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Leader (1850-1860), 29th June 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 332, ^nrtfnlin

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      Untitled Article

      We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourages itse ^

      Untitled Article

      THE CAT'S PILGRIMAGE . Part I . "It is all very fine , " said the Cat yawning , and stretching herself against the fender , " but it is rather a bore ; I don't see the use of it . " She raised herself , and arranging her tail into a ring , and seating herself in the middle of it with her fore paws in a straight line from her shoulders , at right angles to the hearthrug , she looked pensively at the fire . " It is very odd , " she went on , " there is my poor Tom ; he is gone . I saw him stretched out in the yard . I spoke to him , and he took no notice of me . He won't , I suppose , ever any more for they put him under the earth—nice fellow he was . It is wonderful

      how little one cares about it . So many jolly evenings we spent together ; and now I seem to get on quite as well without him . 1 wonder what has become of him ; and my last children , too , what has become of them ? What are we here for ? I would ask the men , only they are so conceited and stupid they can ' t understand what we say . I hear them droning away , teaching their little ones every day ; telling them to be good , and to do what they are bid , and all that . Nobody ever tells me to do anything ; if they do I don't do it , and I am very good . I wonder whecher I should be any better if I minded more . I'll ask the dog . " " Dog" said she , to a little fat spaniel , coiled up on a mat like a lady ' s muff with a head and tail stuck on to it , " Dog , what do you make of

      it all ?" The Dog faintly opened his languid eyes , looked sleepily at the Cat for a moment , and dropped them again . " Dog , " she said , " I want to talk to you ; don ' t go to sleep . Can ' t you answer a civil question ?" " Don ' t bother me , " said the Dog , " I am tired . I stood on my hind legs ten minutes this morning before I could get my breakfast , and it hasn ' t agreed with me . " " Who told you to do it ? " said the Cat . " Why the lady I have to take care of me , " replied the Dog . " Do you feel any better for it , Dog , after you have been standing on your legs ? " asked she .

      " Haven ' I told you , you stupid Cat , that it hasn't agreed with me ; let me go to sleep , and don't plague me . " " But I mean , " persisted the Cat , " do you feel improved , as the men call it ? They tell their children that if they do what they are told they will improve , and grow good and great . Do you feel good and great ?" " What do I know , " said the Dog . " I eat my breakfast and am happy . Let me alone . " " Do you never think , oh , Dog without a soul ! Do you never wonder what dogs are , and what this world is ?"

      The Dog stretched himself , and rolled his eyes lazily round the room ; " I conceive , " he said , " that the world is for dogs , and men and women are put into it to take care of dogs ; women to take care of little dogs like me , and men for the big dogs like those in the yard—and cat 9 , " he continued , " to know their place , and not to be troublesome . " " They beat you sometimes , " said the Cat . " Why do they do that ? They never beat me . " " If they forget their places , and beat me , " snarled the Dog , " I bite them , and they don ' t do it again . I should like to bite you , too , you nasty Cat , you have woke me up . "

      " There maybe truth in what you say , " said the Cat , calmly ; " but I think your view is limited . If you listened like me you would hear the men say it was all made for them , and you and I were made to amuse them . " " They don't dare to say so , " said the Dog . " They do , indeed , " said the Cat . " I hear many things which you lose by sleeping so much . They think I am asleep , and so they are not afraid to talk before me ; but my ears are open when my eyes are shut . " " You surpriso me , " said the Dog . " I never listen to them , except when I take notice of them , and then they never talk of anything except of me . " could tell two about which don t know

      " L you a thing or yourself you , said the Cut . " You have never heard , I dare say , that once upon a time your lathers lived in a temple , and that people prayed to them . " " Prayed ! what is that ?" " Why , they went on their knees to you to ask you to give them good things , just as you stand on your toes to them now to ask for your breakfast . You don * t know either that you have got one of those bright things we see up in the air at night called after you . " " Well , it is just what I said , " answered the Dog . " I told you it was all made for us . They never did anything of that sort for you ?"

      " Didn ' t they ? Why there was a whole city where the people did nothing else , and as soon as we got stiff and couldn ' move about any more , instead of being put under the ground like poor Tom , we used to be stuffed full of all sorts of nice things , and kept better than we were when we were alive . " " You arc a very wise Cat , " answered her companion ; ' but what good is it knowing all this ?" ' Why , don ' t you see , " said she , " they don ' t do it any more . We are going down in the world , we are , and that is why living on in this way is

      such an unsatisfactory sort of a thing , I don't mean to complain for myself , and you needn't , Dog ; we have a quiet life of it ; but a quiet life is not the thing , and if there is nothing to be done except sleep and eat , and eat and sleep , why , as I said before , I don't see the use of it . There is something more in it than that ; there was once , and there will be again , and I shan't be happy till I find it out . It is a shame , Dog , I say . The men have been here only a few thousand years , and we , why we have been here hundreds of thousands ; if we are older we ought to be wiser . I'll go and ask the creatures in the wood . " " You'll learn more from the men , " said the Dog .

      " They are stupid , and they don't know what I say to them ; besides they are so conceited they care for nothing except themselves . No , I shall try what I can do in the woods . I'd as soon go after poor Tom as stay living any longer like this . " "And where is poor Tom , " yawned the Dog . " That is just one of the things I want to know , " answered she . " Poor Tom is lying under the yard , or the skin of him , but whether that is the whole I don ' t feel so sure . They didn't think so in the city I told you about . It is a beautiful day , Dog ; you won't take a trot out with me ?* ' she added ,

      wistfully . " Who ? I ! " said the Dog . " Not quite . " " You may get so wise , " said she . "Wisdom is good , " said the Dog ; " but so is the hearthrug , thank you !" " But you may be free , " said she . " I shall have to hunt for my own dinner , " said he . " But , Dog , they may pray to you again , " said she . " But I shan ' have a softer mat to sleep upon , Cat , and as I am rather delicate , that is a consideration . "

      Untitled Article

      THE DUODECIMO STATESMAN . ( ON AN INSENSATE DESIRE TO SEE THE WHIGS TURNED OUT OF OFFICE . ) Statesmen suited to its purpose every generation finds , Hence our very little Johnny suits our very little minds . We no longer care for Greatness ( ask Carlyle !) the current goes Against the Age of Quartos , with that of Duodecimos ! We build with lath and plaster houses never meant to last , Content for all our substance to rely upon the Past ; Content to baulk the Present with our " measures day by day" ;

      And for Reasons we give Precedents—so much the " safer" I We object to vigorous Action : it would strain the nation ' s thews ; We object to all progression ; we have calm and " moderate" views ; We object to any change : Why not let affairs run on In the peaceful path of platitude carved out by little John ? In vain do the factious journalists declare we daily feel The man we gained in gaining John , the man we lost in Peel . Peel had , they say , some greatness ; beneath his waistcoat white and wide , All that bears the name of Russell they declare that Peel could hide : — All his Measures—all his Body—Soul—Boots—Principles—and Pride .

      It may be so ; yet , in such an age of compromise as ours , Do you wonder men dread earnestness , and dread all real powers ? We stifle truth , discredit truth—yet you wonder we have come To place our trust in Littleness and elect as chief Tom Thumb ! Psha ! three cheers for Little Johnny ! Bring a Microscope and see All the greatness of our Statesmen in Vinfiniment petit !

      Untitled Article

      THE PROPENSITIES AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS . The propensities are natural forces , and must be balanced by their peers ; no mere effort of the will is sufficient to keep them constantly in check . If a man wishes to keep the sea from his meadow , he will not , at this time of clay , ride into it like Canute on an easy chair , and cry " back ! " no , he will opnose force to force ; he builds his embankment and rears inertia against inertia . The sea advances by natural laws , every cubic foot of it weighing a thousand ounces , or thereabouts ; certain , somehow or other , to dispose of this amount of force . The man will not wring his hands over the fact , and complain aftainst destiny for giving to salt water its constitution ; the law is

      inevitable ; but are not other laws equally so , and may not one control the other ? Inspired by the thought , he exclaims , or may do so if he likes , " great , roaring , swelling bully , you are not entire lord and master here . True , if I content myself with saying , coaxingly or commandingly , < dear sea , stand still , ' ' vassal sea , retire ! ' I am not likely to be either gratified or obeyed . But I will deal with thee otherwise . What are thou at bottom , poor grumbler ? Does not the earth hold thee in her rock basins and pour thee out from East to West daily ? The foundations of the world defy thy pressure . Thou stampest upon the rock , but the rock can bear thy stamp eternal law both thereart

      and pay thee with rebound . By the same are ; thou heavy , the rock is cohesive ; art thou strong , he is inert ; thy waves wash over him , but he stands still . He shall by my servant-the gegenkrafl , the antagonist force , placed by Providence at my disposal , to keep thy hectoring energy in equilibrium . With such I will wall thee out . I know the secret of thy power and will thus annul it . Greek to Greek , thou giant ! I will build a bank against thee and thus throttle thee with the law of inertia— ' thou shalt not trample on my meadow . '" Hang a pound weight upon your finger end and stretch out your arm ; it seems as if you could hold it out for ever . But wait a little ; the muscles soon begin to grow weary , the flesh weak . You may clench your teeth and spur your resolution into frenzy , down the weight comes ; it is not tno

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      332 ift * & *«**«» pA * muuir ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 29, 1850, page 332, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1844/page/20/