can walk, or speak, or provide food and clothes for themselves. The brutes walk as soon as they live; they soon learn to find their own food, and they need no clothes. God has given them all the covering they want.

EVENINGS AT HOME.

WHAT ANIMALS ARE MADE FOR.

"PRAY, papa," said Sophia, after she had been a long while teased with the flies which buzzed about her ears, and settled on her nose and forehead as she sat at work—“ Pray, what were flies made for ?" "For some good, I dare

say," said her father.

S. But I think they do a great deal more harm than good, for I am sure they plague me sadly; and in the kitchen they are so troublesome, that the maids can hardly do the work for them.

F. Flies eat up many things which would become very disagreeable, if they were not used, and carried off in some way or other. Flies themselves are eaten up by spiders, and many other animals. Did you never see the little kitten catch flies?

S. No. We could clean away every thing without the help of the flies; and the animals which eat flies, do not want them all, for I have seen heaps of dead flies lying in the window, which did not seem to do good to any thing.

F. Suppose a fly should think; might he not say- "What is this great two legged animal, called man, good for; he eats up every thing he can

find; he kills a great many animals, that he may have their flesh to eat; he beats and hurts a great many animals which he cannot eat. And when he dies he is nailed up in a box, and put a great way under the ground." What would you tell this fly?

S. I would tell him he was very saucy, for talking so of his betters.-I should tell him that he, and all other creatures, were made for manthat man was not made for them.

F. But would you tell him true? You have just been saying, that you could not find out, of what use flies are to us ?-but when they suck our blood, we are of use to them. There are many animals, which are very troublesome to men, such as moschetos, and many more, which we always try to kill as soon as we see them. These are called noxious animals. Some animals kill men, by infusing poison into the blood. The rattle snake does this. When the rattle snake bites, it squeezes from its jaws a little drop of poison, which mixes with the blood, where he has bitten, and broken the skin. This little drop of poison makes a man very sick, and in a short time kills him. Rattle snakes, and other animals, whose bite kills in this manner, are called venomous animals.

S. What can these animals be made for?
F. They are made to be happy.

S. Then we ought not to kill them?

F. Only a very few of these animals come in our way these few we must kill, that we may be comfortable ourselves; but we should be careful not to hurt animals when we can help it. Some good-natured people will allow animals to

be troublesome rather than to kill them. I remember reading of an old gentleman, who had been plagued all the time he was eating his dinner, by a great fly buzzing in his face. Instead of crushing it to death, he took it carefully in his hand, and opening the window, said—“ Go, poor creature; I won't hurt thee; the world is wide enough for thee and me."

S. I should have loved that man. Papa, do not some animals eat others?

F. They do, indeed. God has made some animals so, that they require the flesh of others to keep them alive; they are forced to kill them. Man is forced to kill the ox, that he may have beef-he is also forced to kill the sheep, that he may have mutton; he is obliged to kill many other animals for his food.

The animals which we see, are only a small part of those which are alive. Some animals are so very small, that we cannot see them without the assistance of glasses.

S. How can glass assist our sight?

F. Look through a pair of spectacles.-The things which you see look larger than they ap pear without the spectacles. There are some glasses which make things look much larger than they seem, when seen through spectacles. Some glasses make a fly look as large as a mouse. These glasses are called microscopes. Look at a drop of water through a microscope. You will see in it a great many living creatures. We swallow many of these every time we drink.

People in some countries think it wicked to kill animals.

There are some people in Asia, called the Hin

dus-they have teachers as we have, to tell them what they must do to be good. Our teachers are called ministers, and preach to us in the churches. The ministers, or teachers of the Hindus, are called Bramins.

all;

The Bramins teach, that it is wicked to kill any animals; and that cows, of all animals, are the most holy. The Bramins teach that men should show great respect to cows; because they believe that God loves cows more than he loves other animals. This is not true. God loves all that he has made. The Bible says, he cares for "his tender mercies are over all his works." These Bramins make their chief food of rice and milk. A Bramin was one day walking on the side of a river, called the Ganges. He saw a little bird pick up ants, and swallow them as fast as he could. "Wretch," cried the Bramin, as he looked at the bird," how many ants are devoured at every mouthful of thine!" Presently a large hawk seized the small bird, and carried him off in his claws.

The Bramin pitied the poor little bird. "Poor creature!" said the Bramin, "thou hast fallen into the clutches of the cruel." At the same moment, a stronger and larger bird caught the hawk, and struck him to the ground, with the little bird in his talons. The large bird was an eagle; as he was tearing the hawk, a lynx, which is a species of large cat, darted from a tree, and tore the eagle in pieces. The Bramin looked on with concern, when a ferocious tiger rushing from the wood, snatched the lynx, and began to tear him in pieces. The Bramin was about to

quit the place, when he met an English soldier with his gun. The Bramin pointed to the spot where the tiger was devouring the lynx. soldier immediately shot the tiger dead.

The "I

"Brave fellow !" exclaimed the Bramin. am very hungry," said the soldier, "can you give me some beef? I see you have plenty of cows."

66

What! shall I kill tne cows of Brama?' "Then kill the next tiger yourself," said the soldier, and walked away.

EVENINGS AT HOME.

HARRY AND LUCY.

HARRY was brother to Lucy, and Lucy was sister to Harry. Harry had just come home to his father's house: he had been left at his uncle's when he was an infant, and had always lived at his uncle's house.

Lucy lay in a little bed in a closet near her mother's room, and Harry lay in a little bed in another closet.

Early in the morning, whilst Lucy was in bed, the sun shone through the window upon her face, and wakened her; when she was quite awake, she knew that it was morning, because it was day-light; and she called to her mother, and said, "Mother, may I get up?" but her mother did not answer her, she did not hear her, because she was asleep. When Lucy knew that her mother was asleep, she lay still, that she