"Well, then, I have read that there were once several philosophers (I told you what a philosopher is, you know), who were in the habit of meeting together to put questions to each other, and to make new discoveries. At one of these meetings, one of them asked the others, 'Why a fish weighed more in the water than he did out of it?' Several of them gave very wise reasons, as they thought; and all the reasons were different: so they could not agree. There was among them, however, a very sensible old gentleman, who listened to them all, but said nothing. When he went home, he got a fish and weighed it, out of the water, and wrote down its weight; he then took a bucket of water, and weighed that; and when he dropped the fish in the bucket, he found that it increased the weight of the whole, precisely as many pounds as the fish had weighed out of the water; so he found out that there was no reason why a fish weighed more in the water than he did out of it, because it was not true: his weight was the same either in or out of it."
"Ah, Uncle Philip, that is a pleasant story: he was a sensible old gentleman."
"Yes, boys, he was; and it was sensible in you to ask first whether the starling did use silk and thread before Europeans came here; and after that is answered, it is time enough to ask where he got such things. Now the truth is, that he did not use them until after Europeans brought them here; because there were no such things in this country: for the Indians who lived here could not make thread. I think; and I am sure they could not spin silk: but I will tell you, boys, what it shows us; and it is that I wish you to notice."
"What is it, Uncle Philip?"
"It is the wisdom of this bird in taking advantage of circumstances. No doubt he built very good nests long before silk and thread were in the country; but he had sense enough to know that they were exactly what suited him, and he used them as soon as he could get them."
"Then, Uncle Philip, you think that the bird has reason?"
"No, boys, I do not: but you have reason, and I have something to say to you about it. It is this: as God has given you reason, and so made you better than the poor dumb animals, he expects more from you. That is fair, is it not?"
"Yes, Uncle Philip; very fair."
"Then what I wish you to remember is this: that you must use your reason in such way as to glorify God. He gave it to you to learn his will and his commandments, and to live accordingly. So now you see the things which our conversations about the animals can teach us. In the first place, we see the goodness of God; in the second place, we see the power of God; in the third place, we see the wisdom of God: and we see in ourselves that God has done more for us than he has done for them, and therefore we ought to love and serve him: we ought to believe what he says in his Word; we ought to pray to him for his blessed help; we ought, first of all, to seek the salvation of our souls, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
"Now, my dear children, to-morrow I must leave home for a few weeks; but when I come back we will talk together again: and as I am going to see my nephews, I will get a book which they printed about insects; it is called the History of Insects, [14]—and I will bring it to you; and some of the largest boys among you may read it aloud, and I will explain to you what you cannot understand. If you are pleased with what I have been telling you, that book will tell you a great deal more."