again more than half recovered for him all my previous good opinion, the whole mystery of his behaviour to me, and especially of my second entrapment, and of the odious leathern collar upon my neck. It was necessary, he said, to his proof that I could find my way home, that he should catch me again, in order to be able to show me, not only to his family, but to his brother philosopher, Mr. Dykes; and, as Mr. Dykes was an acute sort of person, and not likely to be satisfied with any evidence short of the best, or to consider any point established, while, as he was accustomed to say (hanging up his lasts at the same moment), there remained "a peg to hang a doubt upon;" so, it had been necessary to make him put, with his own hands, a collar of his own workmanship, round the neck of the little bird, which, not at all by its own consent, had been made one of the three parties to "this great questioning of nature (such were Mr. Gubbins's lofty words), as to the sagacity of some of the humblest of her animated creatures." I was glad (or upon principles of generosity, I ought to have been glad) that when, forsooth! my deep inquirer bent his thoughts upon some of the "humblest" of animated creatures, he imposed the suffering upon me, rather than upon an unfortunate ant, or slug, or worm, which might have shown him sagacity, in its degree, as truly as a Robin; and I was glad, beyond all question, that the secret of my terrible collar was now explained, and so explained as to promise me a speedy disengagement. Ah!" said I to myself, "so it is then, that out of what I thought the accumulation of misfortune, is to come my joy? I could by no means get rid of my collar by my own art; but this second entrapment is the means by which my destiny has come to

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my relief!" My collar, even in the decoy-cage, had continued to be the bitterest of my misfortunes; and when my compassionate fellow-Robins, and even when my mother, came to condole and to moan with me, I kept myself shrunk and huddled together with a twofold contraction, lest they, or even she, should observe that degradation which added misery even to the narrow limits of my trap! The feelings of shame, and of apprehended ridicule and contempt, with which I wore that badge of my bodily thraldom, have already been explained; and the reader sees the broad distinction which must have belonged, in the eye of my dear fellowbirds, and even parent, between the being merely shut up in a trap, and dishonoured by a collar. The trap spoke for me, and told all my story. Any bird, of my size, might have been caught in a trap; but as to how I came by a collar,—as to that, it was possible to indulge in a hundred surmises, and to put on it such constructions as were more than sufficient to ruin, as I have before suggested, my good name, for a bird of common sense, or common spirit. Oh! the collar was detestable. "Dread shame" has always been the motto of my family, as well as of some other people's; so, that I had been wretched ever since I wore it, and now became transported when I heard that it was very soon to be taken off!

I was impatient-fearfully impatient for the time; and I confess that I had my anxieties, whether there were not too much probability that I was to undergo another march to our cobbler's stall and dead menagerie, before the happy event should come upon me! I soon found, however, to my rapture, that an appointment had been made between the two naturalists, in virtue of which Mr. Dykes was to bring home some

mended shoes, and take his tea with the wearers, upon that very afternoon; Mr. Gubbins having securely reckoned, it seems, from my unsuspecting simplicity, that I should be caught quite in time for an exhibition at a four o'clock tea-table! My breast blushes redder than ever, to think that every thing should have happened to his calculation; and yet, at last, where is the shame of having fallen into the snare of the fowler; and of having been lost, not through any moral fault, but only because I had not greater wisdom than falls to the lot of Robin-red-breasts, or sometimes to the fortune of their betters?

Cobbler Dykes, indeed, was very shortly at the open door of Mr. Gubbins's mansion; and scarcely sooner at the open door, than across the threshold, and welcomed to a chair. There were one or two things, however, which outstripped, in their haste, almost the welcoming, but certainly the seating, of the honest and ingenious cobbler (dressed though he was in his best, to visit his distant customers, and to sit by the side of Madam Gubbins and her daughter); and these foremost things, and things which could not wait, were no other than to proclaim to the visitor the actual arrival of myself, and to show me, all collared as I was, to eyes that could not be deceived as to the identity of the collar; and that were able to know again (so observant and familiar with us birds was Mr. Dykes) the very feathers on my neck, and on my wing, and the hairs around my mandibles, and the length and colour of my claws. All, therefore, was now acknowledged by Mr. Dykes, his "spectacles on nose," as fair, convincing, and conclusive. Mr. Gubbins was congratulated, and the latter looked in triumph at his wife and daughter; and called even

was to show me to Farmer Mowbray, and to all the family at the farm-house. Mr. Gubbins, besides that he had a little vanity upon the subject, even there, thought it a compliment due to the friendly farmer, to inform him of the result of all the contrivance; and to verify his words by his testimonies, in return for his loan of the granary, and for his cooperation and secrecy. Mrs. Gubbins longed to see me upon the wing; but she could not dispute her husband's arguments for my visit to the Mowbrays; and moreover, the kettle did not boil, so that it was impossible to deny, that with due expedition, the visit might still be made and finished before the tea could by any means be ready. Besides, the Mowbrays were customers of Cobbler Dykes; and who knew but both mending and making might be wanting, before the tearful voyage of the former to Van Diemen's Land; an occasion, too, which, at any rate, demanded Dykes's affectionate farewell? Upon the whole, then, Mrs. Gubbins showed submission, and her daughter resignation; but the former charged, and the latter prayed, my possessor to bring me back, before releasing me, to the offending roof which had seen me a prisoner; so that their own eyes might be assured of my deliverance, and that the benediction belonging to the deed should not be lost upon the rafters, nor fail to purify the spot that had been tainted by the sin! I could see, too, that as we left the door (Mr. Gubbins, Cobbler Dykes, and my poor self), the wistful looks and palpitating heart of Sukey went along with us, half fearful that there might still be a deception or a disaster; or half grudging that another instant should find me still in bondage! Away we moved, then, to Farmer Mowbray's; and, there, as before, all my story was repeated, and all my

figure (with the frightful collar, too) exposed to every gaze; to the farmer's; to his wife's; to their six children's; and to three or four neighbours, sitting or standing in the kitchen, and who had come, like the comforters of Job, but in a more comfortable spirit, to show their regard for the departing family. Here, though Mr. Gubbins's reasons were admitted to his excuse, all the party pitied me for the troubles I had undergone; and all seemed to be happy that I was about to be made happy too. Even to the smallest of the tanned-necked and white-headed children I was held down, to be wondered at, and to be kissed; and a lesson, in my behalf, and in that of my fellows, was duteously held forth; but, fortunately, Mr. Dykes early recollected that "Mistress" would be waiting tea, besides being impatient for my release; so that (Mr. Dykes and Mr. Gubbins having first learned, with sincere gratification, that the voyage of the Mowbrays was not so near, nor even so certain, as had been purposed, and the latter having been requested to return for orders), most joyfully did I find our march begun for Mr. Gubbins's fireside!

Brought once more within the hospitable verge, it was but a short time before my collar was cut away, and I was set actually at liberty; but while the scissors were looking for, and while a cup of tea was taking, a few words escaped to my ears, such as flattered me afresh upon the score of my discovered importance in the volume of nature; and such, therefore, as I trust the reader will pardon me for having the selfishness to add to this chapter of my book.

"And happy shall I be," said the good and tenderhearted woman, when the dear little bird is on his wings again! I knew that there was something wrong