The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1872-03-01


his books, stumbles along toward the
stand, where he becomes the target Of q
hundred eyes, and his face the color of
O turkey gobbler's wattles. A bow,
suoh as he would have made If O brick
had struck him at the instant in the back
of the head, and ho essays to speak:
"The curiew tolls tho knell Of parting day
The lowing (pause) herds wind slowly Ger the
lea,
The,,the-tprompter) 'plowman'- -plowman
leaves the weary way
And plods the dark to worldness and to me.
Save from the yonder ivy naantled tower
The moving moon doth to the owl complain
Save tie he he he) whore tho beetle wheels
his best right bower
And drow6y tinklings lull her distant reign"
The teacher raps on the desk, and
says: Samuel, no levity;" and Samuel,
who has forgotten pretty much all his
''elegy," concludes as follows:
"Here rests his (ha..ha) head tsnort) upon
the lap of yearth,
AZ. youth to tproiongedi sneker) unknoMn,
observation-disclosures"
Sam. goes to his seat and holds his
nose to keep from laughing out loud,
while at nod from the master Lucinda
Wirth" trips, all smiles and bushes. to
the platform, and, after "kurtseying,"
proceeds to read, in an inaudible voice.
something about "Be kind to thy father"
The teacher says "louder, and we catch
a few words: ''Your father loves you,
and has been at great deal of expense
s.brlnging you up, 80 you should obey
him and not --." here enaues tumble
Of sounds which no one can interpret,
which cease, and after folding the COM
position Lucinda" lays it on the teach
er's table for inspection, ''kurtseys" and
goes to her seat. George Francis
Sprain," says the teacher, aud o spruce
looking chap, whose hair is goose-oiled
into curliness, steps boldly to tue front.
George likes this business-he is going
to make lawyer and in shrill voice
he commences: "Not many generations
ago where you now sit enoiroied by all
that embellishes civilized life, the wild
fox nodded in the wind, and the thistle
dug his hole unscared" 80 he goes
on, transposing sentence occasionally,
but mainly right, and with firm voice,
to the end. We have seen George since
he arrived at mans estate; he now
stands in the Police Court and defends
''drunks'' for fifty cents case, win or
lose, and has acquired such reputation
that o Judge always comes down hnrder
on his clients than any others.
Miss Elizabeth Brandreth steps for.
ward and, in Susan B. Anthony style,
reads a hifalutin' description of country
life-how Sin the spring, when meadow
larks are warbling, and geese squaking,
she loves to go out into the fields and
Gull butter-oups, and see thu little lamb
kins gamboling on the green grassy
banks, (green faro banks, her brother
said she meant and then return back to
home again once more, and help her
mother stuff sausages, for if we are not
kind to our parents the sassenger meat
will spile." and really we have forgotten
the rest Of Elizabeth's composition.
Then "Charles Bashful" starts for the
stand, accelerated in his motion by q
pin-thrust, as he left tho seat He bows,
and seeing boy making faces, COM
mences to snicker, until the teacher
comes up by his side and raps his head
with the ferule; this causes moro mirth,
then more raps, until lie forgets his
piece, and is locked up in the wood-box
in disgrace.
The minister's son, ''Melvillo Winter
blossom" is then called to show tho
scholars how good boy should speak.
Melville looks as solemn as vinegar
JuB3 LIS plCCo uHb DCeu SCleCLou DY Lib
parents, principally for its moral tono;
ho says:
'I 10 most earnestly wish I could in
duce all youthful individuals to divest
religion of its gloomy and repulsive as
sociations; but. my lords, I ask no re-
spite from death; am roady to die for
my country, and, sink or swim, revive
and perish, am for tho Union, one and
inseparable. MY lords, were I an Amc-
rican as am nm Englishman" tho
teacher, who has been trying to find the
original of the orators remarks, stops
the medley, and Melville takes his seat.
he had been crammed with 30 many
pieces, TINT he had not been ablo to dis
tinguish between them, and thus de-
fented his parents aims. But why con-
tinuo this subject? The good little girl
recited "Mary's Lamb" very nicely, and
the "goou little boy" spoke his anti
tobacco piece as follows:
''Il never chow tobacco-no,
Said little Robert Reed;
I'll never put it in my mouth,
1t is filthy weed"
By the way, VIC saw this good boy n
few days ago; he now chews plug tobnc-