The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-06-11
s'Selections from Mother Goose

know and love her? She is evidently one of
those who builded better than she knew, for
her fame has lasted through many genera
tions, and from all appearances, will last for
many more. Who has not been enchanted by
the wonderful story of "Little Bo-Peep," who
lost her sheep and didn't know where to find
them? Who has not been moved to pity the
unfortunate "Jack and Jill" or the still more
unfortunate "Humpty Dumpty," and who does
not yet remember every word OF the Little
| Old Woman" who found a crooked sixpence,
with which she bought a dreadfully stubborn
pig, which wouldn't go over the stile, until
persuaded to do so by a cross dog? Then there
is that curious house that Jack built; who will
ever forget the various characters we are in
troduced to in connection with it? However
senseless these rhymes and jingles may ap-
pear to US. there are, nevertheless, in some OF
them, applications so pointed that it is impos-
sible to believe these were not intended for
children of a larger growth than for those very
little folks, who are usually delighted with
them.
In our day and generation, when mothers
in-law are made the object of so much With
cism, it is not improper to suppose that moth
er Goose" had a refractory son-in-law, whom
she was endeavoring to train in the way he
should go. Perhaps he was one of those e1-
ceedingly disagreeable persons so aptly illus
trated in the well known lines about Little
Jack Homer, who sat in a corner
eating his Christmas pie,
When he stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum,
And said, what a smart boy am L.
There are a great many such people in the
world, to whom all the good things of life seem
| to come without any effort of their own. If
accepted thankfully and with becoming mod
esty, no one can object, but if they attempt to
arrogate to themselves the possession of SUI
perior smartness, ridicule will justly overtake
them. Boosting is always contemplate, even
1 rl4- fhA 81 ~ tho raSIrlt nt oar
nest efforts, but how much more so when they
are not 1t is not becoming to boast of wealth
which was accumulated by ones ancestors,
nor of beauty or talents with which we may
be naturally endowed. In fact it is best not
to boast at all. We have not the same SYM
pathy for persons like Jack Homer, when the
good luck, which they imagine to be their su-
perior wisdom, deserts them, that we have for
those like
"HumPty Dumpty, who sat on the wall, and
this same
Humpty Dumpty got a great fall,
And all the Kings horses and all the Kings
Could never pull Humpty Dumpty together
again."
How much better for Humpty Dumpty, had
he begun his career at the bottom of the wall;
then, with the natural development which
would follow careful education and training,
he might have lived to crow Justify on the top,
but lacking this he was unable to sustain his
| perilous position, hence the aforesaid catas-
trophe, which the combined strength and skill
of the Kings men and horses could not re-
pair.
This riddle illustrates many ludicrous and
pathetic incidents in every day life, and the
verbs, such as "Look Before You Leap" and
in the homely expression "Be Sure You're
Right then 60 Ahead" Grand schemes for
acquiring fame and fortune are soon exploded.
Orators who fondly believe themselves equal
to Brutus are driven from the wall at their
first speech, and warriors who were brave be-
fore the battle are often found wanting in the
heat of the fight. 1t is sad to consider that
these lines also represent the fond hopes and
lofty ambitions which vice and adversely have
dashed to the ground.
Jack and Jill is another selection from
which a valuable lesson may be drawn.
"Jack and Jill went up the hill
To get a pail of water;
Jack fell Town and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after"
| There are two principals involved in this
perseverance and the force of example. 1t
was probably the hill of science which Jack
was endeavoring to climb, intending, on reach
ing the top, to fill his pail from the fountain
OF knowledge. He should not have been dis
couraged by so tri6ing a thing as a fall, which
resulted in a broken crown, but should have
tried again and again, until success crowned
his efforts. He thus would have been setting
a good example for Jill to follow, instead of
the bad precedent of tumbling down; and
again, had he persevered, he could have made
himself useful by being able to satisfy with
this precious fluid the thirst of his less fortu-
nate companions. Jill, too, is to be severely
censured for being so easily led away by the
example of her big brother Jack. They met
with the same fate-failures usually do-for
the world is never sympathetic with those who
fail in the race; and Jacks mother was no ex-
ception to this universal rule, for according
to the cut which usually accompanies this
epic, she personates grim destiny and awaits
their coming with a very stern and fOreboding
countenance, holding aloft a long and wicked
looking switch, and was not at all disposed to
listen to any excuses, not even a broken crown.
1t might be added that this poem, more than
any other, shows the antiquity of "Mother
Goose" for in our later day the mother would
have gone up the hill after the pail of water,
leaving Jack gracefully smoking a cigarette
on the front veranda, and Jill playing the piano
in the parlor. A few remarks might be made
concerning little "Miss Muffet," another ia
nous character of this author.
"Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating curds and whey;
There came a great spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away"
Perhaps the great spider who frightened the
little lady, was the much feared Mrs. Grun-
dy. There are a great many little Miss Muf-
fets in the world who are frightened away
from their honest duty by a fear of what PEG.
pie will say. Some, perhaps, who prefer ar
existence in genteel poverty, rather than the
noble independence brought about by honest
labor, for fear Mrs. Grundy will say that they
must actually toll for their subsistence. 9th
ers ars injuring themselves morally, mental.
ly and physically, by following the foolish
whims and caprices of Fashion; Influenced by
: this same object, fear of what will be said i
, they refuse to obey its arbitrary dictations.-
"Mother Goose" strange as it may seem, was
also a politician, as is evident from her &C
count of the wonderful pie which was baked
for the King
1 "Four and twenty black birds baked in a pie
When the pie was opened the birds began t,
: sing;
Wasn't that a pretty dish to set before
King"
: This can have none other than a political sig
nifcance, and is usually accompanied by al
: illustration, representing the King seated be
: fore the pie, looking aghast at the gapini
mouths of those twenty-four birds. 1t is yer
likely every one was clamoring for an office
. and the poor King, had he not enough post
offices to 60 around, was in a sad predicamen
r indeed. He would willingly have exchange,
=, places with the Queen, who was in the kitche
"eating bread and honey" Even the "posi
ton" of clothes-hanger was wanted, for W
are told that the maid who was ''holding tina
o position" had her nose nipped off by one G
= these ofice-seeking birds. Do not these Sc
~lections prove our dear old friend to have bee
q a philosopher and somewhat of a satirist
These lines are simple in their nature, ye
they are a part of our education and nations
life. Every nation takes pride in the possess
p ion of such poetry. The A~nglo-Saxons ii
Al stilled in their youth a love of country and
e daring upon the sea, by the rude songs learr
ed in the nursery. The English, the Frenc
and the Germans, alike have bound the
youth to the land of their birth by the mag
tie of verse.
The Irishman feels the blood quickening
)E L., -. - ~ ,a,,l Sc &c ALA E-:.y- H..