Mohave County miner., 1891-03-21
BARD OF THE NURSERY.
AN HOUR WITH MOTHER GOOSE,
OF BOSTON.
Shakespeare out,ffippsd ny Real New
ishgiaSd GRANDMOTHER, wE5s5
son-In-Law Published Her
Rhymes In i7I0.

The old world has It's immortal
Shakespeare grand, sublime. trans
cendenti The new world has its
immortal Mother Goose unique and
unmatchable! Mankind has long since
reached the unanimous conclusion that
hsss two iiaines are the, most popular
| in the annals Of the worlds literature.
Shakespeare In his descriptive pas
sages goes largely into detail, and at
times Is so verbose as 70 be positively
dull. Mother Goose is always ierse II
not startling arid Fight 20 the point
The following which Is similar 10
many OF her melodies, T" would have
been drawn otit into d Ave act tragedy
| under Shakespetlre's treatment
I'll tell you story about Joll McRory;
He went 10 the wood and shot tory
Then be came back and told his brother,
And they went tc' the wood and shot an
otheri
IL Is this cold, easy, wanton manner
OF disposing OF tragic events and OF
having the most surprising, unheard-of
things happen that lends such charm
10 Mother Goose's writings. Her melo-
dies are Shakespeare plays boiled
down to jingles OF few lines each.
The Englishman'a plays are allopathic;
The Yankee wumail'5 verses are home
dpathie. She seemsd 10 havs fore
knowledge Of tho fact that there would
come a time in the history OF the world
when there would be demand in the
nursery for condensed literature and
she provided for II. Life indeed Is
short-too short TO read Shakespeare.
but yet long enough to read Mother
Goose. But who was this most famous
of women?
Webster's dictionary OF the noted
names Of fiction contains the following
note: This Mother Goose" Is not an
imaginary parsonage, as Is commonly
supposed. She belonged TO a wealthy
family in Boston, Mass, where she
was born and resided for many years.
Her eldest daughter, Elizabeth Goose,
was married by the celebrated Cotton
Mather on the 9Th Of June, 1715, 70
an enterprisiDg and industrious printer
by the name OF Thomas Fleet and in
due time gave birth 10 son. Mother
Goose like all good grandmothers,
was in ecstacies at the event. Her
joy was unbounded. She spent her
whole time in the nursery and wander-
ing about the house, pouring forth, in
not the most m,slodious strains, the
songs and ditties which she had learn
ed in her younger days, greatly TO the
annoyance OF the whole neighborhood
to Fleet In particular, who was
man fond Of quiet. 1t was in
vain he exhausted his shafts
Of wit and ridicule and
every expedient he could devise. II
was no use. The old lady was not
thus to be put down-.so like others
similarly situated, he was obliged 10
submit. His shrewdness, however
did not forsake hinl. He conceived the
idea Of collecting che songs and ditties
as they came from his good mother-in-
law, and such as he could gather from
other sources, and publishing them for
the benefit OF the world-not forgetting
himself This he did and soon brought
out book, the earliest known edition
Of which bears the following title:
Songs for the Nursery; or, Mother
Goose's Melodies for Children" Printed
by 7. Fleet at his printing house.
Pudding lane rnow Devonshire street,
l7l9. Price coppers." The adop-
ton of the title was in derision OF his
mother-in-law, and was perfectly char
acteristic Of the man, as he was never
known 10 spare his nearest friends in
his raillery or when he could excite
laughter at their expense.
Thus is our claim that she was one
of us conclusively established. II only
remains to show that, as our greatest
literary light, she outshines every
other author OF AL lands and ages.
The true test Of an authors popularity
and greatness is determined by the
extent 20 which his writings are quoted,
written or spoken. Tried by this
standard Shakespeare pales into insg-
nificance. Thousands OF people never
heard OF Shakespeare, while tens of
thousands can repeat nothing from his
writings. Where is the man, woman
or child, rich or poor, white or black,
American or foreign born, that cannot
recite page after page of Mother
Goose's melodies? Ay, how many
there are who can scarcely repeat a
verse from Scripture, yet they know
the most OF Mother Goose by heart!
Her melodies" either in word or
spirit, permeate every class of liter
ature, from the careless newspaper
article 10 the finished classic. They
are constantly being quoted to point
a moral or adorn a tale" by all classes
and ages. Why not? They are full
Of observation, reflection and wisdom,
put in a simple, charming manner. Mr..
Carlyle's proposition that the eye
sees only what it brings the capability
Of seeing" and that therefore ''to
Newton, and to Newton's dog Diamond.
the sky is very different thing" is
finely illustrated In the Cats
Journey:
Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you beeni
I've been to London 10 see the queen;
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you therel
frightened a little mouse under chair.
Pussy, with her feline eyes, had
noted nothing but the mouse. How
many have been spuired from dreaming
to duty by that concisely stated truth:
A man Of words, and not OF deeds,