which the Saviour recommended to his followers; and his apostle wished the Romans to obtain: "I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil."a

The simplicity of the dove, when separated from the wisdom of the serpent, indicates in Scripture a blameable defect; and in the same light it is viewed by the natural historian. So inattentive is that bird to the snares which the fowler with little precaution spreads for her destruction; so easily is she entangled and taken,that her simplicity became proverbial among the ancients. Unsuspicious of danger, she approaches the decoy, to gaze upon the new and curious object, and is suddenly taken in the snare; and in a state of captivity she submits to become a decoy in her turn; and with her voice and gestures allures other doves, heedless and foolish as herself, within the grasp of their common enemy. This ignoble character, the prophet imputed to Ephraim, or the ten tribes: He "is like a silly," rather a simple " dove without heart.”b He was so stupid, or so heedless, that he took no precau tions against approaching dangers, but threw himself into the power of his enemies.

She

Her conjugal chastity has been celebrated by every wris ter, who has described or alluded to her character. admits but of one mate; she never forsakes him till death put an end to their union; and never abandons of her own accord, the nest which their united labour has provided." Elian, and other ancient writers affirm, that the turtle and the wood pigeon punish adultery with death.

a Rom. xvi, 19.

c Bochart. Hieroz. lib. i, p. 19-20.

b Hos. vii, 11.

The

d De Nat. Animal. lib. iii, cap. 44. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. x, cap. 52.

black pigeon, when her mate dies, obstinately rejects the embraces of another, and continues in a widowed state for life. Hence, among the Egyptians, a black pigeon was the symbol of a widow who declined to enter again into the marriage relation. This fact was so well known, or at least so generally admitted among the ancients, that Tertullian endeavours to establish the doctrine of monogamy by the example of that bird. These facts have been transferred by later authors to the widowed turtle ; which, deaf to the solicitations of another mate, continues in mournful strains to deplore her loss, till death put a period to her sorrows. These facts unfold the true rea son, that the church is by Solomon so frequently compared to the dove. Our Lord addresses her in these tender and affecting terms: "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret shelvings of the inaccessible precipice, let me hear thy voice-let me see thy face; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." And in his description of her holy beauties, we find this clause; "My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her." The image implies, that the church is the only object of the Saviour's love; and he, on the other hand, the sole delight of her soul. She acknowledges no other Saviour; and he has but one spouse, whom he has betrothed unto himself for ever, in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.h

No creature discovers greater timidity than the dove: • Bochart. Hieroz. lib. i, cap. 4, p. 23. 8 Song ii, 14; v, 2; vi, 8. Ibid. p. 54.

h Hos. ii, 19. stor

on the least noise, she takes the alarm, and flies with the utmost trepidation. Such is the description of the Ro man poet :

i

"Terretur minimo pennæ stridore columba," Nor can Valerius Flaccus describe the timidity of a vir gin by a more appropriate figure:

"Ecce! autem pavidæ virgo de more columbæ," &c. J

In the prophecies of Hosea, the haste and trepidation of Israel, are compared to the trembling flight of a dove from the snare of the fowler: "They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord.”*

Doves of every species were presented on the tables of the Jews, and offered, by the law of Moses, at the altar of Jehovah. These sacrificial oblations were of various kinds; the grateful Israelite was permitted to bring a pair of turtle doves or young pigeons, as a free will offering to the Lord; but when he had neglected to reprove his brother, who had in his presence blasphemed the name of God; or had himself taken a rash oath, or had polluted himself by touching some unclean thing, he was commanded to bring as a trespass offering two turtle doves, or two young pigeons, the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering. The same kind of oblations were required in a variety of other cases, which are marked with sufficient clearness and precision. In these sacrifices, Jehovah preferred the turtle dove and the pigeon, to all other birds, on account of their purity, chastity, simplicity, and other amiable dispositions which they discovered. The law of Moses required only young pigeons

i Ovid. Trist. lib. i, eleg. 1. * Hosea xi, 11.

¿ Quoted by Bochart, lib. i, p. 24.

' Lev. xii, 6; xiv, 22; xv, 13, &c.

to be offered in sacrifice, for the oblations of God were to be of the best; and these creatures become tough and unsavoury when they grow old; but the full grown turtle continues tender and good. But they were to be offered in sacrifice only by those persons that had nothing more valuable to give; for the law runs in these terms: "And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath committed, two turtle doves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord." It was therefore the poverty of the virgin mother of our Lord, which compelled her, when the days of her purification were accomplished, to offer in sacrifice a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons; and it was a striking proof of the amazing condescension of Christ, that he submitted to be born of a woman, who had nothing more valuable to present on the altar of his Father, even for the gift of the promised Messiah. Such humble offerings were in use, long before the ceremonial law was given from Sinai; for, when Abraham was received into covenant with God, he offered in sacrifice by the divine command, a turtle dove and a young pigeon. These, together with the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram, all of three years old, which he immolated at the same time, comprehended the diffe rent kinds of sacrifices which were afterwards appointed in the wilderness. And they were perhaps required on this occasion, to furnish the patriarch with a complete view of those sacrificial oblations, by which the faith of old testament Christians was, in every age of that shadowy dispensation, to be conducted to the atoning blood

of Messiah.

The dove was selected by Jehovah, to be the messen

m Lev. v, 7.

ger of peace to Noah and his family. Bochart" is of opinion, that the patriarch made choice of her, after the raven had disappointed his hopes, to bring him intelligence how far the waters of the deluge had subsided, on account of the docility and kindness of her disposition; because she is able to continue long on the wing, and visit places very remote; and because, how wide soever the range of her flight, she is naturally disposed to return to her nest, or the place of her abode. But it is more probable, that he was directed to the choice of this amiable and beautiful bird, by the secret influence of Jehovah, who had appointed her the herald of peace and restora tion to a ruined world. The first time she was sent out, she returned after a short excursion; because the waters still covered the face of the earth, and she could find no rest for the sole of her foot. She returned the second time, after pursuing her flight to a much greater distance, for she did not come back till the evening, when she returned with an olive leaf in her mouth, which Noah justly considered as a sure proof that the waters had subsided. The tops of the highest mountains were seen be fore he sent out the raven; but now, the hills, on the declivities of which the olive loves to grow, began to rise above the waters, and indicate to the imprisoned patriarch and his numerous charge, that the face of the ground would ere long be dry, and in a condition to be re-occupied; while the olive leaf instructed him, that the fruitbearing trees were not all destroyed, and food might still be found for himself and his family. She continued her excursion till the evening, that he might know she had now found rest for the sole of her foot on the trees of the

» Hieroz. lib. i, cap. 5, p. 27, 28.