Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1893-03-03
REV. DR.. TALMAGB.
TIE Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun.
day Sermon.
Subject, "God Among the Shells"

tHHC'tUs -sAOuuS 4AA., OF,
You may not have noticed the shells OF
the Bible, although in this early part of the
sacred book God calls you to consider and
employ them as He lied Moses to consider
and employ them. The onycha OF my text
is shell found on the banks of the Red Sea,
and Moses and his army must have crushed
many OF them under foot as they crossed
the blsected waters, onycha on the beach
and onycha in the unfolded bed Of the deep.
shall speak of this shell as beautiful and
practical revelation of Coz, and as true as
the first chapter of Genesis and the last
chapter of Revelation or everything be-
tween.
Not only js this shell. the onycha. found
at the Red Sea. but in the waters of India.
1t not only DELEGATES the eye with it's COMO
buttons of beauty, white and lustrous and
serrated, but blesses the nostril with pun
gent aroma. This shelf h, accustomed to
feed on spikenard, is redolent with that
odorous plant-redolent when alive and re-
dolent when dead. It's shells wlen burned
bewitch the air with fragrance
In my text God commands Moses to mix
this onchya with the perfumes of the altar
in the ancient tabernacle, and / propose to
mix some of its perfumes at the altar OF
Brooklyn Tabernacle, for, having spoken to
you on the Astronomy of the Bible; or,
God Among the Stars" the Chronology of
the Bible; or God Among the Centuries"
the 'OrDithology Of the Bible; or, God
Among the Birds" the "Mneralogy of the
Bible; or, God Among the Amethysts:;"
the "Ichthyology of the Bible: or, God
Among the Fishes" l now come to speak OF
the "Conchology of the Bible; or, God
Among the Shells"
1t Is secret that you may keep for me,
for have never before told It to any one,
hat in oil he Of fbo af,,r.o uOv.ld
there is nothing to me so fascinating, 50
completely absorbing, so full of suggestive
ness, as shell What? More entertaining
than bird. which can sing, when shell
cannot sing? Well, there you have made a
great mistake. Pick up the onycha from
the banks Of the Red Sea or PICK up bivalvs
from the beach OF the Atlantic Ocean and
listen, and you hear whole choir of marine
voices-bass, alto soprano--;n an unknown
tongue, but seeming to chant, as put them
70 my ear, "rhe sea is His and He made it,"
Others singing, ''rhy way. o God. is in the
sea-" others hymning, "He rueth the raging
of the sea-"
"What," says some one else, "does the
shell impress you more than the star% In
come respects yes, because can handle the
shell and closely study the shell. while |
cabnot handle the star, and if study it
must study it at distance of millions and
millions OF miles.
What" says some one else, ''ars you
more impressed by the shell than the
fowerY Yes for it has far greater var;e-
ties and far greater richness of color, as
could show you in thousands of specimens,
and because the shell does not fade, as does
the rose leaf, but maintains its beauty CEN
fury after century, SO that the onycha
which the hoof of Pharaohs horse knocked
aside in the chase of the Israelites across the
Red Sea may have kept its luster to this
hour. Yes, they are SO particolored AMI
many colored that you might pile them up
until you would have a wall with all the
colors of the wall of heaven, from the jasper
at the bottom to the amethyst at the top.
Oh, the shellsi The petriie1 foam of the
sea. Oh, the shellsl The hardened bubbles
of the deep. Oh, the shells. which are the
diadems thrown by the ocean to the feet Of
the continents How the shells are ribbed,
grooved. cylindered, mottled, iridescsnti
They were used as coin by some of the Ma.
tons They were fastened in belts by
Others and made in handles Of wooden i'm
plements by still others. Molusks not only
of the sea, but molusks Of the land. Do you
know how much they have had to do with
the worlds history They saved the church
Of God from extinguishment
The Israelites marched out of Egypt
100000 strong, besides Hocks and herds,
The Bible says the people took their dough
before it was leavened, their kneading
troughs being bound uo IN the clothes on
their shoulders. They were thrust forth out
of Egypt and could not tarry; neither had
they prepared for themselves any victuals."
Just think of its Forty years III tte wilder
ness. ln6delity triumphantly ASKS, How
could they live forty years in the wilderness
without foodf You say mama fell. On,
that was after a long while. They would
have starved fifty times before the mamma
fell. The fact is, they were chiefly kept
alive by the mollusks Of the land CO. sns,o3
creatures. Mr. Fronton and Nj sioag0
took the same route from Egypt toward
A., naan that the lsraeites TOOK, and they
q this as their testimony.
have cough the children Of Israel must
baggage and Of about 1000 600 SOW oer c't1
they were not l.Ste'ily 10 experience any ia.
convenience in their march. Several thou
Esnd persons might wslk abreast with Uhe
greatest ease IN the very narrowest part of
the valley in which they first began to file
off, IL soon afterward expands to above
three leagues in width. With respect to
forage they would be at no loss The
ground is covered with tamarisk, broom,
clover and saint foin, of which latter
especially camelS are passionately fool. be.
sides almost every variety of odoriferous
plant and herb proper for pasturage.
f.>1he whole sides of the valley through
which the children of Israel marched are
still tufted with brushwood, which doubt
less afforded food for their beasts, together
with many drier sorts for lighting fire. on
which the Israelites could with the greatest
case bake the dough they brought with them
on small iron plates, which form a constant
appendage to the baggage OF an oriental
traveller. Lastly, the heritage underneath
these trees and shrubs is completely covered
with snafls of a prodigious size and of the
best sort, and, however uuinviting such
repast ought appear to US, they are here eS-
teemed great delicacy. They are so plenti-
iul in this valley that it may be literally said
tnat 1t is difficult to take one step without
treadiug on them"
So the shelled creatures saved the host of
lsraelites on the march to the promised
land, and the attack of infidelity at this
point is defeated by the facts, as infidelity is
always defeated by facts, since it is founded
on ignorance. In writing and printing our
Interrogation point has at the bottom mark
like period and over it flourish like the
ewing OF teamster's whip, and we put this
Interrogation point at the end of question,
but in the Spanish language the interroga-
ton point is twice used for each question.
At the beginning of the question the inter-
rogation point is presented upside down,
and at the close of the question right side
up. When infidelity puts question about
the Scriptures, as it always indicates igno-
rance. the question ought to be printed with
two Interrogation points, one at the begin
ming and one at the close, but both upside
down.
Thank God for the wealth of mollusks all
up and down the earth, whether feeding
the Israelites on their way to the land flow
ing with milk and honey, or, as we are bet
ter acquainted with The mollusks, when