i8 9 2-93-3 5°7 



him in this respect by early nations, both in their writings and 

 art representations. Heroes thought it an honour to be com- 

 pared to him. The lion hunt was a Royal amusement. In 

 another point of view he became the emblem of solitude. 

 Mark, the Evangelist, opens his Gospel with the mission of 

 John the Baptist, " The voice of one crying in the wilderness," 

 hence his symbol — a lion — which like John is a denizen of the 

 desert. He also sets forth the Royal dignity of Christ, and dwells 

 upon his power manifested in his resurrection from the dead. 

 The lion was accepted in ancient times as a symbol of the resur- 

 rection because the young lion was awakened to vitality by the 

 breath, the tongue, and the roaring of its sire. This mightiest of 

 animals became figuratively the guardian of places held sacred by 

 man, watching before the graves of departed heroes and the tem- 

 ples of the gods. There are twenty-four lions around the tomb 

 erected by Artemisia, 353 B.C., to her hero husband Mausoleus. 

 We find the nonrepresented as "the watcher" over the gateway 

 of Mycenae, as they were before the Trojan War, fitting emblem 

 of the courage and virtue of the patriot or of the whole nation, 

 as in the lions on the base of Nelson's Monument in London. 



T. he physiognomy of the lion bears an unmistakable resemblance 

 to the human countenance in its noblest aspects ; this fact was 

 noticed in very early times, and is alluded to in 2 Samuel xxiii. 

 20, and 1 Chronicles xi. 22 in the description of Benaiah, the 

 son of Jehoiada, who " slew two lion-like men of Moab," from 

 their noble leonine appearance and valiant bearing ; and men, 

 not content to assume the likeness and high qualities of the 

 king of beasts, have in every age called themselves b> his name, 

 as if emulous of his virtues. Leo, Leonidas, Leopold, Leon, 

 and various other forms of the name in different languages were 

 favourite appellations. Many of the Emperors of Constantinople 

 adopted the cognomen on their accession to the throne of the 

 Caesars, and of the two hundred and fifty-two popes who have 

 guided the destinies of the Latin church, the present Sovereign 

 Pontiff is the thirteenth who has assumed the grandly sounding 

 name of Leo. 



