THE CONTEST ROUND THE CROSS. 349 flash upon the spirits of men, but to that solid and effectual change which visibly transformed them into that blessed image of Christ, by the spirit of holiness, so as it was given, both to believe and also to suffer for His name." No laboured language nor artistic picture could better set forth the real condition of Europe, both before and at the Reformation, than the above quaint and simple sentences. He who wrote them knew what the Reformation was, and by whose power it was accomplished. It was nothing less than a second Pentecost. Beyond all preceding ages since the days of the Apostles, it was a time of refreshing. God then led men back to the simple cross of Christ, which for centuries had been obscured. He brought to light Apostolic truth in wondrous clearness and power, He caused the rubbish to be dug away from the foundations of the Gospel that they might be laid bare. The testimony of the Reformation was for Christ alone,-for Him who died and rose again, and who, having sprinkled His blood upon the mercy-seat, invites men to draw near to God in the full assurance of faith. The contest with Rome was specially round the Cross of Christ. The great question of the day was, "How is man to be justified before God?" Well and nobly did the Reformers answer that mighty question, leaving no room for mistake in their testimony as to the ground on which God invites the sinner to draw near: they said, "Christ has done everything, take His doings, and come to God with them as your claim; use His righteousness as if it were your own, use His sufferings as if they were your own." God owned the testimony thus given to His free love manifested in the gift of His Son. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. It was a glorious day for Europe. H. B. GAZELLE, THE ROE OF SCRIPTURE. (Gazella Dorcas.) "The wild Gazelle on Judah's hills Exulting yet may bound, That gush on holy ground; Its airy step and glorious eye May glance in tameless transport by." Or all the antelopes the Gazelle is the most celebrated and the most delicate. The slenderness and neatness of its body and limbs, its speed, the grace of its motions, and the large black open eye, have been regarded by the poets and the people of the countries where it occurs as so many emblems of grace and alacrity. In imitation of its large black eyes, the Eastern females anoint their eyelashes with a preparation of antimony called Kohhl; and speaking of the eyes of an Eastern beauty, the poet exclaims, "Go look on those of the gazelle." Dr. Shaw* thinks that the disciple at Joppa, "whose name was Tabitha, which is by interpretation Dorcas" (Acts, ix. 36), who was raised to life by Peter, might be so called from this particular feature and circumstance: Dorcas being the Greek name for the gazelle, as Tzebi or Tabitha is the Hebrew or Syriac. It is the animal alluded to in the Scriptures under the names of "Roe" and "Roebuck." * "Travels and Observations," p. 414. Hemprich and Ehrenberg met with this species sometimes in herds, and sometimes in single individuals. Whenever they catch sight of an intruder the whole herd scamper away, but soon stop, the males first and then the fawns; as the huntsman approaches, the male remains for a considerable time quite still, with his neck erect, and as the enemy gets nearer he stamps the ground with his forefoot, and makes a loudish noise; on this the whole herd disappear with great speed, nor do they again halt till they consider themselves out of danger.* Wells and other places are sometimes in the East called after the gazelle. Burckhardt† during his travels came to an Ain Toby, or "the spring of the Gazelle :" it is to the east of the plain of the Haouran, and gracefully expresses, like our own Hart-leap Well, some incident in which gazelles bore a conspicuous part. Messrs. Bonar and M'Cheyne, in their delightful narrative, relate, that shortly after leaving the Sea of Galilee, on the 16th July, 1839, they came to the plain of Huttin, which was then carpeted with wild flowers and dotted with patches of cultivation :-"Here we saw the gazelle bounding on before us, over shrubs and rocks and every obstacle, and felt the exquisite fulness of meaning in the Church's exclamation, 'Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills! My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart' (Song, ii. 8, 9). It is the very nature of this lively animal to bound over the roughest heights with the greatest ease; it seems even to delight in doing so."+ Messrs. Irby and Mangles § were often pleased to fall in with small groups of the gazelle, which proved much less * Ehrenberg, "Symbolæ Physicæ." + "Travels in Syria," p. 119. "Mission of Inquiry to the Jews," p. 296. § "Travels in Egypt, Nubia, Syria," &c. p. 7. timid than they expected, the elegant creatures stopping to gaze on them as they passed, with their ears raised. Their light-brown colour is not unlike that of the sand, and must often conceal them from the view of their enemies; these travellers remarked, that when they were in a valley it was difficult to perceive them. Lynch, in his "Narrative of the Exploration of the Dead Sea," was struck with the stone colour of most of the animals of the Desert, which so closely resembled the hue of the mountains and plains, that there must be in this circumstance another evidence of design. The traveller Burckhardt fell in with several places on the eastern frontiers of Syria set apart for the hunting of this animal. The inhabitants select an open space in the plain, of about a mile and a half square; they enclose this on three sides with a wall of loose stones, too high for the gazelles to leap over. Gaps are purposely left in different parts of this wall, and near each gap they sink a deep ditch on the outside. Care is taken to select a spot near some rivulet or spring to which the gazelles resort in summer. The peasants assemble and watch till they see a herd of these creatures advancing towards the enclosure, into which at last they are driven. The gazelles, frightened by the shouts and fire-arms of these people, try to leap over the wall, but as they can only effect this at the gaps, they fall into the ditch outside, where they are easily taken. The chief of the herd always leaps first, the others follow him one by one. When taken, the gazelles are immediately killed and their flesh is sold. There is every likelihood that it was this animal which Esau pursued in "the field" with his "quiver and bow," agreeably to the instructions of Isaac, who desired the venison as "savoury meat" (Gen. xxvii. 3, 4). Some European travellers, such as Bruce, do not speak flesh as food; but others, such as Laborde, and Irby and Mangles, think it well flavoured. The Arabs regard it as a highly of its great dainty; and we find that in the "provision for one day" served up at Solomon's table, a place is assigned to the gazelle (1 Kings, iv. 23). The flesh has a sweet, musky flavour, which is highly agreeable to the palate of those accustomed to it. The gazelle is a favourite object of pursuit to the Eastern sportsman. The Arabs watch for it with their dogs at pools where it has been drinking, as it can be easily captured in hot weather, immediately after it has drunk water. Those, however, who are fond of sport, do not snare the gentle creature in this treacherous way, but pursue it with hawk and hound. Dr. Layard, who has often witnessed this sport over the boundless plains of Assyria and Babylonia, describes it as "most exhilarating and graceful, displaying equally the noble qualities of the horse, the dog, and the bird." This eminent traveller tells us that the falcon and greyhound, employed in the pursuit of the gazelle, must be trained to hunt together by a process which is, however, unfortunately very cruel. The falcon is taught to eat its daily meal, which consists of raw meat, fastened to the stuffed head of a gazelle. The next step in its "education" is to accustom it to look for its food between the horns of a tame gazelle. In the course of its tuition the distance between the animal and the falconer is gradually increased, until the falcon has been taught to look for its meat when about half a mile off. A greyhound is now let loose at the gazelle, the falcon being flown at the same time: as soon as the poor victim has been seized its throat is cut, and a portion of the flesh is at once given to the hawk. By the time that three gazelles have been thus treated, the falcon and greyhound are considered able to act in concert. It requires some art in the trainer to teach his two pupils to single out the same gazelle, and, when that point has been gained, to keep the * "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 482. |