courage, that tear in pieces, and devour a large horned stag, which they had killed in the mountains; and their jaws are dyed in blood; then they go off in a body to drink at the dark fountain, with their slender tongues, belching forth the swallowed gore."

X

Και τ' αγεληδόν ιασιν, από κρηνης μελανύδρου. Il. lib. xvi, l. 156, &c. The prey which the band has obtained, by their common exertions, they divide among themselves, and every one takes his part, which if able, he forthwith devours, or reserves for a future meal. This predatory expedition is no sooner finished, than they separate, and each returns in silence to his den. To the occasional combination of these animals, the inspired writer probably alludes in a passage already quoted: "her judges are evening wolves;" selfish and solitary in their natural dispositions, but associated for a time, that they may prosecute with more success their schemes of rapine and exortion.

Weaker than many other beasts of prey, and proportionably timid, the wolf generally chooses to conceal his movements under the veil of night; this is indeed common to all savage animals, but is more proper to him than to the lion, the bear, or the leopard. It is for this reason, the sacred writers emphatically call him the "wolf of the evening;" and Virgil sings how he lies in ambush for a full cote of sheep, growling at the folds, enduring winds and rains at the hours of midnight.

"pleno lupus insidiatus ovili," &c. En. lib. ix, 1. 60. In the prophecies of Habakkuk, the Assyrian "horses are fiercer than the evening wolves." This expression some refer to their speed, others to the acuteness of their sight; the celebrated Bochart supposes, that since the wolf is very * Bochart. Hieroz. lib. iii, cap. 10,

p. 823.

swift, and sharp sighted also, the prophet might have respect to both. But he rather inclines to the common opinion, that the inspired writer alludes to the keenness of his temper, which is expressed in our translation with sufficient propriety. The Assyrian horses were fiercer, keener, or more high spirited, than wolves that come abroad in the evening, pinched with hunger, and eager for the chase. The prophet, by using the comparative degree, admits, that both the horse and the wolf are keen or fierce; and in the same manner Virgil applies the term to both : "et genus acre luporum." Geor. lib. iii, 1. 64.

And in the Æneid;

"At puer Ascanius mediis in vallibus acri

Gaudet equo."

Lib. iv, 1. 156.

In the sacred writings, the wolf is every where opposed to sheep and goats, as if his cruelty and rage were reserved especially for these creatures. Thus, our Lord informs his disciples: "Behold, I send forth as sheep

you

in the midst of wolves ;" and in one of his discourses to the Pharisees, “But he that is an hireling --- seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep." The prophet Isaiah seems to lead our attention to the same circumstance, when he describes the wonderful change which is to take place in the world, under the benign influence of the gospel: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb," and near the close of his prophecy; "the wolf and the lamb shall feed together." The son of Sirach takes up the same idea, and inquires, What communion can be

a

' Ælian de Nat. Animal. lib. x, cap. 26. Plin. Hist. Natur. lib. xi, cap. 37. "The eyes of the wolf," says the last writer," shine and radiate light which is the reason he sees in the dark." z Isa. lxv, 25.

:

between a wolf and a lamb ? In Homer, the wolves are described as rushing with impetuous violence upon the lambs or the kids, making great havock, carrying away from the flocks, those which have been dispersed in the mountains by the folly of the shepherd:

2

Ὁς δε λυκοι αρνεσσιν επέχραον η ερίφουσια Il. lib. xvi, 1. 352, &c. And Virgil says, the wolf is fatal to the flocks, as showers of rain to ripened corn, and shaking winds to trees.

"Triste lupus stabulis."

3 Ecl. 1. 80.

But, it is probable, that the hostility of the wolf to the flock or the herd, arises from no particular hatred which he bears to them, but because he finds them, an easier prey than the greater part of other animals.

His strength is so great, that " he carries a sheep in his mouth, and at the same time outruns the shepherds. His bite is cruel, and always more obstinate in proportion to the smallness of the resistance; for when an animal can defend himself, he is cautious and circumspect. Although timid, he is ferocious; and so hardy and robust, that he runs and roams about whole days and nights in quest of his prey. He prefers living to dead animals ; but when he can find nothing better, he devours the most putrid carcases. Human flesh is grateful to his taste, and if stronger, he would perhaps eat no other. Wolves have been known to follow armies, to come in troops to the field of battle, where bodies are carelessly interred, to tear them up, and to devour them with an insatiable avidity; and when once accustomed to human flesh, these wolves ever after attack men; prefer the shepherd to the flock; devour women, and carry off children." a So mischievous, so dangerous are these creatures, that whole

a Buffon's Nat. Hist. vol. iv, p. 204.

countries, are sometimes obliged to arm for their destruction. These facts illustrate the force and beauty of a passage in the prophecies of Isaiah, to which reference has more than once been made, where he describes the tranquil and prosperous state of the world and the church, under the reign of Messiah: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid." That insidious creature shall be divested of its native cunning, fierceness, and cruelty, which render it an object of terror and disgust, even to the human kind, and shall associate in peace with the lamb, upon which it was accustomed to prey, as harmless, and as little to be feared, as that inoffensive creature. Or to drop the metaphor, men of fierce, cruel, and rapacious dispositions, shall, by the preaching of the gospel, and the power of divine grace, be transformed into humble, gentle, and peaceful disciples of Jesus; and shall no more vex and harass one another or injure the church of Christ, but quietly live together in the same religious society, united in the strictest bonds of peace and friendship.

The false teacher is often compared to the wolf, in the holy Scriptures; and, without straining the metaphor, several points of resemblance may be perceived. "Beware," said our Lord to the multitudes that attended his ministry, "beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing;" gentle, unassuming, and harmless in their demeanour and professions, as that inoffensive animal, in whose fleece they are clothed," but inwardly, are ravening wolves;" in their temper and secret purposes, deceitful, cruel, and rapacious; and in their conduct, under the covert of candour, moderation, and piety, lying in wait

b

b Mat. vii, 15.

C

to beguile the soul. Such were the men, concernunwary ing whom the apostle warned the elders of the church at Ephesus: For I know this, that after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." Covetous and ungodly men, under the character of public teachers, were already watching near the fold, in expectation of his departure, whose vigilance and authority had prevented the accomplishment of their designs, ready to seize the first instance of negligence on the part of the subordinate shepherds, to secure their prey.

That cruel and rapacious animal, is often selected as the appropriate symbol of tyrannical rulers, and bloody persecutors of the good and the worthy. The princes of Jerusalem, in the time of Ezekiel, are compared to "wolves ravening the prey," to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. A similar complaint was made by another prophet, long before: Her princes within her are roaring lions," fierce and ravenous, preying upon all around them, feared and hated by the whole community; "her judges," whose office it is to distribute justice with an impartial hand, to protect the weak, and to vindicate the injured, are like " evening wolves," greedy, rapacious and insatiable; they judge for reward; they grievously oppress the poor and the needy; they intimidate the good, and encourage the wicked, till the bonds of society are at last dissolved, and every place to which their influence reaches, is filled with violence. This miserable state of things the people of Israel more than once experienced, as we know from the testimony of their own prophets, in the decline of their government; and the apostles and other ministers of religion under the present dispensation, have often had

c Acts xx, 29.