"TALPA" LOQUITUK. 183 



cracks the bones of the true blood-suckers ; and 

 ' when it 's bad weather for thieves,' they say, ' the 

 true man may sleep the sounder,' let the rain rattle 

 on his cornstack, how it may. ' Let Mr. Lion roar 

 again,' you will say, when you've seen the end. 

 Even your tiny Mole (TALPA) is a ruthless beast of 

 the field to slugs, and snails, and caterpillars, and 

 such land-sucking fry a fierce subnavigator, in 

 his way : but his track turns up some pretty culti- 

 vation ; it only wants spreading far and wide! 

 it's not so wise to throttle him as you think. I 

 grieve to see him hanging gibbeted his clever 

 paddles stopped, by cruel ignorance. For he is 

 your only granulation-master ; he taught us drain- 

 age and sw5-cultivation and we shall learn of 

 him another, and a greater lesson, some day, and 

 call him a prophet when we've done hanging 

 him and have got some speculation in our own 

 eyes, (whose sense is shut at present,) instead of 

 saying he can't see. Day and Night ! HE has the 

 better right to say so of us! But as for this price- 

 of-corn question this grain crop versus Green 

 crop trust me, Nature has her true Propor- 

 tions and is pretty rigorous in maintaining them : 

 and you cannot throw them out of gear, but she '11 

 be down upon you, somewhere. Green crop versus 



