he also appointed the children belonging to the school to meet him in the chapel the day following. A considerable number of adults assembled with the children, and I also had the pleasure of attending with them. After singing and prayer, Mr. Hill very tenderly and affectionately addressed them upon the exceeding sinfulness of cruelty, and with a fearlessness highly becoming a Christian minister and a man, he held up to their abhorrence the disgraceful conduct of certain individuals whom he named, promoters of bull-baiting (the horrid sounds of which might be heard in the chapel.) On the Sunday following he examined the children to ascertain what success had attended his labours; when to his great encouragement he found, that out of upwards of one hundred children, only one child had attended the bullbaiting! The delinquent, upon being reprimanded by Mr. Hill, in the presence of the whole school, wept, and seemed to be sensible of his improper conduct. Mr. Hill had selected several portions of the first edition of this work, and appointed them to be read to the children by their teacher, during the week previous to the wake. Surely such labours cannot be in vain! May every minister do likewise !

All wise men acknowledge pain to be a great evil, and they naturally wish to be exempt from it. And when pain is inflicted by God upon man, in the order of his providence, all good men sympathise with each other, and use their utmost endeavours to remove it: and when wicked men wantonly inflict pain upon dumb animals, who cannot plead their own cause, or

express what they suffer, then, every good and merciful man will, in obedience to the command of his God, Prov. xxxi. 8, “Open his mouth for the dumb,” he will not, he cannot remain a silent spectator; but he will endeavour to mitigate the creature's sufferings, by exposing the exceeding sinfulness of their conduct towards him. And while wicked parents are leading their infant offspring into the broad path of sin and cruelty, every true and faithful servant of Him, whose "tender mercies are over all his works," will use his utmost endeavours to turn their feet into the paths of mercy and truth.

CATECHISM.

Ye who love mercy, teach your youthful sons
To love it too. The spring-time of our years

Is soon dishonour'd, and defil'd in most

By budding ills; that ask a prudent hand
To check them. But, alas! none sooner shoots
If unrestrain'd, into luxuriant growth,

Than cruelty, most dev'lish of them all.

MY DEAR CHILDREN,

COWPER.

GOD, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, has created a vast multiplicity of different living beings: hence the air, the earth, and the water, teem with delighted existence, and are furnished with a countless variety of animals, all of which GoD pronounced "very good." Of these some are of infinite importance and service to man, and they greatly contribute to his comfort and happiness; particularly the horse, the cow, the bull, the sheep, &c. There are also others, though not so valuable to him, yet, from them he derives considerable advantage; such as the goat, the cock, the dog, the ass, &c. There are also numberless others, with whose use we are not acquainted.

Question. Can you tell me why God created them?

Answer. For his own pleasure. Rev. iv. 11. "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory,

and honour, and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

Question.-GOD having informed us in his holy word, that the infinite variety of animals with which creation abounds, contribute to the pleasure of their self-existingly, happy and glorious Creator: will not every good man take pleasure in them also?

Answer.-Yes. For the Apostle declares, 1 John, v. 1, “That every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him that is begotten of him also." And therefore every man that truly loves, GoD must love the creatures of his hand, and feel a delightful pleasure in promoting their happiness.

Question.-What do you learn to be the will of GOD, and the duty of man, towards the animal tribes, from the light of nature and divine revelation?

Answer. The light of nature teaches man the duty of exercising mercy and compassion towards them, and divine revelation positively enjoins it.

Question.-How do you prove this duty from the light of nature ?

Answer.-First, from GoD having endued animals with a capability of perceiving pleasure and pain. Secondly, from the abundant provision which he has made for the gratification of their several senses. Hence it is evident that GOD designed them to be happy, and that mercy extended towards them must be pleasing in his sight.

Question.-How do you prove it from divine revelation?

Answer. From the express teaching of God himself, and also from the unchangeable nature of his law.

Question.-How do you prove it from the express teaching of God?

Answer.-Micah vi. 8; "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy.

Question.-How do you prove the law of God to be unchangeable ?

Answer.-Malachi iii. 6, "I am the Lord, I change not."

Isaiah lix. 21, "My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.'

Matt. v. 18, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law."

Question.-Where is this law respecting the merciful treatment of the animal creation written?

Answer.- Exodus xxiii. 12, "Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may rest."

Deut. v. 14, "The seventh day is the sabbath; in it thou shalt do no work; thou, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle."

Question.-What does this command of God to man particularly enjoin?

Answer. In this important, but sadly neglected, and lightly regarded command, Jehovah