The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-12-02

Tabernacle last Sunday. The text
was taken from Psalm cxlviii., 10, 10
and 10:
"Beasts and oil cattle; creeping things and
1ying fowl; both young men and maidens; old
men and children; let them praise the same OF
the Lord"
What a scene 1t was when, last Thurs
day, at the call of the president and
governors, this nation assembled to
chant the praises OF God, But the day
was too short to celebrate the divine
goodness of such year. The sun did
not rise over brooklyn until one minute
before o'clock that morning, and 1t
set at o'clock and thirty-fve minutes
that evening. What a small space of
time in which to mediate upon twelve
months of benefactions So l add to
that day this Sabbath morning service,
and with the fruits and harvests OF the
earth still glorifying the pulpit and the
galleries, ask you to continue the re-
hearssl of the divinegoodness.
BY sublime egotism man has come
to appropriate this world to himself,
when the fact Is that our race is in a
small minority. The instances Of
human life, as compared with the in
stances Of animal life, are not one to a
million. We shall enlarge our ideas Of
Gods goodness and come to better
understanding of the text II, before we
come to look at the cup of our blessing,
we look at the goodness Of God to the
irrational creation.
Although nature is out Of joint, yet
even in its disruption / am surprised to
find the almost universal happiness Of
tho animal creation. On summer
day, when the ;air and the grass are
most populous with life, you will not
hear sound of distress unless, per-
chance, q heartless schoolboy has
robbed birds nest, or q hunter has
broken birdie wing, or pasture has
been robbed % lamb and there goes
up bleating from the hocks The
whole earth is filled with animal de-
light-joy featherod, and scaled, aud
horned and booted. The bee huns it;
the frog croalSs It; the squirrel chatters
II; the quail whistles IL; the lark carols
It; the whale.spouts IL. The snail, the
rhinoceros, the grizzly bear, the toad,
the wasp, the spider, the shellfsh. have
their homely delights-joy as great to
them as our Joy is to us Goat climbing
the rocks: snaconda crawling through
the jungle; buffalo plunging ocross the
prairie; crocodile baslxing in tropical
sun; seal putting on the ice; ostrich
striding across the desert, are so many
bundles of Joy; they do not go moping
or melancholy; they are not only half
supplied; God says they are filed with
good.
The worm squirming through the sod
upturned of plowshare, and the ants
racing up and down the hillock, are
happy by'day and happy by night.
Il. &c up a drop Of water under the
microscope, and you find that within II
there are millions Of creatures that
swim in q hallelujah Of gladness. The
sounds Of nature that are repulsive TO
our ears are often only utterances OF
joy-the growl, the croak, the bark, the
howl The good God made these crea-
tures, thinks Of them ever, and will not
let plowshsre turn up a mole's nest,
or fsherman's hook transfx a worm,
until, by eternal decree, Its time has
come. Gods hand feeds ali these broods,
and shepherds all these focks, and
tends all these herds He sweetens the
clover top for the oxen's taste, and
pours out crystalline waters in mosssd
cups of rock, for the hind TO drink out
Of on his way down che crags, and pours
nectar into the cup Of the honeysuclxle
torefresh the humming bird; and spreads
q bang net of hundred fields of buck
wheat, and let's the honey bee put his
mouth TO any cup of all the banquet
and tells the grasshopper to go any
where he likes. and gives the Hocks OF
heaven the choice Of all the grain fields
The sea anemone, half animal, half
flower. clinging to the rock in mid
ocean, with It's tentacles spread TO catch
I've food, has the Owner Of the universe
10 provide for IL? We are repulsed at
the hideousness Of the elephant, but
God, for the comfort and convenience
Of the monster, puts forty thousand dis
tinct muscles in It's proboscis.
Igo down ON the barren sea shore
and say, mo animal can live In this
place Of desolation," but all through
the sands are myraids Of little insects
that leap with happy life. GO down
by the marsh and say, I'm this damp
place and In these loathsome pools OF
stagnant water there will be the quiet.
ness of DEATH" but lol see the turtles
on the rotten log summing themselves,
and hear the bogs quake with multi
tudinous life When the unfedged rob
ins are hungry. GoS shows the old robin
where she can get food TO put into their
open mouths. Winter is not allowed TO
come until the ants have granaried
their harvest, and the squirrels have
filed their cells with nnts God shows
the hungry ichneumon where II may
find the crocodile's eggs; and in arctic
climes there are animals that God &c
lavishly clothes that they can afford 10
walk through snow storms In the finest
sable, and ermine, and chinchilla, and
no sooner Is one set OF furs worn out
than God gives them new one. He
helps the spider In It's architecture Of Ia
Qossamer bridge, and takes care OF the
color Of the butterHy's wing, and tinges
the cochineal. and helps the moth out
Of It's chrysalis The animal creation
also has It's army and navy. The most
insignificant has It's means OF defense
the wasp It's sting; the reptile its tooth
The bear it's paw; the dog It's muzzle
the elephant It's tusk; the fish It's scale