Various

“ In the first place, Jack was struck with admiration at the formation of birds. They are designed to raise themselves in the air, and to spend a considerable part of their time in that subtle element. And how wonderfully adapted to this purpose are they! In the first place, a bird must have great strength, and yet great lightness: and how happily are they united! Look at the quill of the wing—​how strong, and yet how light! Who could have invented anything more admirably suited to rise on the breeze and cut its way through the air? ”

“ The chicken runs about, as soon as it is hatched; the child must be taught first to creep, then to walk. The chicken, left to itself, though but a day old, will hide from the hawk that would devour it; the child, if left to itself, would as soon go into the fire, or the water, or the bear’s mouth, as anywhere else. The chicken is guided by instinct—​the child by instruction.
Thus it appears, that, while instinct is the guide of the animal world, education is the instrument by which children are to reach their true destiny. ”

“ But it is really horrible to have the mind of a human being, and the body and habits of a hog.”
Poor Peter in the agony of his dream made a great outcry, but it was like the squealing of a pig; the fairy heard it, however, and came at the call. “What is the matter?”—said she. “Let me out! let me out!” said Peter in his frenzy. “I can’t let you out,” said the fairy: “you weigh at least fifteen score, and beside, you are a pig, now; for you must know that if a human being adopts swinish habits and keeps swinish company, he gradually becomes assimilated to the brute he imitates. ”

“ Miss Pappoo. Here she is—​Miss Pappoo—​all the way from New Guinea—​a specimen of humanity which shows the lovely, fascinating, bewitching effect of an exuberant quantity of hair. It is all her own, too! not purchased at Gilbert’s, nor forced by beef marrow, antique oil, bear’s grease, or Macassar ointment! No; it is pure, genuine nature.
It may be that there are some persons who cannot appreciate the loveliness of Miss Pappoo’s locks; but every day, we see in our streets, certain young and middle-aged men, who strike us as kindred spirits. ”

“ The meadows are now covered with flowers in full bloom: the forests have put on their beautiful garments of green: the birds are busy in tending their young; the mornings are ushered in with silvery dews, and the evenings come like a soft veil thrown over the cradle of her children, by the gentle hand of nature, to make their slumbers sweet and secure.
The farmer is now busy in gathering his crop of hay,—​though, as he swings his scythe, he unhappily disturbs many a pretty nest of the meadow lark, the sparrow, and the boblink. ”

“ As soon as morning begins to dawn, it is on the wing, to salute the early messenger of approaching day. And when the evening sun is sinking below the horizon, it rises again to drink of his last celestial beams. Thus it lives a two-fold life, the one silently in the still shade of the nourishing furrow and the green stems, and the other, singing in the bright regions of a higher world of light. ”

“ The turkey-cock struts round and round, grating the edges of his wings upon the ground, and displays his purple wattles, his crimson comb, and his black, bristly beard, to the admiring gaze of the tender, transcendental hens of his flock. The guinea-hen, creeping afar, amid some thicket, comes running home with a terrible cry, as if thieves, robbers and murderers were at hand! The peacock, situated upon some conspicuous mound, spreads out his tail, set with a thousand gorgeous gems, and, lost in admiration, appears to enjoy a sublime self-conceit. ”

“ As nature abhors a vacuum, the mind instinctively shrinks from solitude. If fleshy forms are not present, a host of imps press in from crack and crevice, to gambol around us. The mind is like the room in which the body is held, and these shadowy elves issue forth from the plastering of the walls, or peep out from the dark arras that hangs betwixt the visible and invisible world. Could we break through the plastering, or lift the arras, and see what these seeming imps are—​whether they are things, or only images of things ”

“ I have sometimes imagined Mount Tom to be the highest peak of the Alps, and when a dense fog has covered its top, I have fancied it to be all clothed with perpetual snow; for I sometimes enjoy very much a flight of the imagination. I think I must have learned this of old Peter Parley. Oh, how many pretty stories has he told us about Mount Tom, and Mount Holyoke, and the Connecticut, as it passes through these mountains, and about Bellows Falls and the Indians catching fish with long spears. ”

“ Go to the Atheneum, and see the stores of knowledge, which man has discovered. Go to the churches, and see the people holding communion with that God who built the earth, and spread out the heavens. Open the Bible, and read the wonders of revelation—​the immortality of the soul—​the mighty plan of man’s salvation. Go to the fireside, and see the comfort—​the peace—​the happiness, which are there. And remember that all these things—​every one of them—​is the product of education. ”

“ Knowledge makes the whole difference, and knowledge comes by instruction—​by education. Do my little readers know that without education they would be savages? Yet it is really so. All are born alike—​the child of the savage, and the child of the Christian. One grows up a savage, because its father and mother do not send it to school—​do not furnish it books, do not teach it to read and to write. The other grows up a Christian, because it is instructed—​it is educated. Education, therefore, makes us to differ. ”

“ And there was one thing, which struck him with absolute horror: he now perceived that he had four legs—​cloven feet, a long snout, and a tail! Nor was this all—​long wiry bristles stood up along his back—​his sides were coated with coarse hair, and while he tugged to get out of his prison, he grunted like his companion. “I am, at last, a pig then!” said Peter; “and yet, I am not altogether a pig. I know more than this lazy beast by my side; I know what is to happen to-morrow, and while he is at rest, I am in an agony of fear. ”

“ Before we speak of the inhabitants of Brazil, however, we shall say a word or two of the country. Scarcely a finer country is to be found on the globe. Its climate is healthful; its soil fertile; its scenery charming, and even romantic; thick forests crown its hills, and perpetual verdure adorns its valleys; noble rivers pass in every direction, and the richest tropical fruits abound in every quarter. Brazil also is famous for its gold and diamonds. ”

“ From the spot where stood these old buildings, may be seen Mount Tom, some eighteen miles distant, holding up his tall blue head. I love to look at him, for there is always something very pleasing to me in the sight of a noble mountain; it makes one’s heart feel large, and seems silently to teach the eye to look upward to Him who created all things. ”

“ The old hen went on from place to place, clucking all the time, and taking the utmost pains to keep her brood together, and under her own immediate inspection. She made her legs fly merrily among the leaves, and many a bug and grub and worm did she discover for her little ones. She would eat nothing herself, but gave everything to her chickens, except once in a while she came across a beetle or other insect, too big for her infant flock, and then she swallowed it.
Nothing could exceed the industry, energy and watchfulness of the old biddy. ”

“ He heard the hot, hissing water poured into the tub, to scald off his hair; he heard a lively whetting of knives, and at last saw the goggling eyes of the butcher, taking a look over the edge of the pig-stye. His agony was beyond bounds; he uttered a piercing shriek, and in the paroxysm of his distress, he awoke. It was, however, a lucky dream, for the youth took warning by it, and conquering his indolence, he became industrious, and grew up a prosperous and happy man. ”

“ The air was filled with the most delicious fragrance, and far as the eye could reach, the lovely valley seemed to stretch out, presenting a scene of luxuriance and peace. On the other side of the castle, was a succession 118 of rugged mountains, covered with gloomy forests of cork trees, with occasional groups of oak and chestnut. The view resembled a sea of waving leaves covered by a thin atmospheric veil of a purple hue. Nothing could exceed the grandeur and richness of the spectacle. ”

“ Nor was this all poor Tom had to endure. He was constantly “hatchelled” as to his manners, somewhat after the following fashion: “My dear Trudge,” his wife would say to him, “do now try to be a gentleman. Pray wipe your nose with your pocket handkerchief, and not with your fingers! Turn your toes out, man, or people will never forget that you was once a pedler. Hold your head up, step large, swing your arms bravely, and seem to be somebody. In short, pray do be genteel.” ”

“ I can shut the door upon the world—​turn the key upon life’s cares, and give myself up freely to the reins of a vagrant fancy, without reproach of conscience. Providence has stepped in, and, arresting my tasks and my duties, gives me a sort of Sabbath of leisure and mental recreation. To me a wet day brings no blues, or, if it does, they are those which come on the wings of reverie, and are such as I am sometimes willing to entertain. ”

“ Far—​far beyond the reach of the naked eye—​far beyond the reach of the searching telescope—​far beyond even the daring stretch of the imagination, into the unfathomed night of space—​there, there, is the Almighty lighting up the regions of nothingness with existence, 50 bidding new suns to shine in the chambers of silence and death—​and thus extending his dominions and spreading abroad the rays of his glory. ”

“ Here I am—​only a pedler—​poor Tom Trudge—​and it’s all trudge, trudge, from morning to night; winter and summer, fair or foul, hot or cold, I must trudge, trudge! If I was rich, and lived in a fine house, I should be Thomas Trudge, Esq., and then I should be as good as anybody. I should have easy carriages and fat, slick horses, and Mrs. Trudge would be a fine lady!”
Thus it was that poor Tom indulged his fancy, and all the time Envy and Ambition and Idleness were at work within, making him very unhappy. Envy made him feel a sort of hatred toward people who were richer than himself. ”

“ The experienced traveller sees the coming danger, and prepares himself for it. He throws himself upon the ground, and covers his face so as not to be choked with the dust. The horses and camels, guided by instinct, also put their noses to the earth to prevent being suffocated. If the storm is slight, the party escapes; but sometimes, such immense waves of sand are drifted upon the wind, as to bury the traveller so deeply beneath it, as to make it his winding-sheet forever. ”

“ The moon was shining very brightly, and lighted the large barn-like apartment in such a manner, that I could see almost every object with distinctness. Above me, amid the dusky shadows of the room, I beheld a creature of the most extraordinary aspect. It seemed to have the head of a rhinoceros, with most enormous ears, the body of a bird, and the legs of an alligator. It had immense wings, shaped like those of a bat. To my excited imagination, the creature seemed as big as an ox ”

“ He read, therefore, with a keen delight; he understood what he read, he remembered it all, and he was incited to go on and pursue the subject, till at last he had read the story of the whole squirrel family, red, black and gray!
I tell you this just to give you a specimen of Jack’s way of combining observation with reading. I must now tell you about another thing, which I have alluded to before. It would seem that ideas resemble boys; they don’t love to be alone. One idea wants another; and several ideas want a good many others. ”

“ Those people who live in the sunny south, where Jack Frost never comes with his snow-flakes, surely miss one of the greatest delights of our northern 47 climes. We are willing to forego their orange groves, their fig trees, and their grape vines—​bending as they may be with fruit—​in consideration of the fun of snow-balling. Not that we, ourself—​Robert Merry—​old, decrepit and gray—​ever engage in that lively sport. ”