"'One day he was crossing the Lake of Rieti. The boatman in whose bark he was making the passage offered him a fish of uncommon size. Francis accepted it with joy, but, to the great amazement of the fisherman, put it back into the water, bidding it bless God.' "Here is a story which I once read about a very good and distinguished man who tells how he learned when he was a boy not to kill even the smallest animal needlessly. "'I saw one day a little spotted turtle sunning itself in the shallow water, and I lifted the stick in my hand to kill it, for, though I had never killed any creature, I had seen other boys kill birds, squirrels, and the like, and I had a disposition to follow their wicked example; but all at once something checked my little arm, and a voice within me said, clear and loud, "It is wrong," and so I held my uplifted stick until the turtle vanished from my sight. Then I went home and told my mother, and asked her what it was that told me it was wrong. She wiped a tear from her eye, and took me in her arms, and said: "Some call it conscience, but I call it the voice of God in the human soul. If you listen to it and obey it, then it will speak clearer and clearer, and always guide you right. But if you do not listen to it, or disobey it, then it will fade out, little by little, and leave you in the dark without a guide. Your life, my child, depends on heeding that little voice."' "And here are some poems which teach us to be gentle and kind to the dumb animals who depend upon us for life and look to us for mercy. The poet Cowper says:-- {297}{298} [Illustration] BOY AND DOG By Blume [End illustration] {299} "'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.' "Coleridge in a great poem, 'The Ancient Mariner,' which I will read to you when you are a little older, says:-- "'He prayeth well who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. "'He prayeth best who loveth best All things, both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.' "And here are two verses whose author I do not know:-- "'Maker of earth, and sea, and sky, Creation's Sovereign Lord and King; Who hung the starry worlds on high And formed alike the sparrow's wing: Bless the dumb creatures of Thy care, And listen to their voiceless prayer. "'All-Father! who on Mercy's throne Hear'st Thy dumb creatures' faintest moan,-- Thy love be ours, and ours shall be Returned in deeds to these and Thee.' "There is a poem by John Ruskin which speaks of that good time coming when cruelty shall cease and terrible wars shall be no more." {300} A SONG OF PEACE.