flat, idiotic faces. It is difficult to avoid being
haunted by these Triplets. They were like the
ghosts of babies. With their pinched features
they seemed prematurely old, and yet they
were so incomplete as to give one the idea that
they were prematurely new. If this appear
paradoxical, it is the fault of the Triplets. All
the children present being competitors for
prizes, I was astonished to see so many purely
ordinary babies. The most of them were
remarkable for nothing. They were neither
very large, nor very small, nor very anything,
except very clean. That, the proprietor of
the show insisted upon, as a condition of
admission. The mothers, too, were very
neatly dressed. It was, however, apparent
that they were mostly poor people who had
brought their babies to the show solely for the
sake of the money prizes. The proprietor had
also bound himself to furnish the women with
refreshments during the exhibition, and the
prospect of unlimited porter and tea was
doubtless a powerful inducement to exhibitors.
I noticed that the majority of the women had
come from the country. London was in a
decided minority of mothers, as compared
with Lancashire. They all seemed very
contented, pleased with the attentions bestowed
by the visitors upon their charges, but still
more pleased when those attentions assumed
the form of a pecuniary offering, however
limited. They all agreed that Mr. Holland,
the proprietor of the show, was "a real
gentleman" and "had acted fair and honest
in everything he said and done." The
proprietor was equally well pleased with the
conduct of the exhibitors, and liberally added
silver cups to the money premiums he had
promised.

The prizes were for triplets, twins, the finest
boy, and the finest girl. They varied in
value from fifteen to five pounds. Little
difficulty was found by the judges in making
their selections, and the awards appeared to
satisfy all concerned. When the idea of a
Baby Show was originated, several years ago,
by American Barnum, it was thought in the
first place, that nobody would be willing to
exhibit a baby, and in the second place, that
nobody would be willing to pay to see the babies
if any were exhibited. These fears turned
out to be groundless, and there is really no
other show so easy to get together and so
popular. In the present case, the proprietor
merely inserted his prospectus in a few country
papers, and more than two thousand babies were
offered for exhibition. The day on which the
show opened, will long be memorable at Woolwich.
Twenty-three hundred mothers,
provided with more than that number of infants,
appeared at the gardens, many having travelled
hundreds of miles for the purpose. To
convince most of these women that, for some
reason or other, their children were ineligible,
was an almost hopeless task. The women
screamed; the children screamed; a baby
Babel was improvised on the instant. The
proprietor, frightened at the storm he had
innocently provoked, was compelled to hide
himself from the furious mob of mothers.
Several hours elapsed before the ground could
be cleared of superfluous infants and the
fortunate few arranged in rows for the inspection
of the public. About thirty thousand
spectators are reported to have attended the show
during the four days on which it was kept open.
These people paid a shilling each, and also
benefitted the proprietor by purchasing refreshments.
As a pecuniary speculation, therefore,
the Baby Show was successful, and will
surely be repeated in other parts of the
country. A portion of the press has protested
against it very vigorously, on account of its
indecency, and the danger of infecting children
with each other's diseases. As to indecency,
it is unquestionably true that for a Baby Show
there must be babies; that babies in warm
weather wear very little clothing; that nursing
mothers of the class of these mothers are
not particularly diffident in regard to the
display of the upper part of their figures. But
the spectators were nearly all of the same
class as the exhibitors, and took the maternal
displays as a matter of course. There were
no indecencies. The conversation, though not
refined, was certainly not gross. As to danger
of infection, all the babies on exhibition were
presumed to be in good health. Such a show
is unquestionably an offence against good
taste; but as it is prepared by persons who
have no good taste, and is patronised by those
who do not trouble themselves with aesthetic
questions, this objection goes for nothing. I
think that the poet put the matter very neatly
when he said: "It is a very good show for
those who like it."

As a rule, I do not believe that people
do like it. Crowds go out of curiosity,
but, after seeing the show, do not look
pleased. In point of fact, a Baby Show is very
commonplace. After all, it is only one hundred
children in one room. The preternaturally
large babies, or the remarkably small babies,
are in too great demand for booths and caravans
at country fairs to waste their sweetness
on a Baby Show for the sake of a doubtful prize.
Many of the mothers who bring their children
are women who would beg with the babies, or
hire the babies out to other beggars, or tell
fortunes with the babies in their arms, or
do anything else with the babies to get
money. Free food and drink for four days,
and the chance of ten or fifteen pounds at the
end of four days, to be earned by simply
sitting on a stool and nursing a child, this is
an opportunity very seldom offered to poor
women, and no wonder that it is gladly
accepted by those who have no delicate scruples
about facing the public. It is easier than
doing charwork. It is not more public than
attending the customers at a costermonger's
barrow, or picking up the sticks at Aunt
Sally. It is more pleasant than many of the
occupations in which these women are
ordinarily engaged. The babies, also, are cleaner,
better fed, and better nursed, than they would
have been during the same time at home.
There are four days' clear gain to the babies;