IN SCRIPTURE 77 



majesty and power in ancient Rome, in modern 

 France, in Germany, in Austria, in Russia, the 

 bird which alone, it was believed, could face the 

 sun with eye unflinching, the royal, the golden 

 eagle, from his immemorial pride of place. 



Glance for a moment at the history of the raven. 

 His connection with man goes back to the most 

 dim and distant traditions of the race. He plays 

 a characteristic part, as a weather-wise bird 



"Imbrium divina avis imminentum " 



who did not always do what he ought to do, in the 

 earliest records of the most sacred and venerable 

 book in the world, the Bible. 



( Forthwith from out the ark a raven flies, 

 And after him, a surer messenger, 

 A dove." 



In a later record of the same book, he plays a part 

 which is equally characteristic, in the career of the 

 prophet Elijah 



" The ravens, with their horny beak, 

 Food to Elijah bringing ev'n and morn, 

 Tho' rav'nous, taught to abstain from what they brought." 



He appears in the Chaldean version of the story of 

 the Deluge, as well as in the Hebrew ; while in the 

 Koran, the Mussulman Bible, his achievements are 



