The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 535, February 25, 1832

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Various. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 535, February 25, 1832

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, REGENT'S PARK

GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY

REGENT'S PARK

FRAGMENTS ON HUMAN LIFE

The Sketch-Book

A COASTING SCRAP

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

SCENE FROM A FRENCH DRAMA

THE MARTYR-STUDENT

THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS

THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS

Last Struggle of Rome for Liberty

General Mildness of Italian Warfare

Battle of Marignano

CHILD'S ARITHMETICAL TABLES

THE GEORGIAN ERA

George the Fourth

The Topographer

BRIGHTON AS IT WAS

Spirit of Discovery

A NIGHT ON THE NIGER

The Gatherer

THE MIRROR

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A visit to these Gardens is one of the most delightful of the rational recreations of the metropolis. The walk out is pleasant enough: though there is little rural beauty on the road, the creations of art assume a more agreeable appearance than in the city itself; and, with cottages, park-like grounds, and flourishing wood, the eye may enjoy a few picturesque groupings.

The Garden of the Society is one of the prettiest in the vicinity of the metropolis; the Menagerie is certainly the most important ever collected in this country. It is a charming sight to behold myriads of tiny flowers fringing our very paths, and little groves of shrubs and young trees around us; yet it is a gratification of the highest order, to witness the animals of almost every country on the earth assembled within a few acres; and it is indeed a sublime study to observe how beautifully the links in the great chain of nature are wrought, and how admirably are the habits and structure of some of these animals adapted to the wants of man, while all are subservient to some great purpose in the scale of creation. How clearly are these truths taught by the science of Zoology; and how attractively are they illustrated in the Menagerie of the Zoological Gardens. Consider but for a moment that the cat which crouches by our fireside is of the same tribe with "the lordly lion," whose roar is terrific as an earthquake, and the tiger who often stays but to suck the blood of his victims: that the faithful dog, "who knows us personally, watches for us, and warns us of danger," is but a descendant from the wolf, who prowls through the wintry waste with almost untameable ferocity. Yet how do we arrive at the knowledge of these interesting facts—but by zoological study.

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In the same spirit Cowper begins his poem on Hope:

"The Thracians," says Cicero, "wept when a child was born, and feasted and made merry when a man went out of the world, and with reason. Show me the man who knows what life is, and dreads death, and I'll show thee a prisoner who dreads his liberty."

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