he has been good I take him on my lap, and rub his head and wings, which
he greatly likes. I never yet saw the animal, down to a little mouse,
that would not be fond of those who treated it tenderly; and the
pleasure of being loved is so great, that I only wonder how anybody can
neglect to win the love of the creatures which were made for man's use
and benefit. There is a wonderful deal of happiness among them, showing
how, as the Psalm says, the Lord's "tender mercies are over all his
works;" and a little kindness makes them so familiar, that we are always
reminded how sociable they were with Adam in the garden of Eden; and how
happy they and we should all be together now, if sin had not entered
into the world to destroy the beauty and blessedness that were upon
every thing when God first made them, and saw that they were all "very
good."




[Illustration]

CHAPTER VII.

FISHES--INSECTS.


A story about Jack. When he was a little fellow, soon after he came to
me, and before he knew many words, he made me understand that he wanted
a very long, slender stick. I asked a gardener of a friend, and he cut
him a fine one from a particular sort of tree. Then Jack laid out a
penny, all that he had, on a coarse bit of line, such as fishermen use;
and, lastly, he came to me for some large pins: one of which he bent