THE ELEPHANT. 7 



digious ftrength he adds courage, prudence, 

 coolnefs, and punctual obedience; that he pre- 

 ferves moderation even in his mod- violent paf- 

 lions ; that he is conftant and impetuous in 

 love * ; that, when in anger, he miitakes not 

 his friends ; that he never attacks ariv but thofe 

 who offend him ; that he remembers favours as 

 long as injuries; that, having no appetite for 

 flefh, he feeds on vegetables alone, and is bora 

 an enemy to no living creature ; and, in fine, 

 that he is univerfally beloved, becaufe all arii- 

 mals refpect, and none have any reafon to fear 

 him. 



Men likewife. in all a'^es, have had a kind of 

 veneration for this firfl and grander! of terrefjtrial 

 creatures. The ancients regarded him as a mi- 

 racle of Nature ; and, indeed, he is her higheli 

 effort. But they have greatly exaggerated his 

 faculties. 1 hey have, without helitation, afcri- 

 bed to him intellectual powers and moral vir- 

 tues. Pliny, JEIian, Solinus, Plutarch, and other 

 aqthors or a more modern date, have given to 

 thele animals rational manners, a natural and 

 innate religion f, a kind of daily adoration of 



the 



* Ncc adulteria novere, nee ulla propter foemiuas inter fe 

 praelia, caeteris animalibus perniciaUa, non quia defit iilis 

 amoris vis, Sec; Plin. lib. 8. cap. • 5. — Mas q nam impleveric 

 coitu, earn amplius non tangit ; Ariftot. Hifl. aniuu lib. 9. 

 cap. i. 



■am indigenarum linguam elephanti intoliigunt ; 



111. lib. 4. cap. 24 Luna nova nitelcente, audio ele- 



phantos naturali quadam et ineffabili intelfigentia e iilva, ubi 

 !>4j..untur, rames recens decerptos auferre, eofque deinde in 



lublime 



