The Columbus journal., 1885-06-17

6cnt8ttOnS, gonLe pf8yerS-SrOw "
time and success into bold and burglar
ious assaults, accompanied with threats
and enforced by moral bludgeons. Then
you must address yourself to the law,
which is to the human mosquito OF do
termined attack what petroleum is said
to be to his winged prototype. tho only
effectual defense known. To do good
to a man or wonan Of this kind is. to
illustrate the truth of the hard old
Cornish saying: Save q man from the
sea, and he becomes your enemy"
To SOW golden grain on the barren
fields of such q one is to reap sorrow
for yourself; and to give your coat is
but the preface to the demand for your
cloak. Your inch ever becomes his ell;
and when you do not .conceds all that is
demanded, then are you stung, as q
kind of waymark between what you
have done and what you have not.
At home the human mosquito is re St
less and exacting. He %interferes in
everything afioat, and always adds a
drop of bitterness to such honey as the
family may have garnered in its hive.
Is there a fete-day on hand? He takes
out the sweetness. rubs of the gloss, by
restrictions if he be in the place of CON-
mand; by temper if he be a subordinate
who can only damage and not destroy.
As the former, he harnesses his wife by
finding fault with her arrangements.
substituting his own; he annoys the
servants by contradictory commands;
irritates the governess by doubling her
capacity for taking care of her charge;
and causes the children to weep or to
sulk, according to their natures. by
scolding them impartialiy all round,
with reason or without. Then. when
he has made every one thoroughly
miserable or uncomfortable, and more
inclined TO perform penance than to
undertake pleasure. he puts on q
hilarious manner. and. when this is not
responded to, rates the wretched little
flock for their gloOminess on . holiday.
and saws, If this is to be the manner in
which they thank him for the treat he
has given them. he will take good are
how he allows them to have another.
As a subordinate. he is just rs worry
ing if not SO d~omineering. As the
servant whose functions are vital to the
thing on hand-say the cook on the
day of S dinner party-the human
mosquito makes every one suffer. For
Just as 'England's extremity is Ire
lands opportunity" SO is the day Of
social consideration in the household
that wherein the cook, who is also !
mosquito. is most troublesome and
most annoying. To believe her, there
will not be a dish fit to eat, and there ia
not enough of anything. Something
has gone wrong with the stock for soup:
the fishmonger has skimpei the We ght,
which was already too closely calcu-
lated; and the butcher has not sent the
proper joint for the roast; the chickens
are skinny and the birds" are
tough; the cream is deficient and
the milk is turned; and the veget-
ables are not fresh nor is the fruit ripe.
Perhaps she shamS the ~SullenneSS OF
despair, and will not give IN answer, G,
one only of pessimistic forebodings.
when her mistress tries to put the bess
face on the matter; or she may assume
q falsely heartsOme air, and. after she
has plunged her poor lady into tn;
depths OF despair and nervous appre
hension. says she will do what she cal
to remedy the long tale of disasters re-
counted, but the dinner will not be up
to the mark, let her do the best she can.
1t all depends on the proportion of hef
cruelty to her love of annoying.
whether she sends up q dinner really
damaged. or n in her best style and
perfect throu! siout. In either case sh.
has had her pleasure-in serious hur:
or in simple teasing.
We need moi go through the whole
list of domestic mosquitoes. From tt.
lady's-maid who pulls her mistress
hair when brushing it. and lets her 60
to a state ball with a string unfastencd
and a tape showing below her train, e
the page-boy who breaks in n month.
the worth of his years wages, they al
make their service the cause of annoy
ancc to their employers; and some ada
to annoyance. graver disaster. But
what 4 you do with them? Accidents
will happen, yOu know, and an unfor-
tunate servant is not necessarily q ba,
person. Your page-boy. for instance.
is smart in taking messages.
and quick to learn the niceties
of his office; he is clean in his
person and respectful in his
How can you say that his unlucky fiu-
gers are the result of malice prepenSes
and it is not worth while to keep him
on. YOU hoping that he will learn more
defines in handling china and glass
his past clumsiness cOndoned by his
future Improvement? Just so and vet
We may be very certain of one thing
once a mosquito, always a mosquito 4;
once the love of annoying or hurting
gets hold of the moral system, and there
it stays rooted, like couch-grass. or that
Australian enemy the thOrn-grass. a
source of damage to everything that
lives near it.
As i child. the human mosquito is the
climb of the nursery. according to the
vernacular of the nurse. As a boy. he
is the bully over his little brothers and
the incarnate plague of his sisters. As
. man, he is the tyrant and tormentOr
of his household. If he runs to prig-
gishneSS. he makes his children's lives
a burden to them because of fractions
and declensions if he is an athlete, he
maybe ruins them for all time by the
brutal vigor Of his training ; if he is ef-
Terminate, he interferes with the maid.
takes the reins of domestic government
out Of his wife's hands. orders the din
ners. and looks after the children like
an Indian bearer or 4 supernunerary
nurse. He is at all times the mosquito
Of the establishment. buzzing here.
singing there. creating fever and irri-
tation everywhere :; making wonder
for what purpose such as he are
sent into the world at an. and what
good end they subserve. In politics.
the restless obstructive and the pert
Iuerist. the Oppos;tionist for the sake of
opposition. and insOlent to the EXTREMIST
point. he keeps things alive in the sense
in which a fire Of thorns a make the
water boil. But suppose YOU want the
water to be cool and fresh and still.
what good then does Your cracking fire
of thOrnss Is it not a hindrance rather
tkan a help9 and a bane instead of a
blessing?
No! view him how we may. we are
forced back to the same position-the