Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Time.
that to the * poor he must be grinding , to the rich a toady , and , in a word , that the qualifications necessary for his good are such as refer wholly and solely to this side the grave , as if Time and Eternity had changed places , and that we were to live only a few years in another scene , but pass the greater portion of our being , here ! He is taught to " make provision for this life as though it were never to end , and for the other life as though it were never to begin P '
For ourselves , if we regard , as men do , only this w orld , we consider Time in his progress as an excellent friend . Consider how many simpletons and numskulls the last year has put into good places , by the kind agency of the men in office , power , and station ; so that , though we grant the breed of stupidity does not diminish ,
we may yet look for newer , fresher boobies , at all events , to amuse us when so many of the old bores are provided for . Reflect , again , how many raps on the knuckles stultified placemen , bad poets , setters up of statues to successful roguery , and the whole herd of noble flatterers of Plutus have had , so as to cause much waggery to the lookers-on at the games and antics of that strange animal called
Man . We do not for a moment imagine that improvement will occur or that honesty will be more advanced—not the least . We should as much expect the public good to emanate from an ecclesiastical or metropolitan commission , or a just review to proceed from the Times . Doubtless , patrons will push fresh simpletons who are allied to them , with all the impetus of an opening year ' s alacrity ; f /
' JL J . v — r m but still stupidity has had some warning , and w e thank 1855 for it . It has shown that , though England suffers under an imposthume of toadyism to titles , and abuse of patronage by the dispensers of places in Church and State , yet it was not utterly gangrened : a few sparks of old British spirit , and love of justice , and generous sympathy with desert , still linger here and there , it may be as signs of a reviving excellence , it may be as prognosticating the extinction of the once patriotic English fire ! Which of the two it may be , 1856 will
show . Do you think that the passage of years gives the veteran in this world ' s selfishness any lesson ? No ! leave that to the miserable , abject , and forsaken , to your genius who starves whilst pilfering plagiarists get the gold of his fame—to the worn-out clerk or curate who receives £ 80 a year for doing the work for which his opera chief , or lawn-sleeved Procrustes receives £ 8 , 000 . Yes ; it is the
worn hack of life ' s highway , who regards the passage of time with pleasure , who watches the growth of gray hairs rejoicingly , and longs for the end of the scene . But to " my lord ! " why , what is time to him ? If hair fall off , or teeth fall out , or leg shrink , an clastic calf will easily keep up u the garter , " a wig at Truefitt ' s , an incorrodible set at Bell ' s , soon obliterate the ravages of time . A good Ercncli valet or chambermaid , a little rouge , a tisane , a shape-improver— 'and , voice , face ? figure return , —seventy-six expands into thirty ! Nestor and . 1 locate re-enter life ' s stage as Narcissus and Diana , and the change is complete , except that the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Time.
that to the * poor he must be grinding , to the rich a toady , and , in a word , that the qualifications necessary for his good are such as refer wholly and solely to this side the grave , as if Time and Eternity had changed places , and that we were to live only a few years in another scene , but pass the greater portion of our being , here ! He is taught to " make provision for this life as though it were never to end , and for the other life as though it were never to begin P '
For ourselves , if we regard , as men do , only this w orld , we consider Time in his progress as an excellent friend . Consider how many simpletons and numskulls the last year has put into good places , by the kind agency of the men in office , power , and station ; so that , though we grant the breed of stupidity does not diminish ,
we may yet look for newer , fresher boobies , at all events , to amuse us when so many of the old bores are provided for . Reflect , again , how many raps on the knuckles stultified placemen , bad poets , setters up of statues to successful roguery , and the whole herd of noble flatterers of Plutus have had , so as to cause much waggery to the lookers-on at the games and antics of that strange animal called
Man . We do not for a moment imagine that improvement will occur or that honesty will be more advanced—not the least . We should as much expect the public good to emanate from an ecclesiastical or metropolitan commission , or a just review to proceed from the Times . Doubtless , patrons will push fresh simpletons who are allied to them , with all the impetus of an opening year ' s alacrity ; f /
' JL J . v — r m but still stupidity has had some warning , and w e thank 1855 for it . It has shown that , though England suffers under an imposthume of toadyism to titles , and abuse of patronage by the dispensers of places in Church and State , yet it was not utterly gangrened : a few sparks of old British spirit , and love of justice , and generous sympathy with desert , still linger here and there , it may be as signs of a reviving excellence , it may be as prognosticating the extinction of the once patriotic English fire ! Which of the two it may be , 1856 will
show . Do you think that the passage of years gives the veteran in this world ' s selfishness any lesson ? No ! leave that to the miserable , abject , and forsaken , to your genius who starves whilst pilfering plagiarists get the gold of his fame—to the worn-out clerk or curate who receives £ 80 a year for doing the work for which his opera chief , or lawn-sleeved Procrustes receives £ 8 , 000 . Yes ; it is the
worn hack of life ' s highway , who regards the passage of time with pleasure , who watches the growth of gray hairs rejoicingly , and longs for the end of the scene . But to " my lord ! " why , what is time to him ? If hair fall off , or teeth fall out , or leg shrink , an clastic calf will easily keep up u the garter , " a wig at Truefitt ' s , an incorrodible set at Bell ' s , soon obliterate the ravages of time . A good Ercncli valet or chambermaid , a little rouge , a tisane , a shape-improver— 'and , voice , face ? figure return , —seventy-six expands into thirty ! Nestor and . 1 locate re-enter life ' s stage as Narcissus and Diana , and the change is complete , except that the