The hydraulic press., 1860-07-07

deal and hope can, and do. Huffing and
snnoblng prey upon my feelings but can
bear them without complaint. They may
teH IN the long run; may be hustled about,
from post to pillar, beyond my strength; new
ertneiess, wish to avoid giving rise to words
in the family.
Ine voice of Nature, however, cries aloud
in behalf of Augustus George, my infant son.
1t is for him that wish to utter few plain
tive household words. i am not at all an
CRY: am mild-but miserable.
wish to know why, when my child Au-
gustus George, was expected in our circle, a
provision of pins was made, as if the little
stranger were a criminal who was to be put
to the torture Immediately on his arrival, in
stead of a holy babe? wish to know why
haste was made to stick those pins all over
his little innocent form. in every direction?
wish to be informed why light and air are
excluded from Augustus George, like pois-
ons? Why, l ask, is my unoffending infant
so hedged into a basket-bedstead, with dim
ity and calico, with miniature sheets and
blankets, that can only hear him shuttle
deep down under the pink hood of little
bathing nachine, and can never peruse even
so much of his lineaments as his little nose
Was | expected to be the father of French
roll, that the brushes of all nations were laid
in to rasp Augustus George? Am / to be
told that his sensitive skin was intended by
nature to have rashes brought out upon it,
by the premature and incessant use of these
formidable instruments Is my son nut
meg that he is to be grated on the stiff edges
of sharp frills? Am the parent of mus
lin boy. that his yielding surface is to be
crimped and small plated? Or is my child
composed of paper or of linen, that the i'm
pressions of the finer getting up art practised
by the laundress, are to be printed all over
his soft arms and legs, as have constantly
observed them? The starch enters his soul
Who can wonder that he cries?
Was Augustus George intended to have
limbs, or to be born a Torso? presume
that limbs were the intention, as they are the
usual practice. Then why are my poor child's
limbs fettered and tied up? Am to be told
that there is any analogy between Augustus
George Meek and Jack Sheppard? Analyse
castor oil at any institution of chemistry
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 Augustus George. Yet, l charge Mrs.
Prodgit (aided and abetted by Mrs Bigby)
with Systematically forcing castor oil on my
innocent son, from the first hour of his birth
When that medicine, in its efficient action,
causes internal disturbance to Augustus
George, | charge Mrs. Prodgit (aidcd and
abetted by Mrs. Bigby) with insanely and in
consistently administering opium to allay the
Il NJ
of this?
Ii the days Of Egyptian mummies are past,
how dare Mrs. Prodgt require, for the use of
my son, an amount of flannel and linen that
would carpet my humble roof? Do won
der that she requires it? No. This morn
ing-within an hour-I beheld this agonizing
sghtl beheld my son, Augustus George,
in Mrs. Prodgit's hands, and on Mrs Prod
gifts knee, being dressed. He was, at tie
moment, comparatively speaking, in state
of nature, having nothing on but an extreme
ly short shirt, remarkably disproportionate
to the length of his usual outer garments
Trailing from Mrs. Prodgit's lap, on the floor,
was a long narrow roll, or bandage, should
say, of several yards in extent. In this
saw Mrs. Prodgit tightly wrap the body of
my unoffendng infanti turning him over and
over, now presenting his unconscious face
upward, now the back of his bald head, un-
til the unnatural feat was accomplished, 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 l feel deeply. Not for
myself, but for Augustus George. dare
not interfere. Will any one? any publica-
tion? any doctor? any parent anybody? l
do not complain that Mrs. Prodgit (aided
and abetted by Mrs. Bgby) entirely alienates
Maria James affe ton from me, and inter-
poses an impossible barrier between US.
do not complain of being made of no account
do not want to be of any account. But
augustus George is production of nature,
aud | 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. Prodgit? If not, why
don't they take her in hand and improve her !?
P. S. Maria James mamma boasts Of ber
own knowledge on the subject and says she
brought up seven children besides Maria
Jane But how do 1 know that she might
not nave Drought tnem up mucn oetteff Ma
ria Jane herself is far from strong, and is
subject to headaches, and nervous indiges
ton; besides which, learn from the statis-
tical 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. F. IS. Augustus Geergeis in convusionsl