Speak gently! 'Tis a little thing Dropped in the heart's deep well, QUESTIONS:-1. What does this poem bid us always do? 2. Why? 3. Why are we to speak gently to the child? 4. How ought we to teach it? 5. And why? 6. Why should we speak gently to the young? 7. Why to the aged one? 8. And why to the poor? 9. Give the reasons for so doing in each case. dis-tin'-guish, to note the man'-aged, was able. difference. em-ploy'-ment, work to do. COWPER was one of the nec'-es-sa-ry, needful. un-sal-u'-ted, untouched. most famous of English poets. He was always weak in body, and never enjoyed very good health. Often when he was ill, and weary with writing, he longed for some kind of amusement which might engage his attention without fatiguing him overmuch. The following story, as told by himself, shows how he managed to please and amuse himself, and at the same time how deep an interest he took in the welfare and happiness of the lower animals. He says: "The children of a neighbour of mine had a leveret (a young hare) given them for a plaything; it was at that time about three months old. Understanding better how to tease the poor creature than to feed it, and soon becoming weary of their charge, they readily consented that their father, who saw it pining and growing leaner every day, should offer it to me. I was willing enough to take it under my care, expecting that in the attempt to tame it I should find that sort of employment which my case required. soon known among the neighbours that I was pleased with the present; and the consequence was that in a short time I had as many leverets offered to me as would have stocked a paddock. It was "I undertook the care of three, which it is necessary that I should here distinguish by the names I gave them-Puss, Tiney, and Bess. Notwithstanding the two female names, I must inform you they were all males. "Immediately commencing carpenter, I built them houses to sleep in; and in the day-time they had the range of a hall, while at night each retired to his own bed, never intruding into that of another. "Puss grew all at once familiar, would leap into my lap, raise himself upon his hinder feet, and bite the hair from my temples. He would suffer me to take him up and to carry him about in my arms; and has more than once fallen fast asleep upon my knee. He was ill three days, during which time I nursed him, kept him apart from his fellows, that they might not molest him, and by constant care and trying him with a variety of herbs, restored him to perfect health. No creature could be more grateful than my patient after his recovery; he showed my kindness was not lost upon him by licking my hand,—first the back of it, then the palm, then every finger separately, then between all the fingers as if anxious to leave no part of it unsaluted. Finding him so tame and easily taught, I made it my custom to carry him always after breakfast into the garden, where he hid himself generally among the leaves of some of the vegetables, sleeping or chewing the cud till evening; in these leaves, also, he found a favourite repast. I had not long accustomed him to this taste of liberty before he began to be impatient for the return of the time when he might enjoy it. He would invite me to the garden by drumming upon my knee, and by a look of such expression that one could not mistake it. But should this fail, then he would take the skirt of my coat between his teeth and pull it with all his force. Thus Puss might be said to be perfectly tamed, being happier in human society than in the company of Tiney and Bess." QUESTIONS:-1. Who was Cowper? 2. What animals did he take a great interest in? 3. How did he happen to get hares for pets? 4. How many had he? 5. What names did he give them? 6. What sort of names are they? 7. What was the first thing he did for them? 8. Did all three live in the same house? 9. What did they do in day-time? 10. Which of the three was the tamest? 11. What were some of the amusing things which he did? 12. How long was he ill? 13. Who took care of him then? 14. How was he made better? 15. How did he show that he felt grateful for his master's kindness? 16. Where was he usually taken after breakfast-time? 17. What did he do then? 18. How did he let it be known when he wanted to the garden? WORD LESSON : ac-cus'-tom-ed con-sent'-ed grate'-ful re-quir'-ed con'-se-quence im-pa'-tience re-tir'-ed dis-tin'-guish lev'-er-et a-muse'-ment at-ten'-tion break'-fast em-ploy'-ment nec'-es-sa-ry car'-pen-ter ex-pec'-ting per'-fect LESSON XXVIII. un-sal-u'-ted va-ri'-e-ty veg'-e-ta-ble IN our last lesson we learned how tame little Puss had become. Now, Cowper goes on to say: "Not so Tiney, upon him the kindest treatment had not the least effect. He too was sick, and in his sickness had an equal share of my attention; but if, after his recovery, I took the liberty to stroke him, he would grunt, strike with his fore-feet, spring forward, and bite. "He was, however, very entertaining in his way; even his surliness was matter of mirth; and in his play he preserved such an air of gravity, and performed his feats with such a solemnity of manner, that in him too I had an agreeable companion. Bess. "Bess, who died soon after he was full-grown, and whose death was occasioned by his being turned into his box, after it had been washed, and while it was yet damp, was a hare of great humour and drollery. "Puss was tamed by gentle usage; Tiney was not to be tamed at all; and Bess had a courage and confidence that made him tame from the beginning. I always admitted them into the parlour after supper, when the carpet affording their feet a firm hold, they would frisk and bound and play a thousand gambols, in which Bess, being remarkably strong and fearless, was always superior to the rest, and proved himself the chief of the party. "One evening the cat being in the room had the hardiness to pat Bess on the cheek, an insult which he resented by drumming upon her back |