THE BEAUTIES OF THE AUTUMN. 163 



"happily here, but their congeners, the army of 

 migrants, that have the long journey south before 

 them. Hungry Hawks are ever on the look-out 

 for prey ; marauding weasels and cats watch in- 

 cessantly for the weakly and unwary. 



In spite, however, of all we hear about the 

 " struggle for existence," and the " battle of life," 

 there is abundant evidence to prove that this law 

 of Nature entails no unhappiness upon dumb 

 creatures. On the bending spray the Robin may 

 be singing loud and long for very joy ; like a 

 whirlwind the fierce Sparrowhawk swoops past 

 the brambles, and his talons meet in the quivering 

 body of the little songster. All, however, was so 

 sudden, so unexpected, that the warbling Robin 

 had no time for sorrow ; his misery was short, and 

 his death almost a painless one. And so it is 

 throughout the realms of organic life. The strong 

 may prey upon the weak, and the powerful strive 

 to thrust aside creatures more helpless than them- 

 selves in this universal conflict, yet the method of 

 the warfare is attended by no unhappiness. I 

 venture to say that birds and animals, insects and 

 fish enjoy their life infinitely more fully than man- 

 kind. Dumb creatures are troubled with no 

 thoughts for the future, and soon very soon 

 forget the past ; they live in and extract as much 

 pleasure as possible from the present. The birds 

 sing and fly about, call to each other, feed and 

 pursue their various habits with no thought or 

 knowledge of the Hawk or the cat which is seek- 



M 2 



