he very prudently sat himself
down, crushing one or two of them in his descent; then springing to his
legs, and as he did so catching several more in his arms, he hugged them
till they had no more breath in their bodies, when he dropped them, and
took up a fresh supply. One of the pack, however, more alert than his
fellows, sprang up and seized him by the nose, making his teeth meet in
that prominent feature, and caused Bruin such intense pain, that,
forgetting all his strategy, he tried to beat down his determined little
foe with his paws, and ran off howling in a most terrific manner,
pursued by the remainder of the pack, who bit at his hind legs, tore his
already ragged coat till it hung in ribbons; and when Bruin, who, having
at length got rid of the bold little fellow that had fastened to his
nose, climbed up a tree, they stood yelping at the foot of it, till
evening had completely set in, when they slowly retired.

And what were our ill-natured hero's thoughts, as he sat upon an
elevated branch, and gently rubbed his wounded snout? Why, unfortunately
for his own happiness, he laid the blame of his mishap on any one or any
thing, rather than the right being or circumstance. It was the otter's
fault, or the dogs' fault--those dogs were always so quarrelsome; or it
was his father's fault in driving him away from home: in fact, every one
was in error rather than himself and his own disagreeable disposition.
And here we may observe, that they are such characters as Bruin who
bring disrepute on a whole tribe; for we are too apt to form our
opinions of a nation by the few individuals we may happen to fall in
with, although, probably, no conclusions can be falser. Let us,
therefore, be careful ere we form our judgments, and let us not believe
that all Bruin's kindred and compatriots were sulky and ill-tempered
because he himself was such a disagreeable lump of a bear.

TOWN LIFE.

Bruin woke up next morning with so uncomfortable a feeling of soreness
from the rough treatment he had received, that it was with some
difficulty he was enabled to move his heavy limbs; and he found sitting
so unpleasant a posture, that he lay stretched across two or three
branches for several hours, and in a very ill-humour, indeed, watched
the activity displayed beneath and around him. Now a stealthy fox, upon
some foraging expedition, would come creeping along, his foot-fall
scarcely heard on the withered leaves and dead branches; n