Man] AND SYMBOLS. 209 



every flash of the intensely vivid lightning leaves you with 

 the impression of stone blindness, while the rain pours down so 

 fast that your fire goes out, leaving you without the protection 

 of even a tree, or the chance of your gun going off. But when 

 you are in a comfortable house or waggon the case is very dif- 

 ferent, and you hear the roar of the lion without any awe or 

 alarm. The silly ostrich makes a noise as loud, yet he never 

 was feared by man. To talk of the majestic roar of the lion is 

 mere majestic twaddle. In general the lion's voice seems to 

 come deeper from his chest than that of the ostrich ; but to this 

 day I can distinguish with certainty between them only by 

 knowing that the ostrich roars by day and the lion by night." 



Y. M. 



Man's Superiority Due to Intellect../ 



Too much stress has been laid upon the proud upright posi- 

 tion of man, and a great deal has been said and written con- 

 cerning the sublime aspect of his countenance, and the god-like 

 dignity of his carriage. A moment's consideration will be 

 sufficient to show that though he looks upward with ease and 

 facility, he cannot, in this respect, claim any superiority. The 

 eagle which gazes on the sun with undazzled eye, and makes 

 his pathway among the clouds, yields not in dignity of appear- 

 ance or power of locomotion to man, who merely walks upon 

 the ground. Can man measure his beauty with the antelope, 

 his speed with the horse, or his strength with the elephant 1 

 It is in virtue of his intellect, of his reason, and not of his 

 bodily form, that he ranks above his fellows. It was in mind, 

 not in body, that " God made man in His own image." s. 



Man as Revealed by Society. 



As a rule man's appearance is not pleasing when he is seen in 

 his own isolation. His brightest and best colours are revealed 

 through the medium of relationships. If in isolation, he is like 

 a metal in its own vapours. For example : Every metal can be 

 burned, and heat sufficient being employed, the burning mass 

 can be made to evolve a vapour. Every metal burns with a 

 certain invariable colour, and the light of these colours can be 



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