beings. Every boy in the village knows his name, and I often catch him
in the street with a posse of little, dirty urchins playing around him.
But he is not quite satisfied with this kind of company; for, if taking
a walk with any of the family, he will only just acknowledge his
plebeian play-fellow with a simple shake of the tail, equivalent to the
distant nod which a patrician school-boy bestows on the town-boy
school-fellow whom he chances to meet when in company with his
aristocratical relations. The only approach to bad feeling that I ever
discovered in Rover is a slight disposition to jealousy; but this in him
is more a virtue than a vice; for it springs entirely from affection,
and has nothing mean or malicious in it, one instance will suffice to
show how he expresses this feeling. One day a little stray dog attached
himself to me and followed me home; I took him into the house and had
him fed, intending to keep him until I could discover the owner. For
this act of kindness the dog expressed thanks in the usual way. Rover,
although used to play the truant, from the moment the little stranger
entered the premises, never quitted us till he saw him fairly off. His
manner towards us became more ingratiating than usual, and he seemed
desirous, by his assiduities and attentions, to show us, that we stood
in need of no other favourite or companion. But at the same time he
showed no animosity whatever towards his supposed rival. Here was reason
and refinement too. Besides the friends whom he meets in my house, Rover
also forms attachments of his own, in which he shows a great
discrimination. It is not every one who offers him a bone that he will
trust as a friend. He has one or two intimate acquaintances in the
village whom he regularly visits, and where in case of any remissness on
the part of the cook, he is sure to find a plate of meat. Rover is a
most feeling, sweet dispositioned dog--one instance of his affection and
kindheartedness I cannot omit. He had formed an attachment to a
labourer, who worked about my garden, and would frequently follow him to