Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1892-01-09

,NM9 the Fourth of
@e@H July. SO that
there have been comparatively few
holidays for me. I was obliged to wait
six months for my first Christmas,
nearly year for my first celebration
of the day of Independence, and a full
year for my first birthday.
In general, am not believer in
portents; yet, when the holidays come
around. and am sitting at the Christ
mas banquet, l cannot escape the feel
ing that am eating last years turkey,
nor on the glorious Fourth can l break
away from the conviction that l am
listening to last years orations. But
let us drop these vain speculations and
commence a tale of my busy life.
have now completed my sixth year.
During my first twelve-month, find
ing no other employment at hand by
which to gain my living, l determined
to lay aside all considerations of dig
nifty, and to engage in course of I'M
renting grief. In this business l
prospered beyond my hopes, and, show
ing how perseverance may find its re-
ward even in the simplest vocation, I
was able at all times to keep myself
we'll and happy.
1t may be we'll here to point out
what consider IN error in the course
pursued by other children. They are
content to assuage their grief after
crying until they have obtained every
thing they can think Of. 1t was my
own practice, however-and I now
look back at this as Presaging the tire
less industry l have since shown-to
cry not only until l had obtained
every thing / could think of, but to con-
tinue crying, letting other people think
of things. They often thought of
things that pleased me beyond measure.
Nor was there more than one occa-
sion of Importance when lament ation
failed me. This was in the early part
of my early summer when. after the
first hot days, there came about ter
rifying commotion. The room in which
i played was invaded by a fr,ghtful
gloom: ftful light flashed at the win
dows; the wind rose; the glass was
beaten against by srain and hail. and
there We're bursts of deafening noise
such as had pever Ito my recollection)
heard Wishing this Immediately dis
continued, I began to cry; but the COM
motion growing only more terrible, /
abandoned this course, and hastily es-
sayed to appease power that l could
not coerce. l peri med the patty
cake, repeated in a sweet voice the
rhree words that knew, and enacted
sWile.
Now, I know that it was a thunder
storm that 1 tried to cajole; and though
laugh at my simplicity, yet the Incl
dent shows, perhaps, some fertility Of
expedfent
At the end of the year. so good
progress had l shown, so strong and
fat had become, that l was promoted
to seat at the family table. Here 1
found that my labors were none the
less exacting, nor their reward the less
gratifying. Within twelve months l
had broken nearly a complete set of
china and had practically ruined bale
of table cloths Devoting myself to
the great TRUTHS of science for the
study of which 1 cannot recommend
too early q date-I burned my hands
three hundred and sixty-fve times on
the coffee-urn, and an equal number of
times on the teapot
But it must not be supposed that I
neglected the arts. Like every other
person wao tells about himself, I put
myself in the way of learning every
thing. / invented hammered metal
work, and myself hammered two trays
into artistic and shapeless masses.
CHAPTER II.
The studies in caloric and metallurgy
which have mentioned as occupying
part of my second year were pursued
in intervals of rest from other exercises
in which the bent of my mind made
me take but little interest
My father and mother, whom at this
time 1 looked upon as finished linguists,
were accustomed to insist on my at
tempting to pronounce words of lam
guage other than my own. My mother
was usually satisfied to rapture when /
rendered any combination of sounds
into "Ah-Bune!' but my father, who
affected to possess a most sensitive ear,
would often deny me my ration of milk
ito spill on the table,, or of rare beef
Ito drop to the cat), until 1 had
achieved a more detailed success. He
often ended his lessons by charging me
to say 'rhinoeeros," but he did this
more to confuse than to instruct me.
But though I worked constantly at
my studies, / had no surcease from
manual labor. During my second year
tore OF four square yards OF wall