, 1875-06-05
Our Dumb Relations.

1t was said of St Francis Assiss
that he had attained through the fer
vur of his love, the secret of that dee
amity with God and his creation, whicl
in the language of inspiration, makes
nan to be in league with the stone
of the field, and the beasts of the felC
to be at peace with him. The worlt
has never been without tender soul
with whom the golden rule has
broader application than its lette
might seem TO warrant. The ancien
Eastern seers recognized the rights o
the brute creation, and regarded the
unnecessary taking of the life Of tht
humblest and meanest as a sin ant
in almost all the old religions of th'
world, there are legends of saints, il
the depth of whose peace with God
and nature, all life was sacrediy re
garded as the priceless gift of heaven
and who were thus enabled to dwell
safely amid st lions and serpents.
/ II is creditable to human nature,
and It's unperverted instincts that sto.
ries and anecdotes of reciprocal kind
ness and affection between men and
animals, are always listened to with
interest and approval. How pleasant
TO think of the Arab and his horse,
whose friendship has been celebrated
in song and romance? OF Vogelwied,
the Minnessinger, and his bequest to
the birds. OF the English Quaker,
visited, wherever he went, by tlocks
of birds, who with cries of joy alight-
ed on his broad brimmed hat, and his
drsb coat-sleeves? OF old Samuel
johnson, when half blind and infrm,
groping abroad of an evening for oys-
tiers for his cat? OF Walter Scott,
and John Brown of Edinburgh, and
their dogs? OF our own Thoreau, in
stinctiyely recognized by bird and
beast as a friend? Emerson SAYS of
him: His intimacy with animals,
suggested what Thomas Fuller re-
cords OF Butler, the apologist, that
either he had told the bees things, or
the bees had told him. Snakes coiied
aound his legs; the fishes swan into
his hand he pulled the woOdchuck
out of his hole by his tail, and took
foxes under his protection from the
hunters
Ia the greatest of the ancient Him.
doc poems-the sacred book of the
Mahabharata-there is a passage Of
exceptional beauty and tenderness,
which records the reception of the
King Of Yudishthira at the gate of
Paradise. \ pilgrim to the heavenly
city, the King had travelled over vast
spaces. and, one by one, the loved
ones, the companions of his journey,
had all fallen and left him alone, save
his faithful dog, which still followed
him. lie was met by Indra, and in
vited to enter the holy city. But the
king thinks of his friends who have
fallen on the way, and declines to 90
in without them. The god tells him
they are all within waiting for him.
Joyful, he is about to seek them when
he looks upon his poor old dog, who,
weary, and wasted lies crouched at his
feet. and asks that he, too, may enter
the gate. Indra refuses and thereupon
the king declares that to abandon
his faithful dumb friend would be as
great a sin as to Kill a Brahmin.
" Away with that felicity whose pri % is to
abandon the faithful
Never, come veal or Woe, Will | leave You
faithful dog.
The poor creature, in fear and distress, has
trusted in my power to save him;
Not, therefore, for life itself, will break my
plighted word"
In full sight of heaven, he chooses
TO go TO hell with his dog and straight
way descends thither. But his virtue
and faithfulness change hell into
heaven, and he finds himself surround.
ed by his old friends, aud in the pres
ence of the gods, who thus honor and
reward his humanity and unSelfish
love,