{"product_id":"studies-in-the-art-of-rat-catching-gb-41133","title":"Studies in the Art of Rat-catching","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eStudies in the Art of Rat-catching\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEver since I was a boy, and ah! long, long before that, I fancy, the one\r\ngreat anxiety of parents of the upper and middle classes blessed with\r\nlarge families has been, \"What are we to do with our boys?\" and the cry\r\ngoes on increasing, being intensified by the depreciation in the value\r\nof land, and by our distant colonies getting a little overstocked with\r\nyoung gentlemen, who have been banished to them by thousands, to\r\nstruggle and strive, sink or swim, as fate wills it. At home, all\r\nprofessions are full and everything has been tried; and, go where you\r\nwill, even the children of the noble may be found[Pg 2] wrestling with those\r\nof the middle and working classes for every piece of bread that falls in\r\nthe gutter. Nothing is infra dig. that brings in a shilling, and all\r\nhas been and is being tried. The sons of the great are to be found\r\nshoulder to shoulder with \"Tommy Atkins,\" up behind a hansom cab,\r\nkeeping shops, selling wines, horses, cigars, coals, and generally\r\nendeavouring feebly to shoulder the son of the working man out of the\r\nrace over the ropes. Fortunately Heaven tempers the wind to the shorn\r\nlamb, and I believe it has done so now. I believe kind Dame Nature\r\nduring the last summer has stepped in and opened out an honourable path\r\nfor many gentlemen's sons, that I think will be their salvation, and at\r\nall events, if it does not make them all rich, will, if they only follow\r\nit, make them most useful members of society and keep them out of\r\nmischief and out of their mammas' snug drawing-rooms.[Pg 3] I have followed\r\nthe path myself, and, after fifty years' tramp down it, have been forced\r\nto abandon it owing to gout and rheumatism. I have not picked up a big\r\nfortune at it, or become celebrated, except quite locally; but I have\r\nhad a good time and helped the world in general, and am content with my\r\npast life.\nI was the son of a worthy country parson, who in my youth proposed to me\r\nin turn to become a judge, a bishop, a general, a Gladstone, a Nelson, a\r\nSir James Paget, and a ritualistic curate; but when talking to me on the\r\nsubject the good old man always said, \"Mind, my boy, though I propose\r\nthese various positions for you, yet, if you have any decided preference\r\nyourself, I will not thwart you, I will not fly in the face of nature.\"\nFor some time I thought I should rather like to be a bishop, and to this\r\nday I think I should have made a good one; but the[Pg 4] voice spoke at\r\nlast, and my destiny was settled.\n\u003cb\u003e ......Buy Now (To Read More)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct details\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEbook Number\u003c\/b\u003e: 41133 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor\u003c\/b\u003e: Barkley, Henry C. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date\u003c\/b\u003e: Oct 21, 2012 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat\u003c\/b\u003e: eBook \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage\u003c\/b\u003e: English \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Barkley, Henry C. \/ eBook \/ English","offer_id":43221279768733,"sku":"gb-41133-ebook","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/products\/41133.jpg?v=1671589099","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/studies-in-the-art-of-rat-catching-gb-41133","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}