{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_17961/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_17961","id":"gutenberg_17961","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17961","summary":null,"tags":["Animal welfare","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Ben Beasley and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE.]\n\n\n\n\nKINDNESS TO ANIMALS;\n\nOR, THE\n\nSin of Cruelty\n\nEXPOSED AND REBUKED.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nREVISED BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL\nUNION.\n\n\nPHILADELPHIA:\nAMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION,\n146 CHESTNUT STREET.\n\n\n\n\nEntered according to act of Congress, in the year 1845, by HERMAN COPE,\nTreasurer, in trust for the American Sunday-school Union, in the Clerk's\nOffice of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.\n\n\n\n\nKINDNESS TO ANIMALS.\n\n\n\n\nKINDNESS TO ANIMALS.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nABOUT THE BEGINNING.\n\n\nMany books have been written about animals, and very good books too,\ngiving a great deal of information. Most of them are called works of\nNatural History; and they usually give some description of the birds\nand beasts, fishes and insects, that are known to man. I am not going to\nwrite such a book as that; but to say a little about different kinds of\ncreatures that we are all in the habit of seeing, and to tell you a few\nthings of some which have belonged to me, or have come under my own\nobservation; so that, at least, I can promise to write nothing but what\nI know to be true. I have not learned their characters and habits from\nbooks, but by watching them ever since I was a very young child; and\nmany a happy hour I have spent in that delightful employment.\n\nOne of the first things that it came into my little head to ask was,\n\"How were the animals made; and why were any of them made wild and\ncruel, while some are tame and quiet?\" I was told that the Bible gave an\nanswer to that question; and so it does. If we look in the first chapter\nof Genesis, where there is an account of the creation of the world, we\nfind that on the fifth day God created the fishes to move in the water,\nand the fowls to fly in the air; and on the sixth day, \"God made the\nbeast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and\nevery thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw\nthat it was good.\" From this we learn, that there was no violence or\ncruelty in any of them, as they first came from the hand of the holy and\nmerciful God. And I would have you take particular notice of what\ndirectly follows: \"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our\nlikeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over\nthe fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and\nover every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.\" Now, the great\nGod is invisible--a Spirit--and not a body, as I think you all know; and\nwhen it is said that God made man in his own image, it must mean that\nman was made to be holy, and just, and good, and merciful; and he was\nmade to be a careful and loving ruler over the poor dumb creatures, as\nthe Lord God is a careful and loving ruler over all that he has\ncreated.\n\nThen, in the next chapter, we have a beautiful picture before us: I do\nnot mean a print, or drawing, but a description in words, that, if we\nthink a little, will make us fancy we see a lovely sight, such as we\ncannot now see anywhere. We are told that out of the ground the Lord God\nformed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and then\nthat He \"brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and\nwhatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name\nthereof.\"\n\nWas it not a wonderful and a beautiful sight? There, in a very delicious\ngarden, full of all manner of rich fruit and bright flowers, with soft\nwarm air, and calm sunshine, was the first and only man in all the\nworld! He was righteous and good, without any malice, or cruelty, or\ncovetousness, or pride in his heart, looking with delight upon the\ncreatures that came about him as their rightful ruler, to receive their\nnames.\n\nCan you not fancy how he must have admired the noble and beautiful\ncreatures as they meekly and lovingly came to him? The mighty lion,\nshaking the curls of his mane, and fixing his eyes (not then fierce and\nfiery, but bright and joyous) on the man, who, by God's gift, was\nmightier than he; the great elephant, putting out his trunk to caress\nhis new master, and passing on to rest under the shadow of some stately\ntree; the horse, with his arching neck and prancing movements; the fond\ndog; the gentle sheep; the peacock, with its plumes of blue, and green,\nand gold; the majestic snow-white swan; the little linnet; the\nrobin-redbreast; and that most beautiful, tiny creature, the\nhumming-bird; the gay butterfly; the bee. It is impossible to go over\nthe names of even what we know by sight, of the good creatures of God,\nwho on that sixth day of the creation came about our first father, to\nreceive just what name he was pleased to give them. But I often think\nabout it, because it keeps me in mind that the Lord God never overlooks\nany thing which he has seen good to make.\n\nBut what changed the animals so sadly as they must have been changed,\nto become what some of them are now? That we learn in the next chapter.\nEve listened to the wicked temptation of Satan, and disobeyed the good\nand gracious Lord God, and persuaded Adam to do the same. So every thing\nwas altered: they were driven out of that fair garden into the wide\nworld, the ground of which was cursed for man's sake; and this curse,\nwhich fell upon the earth, made it bring forth thorns and thistles, and\nthen it was very difficult for man to make it fruitful, till he had cut\nand bruised it with iron spades and ploughshares, and bestowed a great\ndeal of labour upon it. This sad curse was on the animals too; not by\ntheir fault, poor things! but by man's dreadful sin. For, you see, it\nwas God who made them subject to man; and when man became a rebel and\ntraitor to God, the creatures turned against him, and against each\nother. Oh, it is sad to think of all the misery and crime brought into\nthe world by the ungrateful disobedience of man to his heavenly King and\nFather!\n\nHowever, it did happen once again that a thing as wonderful though not\nso beautiful was seen: indeed, we may say more wonderful, considering\nhow the nature of the creatures had been changed for the worse. When all\nthe world had become so wicked that God resolved to destroy every human\nbeing from off the face of the earth, except Noah and his family, He\ndirected that pious man to make an ark, as you all know--an immense\nship, or floating house--in which he was to be preserved on the surface\nof the waters for many days. When this great ark was ready, God caused a\npair of each from among all the animals and birds to come to Noah, and\nto enter into the ark. Of some kinds there were seven, and of none less\nthan two. This was a very great miracle; and it shows us, too, how\nperfectly the Lord knows and numbers all the works of his hands, and how\ntenderly he cares for them all. This is one of the things that we are\napt to forget when have a beast, or a bird, or a fish, or an insect, in\nour power. We are too ready to say to ourselves, \"This is mine, and I\nmay do what I like to it.\" Not so; it is a creature of God's, not of\nours; and if we do to it any thing that he does not approve of, he will\nsurely reckon with us for it. When I call this to mind, I am\nalarmed--though I do not think I have often been cruel to animals, or\nany such thing--and I am ready to pray, \"Lord, if I have hurt any of thy\ncreatures, pardon my past sin, for Jesus Christ's sake, I beseech thee;\nand give me grace to be merciful for the future.\"\n\nNow, having told you how I got instructed when I was little, I shall\ngive you the history of some animals and birds that I have had, and how\nI treated them, and what amusement they gave me. I am sure if you knew\nhow very amusing they all are, when left to their own harmless ways, and\ngently restrained from ways that are not harmless, you would think it a\ngreat loss to have them so altered as they are by bad management. If I\nhad been a great traveller, I could tell you more wonderful stories; but\nhaving only been in England, and Ireland, and part of North America, my\nstore of anecdotes is not so great. However, I will try my best to give\nyou some notion of what I do know; and as I shall often have occasion to\nname Jack, I will begin by telling you who he was.\n\nJack was a little Irish boy, who became deaf while he was still a baby;\nand because, as you know, babies learn to talk by hearing those around\nthem, Jack, not hearing anybody talk, could not learn, and so he grew up\ndumb. It is a sad thing to be deaf and dumb. A person who is so, cannot\npossibly learn any thing about God and our Lord Jesus Christ, until he\nhas been taught to read; and it is so very difficult to teach them, that\nif some benevolent people, who have money, did not subscribe to keep up\ncharitable schools on purpose for the deaf and dumb poor, I do not\nsuppose that one in a thousand of them would ever learn so much as that\nthey have a soul to be saved or lost: and you may judge what a miserable\nlife they must lead, in total ignorance, nobody speaking to them, and\nthey not able to speak to anybody. Jack was in this state when I first\nsaw him, at eleven years old; he was a poor boy, and I took him, and\ntaught him, and he lived with me above seven years, till he died of a\nconsumption. He died very happy indeed, full of love to God for his\ngreat mercy in sending his Son into the world to save sinners: and\ndepending on the Lord Jesus for salvation. He was always with me,\nspeaking by means of his fingers, but in an odd, that is, an imperfect\nsort of language, that would make you smile. So when I mention Jack, you\nwill know who I mean; and we will now have some talk about the domestic\nanimals.\n\nWhen I say domestic, I mean such as we are used to see in our houses,\nstreets, and fields. Lions, tigers, elephants, and such as are shut up\nin caravans, or only taken about for a show, do not belong to these;\nthough I am not sure that I shall not have a word or two to say about\nbears and monkeys. I want to amuse you, my young friends, and to make\nyou think a little too; for all the good things given us of God become\nmore valuable to us when we think about them in a right way. Jack knew\nthis: he used to rub his forehead with his fingers' ends, shake his head\nwisely, and spell, \"Very good think.\" I hope you will judge the same;\nand when you have come to the end of my little book, be able to say you\nhave had a \"very good think\" too.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE HORSE.\n\n\nThe great mistake that people seem to me to make about animals is this:\nthey fancy that they must be frightened into obedience, and kept from\ndisobeying their masters by being made afraid of punishment. I dare say\nthat animals, like human beings, often need correction; but two things\nare necessary to make such correction useful. One is, not to punish them\ntoo severely, which only hardens them in rebellion; the other is, never\nto hurt them at all except for a real fault--something that they know\nto be a fault, and know that they will be punished for doing. Otherwise,\nthe poor beast, not knowing when or why it may be beaten, gets confused\nand foolish, and does wrong, as any boy might do, from being in a great\nfright. The truth is, that the animals are very sensible, and very\nwilling to do their best. They are fond of being praised and rewarded;\nthey become very much attached to those who treat them kindly; and when\nthey are so attached, they are very happy, and show off all the fine\nqualities that make them both valuable and entertaining. I am going to\ntell you some stories about my own favourites; and, to prevent your\nthinking that they were different from others of the same kind, I shall\nbegin by letting you into the secret of making them so knowing.\n\nFirst, I tried to find out their habits; and I will tell you what they\nare. All very young animals like to sleep a good deal, and to be let\nalone. It both frightens and hurts them to be pulled about, and makes\nthem fretful and ill-tempered; spoils their growth, and prevents their\nloving you. A puppy or a kitten is very fond of play, and will jump and\nbounce about with you for a long while; but the moment they begin to get\ntired, they should be left alone, to rest as much as they like. You may\nsuppose, that if, when you are comfortably going to sleep at night, a\nrough-handed man were to come and shake you, and bawl out in your ears,\nand wake you continually, you would soon become fretful and ill too, and\nfeverish, and be very glad to get out of the way of such a tormentor. So\nmy rule is, when creatures are young, to let them have as much sleep as\nthey will. It may sometimes prevent their being playthings when you want\nthem; but it will be made up in their health, and good-temper, and\ngratitude to you.\n\nNext, all creatures like liberty: a horse or a dog is never so happy as\nwhen bounding across the fields in perfect freedom. Why does chaining or\ntying up a dog make him savage? Because he then looks on mankind as his\nenemies, and fancies that everybody he meets is going to take away his\nliberty. My dogs have known as little about chains as possible: two of\nthem had been used to be tied up before I had them, and I never could\nbreak them of being savage. As to beating it out of them, it would be\nlike putting on coals to keep a fire from burning. That, you know, makes\nthe fire look dull for a little while; but the moment you stir it, up it\nblazes, much higher and brighter than if no coals had been put on. I\nknew a horse that was not naturally good-tempered, and bad usage had\nmade him much worse: he was then bought by a gentleman, who gave him\nenough of the whip, and spur, and sharp iron bit to cure him, if that\ncould have done it; but it only made him cunning and revengeful. Poor\nbeast! a little patient kindness would have gone much farther. I will\ntell you an instance of this.\n\nOnce I had a mare, and such a beautiful creature she was! She lived on a\nsort of farm, where they had not put her to work, and where the\nchildren had been used to play with her. She was hardly full grown. I\nlived then in a house with very low windows, and the pretty mare was\ngrazing on the outside. One warm day, the windows were all open, and I\nwas sitting at work, when she popped her beautiful head and neck in at\nthe one nearest to me. I gave her a bit of bread that was lying by me,\nand told her to go away; but she would not. I said to myself, \"Why\nshould I drive her away? God made the animals to be loving and confiding\ntowards man; and if this lonely creature wants me to be a friend to her,\nwhy should I not? The Bible says, 'A righteous man regardeth the life of\nhis beast;' and what is life to a poor animal that has no hereafter to\nlook to, if its life be without comforts?\" So I put down my work, and\nwent and rubbed her forehead, stroked her long white face, patted her\nshining neck, and talked to her. After this when I was alone at my\nmorning work, she was sure to put her head in at one of the windows, to\nask, in her dumb way, to be petted; and many an apple, many a handful\nof oats, did she get by coming there. She would soon listen for my\nfootstep about the house, and I seldom could look out from any window\nwithout seeing her under it, or before it. She would also follow me like\na dog when I walked in the grounds where she grazed.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOne day, a gentleman's groom undertook to ride her; but he began by\nwhipping and by jerking the bridle, which is a very cruel thing. My mare\ndid not like this; and as he went on doing it, she lost her patience;\nand after a long trial as to who should be master, she threw him over\nher head, and trotted home to her stable. He was not hurt, but very much\nmortified, being a soldier, and a great horseman; and he told his master\nthat she was the most vicious beast in the world, not safe for anybody\nto ride. I did not like my pretty mare to get such a bad name: so I told\nmy own groom to put on the side saddle, and I asked the gentleman to\nmount his fine English horse, and to ride out, and see if she were not\neasily managed. We had a long ride over mountains, and through little\nstreams, and crossing deep torrents by the unsteady bridges made of\ntrunks of trees, and he said he never saw an animal so full of spirit\nand good-temper as my mare. I never touched her with the whip, but spoke\ngently to her; and I can truly say, that for the year and a half of my\nriding her every day, she never brought me into danger, nor ever\ndisobeyed me. You may say, \"But this was a particular sort of horse, not\nlike others.\" I have only to answer you, that the bad, vicious horse I\nspoke of before, was bred in the same place, lived in the same stable,\nand the only difference between them was the different usage that they\nhad received.\n\nThe horse is one of the most sensible and most affectionate of\ncreatures. You see, every day, how they will obey the man who drives\nthem, going on, stopping, moving to the right or left, and turning any\ncorner, all without the driver going near them. They have learned the\nmeaning of his words, or they could not do this; and is it not dreadful\nthat a creature able to understand, and most willing to obey the voice,\nshould be beaten and tortured as horses are? Why does a horse go as fast\nas he can when he is cruelly whipped, and his poor mouth wounded by the\nhard bit? Because he is trying to get away from the man or boy who\ntreats him so. Ah, when God brought his beautiful creatures to the first\nman, to be named, and gave them into his care, there was no appearance\nof man ever becoming so cruel, or the animals so miserable as they now\nare! Yet the Lord loves mercy and judgment, and hates tyranny and\nwrong, as much now as he did then: and we may be quite certain of this,\nthat every cruelty committed is an offence in his sight, and will be\nterribly punished, if it be not repented of, and left off; for when a\nperson says he repents, and goes on doing the same thing as before, he\nis deceiving himself and provoking God.\n\nThe horse must bear a great deal of dreadful pain and suffering to be\nmade fit for the use man puts him to, in drawing carriages, and other\nthings. It is not natural to him to have even a bridle and saddle on\nhim; much less to be loaded with harness, to wear blinders on his eyes,\nand to drag a great heavy weight as fast as he can run, keeping always\nattentive to the least touch of the reins, and turning accordingly, to\nprevent running his carriage against others. His fine spirit must be\nbroken, his liberty quite taken away, and many a bitter smart must the\npoor, dumb, harmless, helpless creature suffer. But surely this ought to\nbe enough; and you would not be the cruel wretch to add to his pains?\nSometimes people _must_ go fast; but one who would distress and torment\na horse to make him go fast, just because it pleases the driver to be\nmoving quickly, is doing a very wrong thing; and so is the person who\ncould neglect to give food and drink to a horse when he wants it. I\nwonder when I see the poor doing this. They know what it is to be\noverworked, and to want as much as they could eat; they are often cold,\nand cannot get fuel enough: and if they were tied up, and not able to\nrun about, or to help themselves, having no servants to wait on them,\nhow very badly off they would think themselves! Yet a poor horse is much\nworse off; he can neither do any thing for himself, nor express his\nwants to others: he does his best, serves us faithfully, obeys all that\nhe understands; and then to be ill-used, neglected, starved! It is a\nthing that I cannot bear to think of; and I hope my readers will always\nset their faces against such wickedness. Remember that promise which the\nLord has given, \"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain\nmercy.\"\n\nI dare say you have heard of the Arabs--a wild people, the descendants\nof Ishmael, the son of Abraham, who possess a great deal of country in\nthe east; and are powerful, and much feared, because nobody has been\nable to conquer them. Their greatest strength consists in having the\nboldest, fleetest, most docile horses in the whole world. Arabian horses\nmay be known in a moment by their uncommon beauty, their delicate arched\nnecks, waving manes, and long tails; but though a great price is given\nfor them, and they are lodged, and fed, and tended with all the care\npossible, they cannot be so happy in a king's palace, as in the tent or\nhut of their poor masters at home. The Arab treats his horse like a\nchild; gives it to eat of his own victuals, to drink of his own bowl of\nmilk, and lets it sleep in the midst of his family. Of course, the\nanimal becomes so fond of him, that it serves him for love, carries him\nthrough all dangers, and has often been known to defend him with its\nlife. We cannot bring up our horses in this way, nor treat them as the\nwild Arab does; but knowing what sense, and feeling, and gratitude, and\nlove, this noble creature can and does show, we ought to be always\nwatching to avoid giving it unnecessary pain, and to persuade others to\nbe equally kind.\n\nI cannot tell you how it used to grieve my dumb boy, Jack, when he saw a\nhorse ill-used; or how very kind he was to one that he had the care of.\nHe would sooner have wanted food and drink himself, than have allowed\nhis master's horse to feel hunger or thirst. He was very tender when\nrubbing it down, if there was any, sore place; and if the animal got\ncross or impatient, he would say to me in signs, \"Poor horse not know:\nhorse tired: soon go sleep, poor horse!\" That was a very strong,\nspirited animal, and needed a steady hand to rein him in; but I often\nsaw the dumb boy jump on his back, and with only the halter over his\nhead, guide him where he chose. I never saw him give that horse a blow\nor a kick, in all the two years that he tended him. Jack was fourteen\nwhen he began, and sixteen when he left off being his groom. He was\nstrong and healthy then; but at nineteen he died; and he told me that it\nmade him very happy to think that he had never been cruel to any of\nGod's poor creatures. But I must not say any more now about the noble\nhorse. There is another animal, the natural companion of man, the dog,\nwhich comes next in value; for though it cannot take us on a long\njourney, or convey our goods from place to place, it stands sentry over\nus and our property, being not only a good servant, but a most\nintelligent, fond, and faithful friend. It does not need to be broke in,\nlike the horse; it learns the ways and the wishes of those around it;\nand the more liberty you give it, the more eager it is to serve and\nplease you. The dog deserves a chapter to himself, and shall have it.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE DOG.\n\n\nThere is a great deal of sorrow in the world: perhaps, through the\ngoodness of God, you have been kept from suffering much yourselves, but\nyou must have seen trouble among your friends and neighbours; sickness\nand death, perhaps. And it often happens that great distress comes on\npeople, so as to keep them hungry and cold, for want of what would buy\nenough food and fuel. Besides this, how often the bad conduct of one in\na family will make the rest unhappy! A single drunkard, or thief, or\nviolent person, will bring shame and misery on all the rest. The world\nis full of troubles; but I do not think that we often find, even among\nthose of our own nature, men, women, boys, and girls, not related to us,\na person with so little selfishness as to be always sorry and sad when\nwe are so, and because we are so. When we meet with any one so\nkind-hearted, we love that person, and would do a great deal to serve or\noblige such a feeling friend.\n\nNow, I always observed that a dog, when kindly treated and taken care\nof, will show his concern for the troubles of his master or mistress, in\na wonderful way. Indeed, I never, in my life, had a dog that would not\ndo so; and seeing this has convinced me that it is worse than cruel to\ntreat a dog ill--it is most ungrateful. It does sometimes happen that a\ndog has a bad and violent temper, even from a puppy; and if very careful\ntreatment does not soon cure this, I should say that such a dog ought to\nbe destroyed, by a quick and easy death; not making the poor brute\nsuffer for what it cannot help. But in ninety-nine cases out of a\nhundred, a dog's savageness is the fault of those who have brought him\nup: and few things are more wicked than to teach or encourage a dog to\nfight his own race, or to bark and fly at human beings. When the world\nwas as God made it, there was no hatred in it, no quarrelling, no wish\nin any living creature to frighten or hurt any other living creatures;\nbut when Adam became a sinner, his sin broke through all this beautiful\norder, and peace, and love, and set the animals against each other, and\nagainst himself. I am trying always to remember this; for when they\nalarm or distress me, and I am thinking to punish them, I ought not to\nforget what first made the brutes vicious, and brought so much suffering\non them. It was man's sin alone: man should therefore do the best he can\nto make them amends; and not increase their misery, as he often does, by\ncruel severity. I think you will agree with me in this. Besides, it is a\ncertain truth, that God's eye is upon us and on the animals about us,\nas much as it was on Adam and the living creatures that came to him to\nbe named; and though we and they are much changed for the worse, yet the\nLord God never does or can change. He is as righteous, as holy, as\nmerciful, and as just to-day, as he was then. How often has Jack, when\nhe saw a thoughtless boy hurting a dog, or any other animal, gone up to\nhim, and said, on his fingers, in a very quiet, gentle, but earnest\nmanner, \"God see--God angry.\" He felt much for the dumb beast, suffering\npain; but more for the boy who was forgetting that the Lord's hand would\nyet punish him, when he least expected it: for Jack very well knew that\nthe Bible says, \"He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed\nno mercy.\"\n\nDogs have been a great amusement to me ever since I was a baby; and I\nnever have been without one in the house when I could keep one. Ladies\nand gentlemen are not often willing to let their carpets be soiled by\ndogs; but the poor people, who are not troubled with carpets, make\ncompanions of them. I am writing this book in a room with a carpet and\ngood furniture, but I have my two dogs with me. There is little Fiddy,\nthe small spaniel, at my feet, where he has lain every day for eight\nyears; and there is Bronti, the fine big Newfoundlander, lying, where do\nyou think? Why the rogue has got upon the sofa, and when I shake my head\nat him, he wags his long tail, and turns up his large bright eyes to my\nface, as much as to say, \"Pray let me stop here; it is so comfortable.\"\nBut no, Bronti, you must walk down, my fine fellow, or some lady coming\nto see me may have her gown soiled, which would not be fair. We have no\nright to make our pets a plague to other people, and, perhaps, a means\nof injuring them too.\n\nThat was enough for Bronti; no need of a loud, cross, or threatening\nvoice. He saw that I wished him to leave the sofa, and he wags his tail\nas contentedly on the carpet. I can manage him with a word, almost with\na look, because he was born in the house, and has never been away from\nme; but master Fiddy was a year or two old when I had him, and some\nthings he will do in spite of me. He will hunt a cat, kill a bird, and\ngrowl most furiously over a bone. Bronti has the same nature, but his\nlove for us overcomes it all. He would live peaceably with a cat, it we\nhad one; he will let the chickens and pigeons perch upon him, or walk\nbetween his feet; and last year I had half a dozen tame mice, which I\nused to let out upon him, when they would nestle in his warm coat, run\nraces over and under him, and he would not move a limb, for fear of\nhurting one. As to a bone, he will allow me to take it out of his mouth\nat any time; and, what is more, he will readily give it up to Fiddy,\nwhose little teeth can only nibble off the meat; and when he has done\nthat, Bronti takes it, and munches the bone.\n\nHis mother was full grown when I had her, and she was very fierce: if\nany workman came to the house, unless her master or I was by to\nrestrain her, she would put him in fear of his life; and would have\nbitten him too, if she could have seized him. We gave her away to a\nfriend who would be kind to her, and keep her out of mischief; and we\nbrought up a puppy for ourselves, this same Bronti. Now he is more than\nthree years old; and though he will sometimes fight a big dog who\naffronts him in the street, he never frightened anybody who came to the\nhouse. He watches, and gives one single, deep, quiet bark, to let us\nknow that there is a stranger; and seeing that we are satisfied, he sits\nwith one ear thrown back, listening and watching. If he meets a workman\nin the house, he does not even growl; only keeps him in sight, following\nhim about, but with such a sweet-tempered look, that the greatest\ncoward, if honest, could not contrive to be afraid of him. I might leave\na joint of meat under his care, if he were ever so hungry; he would not\ntouch it, because he is truly honest: and as to his sense, you would\nhardly believe if I told you how sensible he is. When I am putting on\nmy boots, he comes up to me, and looks very eagerly in my face; if I say\n\"Yes,\" or, \"Bronti shall go,\" he is just wild with joy, tearing about,\nbarking, and making no small riot. If I say \"No,\" or shake my head\nsorrowfully and say nothing, he steals away, lies down, and never\nattempts to follow me: but he gets on a chair, and Fiddy on a table, to\nsee me go out at the gate; and then they both begin to cry and moan most\npiteously, so that nobody can comfort them.\n\nOn Sunday morning, Bronti looks very melancholy; how he knows the day I\ncannot tell. Of course, we all go to church, but he begins to be sad as\nsoon as we get up. Neither he, nor Fiddy would attempt to follow us\nthen, if the doors and gate were all set open: they seat themselves at\nthe window to see us go. And now I recollect one time when Bronti was as\nsavage as his mother. You shall hear about it.\n\nOne Sunday, when were all at church, a friend, just landed from a\nvoyage, came to the house. He opened the garden gate, and was walking\ntowards the door, when up jumped Bronti on a chair at window, barking,\ngrowling, and behaving so violently, that he really dared not try to get\ninto a house where such a wild beast stood ready to seize him. So he\nwent off to the church, found us, and after service returned with us;\nand Bronti, seeing him as a friend of the family, gave him an\naffectionate welcome. Then he told us of his ferocious behaviour; and we\nwere very glad to find that our gentle dog knew how to protect our house\nand property when it was left entirely to his care.\n\nA book larger than this might be filled, all through, with stories about\nthe dog, besides what are already published; but any one of you may see\nenough to delight you every day in the affectionate creature, it you\nwill only be patient and kind. It is too often the custom to punish a\ndog when he does not do just what you like; and you may like things\nquite different at different times. Now, the poor brute cannot tell\nexactly what you wish; and if he is used to get a blow, or an angry\nscolding, he will be so afraid of doing wrong, that what little sense\nhe has left will fail him, and he will be so confused as to make him do\nwrong. An animal, or a boy either, living in constant fear of ill-usage\nwhether he deserves it or not, will get either so stupid or so careless,\nas seldom to do what is required. Think a little, and you will\nunderstand this. An angry tone and hard words agitate a dog very much.\nMr. Blaine, who wrote a book about their diseases and cures, says that\nhe has often known a dog, weakened by illness, to go into convulsions on\nhearing another dog violently scolded. I tell you this to explain why\nsome dogs are hard to manage: they are frightened out of their senses;\nto say nothing of the cruel pain that they are often made to suffer. I\nhave seen a person beat a dog one day for not following him when he\nwished it, and the next day for following when he was not wanted. I have\nseen a dog set at another to fight, being encouraged, and irritated, and\nmade savage on purpose; and soon after beaten for flying at some person,\nor thing that he was not wanted to attack. No wonder if the poor\ncreature loses all his fine qualities under such treatment.\n\nAll that he wishes is to be allowed to love you, and follow you, and\nserve you. He wants the help of your reason to keep him from doing\nwrong; and he wants you to explain to him how he may please you. It has\nmade my heart ache, many a time, to see a poor dog obey his master's\ncall, coming up to him in a crouching, crawling way, trembling with\nfear, and seeming to say, \"Pray, pray do not hurt me! I am ready to do\nwhat you wish, and to lay down my life for you; but you are going to\nbeat or to kick me, and I am a poor creature, without any one to take my\npart. I _could_ bite you, I _could_ seize you by the throat, or tear the\nflesh off your leg, but I will not do so. I come because you call me;\npray do not hurt me!\" And I have seen the meek, obedient creature\nstruck, and put to cruel pain, without the smallest reason in the world.\nAnd when I recollected the words of the Bible, \"Verily there is a God\nthat judgeth in the earth,\" I have grieved the more to think what\npunishment that cruel man or boy was bringing on himself.\n\nIf we call one of our dogs, even when at high play in the fields, he\ninstantly comes bounding up, puts his head on one side, pricks up his\nears, and looks full in our faces as if saying, \"Well, here I am; what\ndo you want me to do?\" A beating is the last thing that they would think\nof. I am not now speaking of Bronti and Fiddy in particular, but all the\ndogs that ever I had. The reason is, that the dog is the very fondest\ncreature that breathes; and any but a really ill-tempered dog may be\nmanaged by means of this fondness; while, as I before remarked, a really\nbad-tempered one should not be kept to be punished, but speedily\ndestroyed.\n\nYou know what a terrible thing the bite of a mad dog is. The wound may\nbe so small as hardly to leave a scar, and it may heal, and be\nforgotten, perhaps for weeks and months; still, the deadly poison is in\nthe person's blood, and when it breaks out, a most fearful death\nfollows, after such sufferings as nobody, who has not seen them, can\nhave an idea of. But, perhaps, you do not know that the angry bite of a\ndog, when teased or hurt, has often produced the same awful madness. I\nremember a neighbour's son dying most horribly of it, who had only had\nhis finger wounded, as if by a pin's point, by the tooth of a little dog\nwhich he was teasing and provoking in play. This shows us how very\ndangerous it is to irritate an animal; for you never know what peril you\nmay run into. These things do not fall out by chance. The Lord God\norders them all; and sometimes he does very terrible things, in judgment\non those who knowingly transgress, and for an example to others. May\nyou, dear young readers, be loving, and merciful, and kind; and never\nstand for a moment in the hateful character of oppressors, where it is\nalike your duty and your happiness to help the defenceless and to\nprotect the weak!\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE CAT--THE COW--THE SHEEP--THE ASS.\n\n\nPoor Puss! I have not so much to say for her as for the noble dog. The\ncat is more selfish, and not so trustful; neither does she often show so\nmuch affection for us. The cat's habits are more like those of a wild\nanimal, than are the habits of any other of our domestic creatures. It\nis hardly possible to keep her from straying about, or to teach her to\ndo no mischief. I have had a cat that would not steal, and a dog that\nwould: both proving that every rule has an exception. I often think,\nwhen I see Puss watching for mice and birds, and choosing them rather\nthan meat, what a wonderful thing it is that God should have taught a\nbeast of prey to attach itself to man, so far as to rid him of other\ncreatures which, by increasing too fast, would eat up what he wants to\nlive upon. At the same time, I grieve to remember that this war between\nus and the smaller animals, and between them and each other, comes from\nour rebellion against God; and I dare not set one creature to destroy\nanother, any farther than is necessary for my own safety, and the\nsupport of my family.\n\nStill the cat is an interesting animal, beautiful, cleanly, graceful,\nand often very loving. A kitten is even more engaging than a puppy. Its\nfun and frolic are more diverting because of its light, active\nmovements. A grave old cat, sitting in the sunshine, with her eyes half\nshut, and a merry little kitten, playing with her tail, bounding over\nher back, and comically boxing her ears, is a sight that I cannot help\nstopping to admire. But how much to be pitied is a kitten in the hands\nof children too young to know, or too cruel to care what pain they may\nput it to! As to setting dogs to hunt and worry cats, or tormenting them\non purpose, as some will, I do not wish to think that anybody who can\nread the Bible, or hear it read, is capable of such wickedness; nor\nshould I like to believe that anybody born in this free country, among a\nbrave people, could be so mean a coward. A boy may fancy himself very\ncourageous, if he is able and willing to fight anybody who doubts his\nbeing so; but if he is capable of wantonly hurting one of God's\ncreatures, when he gets it into his power, he is a real coward. He alone\nis truly brave who fears none because he would injure none, but would\nuse all the strength and all the influence that he has, to protect the\nweak from those who are too powerful for them.\n\nI have seen wild cats abroad: most terrible-looking they are, and more\ndangerous than many larger animals. Nobody would offer to play any\nunfeeling tricks with them; a single look from their fierce, fiery eyes,\nglaring from the branches of a tree, round which they twist their long\ntails, would send the boldest of you scampering away. They grow larger,\nand their fur becomes much richer, when in a wild state. The good\nprovidence of God supplies them with very warm, thick coat, when they\nhave no longer the benefit of a corner by the fireside. Oh that we would\nlearn lessons of tender mercy by seeing how compassionately the Lord\ncares for the meanest creature that he has made!\n\nBut about young kittens: there are two things, often done through\nthoughtlessness, which are both very cruel indeed. One is to kill all\nher little ones, which not only causes great distress, but severe pain\ntoo, to the poor mother. God gives her milk to nourish the little\ncreatures, and if one is not left to draw it off, the animal suffers\nmuch torment and fever from it. The other thing is one that no\nkindhearted person could do, or allow to be done, after being once told\nhow exceedingly inhuman it is: I mean, putting the young ones to death\nin the mother's sight. The agonies of a bitch, when she sees her puppies\ndrowned, are really a call for divine vengeance on the wretch who could\npurposely be guilty of such an outrage on the tenderest feelings of\nnature. The cat, though inferior to the dog in many points, is a most\nloving mother, and very sagacious in protecting her young. She will\noften hide them so cunningly, that nobody can reach them; and I have\nseen a family astonished by the return of a cat which they had supposed\nwas lost, with four or five wild-looking, lean kittens behind her, all\ntheir faces being well scratched by the sticks or other rubbish among\nwhich they were hidden. The dog never does so: its confiding character\nleads it to commit its young to its master's care, little as he\nsometimes deserves such a trust.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHave you a cow? People who live in cities very seldom indeed have one;\nbut in the country, many, who are not rich, contrive to keep one; and a\nmore gentle, quiet, patient animal is not to be found. Jack's mother\nwas a poor Irishwoman, but she had two cows, and sold their milk to\nsupport her family. I have often met her, stepping so stately and\nsteadily, because she had a brim-full pail of milk balanced on her head,\nand never even put up her hand to support it. Jack was very fond of his\nmother; and next after his parents, brother, and sisters, he certainly\nloved the cows. It was his business, when quite a little fellow, to\nserve up to them the pail of hot potatoes in winter; and many a walk he\ntook to the green fields where they pastured in summer, to see that all\nwas safe and right about them. Three years after his leaving home, we\nalso kept a cow; and Jack insisted on having the care of it, and milking\nit himself. It was quite a lesson to see how kind and thoughtful the\ndumb boy was about the poor cow: and what a happy life she led under his\nmanagement might be easily known by her being always good-tempered and\nfearless. Often, when standing on the lawn, feeding my chickens, I have\nbeen surprised by finding her gently rubbing her horns against my\nshoulder, and asking to be petted, as every animal will ask when\nencouraged. She gave a great deal more milk than any one expected--for\nkind usage is a wonderful help in making any creature thrive; and I\nnever shall forget the joyful looks of Jack, when, one morning, he came\njumping and skipping to me, spelling as fast as he could, \"Cow baby--cow\nbaby.\" He did not know the right name for a calf, and our cow had a very\npretty one, born in the night.\n\nThen Jack's sweet disposition showed itself farther in the care that he\ntook not to distress the poor creatures more than was necessary. He did\nnot ill-use the cow for being unwilling to leave her young one, and very\neager to return to it again; nor did he frighten or hurt the tender\nlittle calf for crying and struggling to get to its mother. In all these\nthings there is opportunity for being merciful and kind: and because\nSatan knows that the Lord hates cruelty, and will punish those who\nafflict his helpless creatures, there he chooses these occasions to\ntempt people into the wanton wickedness of offending the Most High by\nthe abuse of such power as he has intrusted them with. Jack knew it. I\nhave seen the colour rise to his face, with the effort that he made to\novercome the impatience that was provoked by the eagerness of the\nanimals to break through the fence which separated them; but he did\novercome it, and said with a smile, \"Poor baby cow! Jack not hurt--no;\nGod see!\" Ah, it is a happy and a blessed thing to be able to rejoice\nthat God sees us! Less than three years after that, Jack was called to\nappear before the Lord; and I am sure the recollection of having\npurposely given pain to others never disturbed the quietness of his\ndeath-bed. He felt the blessedness of having been merciful. For my own\npart, I never can see a man or boy driving cattle with sticks and goads;\ntorturing the poor creatures for being tired, and lame, and thirsty, and\nfaint; and cruelly punishing them for wishing to rest, or do drink, or\nto crop the green grass; or for being confused and frightened in the\nnoisy, crowded streets of a city, after the quiet country places that\nthey were reared in; I say, I never see such things without a feeling of\nhorror and dread: for the Lord God will surely call to a terrible\naccount those who act as if there were no just, holy, and merciful\nCreator, to hear the cry of his tormented creatures, and to prove before\nmen and angels that they did not cry to him in vain.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe next animal that I shall talk to you about is the SHEEP. People call\nthem \"silly sheep,\" because they are so easily frightened, and show very\nlittle sense of judgment when running away. This is owing to their\nbeing driven about. We seem to think it right to make every creature\nafraid of us, and by that means we weaken their faculties; or, to speak\nin common words, we frighten them out of their wits. In eastern\ncountries it is quite different. There the flocks are not driven, but\nled. You will remember that beautiful description in the tenth chapter\nof John, where our blessed Lord Jesus Christ compares himself to a\nshepherd, and his people to sheep. It is now above eighteen hundred\nyears since He spoke those words; but travellers tell us that it is\nexactly the same at this day. Speaking of the shepherd, our Lord says,\n\"The sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and\nleadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth\nbefore them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a\nstranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not\nthe voice of strangers.\" Only fancy what a different sight it must be\nfrom what we often witness! Instead of a poor, frightened, agitated\ncrowd of panting creatures, running here and there, with perhaps a man\nor boy shouting after them, outspreading his arms to increase their\nterror, and a rough dog jumping and barking among them, to see a\nquiet-looking, happy flock walking after their shepherd, pressing\nforward to get near him, and each coming readily when called by its\nname. Of course, not being taught to run away from man, they are not\nflurried and thrown into confusion so easily as ours are. But sheep are\nalways timid, weak, defenceless creatures, and therefore the Lord often\nspeaks of his disciples as sheep; because we are all as little able to\nprotest ourselves from our enemy, Satan, as a flock of sheep is to\ndefend itself from a wolf, or a lion; and he would have us keep close to\nhim for protection as the eastern sheep do to their careful shepherd.\n\nThere is nothing to prevent our sheep from being as manageable as any\nothers. I once had a lamb given to me, because its mother could not\nnurse it; and I kept it in some nice hay in a large basket, and fed it\nwith warm milk from the spout of a teapot. As it gained strength, I let\nit run about the house, and it was a droll sight to see the big lamb\ncome bouncing and scampering into a room full of company, hunting the\ncat about, leaping over chairs, and playing just like a frolicsome\nkitten. If I walked out, it would, like the eastern sheep, follow me. I\nhave taken it for miles along the public road, and never saw it appear\nfrightened. It was stolen and killed before it became quite a sheep; but\nI have no doubt it would have continued as tame, and as bold, and as\nhappy. If you look into the faces of a flock of sheep, you will see a\ngreat variety of countenances among them, and some are very intelligent.\nThere is a field near me, where I often go to walk; and a number of\nyoung sheep in it have taken such a fancy to Bronti, that when he stands\nstill they will come almost close to him, the ram foremost, as if\nwishing to play with him; but if he goes towards them, off they trot,\npoor things, to the other end of the field.\n\nNot long ago, I saw something that made me quite unhappy; and indeed it\nwas one reason for my writing this little book. A boy was driving a few\nsheep, and he got them into a corner, on some very high ground, from\nwhich they could not possibly get away without jumping down where they\nmust have broken their necks, or limbs. Then this bad boy called\nanother, and they both took up large stones that were lying about the\nroad, and threw them at the innocent sheep--or rather lambs, for they\nwere not full grown. I saw them hit on their heads and eyes, and nearly\nmad with pain and terror. I never saw a more cruel thing: I thought\nBronti would have seized the boys, he was so angry. I could not help\nthinking how awful would be the state of those boys, if they were cut\noff by death in such wickedness. Alas! the agonies of one hour\nhereafter, would be worse than all the tortures that could be inflicted\non God's creatures during their whole lives. But instead of an hour, it\nis for ever and ever that all who go to that dreadful place of\npunishment must remain. It made me very miserable to see the poor lambs\nso cruelly hurt, and to think what judgment those boys were bringing on\nthemselves. I ran for Bronti's master, and we met the bruised, bleeding\nlittle innocents limping along, and the inhuman boy, tired of his savage\nsport, following them. We stopped him, and that gentleman spoke very\nplainly to him of his sin, and God's anger. The boy looked alarmed, but\nsulky; and I sadly fear he was hardening his young heart against the\nLord. Let us pray that we may be kept from hardness of heart, and made\ntender to keep a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man.\n\nIt was a donkey-boy who had helped the other to throw stones at the\nlambs; and this reminds me that I have something to say about the ass;\nthe most despised and the worst-used of all animals, and yet the one on\nwhich the greatest honour has been put, being chosen for its humble,\ngentle, patient character to assist in setting forth the wonderful\nhumiliation of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who in the greatness\nof his everlasting majesty and power condescended to stoop low for our\nsakes. I think you will remember at once what I mean. In the ninth\nchapter of the book of Zechariah, it is written, \"Rejoice greatly, O\ndaughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King\ncometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding\nupon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.\"\n\nAnd you know how this was fulfilled. When our Lord Jesus was about to\nenter, for the last time, into the holy city of Jerusalem, before his\nenemies had laid their cruel hands on him, he sent two of the disciples,\nsaying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway\nye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring\nthem unto me. They did so; and this meek and lowly Saviour, this King of\nheaven and earth, descended from the mount of Olives, and rode into\nJerusalem, not as the monarchs of this world ride, on a fiery war-horse\nwith proud trappings and surrounded by gleaming swords and spears. No,\nthe blessed Jesus chose no such pomp. He made choice of the humble,\ndespised ass; her trappings were the outer garments of those poor men,\nfishermen and such like, who followed him; and who took them off, to\nmake, as it were, a saddle and saddle-cloth for their beloved Master;\nwhile others, seeing that no more were wanted for that purpose, spread\ntheirs on the ground that he might ride over them. Ah, the day will come\nwhen the King of kings and Lord of lords shall ride in vengeance over\nthe persons of his rebellious enemies, as he then rode in meek and\nlowly state over the garments of his loving friends. And, as you would\navoid his wrath on that terrible day, provoke him not now by wanton\ncruelty to the creatures which he has made. He is very, very merciful to\nthem, and to you. They do you no wrong; do no wrong to them.\n\nHow often have I thought of that beautiful scene on the green side of\nthe gently sloping mount of Olives, which rises eastward of the city of\nJerusalem, with the brook Kedron sparkling at its feet! You know the\nBible tells us, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that by Him God made\nthe world; and again, \"All things were made by him, and without him was\nnot any thing made that was made.\" Yet he, the Maker of all things, took\nupon him the nature of man; and so you see, for once, a poor animal\nenjoyed even greater privilege and happiness than when the creatures\nwere first brought to Adam; and that animal was no other than the\npersecuted ass! The Lord showed his tenderness in not separating the\ndam from her young one: He commanded both to be brought; and the little\ncreature tripped so happily beside its mother, while both enjoyed the\nsheltering protection of Him who made the worlds! Yes, I very often\nthink of this, when I see the cruelties committed on some overworked\nanimal, in a cart, or ridden by an unfeeling person; and the mischief,\nthe wicked mischief, that Satan finds for idle hands to do, in the\nfield, or by the way-side, where the poor ass is quietly nibbling at\nsuch coarse weeds as neither horse, nor cow, nor sheep would touch. The\nlittle foal too, with its innocent face, and broad forehead covered with\nshaggy hair, looking as if it longed to have a game of play with you.\nCan you put it to pain? Alas! it has a life of cruel labour and\nsuffering before it: and you should not be so inhuman as to rob it of\nits very short time of freedom and repose. Some boys are cruel on\npurpose. Satan leads them captive at his will; and if they continue to\ndo his wicked will, they must expect to be with him for ever in the\nplace of fire. But many are cruel from thoughtlessness only; and I hope\nthis little book will lead such to reflect, and to cease from what is a\ngreat sin against God, whether they think it to be so or not.\n\nI have said nothing about the wonderful story of an ass which you will\nfind in the book of Numbers, chapter xxii.: you can read it for\nyourselves. I will finish this subject by giving you a text from the\nwise and gracious laws which it pleased the Lord God to lay down for his\npeople Israel, when he was himself their own King. It is a most\nbeautiful precept: it teaches at once to overcome an evil feeling\nagainst a fellow-man, and to show mercy to a suffering animal. \"If thou\nsee the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest\nforbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him,\" Ex. xxiii. 5; and\nin the 12th verse we read a reason given for keeping holy and quiet the\nSabbath day, \"that thine ox and thine ass may rest.\"\n\nThis is a long chapter; but I had a good deal to say in it, and I hope\nyou are not tired, and that you will think it over, and pray God to\nenable you to profit by it.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nBEARS, MONKEYS, RATS.\n\n\nNow, I think, you are laughing at the heading of this chapter, and\nwondering what I can have to say about such creatures; but wait a\nlittle, and you will find I am not afraid to put in a good word for\nthem. You must know that I once had a young bear, a mere cub, which was\ngiven to me by one of the wild Indians, as they are called. These\nIndians, by the way, are not half so wild as some boys of my\nacquaintance, who are a great deal better taught; and they were very\nfond of me--merely because it pleased God to keep me mindful of a\ngracious command which he has given us. You will find it in the first\nEpistle of Peter, chap. ii., verse 17: \"Honour all men.\" Man, whether he\nbe black, or white, or tawny; whether he be rich or poor, bond or free;\nman was at first made in the image of God, and would have kept the image\nif Adam had not sinned and lost it; so that none of his posterity are\nnow born in that holy, happy state in which Adam was created. But then,\nlost as man is, and deprived of all honour, it pleased the eternal Son\nof God to take upon Him the name and the nature of man, free from all\nits sinfulness, though deprived of its first glory, and this he did that\nhe might, by suffering death, atone for the sin of the world. So now, as\nthere is no person so miserable, so despised, or even so sinful, that by\ncoming to the Lord Jesus Christ, and believing in Him alone, he may not\nhave his sins blotted out, and himself made an inheritor of the kingdom\nof heaven, I am sure that every man ought to be treated with some\nrespect, as one of that race whom God created, and for whom Christ died.\nIndeed, it would be enough for me, if only the Bible said, \"Honour all\nmen,\" without my being able to see why I ought to do so. It is my duty\nto obey every one of my Lord's commands: but it is very pleasant to\nthink about his gracious commandments, and to see, as we must then do,\nhow very lovely they are. Now you know why I treated the wild Indians of\nthe woods with gentle, kind respect; and they felt it, and loved me\ngreatly, and used to bring me their little gifts. One day, two rough\nIndian men came to me, in their very strange dresses, with their stiff\nblack hair hanging down, never having been combed in their lives, I\nshould think. They each brought a young bear into my large kitchen; and\nwhile I told them to sit down and eat something, the two cubs began to\nexamine the place for themselves. It was a funny sight, so I will tell\nyou about it.\n\nUnder a table, there lay a good long barrel on its side, and two very\nfriendly cats had each got some kittens in it. They had made themselves\nlittle beds in the straw, one near the mouth of the barrel, the other\nfarther in. So one young bear, (they were but a few weeks old, poor\nlittle animals!) in the course of his travels about the kitchen, poked\nhis nose into this barrel, and out flew the old gray cat, in a great\nrage, or fright, I hardly know which, and began to spit most furiously\nat the cub, who ran away as fast as he could, into a distant corner,\nfollowed by puss. She did not choose to go too near such an odd-looking\ncreature; but sat watching him, to prevent his leaving that corner.\n\nMeantime, the other cub, thinking, I suppose, that, \"as the cat was\naway, the bear might play\"--at least with the kittens, went boldly close\nto the barrel, when lo! out sprang the tortoise-shell cat from the\nfarther end, and this master Bruin was not slower than his brother in\nscampering away, the cat following him also. No harm was done; none of\nthem had any wish to fight, and the scene was so droll that the\nservants were in fits of laughter; while the Indians, who I must tell\nyou are very grave, and even sad-looking people, and seldom seen to\nsmile, for once laughed heartily too. I took pity upon the frightened\ncub, at whom the gray cat was still growling and spitting, and took him\nup my arms; for which he seemed so thankful, that I continued to stroke\nhis shaggy coat, until one of the Indians, with a grin, offered to give\nhim to me. I accepted him, making a present in return; and for some days\nI took delight in my bargain; for he was a most innocent little\ncreature, and played merrily with a puppy dog: but those who understood\nthe nature of a bear better than I did, persuaded me to give him up;\nbecause they had known a young lady who was killed by a tame bear in a\nsudden passion.\n\nBut I want to convince you how wrong we are in treating any animal as if\nit could not feel attachment to us. Some soldiers' wives used to pet my\nlittle cub, even with tears in their eyes; and they told me the reason.\nThey said, that a short time before, the regiment to which they belonged\nwas quartered in Canada, and the soldiers had a bear, which they brought\nup tame. This creature had a strange office--he was nurse to all the\nbabies in the barrack. So great was his love for them, that whenever the\nmothers wanted to have their infants well taken care of, they would\nplace them under this animal's charge, who was delighted to smooth for\nthem the clean soft straw that they gave him; and whose tender care over\nthe babes was, they told me, the most beautiful thing ever seen. The\npoor bear was always trying to help and oblige his friends; and on\nwashing days he had plenty of babies to mind, when the weather was mild\nenough to have them out of doors; but one cold day they were all left\nwithin, and the bear had nothing to do. So, seeing a woman leave her\nwashing-tub, which she had just filled with boiling water, he thought he\nwould do some of her work, and put his paws into it: the pain made him\nsnatch them out, and in so doing he upset the tub--all the scalding\nwater fell over him--and his agonies were such that, in mercy, some\nsoldier shot him dead at once. The women, when they told me this, sobbed\nwith grief, saying, \"He was so kind to our babies! he would have died in\ntheir defence, poor fellow!\" I assure you, that when I see a poor bear\nled through the streets, chained, beaten, and made to dance, as they\ncall it, which it is taught to do by cruel tortures, I always remember\nthis story; and think, how much love and gratitude might that miserable\nsufferer feel, and how happy he might be made, if those who have taken\nhim from his native woods, and made a slave of him, would only show\nmercy now instead of such barbarity! We often hear the expression, \"As\nsavage as a bear;\" but, I fear, in general, the man is the greater\nsavage of the two.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMONKEYS are diverting creatures; and if you saw their fun and frolic\nwhere they have liberty among the boughs of a tree, you would not know\nhow to leave off laughing. It is a different thing, however, to see\nthem also chained, and beaten, and with their limbs confined in\nunnatural clothing, forced by fear, and hunger, and pain, to play the\nantics which they would do of their own accord if treated differently. I\nnever could understand how people can be amused by any thing that causes\npain to the creature doing it. They must either be very stupid, or very\nhard-hearted. Want of thought is a great cause of needless cruelty, I\nknow; and I am trying to put some kind thoughts into your heads, which\nyou may be thankful for when you are older. I can tell you one thing,\nwhich is, that it is impossible for a cruel man to be happy: it is\nentirely IMPOSSIBLE. He may laugh and shout, and sing, and dance, and\ntell you that he is very happy; but it is not so. There is in his heart\nsomething always whispering, \"Your turn will come. The great God, the\nholy, just, merciful God, whose creatures you now torment, sees it all,\nknows it all; and he will punish you. Every one of us must appear before\nthe judgment-seat of Christ, to give an account of the things done in\nthe body; and you will be forced to own all your cruelties, before\nangels and men: and then what follows? 'HE SHALL HAVE JUDGMENT WITHOUT\nMERCY WHO HATH SHOWN NO MERCY!'\" A bad man will never confess to you\nthat such is his feeling: for bad men always will try to make you as bad\nas themselves: but now, mind, after what I have told you, if you have\nnot the same terror of God's vengeance coming over you when you do a\ncruel thing. If not, it is because you are already hardened by Satan;\nbut I should grieve to think it was so with you. Oh! remember that the\nblessed Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil; and pray to him\nnow to deliver you from the power of that evil one. He will hear, and\nhelp, and save.\n\nEven as to animals that we may destroy when they injure us, we should\nnot forget the good they also do: as an instance, the RAT may be\nmentioned. It is, indeed, a very troublesome and sometimes dangerous\ncreature: it will kill and carry off young chickens, pigeons, and other\ndefenceless things; besides making sad havoc among the grain and\neatables of every sort. It is often more than a match for a grown\nkitten, or even a weak cat: and where they are in numbers, they have\nbeen known to overpower a man. I confess, the rat is a very disagreeable\nenemy, whom we may fairly get rid of when we can. But when it is\nnecessary to kill them, we should do it mercifully; do not put them to\nneedless pain. Why should you? Is it manly? Is it generous? Is it what\nyou think God will approve? Will it make you wiser, or better, or\nhappier to feel that you are giving pain to a poor creature?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nBIRDS.\n\n\nHaving now, I think, mentioned all the \"four-footed beasts\" about which\nI had any thing particular to say, I will pass on to another and still\nmore beautiful portion of God's handy-work--the birds. The account of\ntheir creation is thus given: \"And God said, Let the waters bring forth\nabundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly\nabove the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great\nwhales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought\nforth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his\nkind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be\nfruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl\nmultiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth\nday.\" The beasts were not made until the sixth day; so that, if I had\nbeen writing a history of the creation, I should have put the birds and\nfishes first. Notice these expressions, \"God saw that it was good; and\nGod blessed them.\" Every thing when it came from his glorious hand was\nvery good; and man was the only being who became bad by his own fault,\ndespised the blessing, and brought the curse on himself, with all its\nsad consequences to the whole earth and every creature. \"God blessed\nthem;\" and what right have we to make their little lives miserable? This\nthought has often come over me when I have seen any cruel thing done.\nGod said, that the fowl were to \"fly above the earth, in the open\nfirmament of heaven;\" but he has made some fowls that are very useful to\nman, willing to stay upon the earth. If hens and ducks were to lay their\neggs in high trees, and among rocks, as many birds do, we should get\nvery few of them; and as they lay many more than they can hatch, it\nwould be a great and wasteful loss. By this we are sure that poultry was\nintended for our use; and if you take care not to frighten or tease\nthem, you may bring up chickens to be as tame and familiar as dogs or\ncats. I remember a droll proof of this. Once, out of a great many fowls,\nbelonging to a dear friend in whose house I lived, there was only one\nthat would not be friends with me. She was a fine old speckled black and\nwhite hen, very wild; and her running away from me vexed me; for I\ncannot bear that any one of God's creatures should think I would be so\ncruel as to hurt it. Well, I set myself to wheedle this hen into being\non better terms; taking crumbs to her, and persuading her by degrees to\nfeed from my hand, like the rest. This was very good: but it did not\nstop here. Whether Mrs. Hen was flattered by so much attention, or\nwhether she was desirous of making up for her former rudeness, or how it\nwas, I don't know; but she became so unreasonably fond of me, that if a\ndoor or window were opened she would pop in to look for her friend,\nrunning up and down stairs, into the parlour, the drawing-room, the\nbed-rooms, and making no little work for the servants. At first, every\nbody was amused at it; but, after a time, the poor hen became so\ntroublesome that we were obliged to give her away. Jack, the dumb boy,\nwould put his hands to his sides, and laugh till he lost his breath, to\nsee \"my fat hen,\" as he called her, waddling after me, without minding\neither dogs or strangers, and he was in great trouble when she was sent\naway. Jack's care of the poultry, and his anxiety to prevent their being\nhunted, or hurt, would have delighted you. Nothing pleased him better\nthan to see that fine fellow, the cock, when he had scratched up or\nfound any nice thing, calling the hens and chickens about him, bidding\nthem take it, and never seeming even to wish for it himself. Jack used\nto say, \"Good; beautiful! God made poor bird.\" When he was a little boy,\nhe had seen some cock-fighting; and he used to tell me of it, in his\nway, with so much grief and anger. He said, \"God see bad man hurt poor\nbirds--make birds fight.\" The tears would come into his eyes, when he\nthought how the birds were tortured; but he always ended by pitying the\nmen and boys who suffered Satan to tempt them into such wickedness, for\nwhich they would be dreadfully punished at last.\n\nJack was very fond of small birds: I suppose you think, then, that he\nhad some in a cage; and that he caught them in traps, for he was very\ningenious. No; Jack would as soon, and sooner, have gone to prison\nhimself. He could not bear the idea of imprisoning a bird. Canaries,\nindeed, and such others as could not live in our cold climate, and\nwhich, having been hatched in a cage, would not have known how to use\ntheir liberty, he did not object to, but took great pleasure in giving\nthem pans or saucers of clean water, to bathe themselves in; and plenty\nof fresh sand, and nice food: but most birds he could not bear to see\nwithin the bars of a prison. The robin, the thrush, the blackbird, the\nlinnet, the sparrow, he knew it was a sin to deprive of their liberty. I\nhave seen him persuade other boys to break their traps, or to let the\npoor frightened captives go: and I have seen him clap his hands with joy\nas they spread out their pretty wings, and flew \"above the earth, in the\nopen firmament of heaven,\" as they were made to do; but I do not believe\nthat a whole pocket full of silver and gold would have tempted Jack to\ncatch and sell a bird. Indeed, I am sure it would not; for he knew that\nneither silver nor gold, nor any thing that is to be bought with them,\nwould make a person's heart feel happy; and that the commission of a sin\nwould make him feel very unhappy; for nothing was so dreadful to Jack as\nthe idea of offending his gracious God, or grieving the Holy Spirit,\nwho dwells in the heart of every true believer. Now, perhaps, you will\nsay, \"I would not catch and sell birds to put money in my own pocket;\nbut may I not do it to earn a little for those who really want it?\" But\nrobbing is not earning. If you catch a bird, or a fish, not belonging to\nanother person, to kill and eat it, or to sell or to give it to others\nfor food, you do what God has permitted; and if it is done for this\npurpose, and not for sport, nobody can blame you. But, though the Lord\nhas given you the bodies of his creatures for food, he has never given\nyou their natural liberty, either for your amusement or profit.\n\nAs for keeping birds in a cage to sing, if you look at the hundred and\nfourth Psalm, you will find that they were made to \"sing among the\nbranches.\" Go into the fields, and listen to their happy little songs of\nliberty, and take from them a lesson of thankful joy: or, if you want\nthem at home, put crumbs and grains of corn on the windows, and they\nwill learn to come and pick them up, and thank you with their merry\nnotes. Only do not be so mean and treacherous as to draw a snare or\nclose a trap over the poor things when they come, as they think, to be\nfed by your bounty. People who love music so well as to make an innocent\ncreature miserable that they may enjoy its songs will wish, some day,\nthat they had been born deaf.\n\nBut there is one thing that I am sorry to see many boys doing every\nspring, and which they cannot defend by any such excuses. I often wonder\nwho was the first to begin such a disgraceful custom, the most cruel,\nsenseless, and babyish piece of folly: I mean what is called\nbird-nesting. God said to the creatures, \"Be fruitful and\nmultiply,\"--\"let fowl multiply in the earth.\" At the same time, He gave\nthem a wonderful instinct and skill, such as man's reason cannot\nimitate. The birds must keep their eggs very warm for a certain number\nof days, to bring to life the little creatures that are forming within\nthem; and the eggs being so very delicate and brittle, they must also\nhave a soft place to lie in, close enough for the bird's body to cover\nthem all; and be out of reach of rats, and other enemies. So, when the\nbird is going to lay, she and her mate set to work, and what wonderful\nwork it is! These little creatures, without any hands, or even paws like\nfour-footed animals, to help them, and with only the bits of stick, hay,\ngrass, dead leaves, wool, hairs, and moss, that they can pick up with\ntheir bills, presently form a soft, snug, warm, strong apartment, as\nround as a tea-cup, and exactly of the proper size; placed, too, where\nit will be little seen, sheltered above from the wet, yet airy enough to\nkeep it fresh and wholesome, and so smooth on the inside that even the\ndelicate naked body of a bird just hatched cannot be made uneasy by a\nrough point. It costs the parent-birds a great deal of trouble; and if\nyou leave a nest untouched from one year to another, neither disturbing\nthe eggs nor the nestings, you will find it the next spring nicely\nrepaired and new lined, and a new family in it. Oh! I do wish that boys,\nremembering how, by the goodness of our equal laws, a poor man's house\nis his castle, would let a poor bird's little nest be its castle too! He\nis the bravest boy who will defend the weak from the strong; and he is\nthe best boy who loves and is kind to the least of God's creatures for\nthe sake of the glorious Creator.\n\nBut perhaps you may say, \"Well, I will not spoil the nest; I will only\ntake the eggs.\" No, pray do not take the eggs. What pleasure in the\nworld can a parcel of little eggs afford you, compared with the delight\nthat the poor harmless mother takes in them as she sits in her warm\nhouse, of her own making, listening for the first faint chirp of the\ntiny creature within? Birds only bring up one family in a year; and if\nyou take from them the eggs that are to produce that one, you rob them\nof all the happiness for which they took so much trouble. You are not\nenough of a hen to hatch the eggs, though you may be enough of a goose\nto try: then think, and be too much of a man to do such a silly, cruel\nthing. You like, perhaps, to blow the inside out, and string the shells\nin a row. Oh you thoughtless child! You must certainly be a very little\nchild to take pleasure in such a babyish thing; and you are very, very\nthoughtless and wrong to do it at the expense of a poor innocent bird\nwhich never injured or wished to injure you, though you can rob it of\nall its delight, to please such a silly fancy. If you want a pretty\nthing to ornament your room, go and pick up some round, clear pebbles,\nof different colours, and give one side of them a polish at the\ngrindstone; then get some pieces of brick, and join them together in the\nshape of an arch, or any thing you fancy, with a little mortar; spread\nmore mortar, thick and rough, over the front, and, while it is wet,\nstick in your pebbles, with the shining side outmost, with bits of\nglass, moss, sealing-wax, and any gay thing that comes in your way. I\nhave seen such pretty contrivances, and have said to myself, \"The boy\nwho made this is skilful, and may come to be a good builder, or other\nartisan, some day;\" but when I see bird's eggshells hung up, I turn away\nwith a feeling of pain, because I know that somebody must be there,\neither idle and cruel, or encouraging their children to be so.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut there is something far worse than this. When the mother bird has\nmade her nest, and sat long days and nights on her eggs, and heard the\nlittle ones chirp within, and helped them to break the thin shell, and\nfelt their little warm bodies cuddling themselves among her soft\nfeathers, and seen their yellow beaks open to ask her for the food that\nit gives such joy to her affectionate heart to put into them; oh, THEN,\ncan you turn all her honest happiness into misery and mourning, and kill\nthose baby-birds with a miserable death, by cold and hunger, if not by\nother tortures. If ever you have done this, pray to the Lord God to\nforgive your sin, for Jesus Christ's sake. Do you think He will forgive\nyou? Yes, you say, because he is very merciful. Indeed he is and for\nthat very reason he hates cruelty: but while you look to the Lord's\nmercy for pardon, you must steadily resolve to offend no more by doing\nwhat he hates; else you only mock him.\n\nI do not myself understand how anybody can bear to hurt little birds,\nthey are such endearing creatures; but I have seen it with my own eyes,\nand am obliged to believe it. Bad example will go a great way. Boys, and\nmen too, will do what they see others do, without stopping to think of\nthe great truth that God sees them too. But, then, good example goes\nfar also; and the person who is careful not to do wrong has the comfort\nof knowing that he is showing others the right way. While I write this\nlittle book, I am praying to the Lord to make it the means of persuading\nmany young readers to be merciful; and that their good example will\npersuade many more, who may not see the book; and so good will be done,\ngreater than you now think.\n\nI have a cockatoo. A friend brought him from India, and a funny bird he\nis, but terribly noisy. He soon began to bark like Fid, and to growl\nlike Bronti; to cackle like the hens, and to imitate every loud noise\nthat he heard. We hoped, if he had a good teacher, he would learn to\nsing, instead of making such a riot, as he whistles uncommonly well\nafter his master. So we went to buy a Canary bird, and you may be sure\nwe bought two; for it is very cruel to shut up a bird alone in a cage.\nThe cockatoo is not in a cage, but on a stand, dancing and chattering\nall day. We put our canaries into a very large cage, with a good-sized\npan of fresh water every day, clean gravel, and plenty of seed. Nothing\ncould be happier, or tamer, than these little things; but one day the\nhen got at some green paper, which she pecked at through the wires, and\nthe stuff that coloured it killed her at once. We got another directly\nin her place, and there they are in the sunshine, on a table close by\nme, splashing the paper on which I write with the water; for they\ndelight to plunge into it, till they are wet in every feather. Nothing\nis more necessary to animals and birds than plenty of fresh water. My\npigeons have a pan of it to wash in, and it wants changing several times\na day; and you do not know how much birds in confinement suffer if that\nis neglected. A glass hung outside, if always kept full, is good to\ndrink out of; but a bath _in_ the cage is the great luxury.\n\nPerhaps you will ask, Has the cockatoo learned to sing? No, I am sorry\nto say, he is as noisy as ever, and not at all musical. We keep him\nquiet by giving him sticks to break, and knotted cord to untie; and when\nhe has been good I take him on my lap, and rub his head and wings, which\nhe greatly likes. I never yet saw the animal, down to a little mouse,\nthat would not be fond of those who treated it tenderly; and the\npleasure of being loved is so great, that I only wonder how anybody can\nneglect to win the love of the creatures which were made for man's use\nand benefit. There is a wonderful deal of happiness among them, showing\nhow, as the Psalm says, the Lord's \"tender mercies are over all his\nworks;\" and a little kindness makes them so familiar, that we are always\nreminded how sociable they were with Adam in the garden of Eden; and how\nhappy they and we should all be together now, if sin had not entered\ninto the world to destroy the beauty and blessedness that were upon\nevery thing when God first made them, and saw that they were all \"very\ngood.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nFISHES--INSECTS.\n\n\nA story about Jack. When he was a little fellow, soon after he came to\nme, and before he knew many words, he made me understand that he wanted\na very long, slender stick. I asked a gardener of a friend, and he cut\nhim a fine one from a particular sort of tree. Then Jack laid out a\npenny, all that he had, on a coarse bit of line, such as fishermen use;\nand, lastly, he came to me for some large pins: one of which he bent\nlike a hook; explaining to me that he was going to dig for worms to put\nupon it, that he might fish. I shook my head, saying, \"No.\" Jack nodded\nhis head, and said \"Yes.\" I said \"bad;\" Jack said \"good;\" and then I\ntook up his little red hand, and pretended I was going to run the hook\nthrough the flesh. He snatched it away in a fright, saying \"Bad, bad!\"\nbut I nodded, and said \"Good, good!\" He said, \"Bad Mam, hurt Jack!\" and\nI answered, \"Bad Jack, hurt worm: God made Jack--God made worm.\" He\nshook his head, and said, \"No;\" and what do you think was the reason he\ngave? He reminded me that God is high up above, and that the worms come\nfrom below, under the ground. The little fellow did not know that the\nworld is round; he thought it was flat: still less did he then\nunderstand that God is everywhere, and made all things, above and\nbeneath. Then I told him that the Lord did so; and that worms and other\nthings were put into the earth by him, even as we were made to walk upon\nits surface. Jack considered a little; and then said the worms were\nrolled up in the world as apples were in a dumpling, and that they eat\ntheir way through the crust. It was an odd idea, and made me smile; on\nwhich he said, \"Good,\" and told me he would fish with a piece of meat or\nbread for a bait.\n\n[Illustration: THE TADPOLE OR YOUNG FROG.]\n\nNext morning, Jack came to me, and after reminding me of this, he asked\nme if God also made the little newts, tadpoles, and frogs, and other\nthings that he had seen in the muddy ditches? I replied, \"Yes, all.\"\n\"Did God make fishes?\" \"Oh yes,\" I answered, \"he made fishes and every\nthing.\" Then, in a very lively manner, he made me understand, that if\nGod did not like to have him hurt the worms, neither would he like to\nhave him hurt the fish. \"Poor fish!\" he said, showing me how its mouth\nwould be torn by the hook; and then, to my surprise, he got a small\nhatchet, and chopped up his fine fishing-rod into walking-sticks; and\nfrom that day he could never bear to see anybody angling. He used to\ntell him, if they wanted to fish to eat or sell, to catch them with a\nnet, and to kill them at once; and I believe that the sight of the deaf\nand dumb boy, taking such pains to plead for the creatures which are not\nonly dumb, but have no way of pleading for themselves, was the means of\nchecking many persons in cruel practices. He knew very little compared\nwith what you, perhaps, know; but he knew one blessed truth--he knew\nthat \"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that\nwhosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting\nlife;\" and by always thinking on this great mercy of God to man, and the\nexceeding love of our Lord Jesus Christ, in dying for poor sinners like\nus, Jack came to hate whatever he knew to be displeasing to that\ngracious Lord and heavenly Father; and the happiness that he felt in his\nown soul made him delight in seeking the happiness of every creature\naround him.\n\nJack died of a slow decline. He had much pain, but I never saw him look\nimpatient or unhappy. He felt what David so beautifully describes in the\ntwenty-third Psalm: \"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of\ndeath, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.\" He knew quite well\nthat he was going to die; but it never made him uneasy. He knew that God\nwas at peace with him, through the merits of the Redeemer; and he was at\npeace with all the world. His dying pillow was not made a pillow of\nthorns by the remembrance of having made any living thing suffer\ntorment; nor were his short sleeps disturbed by terrible dreams of what\nhe had forgotten until the time drew near to appear before God. I could\ntell fearful stories of some who died as young as Jack, and whose\ndeath-beds can never be forgotten by those who saw them. They had been\ncruel to God's dumb creatures, and never gave a thought to what they had\ndone; but when death was near, when the poor weak body could not rise\nfrom the bed, nor the soul be any longer deceived with the thought of\nyears to come, it was horrible to hear the cries they uttered, and the\nwild things that they said about beasts, and birds, and insects tortured\nby them in the days of their health and strength. There was one in\nparticular, a butcher's boy, who could not be comforted: he said, the\ncalves, the sheep, and the lambs, had provoked him by their\nunwillingness to be caught and driven into the slaughter-yard, and he\nhad revenged himself by making their deaths as painful as he could; and\nthat he saw them then--whether his eyes were open or shut, he always saw\nthem--all bleeding, and torn, and struggling, as they used to do: and\nwhatever was said to him, or whatever noise was made, he heard their\ncries of agony louder than all. When he was told that God was merciful,\nhe answered, \"Yes; but I had no mercy, and there is no mercy for me.\" I\nwish I could tell you that he died praying for pardon; but, alas! he\ndied shrieking out that he must go to hell. At that time, I was asked to\nwrite a book about it, to warn others; but I was so much shocked that I\ncould not write about it. I mention it now, to show you that sometimes,\neven in this world, the dreadful work of judgment is begun--judgment\nwithout mercy, to those who show no mercy.\n\nBut you must not suppose that Jack's happiness and peace, and confidence\nin God, came from any thing that he had done, or any thing that he had\nrefrained from doing. No, it was all from believing with his whole heart\nthat God loved him for the sake of his dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ.\nNow, if Jack has said, or fancied, that he loved God, and had at the\nsame time been cruel, or lived in any other sin, it would have proved\nthat he was mistaken, and he would have had no real peace. If you pass\nby a garden and see clusters of fine ripe grapes hanging from the boughs\nof a tree, and anybody should say to you, \"That's a fine vine,\" you\nwould agree with him at once; but if he pointed to a tree where\nhorse-chestnuts were growing, and called it a vine, you would laugh at\nhim; you know the difference between a sweet juicy grape, and a hard,\nbitter, uneatable horse-chestnut. Yet you would not say that the grapes\nmade the vine, would you? No, they did not make it a vine, but they\nproved it to be one. If a boy were to tie bunches of grapes to a\nhorse-chestnut tree, and tell you it was a vine, you would say no, it is\nnot a real vine--the fruit did not grow upon it.\n\nIn this way, I may say that I knew Jack to be a true child of God:\nbecause the fruit of good works grew upon him. It was not in look only,\nbut really and indeed, that he was the character I have described; and\nif you read carefully, very carefully, the fifteenth chapter of St.\nJohn's Gospel, you will see what I mean. In that beautiful chapter, our\nLord Jesus Christ compares himself to a vine, his people to the\nbranches, and the good works that they do to the grapes; and he shows us\nthat if we do not really belong to him, and keep close to him, (which we\ncan only do by believing and praying,) then we are like the branches cut\noff from the vine, which cannot possibly bring forth any grapes. You may\nthink little of this now; but you must think of it, whether you will or\nno, when you come to die. Perhaps you say to yourself, \"Ay, but when I\ncome to die, I will pray, and make my peace with God.\" Do not deceive\nyourself with such a vain hope: there is a very terrible warning given\nin the first chapter of Proverbs, which you must not forget. The Lord is\naddressing such as mean to put off repenting and praying, and serving\nhim, to another time, when sickness or some other calamity shall\nfrighten them into calling on him for pardon and help. These are the\nwords: \"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my\nhand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and\nwould none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will\nmock when your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as desolation, and\nyour destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh\nupon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they\nshall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hate\nknowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of\nmy counsel: they despised all my reproof.\" Does not this alarm you? Then\ndo not be found a day longer among those who refuse to hear the gracious\nvoice of the Lord Jesus, who invites you to come to him for eternal\nlife; and who will, if you ask it in his name, send the Holy Spirit to\nguide you in the good way, and make you real branches of the good Vine,\nas he made the dumb boy. When Jack was eleven years old, he became a\ntrue servant of the Lord; and he died at nineteen, and went to live in\nheaven with the blessed Master whom he had delighted to serve upon\nearth.\n\nHis religion made him so happy, there was not a merrier boy to be found.\nSome people will tell you that being religious makes a boy feel dull and\nmelancholy. Ask them if they think you so silly as to believe that\nwalking in the summer sunshine will make you feel dark and cold? True\nreligion is to man what the bright sunshine is to the little insects\nthat sport upon the wing, and who find in it not only their light but\ntheir life.\n\n[Illustration: THE WOOLLY BEAR CATERPILLAR.]\n\nDoes any boy's conscience smite him at my naming the insects? I hope\nnot. I hope you have not been tempted by Satan to do any harm to the\nlittle harmless, and often useful, creatures that cross your path. A\nbutterfly, a cockchaffer, a house-fly, a snail, a caterpillar, a\nworm--these, and all others, are God's handy-work; and if you could see\nthem through a glass that magnifies very much indeed, you would be more\nastonished than I can tell you. The small powder, scarcely seen on your\nfinger's end, from the wing of a butterfly, is a lump of the most\nbeautiful feathers, so delicate that the gentlest touch will rub some of\nthem off: the wing itself is made of lovely net-work, like silver\nthreads, stretched on strong wires; and all the skill of all the most\nskilful men in the world could make nothing to equal the coarsest part\nof the plainest insect. But it is not their beauty--though we ought to\nsee and to glorify the Creator's hand in that--it is their delicate\nsense of feeling that should keep us from hurting them. The common worm\nis very useful in dividing the clods of earth, which would otherwise\nbecome so hard as to prevent the fine fibres of the roots of plants from\nforcing their way, and then the plants would die. Man has not discovered\nall the uses of the different insects; but God has made nothing in vain:\nand though, for our own safety and comfort, we must destroy some sorts,\nstill we are bound to do it in the quickest and most complete manner, or\nelse we must give an account to their Creator and ours for the cruelty\nwe commit. I have killed insects myself, for no reason but because I saw\nthat they must fall into the hands of boys, or others, whom I knew to be\nso dreadfully wicked as to take pleasure in torturing them; but I did it\nsorrowfully; feeling that I could not give life to the meanest reptile,\nand that I must be able to render to God a reason for taking it away. I\nhave found poor harmless insects alive, most cruelly maimed, with their\nwings or legs torn off, or their bodies pierced through; and I shuddered\nto think how the eye of God was fixed on those who did it, never losing\nsight of them; and I have prayed that he would change their wicked\nhearts before it was too late.\n\nAnd now I have finished my book. While I was writing it, more than a few\nfunerals passed my window, the coffins being those of very young people;\nand this made me more anxious to go on; for I thought to myself,\n\"Perhaps some boy or girl will read it who has never thought rightly\nabout these things, and will presently determine not to go on in sin,\nbut to become merciful and obedient, and all that they ought to be.\" If\nthey try to do this of themselves, they will soon find that the sinful\nnature of Adam is too strong in them; and the more they try to mend\nthemselves, they will find Satan is the more busy, leading them into\nmore wickedness. Then, perhaps, they will mind what I have said about\nthe need not only of pardon, but of help from the Lord Jesus Christ.\nThey will pray to God, for his sake, to give them a new heart, holy,\nhumble, obedient, and merciful. This prayer will be heard; for our\ngracious God hears and answers the prayer of the poorest child as\nreadily as that of the mightiest king. Then they will know what it\nreally is to love God, and to keep his commandments, because they love\nhim; and what a sweet example they will set to others, and how happy\nthey will be themselves, and what a blessing to all belonging to them!\nPerhaps, too, they will make a little party among the kindest-hearted of\ntheir playmates, all giving a promise to each other not willingly to\nhurt any of God's creatures; but to do the best they can to persuade\nevery one to be merciful to the dumb animals, birds, fishes, and\ninsects. If they live, they will grow up to be such men and women as we\nwant, to bring a blessing on this land; and in their own children they\nwill reap the reward of having shown tenderness to the helpless. If they\ndie young, they will be like my happy boy Jack, not afraid of death; but\nwilling and rejoiced to go to the Saviour, whom they sought and found so\nearly. Oh, may the Lord grant this blessing to my little book, that at\nthe great day of judgment I may meet with some happy spirits to tell me\nthat it was not written in vain! \"BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL, FOR THEY\nSHALL OBTAIN MERCY.\" Matt. v. 7.\n\n[Illustration: FINIS]","title":"Kindness to Animals; Or, The Sin of Cruelty Exposed and Rebuked","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":17885}