The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-12-22

| from the book, which, apart from their illus
| traiion of the growth OF his character, present
10 us picture of tragical suffering. ana c1
lender as well as humorous fancy, unsurpas,
sed in even the wonders OF Ills puDllsheu
( writings"
THE SPECTRE OF HIS LIFE.
Writing Ia his own proper person, In the
| fragment 10 which alluSion has been made,
Dickens said of this period of his lite
"The deep remembrance Of The sense had
of being utterly neglected and hopeless; Oh
the shame felt In my position; OF the misery
| IL was 10 my young heart to believe that, Gay
by day, what 1 had learned. ana thousht, ana
delighted in. and raised my fancy and my
emulation up By, was passing away from me:
never 10 BE- brought back any more, cannot
be written. My whole nature was SO pene-
trated with the grief and humiliation oil sncn
| considerations, that even now, famous, and
caressed and happy. often forget IN my
dreams that l have a dear wife ana cnildren;
even that am man; ana WANDER uesolalel9
| back g. that lime of my life. My mother ana
INV brothers and sisters (eXcepting Fanny IN
| the Royal Academy OF Music) were s,ill en-
| camped, with q young servant girl from
| Chatham workhonse, In the two parl0ls IN
| the empty house in Cover street North IL
was long way 10 20 ana return WlInih tue
dinner hour, and, usually, either carried my
dinner with me. or went aud bcugnt it at
some neignboring shop. In the latter case, IL
| was commonly savelOy aud penny loil;
sometimes. q four-penny plate OF peel lroH
cooks shop; sometimes, plate OF bread ana
cheese, and o glass Of beer, from miserable
| old public house over the way-lhe swan, il
| remember right, or the swan anu someLu,hS
| else that have forgotten. Once. remember
ucking my own bread (Which had brought
| from home in the morning) under my arm,
wrapped up in piece OF paper like DOCK,
| and going into the best dining room IN John-
sons alamode-beef house la Charles court
Drury lane, and magnhcently crderlnS a
small plate of alamode beef TO eat Win IL.
WHAT lhe waiter thought Of such strange
| little appaiiliop, coming in all alone, L don't
know; but can see him now, staring at me
| as at my dinner, and bringing up The other
waiter t. look. gave him haf-penny, aud
wish, now, he hadn't taken it,"
A GLIMMER OF LIGHT.
In these and other passages the reader will
recognize some of the earlier parts OF cop
| perfcld." Mr.. John Dickens being unable 10
make any arrangement with his creditors,
Mrs. Dickens was obliged TO break up her
| poor household In Cover street North. and go
| in,o the Marshalsta. The autobiography then
proceeds:
'.The key Of the house was then sent BACK
| TO the landlord. who was very glad to get 1t;
and one (small Cain that Was, except That
| lad never done harm to any one) was handed
over as lOdger TO reduced old lady, long
| known TO our FAMILY, In Little College street,
Cumden-lown, who took little children In to
board. and had orce done 50 at Brighton, and
| who, with few alteralio and embelll> III
mrntS, unconsciously began 10 SIt for Mrs.
Piuchin in 'DOmoey' when she took Inc in;.
s."She had little brother and sister under
her care then, somebody's natural Children,
who were very irregularly paid for, and
Widows little SON; The TWO ot Us ana sleIt VI
the same room. My own exclusive breakfast
of penny cottage loaf and u pcnnyworth Of
milk provided for myself. l Kept another
small loat and quarter Of pound OF cheese
on u particular shelf OF q particular CUPBOARD,
TO make my supper Oh when came back al
night. They made a hole in the SIX CT seven
shillings know well; and was cut at The
blacking warehouse all day, and hat 10 sup
port myself upon that money all The week.
IsuppGs, my lodging was paid Tor by my
father. certainly did not pay it my Self; ara
certainly had no other assistance whatever
(tAe making OF my clothes, think, eXcepted,)
fIom Monday morning until Saturday rlSnt.
No advice, no counsel. no encouragement, no
consolation, no support from any one liyAb
can call 10 mind.
so HELP Me GOD.
"Sundays Fanny and passed in the prison.
7 was at the Academy In Tenterdan street,
Hanover Square, at nine o'clock in the morn
Ing, to fetch her, aud We walked back there
together at night.
| was so Young and childish, 'and so little
uuaitled--how cou!d be otherwise ?-io ull-
derlake The whole charge of my existence,
th At in going to HunIeriord-Slars OF morn
inr could not resist the Stale pastry put oui
at half price on trays AZ The coDfectlonrrS'
doOxs in / ottenham Court Road, and ofIen
spent In that the money should have Kept for
nv dinner Then went without my dinner,
or bought q roll or slice of pudding. There
were two padding shops between which was
divided. according TO my finances. One was
In n court clos. to St. Martins Church, (at the
back OF the church, which Is now removed a.
together- The pudding ut that shop was made
with curranls, and was rather special pnd-
ding, but was dear-Lwo penn'orth not being
larger than Il penn'urth Of more ordinary puu-
ding. A good shop for the latter was in the
Strand, somewhere near where the Lowlher
Arcade Is now. IL was stout hale pudding,
heavy and flabty, with great raisins in II.
stuck In whole. al great distances apart. 1t
came up hot, at about noon every day; and
many and many day did dine oil 1t.
ALMOST LITTLE RoBBER AND vAGABOND.
"We had half an hoar, think, for tea.
When had money enough, used TO 20 loa
coffte-shop and have halt u PM Of coffee, and
slice OF bread and butter. When had no
money, took n turn In CovenL Garden Mar
Ket, and stared at the plneapples. Tile cOflee-
shops to which / most resOrted were one in
Maiden lane; one iu O court (non-eXis'ent
nowl close 10 Hungertord Market, and one In
st. Martins lane. OF which l only reco!lect
that it stood near the church. and that IN the
door there was an oval glass plate, with 'col-
f.e-room' painted on it, addressed toward The
street. If | ever fini myself In different
kind of cotlee-r1om now. but where there IS
such an inscription On gass, and read 1t back.
ward OH the wrong side, "moor eefpc" (as
often used 10 do tuen. in dismal reverie,)
shock goes through my blood.
~ know l do not eXaggerale, unconscious!y
and Intentionally, the scanliness CT nv re-
sources and the difficulties of my life. know
that if shilling or so were given Inc by any
one, spent it Is dinner or q tea. know that
worked from morning till night, with COM
mon men and boys, a shabby child. ] know
that tried, but Intellectually, not 10 anticipate
nv money, and TO make 1t last the week
through, by putting it away In drawer had
in the counting house, Wrapped into six little
parcels, each parcel containing the same
amount, aud laoelled with u different day. |
know that have lounged about the streets,
insu1llcitnIly and unsatisfactory fed. know
that but for the mercy Of God, might easily
have been, for any care that was taken OF me,
a It'll. robber or q little vdSabond.
THE YOUNG GENTLEMAN.
"But | held some station at the backing
warehouse, too. Besides that my relative At
The cOuuting-houSe did what q ma1 SO Cccll-