child replied, "Oh, yes." "Then," said the angel, "shall it not wing its
flight from flower to flower and be happy, rather than to dwell in a
prison with thee?" Then the streams and flowering vales of Elysium, that
breathe the pure air of freedom, spake: "Wouldst thou bring her back to
thee, and make her a prisoner? Dry up thy tears, and let thy song be,
'Stay not here, but speed thy flight, O bright one, and snuff the
mellow air of freedom.' God made the birds to be happy in their short
existence, and ought we to deprive them of their own elements of
happiness, and take from them the freedom which they enjoy?"




THE WAY TO OVERCOME EVIL.


A little girl, by the name of Sarah Dean, was taught the precepts of the
Bible by her mother. One day she came to her mother very much delighted,
to show her some plums that a friend had given her. The mother said to
her: "Your friend was very kind, and has given you a great many." "Yes,"
replied Sarah, "she was, and she gave me more than these, but I have
given some away." The mother asked to whom she had given them; when the
child replied: "I gave them to a girl that pushes me off the path, and
makes faces at me." Upon being asked why she gave them to her, she
answered: "Because I thought that would make her know that I wished to
be kind to her, and perhaps she will not be unkind and rude to me
again." This was true. The rude girl was afterwards very good to Sarah,
and felt very sorry that she had treated her unkindly. How truly did the
little girl obey the command, "_overcome evil with good_."