THE CROW. 101 1 



pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." Prov- 

 erbs, chapter 30, verse 17. 



Solomon here refers to the valley of Tophet, in the 

 neighbourhood of Jerusalem, which was called the 

 valley of dead bodies, because the remains of executed 

 criminals were thrown there. This place was the 

 resort of rapacious birds, for, as the bodies of these 

 criminals were left unburied, they here found full gra- 

 tification for their voracious appetites. 



The most disgraceful and ignominious treatment 

 that could be inflicted on the w r orst of men, was to 

 cast their bodies into this valley. And hence, it was 

 not every criminal who suffered death, but only the 

 most guilty, that underwent this punishment. 



How horrid, and unnatural, then, must the crime of 

 disobedience to parents have appeared in the eyes of 

 Solomon, when he says, that such children deserve 

 the punishment which is reserved only for the most 

 guilty malefactor. 



Let children, then, take care how they treat their 

 parents with scorn, or contempt, but let them render 

 due obedience to their commands ; always remember- 

 ing, that by so doing, they obey, not only the law of 

 God, but of nature ; and that, by refusing to do so, 

 they run the risk of becoming miserable outcasts, both 

 in this world, and that which is to come. 



Another interesting fact concerning the Raven, is, 

 that these birds fed the holy prophet Elijah, at the 

 command of God, in the time of famine. The Lord 

 said to Elijah, " Get thee hence, and hide thyself by 

 the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall 

 be, that thou shalt drink the brook ; and I have com- 

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