"They prepare their meat in the summer." This fact has been denied by
modern entomologists. They have told us that ants are dormant in winter
(at least in Europe), and, therefore, stand in no need of food. But, as
one reminds us, "we had need to be very sure of our facts when we
attempt to correct the Spirit of God" (Gosse). It has been amply
ascertained that in the East and other warm countries where hibernation
is impossible, ants do store up for winter use. It is even stated that
these harvesting ants bite off the radicle at the end of the seed to
prevent its germinating, and occasionally bring up their stores to the
surface to dry, when the tiny granary has been entered and soaked by the
rain.
It is at this point that the example of the ant is specially severe on
the sluggard. In crass idleness he would sleep even in the time of
harvest; but this little creature, the least of insects, avails herself
of every suitable opportunity, and gathers a supply of food sufficient
for her purposes. "He that gathereth in summer is a wise son, but he
that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame." Let all boys
then lay up for the future. Is it _knowledge_? Let them sow well at
school, that they may reap well in business. Is it _character_? Let
them sow well in youth, that they may reap well in manhood. Is it
_religion_? Let them sow well in time, that they may reap well in
eternity. In all these connections let them be warned by these solemn
words, "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold, therefore
shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing" (Prov. xx. 4).
*The Bear.*
"I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps."--Hos. xiii.
8.
However ferocious a bear may be, she is also capable of a large and
generous affection. She is at once a fond mother, a constant friend
and, if one may so express it, a magnanimous foe. Her devotion to her
young is proverbial. She possesses the strongest maternal instincts,
and when to her easily roused ferocity the fury of these instincts is
added, it may be imagined what the violence of her attack will be. Any
one who threatens the safety of her cubs does so at his peril. The
constancy of her friendship is shown by the following curious case,
related by Brehm. He tells us of a little boy who crept one night for
warmth and shelter into the cage of an extremely savage bear. The
latter, instead of devouring the child, took him under its protection,
kept him warm with the heat of its body, and allowed him to return every
night to its cage. By-and-by the poor boy died from smallpox, and the
bear, utterly disconsolate, henceforth refused all food, and soon
followed its little _protege_ to the grave.
But the bear is kind--_effusively_ kind, even to its enemies. In the
manner of its attack it does not fell them to the ground with one blow
of its paw like the lion, nor seize them with its teeth like the dog.
It _hugs_ them. It embraces them with its powerful fore-limbs with a
great: show of affection, and continues the squeeze so long that the
poor wretched victims are suffocated. Bruin does nothing by halves. The
advice of old Polonius is followed to the very letter:--
"The friends thou hast and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel."
He _does_ grapple them. He may give great attention to the friendships
of life, but he does not forget to _embrace_ his enemies.
With respect to the bear mentioned in the Bible, we may note three
points.