This is a long chapter; but I had a good deal to say in it, and I hope
you are not tired, and that you will think it over, and pray God to
enable you to profit by it.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]

CHAPTER V.

BEARS, MONKEYS, RATS.


Now, I think, you are laughing at the heading of this chapter, and
wondering what I can have to say about such creatures; but wait a
little, and you will find I am not afraid to put in a good word for
them. You must know that I once had a young bear, a mere cub, which was
given to me by one of the wild Indians, as they are called. These
Indians, by the way, are not half so wild as some boys of my
acquaintance, who are a great deal better taught; and they were very
fond of me--merely because it pleased God to keep me mindful of a
gracious command which he has given us. You will find it in the first
Epistle of Peter, chap. ii., verse 17: "Honour all men." Man, whether he
be black, or white, or tawny; whether he be rich or poor, bond or free;
man was at first made in the image of God, and would have kept the image
if Adam had not sinned and lost it; so that none of his posterity are