historical fact, that while Regulus led his army along the banks of the river Bagrada, in Africa, an enormous serpent disputed his passage across. We are assured by Pliny, who says that he himself saw the skin, that it was a hundred and twenty feet long. It had destroyed many of the army, till at last the battering engines were brought out against it; and these, assailing it at a distance, effected its destruction. Its spoils were carried to Rome, and lodged in the Capitol, and the general was decreed an ovation for the deed. In the present day, the Great Liboya of Surinam, which is said to be the largest species in existence, seldom exceeds thirty-six. feet. Legaut, however, says, he saw one in Java that was fifty feet long.

The skeleton of the serpent class exhibits the greatest possible state of simplicity to which a vertebrated animal can be reduced; for it consists merely of a lengthened spinal column, with a head but little developed, and a series of ribs. The vertebræ are very numerous, and are all united by ball-and-socket joints, which give peculiar flexibility to the animal; and there are other admirable provisions, noticed by naturalists, in the ribs, and in the direction of the processes, to insure that flexibility, and to admit of the body assuming every degree and variety of curvature.

*

..

They

The marks by which this species is distinguished from the rest of the animated creation, are thus given by the author from whom I have previously quoted. have the length and the suppleness of the eel, but want fins to swim with; they have the scaly covering and pointed tail of the lizard, but they want legs to walk with; they have the crawling motion of the worm, but, unlike that animal, they have lungs to breathe with." Their most formidable weapon of offence is their poisonous teeth, which are thus described by Dr. Roget. "The fangs of serpents are furnished, like the stings of nettles, with receptacles at their base for a poisonous liquor, which is squeezed out by the pressure of the tooth, at

* Roget's Bridgewater Treatise, vol. i. p. 45.

the moment it inflicts the wound, and conducted along a canal, opening near the extremity of the tooth. Each fang is lodged in a strong bony socket, and is, by the intervention of a connecting bone, pressed forward whenever the jaw is opened sufficiently wide, and the fang is thus made to assume an erect position. "The tube through which the poison flows, is formed by the folding in of the edges of a deep longitudinal groove, extending along the greater part of the tooth, an interval being left between these edges, both at the base and extremity of the fang, by which means there remain apertures at both ends for the passage of the fluid poison."*

This animal, although placed at the bottom of the scale of vertebrated existences, on account of the simplicity of its organization, is yet too artificially constructed to render it possible for the most careless observer to overlook the proofs which it affords of exquisite skill in the Creator. The intention of the Divine Mind in calling an animal into existence, at once so formidable and so malignant, for it is fierce and irritable, is a very different and more recondite question. Goldsmith says of serpents, that "Nature seems to have placed them as sentinels, to deter mankind from spreading too widely, and from seeking new abodes, till they have cultivated those at home." Paley takes a more extended view of the subject, and, after confessing the difficulty which surrounds it, reasons as follows. From the confessed and felt imperfection of our knowledge, we ought to presume, that there may be consequences of this economy which are hidden from us. From the benevolence which pervades the general designs of Nature, we ought also to presume, that these consequences, if they could enter into our calculation, would turn the balance on the favorable side. Both these, I contend to be reasonable presumptions :-not reasonable presumptions, if these two cases were the only cases which Nature presented to our observation ;-but reasonable presumptions under the reflection, that the cases in question are combined with a

** Roget's Bridgewater Treatise, vol. ii. pp. 163, 164.

multitude of intentions all proceeding from the same Author, and all, except these, directed to ends of undisputed utility." Paley adds some considerations which, if they do not entirely vindicate the economy of Providence, at least greatly abate the difficulty attached to it. These are briefly, 1st, That, the animal itself being regarded, the provision is good. It is a formidable means of defence from its enemies, and sometimes of subduing its prey. 2d, The poisonous bite is seldom fatal. 3d, While only a few species possess the venomous property, that property guards the whole tribe. There are only thirtytwo tribes poisonous out of two hundred and eighteen described by Linnæus. 4th, The nature of serpents, as that of other existences, is appropriated to peculiar situations, which are, as it were, their own; and, when man or other animals encroach on these, they do it at their peril."+

EIGHTH WEEK-SUNDAY,

'THE OLD SERPENT."

THE serpent, whose peculiarities of structure and habit we yesterday considered, was employed, soon after the creation of man, as an instrument in that awful transaction, by which "sin entered into the world, and death by sin."

From the intimations given in different parts of the Sacred Volume, we discover that there are various races of intelligent beings, not merely existing in the universe, but, in some way, not very clearly explained, connected with our own earth, and interested in human affairs.

* With the question of venomous bites, Paley combines that of animals preying upon each other. These, therefore, are also included in his exception.

† Nat. Theol. vol. ii. chap. 26.

This is only what might have been suggested as probable by a sound philosophy, independent of Revelation. Up to man, we behold one unbroken chain of existence, rising from the lowest state of organic life to the highest, by links, beautiful in their combinations, and wonderful in their variety and extent. But at man, this astonishing The whole of these

fabric seems suddenly to stop short. links appear to end in him; or, at all events, the continuation of the chain is no longer the object of our senses. When we consider the nature of man, it seems to be incredible that he should be the chief work of the Eternal; that a being so imperfect, so inconsistent, and so depraved, should crown the admirable structure of creation; that life should exist in such profusion, and in such amazing diversity of forms and powers, beneath him, and that the glorious plan, commenced on so magnificent a scale, should have been suddenly broken off, just as the threshold of reason had begun to be entered. There is, undoubtedly, an infinite space between man and his Creator, in which intelligent beings might exist; and the amazing scheme might be carried upward in varieties which could never be exhausted, and in a progression which could never be completed. Are we to conclude, then, that this space is left altogether unoccupied? The analogy of Nature forbids the supposition, while Revelation confirms the argument from analogy, and assures us that the fact is otherwise.

There is, then, a world of intelligences which is not the object of our senses. The chain is not broken off, nor concentrated in man; it only vanishes from our imperfect vision. Man is the link which connects the rational with the irrational creation, but the faculties bestowed upon him do not enable him to trace the chain upward. Were he but to possess a sixth sense, a scene might be opened to him, similar to that which burst upon the assisted eye of the prophet's servant, when he saw the whole mountain filled with living beings, invisible to his natural sight.

The analogy of Nature seems, further, to render probable, that there may exist, in this unseen world, much

moral degradation in connexion with high intellectual attainments. This, at least, is the case among men. Mental endowments, so far from insuring moral rectitude, seem frequently only to bestow greater force and malignity on evil inclinations. It appears hard to believe that this perversity should be extended to orders of superior beings, but scarcely harder than to believe that sin should exist at all in the universe of a holy God. Undoubtedly, among the rational creation of mortals, sin has not only gained admittance, but a triumph; and it is merely following up this analogy, to conceive that the same perversity may be found in higher races. Now, the Divine Record also confirms this analogy. It assures us, that moral evil exists in the spiritual world, and that a rebel empire of wickedness is permitted by the Creator, for his own wise but inscrutable purposes, to be organized under a prince of stupendous power, and insatiable_malignity.* dominion of this tremendous being has been extended over man, and his agency is disastrously connected with the history of our species.

The

The creation of our first parents in the full perfection of their moral and intellectual powers, and the awful transaction, by which a fatal revolution took place in the character and history of the human race, are recorded in the commencement of the Sacred Volume, and are too familiar to every mind, to require a particular description. Indeed, the extreme conciseness of the Revealed Word, with regard to this, as well as to other matters which strongly excite human curiosity, but are not necessary for spiritual edification, prevents the possibility of entering into minute details, without the danger of "darkening counsel by words without knowledge." It is, however, revealed, that when the Creator made to man the grant of vegetable food, He reserved from that grant, one fruittree, which was to constitute a standing memorial of man's dependence, and of the Divine bounty; thus cal

[It is held by some Christians that this 'prince' is a personification of the principle and power of that moral evil, which unquestionably exists to so great extent and virulent degree among men.—Âм. ED.]