Dr. Towson, while in Gottingen, succeeded in getting a young hare so
tame, that it would play about his sofa and bed. It would leap upon his
knee, pat him with its fore feet, and frequently, while he was
reading, it would jump up in his lap, and knock the book out of his
hand, so as to get a share of his attention.
[Illustration: TAME HARES.]
One Sunday evening, five men were sitting on the bank of the river
Mersey, in England, singing sacred songs. The field where they were had
a forest on one side of it. As they were singing, a hare came out of
this forest, and ran toward the place where they were seated. When she
came up very near the spot, she suddenly stopped, and stood still for a
considerable time, appearing to enjoy the sound of the music. She
frequently turned her head, as if listening with intense interest. When
they stopped singing, she turned slowly toward the forest. She had
nearly reached the forest, when the gentlemen commenced singing again.
The hare turned around, and ran back swiftly, nearly to the spot where
she stood before, and listened with the same apparent pleasure, until
the music was finished, when she again retired toward the woods, and
soon disappeared.
Cowper was a great lover of pets; and I confess that I love him for this
trait in his character. He has endeared himself to me, indeed, as much
by the kindness he showed to the different animals which he had about
him, and which he had taught to love him, as by almost any other act of
his.
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