THE RAVEN. 



This bird is well known among the feathered race 

 by his harsh croaking note, and his sable plumage. It 

 appears that black was a colour greatly esteemed among 

 the ancients, who considered it emblematical of the in- 

 scrutable nature of Deity. 



The raven delights in solitude, frequenting the ruined 

 tower or the deserted habitation. To send a person to 

 the ravens, was the same among the ancient Greeks as 

 to imprecate his banishment from the comforts of civil 

 society, his endurance of the wants and sufferings of 

 solitary exile, his being cut off by a shameful death, his 

 privation of the rites of burial, and his becoming a ban- 

 quet to the birds of prey. The presence of the raven is 

 the emblem of desolation, as it is when the prophet, 

 foretelling the doom of Edom, says, " The cormorant 

 and the bittern shall possess it ; the owl also and the 

 raven shall dwell in it ;" and similar language is em- 

 ployed by Zephaniah in reference to Nineveh. Yes, in 

 those splendid palaces, where the voice of joy and glad- 



