KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



351 



would take to feed it, and make it lie in her 

 bosom, and sleep there when the weather was 

 again very cold. One of the birds, there- 

 fore, was bought, and the man lent her one 

 of his small cages to carry it home in. 



Overjoyed at possessing such a dear little 

 creature, so gentle and pretty, and, what was 

 still more in her thoughts, a real living being 

 that would in time know her and sing to her, 

 Ellen carried the cage as the greatest trea- 

 sure that could have been given her ; and so 

 delighted was she, that she could not help 

 stopping every now and then to look at the 

 bird, and she every time expressed more 

 fondness for it. But at last, not satisfied 

 with these momentary glances, she begged 

 her mamma to rest a few minutes, and she 

 sat down on a bank to enjoy more leisurely 

 the sight of her new companion. The birds 

 in the trees and hedges were all singing 

 loudly and joyfully, and they flew from 

 bough to bough, flitting their gay wings in 

 the air, and chasing each other for the very 

 pleasure of floating on the pleasant breeze. 

 " Oh, how delightful !" said Ellen, " to 

 possess one of these pretty, happy things ;" 

 and she looked at her little bird in the cage. 

 Alas ! there it sat up on one end of the perch, 

 its head drooping, its wings folded to its 

 sides, but rough and broken, and its eyes half 

 covered with a thick film, Ellen spoke to 

 it, but the poor little creature was not to be 

 so cheered, and she looked at her mamma, 

 more grieved than ever. 



" Yes," said the latter, smiling, " I had no 

 doubt you would soon discover your error, 

 or I should not have so readily agreed to your 

 wishes. I have no doubt you would be very 

 kind to the bird, but your kindness could 

 not supply the place either of its liberty, or 

 of the pleasure it doubtless has among its 

 own proper companions in the woods. 

 Besides, Ellen, though you might love it 

 very much, you would never feel great satis- 

 faction in attending to a thing which would 

 have no reason to thank you for your pains, 

 and could never talk with you !" 



" No indeed, mamma," said Ellen, and she 

 hung down her head, looked again at the 

 bird, and after playing a few moments with 

 the door of the cage, continued, " Well, I 

 am sure you are right, and it would be very 

 useless and very cruel to keep a thing a pri- 

 soner only for my own satisfaction, and it 

 would be a bad companion after all." So 

 saying, she opened the door : the bird put its 

 head at first fearfully out, and then, shaking 

 its wings, darted out and was soon perched 

 and singing on one of the trees hard by. 

 Ellen looked again at her doll, and began 

 almost to think that she must be contented 

 with her playthings, which could neither 

 fade nor feel it cruel to be locked up. But 

 this thought continued only a moment, and 



as they passed through a field where several 

 lambs were lying about, she made another 

 attempt at rinding something which she 

 might play with and love at the same time. 

 But she was again disappointed ; a lamb was 

 very pretty, very gentle, and very playful, 

 but after she had succeeded in getting near 

 one, and had spoken to it very kindly, and 

 called it by a hundred tender names, it 

 looked at her for an instant, and then 

 bounding away, could not be induced to 

 return by all the persuasion she could make 

 use of. 



The walk was now nearly at an end, and 

 the sweet spring-morning had only made 

 Ellen dissatisfied with her senseless and ina- 

 nimate doll. Before, however, reaching 

 home, her mamma had to call at the cottage 

 of one of the villagers, and thither they now 

 went. A neat little garden which was before 

 the door, was smelling sweetly with some 

 carefully-cultivated plants, and everything 

 about the place bore an air of great neat- 

 ness. But what struck Ellen the most were 

 three or four children who were playing 

 among the flowers, the youngest of which 

 was nursed by a girl about seven years old. 



" Oh, what a dear little baby !" said she, 

 going up to it, and at the moment it stretched 

 out its arms, and laughing in her own smiling 

 face, put its little flaxen head against her 

 bosom. "Indeed, indeed, mamma," said she, 

 " it is a live doll ;" and she gave her own 

 painted one to the young nurse, and took the 

 infant, all joy and innocence, in her arms. 



Ellen had now found something which was 

 as beautiful as the spring-flowers, as gentle 

 and happy as the free birds, as gay as the 

 sportive little lambs ; and, which was better 

 still, endowed with a mind and reason like 

 her own to rejoice in all that is bright and 

 beautiful and good upon the earth. The 

 thoughts with which she returned home, led 

 her ever afterward to employ her summer 

 days and winter evenings in more profitable 

 occupations than formerly ; and there was 

 many a live doll in the neighborhood, whose 

 little lips soon began to lisp its thanks for 

 the pretty presents or the warm clothing 

 with which her industry furnished it. — 

 Dr. Aikin. 



Delights of a well-stored Mind. 



What a charm is there in reading ! The man of 

 letters, when compared with one that is illiterate, 

 exhibits nearly the same contrast as that which 

 exists between a blind man and one that can see. 

 If we consider how much literature enlarges the 

 mind, and how much it multiplies, adjusts, 

 rectifies, and arrang-es the ideas, it may well be 

 reckoned equivalent to an additional sense. It 

 affords pleasures which wealth cannot procure, 

 and which poverty itself cannot entirely take 

 away. 



