ously; it is not uncommon also in secular affairs, especially in military or business combinations for the purpose of plunder. It is a selfishness that is greedy of every kind of advantage, especially from those who are trustful and unsuspecting. Sly and treacherous itself, it suspects treachery everywhere. It combines with others only in pursuing common advantage; and is as ready to profit by their downfall as by that of their prey.

some

In the Word wolves are generally mentioned as the special enemies of sheep and lambs, in which sense they represent those leaders of the Church who turn to themselves, for their own advantage, the innocent dependent affections that belong to the Lord alone.

In the prophecies of the establishment of the Lord's kingdom, it is said, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb." (Isa. xi. 6.) "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together." (Isa. lxv. 25.) By which is not meant that wolves will change their nature either naturally or spiritually; but that the presence of the Lord will be so strongly felt that there

will be no power to turn away from Him those who love Him.1

At the time of the Lord's teaching, the leaders of the Jewish Church, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, devouring widows' houses, and for a pretence making long prayers, had turned all things of their religion to their own selfish service, as has since been done in Christian Rome. The Lord, therefore, said to the apostles whom He sent forth, "Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves." (Luke x. 3.) He also likened those who taught the truth only when it conduced to their worldly prosperity, forsaking their charge or their truthful teaching at the menace of selfish leaders, to "hirelings," who flee when they see the wolf coming.

The Lord was the good Shepherd, and gave His life for the sheep. He fearlessly taught the truth which led the people away from their former leaders to the Divine Spirit in Himself. The Pharisees declared that He cast out devils by

1 A. E. 780.

Beelzebub. To them He was only a fiercer wolf than themselves. Because of this appearance of the Lord and of those who teach from Him in resisting the selfishness of wolfish men, in the prophetic blessing which Jacob pronounced upon his sons, he said of Benjamin, who represents such explanation of spiritual truth as leads to an interior knowledge of the Lord, "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil." (Gen. xlix. 27.)1

1 A. C. 6441.

OF

THE LEOPARD.

F the leopard we read in the "Bible Animals":

--

"Its color is tawny, variegated with rich black spots, and it is a fierce and voracious animal, almost equally dreaded by man and beast. . . .

"To deer and antelopes it is a terrible enemy; and, in spite of their active limbs, seldom fails in obtaining its prey. Swift as is the leopard, and wonderful its spring, it has not the enduring speed of the deer or antelope. . . . Instinctively knowing its inferiority in the race, the leopard supplies by cunning the want of enduring speed.

It conceals itself in some spot whence it can see far around without being seen, and thence surveys the country. A tree is the usual spot selected for this purpose, and the leopard, after climbing the trunk by means of its curved talons, settles itself in the fork of the branches, so that its body is hidden by the boughs, and only its head is shown between them. With such scrupulous care does it conceal itself, that none but a practised hunter can discover

it, while any one who is unaccustomed to the woods cannot see the animal even when the tree is pointed out to him.

"As soon as the leopard sees the deer feeding at a distance, he slips down the tree, and stealthily glides off in their direction. He has many difficulties to overcome, because the deer are among the most watchful of animals, and if the leopard were to approach to the windward, they would scent him while he was yet a mile away from them. If he were to show himself but for one moment in the open ground, he would be seen, and if he were but to shake a branch or snap a dry twig, he would be heard. So he is obliged to approach them against the wind, to keep himself under cover, and yet to glide so carefully along that the heavy foliage of the underwood shall not be shaken, and the dry sticks and leaves, which strew the ground, shall not be broken. He has also to escape the observation of certain birds and beasts which inhabit the woods, and which would certainly set up their alarm-cry as soon as they saw him, and so give warning to the wary deer, which can perfectly understand a cry of alarm, from whatever animal it may happen to proceed.

"Still, he proceeds steadily on his course, gliding from one covert to another, and often expending