Art and Science 



sixty-five events of considerable interest since 

 the creation of the world, but because they 

 well know we would rather hear of something 

 less interesting. We care most about what 

 concerns us either very closely, or so little that 

 practically we have nothing whatever to do 

 with it. 



I once asked a young Italian, who professed 

 to have a considerable knowledge of English 

 literature, which of all our poems pleased him 

 best. He replied without a moment's hesita- 

 tion : 



" Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, 



The cow jumped over the moon ; 

 The little dog laughed to see such sport, 

 And the dish ran away with the spoon." 



He said this was better than anything in 

 Italian. They had Dante and Tasso, and 

 ever so many more great poets, but they had 

 nothing comparable to " Hey diddle diddle," 

 nor had he been able to conceive how any 

 one could have written it. Did I know the 

 author's name, and had we given him a statue ? 

 On this I told him of the young lady of 

 Harrow who would go to church in a barrow, 



47 



