292 TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS. 



ignominious fleshy prisons, and compelled meanwhile to be 

 conducive to man's use and pleasure. This,, as they would 

 have it, gives a satisfactory solution of the carnivorous pro- 

 pensities of some, the seemingly undeserved and needlessly 

 inflicted sufferings of others, as well as of the evident proofs 

 of reasoning mind, as distinguished from instinct, observable 

 in every class of the brute creation, from the half-reasoning 

 elephant to the socially-communicating ant. In answer to 

 one of the objections against liis theory, that of the delight 

 taken by many persons of sense and religion in domestic beasts 

 and birds, the Father adds : " What care we whether it be a 

 devil or any other creature that amuses us ! The thought of 

 it, far from shocking, pleases me mightily, and I with grati- 

 tude admire the goodness of the Creator, who gave me so 

 many little imps to serve and entertain me." Herein, we 

 confess, that we are no admirers of the worthy Jesuit's taste, 

 any more than a proselyte to his doctrine. Its refutation may 

 be read in the loving eye of our faithful dog, and heard in the 

 greeting chirp of our pet canary ; it is warbled by the nightin- 

 gale, cooed by the dove, and hummed by the insect voices 

 which fill the summer air with life and gladness. 



To return now to our own Insect " Devils ' of the pond, 

 with whom (having already shown up their evil propensities) 

 there is no harm in making a little farther acquaintance. 

 First, for those black lanky looking creatures gliding about 

 the water's surface : Of these our pond (as most others) 



