he would tell the capitals of all our states, and of the countries of Europe; where he was born, his age, and the places he had visited. He had even made acquaintance with the stars; could tell you the names of the planets; their distance from one another, and from the earth; the time they take to make their revolutions round the sun; and in

short," continued William, smiling, "he is quite a Newton among dogs."

After the children had exhausted their inquiries and expressions of admiration, William asked his mother, if she did not think that, at some future time, there would be schools for dogs, as there were now for children. His mother thought not.66 Men," she said, "teach one another. One race of boys educated, teaches the next; but God in denying speech to dogs, has denied them the power of transmitting their knowledge. Apollo, learned as he is, cannot impart his knowledge to another dog; and it is not probable that man will ever make it his business to teach inferior animals, since such knowledge could be of no use, after it ceased to be a curiosity.

How

"But, my children, we ought to be very glad to see the art of man employed on any other powers in dogs, than the power of destruction. much pains have been taken to train this interesting and useful animal to pursue and destroy other animals. In England, our mother country, dogs have been trained to fight and tear bulls, for the amusement of the people. This disgusting sport was called bull-baiting. Even queens forgot the gentleness of their sex so far, as to be present at these sports. Queen Mary entertained a French Ambassador, for two days, successively, with an exhibition of this kind, only fit for Hottentots, and was herself present.

"Perhaps, mother," said William, "these horrid sights made her cruel; for that Mary was the

queen who put to death so many of her subjects, that she was called 'bloody Mary!'"

"Yes, William, such sports would certainly have a tendency to confirm a cruel disposition. You will find that most kind-hearted people are kind to animals. He who treats his horses and cows with care and tenderness, will not neglect his wife and children."

LESSON 7.

Harry Lewington and his Dog.

"Beg, Frisk, beg!" said little Harry Lewing ton, as he sat on an inverted basket, at his grand mother's door, eating, with great satisfaction, a porringer of bread and milk, whilst his sister Annie, who had already despatched her breakfast, sat on the ground opposite to him, now twisting flowers into garlands, and now throwing them away. "Beg, Frisk, beg!" repeated Harry, holding a bit of bread just out of the dog's reach; and the obedient Frisk squatted himself on his hind-legs, and held up his fore-paws in patient supplication, until it pleased master Harry to bestow upon him the tempting morsel.

The little boy and the little dog were great friends. Frisk loved him dearly, much better than he did Annie, although Annie every day gave him a part of her breakfast, without making him beg, and would tie pretty ribbons round his neck and pat and stroke his rough head by the hour together. Harry was Frisk's prime favorite; perhaps because the little dog being himself of a merry disposition, liked the boy's lively play better than he did the girl's gentle caresses; perhaps because he recollected that Harry was his earliest patron and firmest friend, during a time of great trouble.

Poor Frisk had come as a stray dog to Aberleigh If he could have told his own story, it would probably have been a very pitiful one, of distresses and wanderings, of hunger and foul weather, of kicks and cuffs, and all "the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes." Certain it is he made his appearance at Mrs. Lewington's door in miserable plight, wet, dirty, and half-starved; that there he encountered Harry, who took an immediate fancy to him, and Mrs. Lewington, who drove him off with a broom; that a violent dispute ensued between their good dame and the grandson, Harry insisted on inviting him in, Mrs. Lewington in frightening him away.

The dispute was, at first, ended in Frisk's being established as a sort of out-door pensioner, subsisting on stray bones and cold potatoes, surreptitiously obtained for him by his young protector, and sleeping in the same identical basket, which, turned up, afterwards served Harry for a seat; until at length, Mrs. Lewington, who had withstood the incessant importunity of the patron, and the persevering humility of his client, was propitiated by Frisk's own doggish exploit, in barking away a set of pilferers, who were making an attack on her great pear tree, and so frightened the thieves, that they not only scampered off in all haste, but left their implements of thievery, a ladder, two baskets, and a sack.

The good dame being thus actually a gainer by the intended robbery, and so well satisfied with Frisk's conduct, that she not only admitted him into her house, but considered him as one of her most vigilant and valuable inmates. The new guard proved to be a four-footed person of singular accomplishments. He could fetch or carry either by land or by water; would pick up a thimble or ball of cotton, if his mistress should happen to drop them; carry Annie's little pattens to school in

case of a shower; or take Harry's dinner to the same place with unimpeachable honesty.

Moreover he was so strong on his hind-legs, walked upright so firmly and gracefully, cut so many capers, and had so good an ear for music, that the more sagacious among the neighbours suspected him of having been, at least, the principal performer in a company of dancing dogs, even if he were not the learned dog Apollo himself. Frisk and his exploits were the wonder of Aberleigh, where he had now resided a twelvemonth, with honor to himself, and perfect satisfaction to all parties.

"Beg, Frisk, beg!" said Harry, and gave him after long waiting the expected morsel; and Frisk was contented, but Harry was not. The little boy, though a very good humored fellow in the main, had fits of naughtiness, which were apt to last him all day, and this promised to prove one of his worst. It was a holyday; and in the afternoon his cousins Jane and William were to come and see him and Annie, and the pears were to be gathered, and the children to have a treat.

Harry, in his impatience, thought the morning would never be over, and played such pranks by way of beguiling the time, buffeting Frisk, for instance, burning his own fingers, cutting the curls off Annie's doll's wig, and finally breaking his grandmother's spectacles, so that before his visiters arrived, indeed, almost immediately after dinner, he contrived to be sent to bed in disgrace.

Poor Harry! there he lay, rolling and kicking, while Jane, and William, and Annie were happily busy about the fine mellow Windsor pears. William up the tree, gathering and shaking, Annie and Jane, catching them in their pin-a-fores, and picking them up from the ground; now piling the rich fruit into the great baskets that the thieves had left behind; and now, happy children, eating at

discretion of the nicest and ripest; Frisk barking gaily among them, as if he were catching Windsor pears too.

Poor Harry! He could hear all their glee and merriment through the open window, as he lay in bed, and the storm of passion having subsided, there he lay weeping and disconsolate, a grievous sob bursting forth every now and then, as he heard the loud peals of childish laughter, as he thought how he should have laughed, and how happy he should have been, and wondered whether his grandmother would so far relent as to let him get up to supper, and whether Annie would be so good-natured as to bring him a pear. "It will be very ill-natured, if she does not," thought Harry; and his tears burst

out anew.

All on a sudden he heard a little foot on the stair, pit-a-pat, and he thought she was coming. Pit-a-pat came the foot nearer; and at last a small head peeped half afraid, through the half open door. But it was not Annie's head; it was Frisk's -poor Frisk, whom Harry had been teazing and tormenting all the morning, and who now came into the room wagging his tail, with a great pear in his mouth, and jumping up on the bed, he laid it in the little boy's hand.

Is not Frisk a fine, grateful fellow ? and does he not deserve a share of Harry's breakfast, whether he begs for it or not?