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 formidable 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 very short hair, of a tawny color. The mane grows every year longer as the animal grows oldre; 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. See Psalm civ. 20, 22.

In

Accustomed to measure his strength with every animal he meets, the act of conquering renders the lion intrepid and terrible. those regions 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 ardor, 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. To this trait in his character Job alludes, when he hastily said to the Almighty, 'Thou huntest me as a fierce lion,' ch. x. 16. We hence see, also, the propriety with which Hushai describes the valiant among the troops of Absalom, as possessing the 'heart of a lion,' 2 Sam. xvii. 10.

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.-'Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion, or fill the appetite of the young lions, when they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?' Job xxxviii. 39, 40. David

pourtraying the character of the oppressor and extortioner, says, He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor-he croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones,' Psalm x. 9, 10. How forcibly does this language depict the breathless anxiety, with which the wicked wait the accomplishment of their iniquitous purposes!

The roaring of the lion is said to be so loud, that when it is heard in the night, and re-echoed by the mountains, it resembles distant thunder: the whole race of animals within its sound stand appalled, regarding it as the sure prelude to destruction. Hence the prophet says, "The lion has roared, who will not fear? The LORD GOD has spoken, who can but prophesy?' Amos iii. 8. So also Hosea He shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west,' ch. 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 mane 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. This furnishes the sacred writers with several beautiful images. Jeremiah foretels the terrible visitations of the divine anger, in language derived from this appalling circumstance: The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation ; he shall mightily roar apon his habitation,' ch. 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. To these circumstances there are frequent allusions in the scripture. Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me, lest he tear my soul like a lion, reuding it in pieces, where there is none to deliver, Ps. vii. 1, 2. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through. both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver,' Mic. v. 8. Nor is his voracity left unnoticed. Buffon assures us that the lion not only devours his prey with the utmost greediness, but that he devours a great deal at a time, and generally fills himself for two or three days to come. Hence, David compares his enemies to a lion that is greedy of his prey,' (Ps. xvii. 12,) and JEHOVAH, threatening Israel for its transgressions, declares that he will devour them like a lion,' Hos. xiii. 8. The prophet Nahum describes, with equal energy and elegance, the care with which the lion provides for its mate and young ones: Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid? The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with

prey, and his dens with ravin,' ch. ii. 11, 12. Buffon, following Pliny, Eustathius, and other ancient naturalists, informs us, that while young and active, the lion subsists by hunting, and seldom quits the deserts or the forests, where he finds plenty of wild animals; but when he grows old, heavy, and less fit for the exercise of hunting, he approaches frequented places, and becomes more dangerous to man and the domestic animals. It has, indeed, been remarked, that when he sees men and animals together, he attacks the latter, and never the former, unless any man strike him; for in this case he is wonderfully alert in distinguishing the person who hurts him, and he instantly quits his prey to take vengeance on the offender.

These traits in his character explain the reason that God so often threatens to be as a lion to his ancient people. He discerns at once who it is that transgresses his law, and is prompt in taking vengeance on the sinner. They also throw light on the passage in Hosea: 'For I will be unto Ephraim as a great lion,' that leaves the forest and approaches the habitations of men, and is therefore more to be dreaded; and to the house of Judah as a young lion,' that hunts his prey in the desert or the forest, and is therefore less to be feared, ch. v. 14. How exactly this corresponds with historical fact, is well known to every careful reader of the scriptures; for Ephraim, or the ten tribes, were driven away from their own land into a distant region, where they were doomed to suffer a protracted exile; while Judah continued to hold his possessions a hundred and thirty-three years longer, and when carried into captivity at the end of that period, by the king of Babylon, it was only for the short term of seventy years, till the land had enjoyed her sabbaths.

The lion, like most other animals of the cat kind, is kept off by large fires, which the inhabitants of Africa and Asia, where he is chiefly found, light during the night to preserve their flocks and herds. But these, even added to the barking of the dogs, and the continued shoutings of the shepherds, are sometimes found insufficient to deter his approach. He has been known to outbrave all the dangers which could be presented to him under such circumstances, and boldly leaping into the midst of the fold, to carry off a sheep or a goat. How beautifully does the prophet allude to this, when he promises the Divine interposition on behalf of God's ancient people: For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, like as the lion and the young roaring lion on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof,' Isaiah xxxi. 4.

The lion is made the symbol of our exalted Redeemer. He was a lamb in his sufferings and death, but he became the lion of the tribe of Judah,' when he burst asunder the bands of death, forced open the grave's devouring mouth, and returned to his father a