y show him Nannie, too; and he will tell you how to manage her."

They were soon seated in the parlor, when Mr. Lee said,--

"I have often thought of that beautiful passage in which our Saviour
describes the Jewish shepherd: 'The sheep hear his voice, and he calleth
his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out; and he goeth before them,
and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.'"

"It is astonishing," remarked the visitor, "what power a humane shepherd
has over his flock, when he has once acquired their confidence. This
method of giving names to the sheep, as well as to the leaders, is very
important. They soon learn the name given them, and will readily come at
the familiar call.

"I read lately an account given by a gentleman who had been travelling
in Greece, and he asked if it was customary there to give sheep names.
'Yes,' was the answer; and soon after he had an opportunity of seeing
for himself. Passing a flock, he asked the shepherd to call one. He did
so; and it instantly left its pasture and its companions, and ran up to
the shepherd with signs of pleasure, and with a prompt obedience which I
had never seen excelled in any other animal.

"I have heard, too, that an English shepherd knows every sheep in his
flock. By feeding the lambs from the hand, and other kind treatment, he
accustoms them to come at his call, and gradually to understand and
follow his directions, when the rest of the flock will immediately
follow.

"In France, the shepherd selects certain sheep from the flock, gives
them names, and teaches them to come by offering them a piece of bread.
When he wishes to lead his flock through a defile, or to make them
change the direction in which they are proceeding, he calls one of
these selected sheep. Those that are nearest follow immediately, and the
others are not very far behind; and so, by degrees, the whole flock is
disposed to obey the call of the shepherd."

"Since you were here last," rejoined Mr. Lee, "I have been reading
Youatt's admirable treatise on sheep. He has an instance very similar
concerning the flock of Messrs. Nowlan, Kilkenny. In 1820, they had six
hundred pure Merinos, all under the charge of one man. Not even a dog
was permitted; the whole care devolved on the shepherd.

"At the sound of his horn, all the sheep flocked around him if he
stopped, and followed him if he moved forward.

"Salt was the means by which this docility was acquired, a small
quantity of wh