132 THE EAGLE. 



the smaller quadrupeds, dwells in solitary security, 

 and rears his young almost beyond the reach of danger. 



The great height to which the Eagle flies, and the 

 lofty places in which she builds her nest, are figurative 

 of the proud and lofty manner in which sinners some- 

 times lift themselves up, when they seem to think that 

 they are above the reach of calamity or misfortune. 

 But though they exalt themselves as high as the 

 Eagle's flight, and hide themselves in places as secure 

 as her nest, yet, if they provoke the righteous indigna- 

 tion of God, he will assuredly bring them down, and 

 in his own time level them with the dust of the earth. 



The swiftness of this b ird through the air, is allu- 

 ded to, in the book of Job, as a figure of the rapid 

 flight of time. " My days are passed away as the 

 swift ships, as the Eagle that hasteth to his prey." 

 Job, chapter 9th, verse 26. 



In another place the flight of this bird is mentioned 

 as an emblem of the uncertainty of wordly possessions. 

 " Riches certainly make to themselves wings, they fly 

 away as an Eagle towards heaven." Proverbs, chap. 

 23, verse 5. This may remind worldly men, that after 

 all their pains to lay up money, there is no certainty^ 

 that even in this world, their ill-gotten wealth will be 

 of any permanent advantage to them, for their riches 

 may all at once fly away and leave them in poverty. 

 A good lesson to the expectations of mortal creatures^ 

 and a warning, that if they would possess durable rich- 

 es, they must lay up their treasures in heaven. 



The strength and wide spreading wings of this bird 

 are alluded to in the Scriptures, in comparison with 

 the care, which the Lord took of his chosen people. 



