repaired and new lined, and a new family in it. Oh! I do wish that boys,
remembering how, by the goodness of our equal laws, a poor man's house
is his castle, would let a poor bird's little nest be its castle too! He
is the bravest boy who will defend the weak from the strong; and he is
the best boy who loves and is kind to the least of God's creatures for
the sake of the glorious Creator.

But perhaps you may say, "Well, I will not spoil the nest; I will only
take the eggs." No, pray do not take the eggs. What pleasure in the
world can a parcel of little eggs afford you, compared with the delight
that the poor harmless mother takes in them as she sits in her warm
house, of her own making, listening for the first faint chirp of the
tiny creature within? Birds only bring up one family in a year; and if
you take from them the eggs that are to produce that one, you rob them
of all the happiness for which they took so much trouble. You are not
enough of a hen to hatch the eggs, though you may be enough of a goose
to try: then think, and be too much of a man to do such a silly, cruel
thing. You like, perhaps, to blow the inside out, and string the shells
in a row. Oh you thoughtless child! You must certainly be a very little
child to take pleasure in such a babyish thing; and you are very, very
thoughtless and wrong to do it at the expense of a poor innocent bird
which never injured or wished to injure you, though you can rob it of
all its delight, to please such a silly fancy. If you want a pretty
thing to ornament your room, go and pick up some round, clear pebbles,
of different colours, and give one side of them a polish at the
grindstone; then get some pieces of brick, and join them together in the
shape of an arch, or any thing you fancy, with a little mortar; spread
more mortar, thick and rough, over the front, and, while it is wet,
stick in your pebbles, with the shining side outmost, with bits of
glass, moss, sealing-wax, and any gay thing that comes in your way. I