ALL the grate LORD MARE'S and the good Lady Maress's hundreds and
hundreds of little frends had their annual peep into Paradice last
Wensday heavening, at the good old Manshun Howse, on which most
interesting ocashun all their fond Mas and their stump-upping Pas sent
them into the famous Egipshun All in such a warious combenashun of
hartistick loveliness and buty as ewen I myself never seed ekalled!
Whether it was the rayther sewere coldness of the heavening, or the
niceness of the seweral refreshments as the kind Lady Maress perwided,
or whether it was that most on 'em was amost one year older than they
was larst year, in course I don't know, but they suttenly kept on a
pitching into the wittels and drink in a way as rayther estonished
ewen my seasoned eyes, acustomed as they is to Copperashun Bankwets,
and settra. One little bewty of a Faery, with her lovely silwer wand
of power, amost friten'd me out of my wits by thretening to turn
me into sumthink dredful if I didn't give her a strawbery hice
emedeately, which she fust partly heated, and then drunk, as their
custom is, I spose. Then there was a lot of all sorts--niggers and
sodgers, and three young ladies as mag-pies. Which last made me think
that a young gent fond of using his fists might do wus than go as
a burd prize-fiter. By the way, one likes condesenshun, down to
a certain xtent, but whether it should hinclude a most bewtifool
Princess a dansing with a pore littel white-faced Clown, is what I
must leave others to deside; I declines doing it myself.
[Illustration]
We had _Mr. Punch_ in the course of the heavening, and both hold and
young larfed away as ushal at his rayther rum morality. Then we
had two most clever gents who dressed theirselves up before a large
looking-glass to look like lots of diffrent peeple. The best couple I
was told was two Gents named BIZMARCK and BULLANGER, one was said to
be a reel Ero, and the other, a mere Sham, but I don't know werry much
about such Gents myself, xcept that BROWN tried werry hard to make me
beleeve that BIZMARCK, who was the reel Ero, used to think nothink
of pouring a hole Bottle of Shampain into a hole Pot of Stout and
drinking it all off at one draft, like a ancient Cole Heaver! We
finished up with a lot of German Chinese, who jumped about and danced
about and climbed up a top of one another, and then acshally bilt
theirselves up like a house, and then all tumbled to pieces, reelly
quite wunderfool, and not only the lovely little children, but ewen
Common Councilmen, aye and ewen ancient Deputys, all stood round and
larfed away and enjoyed theirselves, recalling to my sumwhat faltering
memory the words of the emortel Poet, "One touch, of Nature makes the
hole World grin."