had told us
/ fnav
| ticiples, and didn't know the first word Of
| them. For a minute the idea came to mo to
run av from school and enjoy myself in
the f1elus.
The day was SO warm and clear! You
could hear the blackbird Whistling in the
edge Of the wood, and in the meadow behind
| the saw mill the Prussians were at their drill
! All this was great deal moro attractive to
me than the rule for participles, but had
the strength to resist, and hurried along
toward the school.
AS passed the town hall saw crowd Of
people gathered around the little bulletin
board For two years it had been from this
little board that all our bad news bad come;
news Of battles lost, Of acquisitions, Of orders
! from the government, and thought without
stopping:
|
Then, as was running across the square,
Wachter, the blacksmith, who was there, with
! his apprentice at his heels, reading the pos
ter, called after me:
Don't be in such u hurry, little one; you'll
get to your school soon enough!"
thought he was making fun Of me, and
when entered NJ Hamel's little courtyard
was all out Of breath.
| Usually, when school began, there wss
| such q hubbub that you could hear it In the
street; the opening and shutting Of desbs,
everybody studying their lessons out loud,
stopping their ears with their fingers so tn
| they might learn the better, and then the
masters great ruler thatrspped on the desk:
"a little less noisei"
was counting on all this confusion to get
TO my bench without being noticed; but on
this particular day, everything was as still
as if it had been a Sunday morning.
| Through the open window l could see my
companions all In their places, and NJ.
Hamei walking up and down with the terri
BILE iron edged ruler under his arm. had
to open the door and go In, In tho midst Of
this profound stiffness. You may imagine
| II I blushed, and was afraid
Well then, no. NJ Hamel looked at me
without any anger at all, and said gently:
'Go to your place quickly, my little
Frantz; we were going to begin without
you"
stradd}ed the bench and settled myself
at my desk as quickly as l could. Then, a
little recovered from my fright noticed
for the first time that our master had on his
beautiful green frock coat and his plated
shirt frill, and his embroidered skull cap Of
black dlk that he wore only ON exhibition
days, Or vhsu he gave out the psiseA And
tho others, tooS every ono u them seemed to
have something unusual or solemn about
them. But what surprised mo most of all
was to see at the back Of tho room, on the
benches that were usually empty, the men
Of the village sitting as silent as we were:
old Hauser, with his three cornered hat, the
white haired mayor, eold notary. ndmany
others Everybody was sod; and Hanser
had brought an old primer. with the corners
all oAewed, which he held wide open on his
knees, with his big spectacles lying across
| the pages.
| While l was wondering at all this n
Hamel had taken his place in his chair, and,
In tho same gentle. grave voice with which
he had spoken to me, he said to US:
my children, it is the Last time that I shall
teach you The order has come from Berlin
that only German shall Be taught in tho
schools Of Alsace and Lorraine The new
master comes tomorrow. Today will be
your last lesson in French beg you to b
very attentive"
The words set my heart to humping. All,
the wretches this was what they had posted
at the town hall
Ny last lesson in Frenchi
| And who hardly knew bow to write! I
should never learn now! I must break of
| where was. How / longed for the time
had lost, for the days had played truant to
hunt for birds nests, or to slide On the river
Ssar Ny books that just now had found
so duh. so heavy to carry, my Bible history,
seemed to me old friends whom / should be
sorry to part with It was the same with n.
Hamel The thought that he was going away,
that should never see him any more, made
me forget the puniShrnents and the slaps Of
the ruler. Poor mani
It was in honor Of this last lesson that he
bad put on his Sunday clothes, and now un-
derstood why the old msn Of the village had
come to 81. ct the back Of tbe room 1t seemed
to say that they were sorry they had cot
come ofteuer 10 the school 1t was, too,
way Of thanking our master for his forty
years Of faithful serv ices ard Of showing their
love for the fatherland which was slipping
away from Us
Iwas deep in my thoughts when suddenly
heard my name called 1t was my turn 70
recite What wouldn't have given TO Be
able to say. clear to the end. that fanocs rule
Of participles, very loud, vUy clear, without
q single fault! but I stumbled q the first
worsis and stood there beside my bench,