BOS. 



a considerably advanced period of their history, the 

 Jews, whenever they fell into idolatry, usually had 

 recourse to the symbolic calf as the idol. The Twins 

 (geaam) were expressive not only of the fertility and 

 consequent abundance which followed the domestica- 

 tion of the ox and the practice of agriculture, but of 

 the brotherhood, or the union of man with man for 

 purposes of mutual advantage, which was the imme- 

 diate consequence. The subsequent part is con- 

 siderably more fanciful, as when men are once 

 civilised, the objects of their pursuit become so 

 numerous, that no one subject can be emblematical 

 of the whole. The Crab (cancer) is considered as 

 indicating the firmness of that brotherhood, the esta- 

 blishment of which is typified by Gemini. The Lion 

 (leo) the strength of men when so united. The 

 Virgin (wVgo), the elevation of woman in the scale 

 of society, which has always been in proportion to 

 the degree of civilisation. The Balance (libra'), the 

 institution of commerce, after considerable bodies of 

 men had found it their interest to live at peace with 

 each other. The Scorpion (scorpio), the ambition for 

 discovery and for conquest, which has marked a 

 certain stage of the history of all civilised nations 

 and races. The Archer (sagittarius], the wars to 

 which this ambition led. The Goat (capricornus), the 

 passage of the mountains (which the goats inhabit) 

 and the consequent extension of knowledge or con- 

 quest beyond the original valley. The Water-carrier 

 (oquarius), the passage of the confining river or strait ; 

 and the Fishes (pisces), the launching of the ship upon 

 the open sea, and the subsequent progress of dis- 

 covery till man circumnavigated the globe, laying 

 the foundation for universal intercourse, and for the 

 enjoyments of the whole products of the earth by 

 the whole of the earth's inhabitants. 



The fable here maybe fanciful, but the application 

 is correct, and the whole affords a very good instance 

 of allegoric reasoning. It will be seen that the bull 

 or ox in the fable, is the point from which union, and 

 the strength and effects of union among men, are 

 dated ; and the same is true in' the real history of 

 human improvement. 



We do not say that the ox has been the sole cause 

 of the localising, and consequent civilisation of man, 

 because the first steps of civilisation, in any other 

 way than from the example of those already civilised, 

 are not upon the historic record. Nor can we expect 

 that they should, for the existence of a record is 

 itself an indication of rather an advanced state of 

 society. Of the certainty of the matter, of the first 

 impulse to all those comforts and enjoyments which 

 we possess over the wild men of the woods, we must 

 therefore remain in ignorance ; but the subject is 

 one upon which it is both pleasant and profitable to 

 conjecture, inasmuch as our very guesses as to how 

 civilisation, and civility between man and man were 

 begun, not only put us in the way of spreading their 

 progress, but reprove us sharply if we fail in the 

 performance. 



Now we can find in the natural habitats of the ox, 

 more incentives to activity of mind, and variety and 

 versatility of thought, than in the wood of the hunter, 

 or by the shore of the fisher, and as these are still 

 the best means of promoting improvement, we may 

 naturally suppose that they were the most likely 

 means of its commencement. 



Where nature shows no change, man remains in 

 the same state. The Bedouin of the African desert, 



and the native of Australia, have remained in the 

 same condition time out of mind ; and in all places 

 where people have continued for ages without any 

 improvement, we may naturally suppose that they 

 remain so, not in consequence of any effect of cli- 

 mate or other physical action upon the body, but 

 from want of stimulus to the mind ; for we have the 

 evidence of history in all climates, from Iceland to 

 the Equator, that if this stimulus is supplied, man may 

 be equally energetic under any parallel ; and that, if 

 the intellectual part can be sufficiently roused, it will 

 soon teach the body to triumph over physical circum- 

 stances, unless in those extremes of cold or of drought, 

 in which there is nothing upon which ingenuity can 

 act. Nay, even there, it is the absolute extreme 

 only which is desperate ; for in the centre of the 

 Indian desert, we find an inhabitant who cultivates 

 his water melons, and digs hundreds of feet into the 

 earth for water ; and on the northern shore of Ame- 

 rica, in the region of winter, where no metal can be 

 touched without affecting the hand in the same man- 

 ner as fire does, we find the Esquimaux dwelling in 

 the snow, and finding his food upon the ice. Still 

 there must be a stimulus, and it is doubtful whether, 

 in the first instance, the stimulus of necessity is suffi- 

 cient, because, though an urgent one it carries a 

 blight, a withering of all hope along with it. 



The natural climates of the ox tribe, are those in 

 which there is the most rapid and the most agreeable 

 variety of seasonal action, there is the most to be 

 observed, and man is able to be at all times and sea- 

 sons, most observant of it. There are various reasons 

 why man, when he lives in the thick forest, or in the 

 fastnesses of the craggy mountain, should remain 

 unchanged. The vegetable world is the best calcu- 

 lated to rouse his attention, as the changing vegetable 

 remains in its place, and allows him to command and 

 examine it in all its states, while with most animals, 

 it is but a sight and away. But the vegetation of 

 such places changes little during the lifetime of man ; 

 and as the mountain, the rock, and the waters, which 

 change not for centuries without some convulsion of 

 nature, which must drive man from that locality, are 

 the most conspicuous objects, they have still a greater 

 tendency to chain down the mind to permanent rou- 

 tine. The oak in the forest stands for centuries, and 

 there are many species of longer duration. In the 

 extremes of latitude, where the two seasons are the 

 most marked, either by heat and cold, or by humidity 

 and drought ; and where spring with its blossoms 

 and autumn with its frosts, do not mark half the year 

 with the energy and the fruits of nature's action, there 

 seems little in the appearances of nature around 

 which can stimulate man to be up and doing. The 

 pine forests of the north are, if the expression may- 

 be allowed, " dismally everlasting ;" and they tend 

 to choke all other vegetation, the appearance of which 

 is calculated to give interest. 



Those who have what is called " a painter's eye," 

 that is, who have a feeling of the beauty of scenes, 

 complain of the dull and gloomy monotony of pines, 

 in all situations where they are not relieved by other 

 trees. But the feeling which is capable of deriving 

 either pleasure or pain from scenes, always goes 

 deeper than mere external appearances ; and, though 

 the party may not be aware of it, there is always 

 something mental, some feeling of relation in addi- 

 tion to the affection of the sense. It is on this 

 account, that the trees in question are not pleasant ; 



