The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1885-11-28
PARTINcToN AT HOME.
b. p. Shillaber, the Aged Humorist, as He
Il Seen Mt Chelsea, Mass.

b. p. Shillaber, the Aged Humorist, as He
Is Seen Mt Chelsea, Mass.
II never call man old until he gets
to be an octagon or a centurion" said
B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington) to a
friend who was congratulating him up
on having that day reached the good
age of seventy.
Unless it should be foreordained be-
forehand in advance, "playfully rejoined
his friend, ''that he should survive his
factories and become idiomatic before
that time"
The genial humorist was seated in his
favorite room. which in these later years
has confined him for months at time.
But few of his many callers would dream
of this fact. The ever hearty welcome
which they receive and the absence of
any personal complaining certainly do
not hint of the severe pain which is a
frequent visitor. Only the crutch in the
corner suggests it. There looked out
from the painting on the wall the ro-
guish face of Ike, 1.-THE prodigal of vir-
tue;" the very same Ike who caused
Mrs. Partington to wonder why he
didn't get medal, for certainly
more meddlesome boy she never knew"
although, at the same time. she dared
to hope that with judicial training he
might yet become a useful membrane
of society,"" On the shelf below the
painting was Sidney Morse's fine
statuette of the humorist. The writing
desk, which had done him faithful
service for fully twenty-five years, stood
opposite.
Over the writing-desk. on a book
shelf, were what he called his three
ESSENTIALS large Polyglot Bible,
which had an interesting family history,
a Shakespeare and Webster's Diction-
ary There was twinkle in his eye
when he remarked that through these
he showed his loyalty to the angular
Saxons." Upon being asked where his
own books were. he naively replied that
he '.kept them in another room out of
sight" Speaking of these. it is pleas
ant to know that the first copy of each
one of them he inscribed to the one
who for forty-fve years was true and
loving helpmeet, whom death claimed
some two years since, leaving him
alone but for the bright. helpful pres
ence of an unmarried daughter. who
has now the sole charge of his house.
and is daily elixir which any man
might envy.
Unfortunately, Mr. Shillaber is not as
erich as Creosote" and never has been.
He has .longed ito have villain in the
country and become an amatory farmer
under the canister of heaven" But he
has surely illustrated, in his life and in
his works, quality of mind which not
even Cr9sus' money could buy, that
lit is better to speak paregorically of .
person than to be all the time flingine
epitaphs at him."
In the confinement which is now
more or less his he is ever interested in
the outside world. His interest in poll
tics is as fresh as when he was young
man, before he 'inherited the govt
! from his wife's ancestors" He is
rooted and grounded in the principle Of
a true Democracy. The Boston Post,
which first introduced him as Mrs. Par
tington, is still welcome daily visitor.
But in talking with him on political
matters no one can help thinking OF
poor Paul, the corporal of the Bloody
| 9TH, s'who was inclined to politics.
but wasn't propergander nor an oily
archist, nor an averitionist, nor demi.
| god; all he wanted was an exercise OF
of his sufferings and the use of his elect
i've French eyes,"
Mr.. Shillaber's interest in his friends
is frequently shown in the apt impromp-
tus which Unexpectedly greet them.
| AS an instance, with copy Of Brown
ing's "Agamemnon and Dramatic
Idyls," which. one Christmas time, he
sent as present, he wrote on the fly.
leaf:
"a Merry Christmas, send with this,
Though ii seems absurdity browning
To wish for cachinatOry bliss
| Over the works of Browning.
The many rhymes of his, which have
| added pleasure to festive occasions, are
growing fewer and fewer, and in his
home in Chelsea his thoughts turn
oftener than formerly to the unknown
country. As he says himself, he is now
living on borrowed time. - Chelsea
| I<lFoco Un,. Db;y<,x7oInb,o, Droco