s
it, from the time when in infancy they tortured a fly, or spun a
cock-chaffer.

"The teacher mentioned to the children one day, that he had been
occupied about a boy and a girl who had no father or mother, and whose
grandfather and grandmother, who took care of them, were bed-rid and
in great poverty. The boy was seven years of age, too old for the
infant school, but some gentlemen, he said, were exerting themselves
to get the boy into one of the hospitals. Here he purposely stopped
to try the sympathies of his audience for the girl. He was not
disappointed, several little voices called out at once, '_Oh! master!_
What for no the lassie too?' he assured them the girl was to come to
the infant school, and to be boarded there; which intelligence was
received with loud plaudits."

Here we see the seeds of philanthropy sown in the young mind,
beginning, even in infancy, to burst and blossom forth, giving promise
in after years of a glorious and abundant harvest. The germ of love
and mercy is in every breast, and cannot fail to be developed, if
early called into action; and by the blessing of Almighty God, who
is the great First Cause of all good results, the day is fast
approaching, yea, is now at hand, when the fierce passions, the love
of self, the long catalogues of debasing crimes, which have so long
disgraced human nature, will give way before a golden age of true
Christianity; when man will not be arrayed against his fellow-men, but
all will go hand in hand together in the bond of love, seeking to do
good, and to accomplish the purposes for which they were created by an
all-wise and all-benevolent God.

The following anecdote illustrates the subject still further:--

"One day, when the children were in the play-ground, four boys
occupied the boys' circular swing, while a stranger gentleman was
looking on with the teacher. Conscious of being looked at, the little
fellows were wheeling round with more than usual swiftness and
dexterity, when a little creature of two or three years made a sudden
dart forward into their very orbit, and in an instant must have
been knocked down with great force. With a presence of mind and
consideration, and with a mechanical skill,--which to admire most we
knew not, one of the boys, about five years old, used the instant of
time in which the singular movement was practicable, threw his whole
body into a horizontal position, and went clear over the infant's
head. But this was not a