Great cry and little wool, as the man said who clipped the sow
Charles Spurgeon · John Ploughman's Pictures; or, More of His Plain Talk for Plain People
AS THE MAN SAID WHO CLIPPED
THE SOW.
o
UR friend Hodge does not seem to be
making much of an out at shearing.
It will take him all his time to get wool
(89)
90 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
enough for a blanket, and his neighbors are
telling him so, but he does not heed them,
for a man never listens to reason when he
has made up his mind to act unreasonably.
Hodge gets plenty of music of a sort :
HuUah's system is nothing to it, and even
Nebuchadnezzar's flutes, harps, sackbuts,
and dulcimers could not make more din.
He gets " cry " enough to stock a Babylon
of babies, but not wool enough to stop his
ears with.
Now, is not this very like the world with
its notions of pleasure ? There is noise
enough ; laughter and shouting, and boast-
ing ; but where is the comfort which can
warm the heart and give peace to the
spirit? Generally there's plenty of smoke
and very little fire in what is called pleasure.
It promises a nag and gives an ^^g. Gaiety
is a sort of flash in the pan, a fifth of No-
vember squib, all fizz and ban[^ and done
for. The devil's meal is all bran, and the
world's wine turns to vinegar. It is al-
ways making a great noise over nutshells.
Thousands have had to weep over their
blunders in looking for their heaven on
earth ; but they follow each other like sheep
GREAT CRY AND LITTLE WOOL. 91
through a gap, not a bit the wiser for the
experience of generations. It seems that
every man must have a cHp at his own par-
ticular pig, and cannot be made to beUeve
that hke all the rest it will yield him noth-
ing but bristles. Men are not all of one
mind as to what is best for them ; they no
more agree than the clocks in our village,
but they all hang together in following
after vanity, for to the core of their hearts
they are vain.
One shears the publican's hog, which is
so fond of the swill tub, and he reckons
upon bringing home a wonderful lot of
wool ; but e^-er^•body knows that he who
goes to the " Woolpack " for wool will come
home shorn: the " Blue Boar" is an un-
commonly ugly animal to shear, and so is
the " Red Lion," Better sheer off as fast
as you can ; it will be sheer folly to stop.
You may loaf about the tap of the " Half-
moon " till you get the full moon in your
noddle, and need a keeper : it is the place
for men whose wits go woolgathering, but
wool there is none.
Another is covetous, and hopes to escape
misery by being a miser : his greedy mind
92 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
can no more be filled than a lawyer's purse :
he never has enough, and so he never has
a feast. He makes money with his teeth,
by keeping them idle. That is a very lean
hog to clip at, for poverty wants some
things, luxury many things, but covetous-
ness wants all things. If we could hoard
up all the money in the world, what would
it be to us at last ? To-day at good cheer,
to-morrow on the bier: in the midst of life
we are in death.
Some, like old Mrs. Too-good, go in for
self-righteousness, and their own mouths
dub them saints. They are the pink of per-
fection, the cream of creation, the gems of
their generation, and yet a sensible man
would not live in the same house with them
for all the money you could count. They are
saints abroad, but ask their maids what they
are at home. Great cry and little wool is
common enough in religion : you will find
that those who crack themselves up are
generally cracked, and those who despise
their neighbors come to be despised them-
selves.
Many try wickedness, and run into bad
company, and rake the kennels of vice. I
GREAT CRY AND LITTLE WOOL. 93
warrant you they may shear the whole sty-
ful of filthy creatures and nev^er find a mor-
sel of wool on the whole lot of them. Loose
characters, silly amusements, gambling, wan-
tonness, and such like, are swine that none
but a fool will try his shears upon. I don't
deny that there's plenty of swinish music —
who ever expected that there would be
silence in a piggery ? But then noise cannot
fill the heart, nor laughter lighten the soul.
John Ploughman has tried for himself,
and he knows by experience that all the
world is nothing but a hog that is not worth
the shearing : " Vanity of vanities, all is
vanity." But yet there is wool to be had ;
there are real joys to be got for the asking
if we ask aright. Below, all things deceive
us, but above us there is a true Friend.
" Wherefore do ye spend your money for
that which is not bread, and your labor for
that which satisfieth not ? " This is John
Ploughman's verdict, which he wishes all
his readers to take note of —
• Faith in Jesus Christ will give
Sweetest pleasures while we live ;
Faith in Jesus must supply
Solid comfort when we die."