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

ALL LN A GARDEN FAIR. 71
allowed to be a Eoman Catholic, and tliere was
no Catholic Churcli in tlie place. He was
iguorautly supposed to say mass, all by himself,
alone. Harmless ! And
yet he was tlie only
man in all that village who had ideas ! The
only man who knew his fellow-men, and they
tliought him harmless ! If I were a lady, and
if, in addition to this transformation, I ^vere to
become a lady who ' bossed ' a girl's school, I
should not choose for my French master one
whose favourite reading was Voltaire, liousseau,
Diderot, and such revolutionary writers of the
last century ;
nor should I feel comfortable if I
knew that a red republican Wiis turned loose
among my innocent flock ;
nor should I keep a
bit longer than I could help a man who every
day, in the privacy of his home, propounded
maxims and gave utterance to thoughts and
sentiments of the most dangerous character.
You shall see how harmless he was.
M. Philipon, while the boys were young,
was un]ia])py because he liad no one to talk to
except his little daughter. At the school lie