114 THE MODEKN SCARAB^EUS. 



highly valuable in its real usefulness as an insect scavenger, 

 and in this capacity was to the full as worthy of being held 

 sacred as the snake -devouring ibis, the egg-eating ichneumon, 

 or the man-eating crocodile. 



The Scarabaeus was never, that we know of, made in Eng- 

 land a recipient exactly of divine honours ; yet would it ap- 

 pear that this, or a beetle of similar habits, held no mean 

 place in the estimation of one at least among our ancestors, 

 and in times comparatively recent. MoufTet, one of the fathers 

 of entomology, is loud in praise of its virtues, which (accord- 

 ing to him) should serve as a stimulant to every good quality, 

 should invite to labour, temperance, prudence, justice, 

 modesty, and should teach man contentment, by showing him 

 how a beetle can luxuriate in a bed of dung, just as well as in 

 a bed of roses. How justice should have a place in this cata- 

 logue of virtues to be learnt from beetle practice, puzzles us, 

 we confess, to discover ; nor may it be worth the trouble of 

 inquiry. Perhaps it would better suit our purpose to see 

 whether this once worshipped and lauded Scarabaeus has sunk, 

 in these modern times, into utter disregard ; or, whether 

 amongst those who, perhaps, know him not by name, there 

 may not be found a considerable number who, inasmuch as 

 they follow his ways, may be said still to worship his image. 



"Where, at all events, shall we find a better emblem, if not a 

 better god, for the busy of the money-making, money-loving 

 world, living immersed in filthy lucre, than the dung-abiding 



