American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-04-03
9 From Harpers' Magazine for April.
I" BIRTHS MRS. MEEK, OF A SON."
a Plea for Infants.
(Concluded.l

"BIRTHS:-MRS. MEEK, OF A SON."
/ A Plea for Infants. e
54 [Concluded.l o fs talj
The voice of Nature, however cries aloud in
behalf of Augustus George, my infant son. 1t
/ is for him that wish to utter a few plaintive
| household words. am not at all angry l am
mild-but miserable. NJ ,,,or,.r.
! wish to know why, when my child, Angus
tus George. was expected in our circle, a pro-
vision Of pins was made, asif the little stranger
were q criminal who was to be put to the tor
ture Immediately on his arrival, instead of o
] holy babe? wish to know why haste was
made to stick those pins all over his innocent
form, in every direction? | wish to be informed
why light and air are excluded from Augustus
George, like poisons? Why, ask, is my un-
offending infant 80 hedged into basket bed
stead, with dimity and calico, with miniature
sheets and blankets, that can only hear him
shuttle (and no wonder deep down under the
pink hood Of little bathing machine, and can
never perusc even so much of his lineaments as
his nose., Et.r s,g3 a H g5
| Was expected to be the father of o French
roll, that the brushes of all nations were laid in
| to rasp Augustus George? Am to be told
that his sensitive skin was ever intended by
nature to have rashes brought out upon it, by
the premature and incessant use Of those for
II +
Is my son a nutmeg, that he is to be grated
on the stiff edges of sharp frills? Am the
parent of a muslin boy, that his yielding sur
face is to be crimped and small plated ? Or is
/ my child composed Of paper or Of linen, that
impressions of the finer getting-up art, prac-
tised by the laundress, are to be printed off, all
oyer his soft arms and legs, as constantly OBJ
serve them? gso tri ass .t
j Was Augustus George intended to have limbs,
or to be born a Torso? presume that limbs
were the intention, as they are the usual prac-
tice. Then, why are my poor child's limbs fet-
tered and tied up? Am / to be told that there
is any analogy between Augustus George Meek
and Jack Sheppard 4rgu 4ea
n Analyze castor oil at any institution Of chem
| istry that may be agreed upon, and inform me
what resemblance, in taste, it bears to that
natural provision which it is at once the pride
and duty of Maria Jane to administer to Angus
tus George! Yet charge Mrs. Prodgit (aided
and abetted by. Mrs. Bgby) with Systematically
i forcing castor oil on my innocent son, from the
first hour Of his birth. When that medicine,
in its efficient action, causes internal disturb
ance to Augustus George, | charge Mrs. Prod
git aided and abetted by Mrs. Bigby) with in
sanely and inconsistently administering opium
to allay the storm she has raised What is the
| meaning Of this?
If the days of Egyptian Mummies are past,
how dare Mrs. Prodgit require, for the use Of
my son, an amount of flannel and linen that
j would carpet my humble roof? Do wonder
that she requires it No! This morning, with
1 in an hour beheld this agonizing sight
beheld my son-Augustus George-in Mrs.
i Prodgit's hands, and on Mrs Prodgits knee,
| being dressed. He was at the moment, com
paratively speaking, in state of nature hay
| ing nothing on but an extremely short shirt,
remarkably disproportionate to the length of
his usual outer garments. Trailing from Mrs.
Prodgit's lap, on the floor, was long narrow
roller or bandage-I should say, of several
yards in extent In this, j saw Mrs. Prodgit
tightly roll the body of my unofending infant,
turning him over and over, now presenting his
unconscious face upward, now the back of his
bald head, until the unnatural feat was accom-
plished, and the bandage secured by pin,
which | have every reason to believe entered
the body of my only child. In this tourniquet,
he passes the present phase Of his existence.
| Can know it, and smile
| fear have been betrayed into expressing
myself warmly, but feel deeply. Not for my
self; for Augustus George. / dare not inter
fere. viii any one? viii any publication
! Any doctor Any parent? Any body? l do
not complain that Mrs. Prodgit (aided and
abetted by Mrs. Bigby) entirely alienates Maria
James affections from me, and interposes an
impossible barrier between US. do not com
plain Of being made of no account. do not
want to be of any account. But Augustus
George is n production Of Nature, Il cannot
think otherwise and l claim that he should be
treated with some remote reference to Nature.
In my opinion, Mrs. Prodgit is, from first to
last, a convention and superstition Are all
the faculty afraid Of Mrs. Prodgt? If not,
why don't they take her in hand and improve
| her?
p. S.-Maria James mamma boasts Of her
own knowledge of the subject, and says she
brought up seven children besides Maria Jane
But how do know that she might not have
brought them up much betterH Maria Jane
herself is far from strong, and is subject to
headaches, and nervous indigestion. Besides
which, learn from the statistical tables that
one child in five dies within the first year of its
| life; and one child in three within the fifth,
That don't look as if we could never improve in
these particulars, think
P.P S.-Augustus George is in conyulsions