Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1878-12-11
with Regard 10 the Poiiywog.

philosopher, phu tue cych VI lhv H"v
student will learn valuable lessons at
every step through field or forest. and
from every ripple Of the waters course
Among yoieeleSs but potent instruc.
tors none Is entitled to more careful
consideration, or gives more emphatic
testimony against tho thoughtlcss,
than the pollywog, or, as ho ID called
by the orthodox and austerc, the tad
pole, In contemplating the tadpolo
from a philosophical standpoint We
find his silent sarcasm Of humanity
terrible in its keen edge and his shrewd
burlosquery of humanity irresistible
In its humor,
Looked upon as an intelligent crea'
turc, tho polIywog presents himself to
us as II being Of great breadth Of
brain, aud wonderful capacity. lle
seems, in fact, to be oil head, but az
we become farther acquainted with
him, he grows small by degrees aud
rapidly less. until the massive intellect
from which we expected so much de-
terioratcs before our eyes to the small
end Of nothing Whitfield to tho finest
kind of point, and ere We can re-
cover from our astonishment, there is
q whisk, and ripple, aud wo are
gazing at nothing. Raising our eyes
from where the departed pollywog
was last visible, and gazing abroad
among the children Of men, we are
surprised to find hundreds of polly
wogs occupying high positions in
society, and places OF trust in the
state. We approach them TO face
Websterian fronts. We bow to mas
sive intellects, and while yet we wor.
ship, we witness pollywogial decline,
aud the creatures we admire suddenly
peter out, and have gone forever
AS n religious devo,ee the pollywog
Is alike disappointing. AT first sight
we naturally expect to find him posses
sed OF a great heart, and with all the
resources of strnng hody His
wonderful breadth OF brow, and the
calm and holy sanctity that forever
broods over his face, seem to make
him as pillar in the church, but ere
yet we can select his place in the
foremost ranks of the elect, he tizzles
out with amost ridiculous and eX-
asperating little wiggle. Our eyes
and our experience alike testify that
the church among men is full Of polly.
wogs.
The pollywog is an idler. Beauti-
full lilies dot the bosom of the pond
where he lives, and willows. whose
curves are the ideal of grace, fringe
its lovely banks. He sees none of
these. The sun rises in glory, and
sets in splendor, but he loves the sun
only becauseits noontime magnificence
warns his back. The stars of night
move calmly In their mysterious cir
cles, while he cuddles under his blan.
ket of mud, to sleep, and with an
evident but impotent tendency to
snore. He makes no step forward
The night leaves him where the morn
ing found him.
Yet he is not without his dreams
and visions, this pollywog. He essays
to be quadruped, and to this end,
after infinite pains, he grows the legs
OF hen. Straightway his self con-
ceit becomes insufferab.e His two
legs are as yet of no earthly use to
him, and drags in angular incompet'
ency behind him as he swims, but all
the same he disdains his legless tel
lows, and broods apart in solemn
solitude. The days pass and two
more legs are given to him. He Is at
once a conservation. He will neither
commit himself to flying like the
birds, running like dogs, walking like
the cattle, or creeping like the snake.
He aims a. medium course which
shall prove pleasant to all, and Of
fensive 10 none. He begins with a
soar towards Heaven, and ends with a
plash in black oblivion. He IS crit
| ic, is our promoted pollywog. He
has one great essential gilt of all
critics. He can croak. From the
depths of his Ignorance he chambers
to log, and fills the air with his
skep,icism. To the moon he says,
''Too brigha-too bright" To all
ambition and enterprise he replies,
"Can't do it. You can do it," and
all the time, to every one, and every
body, in season and out of season,
until the day of his death, he cries,
"Hard Times-Hard Times He
sees, talks of. and predicts nothing but