The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1870-11-01
JOSH BILLINGS PAPERS.
THE FOX.

| ~ asuA
OF all the beasts who roam the hill
tops or climb the plains, there is none
who makes so few blnnders, and so many
good hits as the fox. ac5j saes a
His shrewdness is more than match
for the lions strenth, his logic is more
| than match for the malice ov the wolf
and his politeness and Difference makes
him the top and gentleman ov the for.
est. SO. rs 8es hss 5e ea
The fox is literary cns; he has been
the hero ov history, fable and song, from
the fust dawn ov oral or written knowl
ledge. He has genious long before
ackedernic honors fourished; ne was q
poet, skoller and saor before the days
| of Homer and Hegedotus, aad news sin
four times, he IL the Ben Butler oy dip
Ilomaey and the Brigham Youngov mat.
Irimony. }.
The fox is purely a game bird. It
costs on an average fifty dollars to ketch
him, and when he il caught, he aint
worth more than ten shillings. He fol
lers no regular bizness for sustenance,
but lives on the chances and on ~his wit.
He IL a fleshy minded sinner, and his
blandness IL too much for the quaintness
ov the goose, the melancholy reserves
ov the turkey, or the pompous rhetorick
ov the rooster. They all kneel tew the
Ilogik oy his tongue, and find themselfs
at rest in hiz>stummuk
He luvs lam and green peas, but will
diskount the peas rather than lose hiz
dinner, and will 90 a mile and a halt
out ov hiz way to be polite to duck or
gosling. % si'E i.s e
But the lively trait in the fox IL hiz
cunning he always pettyfoes his own
case, and wins a great deal oftener
than he looses. -
Foxes are not like men, kritters or
habit they never do q thing twice with
the same figures, and often alter their
mind before they do anything once
This IL the effect of too much genius.
There iz difference between genius
and common sense in fox. Common
sense IL governed bi circumstances, but
circumstances IL governed bi genius.
The fox haz no moral honesty, but he
|haz pot a crate supply of politikal hon
|esty. If another fox in kis parish wants
bhat goose. he will work hard to pit
the goose for him. ano then clean the
meat all oph from the outskirts ov the
goose for pettyfopeing the case. and
give him the bones, and tell his politikal
friend. with a smile in the left corner of
hlz eve, that "evervthing is lovely and
the goose hangs high. sf
Foxes hav learnt this piety from
watching the men Git geese for each 9TH
er. and If animals don't want their ,,ietv
to oit sour. they must keep away from
men on week davs.
The fox is congenial in liz temper
he iz no hermit he don't Git mad at SO.
eiety because they don't flatter him, and
pitch headlong into solitude, and chaw
rutes, and drown, out hiz stummuk trie-
ing to drink spring dri, and think he
liz virtuous bekause thare amt no chick
ems in his naberbood to steal. M
The fox IL tew much oy a POLITICIAN
to invest hls religion in emmy sich indigo,
nous trash de knows that society haz
claims on him, aEd are indebted tew him
for some goose, and expekt to be for
several more. This IL a noble trait in
the fox, and shows that he amt child
Of gratitude.
Foxes come out of the ground, but
whether they are made out oy dirt l
Kant sware with much certainty. Ihey
cum out ov the ground through the IN I
strumentallty ov hole, but whether the
hole begins at the surface and runs into
the mountains or whether It begins IN
the mountain ana. runs tew the surface
don't make a kussed bit 'ov difference
But philosophers hav urged about this
hole bizzness for years, Sum ov them