Democratic messenger., 1893-01-14

AT THE TABERNACLE.
WISDOM MAY BE LEARNED FROM THE
FOWLS OF THE AIR.

DIR. Talmage Discourses with Beautiful
Eioquence ON the Many Lessons Taught
by the Birds-Evcry Species Native Ia
Palestine Is Mentioned In the Scriptures.
BROOKLYN. Jan. S.-Dr. Talmage this
morning continued the course of ser.
mons begun few Sabbaths ago. Hav-
ing preached about the Astronomy of
the Bible; or. God Among the Stars,
and the Chronology of the Bible: or.
God Among the Centuries" this morn.
ing he discourscd on the .'Ornithologv
of the Bible; or. God Among tho Birds. -
The text was Matthew. Vi. 26. Behold
the fowls of the air.
There is silence now in all our Janu-
AIRY forests. except rs the winds whistle
through the bare branches. Our north
ern woods are deserted concert halls.
The organ lofts III the temple of nature
are hymnleSs. Trees which were full of
carol and chirp and chant are now wait
ing for the coming back of rich plumes
and warbling voices. solos. duets. quar-
tets, cantatas and TIE Deums. But the
Bible is full of birds at all seasons, and
prophets ami patriarchs and apostles and
Christ himself employ them for moral
and religious purposes. My text is an
extract from the sermon on the mount.
and perhaps it was at "A moment when "a
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 sermons on God everywhere !
preach to you this third sermon concern
ing the CrnitholoSy of the Bible: or. God
Among the Birds.
GODS MESSENGERS ~ NATURE.
Most Of tho other sciences YOU NAV
study or not study as You please Use
your own Judgment. exercise your own
taste. But about this science of orni-
thology we have no option. The divine
command is positive when it SAYS in my
text. Behold the fowls of tine air." That
is. study their habits. Examine their
colors. Notice their speed. See the hand
of God in their construction. 1t is easy
for me to obey tho command of the text,
for was brought up among the race Of
wings and from boyhood heard their
mathis mt sunrise and their vespers at
sunset.
Their nests have been to me fascina-
ton. and my satisfaction is that never
robbed one of them any more than |
would steal Il child from IL cradle. for 4
bird is a child of the SKY. and its nest j.
the cradle. They are almost human. for
they have their loves and hates, afiini-
ties and antipathie;. understand joy and
grief. have conju;,,sl and maternal in
stinct. wage wars and entertain jeal-
ousies. have IA language of their own and
powers of association. Thank God for
birds and skies full of them, 1t is use
less to expect to understand the Bible
unless we study natural history.
Five hundred and ninety-three times
does the Bible allude to the facts of nat
ural history. and do not wonder that it
makes SO many allusions ornithological
The skies and the caverns of Palestine
are friendly TO the winged creatures. and
so many fly and roost and nest and hatch
i'll that region that inspired writers do
not have far To go to get archaeological
illustration of divine truth. There are
over forty species of birds recognized in
the Scriptures.
Oh. what 8; variety OF wings in Pales-
tine. Tho dove. the robin. the eagle. the
cormorant or plunging bird. hurling it
self from sky to wave and with long
beak clutching its prey; the thrush
which especially dislikes a crowd: the
partridge: the hawk. bold and ruthless.
lowering heal 10 windward while watch
ing for prey; the swan. at home among
the marshes and with feet so constructed
it can walk on the leaves of water plants;
the raven. the lapwing. malodorous and
i'll the Bible denounced as inedible,
though it has extraordinary headdress
the stork: the ossifrage. that always
had II habit of dropping on stone the
turtle it hal lifted and so killing it
for food. and on one occasion mistook
the bald head of Eschylus. the Greek
poet. for white stone. and dropped
turtle upon it. killing the famous Greek:
the cuckoo. with crested head and Grim
son throat and wings snow tipIed. but
too lazy To build its own nest. and so
having the habit of depositing its eggs
i'll nests belonging to other birds: the
bluejay. the grouse. the plover. the mag
pie. the kingfisher. the pelican. which is
the caricature of all the feathered crea-
ton: the owl the goldfnch, the bittern.
the harrier. the bulbul. the osprey; the
vulture. that king of scavengers. with
neck covered with repulsive down instead
of attractive feathers; the quarrelsome
startling: the swallow flying mile min
ute AMI sometimes ten hours in success
sion: the heron. the quail. the peacock, the
ostrich. the lark. the crow. the kite. the
bat. the black bird and many others. with
all colors. AL sounds. all styles of flight.
all habits. all architecture Of nests. leav-
ing nothing wanting in suggestiveness.
They We're ut the creation placed all
around on the rocks and in the trees and
on the ground To serenade Adams ar
rival. They took their places on Friday.
us the first man was made ON Saturday.
Whatever else he had or did not have,
he should have music. The first sound
that struck the human ear was a birds
voice.
TRUE SCIENCE Is RELIGIOUS.
Ath. Vii iStlth StCloSN -lci ' Ou hiltN
there is II Christian geology as well as
an in:idel geology Christian geology
comes i'll ana helps the Bible show what
we owe to the bird creation Before the
human race came into this world th,
world was ,'upicd by reptiles and by
~. sorts of destructive monsters mil
lions of ere ,Ircs. Loaf aihSomc and hide
Gus. God scEt huge Siils to clear the
earth of thesc creatures before Adam and
Eve We're created The reIoains of these
birds have been found imhcddo;. in the
rocks. The skeleton of ore eagle has
been found twenty feet il height and
fifty feet from tip of wing 10 :ipof wing.
Many armies of bcaks and claws We're
necessary To clear the earth of creatures
that would have destroyed the human
race with one clip. like To find this
harmony Of revelation and science. anC
to have demonstrated that the God who
made thp world made the Riblp