Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-07-30
ENEMIES or MOTHER GOOSE.

IL appears that there are many icono-
elastic persons whose SCI Sc OF propriety Is
shocked at the idea Of our childrens' read
ing Mother Goose" and the highly I'M
probable doggsrel for which she is respon-
siple These good people have long since
decreed that Santa Claus was a gross.
unbearable lie. ami now they wou'd make
war against the vulgar, senseiess
iangie' OF those good old rhymes which
nave rung In the heads OF children for
nearly two centuries.
The crusade. IL appears. was inaugu-
rated by certain educational organizations
known as mothers clubs" which have
decided that Mother Goose's" tales are
all tommy-rot, and that they are extreme
lv demoralzing 70 the youngsters who
near them. The placid stupidity OF these
people IS disturbed because they fear MO
Their Goose VIII give the children false ide-
as OF animal life, which can never be era'-
icated. For instance, IL you allow your
baby to hear about the remarkable feat OF
the COW that jumped over the moon the
brat will grow Up with the idea that al
COWS can perform similar feats, ana MS
understanding will, of course, be greauy
injured. The an,i-Gooseites would IAN
instn the truth into infanule minds the
truth. the whole truth, and nothing Out
the truth" They would so into the hurs-
cry and. there assembling the pinaiored
tots. read TO them choice selections rom
works on zoology, or explain TO them the
distinctions between vertebrateS ana III
yertebrates. Possibly, also. they VIII re-
fute the tradition about the Old woman
who lived i'm a shoe, with d large Dut re-
fractory. family, and demonstrate the fact
that such a feat is practically Impossible
unless. indeed. some fortunate mother can
find the discarded foot-eear OF Chleaso
lass.
Yes mothers. we must have no more Oh
the cat with the fiddle, and the niue oos
that laughed to see such sport ana an
those other mendacious tales with winch
,,or bava heretofore corrupted the minds
30 ,,our babes. What we want now Is
facts-hard. cold, picked facts. IL hlish'
even be well TO have few STATISTICS too'
II must be admitted. however, That the
anti Gooseites have met with the must
vigorous opposition. Newspapers all over
the country have hared up, and Expressed
Themselves in favor of the "sense1esS
,hvrnes." Columns have been written III
defence Of the respectable dame VINO H's'
nenned the falsehoods which in the future
threaten the understanding OF our chi
dren.
We now learn that Mother Goose was
reaIitv--tbat she was a Boston woman
who lived "eyer so many years ago. anu
that she had children Of her own ana hau
N amuse them. In 116O John Ne"Deliy' u
London. published a collection oil her
rb,.nes 60 they have held their own Ior
many a year. 49,.
1,o- tho nurposes for which these tales
were written they have never been equA.-
led They show that Mother Goose
had a most inappropriate name' that' lar
from being a foolish woman herself she
u,as philosopher, who mastered the psy-
cboIoev Of childhood as no other person
has ever done She is the one person out
Of millions who has understood chlidIeh
well enough TO produce a literature mat
could continually amuse them. Inc very
absurdity. improbabiity, and sehseleSS
Jingle" of her stuff is what the youngsters
want. Their little minds, just beginning
to expand, need just this sort Of literature,
In the verses Of this good woman we hhd
an the requisites of lterature-iun' hu-
NOR action. originality. perspicuity' ana
last. but not least, that sensation Vi
chills and terror which, as the lcoAo-
clasts say, is so awfully exemplihed IN
the lines
Fee. 70, Fl, fun; -,,-,...,,, ..
l smell the blood of an Enslshiildn'
II Boston could produce such rhymes as
these. and suffer them to live from sener-
alton TO generation. despite deaths ana
wars. and political revolutions. and prog
ress Of thought and civilization why need
the Kest OF the world feel sense OF lhse-
curity in indorsing Mother Goose!