Comparative physiognomy; or, Resemblances between men and animals . second hand ; and he holds a staff in hishand to pick his way with, showing what dry picking thegutters afford him, and to signify how little supper he has tolean upon. His staff is an emblem of the staff of life,which is the special object of his pursuit, and it impressesthe mind with the idea that he is a pilgrim and a stranger, THE HOG. 185 and is looking for something that he cant find. A well-dis-posed, benevolent individual would suppose that it was a city out of sight, but it is merely what the coming hog islooking for
Comparative physiognomy; or, Resemblances between men and animals . second hand ; and he holds a staff in hishand to pick his way with, showing what dry picking thegutters afford him, and to signify how little supper he has tolean upon. His staff is an emblem of the staff of life,which is the special object of his pursuit, and it impressesthe mind with the idea that he is a pilgrim and a stranger, THE HOG. 185 and is looking for something that he cant find. A well-dis-posed, benevolent individual would suppose that it was a city out of sight, but it is merely what the coming hog islooking for and cant see till he has hit it with his nose, wheninstantly he seizes upon it with all the interest of a new dis-covery. It may not be amiss to inquire why a person who is su-premely selfish should be in so destitute and miserable acondition. It is simply this: his desire for everything, hisgreediness to eat all the world up, deprives him of taste anddiscrimination. This accounts for the want of taste in thehog: he would rob the very plants of their nourishment-. filch from the soil the decaying vegetables and the offal thathad been placed there for the production of verdure. Heseizes first upon that which is thrown away, as being thatwhich is most likely to be lost if he does not get it; by thismeans he expects to acquire the world, for he knows that thesoil is the origin of capital, as many a politician will tell you,and that the pennies make the pounds. The miser and thebeggar are of this description: the two are often united inone. It is not in the sign of economy that their beggarly dis-position is indicated, but in their resemblance to swine. Thehog-formation is very commonly met with in the politician 186 COMPARATIVE PHYSIOGNOMY. also. The beggar, with his hat in his hand, is electioneeringfor votes, and may not be aware that there is a hole in thebottom of his hat (we do not say top, for, like himself, his hatis inverted), for the votes to fall out of. His subserviency
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