' THE DOG. 169 



Lambs nourished by a bitchf 



puppies, he drowned them, and putting the or- 

 phan lambs in their places, the bitch gave them 

 suck, and brought them up with great paternal 

 tenderness. About a twelvemonth after her 

 nurselings had quitted her protection and SOCH 

 ety, for a mode of living more consonant to their 

 nature, the same bitch heard the bleating of & 

 lamb from a basket which a boy was carrying, 

 she instantly flew at the basket, and having got 

 it down, made several attempts to extricate the 

 lamb from its confinement; but being unable to 

 effect that, she showed it repeated marks of in- 

 stinctive affection 



A French officer more remarkable for his 

 birth and spirit than for his riches, had served the 

 Venetian republic with great valour and fidelity 

 several years, but had riot met with prefer- 

 ment adequate by any means to his merits. One 

 day he waited on the illustrissimo, whom he had 

 often solicited in vain, but on whose friendship 

 he had still some reliance. The reception he 

 met with was cool and mortifying: the noble 

 turned his back on the necessitous veteran, and 

 left him to find his way to the street, through a 

 suite of apartments magnificently furnished. He 

 passed them, lost in thought, till casting his eyes 

 on a sumptuous sideboard, where stood on a da- 

 mask cloth, as a preparation for a splendid enter- 

 tainment, an invaluable collection of Venice 

 glass, polished and formed to the highest degree 

 of perfection ; he took hold of a corner of the 

 Y 2 



