our rivers; and also the insects and the worms; and he could tell many curious stories about them; so that he was one of the pleasantest old men I ever met with." "And did he fear God?" said little Henry.

"Yes, my dear boy," said Mr. Dalben; "for I should not call any man pleasant who did not fear God." "Do you remember any of his stories, uncle?" said Henry.

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Yes, my dear boy," said Mr. Dalben, "and I will tell you some of them some time or other; but you must first repeat to me, if you can remember them, the six different classes into which the old gentleman divided the creatures."

"Indeed," said Henry, "I do not think I can remember them. Please to tell them to me again, uncle."

"The first," said Mr. Dalben, "are all those creatures which feed their young ones with their own milk, of whatever shape or kind they may be; such as sheep, and cows, and horses, and cats, and mice, and rats, and bats. And there are also some creatures which live in the sea of this class, but they are rarely found on the English coast. The second class consists of birds; the third, of creatures called amphibia, which live half in water and half on land; the fourth are fishes; the fifth insects; and the sixth worms."

"Shall I ever understand any thing about all these creatures?" said Henry.

"You are a very little boy yet," said Mr. Dalben; “but when I come to talk to you more about these creatures you will be able, I dare say, to remember many things about them. But here comes Sally, with a pailful of skimmed milk and a loaf of brown bread, for the haymakers."

"O uncle, may I wait upon them?" said Henry.

"They will not want much attendance, Henry," said Mr. Dalben; "but while they are at their supper, you shall read to them a chapter in the Bible, provided you will speak out plainly, and in an audible voice."

The haymakers soon gathered round the milk-pail, thanking Mr. Dalben for this unexpected treat: and Sally gave to each person, great and small, an iron spoon and a piece of bread. And Mr. Dalben having first requested them to give God thanks, they began to eat, and Henry to read. The portion of Scripture which Mr. Dalben fixed upon on this occasion was the eleventh

chapter of Isaiah: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw, like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice-den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

When little Henry had read so far, a certain old man of the company, by name John Holmes, begged leave to put in a word, and said to Mr. Dalben, "May I make bold, sir, before little master goes any farther, to ask for the explanation of these same verses which the young gentleman has just read? Now, sir, I think I understand so far, that the branch from the stem of Jesse is no other than our Lord, who came, as we know, from Jesse, who was the father of King David. And having made out so much, I understand pretty well what follows; for, to be sure, the spirit of the Lord and the spirit of wisdom did rest on our Lord while on earth; but what does this expression mean, that he shall judge the poor with equity, and that the evil beasts shall, as it were, change their natures, and that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea? When are these times to come, sir? or think you they are past? For I have heard many say that the old tinies were much better than these."

In reply to this, Mr. Dalben answered, "These verses,

John, contain a very curious and wonderful prophecy; and I could show you many passages without end to the same purpose in other parts of Scripture. These verses speak of a blessed tine which shall come to pass in the last days of the earth, when Christ our Lord will be king and ruler over every country, when the fear and love of him will be impressed on every heart. We have some reason to think, though we know not when this time will come, that it will last a thousand years; and that every kind of spiritual and temporal blessing will then be spread abroad over all the earth."

"Sir," said John Holmes, “I never heard talk of this before."

"Never, John!" said Mr. Dalben; "why, if you have never had any insight into this matter, the prophecies, for the most part, must be as dark to you as the blackest midnight. But now I tell you, that, although Satan has had a long time of it on earth, his time will have an end; and then will come the triumph of the children of God. The creation has long groaned under pain and bondage; but even these fair fields and woods will yet see better days, and roses and lilies will yet bloom where now we only see thorns and briers."

"If such is the case, sir," returned John, "and if our Lord is finally to triumph even in this world, what's the use of folks trying to make themselves great and grand in laying up treasure for their families in these days, seeing that all the fashions of this present world must pass away, in order to make way for the better things which are to come?"

"Ay, John," said Mr. Dalben," as you say, what is the use of any care but for the soul? for the Lord has said that to those who seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all other things necessary shall be added."

By this time the haymakers had finished their meal; and as there was a little fog beginning to rise from the brook at the bottom of the meadow, Mr. Dalben thought it best to take Henry by the hand, and to return to the house.

CHAPTER VIII.

A Walk in a Wood, with a Visit to the old House once inhabited by Jenny Crawley.

WHEN the hay was got in, and safely lodged in a small rick well thatched with straw near the barn, Mr. Dalben took Henry one afternoon to visit a wood about a mile distant, to which he had promised to take him as soon as he was able to walk so far.

As they were going along, he talked to him about the six classes of animals, of which he had spoken to him before, viz. the animals of the first class, which are known by their feeding their young ones with their milk; the second class, which consists of birds; the third class, which are called amphibia, creatures which live half on land and half in water; the fourth class, which are fishes; the fifth, which consists of insects; and the sixth, which are worms; "And now, Henry," he said," you shall point out to me one of each sort as we go along. Let us see who will first discover an animal of the first class."

The first part of Mr. Dalben's and Henry's way to the wood lay through a lane enclosed on each side by a high hedge; here Henry saw many birds, and found several snail-shells, some of which shells had snails in them; and therefore Mr. Dalben would not allow him to meddle with them; but neither birds nor snails would do for their first class, because birds and snails do not feed their young ones with milk: at length, on the lane taking a turn, Henry, being a few steps before his uncle, cried out "I am first, I am first; I have found it-a donkey, a donkey, a donkey!" Henry had reason to rejoice; there was just before him a poor little gray donkey feeding on the side of the lane.

Mr. Dalben smiled, and said, "You are right, Henry: the poor donkey belongs to the first class, a specimen of which we are looking for, and you have seen him first ; and I hope you feel yourself much obliged to him for coming to eat his thistles in this lane.

"There are many naughty boys, Henry," continued

Mr. Dalben, "who are very cruel to these poor animals, and use them very ill; but I trust that you will never fall into the dreadful practice of being cruel to any animal. It is sometimes necessary that animals should be killed; but it should always be done as speedily as possible, in order that they may be in pain a very short time.

"Behold that poor little donkey, how meek and humble he looks, with his rough coat and long ears. There is no creature in the world, however, more useful to men; he does not travel so fast as a horse when he is on the road, but he goes straight forward, and will go a long time without being tired; he will carry great burdens, considering his size; and is contented with the coarsest food; hard-hearted people despise and use him ill, but a good man is merciful to his beast. And now, Henry, let us look for an animal of the second class."

"The second class?" said Henry: "oh! those are birds; 1 have seen a great number since I came out, but now I cannot see one. How tiresome! oh there is one in the hedge; no it is not one: it is only a leaf shaking. Well, this is provoking, when there were so many just now, and now I cannot see one.'

"Why so impatient, Henry ?" said Mr. Dalben. "If you were a king or a prince now, and had power, you would do some very rash thing, because you cannot see a bird the very moment you desire to do so; is this right, Henry?"

Henry looked ashamed, and remained silent a moment, till at length a bird did actually rise out of the hedge, and fly before him.

"There, uncle, there," said Henry, "there is one of the second class."

"Very well, Henry," said Mr. Dalben; "you have found a creature of the first class, and one also of the second; we must now find a specimen of the third."

"The third class ?" said Henry: "oh, those are creatures which live on land sometimes, and sometimes in water; what do you call them, sir?"

Mr. Dalben replied, " Amphibia."

"Amphibia, sir," said Henry; "what kind of creatures are those ?"

Mr. Dalben answered, "Tortoises, and frogs, and toads, and lizards, and serpents."

"Oh!" said Henry; "these are all ugly things. I think, uncle, I will leave it to you to find one of these."