a bit of my writing, another _drawing_ the pictures of
some of our dogs or horses, a third poking over _Bewick's Quadrupeds_
and picking out what he said about them; but our book of never-failing
resource was the _French_ MAISON RUSTIQUE, or FARM-HOUSE, which, it is
said, was the book that first tempted DUQUESNOIS (I think that was the
name), the famous physician, in the reign of Louis XIV., _to learn to
read_. Here are all the _four-legged animals_, from the horse down to
the mouse, _portraits_ and all; all the _birds_, _reptiles_, _insects_;
all the modes of rearing, managing, and using the tame ones; all the
modes of taking the wild ones, and of destroying those that are
mischievous; all the various traps, springs, nets; all the implements of
husbandry and gardening; all the labours of the field and the garden
exhibited, as well as the rest, in plates; and, there was I, in my
leisure moments, to join this inquisitive group, to read the _French_,
and tell them what it meaned in _English_, when the picture did not
sufficiently explain itself. I never have been without a copy of this
book for forty years, except during the time that I was fleeing from the
dungeons of CASTLEREAGH and SIDMOUTH, in 1817; and, when I got to Long
Island, the _first book I bought_ was another MAISON RUSTIQUE.

292. What need had we of _schools_? What need of _teachers_? What need
of _scolding_ and _force_, to induce children to read, write, and love
books? What need of _cards, dice_, or of any _games_, to '_kill time_;'
but, in fact, to implant in the infant heart a love of _gaming_, one of
the most destructive of all human vices? We did not want to _'kill
time_;' we were always _busy_, wet weather or dry weather, winter or
summer. There was _no force_ in any case; no _command_; no _authority_;
none of these was ever wanted. To teach the children the habit of _early
rising_ was a great object; and every one knows how young people cling
to their beds, and how loth they are to go to those beds. This was a
capital matter; because, here were _industry_ and _health_ both at
stake. Yet, I avoided _command_ even here; and merely offered a
_reward_. The child that was _down stairs_ first, was called the LARK
_for that day_; and, further, _sat at my right hand at dinner_. They
soon discovered, that to rise early, they must _go to bed early_; and
thus was this most important object secured, with regard to girls as
well as boys. Nothing more inconvenien