Section 65. TENDER, TRUSTY, AND TRUE. V.
Reading edition
Once I read in the Life[1] of Dr. Channing, who was one of the best men that ever (je) lived[2] (a[3] great deal better than David, because he lived[4] in a better time), what he once did, when he was a[5] boy and saw a[6] thing like that. Little Channing was one of the kindest[7] and most tender-hearted boys I[8] ever heard of. I will tell you a story to show you how[9] kind he was, and tender, and true. One day he found in a bush a nest full[10] of young birds just out of the shell. Children, did[11] you ever see a[12] nest full of birds just out of the shell?—little tiny[13], downy things[14], with[15] hardly more feathers than an oyster? The birds which William Channing found, were just of that kind; and when he touched them with his fingers, and felt how soft and warm they were, they all began to gape[16], very[17] much as you do when I preach[18] a very long sermon.