THE ENGLISH PEASANT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1856, 29 May 1884, Page 4

THE ENGLISH PEASANT.

Tiil notion that pea-ants aie |oyous, that tho l\pi< al moment to lopicsent a. man in a smock fiook is when hi i^ clacking a joke and showing . 'i iow of sound teeth, that cottage n.ations aio usually buxom, and ullage children ncenssanly losy and meuy, .uc |ne|udices difficult to dislodge, fioin thoaitistie mind, which looks foi 1 its subject -> into literatmo instead of life. Tho painter is still undei the influence f>f id>llic litciatuie, wliich has always cxpic^sid the imagination of the cultnatcd iiml townbied lathei than the truth of ni^tie life. Id\lhe ploughmen aie lociind when they diive their team afield ; idyllic make bashful love under hawthorn bushes ; idyllic \illi«cis dance in the chequeied sliade and lefiesh themselves, not immodeiately, -with spic\, nut blown ale. But no one who lias seen much of actual ploughmen thinks them jocrud ; no one who is well acquainted with th^ Knglish pea&antiy can piojionnce them ineiiy. The Jow go/o — in which no soithj of beauty beams, no humor twinkles —the slow utteiance. and thehea\y, slouching walk, lciniud one lathei ot that melancholy animal, the cornel than of the &tuuly countryman, with stuped stockings, red waistcoat, and hat aside, who lepiesents the tiaditional English peasant. Obseive a company of havinakeis. When you see them at a distance, tossing up the forkfulb of hay in the golden light, w [ule the wai^on cieeps slowly with its incieasing buiden o\ei the meadow, aiid the blight gieen space whicli tells of woik done gets laigci and largei. you pionounce the ocene " smiling," and you think the&e companions in labour must be as bright and cheeiful as the piotme to which they fji\o animation. Aj)pioach neaier, and you will ccitainly lind that haymaking time is a tune tor joking, especially it theic aie women among the labouieis ; bill the coai 10 Lmgh that bin '■.t" out evei y now and then, and e\pitsses tin 1 tiiumphanfc taunt, is as far as pobMblc fiom youi conception ot idyllic meiiiment. Th.it delicious cfleivesuncc ot the mind wliicli we call fun has no cijuhalent foi the noithein peasant, except tips) ic\eliy : the only iKilin of tancy and lmadnation foi the Enuli^h clown exists a 1 " the bottom of the thiid ([iiai tpot. The urn wnlional count) y man of the stage, who picks, up pocket books and nc\ei looks into them, and who is too simple even to know that honesty lias its opposite lepiescnts tho still lineeiing mistake that an unintelligible dialect i-i a, guarantee for ingenuousness, and that slouching shoulders: indicate an uptight disposition. It is quite tme that a thiesher is likely to be innocent ot any .idioit aiithmetioal cheating, but he is r.ot the less likely to cair) home his master's com in his shoes and pocket ; a 1 caper is not given to wiitmg begging letteia, but he is quite capalo of ca)olin<; tho danymaid into filling his small beer bottle with ale. The selfish instincts aie no subdued by the sight ot butteicups, nor lsiutegiity m the least established by that classic mral occupation, sheep washing. To make men moial, some thing moie is lcquisitc than to turn them out to glass. — " Essays and Leases fiom a Note Book." 15y George Elliot.

A -.MAi/L pieco of lcsin clipped in the watci which is placed in a vessel on a stove, says one who knows, will add a p( culuu piopeity to the atmosphere of the ioom, which will give gi eat relief to pei sons tioubled with a cough. The heat of the water is sufficient to throw off the aioma of the icsin, and gives the sanieielief that is afloided by a combustion of the resin. It is piefeiable to combustion, because the evaporation is moie duiable. The same icsin may be used for weeks. At a sale hold in Melbourne recently, a higher pi ice was given for a piece of city land than at any previous sale in any oi the Colonies. On the occasion refeu ed to 22ft fiontagc by 33ft in depth, m Eh/abeth stieet, next the London Ta\ein, was sold for £9000, or at the late of £400 per foot. The supeificial area of the lot would be 726 ft, and a calculation made shows that the price was equal to £540,000 per acre. This plainly indicates that the value of Melbourne pioperty has been steadily increasing for many years past, and that the incieasc is also continuous.

Rats and Mice. — If you wish to de stroy them net a packet of Hll l's> Magic Vi'rmiv Kir r i it in packets, Od, Od, and Is, to be obt lined of nil ston.^ecpcis, or from T. B. Hill by enciosnifr .in e\tia st.imp.

LIKK IN THE BU&H— TIIEN AND NOW.— It is generally supposed that in the bush we have to put up with many discomfoits and privations in the shape ot food Formerly it was so, but now, thanks to T. R. Hill, "\vho_ has himself dwelt in the bush, if food does consist chiefly of tinned mc.its his Colonial Saucu gives to them a. most deflectable flavour,' making them as well of the plainest food most enjoyable, and instead ah hard biscuits and indigestible damper his, I.mpkoved Colonial Baking Powder .makes the very best bread, scones,, cakes,' and pastry, superior* arid more wholesome ttutn'feost or leaven. Sold by all storekeeper* .wty>-faiiii©V