I love a children's ball — that is, a ball for 

 very young children ; for when they ap- 

 proach their teens, they begin gradually to 

 throw off their angelic disguise, preparatory 

 to becoming men and women ; the germs of 

 vanity, dissimulation, and pride, are visible ; 

 the young eye roves for admiration, the head 

 is held high on contact with vulgarity ; the 

 lips speak a different language from the less 

 deceitful brow. If the object of entertain- 

 ments were really to entertain, we ought 

 only to invite children ; because, if not 

 quite sure of succeeding in our aim, we at 

 least can discover whether or not we have 

 attained it. 



In the uniform polite satisfaction and 

 measured mirth of a grown-up party — the 

 cold smiles, the joyless laughter, the languid 

 dance, one tale only is told. Satiety, con- 

 tempt, anger, and mortification may lurk be- 

 neath, no clue is afforded to the poor host 

 by which he may discover the quantity of 

 pleasure his efforts and his money have pro- 

 duced ; a heart or two may be breaking be- 

 side him, but he knows nothing of the 

 matter ; a duel or two arranging at his elbow, 

 but he sees only bows and politeness ; and he 

 may send away half his guests affronted by 

 his neglect, and the other half ridiculing his 

 hospitality, while he has fatigued and im- 

 poverished himself to please them. In these 

 assemblies, 



There's sic parade, sic pomp an' art, 

 The joy can scarcely reach the heart ; 



while, in a party for children, ninety-nine out 

 of a hundred consider themselves at the 

 summit of human felicity, and take no care 

 to conceal their sentiments ; and if the un- 

 lucky hundredth happens to fall down, or to 

 be affronted, a few tears and a little outcry 

 show you where your assistance is required, 

 and allow you to set matters right again by 

 coaxing and sugar-plums. These occasional 

 eccentric movements in the polka, proceeding 

 from the exuberance of spirits and of joy ; 

 those shouts of merriment which sometimes 

 defy the lessons of politeness and the frowns 

 of a smiling mamma ; those peals of young 

 laughter so thrilling and so infectious ; those 

 animated voices and bright faces — assure the 

 donors of the feast that they have conferred 

 a few hours of exquisite happiness on the 

 dear little beings around them, afforded them 

 food for chattering and mirth for many days, 

 and perhaps planted in their grateful memo- 

 ries one of those sunny spots to which the 

 man looks back with pleasure and wonder, 

 when sated, wearied, and disappointed, he 

 sees with surprise how easily and how keenly 

 he was once delighted. 



Little girls are my favorites ; boys, 

 though sufficiently interesting and amusing, 

 are apt to be infected, as soon as they as- 

 sume the manly garb, with a little of that 



masculine violence and obstinacy, which, 

 when they grow up, they will call spirit and 

 firmness ; and lose earlier in life that docility, 

 tenderness, and ignorance of evil, which are 

 their sisters' peculiar charms. In all the 

 range of visible creation there is no object to 

 me so attractive and delightful as a lovely, 

 intelligent, gentle little girl, of eight or nine 

 years old. This is the point at which may 

 be witnessed the greatest improvement of in- 

 tellect compatible with that lily-like purity 

 of mind, to which taint is incomprehensible, 

 danger unsuspected ; which wants not only 

 the vocabulary, but the very idea of sin. It 

 is true that 



Evil into the mind of God or man 



May come and go, so unapproved, and leave 



No spot or blame behind — 



But to those who have lived long, and ob- 

 served what constant sweeping and cleaning 

 their house within requires, what clouds of 

 dust fly in at every neglected cranny, and 

 how often they have omitted to brush it off 

 till it has injured the gloss of their furniture 

 — to these there is something wonderful, 

 dazzling, and precious, in the spotless inno- 

 cence of childhood, from which the slightest 

 particle of impurity has not been wiped away. 

 Woe to those who by a single word help to 

 shorten this beautiful period ! 



That man was never born whose secret soul, 

 With all its motley treasure of dark thoughts, 

 Foul fantasies, vain musings, and wild dreams, 

 Was ever open'd to another's scan. 



Even the best and purest of women would 

 shrink from displaying her heart to our gaze, 

 while lovely childhood allows us to read its 

 every thought and fancy. Its sincerity, in- 

 deed, is occasionally very inconvenient ; and 

 let that person be quite sure that he has 

 nothing remarkably odd, ugly, or disagree- 

 able about his appearance, who ventures to 

 ask a child — what it thinks of him ? Amidst 

 the frowns and blushes of the family, amidst 

 a thousand efforts to prevent or to drown the 

 answer, " truth," in all the horrors of naked- 

 ness, will generally appear in the surprised 

 assembly ; and he who has hitherto thought, 

 in spite of his mirror, that his eyes had 

 merely a slight and not unpleasing cast, will 

 now learn for the first time that " everybody 

 says he has a terrible squint." 



1 cannot approve of the modern practice 

 of dressing little girls in accordance with the 

 prevailing fashion, with scrupulous imitation 

 of their elders. When I look at a child, I do 

 not wish to feel doubtful whether it is not an 

 unfortunate dwarf who is standing before me, 

 attired in a costume suited to its age. Ex- 

 treme simplicity of attire, and a dress sacred 

 to themselves only, are most fitted to these 

 " fresh female buds ; " and it vexes me to see 

 them disguised in the newest fashions of Le 



