OK, PLAIN TEACHING. 



259 



nating in one of a circular 

 form, which is comfortably 

 lined with grain and hay. 

 Here the animal spends the 

 day in repose, moving out only 

 at night in search of food. It 

 feeds upon roots, fruits, insects, 

 frogs, young rabbits, field mice, 

 &c* as well as upon the eggs 

 and young ot partridges and 

 pheasants. It is said to attack 

 the nests of wild bees, plun- 

 dering the store of honey, and 

 also devouring the larvae, without 

 dread of the stings of the en- 

 raged insects, which cannot 

 penetrate its tough, thick skin. 



There is a remarkable instance of affection 

 In the badger recorded by Buffon:— "Two 



persons were on a short journey, and passing 

 through a hollow way, a dog which was with 

 them started a badger, which he attacked, and 

 pursued, till he took shelter in a burrow under 

 a tree. With some pains, they hunted him 

 out, and killed him. Being a very few miles 

 from a village called Chapellatiere, they agreed 

 to drag him there, as the commune gave a 

 reward for every one which was destroyed ; 

 besides, they purposed selling the skin. Not 

 having a rope, they twisted some twigs, and 

 drew him along the road by turns. They had 

 not proceeded far, when they heard a cry of an 

 animal in seeming distress, and stopping to see 

 from whence it proceeded, another badger ap- 

 proached them slowly. They at first threw 

 stones at it, notwithstanding which it drew 

 near, came up to the dead animal, began to 

 lick it, and continued its mournful cry. The 

 men, surprised at this, desisted from offering 

 any further injury to it, and again drew the 

 dead one along as before ; when the living 

 badger, determined not to quit its dead com- 

 panion, lay down on it, taking it gently by one 

 ear, and in that manner was drawn into the 

 midst of the village ; nor could dogs, boys, or 

 men, induce it to quit its situation by any 

 means, and, to their shame be it said, they had 

 the inhumanity to kill it, and afterwards to 

 burn it, declaring that it could be no other 

 than a witch." 



THE F 



We stand now in the broad 

 fields, the varying tints of which 

 denote the distinctions of their 

 useful crops, and the state of 

 culture in which they lie at the 

 present time. Their neat hedges 

 are diversified by occasional trees, 

 which rise above the shrubs that 

 surround them ; the undulations 

 of the ground impart beauty to 

 the landscape ; and the streams 

 that meander along the bed of the 

 valley add diversity to the scene ; 

 while the spire of the distant 

 church, rising from among a 

 group of elms that surmount 

 the hill, reminds us of our obli- 

 gations to the Creator, who gave 

 us every blessing which we 

 enjoy. 



Before we proceed to the exa- 



IELD S. 



mination of the grasses which 

 clothe the field, let us inspect 

 some of the trees and shrubs 

 which adorn the hedge-rows. 

 One of the most familiar of 

 these is the beautiful hawthorn, 

 1, or whitethorn, whose flowers 

 are among the harbingers of 

 spring, when 



" The welcome flowers are blossoming, 



In joyous troops revealed ; 

 That lift their dewy buds and bells 



In garden, mead, and field. 

 They lurk in every sunny path 



Where forest children tread ; 

 The; dot like stars the sacred turf 



Which lies above the dead. 



" They sport with every playful wind 



That stirs the blooming trees, 

 And laugh on every fragrant bush, 



All full of toiling bees ; 

 From the green marge of lake and stream, 



Fresh gale and mountain sod, 

 They look in gentle glory forth, 



The pure sweet flowers of God." 



