know there are houses of different sizes. The houses that the
poor people live in are very different from your father's house.
_T._--Yes, they are little, nasty, dirty, disagreeable places; I should
not like to live in them at all. _H._--And yet the poor are in general
as strong and healthy as the rich. But if you could have no other, you
would rather live in one of them than be exposed to the weather?
_T._--Yes, certainly. And how would you make one of them? _H._--If I
could get any wood, and had a hatchet, I would cut down some branches of
trees, and stick them upright in the ground, near to each other.
_T._--And what then? _H._--I would then get some other branches, but
more full of small wood; and these I would interweave between them, just
as we make hurdles to confine the sheep; and then, as that might not be
warm enough to resist the wind and cold, I would cover them over, both
within and without, with clay. _T._--Clay! what is that? _H._--It is a
particular kind of earth, that sticks to your feet when you tread upon
it, or to your hands when you touch it. _T._--I declare I did not think
it had been so easy to make a house. And do you think that people could
really live in such houses? _H._--Certainly they might, because many
persons live in such houses here; and I have been told that in many
parts of the world they have not any other. _T._--Really, I should like
to try to make a house; do you think, Harry, that you and I could make
one? _H._--Yes, if I had wood and clay enough, I think I could, and a
small hatchet to sharpen the stakes and make them enter the ground.

Mr Barlow then came to call them in to read, and told Tommy that, as he
had been talking so much about good-nature to animals, he had looked him
out a very pretty story upon the subject, and begged that he would read
it well. "That I will," said Tommy; "for I begin to like reading
extremely; and I think that I am happier too since I learned it, for now
I can always divert myself." "Indeed," answered Mr Barlow, "most people
find it so. When any one can read he will not find the knowledge any
burthen to him, and it is his own fault if he is not constantly amused.
This is an advantage, Tommy, which a gentleman, since you are so fond of
the word, may more particularly enjoy, because he has so much time at
his own disposal; and it is much better that he should distinguish
himself by having more knowledge and improvement than others, than by
fine clothes,