The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-01-09
GOD AMONG THE BIRDS.
TALMAaE PREACHEs ON THE OR.
MYTHOLOGY OF THE BIBLE.


BROOKLYN, Jan. s-Dr Talmage this
morning continued the course of ser-
mons begun a few Sabbaths ago. Having
preached about THE Astronomy of the
Bible; or. God Among the Stars" and ths
Chronology of the Bible; or, God Amorg
the Centuries" this morning he disooursed
on the Ornithology OF the Bible; or, God
Among the Birds" The text was Matthew
vi. 26: "Behold the fowls Of the air."
There is silence now in all our January
forests, except as the winds whistle through
the bare branches. Our northern woods
are deserted concert balls The organ lofts
in the temple OF nature are hymnless.
Trees which we're full OF carol and chirp
and chant are now waiting for the COM
ing back of rich plumes and WARDS
ling voices, solos, duets, quartets. cam
tatas and to deuns But the Bible
is full of birds at all seasons, and prophets
and patriarchs aud apostles aud evangelists
and Christ himself employ them for moral
and religious purposes. My text is an ex-
tract from the Sermon on the Mount, and
perhaps it was at IA moment when flock OF
birds flew past that Christ waved his hand
toward them. and said: "Behold the fowls
of the air." And SO, in this course OF SER
mons on God everywhere, / preach to you
this third sermon concerning the gornitha
ology OF the Bible. or God among shs
birds.
Most Of the other sciences you may study
or not study as you please. Use your own
Judgment, exercise your own taste. Bus
about this science of ornithologv we have
no option. The divine command Is positive
when IL says in my text, "Behold the fowls
of the airP That is, study their habits.
Examine their colors. Notice their speed.
See the hand Of God in their construction.
IL 10 easy for me to obey tue command Of the
text for was brought up among this race of
wings and from boyhood heard their mathis
at sunrise and their vespers at sunset.
Their nests have been to me a fascination.
and my satisfaction is that never robbed
one OF them, any more than would steal O
child from a cradle, for bird is q child OF
the sky, and its nest cradle. They are
almost human, for they have theirYoves and
hates, aliinIties and antipathes, under
stand Joy aud grief, have conjugal and
maternal Instinct. wage wars and entertain
tealousies, have a language OF their own
and powers OF association Thank God for
birds and skies full OF them. IL is useless to
expect to understand the Bible unless we
study natural history. Five hundred aud
ninetY-three times does the Bible allude to
the facts of natural history, and do NOT
wonder that it makes 80 many illusions
archaeological. The skies and the caverns
creatures, and so many fly and Foosb
and nest and hatch in that region that
inspired writers do not have far to go to
get ornitholOgical illustration of divine
truth. There are over forty species oe
birds recognized In the scriptures. Oh,
what variety OF wings In Palestinel TIE
dove, the robin, the eagle, the cormorant,
or pluujing bird, hurling itself from sky to
wave and with long beck clutching It's
prey the thrush which especially dislikea
q crowd the partridge, the hawk. bold and
ruthless, lowering head to wtndward,
while watching for prey, the swan, at home
among the marshes and with feet so cons
svructed ii can walk on the leavos OF water
plants, the raven. the lapwing, maiodorous
and in the Bible denounced as inedihle,
though it has extraordinary headdress, ths
stork, the ossifraRe, that always had q
habit of dropping on stone the turtle iH
had lifted and 80 killing il for food, and ON
one occasion mlstook the bald head OK
AEschylus, the Greek poet. for white
stone and dropped a turtle upon IL, killing
the famous Greek; the cuckoo. with
crested head and crimson throat and wings
snow-tipped. but too lazy 20 build its own
nest and SO having the habit os
TO other birds. the blue jay, the
grouse, the plover, the magpie.
the kingfsher. the pelican, which Is the
caricature of all the feathered creation, the
owl, the gold. finch, the bittern, the harrier,
the bulbul, the osprey, the vulture, that
king Of scavengers, with neck covered with
repulslve down instead OF attractive feath~
ers, the quarrelsome starting. the swallow
flying mile q minute, and sometimes ten
hours In succession, the heron, the quail, tha
peacock, the ostrich, the lark, the crow, the
kite, the bat, the blackbird and many
others, with all colors, all sounds, all styles
of flight all habits, all architecture Of nests.
H. in. ffx,atx
They were at the creation placed all around
on the rocks and in the trees aud on ths
ground to serenade Adams arrival. They
took their places on Friday, as the first man
was made on Saturday. Whatever else ha
had or did not have. he should have music.
The first sound that struck the human ear
was a birds voice.
Yea, Christian geology Cfor you know
there is a Christian geology as well as in~
fidel geology, Christian geology comes In
and helps the Bible show what we owe to
the bird creation. Before the human race
came into this world the world was occu-
pad by reptiles, and by all styles OF de-
struotive monsters, millions Of creatures
loathsoIne and hideous. God sent huge
bif DIS 20 clear the earth Of these creatures
before Adam and Eve we're created. Tha
remains of these birds have been found i'm
bedded in the rocks. The skeieton Of one
eagle has been found twenty fee5 in HIGHT,
and fifty feet from tip OF wing TO tip OF
wing. Many armies of beass and claws
were necessary to clear the earth Of Great
ures that would have destroyed the human
race with one clip. like 20 find this nar-
mony OF revelation and science, aud 20 have
demonstrated that the God who made the
world made the Bible.
Moses, the greatest lawyer OF all time,
and a great man for facts, had enough senti-
ment and poetry and musical taste to well
come the illumined wings aud the voices
divinely drilled into the first chapter OK
Genesis. How should Noah, the first old
ship carpenter. six hundred years of age,
findout when the world was fit again for hl-
man residence after the universal freshetf A
bird wial tell and nothing else can. No man
can come down FROM the mountain TO invite
Noah and his family out to terra drma. for
the mountains were submerged. As a bird
first heralded the human race into the
world, now q bird will help the human race
back TO the world that had shipped q sea
that whelmed everything. Noah stands on
Sunday morning at the window of the ark.
in bis hand cooling dove. so gentle, 90 inno-
cens, so aifectionate, and he said: Nov,
my little dove, fy away over these
waters, explore, and come back and
tell us whether IL is safe TO land.n After .
long flight it returned hungry and weary
and wet, aud by its looks aud manners said
Ia Noah and hfa family. eirha world Ia unh