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sumes the temples of religion, when it respects and passes harmless down the thunder-rods of the tents of sin, in obedience to the laws of electricity. The sea-bird, stationed as a watchful sentinel on a rock amidst the breakers, fulfils the designs of a kind Providence in warning the mariner by its cry, of approaching danger, without enquiring whether he is white or black- —a disciple of John Wesley or of Thomas Paine.

a curse.

As to the multiplication of animals, that depends on the laws of their particular economy; and according as they are useful or noxious, they may prove a blessing or If in consequence of the extinction of rooks, swallows, and other insectivorous birds, grubs, flies and beetles should become so numerous as to destroy the hope of the farmer, they may well be considered as a scourge from God to chastise man for his folly in removing the checks to their increase. The Supreme Lawgiver, from the infinite perfection of his nature, must always act with unvarying rectitude and truth; and though he is not subject to his own physical ordinances, nor bound by the inflexible chains of necessity or fate, his providence is manifested, not by special interpositions, but by the constant, regular, uninterrupted action of his laws. They who best understand, and most conscientiously conform to those laws, act most agreeably to their Maker's will, and provide most securely for their own comfort and happiness. Were men more observant of the established order of things-of the laws of nature and of their own constitution, they would have less reason to think special interferences necessary. At the same time, it would be presumptuous-an assumption of knowledge beyond what it is possible to prove to affirm, that the hand of the Deity is never stretched forth to rescue his creatures from any physical evil-to shut the mouths of lions-to still the raging of the sea-to avert the lightning and the hurricane, or arrest the progress of the "pestilence that walketh in darkness." But of this we may rest assured that as cheerful obedience to his righteous will is our highest wisdom; so is it our best protection on earth against the worst calamities that human nature deplores, and the surest foundation of our trust in the world to come.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM ANIMALS, THEIR DOCILITY, OBEDIENCE, AND AFFECTION FOR MAN, AN ARGUMENT FOR TREATING THEM WITH HUMANITY.

"Belluæ, a barbaris, propter beneficium, consecratæ.-CIC.
Every object in creation

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Can furnish hints for contemplation;

And from the most minute and mean,

A virtuous mind can morals glean."-GAY.

For how many benefits are we indebted to the animal creation ? To enumerate them would be impossible. They give us almost the whole of what is comprised in the comprehensive terms of food and raiment, and contribute in a thousand and ten thousand ways to our necessities, our comforts, our luxuries. They facilitate our labours in the city and the field; bear our burdens; transport us from place to place, and, with the pleasure of locomotion, enable us to visit distant regions which, without their aid, could never be explored. The elephant lends us his gigantic strength; the horse his speed; the ass his patience; the camel his almost invincible endurance of thirst and labour, in regions where no water refreshes the ground. The sheep bestows her woolly mantle; the cow supplies abundance of delicious nutriment, while the dog performs the duty of a vigilant sentinel, in guarding our dwellings. Among reptiles, what a useful phlebotomist is the leech? Of insects, the cantharides are indispensible in the medical profession, and the coccus yields a purple that in brilliancy exceeds the famous Melibean dye. Of the fishy, the testaceous, and crustaceous tribes it would be superfluous to speak, since a moment's consideration will show how greatly man is their debtor.

All animals, particularly those whose services are most required, as if conscious that they were ordained to be subject to man's dominion yield to it without reluctance,

asking in return only to be treated with humanity. The Apostle James says truly, (iii. 7.) "Every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind." Hanno the Carthagenian is said to be the first who tamed a lion* and "led him in a slippe like a dog ;" and Mark Antony had lions yoked to his car. The well known story of Androcles and the lion would show that gratitude is no stranger to the breast of that noble animal, though there were not many other proofs of it more recent. How

serpents were charmed of old, and how they may still be charmed in some countries of the East, is sufficiently notorious. The most noxious and formidable animals are seldom the first aggressors on man; but if attacked or molested they will of course resist and use the arms which God has given them for their defence. Lucian speaks of serpents so tame that they would suck women and play with children without doing them any hurt; and we learn from Waterton that the most poisonous snakes, even the Labarri, may be touched without fear, if approached with caution.-Wanderings, pp. 184, 185.

Many animals seem to forego their natural instincts or to employ them only for the service and profit of their benefactors. Certain birds in China, follow the occupation of fishing for their owners. The parra chavaria of South America, guards the poultry of its master, as the dog guards the shepherd's flock. The hawk returns to her lure and perches on the falconer's fist after having struck down the game for his food and recreation. Pliny tells us of a young lady of Sestos who had a favourite eagle which she had reared from the nest, which accompanied her in the sports of the field, and supplied her table with venison.-(Book x. c. 5.) The cuculus indicator, as Vaillant informs us, is honoured as a deity in Southern Africa; and the Hindus hold the bird garuda, a destroyer of snakes, in equal veneration. The Norwegians think it impious to destroy the black-throated

*For this act of ingenuity Hanno was banished from the city, a liontamer, being thought dangerous to the liberty of the state. Mark Antony's feat was "a shrewd and unhappy presage of the subjection of men of an high spirit and brave mind."-PLINY, lib. 8, c. 16.

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For how many creation? To They give us all the comprehensiv tribute in a the necessities, our our labours in th transport us from locomotion, enal out their aid, col lends us his giga ass his patience; ance of thirst an refreshes the gr mantle; the cow

ment, while the d tinel, in guarding useful phlebotomi rides are indispe coccus yields a famous Melibear crustaceous tribes a moment's consi their debtor.

All animals, pa required, as if com subject to man's d

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the groom that dresses him. The reason is because they treat their horses with great lenity." That animals so capable of domestication as swine, sheep, goats, and horses, should reciprocate the gentleness of their owners is not extraordinary, but even those deemed the most untameable have been rendered so gentle by kindness, as to show the mildness and fawning affection of a spaniel. The last mentioned author informs us that one of his servants had a lynx of Assyria, that was wont to caress him with all the blandishments of love; that pined in his absence, and rejoiced at his return; and at last was so grieved by the loss of his master, that he refused food, and languished till he died. He also tells us of a Spaniard, who had a Balearic crane that attended him in his walks, knocked at his door, and was wont to greet him by "clapping her wings with such an antick posture of her body as dancers in a jig use to do; or as if she had been to prepare herself for combat with a pigmy."

"The pious Hindu has a sort of filial attachment to the creature that affords him his daily food." Something similar is told of the Irishman's love of the pig that is destined to pay the rent of his wretched cabin; and it is not without a praiseworthy reluctance that he is at last obliged to consign to its fate the creature that has long been the object of his care and the inmate of his dwelling. Not only are birds and beasts, but even fishes, susceptible of gratitude. The story of the boy and the dolphin has been recorded by Pliny, and celebrated in the Halieutics of Oppian. Wild beasts have been known to protect, and even to suckle children. The story of the exposure and preservation of Cyrus, and of Romulus and Remus, is not necessarily a fable. We read of young rats having been suckled by a cat, the most deadly enemy of their That some animals should supply the place of a human nurse, is not surprising. Bebe, the extraordinary dwarf, whose real name was Nicholas Ferry, had so small a mouth that he could never suck his mother's breast. A she-goat supplied her place, and entertained for him the affection of a parent.

race.

"The dog," says Cuvier, "is the most complete, the most remarkable, and the most useful conquest ever made

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