, 1879-03-01


drcn,-twlco awec1s Is said 10 havo been the aver.
tilf The little ohcs, TO- usu his own cxpressis,n
''conld mt drnu ono leg nfter the othrr.' ThG
afte,noonts diversion began with bountifiil
luncheon In London, 10 which AlncatIny hlwars
an especial contcmpt. for tic pleasure Of seeing
them reject IL With Ecotn. 'ffc afternoons sights
were the lions md hears. the tanoralnas a'nl
ihh wax-works. or even tho British Museum.
iow, ail tlc ythcr exhibitions he'ng e
hanstcd, ho took the children to the Nation
al Gallery, md how. willie Charley anl Marga-
ret p,aycd the connolsscur, Deorgy said, tloncst-
u, "Lct US go, there is nothing here TINT care
sights; have seen no aIght to-day" Az Of
which seems to have amused MacauIay greatly.
The c1aborats process Of hendng valentine to
his little niece Alice Is recorded at length In bis
and writes thr Valentine. Fr. il he sens It OF
IN hts sister Fanny at Brighton 10 DO forwarded.
Feb. "A ilic whofu entry Ut The day Is aFout the
valentine: how Funny cano d Will! t1c cii'l-
hrch. Alice In perfect rnpiures, hlltl begging
quite pathGttcaiy to Gc told the trlt! about II.
Whcn ,l,cy we're alone together shu eafd-tllc
little witel,-sle was going 10 be- rery serious,
and down she goes IN her knees, lifting tip her
hands In supplicaiof,: Dear uncle, D tell the
truth to your little GIRL Did you send the yhlen-
t!ne!" Aud then hc ind 10 own It. Ma
eattlay would do almost anything TO rlcnac his
favurltcs; he cyet, tried to like their dug, and
dogs nc was not lOud of. In nnc place In lIis
l!ary tic denou:,ees the animal ns "a beast tint
ID always spelling conversation" But when
thu tloG wah pct Ut tie children, illat wah
ano'her matter, atu hp bought things fur It Ut
the ehops. and made poetry about 1t to 40 ex,
tent which made tho children happy, II II 1au
ITO particular ei1crt upon tic dog. When he
was busy upon The second iustall,ncnt ot ai.
history, he would snenIi sOiAc precious ttfnc In
kertEs,:. gold pfcuc In the zeal Of q letter 10
hs nephew GcurGe, 30 that II might slip pRat
tlu pose.uIlice authorities, and wUultl transmit
part Of tady's letter was IN the pustscrfpt, the
bcst part ot at. upcies was In the seal.
One DAY, coming. out from collec-
l,oi' ot pictures, lle "a" norn de-
lighttul picture, liz enys, than my there. II was
four pretty little sisters. from about II to 9
yeafa old, ridin. tn donkey cart In deep,
shady 'anc, aslti quite beside themselves at tile
treat. They wcrc laughing null singing In wnY
beautiful, and when he asked them to Get on,
they Ehng like little larka. Whcreupon all the
silver llo hau III his pockets went to buy dotls.
kccnly sensitive as lis uatllre was 10 all Mp
c.aily 80 where children we're roncerucu. Ilc
writes IL ask frtcnh X he has read the ilrht
number Of Domhcy." There Is unv passage
10 It, he says. which nnatla hin cry rs II his
heart would bscak. 1t Is TIN. description nf
little girl WHO las lost nh aiteetlonntu mother,
a1d Is unKtndly treated ty everybody. Images
Ut that sort always oyrrpowcred htm. even whru
TIC artist was less skilffui than Dickens.
"1'hc Judriuus Pott " was q MYSTERIOUS per-
son who played large part in ataeau'ays lie
Ataeauiayfs letters 10 them and sfs conycrsa-
t!ons were filed with quotations from this pro-
little author, who seems to have written Tolls of
veraes, lnany OF which Tad striking a1d uncx-
pecteu applicability tn The Incident justin llad
TIE Judicious Poet scen1s to have written n
good many verses frum Parliament nbout rir-
cunatances which had como under tse tornc-
date personnl observation OF aIacau-
n.y. lie eoaposea 1c alsG en,sa E9oa " many 1
dog, a,tl tho children oItcn wondered how IL
WAS that tlle Jud.riuus Poet should llayo written
lines which really would have lnuked, II auy-
body but Unclo fo.n lnst rcpcated Them, ind If
he had nut ,so!ctnnly assured them that they
were thG work OF aliu hard aforementioned,
very much like lines that Uncle Tom might
Aavo lnade up himself on the spur ot the Mu-
mcnt. Perhaps this suspicion leepcncd whun
tile children lind hunted the lsbrary in ram fur IL
VOLUME of The collected works Vi this nut1lor.
At all eycnts, II was not likely to ht dsspclsefl
wIlril they found Unelu InIn attempting to
Jain oil OH tlleul poultry cuF!ouslv Ike That Of
ilsr JudIc'ous Poet Tor tic composition Of some
more distinguished pcrson,-as, iur instADGe,
when he suggested to one of h!s. older ttteecs
that this statZa, tsoM what ht said WIS ttir iu-
yur,tc ruBeyttr hymn tO accompany tic Sltchael-
mas goosc, might be by Bishop W'lbsrforcc:
Then p!y the fork and araw tho cork.
And keep tho bottle handy;
For each slice Of Guoee Will introduce
A tniinpleful Ut brandy.
And The suspicion TINT It wis Uncle Tom, after
all ttltst bc ceolltrueI IN the minds OF te efrnpar
tsal reader wilen hr ilN.ls that tho Judlcluus
Poet was Just as fond Of children us aiaetuny
was, nnt wrote paeIlss for slicnt five a,,1 tel,
eta,ixas lonE,-gcAt cllfldrGn's poems, too. with
po deep political ur literary illusions IN them,-
which Unclc Totn would print out In big, l,at,d-
some capitals.
Nuluubt tho secret Of bis popularity with
children, and Of hss iu,euso enjoyment OF their
tug1ety, was that hG OWN nature wAs as fresh
and cliidtku in tho midst Ut ereat successes as
In the earlier md quctor years Of hts life.