All in a garden fair; the simple story of three boys ... - University Library

68
ALL L\ A GARDEX FAIR.
always kept low ; wlio is pinched all rouiul, in
his pay and in liis work ; in his education and
his knowledge ; in his ideas and his hopes ; in
his art—here he is not pinched but deprived and
robbed ;
in his religion, which requires a whole
chapter of ex[)lanation ; in liis morals, to ex-
plain which requires a visit to tlie nearest
music-hall ; in his home, whicli is all pinching
and pricking ; in his joys, whicli are of the
saddest. Yet this uninteresting person, if he
exists, needs a great deal of pity.
lie does exist, though M. Philipon ignorantly
exaggerated his numbers : the hopeless clerk is
found in every city. He is in London as well
as in Paris, and wherever he is found he is
always the same he}i)less, ignorant, hopeless log.
Now two, at least, of these three boys w^re
from the beginning, as it seemed to their honest
friend, destined to live the life of tlu* hoi)eless
clerk. 'JliL'ir parents were too poor to keep
them at school after fourteen or fifteen, or to
teach them anything beyond the ordinary school
course. Thev had no friends, no influence, no