thick branches of a tree, and from thence darts down upon the passing victim.* This allusion is involved in the threatening: "As a leopard by the way will I observe them." So wakeful are the eyes of Jehovah, so keen is his inspection, and equally sudden and irresistible as the downward spring of the watchful leopard, is the vengeance which he inflicts upon his enemies. The allusion to the insidious habit and ferocious character of this creature, is still more striking in the denunciation of Jeremiah: "A leopard shall watch over their cities; every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces." For what purpose Jehovah threatened to watch over their cities, is explained in the next clause, and is admirably illustrated in another passage of his book: "I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict." A similar expression occurs in the prophecies of Daniel: "Therefore, hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us."a Homer says, that the leopard never can be satiated with prey; and many unexceptionable witnesses declare, that the ferocity of his disposition cannot, by the most assiduous and artful management, be wholly subdued. How great then must be the change produced in his truculent heart, when, according to ancient prophecy, he " shall lie down with the kid ;" but still more singular is the alteration which the gospel of peace, under the salutary influence of the divine Spirit, effects in the moral and religious feelings of mankind. This great and desirable event, which has been partly realized already, but is yet * Nat. Hist. vol. v, p. 183. Plin. Hist. Natur. lib. x, cap. 73. Jer. v, 6, and xxxi, 28. y Hos. xiii, 7. a Dan. ix, 14. in a great degree matter of hope, is represented by the prophet Isaiah, with his usual felicity of expression, under the striking figure of a general and cordial pacification among all the beasts of the field. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The Grecian monarchy, under Alexander of Macedon and his successors, the rise and fall of which, Daniel beheld in vision, was represented by a leopard; and surely, a more appropriate symbol to indicate the insatiable ambition of Alexander, the vigour of his counsels, the rapidity of his movements, the impetuosity of his onset, and the number and variety of the nations that fought under his banner,-numerous and diversified as the spots on the skin of that animal,-can scarcely be devised. The leopard is of a nature so fierce and untractable, that man may be said rather to subdue, than to tame him; he never loses entirely his ferocious disposition. To train him for the chase, which has been frequently done in the east, great attention is necessary, and still greater caution in conducting and exercising him. He is carried to the field in a cart, shut up in a cage, the door of which is opened when game appears. Starting from his den, he springs toward the animal, and generally at three or four bounds seizes and strangles it. But if he miss his aim, he becomes furious, and sometimes attacks his master, who commonly prevents this hazard by carrying along with him pieces of flesh or live animals, as lambs or kids, one of which he throws to him to pacify his rage. Demarchais c Bochart. Hieroz. lib. iii, cap. 7, p. 789. d Buffon's Nat. Hist. vol. v, p. 181. asserts, that the Guinea leopard is incapable of being tamed; but a higher authority says, that every kind of animal may be tamed, and has been tamed by man; and, therefore, the leopard of Guinea might be subdued, if sufficient time and pains were bestowed in the training. How admirable then is the power of the gospel, which subdues, tames, and humanizes the heart of a wicked man, who is equally stubborn, cruel, and untractable as the leopard; which eradicates the very principles of deceit and violence; chains the furious passions, and purifies the unholy affections and grovelling appetites, and renders him gentle, moderate, humble, and inoffensive. Such are the happy effects, which ancient prophets and holy apostles ascribe to the influence of religion upon the human heart. This formidable animal loves to roam on the summits of lofty mountains, where he remains in gloomy solitude, till hunger compel him to leave his retreat, and descend into the plain. Solomon alludes to this habit in the Song, where, under the significant emblem of lions and leopards, he describes the men of this world, who, for the degraded state of their nature; for their devouring and insatiable desires, which, like the voracious appetites of the leopard, are never satisfied; and for their malicious dispositions, which stimulate them to plot against the peace and safety of righteous and holy men,-are with great propriety represented by these devourers. Environed by the men of this world, the church of Christ is in no less danger than a solitary inhabitant of the wood, or the mountain, where the lion and the leopard range in quest of their prey. She is, therefore, invited to leave such dangerous solitudes, and take up her residence upon mount Zion, which no ravenous beast was allowed to approach, and to place her happiness in the presence and fellowship of her God: "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon; look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lion's dens, from the mountains of leopards." f The Bear. The bear is occasionally found in company with the lion in the writings of the Old Testament; and if the savage ferocity of his disposition be duly considered, certainly forms a proper associate for that destroyer. "There came a lion and a bear," said the son of Jesse," and took a lamb out of the flock ;" and Solomon unites them, to constitute the symbol of a wicked magistrate: "As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people." The savage, which in these texts is associated with the lion, is the brown or red bear. Natural historians mention two other species, the white and black, the dispositions and habits of which are entirely different. The white bear differs in shape from the others, is an inhabitant of the polar regions, and feeds "on the bodies of seals, whales, and other monsters of the deep." It is properly a sea bear, and must have been totally unknown to the inspired writers, who lived so far remote from those dreary and desolate shores which it frequents. The black and the brown bears are considered by many as only varieties of the same species; but their temper and manners are so different, that Buffon, and other respectable writers, contend, that they ought to be regarded as specifically different. The brown or red bear is both a larger animal than the black, and a beast of prey that in strength and ferocity scarcely yields to the lion himself; while the black bear chiefly subsists on roots, fruits, and vegetables, and is never known to prey upon other animals. This species uniformly flies from the presence of men, and never attacks them but in self-defence; but the red bear is a bold and extremely mischievous animal, which will attack a man with equal indifference as a lamb or a fawn. The black bear also confines himself to the more temperate northern latitudes, never ascending to the arctic circle, nor descending lower than the Alps, where it is sometimes found; but the brown bear accommodates himself to every clime, and is to be found in every desert or uncultivated country on the face of our globe. He ranges the Scythian wilds as far as the shores of the frozen ocean; he infests the boundless forests of America; he traverses the burning wastes of Lybia and Numidia, countries of Africa which supplied the ancient Romans with bears to be exhibited at their public spectacles; he prowls on the glowing sands of Arabia; he lounges on the banks of the Nile,g and on the shores of the Red sea; he inhabits the wilderness adjoining to the Holy land. Hence, the black bear must have been unknown to the inhabitants of Canaan; while the red bear infested their country, prowled around their flocks, and watched near their dwellings, affording them but too many opportunities of studying his character, and too much reason to remember his manners. A particular description of this animal is to be found in every work on natural history; our concern is only with those traits in his character, which serve to illustrate the sacred writings. His external appearance is unusually rugged and savage; his limbs are strong and thick; his fore-feet somewhat resemble the human hand; his hair Buffon's Nat. Hist. vol. v, p. 1, &c. h Thevenot's Trav. |