ON THE FOOD OF ANIMALS. 145 



turn to the ass in the lane, and say to him in 

 the sorrow of our hearts, " Poor beast, although 

 thy disproportioned ears may excite our con- 

 tempt, and thy braying our ridicule, neverthe- 

 less, when left to thine own resources, thou 

 hast that within thee which directs thee to thy 

 welfare. Thou hast a means from Providence, 

 ' ut scias reprobare malum et eligere bonum : ' 

 an advantage which we also possess from the 

 same divine source, but which, when the kitchen 

 is concerned, we have not fortitude to turn to 

 our profit. The attractions of the shambles^ 

 the larder, and the oven, too often make us thy 

 inferiors." 



Were it not for the wonderful accommodation 

 of Nature, we should have a very short time of 

 it here below. But, luckily, she is a good 

 friend to us ; for, although she thinks proper 

 to chastise us with incidental attacks of sickness 

 and disease, she kindly habituates our bodies to 

 surprising extremes of plenitude and poverty. 

 Thus we read that Claudius Albinus could 

 dispatch at one supper 500 figs, 100 peaches, 

 10 melons, 20 lb. of grapes, 100 ortolans, and 

 60 oysters. No doubt the glutton's constitu- 

 tion paid handsomely for this. To have borne 



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