Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1853-03-26

From PuncA.]
CHILD'S PARTIES AND PEMON.
STRANGE CONCERNING THEM

| From PUuch.1
| CHILD'S PARTIES AND A PEMON
STRANGE CONCERNING THEN.
CoNDEsoEND1NG SIR,
AS your publication (which an admirable crit
in the Quarterly Reuielo justly pronounces to b
the wonder of the age) finds it's way to amos
every drawing room table in this metropolis, an(
| is read by the young and old in every family.
beseech you to give admission to the re1nonstranc
OF an unhappy parent, and to endeavor to put /.
stop to practice which appears to me to be in
creasing daily, and is likely to operate most in.
Jurlously upon the health, morals and comfort o
society in general.
| The awful spread of Juvenile Parties, Sir. i.
the fact to which would draw your attention. =
There is no end to these entertainments. and j
the custom be not speedily checked, people will
be Obliged to fly from London at Christmas and
hide their children during the holidays l gave
mine warning in speech at breakfast this day
and said with tears in my eyes that if the Juve.
nile Party system went on, I would take house
at Margate next winter, for that, by Heavens
could not bear another Juvenile Season in Lon
don.
1t they would but transfer Innocent's Day tc
the summer holidays, and let the children have
their pleasure in May or June, we might get on
But now in this ruthless and cut-throat season
OF seet, thaw, frost, wind, snow, mud, and sore
throats 1t is quite tempting of fate to be going
much abroad; and this is the time Of all Others
that IS selected for the amusement of our little
| darlings.
AS a first step towards the remedying of the
| evil of which | complain, l am obliged to look
Mr.. Punch himself in his venerable beard, and
say, "You, Sir, have, by your agents, caused moi
| a little of the mischief. I desire that, during
Christmas time At least, Mr.. Leech should be
abolished, or sent to take holiday. Judging
| from his sketches. I should say that he must be
endowed with perfectly monstrous organ OF
philoprogentveness; he revels in the delineation
OF the dearest and most beautiful little boys and
| girls III turned-down collars and broad sashes,
| and in the Alnanack, just published, produces a
picture of childs costume ball, in which he has
| made the little wretches in the dresses of every
age, and looking so happy, beautiful, and charm
ing. that have carefully kept the picture from
the sight of the women and children of my own
household, and-I will not say burned it. for
| had not the heart to do that-but locked it away
| privately, lest they should conspire to have
| costume ball themselves, and little Polly should
insist upon appearing in the dress of Ann Bullen,
or little Jacky upon turning out as an ''Ancient
Briton.''
An odious, revolving, and disagreeable practice,
Sir, say, ought not to be described in a manner
SO atrociously pleasing. The real satirist has no
| right to lead the public astray about the Juve-
q
as if it was sort of Paradise and the little imps
engaged as happy and pretty as so many che.
rubs. They should be drawn-one and all,
as hideous- .disagreeab distorted affected
Jealous of each other-dancing awkwardly
with shoes too tight for them-over eat
ing themselves at supper-yery unwell land de-
servedly sol the next morning, with Mamma
administering mixture made after the Doctors
prescription, and which should be painted aw-
fully black, in an immense large teacup, and las
might be shown by the horrible expression on the
little patients face) of the most disgusting favor
Danish, say, that Mr.. Leech during Christmas
time, at least; for by misplaced Kindness and
absurd fondness for children, he is likely to do
them and their parents an incalculable quantity
of harm.
As every man, Sir, looks at the world out of
his own eyes or spectacles, or, in other words,
speaks of it as he finds it himself, will lay be-
fore you my own case, being perfectly sure that
many another parent will sympathise with me.
My family, already inconveniently large, is yet
constantly on the increase, and it is out of the
question that Mrs. Spec should 90 to parties, as
that admirable woman has the best of occupa-
tons at home. where she is always nursing the
baby. Hence. it becomes the fathers duty to
accompany his children abroad and to give them
pleasure during the holidays ~
Our own place of residence is in South Carroll
ma Place, Chaplain Road North, in one of the most
healthy of the suburbs of this great City. But
our relatives and acquaintance are numerous
and they are spread all over the town and its out
skirts. Mrs. S. has sisters married, and dwelling
| respectively in Islington, Haverstock Hill, Bed
| ford Place, Upper Baker Street, and Tyburn Gar
| dens; besides the children's grandmother, Ken
sington Gravel Pits, whose parties we are all Of
course obliged to attend. A uery great connex-
| ion of ours, and nearly related to B-r-nt and
M P, lives not a hundred miles from B-lg-ve
| Square. l could enumerate dozen more places
where our kinsmen or intimate friends are-heads
of families every one of them with their quivers
more or less full of little arrows.
| What is the consequence herewith send il
to you in the shape Of these eighteen inclosed
notes, written in various styles more or less cor
rect, and corrected from Miss Fanny s, aged Sc
ven, who hopes in round hand, that her dear
cousins will come and drink tea with her on New
Years Eve, her birth-day,-to that of the Go
verness of the B-r-n-t in question, who requests
the pleasure of our company at ball, conju-
ror, and Christmas Tree. Mrs. Spec, for the
valid reason above stated, cannot frequent these
meetings: l am the deplorable chaperon of the
young people. l am called upon to conduct my
| family five miles to tea at six o'clock No count
is taken of our personal habits, hours of dinner
or intervals of rest. We are made the victims
of an infantile conspiracy, nor will the lady o.
the house hear of any revolt or denial.
"Why," says she, with the spirit which be
comes a woman and mother, (" you go to your
man. parties eagerly enough: what an unnatural
wretch you must be to grudge your children
their pleasure" She looks round, sweeps all
six Ofthem into her arms, whilst the baby on hel
lap begins to bawl, and you are assailed by sever
| pairs OF implOrinK ewes, against which there il