Mountain Democrat., 1857-12-05
From the New York KnickeFboeker.
A Sketch

There was peculiar species of Ameri-
can Newspaper Literature, much more
current years ago than now, which in its
inception in the Charcoal Sketches" Of
the late Joseph G. Neal, of Philadelphia,
was extremely amusing: mean the de-
tail pictures Of hard cases" found by the
city watchman at night, and brought be-
fore the city council in the morning as
Dogbcry says to "bc cxaminationcd." p
Take asing!c passage in the life of"Petcr
Brush" the victim Of politics:
"Scated upon the curb, with his feet
across the guttrr, nc placed his elbow on
stepping stone, and like Juliet on the
balcony, leaned his head upon his hand
and u hand that would perhaps have
been the bettcro n covering, though none
would have been rash enough to volun-
tccr to be glove upon it. lie was in q
dilapdatcd condition out at elbows, out
Mt knees, out Of pocket, out Of Office, out
Of spirits, and out in the street; and out
and outer in every respect, and as OWtre
II mortal as ever the eye Of man did rest
upon. For some time Mr.. Brush's reflcc-
tions had been silent. Following Hamlet's
advice, he gave them an understanding,
but no tongue; and he relieved himself
at intervals, by splitting forlornly into the
kennel. At length, suffering his locked
hands to fall between his knees, and heav-
ing deep sigh, he spoke:
" long time ago,my ma used to put
on her spccks and sny Peter, my son, put
not your trust in princess and from that
day to this, ] havn't done anything of
the kind, because mono of them ever
wanted to borry nothing of me; and I
never see prince or king-but one or
two and they had been rotated out of
oiiicc-to borry nothing Of them. Prin-
ces pooh Put not your trust in poll
ticiancrs-thcm's my sentiments. You
might just as well try to hold an eel by
the tail. | don't care which side they're
on, for | have tried both, and I know
Put not your trust in polAicianers, or
you'll get a hyst.'
Ten years ago it came into my head
,hat things weren't going on right; so l
pretty nearly gave myself up tee totally
TO the good Of the republic, and left the
shop to look out for itself l was brimfuI
of patriotism, and uneasy in my mind for
the salvation Of freedom, l couldn't work
tried to guess which side was going tC
win, and stuck to it like wax some
times was on a.onc side, and sometimes
on a.tothcr, and sometimes straddlcd til
the election was over, and came up 'jis
in time to jne the huwah. Itwas goo,
| was after; and what good could / do
] wasn't on the 'lected side9 But, ate
all it was never u bit of use. Wheneve
the battle was over no matter what sid,
was sharing out tho loaves and fishes
and stepped up, III be hanged If tho,
, didn't cramall they could in their mouths
put their arms over some, and grab at al
the rest with their paws, and say: q
away white man, you amt capable Ca
pablo! what's the reason amt capable
I've got as extensive throat as any @
'cm, and | could swallow the lOaves ant
fishes without choking, if each loaf wa
big as grindstone, and each fish as BIZ
as sturgeon. Give Peter chance, AM
leave him alone for that. Then, when
called: ! want some spoils,' says l; 4
small bucket full Of spoils, whichever sid
gets in, shares the spoils, don't they? 81
they first grinncd, and then they ups anC
tells me that virtue like mine was its owT
reward, and that spoils might spoil me-
But it was no spOils that spoilt me, and ~
loavcs and fishes that starved mo; In
split because | couldn't get either.
"Put not your trust in politicianers,
say it again. Both sides used me jis
alikc. Here Two been serving my coun
try more or less, these ten years like ,
patriot-going to town meetings, hurrah
ing my daylights out, and getting as blu,
as bla2es-blocking the windows, getting
licked fifty times, and having more blacl
eyes and bloody noses than you coult
shake stick at, all for the common good
and for the purity Of our illegal rights
and all for whaty Why, for nix. Ifany
good has como from It, the country hal
put it into her own pocket, and swindlct
mo out Of my airnings. can't get n,
office. Republics is ungratcful It WASH
re~am was after scorn the base in
sinnivation. | only wanted to be tool
care of, and have nothing to do but t,
take care of the public and I've only go
half; nothing to doY Being took caro- O
was tho main thing. Republics is un
grateful. I'm blasted if they amt. Thi,
is the way old sogcrs is served! Well
well: live and lcarn-live and learn Th,
worlds not what man takes it for be
fore hc finds it out. Whiskers grow
sooner than experience does. Genus ant
patriotism amt got no chancc-ain't go
nary look"