66 A Century of Family Letters [CHAP, iv 



off very well. Poor Erny put his head down on my lap 

 whenever he expected any firing, or whenever the chief 

 comic character, a beadle with a very red face, was on the 

 stage, whom he seemed to think quite as alarming as any 

 of the murderers. The second piece was more cheerful and 

 when we came to the pantomime Snow and Bro were in 

 extasies and so sorry when it ended at near 12 o'clock. I 

 was surprised at the extreme innocence of even Snow's 

 questions. "Whether they were really killed ?" (I forget 

 tho' whether that was Bro or not) " whether the wicked 

 Squire was really a bad man ?' : and many discussions as 

 to whether Mrs Sanders, the waxwork woman, was nice or 

 not, and they thought all the women so beautiful. If you 

 will have dissipation for children, they certainly enjoy a 

 play ten times more than anything else. The first play 

 ended by the military coming over a wall and shooting 

 almost all the characters dead, to our great relief. It was 

 at the Tottenham theatre, very low. 



Emma Darwin to her aunt Madame Sismondi. 



12, UPPER Go WEB STREET, Feb. 8th [1842]. 



... I came up the other day from Maer by myself and 

 minded it no more than a drive to Newcastle. Everybody 

 was civil and gentlemanlike and the policemen at the 

 stations are very obliging. I enjoyed my week at Maer 

 heartily. Charlotte was very much occupied with her baby, 

 and Charles still more so I think; indeed Eliz. says she thinks 

 she never saw a woman so fond of a baby as he is. I wish it 

 had been a girl for I think Charlotte's gravity and want of 

 looking at the hopeful side (just like my father) will make 

 her too anxious about a boy. I often fret my soul about 

 our little boy, which is a great waste of fretting, for I dare- 

 say he will be a very good boy, but all men go through an 

 awful ordeal at school and college. It is only wonderful 

 what good souls they turn out after all. At any rate I had 

 better put off my fret for 10 or 15 years. 



