BY THE ETTRICK SHEPHERD.

My sweet little cherub, how calm thou'rt reposing!
Thy suffering is over, thy mild eye is closing;
This world hath proved to thee a step-dame un-
friendly;

But rest thee, my babe, there's a spirit within thee.
A mystery thou art, though unblest and unshriven-
A thing of the earth, and a radiance of Heaven;
A flower of the one, thou art fading and dying—
A spark of the other, thou'rt mounting and flying,

Farewell my sweet baby, too early we sever;
I may come to thee, but to me thou shalt never.
Some angel of mercy shall lead and restore thee,
A pure living flame, to the mansions of glory.
The moralist's boast may sound prouder and prouder,
The hypocrite's prayer rise louder and louder;
But I'll trust my babe, in her trial of danger,
To the mercy of Him that was laid in the manger.

THE USE OF THE BIBLE.

MUCH will I prize God's holy book,
And day by day in it will look,
And pray for grace that it may be
The word of light and life to me;
That it may rule my heart and ways,
And be my guide through all my days,
And teach my soul sweet songs of praise
To the great Lord who gave it.

"BUT, fiercer still, 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.
Say, mortal, does he rouse at thy command,
And roar to thee, and live upon thy hand;
Dost thou for him in forests bend thy bow,
And to his gloomy den the morsel throw;
Where bent on death lie hid his tawny brood,
And, couched in dreadful ambush, pant for blood;
Or, stretch'd on broken limbs, consume the day,
In darkness wrapt, and slumber o'er their prey?
By the pale moon they take their destin'd round,
And lash their sides, and furious tear the ground."

THE form of this noble animal seems to bespeak his generosity. His figure is striking, his look confident and bold, his gait proud, and his voice terrible. His stature is not overgrown,

like that of the elephant, or rhinoceros; nor is his shape clumsy, like that of the hippopotamus, or the ox. It is compact, well proportioned, and sizeable; a perfect model of strength, joined with agility. It is muscular and bold, neither charged with fat nor nnnecessary flesh. It is sufficient but to see him in order to be assured of his superior force. His large head, surrounded with a dreadful mane, all those muscles that appear under the skin swelling with the slightest exertions, and the great breadth of his paws, with the thickness of his limbs, plainly evince that no other animal in the forest is capable of opposing him. His face is very broad, and is surrounded with very long hair, which gives it a most majestic aspect. His huge eyebrows; his round and fiery eye-balls, which, upon the least irritation, seem to glow with peculiar lustre; together with the formida ble appearance of his teeth, exhibit a picture of terrific grandeur which it is impossible to describe. The length of a large lion is between eight and nine feet; and its height about four feet and a half. The top of the head, the temples, the cheeks, the under jaw, the neck, the breast, the shoulder, the hinder part of the legs, and the belly, are furnished with long hair, whilst all the rest of the body is covered with short hair, of a tawny colour. The mane grows every year longer as the animal grows older; but the lioness is without this appendage, at

every age. It is usually supposed that the lion is not possessed of the sense of smelling in such perfection as most other animals: and it is also observed, that too strong a light greatly incommodes him, his eyes, like those of the cat, being fitted for seeing best in the dark. For this reason, he seldom appears in open day, but ravages chiefly by night. (Psalm civ. 20, 22.)

Accustomed to measure his strength with every animal he meets, the act of conquering renders the lion intrepid and terrible. In those regious where he has not experienced the dangerous arts and combinations of man, he has no apprehensions from his power. He boldly faces him, and seems to brave the force of his arms. Wounds rather serve to provoke his rage than to repress his ardour, nor is he daunted by the opposition of numbers. A single lion of the desert often attacks an entire caravan, and, after an obstinate combat, when he finds himself overpowered, instead of flying, he continues to combat, retreating, and still facing the enemy, till he dies. (Job x. 16.)

When incited by hunger, the lion boldly attacks all animals that come in his way; but as he is so formidable an enemy, and as they all seek to avoid him, he is often obliged to hide, in order to take them by surprise. For this purpose he crouches on his belly, in some thicket, or among the long grass, which is found in many parts of the forest; and in this retreat

he continues, with patient expectation, until his prey comes within a proper distance, when he springs after it, fifteen or twenty feet from him, and often seizes it at the first bound. To this feature in his character, there are many beautiful allusions in the scriptures. (Job xxxviii. 39, 40. Psalm x. 9, 10.)

The roaring of the lion is said to be so loud, that when it is heard in the night, and reechoed by the mountains, it resembles distant thunder; the whole race of animals within its sound stand apalled, regarding it as the sure prelude to destruction. (Amos iii. 8. Hosea xi. 10.) But it is when the lion summons up all his terrors for the combat that his voice is most terrible. Lashing his sides with his long tail, throwing his name in every direction, which seems to stand like bristles round his head, the skin and muscles of his face all in agitation, his huge eye-brows half covering his glaring eye balls, his monstrous teeth, his prickly tongue and his destructive claws, all exhibited to view, he roars forth his formidable and terror-inspiring-cry. (Jeremiah xxv. 30.)

After depriving his victim of life, which he generally effects by a stroke of his paw, the lion tears it in pieces, breaks all its bones, and swallows them with the rest of the body. (Psalm vii. 1, 2. Micah v. 8) Buffon assures us that the lion not only devours his prey with the utmost greediness, but that he devours a great