382 Life and Immortality. 



spurred and trampled upon the lifeless bird, and, standing 

 upon the corpse, flapped his wings in triumph, as it were, 

 and crowed himself hoarse with the most disgusting energy. 

 He immediately took possession of the harem, but he was 

 far from being the noble, generous and unselfish creature 

 that his predecessor had been. Again, comparing man with 

 beast, it is at once apparent that the bird in this instance 

 acted exactly as a savage does when his enemy has fallen, 

 for the savage not only exults over the dead body of an 

 enemy, especially if the latter has been very formidable in 

 life, but also mutilates in futile and silly revenge the form 

 which he feared when alive. 



Tyranny, or the oppression of the weak by the strong, is 

 another of the many traits of character common to man and 

 the lower animals. But whether or not that strength belongs 

 to the body or the mind, it is tyranny all the same. Taken 

 in its most obvious form, it not only manifests itself in many 

 of the animals in the oppression of the weak by the strong, 

 but also in the killing and the eating of the same, even though 

 they be of the same species. Human cannibals act in just 

 the same manner, eating their enemies after they have killed 

 them. There is hardly an animal in which the milder forms 

 of tyranny may not be found. Insects, especially, manifest it 

 in a light manner when they drive away their fellows from 

 some morsel of food which they desire to keep to themselves. 

 Among gregarious animals, the herd or flock is always under 

 the command of an individual who has fought his way to the 

 front, and who will rule with imperious sway until he has 

 become old and in turn has been supplanted by a younger 

 and more vigorous rival. In the poultry-yards the same form 

 of tyranny is manifest, one cock invariably assuming the lead- 

 ership, no matter how many may be the number of birds. 



There is a curious analogy between these birds and human 

 beings, especially those of the East, whether at the present 

 day or in more ancient times. Many petty chieftains are found 

 in Eastern countries, but there is always to be met with one 



