I never think of Cowper, without thinking, too, of the interest he
took in every thing that breathed; and I hardly ever see a pet hare, or
rabbit, or squirrel, without thinking of him. If the reader is as much
interested in the poet as I am, he will like to see a portrait of him,
which I introduce in this connection. Many people take great delight in
hunting such beautiful and innocent animals as the fawn and the hare.
But Cowper was no sportsman. He could not bear to hurt any thing that
lived. You remember, perhaps, what he says in his "Task" about being
kind to animals. Let me see if I can quote it from memory. I guess I
can, for I learned it at school when a little boy, and those things are
always fixed in the memory more indelibly than those which are learned
in maturer years. I think he says--
"I would not enter on my list of friends--
Though graced with polished manners and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility--the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail,
That crawls at eve along the public path;
But he who has humanity, forewarned,
Will step aside, and let the reptile live."
[Illustration: THE POET COWPER.]
He was right--the kind-hearted poet was right. Well, as I said before,
he was not only careful about giving pain to animals, but he was very
fond of pets. First and last, he had a good many of these pets.
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