OF MAN AS A RAPACIOUS ANIMAL.

[From Mr Smellie's philosophy of natural history.] IN contemplating the system of animation exhibited in this planet, the only one of which we have any extensive knowledge, the mind is struck, and even confounded with the general scene of havock and devastation, which is perpetually, and every where, presented to our view., There is not perhaps a single species of animated beings. whose existence depends not, more or lefs, upon the destruction of others. Every animal, when not prematurely deprived of life by those who are hostile to it, or by accident, enjoys a temporary existence, the duration of which is longer or fhorter according to its nature, and the rank it holds in the creation; and its existence universally terminates in death and difsolution. This is an established law of nature, to which every animal is obliged to submit. But this necefsary and universal deprivation of individual life, though great, is nothing, when compared to the havock occasioned by another law, which compels animals to kill and devour different species, and sometimes their own.

In the system of nature, death and difsolution seem to be indispensible for the support and continuation of animal life.

But though almost every animal, in some measure, depends for its existence on the destruction of others, there are some species, in all the different tribes or claf, ses, which are distinguished by the appellation of carnivo rous or rapacious, because they live chiefly or entirely upon animal food. In the prosecution of this subject, therefore, we fhall, in the first place, mention some examples of animal hostility or rapacity; and, in the next place, endeavour to point out such advantages as result from this VOL. Xiii.

apparently cruel institution. On the last branch of the subject, however, the reader must not expect to have every difficulty removed, and every question solved. Like all the other parts of the economy of nature, the necessity, or even the seeming cruelty and injustice, of allowing animals to prey upon one another, is a mystery which we can never be able completely to unravel. But we are not entirely without hopes of fhewing several important utili ties which result from this almost universal scene of animal devastation.

Of all rapacious animals, man is the most universal destroyer. The destruction of carnivorous quadrupeds, birds, and insects, is, in general, limited to particular kinds. But the rapacity of man has hardly any limitation. His empire over the other animals which inhabit this globe is almost universal. He accordingly employs his power, and subdues or devours every species. Of some of the quadruped tribes, as the horse, the dog, the cat, he makes domestic slaves; and though, in this country, none of these species are used for food, he either obliges them to labour for him, or keeps them as sources of pleasure and amusement. From other quadrupeds, as the ox, the sheep, the goat, and the deer kind, he derives innumerable advantages. The ox kind, in particular, after receiving the emoluments of their labour and fertility, he rewards with death, and then feeds upon their carcases. Many other species, though not commonly used as food, are daily mafsacred in millions, for the purposes of commerce, luxury, and caprice. Myriads of quadrupeds are annually destroyed for the sake of their furs, their hides, their tusks, their odoriferous secretions, c.

Over the feathered tribes, the dominion of man is not lefs extensive. There is not a single species of the nume tous.and diversified clafs of birds, which he either does

not, or may not employ for the nourishment of his body. By his sagacity and addrefs, he has been able to domes ticate many of the more prolific and delicious species, as turkies, geese, and the various kinds of poultry. These he multiplies without end, and devours at pleasure.

Neither do the inhabitants of the waters escape the ra pacity of man. Rivers, lakes, and even the ocean itself, fe the power of his empire, and are forced to supply him, with provisions. Neither air nor water can defend against the ingenuity, the art, and the destructive industry of the human species; man may be said even to have domesti cated some fishes. In artificial ponds, he feeds and rears earp, tench, perch, trout, and other species; and with them. occasionally furnishes his table.

It might have been expected, that insects and reptiles, some of which have a most disgusting aspect, would not have excited the human appetite. But we learn, from experience, that, in every region of the earth, many insects which inhabit both the earth and the waters, are esteemed: as delicate articles of luxury. Even the viper, though its venom be deleterious, escapes not the all devouring jaws of man.

Thus, man holds, and too often exercises, a tyrannical dominion over the whole of the brute creation; not because he is the strongest of all animals, but because his intellect, though of a similar nature, is vastly superior to that of the most sagacious of the less favoured tribes. He reigns over the other animals, because, like them, he is not only endowed with sentiment, but because the powers of his mind are more extensive. He overcomes force by ingenuity, and swiftnefs by art and persevering industry. But the empire of man over the brute creation is not absolute. Some species elude his power by the rapidity of their flight, by the swiftnefs of their course, by the obscurity of their re

Others

treats, and by the element in which they live. escape him by the minutenefs of their bodies; and, instead of acknowledging their sovereign, others boldly attack him with open hostility. He is also insulted and injured by the stings of insects, and by the poisonous bites of serpents. In other respects, man's empire, though comparatively great, is very much limited. He has no influence on the universe, on the motions and affections of the heavenly bodies, or on the revolutions of the globe which he inhabits. Neither has he a general dominion over animals, vegetables, or minerals. His power reaches not species, but is confined to individuals. Every order of being moves on in its course, perishes, or is renewed by the irresistible power of nature. Even man himself, hurried along by the torrent of time and nature, cannot prolong his existence. He is obliged to submit to the uni versal law; and, like all other organized beings, he is born, grows to maturity, and dies.

Though man has been able to subdue the animal creation, by the superior power of his mind, his empire, like all other empires, could not be firmly established previous to the institution of pretty numerous societies. Almost the whole of his power is derived from society. It matures his reason, gives exertion to his genius, and unites his forces. Before the formation of large societies, man was perhaps the most helpless and least formidable of all animals. Naked and destitute of arms, to him the earth was only an immense desert, peopled with strong and rapacious monsters, by whom he was often devoured. Even Long after this period, history informs us, that the first neroes were destroyers of wild beasts. But after the human species had multiplied, and spread over the earth; and when, by means of society and the arts, man was enabled to conquer a considerable part of the globe, he for

ced the wild beasts gradually to retire to the deserts. He cleared the earth of those gigantic animals, who, perhaps, now no longer exist, but whose enormous bones are still found in different regions, and are preserved in the cabinets of the curious. He reduced the numbers of the voracious and obnoxious species. He opposed the power and dexterity of one animal to those of another. Some he subdued by addrefs, and others by force. In this manner, he, in the process of time, acquired to himself perfect security, and established an empire which has no other limits than inaccefsible solitudes, burning sands, frozen mountains, or obscure caverns, which are occupied as retreats by a few species of ferocious animals.

LITERARY OLLA BY ASCANIUS TRIMONTANUS. No. I. For the Bee.

Extract of a letter from Sir J. F. 1787.

"TO-DAY when I went to look for the papers you desired, I could not find them; though I looked not only in every place where they should have been, but also in every place where they should not have been; and I now almost totally despair of ever finding them.

"As for personal exertions, they are not now to be expected from me; for, on a due consideration of my real case, I find that I am really dead, partly by the effects of old age, which have been exaggerated by too much sensibility. But as it is no unusual thing to publish a man's writings after he is dead; and that you exprefs a desire to see poems formerly composed by me, I will here give you one that was made when I was really alive. And as I believe I remember it yet, and that we dead folks have little to do, I will here transcribe it; as I can retrace is