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By J. A. SELBY? COLUMBIA, S. C., SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1865. VOL. 1,-NO. 3
THE COLUMBIA PHONIX
IS P?IJL16UKD DAILY ANO TRI-WKJKLY, 1
BY JULIAN Ar SELBY.!
- -- . -. !
The Daily .is ?esued sarery mdVoinpr, except;
Sunday.- at $10 a year. Tri-Weekly, Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday, at (6 a year, invaria?
bly in advance. Single copies.five cents. -
Advertisements inserted at 60 cents per square
(ten lines) for the first and 35 cents for each
subsequent insertion. " . - .
?Births. Mr* Meek, of a Bod:*
BY CHARLES DICKENS.
t My name is Meek. I arogin fact, Mr.
. Meek;. T/hat son is^ mine and Mrs. Meek's.
'When I saw the announcement in the
tCim^s I dropped the paper. I had put it
itt ray-self, and paid for it, but it looked so
noble that it overpowered rae.
Aa soon as I could compose my feelings
? took the paper up lo Mrs. Meek's bedside.
*Maria Jane,' said I, (I- allude to Mrs.
Meek), *you are now a public character.'
We read the review of our child several
t'.mee, with feelings of the strongest
. * emotion; and I sent the-.boy who cleans
the boots ned shoes to the office for fifteen
copies. No reduction waa made on taking
that quantity.
It is scarcely necessary for me to say.
that our child had been expected. In 'fact,
;t had been expected, with comparative
confidence, for some months. Mrs. Meek's
mother, who resides with us-of the name
of Bigby-bad made every preparation for
its admission to our circle.' . *
* I hope and believe 1 am a quiet tnsnjvla
will go farther. I know I ara a quiet man*
< My constitution is tremulous, my voice was
never loud, and, in point of stature, I have
been from infancy, small. I have the
greatest respect for Maria Jane's mamma.
She..its a most remarkable woman. I honor
Maria Jane's, mamma. In my opinion,
she woulu storm a town, single-handed,
with'a hearth-broom, and carry il. I have
never known her to yield any point what?
ever to mortal man. Sbe is caiculatod to
terrify the stoutest heart.- .
Still-but I will not anticipate.
The first* intimation I had pf any pre?
parations teing rn progress,' on the part of
Maria Jane's mamma, was one afternoon
several months ago. I came home earlier
than usual from the office, and proceeding
into the dining-room, found ah obstruction
behind the door, which prevented it from
opening freely. It was an obstruction of a
5 soft nature. (Tn looking in, I found , it to
be a female. - ; .
The female in ' question stood in the
corner behind the door, consuming sherry
wine. From the nutty smell of'that be
: ver?ge pervading the apattment, I have no
! doubt she was consuming, a second glas3
? ful. She were a black bonnet of -large di
! mensionp, and was copious in figure. The
expression of her, countenance was severe
and discontented. The words to which
?he gave utterance oh seeing me were
these, -'Oil! git along with you, sir, ii you \
please; me and'Mrs*. Bigby don't want no
male parlies here!' -
That female waa Mr*. Prodgit. .
. I immediately withdrew, of course,. I
was rather hurt, but I made no remark..
Whether it was that J showed a lowness
of spirits after dinger, in consequence of
feeling that. F*seemed to intrude., I cannot
say. But Maria Jane s mamma said to me,
on he F retiring tor the night, in a low dis?
tinct voice, and with a look of reproach
that completely subdued rufe, 'George Meek,
Mrs. P?.ifigU is your wife's nurse!'
I bear ?io ill-will towards Mw. Prodgit.
Is it likely that I, writing this with tears in
my eyes, should be capable of deliberate
animosity towards a female.so essential to.
the welfare of Maria Jane? I am Willing
to admit that Fate may have been to hjame,
and not Mrs. Prodgit; but it is undeniably
true that tho latter female brought deso?
lation and devastation into . my lowly
dwelling.
We were happy after her first appear?
ance; we were sometimes exceedingly so.
But, whenever the parlor door was opened,
and 'Mfa. Prodgit!* announced (and she
was very often annouKced,) misery ensued.
I could not bear Mrs. ProdgiB's look. I
felt that I was far froru wanted, and had
no business to exist in Mrs. Prodgit's pro*
sence. Between Maria Janb's mamma
and Mrs. Prodgit there was a dreadful,
secret**understanding-a dark mystery and
Conspiracy, pointing me out as a being to
be shunned." I appeared to haye done
something that was evil. Whenever Mrs.
Prodgit called, after dinner, I retired to my
dressing room-where the temperature is
very low, indeed, in the wintry tirhe of tho
year-and sat looking at my frosty breath
as it rose before me, and at my rack of
boots, a serviceable article of furniture, but
never, in my opinion, an exhilarating
object. Tik? length.of the? councils that
were held with Mrs. Prodgit under these
circumstances,.! will not attempt-to de?
scribe. I will merely remark^ that. Mrs.
Prodgit always consumed sherry wine
rvhile the deliberations were in progress;
that they always ended in Maria Jane's
being in wretched spirits on the sofa; and
that Maria Jane's mamma always received
me, when I was recalled, with a l;ok of
desolate triumph that too palpably said,
'Now, George *Meek! You seo jnj child,
Maria Jane, a ruin, and, I hope you ara
sattsfiedl'
J pass, generally, over the period (hat
intervened between the day. when Mrs.
Prodgit entered her protest against male
partie?, and the everrineraorable midnight
when I brought her to my unobtrusive
home in a cab, with an extremely large
box on the roof, and a bundle, a bandbox, '.
and a basket, between the driver's leg?. I
have no objection, to Mrs. Piodgit (aided
and abetted* by Mrs. Efigby, who I never
can forget is the parent o?''Maria Jane,)
taking entire possession of my unassuming
eatajjkishment. In the recesses of my e-wrx
"breast, the thought may linger ?hat a man
in possession cannot be so dr?adful asj?
woman, and that woman Mrs. Prodgit; but.
I ought to bear a good deal, and I hope jb.
can, and do. Huffing and snubbing prey
upoa my feelings; but I can bear ??tem
without complaint. They ro^y t?ll'in the
long run; I may be hustled about, from
post to pillar, beyond'tny strength; never?
theless, I wish to avoid gi vjDg risa to words
in the family.
The voice of ?Tature, hrrwever, crie3
aloud in behalf of Augustin* George, my
infant son. It.is for him that I wish to .
utter a few plaintive household words. T
am not at all angry; I am mild-but
miserable.
I wish to know why, when' my child,
Augustus George, was expected in our
circle, a provision of pins was made, t>3 if
the little stranger were a criminal who was
to be pu4to the torturo immediately on hi?
arrival, instead cf a holy babe? I wish to
know why haste was made to stick those
pins all over his innocent form, in every
direction! I wish to be informed why
.light and air are excluded from Augustus
George, liko poisons? Why, I ask, is* my
unoffending infant so hedged into a basket
bedstead, with dimity and calico, with
miniature sheets and blankets, that I can*
only hear him snuffle (and tao wonder!)
deep down under the pink hood of a little
j bathing machine; can never peruse even sc
much of his lineaments as bis nose.
Was I expected to be tits father of a
French roll, that tho brushes of all nations
were laid in; to rasp Augustus George?
Am I to be told that his sen?itive skin was
over intended by nature to have rash"*;
[Concluded on Fourth Page]