the wont of the agriculturist to indulge. What is
he not expected to do? It is distinctly
intimated in the public prints, that it will be taken
ill of him if he does not dine at Judkin's Castigation
Tavern, that he must sup at Rarebit's, and
hear the celebrated comic singer Sam Slivins.
Then again, while music is on the tapis, it may
be mentioned that his visit to the Cattle Show
will be incomplete and ineffective, unless he
listens to the inspiriting strains of the "Rifleman's
March." The Great Globe in Leicester-square
is kept open throughout the year on his
account. The Sydenham trousers is on the look-out,
and with its eye (if the expression may be
allowed) upon his stalwart leg, yawns expectant.
The Talking Fish has come back from a tour in
the provinces, solely on his account, and, on his
account, has learnt a variety of new tricks,
"which," says the advertisement, with much
dry humour, "must be seen to be believed," as
indeed they must. Then, what lures and snares
are laid out for him in the building itself in
which he stands; what doors (besides those of
Madame Tussaud, about whom more hereafter),
what doors of communication open invitingly
into departments where he can buy furniture
with which to madden the souls of the
neighbouring farmers, or a brougham for his wife,
wherewith to bring to a crisis that apoplexy
which has long threatened to explode in the
system of Mrs. Dumpy, the wife of the senior
partner in Dumpy and Level's, the land
surveyor's. In short, the commercial world is
on the alert to captivate the British agriculturist,
and from a "magic horse-taming nose pincher"
—which sounds like something very dreadful
indeed—to a "Rifleman's registered knee-cap
garter"—which sounds even more horrible still—
all his wants are provided for.

The wants of the animals are also all
provided for. There is plenty of straw for the
prize ox to sink upon when he can sustain
the weight of his own fat no longer; there
are pens in which the sheep can stand
trembling and panting with plethora, and the
sides of which prop them up perfectly when
they require support; and there are capital
make-shift sties, in which the pigs, who have
never gone through the form of attempting to
stand, or to open their eyes, lie upon their
sides, suffocating, before the satisfied eye of the
visitor to the Cattle Show.

The cultivation of a high caste and breed in
cattle, and the exhibition of specimens which
have attained to great perfection in their
different classes, are things against which no person
in his senses could take exception, and there is,
happily, no doubt whatever that these things are
infinitely more the object of the annual show in
Baker-street than they used to be. Still, there
is, in this respect, much yet to be desired, and
there remains an insensate emulation in the
matter of developing mere fat, which is as
stupid as it is cruel. The white heifer, to which
on the occasion of the recent Cattle Show the
gold medal was awarded, would have been a
beautiful and stately creature but for the
folly which had induced those to whom she
belonged, to feed her up till she was, in spite of
her beautiful breeding and naturally good form,
a ridiculous and distressing object to contemplate.
Indeed, the poor beast had sunk down
upon the straw unable to sustain any longer the
weight of that monstrous and exaggerated mass
of fat, with which it had been for so many
months the object of her proprietor to disfigure
her fair proportions. It was impossible to see
this really beautiful creature without admiring
—not what she was, but what she might have
been.

The prize heifer was unhappily not an
isolated instance of this cruel and foolish
system of over-feeding. The prize ox being
possessed of greater strength than the successful
female candidate, was able to stand erect in
spite of his weight, but he was obliged to balance
himself very artfully, and to spread what
remained of his legs, very wide apart, in order to
do so; while the sheep, burdened with their
thick wool as well as the ponderous results of
their recent diet, were for the most part to be
found panting and heaving in their pens, and
waiting for the merciful knife.

But there is in the collection in Baker-street
one Department far more horrible than the rest;
one class of animals more cruelly dealt with,
and whose sufferings are more obvious and more
distressing to witness than any which have been
hitherto mentioned. It is difficult to awaken
compassion, or to enlist sympathy for the sorrows
of a pig, and the present writer has as keen a
dislike as most persons to some of the manners
and customs of the Porcine group. Yet your
Eye-witness is willing frankly to admit that he
has been on really intimate terms of friendship
with only one individual of this tribe. He
was an uncommonly pleasant fellow, who would
hasten to meet your Eye-witness when that
modest person entered his sty, and would
manifest his affection by running in and out
between the E.-W.'s legs, and butting against those
limbs with his nose in a most affecting manner,
uttering at the same time a succession of
oily grunts calculated to touch any heart of
large and extended sympathies. In a word, he
was an urbane and gentlemanly pig.

Let the reader remember that the pig is an
intellectual animal, capable of learning tricks,
and executing wonders with cards, which throw
the deeds of our friends the Performing Bull and
the Talking Fish into the shade. Let him
remember that the greediness of this animal which
is objected to by some, is cultivated by all who
approach it; that he is solicited to eat, by those
who surround him, in a cruel and degrading
manner; finally, that he is not always possessed
of the corpulent presence and the laziness
which we in this country associate with him,
the Italian pig being a lean and long-legged
animal, extremely active and of abstemious
habits to a fault. Let no person be ungrateful
enough to disparage the animal but for whose
existence we should be ignorant of the flavour
of broiled ham. Let us never forget, too, from