54 ON SWINE. 



death. No sooner does the youthful porker arrive at 

 adult swinehood and exhibit the fine proportions of his 

 sleek and portly form, than his brutal master begins to 

 show a most unaccountable disposition to get him into 

 "hot water," and he is cut off "in the midst of his useful- 

 ness" by the hand of the executioner. In his dealings 

 with the hog he reverses the simplest rules of justice, as 

 he hangs him first and tries him afterward. 



The Committee lament to see that other animals of 

 inferior worth have usurped a place in the affections of 

 the people, to which the swine is a stranger. Instances 

 of this may be seen in the preference for the dog and the 

 cat. The Committee do not mean to be dog-matical, 

 and they have no intention of delving into the mysteries 

 of Pusey-ism, biit they cannot be blind to the fact that 

 the canine and feline races, inferior as they are in use- 

 fulness to our swinish friends, are treated with far great- 

 er deference and respect. The former are made the 

 companions of man in his wanderings and at his domes- 

 tic fireside, while to the latter, virtue is emphatically its 

 own reward. The former are pampered and indulged 

 by man, and fondled and caressed by woman. But what 

 lady is ever seen fondling an unweaned pig? Alas ! no- 

 body caresses a pig, nobody loves a pig — unless he is 

 roasted. 



In common with some of the greatest names in the 

 annals of the world, the hog is not appreciated until 

 death has made him insensible to all human or swinish 

 applause. History affords many instances of great bene- 

 factors of mankind, who in their lifetime were treated 

 with scorn and neglect, but after death were reward- 

 ed, perhaps, by a monument or a statue. So it is with 

 the swine. However he may be neglected and despised 

 while he lives, he has the consolatory reflection that at 

 his departure, he will have a place in the stomachs if 

 not in the hearts of the people. 



There is something in the name of the animal we are 

 considering, which is associated with literature and sci- 

 ence in their highest walks. The Ettrick Shepherd, 

 whose simple poetry has beguiled many an hour on this 



