When I was very young, I was walking in a garden with one of the true lovers of God in His works: suddenly he bent his head very low, and bade me bend mine also. "See," he said, "that beautiful web: do not break it; the little creature who made it has worked very hard; let us not destroy it."
This lesson was given many years ago. I have forgotten many things since then; but this will last me through life, let it be ever so long.
Who does not love good Uncle Toby who, when a troublesome fly tormented and tickled his nose and sipped his wine, put him tenderly out of the window, saying to him, "Go: there is room enough in this world for thee and me"? But to my stories. One is a sad one, but it is true, as are also all the others.
A gentleman was once travelling in France, on horseback, followed by his dog; presently the dog began to show great uneasiness, and run and jump up at him and bark violently. The man saw no one near, and could not understand what was the matter.
The dog persisted in barking. At last, the man scolded him. This did no good. The dog still barked and jumped up trying to get hold of his master's legs; the man scolded the animal repeatedly, but all in vain. The dog barked louder and louder. At last, the man struck him with the butt-end of the whip harder than he intended; for he only wished to silence the dog.
The thoughtless man went on satisfied. After a while, he found that he had lost his purse. He went back some miles, till, at last, he saw his dog lying dead in the road with one paw over a purse.
The poor creature had staggered back to the place where he had seen it fall, and, faithful to the last in spite of his master's cruelty, even in death, guarded his property.
A knowledge of character, comprehension of language, or some other faculty, beyond what we can explain, is often discovered in dogs.
There was a family who had given leave to two poor men to come and saw wood, do chores, &c. One of these was very honest; the other often took what did not belong to him.
The family dog took no especial notice of the honest man, and treated him in a friendly way, but the thief he watched all the time, to guard the property of the family.