not, however, swept away like the locusts which succeeded them, but destroyed, and left on the face of the ground. They were not annihilated, nor resolved into mud, nor marched back into the river from whence they had come; but left dead upon the ground, to prove the truth of the miracle,-that they had not died by the hands of men, but by the power of God; that the great deliverence was not like the works of the magicians, a lying wonder, but a real interposition of Almighty power, and an effect of Divine goodness. The Egyptians were, therefore, reduced to the necessity of collecting them into heaps, which had the effect of more rapidly disengaging the offensive effluvia, and thus, for a time, increasing the wretchedness of the country. Their destruction was probably followed by a pestilence, which cut off many of the people, in addition to those that died in consequence of the grievous vexations they endured from their loathsome adversaries; for, in one of the songs of Zion, it is said, 'He sent frogs, which destroyed them' (Ps. lxxviii. 45); laid waste their lands, and infected themselves with pestilent disorders. The frog was chosen by the Spirit of inspiration, to represent in vision, the false teachers, and other agents of antichrist: 'I saw,' said John, 'three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirit of devils, working miracles,' Rev. xvi. 13, 14. These impure and mischievous emissaries are generated and reared in the puddle of moral depravity; like the frog, they disturb the peace, and impair the happiness of all around them. Their unceasing loquacity is not less annoying than the perpetual croaking of the impure animal to which they are compared. Their complaints and reproaches; their accusations and curses; their pride and vanity; and their constant and eager exertions to stir up the subjects, kings, and princes of the earth to mutual slaughter, under the pretence of maintaining the cause of religion,—are still more painful and mischievous than the obstreperous clamors, the 'mournful complaints and mutual reproaches, the shameless impudence and the vain-glorious inflations, which the frogs are accused of indulging, in their native marshes. SECTION II. THE primitive meaning of the verb from which the Hebrew name of the serpent class of reptiles is derived, signifies to view, observe attentively, &c., and so remarkable are they for this quality, that 'a serpent's eye' became a proverb among the Greeks and Romans, who applied it to those who view things sharply or acutely. An ingenious writer, speaking of the supposed fascination in the rattlesnake's eye, says, 'It is perhaps, more universal among the poisonous serpents than is supposed; for our common viper has it.' The craft and subtilty of the serpent are noticed in scripture, as qualities by which it is distinguisned above every other beast of the field, Genesis iii. 1.; Matthew x. 16. Of its prudence and cunning, many instances might be adduced, as recorded by naturalists; although it is reasonable to suppose, that in common with other parts of the creation, it has materially suffered in these respects from the effects of the curse. Notwithstanding that the generality of mankind regard this formidable race with horror, there have been some nations who held them in veneration and regard. The adoration of the serpent in ancient Egypt is well known; as is that of the dragon in Babylon. The same species of idolatry still prevails throughout India, and in many parts of Africa it is carried to the most degrading excess. Calmet has enumerated eleven kinds of serpents, which were known to the Hebrews;-1. AFHEH, the viper. 2. CHEFHIR, a sort of aspick, or a lion. 3. AcsHUB, the aspick. 4. PETHEN, the aspick. 5. TZEBOA, a speckled serpent, called Hyana, by the Greeks and Egyptians. 6. TZIMMAON, according to Jerom. 7. TZEPHO, or TZEPHONI, a basilisk; not the fabulous cockatrice, but a serpent like others. 8. KIPPOs, the ancontias or dart. 9. SHEPHIPHON, the cerastes. 10. SHACHAL, the black serpent. 11. SERAPH, a flying serpent. We shall notice such of these varieties as have been sufficiently identified. THE VIPER. THE viper is remarkable for its quick and penetrating poison, and on this account has been made, from the remotest antiquity, an emblem of what is hurtful and destructive. Nay, so terrible was their nature, that they were commonly thought to be sent as execution ers of Divine vengeance upon mankind, for enormous crimes which had escaped the course of justice. An instance of such an opinion as this, we have in the history of Paul (Acts xxviii.), whom the people of Melita, when they saw the viper leap upon his hand, concluded to be a murderer, and as readily made a god of him; when, instead of having his hand inflamed, or fallen down dead, he, without any harm, shook the reptile into the fire; it being obvious enough to imagine, that he must stand in a near relation, at least, to the gods themselves, who could thus command the messengers of their vengeance, and counterwork the effects of such powerful agents. The prophet Isaiah mentions the viper among the venomous reptiles which, in extraordinary numbers, infested the land of Egypt, ch. xxx. 6. In illustrating the mischievous character of wicked men, and the ruinous nature of sin, he thus alludes to this dangerous creature again: They hatch cockatrice eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth; and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.' The cockatrice here, says Paxton, undoubtedly means the viper; for the egg of one creature never produces, by any management, one of a different species. When the egg is crushed, the young viper is disengaged, and leaps out prepared for mischief. It may be objected, that the viper is not an oviparous, but a viviparous animal; and that, consequently, the prophet must refer to some other creature. But it is to be remembered, that although the viper brings forth its young alive, they are hatched from eggs perfectly formed in the belly of the mother. Hence, Pliny says of it, 'The viper alone of all terrestrial animals, produces within itself an egg of an uniform color, and soft like the eggs or roe of fishes.' This curious natural fact reconciles the statement of the sacred writer with the truth of natural history. If by any means the egg of the viper be separated from the body, the phenomenon which the prophet mentions, may certainly take place. Father Labat took a serpent of the vipcr kind, and ordered it to be opened in his presence. In its womb were found six eggs, each of the size of a goose's egg, and containing from thirteen to fifteen young ones, about six inches long, and as thick as a goose quill. They were no sooner liberated from their prison-house, than they crept about, and put themselves into a threatening posture, coiling themselves up, and biting the stick with which he was destroying them. Those contained in one of the eggs escaped at the place where the female was killed, by the bursting of the egg, and their getting among the bushes. In Genesis xlix. 17, the dying patriarch compares the Danites to the shephiphon, probably the CERASTES; a serpent of the viper kind, of a light brown color, which lurks in the sand, and in the tracks of wheels in the road, and unexpectedly bites the legs of animals as they pass along. To the depraved hearts and malignant dispositions of the Scribes and Pharisees, both our Saviour and John the Baptist allude, in these words: 'O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?' (Matthew iii. 7); 'Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?' ch. xxiii. 33.-Terribly expressive speeches! A serpentine brood, from a serpentine stock. As their fathers were, so were they, children of the wicked one. This is God's estimate of a SINNER, whether he wade in wealth, or soar in fame. The Jews were the seed of the serpent, who should bruise the heel of the woman's seed, and whose head should be bruised by him. THE ADDER AND THE ASP. 6 THE adder was known to the ancient Hebrews under various names. It is the opinion of some interpreters, that the word Shachal, which in some parts of scripture denotes a lion, in others means an adder, or some kind of serpent. Thus, in the ninety-first Psalm, they render it the basilisk, Thou shalt tread upon the adder and the basilisk, the young lion and the dragon thou shalt trample under foot,' verse 13. Indeed, all the ancient expositors agree, that some species of serpent is meant; and as the term Shachal. when applied to beasts, denotes a black lion; so, in the present application, it is thought to mean the black adder. The Hebrew Pethen is variously translated in our version; but interpreters generally consider it as referring to the asp. Zophar alludes to it more than once in his description of a wicked man: 'Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. He shall suck the poison of asps: the vipers' tongue shall slay him,' Job xx. 14. The venom of asps is the most subtile of all; it is incurable, and, if the wounded part be not instantly amputated, it speedily terminates the existence of the sufferer. To these circumstances Moses evidently alludes, in his character of the heathen: Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps,' Deut. xxxiii. 33. See also Rom. iii. 13. To tread upon the asp is attended with extreme danger; and to express in the strongest manner the safety which the godly man enjoys under the protection of his heavenly Father, it is promised, that he shall tread with impunity upon the adder and the dragon, Psalm xci. 13. No person of his own accord approaches the hole of these deadly reptiles; for he who gives them the smallest disturbance, is in extreme danger of paying the forfeit of his rashness with his life. Hence, the prophet Isaiah, predicting the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ, and the glorious reign of peace and truth in those regions, which, prior to that period, were full of horrid cruelty, declares, The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,' Isaiah xi. 6-9. In the glowing descriptions of the Golden Age, with which the Oriental writers, and the rapturous bards of Greece and Rome, entertained their contemporaries, the wild beasts grow tame, serpents resign their poison, and noxious herbs their deleterious qualities: all is peace and harmony, plenty and happi ness. The soaring genius of these elegant writers, however, could reach no higher than a negative felicity: but the inspired bard, far surpassing them in the beauty and elegance, as well as in the variety of imagery, with which he clothes the same ideas, exhibits a glowing picture of positive and lasting happiness. The wolf and the leopard not only forbear to destroy the lamb and kid, but even take their abode with them, and lie down together. The calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, not only come together, but also repose under the same covert, and are led quietly in the same band, and that by a little child. The cow and the she-bear, not only feed together, but even lodge their young ones, for whom they used to be most jealously fearful, in the same place. All the serpent kind is so perfectly harmless, that the sucking infant, or the newly-weaned child, puts his hand on the basilisk's den, and plays upon the hole of the aspic. The lion, not only abstains from preying on the weaker animals, but also becomes tame and domestic, and feeds on straw like the ox. These are all beautiful circumstances, not one of which has been touched by the ancient poets. The wonderful effect which music produces on the serpent tribes, is confirmed by the testimony of several respectable moderns. Adders swell at the sound of a flute, raising themselves up on the one half of their body, turning themselves round, beating proper time, and following the instrument. Their head, naturally round and long like an eel, becomes broad and flat like a fan. The tame serpents, many of which the Orientals keep in their houses, are known to leave their holes in hot weather, at the sound of a musical instrument, and to run upon the performer. Dr. Shaw had an opportunity of seeing a number of serpents keep exact time with the Dervishes in their circulatory dances, running over their heads and arms, turning when they turned, and stopping when they stopped. The rattle-snake acknowledges the power of music as much as any of his family; of which the following instance is a decisive proof. When Chateaubriand was in Canada, a snake of this species entered their encampment; a young Canadian, one of the party, who could play on the flute, to divert his associates, advanced against the serpent with his new species of weapon. On the approach of his enemy, the haughty reptile curled himself into a spiral line, flattened his head, inflated his cheeks, contracted his lips, displayed his envenoined fangs, and his bloody throat; his double tongue glowed like two flames of fire; his eyes were burning coals; his body, swoln |