on the barren grounds; and the moist pastures in the valleys of the coasts and islands* of the above seas, afford them sufficient food. Soon after their arrival, the females drop their young. They commence their return to the south in September, and reach the vicinity of the woods towards the end of October. In the woods, they feed on lichens which hang from the trees, and on the long grass of the swamps. The males do not usually go so far north as the females. Columns, consisting of eight or ten thousand of these caribous, so numerous are they in North America, may be seen annually passing from north to south in the spring, infested and attacked in their progress by numbers of wolves, foxes, and other predaceous quadrupeds, which attack and devour the stragglers.

"The prong-horned antelope,† as well as the rein-deer, appears to go northward in the summer, and return to the south in winter.

"Dr. Richardson remarks to me in a letter :-The musk-ox and rein-deer feed chiefly on lichens, and therefore frequent the barren lands and primitive rocks, which are clothed with these plants. They resort, in winter, when the snow is deep, to the skirts of the woods, and feed on the lichens which hang from the trees; but, on every favorable change of weather, they return to the barren grounds. In summer, they migrate to the moist pastures on the seacoast, and eat grass; because the lichens on the barren lands are then parched by the drought, and too hard to be eaten. The young grass is, I suppose, better fitted for the fawns, which are dropt about the time the deer reach the coast.' In all this, we see the hand of Providence, directing them to those places where the necessary sustenance may be had."

Mr. Kirby might have added to this latter observation, another, which seems to be not less striking, and which we have already noticed, in reference to some of the wing

* There seems to be a trifling inaccuracy here. In the month of June, the ice has ceased to bridge the northern seas; and the males cannot reach the islands if they do not arrive sooner than this period.-H. D. † Antelope furcata.

ed tribes; that the chief reason why the rein-deer is taught to seek the north for the birthplace of its young, is, that there the latter are comparatively unmolested by those ferocious beasts of prey, which inhabit the more southerly regions, and which would assuredly greatly diminish their numbers, if they did not entirely exterminate the race, were the fawns to reside in the neighborhood of these hordes of enemies, before they had acquired sufficient swiftness and strength to elude pursuit. This provision of Providence is truly wonderful. At the time appointed for the dropping of their young, the food of the rein-deer, as well as of the musk-ox, is to be found in abundance, at a distance from the chief haunts of their natural enemies; and thus these peaceful tribes are led, by a kind of double instinct, to the preservation of their species, both as regards its maintenance and reproduc

tion.

In speaking of the migrations of the rein-deer, I must not omit to mention a striking peculiarity, which belongs to this as well as some other of the more intelligent species of animals: their motions appear to be directed by leaders of their own species, whom they implicitly obey, and who head their march. As they are gregarious animals, such an instinct must be exceedingly useful to them, in the unfrequented wildernesses through which they travel. They will thus profit by the experience of their captain, who is always probably one of the oldest and most experienced of the herd; for, that many of the inferior animals do learn by experience, and thus show a sagacity above mere instinct, it is impossible to doubt. The same subjection to leaders, in their movements, is observable in the elephant. The Hottentots told Mr. Pringle, that, in the dense thorny forests, the great_bull elephants always march in the van, bursting through the jungle, treading down the prickly brushwood, and breaking off with their trunks the larger branches that obstruct their passage, while the females and younger part follow them in single file.

That the younger or more feeble should voluntarily subject themselves to the guidance of the stronger, indi

I.

19

VII.

cates a fine instinct; but it is not so surprising in the case of the elephant, where it would appear that all the largest males of the herd take the precedence, as it is in the instance of the rein-deer, who seem to select a single leader, and obey him, as if he were invested with lawful authority. By what principle, whether of instinct or of something approaching nearer to the faculty of reason, this sagacious race look up, with common consent, to one individual of the herd, it seems difficult to determine; but, however this may be, it does not less display the paternal care of the Creator. Something approaching to the same habit is found in other gregarious animals. The Mongalian antelopes have their leader, whom they follow in regular files. The old ram of the flock, the bull among the kine, the dunghill cock who has proved his superior prowess and courage, each, in its own department, exercises a sway,-approaching, in the last mentioned, to a species of petty despotism, which indicates an inferior degree of the same principle. Indeed, were we better acquainted with the habits of gregarious animals, the remarkable property of subjection to a superior, would probably be found to be far more extended, than may at first sight appear; for wherever living beings congregate and act in concert, some presiding intellect, if not absolutely necessary, is yet of great utility; and it is a new instance of the wisdom and benevolence of the Creator, that, where He has been pleased to bestow the social instinct, He should also have so generally bestowed a quality, by which the peace and welfare of the respective communities are essentially promoted; and that, among the various tribes of lower animals, from the mighty elephant to the tiny bee, the most wonderful of them all, the important principle of subordination should be so widely diffused.

EIGHTH WEEK-FRIDAY.

CHRISTMAS-DAY.

THIS day is usually consecrated to the remembrance or solemn celebration of our blessed Lord's nativity. Though not disposed to look with favor on the pompous ceremonials with which it is greeted by some branches of the church, even were it clearly proved to be the true anniversary, we yet deem it a profitable and pleasing duty to turn our thoughts this morning to the great event that occurred at Bethlehem, and that was destined to usher in the dawn of our glorious day.

Who, then, was He that was born at Bethlehem, and whose birth was attended by every circumstance of poverty and meanness? The humble mother, the lowly stable, the manger, the poorness and obscurity of the place, the absence of all public rejoicing, declared it to be no earthly prince that was born, the joy of his sceptered father, and the hope of nations; but only an infant who might, in future years, have nowhere to lay his head, and might live and die unknown. Yet the bursting of heaven's gates at the midnight hour; the glad announcement to the awe-struck shepherds; and the enraptured song of the heavenly host singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men;" the miraculous star, and the wise men of the East bringing costly gifts, and offering them in lowly reverence,proclaimed the advent of that celestial King who was to rule in Zion, even of the beloved Son of God, in whom He was well pleased. Humble was the guise in which the Messiah appeared, and unheeded by a sinful world the hour of His birth; but a few rays of His glory were permitted thus early to shine forth, and declare to a chosen band the secret of His greatness. The tongue of man was silent on that most joyful of all occasions; but

angel harps were visibly struck to celebrate the new-born Saviour of Mankind.

And what was the life, on earth, of Him who thus came in glory and humiliation? It was that of a Deliverer of man. But did He overturn the thrones of blaspheming tyranny, and hurl to the dust, with an arm of physical power, the vain pride of mortals? Did He trample down the haughty and the great, and exalt the humble poor ? Did He take signal vengeance upon the crafty and bloodstained ministers of idolatry, and vindicate the majesty of Jehovah by the visible overthrow of their hideous altars and shrines? No; though the greatest of Deliverers, He did none of these things. He was the meekest of the sons of men. He went about continually doing good; and, wherever He went, He scattered the heavenly light of truth. Along with the benevolence and the wisdom, He displayed also the power of God. He proclaimed to all that would come unto Him, the forgiveness of sins; and He healed the most loathsome and fatal bodily diseases, in token of His power to heal the great maladies of the soul. It was also His office "to bring life and immortality to light;" and to prove, by the clearest evidence, that resurrection which He taught, He raised the corpse, already mouldering in its decay, and gave back the lost and the lamented to their weeping friends. He poured on the sightless eyeball the light of day, and on the longbenighted soul the cheering radiance of mercy and truth. Every word and action showed His love to man, and was fraught with the sublimest meaning.

Such was the life of the Redeemer, as it is recorded by His chosen followers,-a life which, though sketched, as it were, in outline, yet carries upon it the significant stamp of Divinity. A celebrated infidel,* apparently overpowered, for a moment, by the moral beauty and harmony of the New Testament, in one of his works declares that "the inventor of the Gospel would be a more astonishing character than the Hero." A more striking sentiment could scarcely have proceeded from the lips

* Rousseau.