THE UNICORN. 123 



a species of the antelope, or deer; and the single, and double horn- 

 ed rhinoceros, have each had their able advocates, as being the 

 RE EM of sacred writ. 



From the circumstance of our having associated this creature 

 with i dubious animals,' it will of course be inferred, that some diffi- 

 culty exists in identifying it with any known animal. Such is the 

 fact ; for while there are points of resemblance between the REEM, 

 as described in scripture, and each of the animals above mentioned, 

 there are considerations that seem to render it doubtful whether 

 any one of them is precisely the same animal as that described by 

 the sacred penmen. 



It is hardly necessary to remark, that the unicorn, as represented 

 by poets and painters, has never been found in nature, and never, 

 perhaps, had an existence but in the imagination of the one, and oil 

 the canvass of the other. But before we proceed to inquire what 

 creature is denoted by the Hebrew mm, it will be well to ascertain 

 its precise character, by a careful examination of those passages in 

 which it is mentioned. The first allusion to it, is in the reply of 



xxiv. 8. From this it is evident, that the REEM was conceived to 

 possess very considerable power. With this idea corresponds the 

 passage in Isaiah, where the prophet associates him with other pow- 

 erful animals, to symbolize the leaders and princes of the hostile 

 nation that were destined to desolate his country: 'And the uni- 

 corns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; 

 and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat 

 with fatness,' ch. xxxiv. 7. From the book of Job we learn, that it 

 was not only an animal of considerable strength, but also an animal 

 of a very fierce and intractable disposition : 'Will the unicorn be 

 willing to eerve thee, or abide by thy crib ? Canst thou bind the 

 unicorn with his band in the furrow ? or will he harrow the valleys 

 after thee ? Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great ? or 

 wilt thou leave thy labor to him ? Wilt thou believe him, that he 

 will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn ? ' ch. xxxix. 

 9 12. Another particular we collect from Psalm xcii. 10 ; name- 

 ly, that the animal possesses a single horn, and that in an erect pos- 

 ture, unlike other horned animals : ' My horn shalt thou exalt like 

 the horn of an unicorn ;' while it is evident from the following pas- 

 sage, that it was sometimes found with more horns than one. ' His 

 [Joseph's] horns are like the horns of an unicorn,' Deut. xxxiii. 17. 

 These are all the passages, except two, in which the Reem is men- 

 tioned in scripture : these are Psalms xxii. 21, and xxix. 6. From 

 the former of these passages, we are unable to gather any addition^ 

 al information, and the latter will add but little to our former stock : 

 ' He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Siriori like 

 a young unicorn.' 

 We are now better prepared to examine into the validity of the 



