Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-03-23
Across the WaInuts and the Wine
In after dinner talk

Across the Walnuts and the Wine.
In er-dinner talk
Across the walnuts and the wine.- TsFFyson.
viii there be any children, wonder,
among US a generation OF two hence
sighed Housewife the other night, upon tAe
occasion of his last Juvenile party for the
season; and really, when look ed about
me, could scarcely feel astonlshed at MS
INQUIRY. Thy room, indeed, was full OF
children in ne sense, but in another there
was not a nild to be seen. 1t was an as
of little men and women. The
dancing vas as stately as a minuet; ana
each duolecimo dame had card In which
to set down her engagements. i heard one
of them refuse most gallant cavalier tin
puce velvet and lace) her hand for the IAN
GERS, upon the ground that it had been pre-
viously promised to another; and yet she
did not dance that set. IL
And why said l, my little lady. did
you not dance with that gentleman
am sure he looked very good-natured.
.Good-natured YES returned she'
Struggling her small shoulders but no"
unfortunately plain.'
This young person was about elgnt years
old.
Mrs. Housewife had empowered me to
-; @@e-<-. .aasters = w . 8 ceremonies
she termed it las -Slzasas zzzl.lzzzs sa5rder
but any post of that kina s1s1ld have been
a perfect sinecure. Rompin was as lit
tie likely to take place among these deco
rous Lilliputians, as scalping or the actual
cautery. The least approach to it was
regarded with ineffable disdain. Even
awkwardness was visited with the utmost
severity Of remark by these small ladies.
He hangs upon one So was the verdict
passed on one young beau, who had just
taken to stickups. and looked like eler-
gyman in miniature.
Another was rejected by a sweet little
maiden of eleven, upon the ground that he
had danced with her twice already.
And are you so inconsistent as all that ?
inquired deferentially.
No. said she frankly; L like him as
well as any in the room. But l don't like
being laughed at 4; and people do laugh if
one dances more than twice with the same
person.
She was actually afraid of being talked
about
| overheard two little female dots of six
or seven making conversation. They had
got very friendly, and one expressed her
hope that they should see more of one an
other. My sister yonder,' (pointing to a
damsel of eleven,) is at home Wednesday
from three to seven We should be glad
to see you.
Instead of the indiscriminate rush which
used 10 follow the announcement of supper
when we were young, these dignified juve-
niles went down in couples and talked the
same twaddle on the stairs which their
seniors use-inquiring sedately of one an
other whether they had been lately to the
theatre, or were going out of town. At
the repast itself, 1t was thought vulgar TO
admire; as for bursting into applause at
the sight of any gorgeous dainty, as youth
was surely wont to do-to have given way
to such an impulse would have been con-
sidered barbaric. On the other hand, de-
precistery criticism was as freely exchanged
as amfng the most fashionable grown-up
socieS. Professor Puzzletou's son and
heir Yged seven happened to be my neigh
ne was prosecuting his attentions to
iltus golden-haired fairy on the other
ShaEaRrRrEEfNR l.
ner. Having inherited the faculty of ana
lytical investigation from his parent, he
was taking the gilt off the eonjurers tricks
which had just been performed upstairs,
and preaching to his beloved object upon
the text of the hollowness of things in
general. Presently he took up highly
ornamented cracker, and in a loud and dis
tinct voice-the very echo of his father
lecture-room tone--observed These
crackers were made at home
saw the color come into Mrs. House.
wife's face, when on finding it did not eX-
plode, he added, 'Ah, thought So
Another young gentleman of somewhat
less tender age, who, 1t seemed to me, had
had quite as much champagne as was good
for him, was eeaseless in his opportunities
for port.
Port wine, l say Port wine, will
you p were the observations he addressed
to every waiter, with increasing irritation.
Now, in his ignorance of the tastes of
the rising generation, their host had pro-
vided no port wine, and the indignation of
his very respectable butler at its being
demanded in this public manner was a
charming spectacle. | saw him growing
redder and redder with each reiteration OF
the request, which he nevertheless affected
to ignore. When the little ladies retired
from the table, some of the little gentle
men remained to discuss matters of general
interest, with their little legs as wide apart
as they would 90, and their little thumbs
in the arm-holes of their waistcoats, aid
among others was my bacchanalian friend,
as importunate as ever. They have got
no port at this house think of that :!
cried he.
Then Housewife, wishing to discover the
young gentleman's reason for wanting port
as well perhaps as to remove this stigma
from his character for hospitality, caused
a bottle of the desired liquor to be brought
Now, why were you so anxious Tor tina
wine, my young friend? ? inquired he.
| Well, you see, I've had great deal o
dancing and though your 'Fizz' (by whicl
he meant champagne) is well enough, ther
is nothing like port wine to pick fellow
up
From subsequent inquiries, discovers
that this gentleman had but just arrives
at his teens he had seen, as the novelist
say, only thirteen summers
Surely Housewives remark upon tn
probable extinction of the genus iztdn
, offcinaliS-the common child as 1t used t
, be-was not without good grounds
L am bound to add, however, that tn
rising generation are as sharp as needles
perhaps their brain, forced into prematur
{ activity, will soften at the period when
s was wont to become well seasoned and ma
/, ture but at present their intelligence
: acute During the course of that evenin
n Professor Puzzleton entertained US wit
e one of the very best conundrums that
4 80 Lo,rd IN mr. life II was one of tn,