membered, and mangled for the convenience of the vulture."" But when men have killed their prey," said the pupil," why do they not eat it? When the wolf has killed a sheep, he suffers not the vulture to touch it till he has satisfied himself. Is not man another kind of wolf?"-" Man," said the mother, "is the only beast who kills that which he does not devour, and this quality makes him so much a benefactor to our species.' "If men kill our prey, and lay it in our way," said the young one," what need shall we have of labouring for ourselves?"-" Because man will sometimes," replied the mother, "remain for a long time quiet in his den. The old vultures will tell you when you are to watch his motions. When you see men in great numbers moving close together, like a flight of storks, you may conclude that they are hunting, and that you will soon revel in human blood.". "But still," said the "I would gladly young one, know the reason of this mutual slaughter. I could never kill what I could not eat."-" My child," said the mother, "this is a question which I cannot answer, though I am reckoned the most subtle bird of the mountain. When I was young, I used frequently to visit the ayry of an old vulture, who dwelt upon the Carpathian rocks; he had made many observations; he knew the places that afforded prey round his habitation, as far in every direction as the strongest wing can fly between the rising and setting of the summer sun; he had fed year after year on the entrails of men. His opinion was, that men had only the appearance of animal life, being really vegetables with a power of motion; and that as the boughs of an oak are dashed together by the storm, that swine may fatten upon the fallen acorns, so men are, by some unaccountable power, driven one against another, till they lose their motion, that vultures may be fed. Others think they have observed something of contrivance and policy among these mischievous beings; and those that hover more closely round them, pretend, that there is, in every herd, one that gives directions to the rest, and seems to be more eminently delighted with a wide carnage. What it is that entitles him to such pre-eminence we know not; he is seldom the biggest or the swiftest, but he shows, by his eagerness and diligence, that he is, more than any of the others, a friend to the vultures.’ END OF VOL. XXVII. G. Woodfall, Printer, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London. THE BRITISH ESSAYISTS; WITH PREFACES, HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, BY A. CHALMERS, F.S. A. VOL. XXVIII. LONDON: PRINTED FOR C. AND J. RIVINGTON; G. AND W. NICOL; T. EGERTON; A. STRAHAN; J. SCATCHERD; J. CUTHELL; J. NUNN; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME AND CO.; T. CADELL; J. AND W. T. CLARKE; J. CARPENTER AND SON; OTRIDGE AND RACKHAM; S. BAGSTER; J. AND A. ARCH; J. RICHARDSON; J. M. RICHARDSON; J. BOOKER; R. SCHOLEY; HATCHARD AND SON; ·J. MAWMAN; BALDWIN, CRADOCK AND JOY; C. CHAPPLE; R. H. EVANS; R. S. KIRBY; KINGSBURY, PARBURY AND ALLEN; G. AND W. B. WHITTAKER; SHERWOOD, JONES AND CO.; R. PHENEY; J. EBERS; HARDING, MAVOR AND LEPARD; A. K. NEWMAN AND CO.; SUTTABY, EVANCE AND FOX; T. TEGG; OGLE, DUNCAN AND CO.; J. F. SETCHELL; R. SAUNDERS; J. BOHN ; RODWELL AND MARTIN; W. MASON; SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL; BLACK AND YOUNGS; G. COWIE AND CO.; HURST, ROBINSON AND CO.; S. HIGHLEY; J. LOWE; G. MACKIE; J. BUMPUS; C. ARNOULD; SMITH AND ELDER; AND C. TAYLOR: WILSON AND SONS, YORK: A. CONSTABLE AND CO.; A. BLACK; J. FAIRBAIRN; OLIVER AND BOYD; AND STIRLING AND SLADE, EDINBURGH: AND BRODIE AND DOWDING, SALISBURY. |