The same affable behaviour which had gained him the esteem of all his acquaintance at home, soon made little Peter equally respected at school; nay, all the good boys were so pleased with the sweetness of his temper, and the good advice which he always gave them, when any quarrel or disagreement happened between them, that they came to a resolution to elect him their King, by the title of the King of the Good Boys, and he was always afterwards called LITTLE KING PIPPIN, (so we shall give him the same title through the remainder of the history:) and all disputes between them, of whatever nature, were referred to his decision; and so great was their respect for their King, and so just were his determinations on these occasions, that they were always submitted to without murmuring or repining: as a badge of distinction for their new king, they made a general subscription, and bought him a fine cap ornamented with a white feather, and round it was engraved in letters of gold, "Peter Pippin, King of the Good Boys." A few days after Peter was chosen King, as George Graceless, Neddy Neverpray, and two or three other boys, as naughty as themselves, were playing at marbles in the church-yard, George Graceless's brother Jack, who was a very good-natured little boy, happened to stop his brother George's marble by accident, upon which he flew into a violent passion, took the Lord's name in vain, called his brother a fool, and made use of a great many other wicked expressions, which so shocked Little King Pippin, who was sitting on a tomb-stone, just by, reading Mrs. Winlove's Lectures, that he could not forbear speaking to little Graceless; pray, Master Graceless, says he, do you know the consequence of these shocking expressions? did you never read in your Bible, that "Whosoever calleth his brother a fool, is in danger of hell fire?" and don't you know, that one of the commandments says, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain?" Where can you expect to go when you die? Pooh, says little Graceless, don't tell me any of your nonsensical stuff about dying, I have many a good year to live yet; do you mind your reading, and let me alone to my play. Oh fy, oh fy, Master Graceless, says Little King Pippin, God Almighty, if he pleased, could strike you dead, this moment, and however secure you may think yourself, be assured,
There's not a sin that you commit,
Nor wicked word you say,
But in God's dreadful book 'tis writ
Against the judgment day.
There's not a fib that e'er was told,
Or evil thought arose,
But in that book is safe inroll'd,
As that day will disclose.
Shah, says he, I am not afraid of that, and away he went singing,
Let us be merry and gay,
And drive away care and sorrow,
We'll laugh and sing to-day,
And talk about death to-morrow,
as thoughtless and unconcerned as if he had done nothing amiss; and now the clock striking two, which was the hour for returning to school, Billy Meanwell, Sammy Sober, Bobby Bright, Tommy Telltruth, and all the rest of the good boys, with Little King Pippin at their head, ran as fast as they could, to try who should get into the school first; but George Graceless and his companions, being on the other side of the church, saw nothing of their running into school, and their minds were so taken up with play, that they never heard the clock strike, and continued playing so long till they were afraid to go in; so at last they agreed to play truant, and they all went together a bird's nesting. The first nest they found was a poor little Robin Redbreast's, which one of them, whose name was Harry Harmless, and who was not so hard-heated as the rest, (indeed his chief fault was keeping company with these wicked boys,) persuaded them not to destroy; for, says he, a Robin Redbreast is such a pretty innocent bird, that I can't find in my heart to do it any harm, and it was that good-natured bird that covered over the poor little Children in the Wood with leaves, when they were starved to death: Pooh, says George Graceless and Tom Tiger, what signifies talking such stuff as that, and down they pulled the poor Robin's eggs, nest and all, and left the pretty little bird making such piteous moans, as would have melted a heart of stone; but they turned a deaf ear to his tender cries, and went on destroying every nest they could find, without paying any distinction to the most innocent of the feathered race: at last they came to a turtle dove's nest, which was on the top of a great high tree that hung over a deep river; George Graceless, always the most forward to undertake any dangerous or mischievous exploit, directly pulled off his coat and waistcoat, and climbed up the tree, but just as he got to the top, and was stretching out his wicked hand to take away the turtle dove's eggs, crack goes the limb, and down he fell into the river! oh save me, save me, I shall be drowned; oh, that I had attended to the good advice of Little King Pippin, cried he, and with these words, down he went to the bottom, and was never seen more. The rest of his companions began now to see the folly and wickedness of neglecting their books for idle mischief, and heartily repented that they had not stayed at school instead of playing truant; but dreading to appear before their master, both on account of their own naughty behaviour, and the melancholy accident which had happened to George Graceless, they strolled about from one field to another, till it was quite dark, and then went and laid themselves under some bushes in an adjacent wood, where they fell asleep; but alas! their sleep was very short, for in less than an hour, they were awakened with such terrible howlings of wild beasts as was scarce ever heard, tigers, wolves, and lions, hunting for their prey, with eyes that glared like balls of fire, rushed by them every instant: in this dreadful situation, expecting every moment to be torn in pieces, Harry Harmless requested them all to betake themselves to prayer to God Almighty to guard and protect them from the terrible dangers which now surrounded them. But oh, shame to tell, not one of them, except Harry Harmless himself, could repeat, or indeed had ever learned a single prayer; upon which, Harry, justly concluding, that those naughty boys who had so totally neglected their duty to their Creator, could have no claim whatever to his protection, thought he should be in more safety alone than in such wicked company, therefore moved to a distance from them, and kneeled down to prayer by himself; and he had not left them but a few minutes before two monstrous lions came and devoured every one of them: after they had eaten these wicked boys, they went up to Harry Harmless, but instead of devouring him, as they had the others, they seemed as fond of him as a dam of her young, licked his face and hands with their tongues, and then lay down quietly upon the ground by his side: for God Almighty had heard his prayers, as he always will those of all good little boys and girls, and had converted the natural rage and fierceness of these dreadful beasts into the meekness and gentleness of lambs. When morning came, Harry found he had wandered so far from home, that he could not tell which way to return, but as he was sitting on the side of a bank, reflecting on the danger and folly of keeping such naughty company, and the many wicked ways little boys are too often undesignedly led into by that means, he was surprised by the neighing of a horse, and looking round, there was the prettiest milk-white little creature galloping towards him that ever was seen, with a little bridle on, and a saddle and stirrups on his back, and running directly up to Harry, he fell down on his knees, seemingly to invite him to get on his back; Harry was almost afraid to trust himself on the little horse at first, but recollecting that the same Almighty hand which had rescued him from the paws of the lions, could protect him from every other danger, he mounted on his back, and he was no sooner seated, but the pretty little thing galloped away with him as fast as he could run, and never stopt till he brought him within a little distance of his home; when dropping down again on his knees, in the same manner as when he took him up, Harry imagining it to be a signal for him to dismount, immediately alighted, and letting go the bridle, the little white horse set off neighing and galloping, as when he first found him, and was out of sight in an instant. As soon as the account of the unhappy death of George Graceless and his companions was made known to their master, he was obliged to dispatch a messenger to inform their parents, and the shocking news had such a melancholy effect on George Graceless's papa and mamma, that they both died of a broken heart within a month afterwards; and the parents of the other naughty boys were so greatly afflicted with their loss, that it rendered the remainder of their lives miserable. Such were the fatal consequences of these naughty boys neglecting that duty which every one owes to his Maker; and which, above all things, should never be forgotten; for, had they learned their prayers, and said them every evening and morning, they would not have been at a loss to have repeated them when they were surrounded by the wild beasts; and then, no doubt, God Almighty would have saved them, as well as Harry Harmless; and instead of being the means of breaking their parents' hearts, they might have lived to have been the comfort and support of their old age, and perhaps have become as great men as you will find Little King Pippin did.
