Let infant songsters warble, When Zion's countless millions, When Judgment's lightnings ravage, The matchless love of Jesus, Shall have their loudest praise. Though whirlwinds toss the mountains, B. PRICE. A BEAR ROBBED OF HER WHELPS. IN the Sacred Writings this animal is called the grumbler, or growler, from his remarkable and well-known growling, especially when hungry or enraged. Of the bear there are three kinds known; the white, the black, and the brown. Of the two former the Scriptures do not speak; the latter kind being the only one known in the Eastern regions. The brown bear, says Buffon, is not only savage, but solitary; he takes refuge in the most unfrequented parts, and in the most gloomy recesses of the forest, in some cavern that has been hollowed by time, or in the hollow of some old enormous tree. The disposition of this animal is most surly and rapacious, and his mischievousness has passed into a proverb. His appearance corresponds with his temper: his coat is rugged, his limbs strong and thick, and his countenance, covered with a dark and sullen scowl, indicates the settled moroseness of his disposition. This formidable enemy, the sacred writers frequently associate with the king of the forest, as being equally dangerous and destructive to man. Thus, Amos, setting before his incorrigible countrymen the succession of calamities which, under the just judgment of God, was about to befall them, declares that the removal of one, would but leave another, equally grievous to them: "Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him," Amos v. 18, 19. And Solomon, who had closely studied the character of the several individuals of the animal kingdom, compares an unprincipled and wicked ruler to these creatures : "As a roaring lion and a ranging bear, The she bear is said to be even more fierce and terrible than the male, especially after she has cubbed. So strong is her attachment to her young, and so extreme the jealousy with which she protects them, that no stranger, whether man or beast is suffered to intrude on her solitude with impunity. This circumstance finely illustrates the beautiful imagery of the prophet, employed to delineate the amazing change which the Gospel of Christ will be the instrument of effecting in the human heart, and the delightful harmony which will follow in its train: "And the cow and the bear shall feed; Their young ones shall lie down together." ISA. xi 7. To the fury of the female bear when she happens to be robbed of her young, there are several striking allusions in Scripture. Those persons who have witnessed her under such circumstances, describe her rage to be most violent and frantic, and only to be diverted from the object of her vengeance with the loss of her life. How terrible, then, was the threatening of the incensed JEHOVAH, in consequence of the numerous and aggravated iniquities of the kingdom of Israel,as uttered by the prophet Hosea "I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps, And will rend the caul of their heart." CH. xiii. 8. The execution of this terrible denunciation, in the invasion of the land by the Assyrian armies, and the utter subversion of the kingdom, is well-known to every reader of the Scriptures. TIGERS are sometimes brought to this country for shows. They are taken when young, in the following manner. A hunter discovers a den where there are young tigers, and waits till the mother is gone. He then goes to the den, and takes away the little tigers, of which there are generally three or four. They are beautiful little animals, as soft as kittens. Pretty soon the old tigress comes back, and discovers that her young ones are gone. She follows the track of the hunter, and pursues him swiftly, her mouth open, her eyes flashing, and her claws ready and eager to tear in pieces the man who has robbed her of her little ones. The hunter knowing that he will be pursued, flies rapidly through the thicket. Soon he hears the bounding tigress behind him. He looks back, and sees her coming. He now drops one of the young ones, and continues his flight. The tigress soon discovers her young one, takes it up in her mouth, and hurries back with it. Having deposited it in some safe place, she again pursues the hunter. He soon sees her coming again, and drops another of the young tigers. This is taken up, and carried to the spot where the other is placed. Before the tigress can again approach the hunter, he has probably arrived at some village, or reached a boat, or in some other way placed himself out of danger; thus having secured one or more of the little tigers. Peter Parley. 356 |