Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

proved to be this insect, and the identical | sportive insects; each suspects the insect specimen shown to him."

In a communication read in 1830, before the Linnean Society, by R. Chambers, esq., the hypothesis of the insect nature of the ignis fatuus appears to be advocated, and the opinion of T. Stothard, esq., R.A., celebrated as an artist, and also a good practical entomologist, is adduced, as favouring the theory of the mole-cricket being the source of these lights. The same opinion has been entertained by others. Now, unfortunately for this theory, though the mole-cricket may exert its powers in short leaps, when removed from its burrow, it is not well adapted for an easy and long-continued flight, and much less of dancing up and down, and backwards and forwards in the air, with the playful lightness of a gnat or butterfly. Besides, the mole-cricket is not a luminous insect; if it were, the spots colonized by them would abound with ignes fatui. But such is not the case. As for the narrative of Dr. Sutton, of Norwich, recorded by Kirby, we find the proof of the theory of the mole-cricket being the source of this light resting not on the rev. Doctor's own observation, nor yet on that of the farmer, but upon that of one of the farmer's people!

*

Thus, then, while some contend for the glowworm, others for a species of tipula, and others for the mole-cricket being the ignis fatuus, (and in so far differ from each other,) these theorists on the insect side of the question, adduce no bond fide facts to demonstrate the correctness of their opinions-opinions based upon the flitting, hovering, vacillating movements of those lights, which sometimes appear as if gambolling with each other, avoiding gates, and palings, and occasionally seeming to settle and rise again. Such appearances, they say, must result from

White says, in his "Nat. Hist. of Selborne:""When dug out [of their burrows] they seem very slow and helpless, and make no use of their wings by day; but at night come abroad and make long

excursions, as I have been convinced by finding stragglers, in a morning, in improbable places." He

afterwards adds: They fly "rising and falling in

curves," the proof of a laborious flight.

The merry eccentric movements of the ignis fatuus, as far as our limited experience goes, are very much exaggerated. By giving licence to imagination, something of this kind might be described, but the appearance is deceptive and arises from the sudden extinguishing of one flame, and the rapid succession of others, in different but not very distant spots. Such at least was our impression some years since on seeing the phenomenon.

to be some particular kind, and then endeavours to obtain something like a confirmation of his views; which, however vague the fact, may be as willingly accepted as substantial proof.

THE DOMESTIC ALTAR.

M.

Ir is pleasing to find in private houses an altar raised to God. Nothing rivets family attachments wholly so securely as meeting every morning to pray for each other, when every petty difference must at once be laid aside, and every misunderstanding forgotten before the sun goes down. What can be more pleasing also than for the absent to know precisely at what hour they are remembered, with the supplications and blessings of an affectionate circle? While those who remain together can enjoy no greater solace than in following them with prayers, and uniting, on their own account, in the expression of every anxiety, or pleasure, or sorrow, which each shares in common with all the others. There is, indeed, no pleasure more to be prized than that of raising a family altar, where those shall daily assemble on earth, who hope hereafter to re-assemble in heaven, and not a wanderer lost!

THE MONEY WASTED IN WAR.

"GIVE me," says Stebbins, "the money that has been spent in war, and I will purchase every foot of land on the globe. I will clothe every man, woman, and child, in an attire that kings and queens might be proud of. I will build a school-house upon every hill-side, and in every valley over the habitable earth. I will supply that school-house with a competent teacher; I will build an academy in every town, and endow it; a college in sors; I will crown every hill with a every state, and fill it with able profeschurch consecrated to the promulgation its pulpit an able teacher of righteousof the gospel of peace; I will support in ness, so that on every sabbath morning the chime on one hill shall answer to the chime on another around the earth's broad circumference; and the voice of prayer, and the song of praise, shall ascend like the smoke of a universal holocaust to heaven."

[graphic][subsumed]

THE LION.

The Lion.

THE lion has been well denominated "the king of beasts." His noble appearance, his courage, his prodigious strength, his determined spirit, and his generous disposition, entitle him to be thus described. His agile, yet muscular frame, together with the impetuous resistlessness of his attacks, enable him to overcome even the massive strength of the elephant, and the formidable armour of the rhinoceros. He roves in the boundless desert, in the dense jungle, and in the luxuriant plain, alike master of all the animal tribes. The Scriptures intimate the opinion entertained of him in ancient times. "What," it is asked, "is stronger than a lion?" And in reNOVEMBER, 1846.

ference to the old lion, it is said, "Who shall rouse him up?"

"Behold the people shall rise up as a great lion,
And lift up himself as a young lion:
He shall not lie down until he eat of his prey,
And drink the blood of the slain."

It is also said, "The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion;" and in reference to David and Jonathan, "they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions."

The lion was at one time far more common than it is now, from the inroads of civilisation. The monarch of the animal creation finds his superior in man; and the words of God have been plainly verified in a thousand instances: "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be

2 I

upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea," Gen. ix. 2. The plough has, in many cases, passed over his late domains, and the cottage has been erected where the lion used to drink.

The ordinary length of the lion, from the muzzle to the tail, is about six feet; and his height, at the shoulders, more than three feet; so that he stands rather low in proportion to his length. The tail is more than three feet long, terminating in a thick tuft of blackish hair. Homer, and other Greek and Latin writers, allude to his movements, as indicative of the feelings of the lion at the time. Pliny denominates it the index of his mind; for he says, "When the tail is at rest, the animal is quiet, gentle, and seems pleased, which is seldom, however, the ease; and anger is much more frequent with him, in the commencement of which he lashes the ground, but, as it increases, his sides, as if with the view of rousing it to a higher pitch." Again, Alexander Aphrodisius says, "Since the moving of the tail is, in most animals, a sign of their recognition of friends, does the lion lash his sides when enraged." A peculiar characteristic possessed by the lion, distinguishing him from all other animals, is his mane, which is long and flowing, and extending backwards over his shoulders and face.

The roar of this animal is sufficient to strike terror into the stoutest heart, when travelling alone on the plains of Africa, or when entangled in an Indian jungle. As he rests his head on his paws, or on the ground, and gives a half-stifled growl, the vibration is conveyed to a great distance. When persons think they have heard the roar of a lion, from his growl at the Zoological gardens, a mis take is made, for that is but a whisper to the terrible sound he utters, as he roams in majesty in his native wilds. It was observed that the lions in the royal menagerie in the Tower of London, during temperate weather, commenced roaring about dawn, one of them beginning and the others following in succession; and if any failed in doing so, it was a sure sign of approaching illness.

The lion is nocturnal in his habits. Sleeping during the day, but generally concealed in his lair at night, he tracks the passage of some prey. Then the crouch is made; the spring, which is from

| twenty to thirty feet, and the roar, come together; the body of the victim is forced to the ground by the weight of its destroyer; his formidable fangs are applied to the throat, and there is no chance of escape.

The poet Young has said,

"Fierce o'er the sands the lordly lion stalks,
Grimly majestic in his lonely walks:
When round he glares, all living creatures fly,
He clears the desert with his rolling eye;
By the pale moon he takes his destined round,
Lashes his sides, and furious tears the ground.
Now shrieks and dying groans the forest fill,
He rages, rends, his ravenous jaws distil
With crimson foam, and when the banquet's o'er,
He strides away and paints his steps with gore.
In flight alone the shepherd puts his trust,
And shudders at the talon in the dust."

The black lion of Africa is the most formidable of the species, sometimes measuring eight feet in length, besides the tail; this one, however, is much scarcer than the paler variety. The dread entertained by the animals which live near the haunts of the lion is better conceived than described. At his sight, or even his smell, the greatest alarm is displayed on the part of the cattle. Though they may be in the worst possible condition, worn out with fatigue and hunger, the moment the shaggy monster is perceived, they start like face-horses, with their tails erect; and sometimes days will elapse before they are found. "One night,' says Mr. Moffat, "we were quietly bivouacked at a small pool on the Oup river, where we never anticipated a visit from his majesty. We had just closed our united evening service, the book was still in my hands, and the closing notes of the song of praise had scarcely fallen from our lips, when the terrific roar of the lion was heard. Our oxen, which before were quietly chewing the cud, rushed upon us, and over our fires, leaving us prostrated in a cloud of dust and sand. Hats and hymn-books, our Bibles and our guns, were all scattered in wild confusion. Providentially, no serious injury was sustained. The oxen were pursued, brought back, and secured to the wagon

for we could ill afford to lose any.

The tiger and the wolf generally retreat to the mountain caverns and ravines, but the lion is found in the open plain, near the herds of antelopes which there feed, and prefer the open country to places where the lion can conceal himself. The Bushmen have noticed, that he generally kills and devours his prey in the morning at sunrise, or at

sunset; and on this account, when they | wish to destroy him, they notice where the springbocks are grazing at the rising of the sun, and observe if they appear frightened and run off; for if so, they have lately been attacked. Marking accurately the spot where the alarm took place, about eleven o'clock, when the sun is powerful, and the enemy they seek is supposed to be fast asleep, they carefully examine the ground, and finding him in a state of unguarded security, a poisoned arrow is lodged in his breast. He bounds from his lair, but the work is done; and before many hours have passed, his dead body will be in the hands of his destroyers.

At

Mr. Burchell, the well-known South African traveller, gives an interesting account of an adventure he and his party had with a lion. The dogs had been prowling about, and examining the bushes with the usual avidity they display in search of game, when at length they set up a loud and determined barking at some object among the rushes. The encouragement the dogs received induced them to drive out an enormous lion and lioness, and the latter escaped under cover of the tall rushes; while the lion, with all the majesty of the native animal, advanced steadily to examine the intruders on his domains. The dogs bravely approached him, so as to hold him at bay, but conscious of his strength, he deigned not to notice them, and kept his eyes fixed on the men. one moment the dogs, perceiving his eye engaged, approached nearer to him, as though they would seize him; but without discomposing the majestic attitude in which he stood fixed, he merely moved his paw, and laid two of them dead; yet there was so little exertion that it seemed wonderful by what means this had been accomplished. Mr. Burchell says, "I stood well upon my guard, holding my pistols in my hand, with my finger upon the trigger; and those who had muskets kept them similarly prepared. Of the time we had gained by the interference of the dogs not a moment was lost; we fired upon him: one of the balls went through his side just below the short ribs, and the blood immediately began to flow. We had no doubt that he would spring upon us: every gun was instantly reloaded; but he moved quietly away-although I had hoped in a few minutes to have been able to take hold of his paw without

[blocks in formation]

The affrighted and wounded animal then endeavours to escape by swiftness of foot.

"For life-the victim's utmost speed
Is muster'd in this hour of need;
For life-for life-his giant might
He strains, and pours his soul in flight;
And mad with terror, thirst, and pain,
Spurns with wild hoof the thundering plain.
'Tis vain; the thirsty sands are drinking
His streaming blood-his strength is sinking;
The victor's fangs are in his veins-

His flanks are streak'd with sanguin'd strains-
His panting breast in foam and gore
Is bathed he reels-his race is o'er;
He falls and with convulsing throe,
Resigns his throat to th' ravening foe!
-And lo! ere quivering life has fled,
The vultures, wheeling overhead,
Swoop down, to watch, in gaunt array,
Till the gorged tyrant quits his prey.'

F.

MENTAL PRECOCITY UNDESIRABLE.

MANY of the brightest geniuses, and those whose names are associated with the mightiest intellectual achievements, exhibited in their earlier years few indications of future greatness. Dr. Barrow's father is alleged to have said, that "if it pleased God to take from him any of his children, he hoped it might be Isaac, as he looked upon him as the most unpromising." Such was the character of Sheridan in his earliest years, that his mother regarded him " as the dullest and most hopeless of her sons. Adam Clark was considered by his father " grievous dunce, as he learned little before he was eight or ten years old." Gibbon, we are informed, when he sat down to write his own memoirs, found that he had nothing to record concerning the period he spent at Oxford, of “early

[ocr errors]

a

displays of genius, laudable emulation, and well-earned honours." It is said of Napoleon, by one who had the best opportunity of knowing him, that, "in his boyhood, he was like other boys," and had none of that singularity of character attributed to him. And sir Isaac Newton, according to his own statement, was "inattentive to study, and ranked very low in the school, until the age of twelve." These facts seem to favour the supposition, that the gigantic powers which raise the possessors of them so far above the level of ordinary men, are retarded in their development; that the material organs, by which they are afterwards to carry on their operations, may be consolidated, and fully prepared for performing the work to which they are destined. The very early development, therefore, of extraordinary capabilities, may not, in every instance, afford the means of forming an accurate estimate of what the intellectual character might become, were the individual permitted to reach maturity. Those who display great mental precocity, are most likely to be first taken away. They are generally marked out as victims of the destroyer. And the very exercises which call forth the admiration of those who are most deeply interested in their welfare, in too many instances, but foster the fatal tendencies which lurk in the frame, and induce the incurable maladies which prostrate them in the dust. Parents may behold the results of that precocity with satisfaction and unmingled delight, and fondly delineate in imagination the course of honour and usefulness which the gifted subjects of it may run, when their expanding powers are fully unfolded; but how often, alas! are these prospects clouded by the shadow of death, and their hopes, in as far as this world is concerned, sunk in corruption and the grave! How loudly does this call upon them not to set their hearts too much upon such children! Their one great concern regarding them should be, to have them prepared for heaven.-Rev. A. Cuthbert.

THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY.
No. VI.

CHARITY REJOICETH IN THE TRUTH.

"CHARITY rejoiceth in the truth." There must be, therefore, wherever it is exercised, a right apprehension of truth. In the sense of the apostle, the term is

not used to denote veracity as opposed to falsehood, but the doctrines of the word of God as opposed to all the speculations and inventions of men. Such was its meaning in a memorable petition of our Lord: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." One of the apostle Paul's charges to Timothy runs, "to hold fast the form of sound words," and to give himself to doctrine. And most emphatic is the declaration of John: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." Truth and error are equally opposed in all cases, but all error is not opposed to the same truths, and hence arises a distinction between those errors which directly oppose fundamental truths, and others, which do not contradict the gospel testimony, though it may be impaired in their remoter consequences. Against the one we must decidedly protest, towards the others it becomes us to manifest the forbearance that is incumbent.

An illustration of actual agreement attended by some points of difference, may be gathered from one of the conversations of our Lord; John said unto him, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad him, because he followeth not us." Thus it appeared that though some individual, addressing a demoniac in the name of Christ, ejected an evil spirit, giving peace to a human soul, and restoring to society one who must otherwise have remained

an outcast, and probably dwelt among the tombs, yet the disciples of Jesus charged him to desist, and no more to achieve such a prodigy of benevolence, because he was not, in all respects, just like themselves. So far, however, from their conduct being approved by the Redeemer, it was explicitly censured; "Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man that shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part," Mark ix. 38-41. And thus he intimates that whoever is engaged in the promotion of his cause should be hailed by all besides as a fellow-worker. Any points of difference existing between him and them should be lost in the oneness of the object pursued, and the advantage accruing from success, whatever is the manner in which it arises, and whosoever is the instrument by whom it is

« ElőzőTovább »