"Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard,
To get her poor dog a bone;
But when she got there the cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog got none."
I propose to prove to you this evening that all its arguments were founded on false premises; that the whole picture drawn of the subject of our text—viz., old Mother Hubbard—was diametrically the reverse of the reality; in short, to give a complete refutation of the text to all those who listened to those first erroneous statements.
Firstly, Old Mother Hubbard was not a widow.
I am at a loss to understand why our learned brother should so have drawn upon his imagination as to represent her as such, when, as I shall endeavor to set before you conclusively this evening, it is distinctly stated in the text that she was the wife of an ogre!
My friends, in those days men and husbands were designated by the term "poor dog;" and, indeed, the lightest scholar knows that the term has descended to the present day and is often appropriated by a man himself under certain existing circumstances.
Now, that this "poor dog" of a husband was an ogre is abundantly proved by the fact that Mother Hubbard provided for him bones.
Yes! bones! my friends; but—they—were—human—bones!
Deep research has convinced me of this fact. I find that in those days ogres did not catch and kill their own meat, as is commonly supposed. They were but human, my friends, and, like the rest of humanity, preferred rather to purchase labor than perform it. They, therefore, employed their own individual butchers; but, with rare wisdom, they chose some carnivorous animal to supply their table.
In proof of this, we come, Secondly, to the word cupboard, as mentioned in the text,—
"Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard,
To get her poor dog a bone."