382 Life and Immortality. 
spurred and trampled upon the lifeless bird, and, standing 
upon the corpse, flapped his wings in triumph, as it were, 
and crowed himself hoarse with the most disgusting energy. 
He immediately took possession of the harem, but he was 
far from being the noble, generous and unselfish creature 
that his predecessor had been. Again, comparing man with 
beast, it is at once apparent that the bird in this instance 
acted exactly as a savage does when his enemy has fallen, 
for the savage not only exults over the dead body of an 
enemy, especially if the latter has been very formidable in 
life, but also mutilates in futile and silly revenge the form 
which he feared when alive. 
Tyranny, or the oppression of the weak by the strong, is 
another of the many traits of character common to man and 
the lower animals. But whether or not that strength belongs 
to the body or the mind, it is tyranny all the same. Taken 
in its most obvious form, it not only manifests itself in many 
of the animals in the oppression of the weak by the strong, 
but also in the killing and the eating of the same, even though 
they be of the same species. Human cannibals act in just 
the same manner, eating their enemies after they have killed 
them. There is hardly an animal in which the milder forms 
of tyranny may not be found. Insects, especially, manifest it 
in a light manner when they drive away their fellows from 
some morsel of food which they desire to keep to themselves, 
Among gregarious animals, the herd or flock is always under 
the command of an individual who has fought his way to the 
front, and who will rule with imperious sway until he has 
become old and in turn has been supplanted by a younger 
and more vigorous rival. - In the poultry-yards the same form 
of tyranny is manifest, one cock invariably assuming the lead- 
ership, no matter how many may be the number of birds. 
There is a curious analogy between these birds and human 
beings, especially those of the East, whether at the present 
day or in more ancient times. Many petty chieftains are found 
in Eastern countries, but there is always to be met with one 
