Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-06-04
Little Things.


ing that There be four things
which are little upon earth, yet ex.
ceeding wise" II he had lived in
our time, be might have multiplied
the four by fifty thousand, and YET
the saying would have fallen within
the limits of human knowledge. The
world has made great progress in
threo thousand years. And still the
wisest of men have much to learn
from tLe little things of tho earth.
The research of modern times has
discovered millions of living crea.
lures SO small Chat the unassisted
eye of man has never seen them
the sagacious mind of Solomon aud
the master genius of Aristotle new.
er suspected their existence. And
the more we know of their nature
and habits, the more we wonder at
the wisdom and power which God
has conferred upon the little things
of earth. If we compare ourselves
with creatures that are counted a
pest and crushed without thought,
we shall fnd that in many respects
they have greatly the advantage of
us. The sum of faculties bestowed
upon man is indeed immensely great
er, and yet in some particular he
may be surpassed by the least and
lowest of the brute creation. He
has all the prerogatives of power and
intellect fitting him to be crowned
with glory and honor, and to have
all things put under his feet--the
beast of the field, the fowl of the air
and the fish of the sea. And vet he
may see much to excite the wonder
and admiration in the worm OF the
dust aud the insect of day.
Look out of railway car when it
is in the most rapid motion on a
Summers day. and you will see
winged creatures sporting in the
air, moving up and down, back
ward and forward, keeping abreast
of you all the while, just as if the
cal were standing still. The speed
of sixty miles an hour counts for
nothing with the little creature that
plays ut the window, apparently
without making an extra stroke OF
the wing to keep up with the flying
train.
Ii we grew ns fast from birth as
the silk-wolm, wo should equal the
size of an elephant in month, and
we should devour food enough tc
support an army of three thousand
men. If our organs OF vision were
only as numerous and complex as
those Of the butterfly, we SHOULD
have sixty Thousand perfect eyes Sc,
in our brows to catch every hue aut
form of the view before US, and an
extra pair to serve rs watch towers
on the top of the head. II our vo
cal organs were II. strong proper
tiouatelv as those of the canary
, bird, We could make ourselves heart
+ further than the cannonade of Get
, tysburg or Waterloo, without strain
ing our voices. II our bodies wer'
as we'll projected against violence a
I those of some creatures no large
l. than pins head, we could stan'
all tho cannon shot in the world
and mind it rs little as we now min'
y the smallest particle of dust that i
-, blown in cur faces hy the wind.
I run over these comparative est
k mates simply to show that the infu
4 lie God has not gone to the exter
!. o. his power in making Us the crea
lures that we are. We have oDl
p 10 examine the little things OF cart
TO learn tha. He has bestowed o
them some one form of intelligenc
l. or power vastly superior 10 the co
l. responding faculty bestowed on u
n The sum of Gods gifts to man in b
J. whole spiritual and immortal natul
oi is indeed Infinitely greater than a
n bestowed upon the brute. But Il
" has endowed the smallest creatur'
y with some one faculty IN great'
le measure, 10 show US hoE easily L
{, cosld increase our capacities Tor q
rs ton and enjoyment thousand-iol'
G. and not do anything more difhcu
q for HIN CT wonderful to Us than
is doing around us every day.