HUMAN NATURE 

 AND BEUTE NATURE 1 . 



A POOR slave, named Androcles, escaped from his 

 master into a sandy desert. While there a lion came 

 suddenly upon him, and by signs made him under- 

 stand that it was in an agony of pain. This the 

 slave was able to relieve by extracting a large thorn 

 from its paw and by gentle treatment of the wound. 

 From this time the lion shared its prey with the 

 man, till Androcles, pining for human society, and 

 facing even death to regain it, at length gave himself 

 up to his master. It so happened that the slave was 

 sent to Rome to be exposed to wild beasts at the 



1 This Essay was originally prepared as a sermon for Trinity 

 Sunday. For the text were quoted the well-known words of i Peter 

 ii. 1 6, ' The dumb ass, speaking with man's voice, forbad the mad- 

 ness of the prophet.' The design was to show that some of the 

 most unpopular novelties in scientific opinion bore no necessary 

 antagonism to the deepest mysteries of Christian doctrine. In re- 

 gard to such an attempt it is perhaps needless to add that the 

 kindliness of the design was not fully appreciated by those for 

 whose benefit it was intended. 



