Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-01-09
AT THE TABERNACLE.
WISDOM MAY BE LEARNED FROM THE
FOWLS OF THE AIR.

EIoquence on the Many Lessons Taught
by the Birds-Every Species Native to
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 discoursed on the ''Ornithology
of the Bible; or, God Among the Birds"
The text was Matthew. vi. &c. Behold
the fowls. OF the ARR
There is silence now in all our Janu-
airy forests. except as the winds whistle
through the bare branches. Our north
,ern woods are deserted concert halls.
The organ lofts in 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 and patriarchs and apostles and
Christ himself employ them for moral
and religious purposes. My text is an
sITOIIi fUtl0 S0InlOu OH UllO l1Ouub-
and perhaps it was at a moment when q
flock of birds flew past that Christ waved
his hand toward them and said, Behold
the fowls OF the ARR And SO in this
course of sermons ON God everywhere
preach to you this third sermon concern
ing the Ornithology of the Bible: or, God
Among the Birds.
GODS MESSENGERS IN NATURE.
Most of the other sciences you may
study or not study as you please. Use
your own Judgment, exercise your own
taste. But about this science of .orIi-
theology we have no option. The divine
command is positive when 1t says in my
text, Behold the fowls of the ARR That
is. study their habits. Examine their
.colors. Notice their speed. See the hand
of God in their construction. It is easy
for me to obey the command of the text,
for | was brought up among the race of
wings and from boyhood heard their
mathis at sunrise and their vespers at
sunset
Their nests have been to me d fascina-
ton, and my satisfaction is that I never
robbed one of them any more than
would steal a child from q cradle, for q
bird is child of the sky, and its nest is
the cradle. They are almost human, for
they have their loves and hates, affini-
ties and antipathies, understand Joy and
grief, have cOnjugal and maternal in
stinct, wage wars and entertain jeal-
ousies, have language Of their own and
powers of association. Thank God for
birds and skies full Of them! It 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 I do not wonder that it
makes so many illusions ornithol0gical
The skies and the caverns of Palestine
are friendly to the winged creatures. and
SO many fly and roost and nest and hatch
in that region that inspired writers do
not have far to go to get pathological
illustration Of divine truth. There are
over forty species of birds recognized in
the Scriptures.
Oh. what a variety of wings in Piles
tinet The dove, the robin, the eagle, the
cormorant CIR plunging bird, hurting 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 head to 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
in the Bible denounced as inedible,
though it has extraordinary headdress;
the stOrk; the ossifrage, that always
had habit of dropping on stone the
turtle it had lifted and so killing it
for food, and on one occasion mistook
the bald head of Aschylus, the Greek
poet. for a white stone, and dropped
turtle upon 1T, killing the famous Greek:
the cuckoo, with crested head and Grim
son throat and wings snow tipped, but
too lazy to bni1d its own nest, and so
having the habit of depositing it's eggs
in nests belonging to other birds; the
bluejay, the grouse, the plover, the mag
pie. the kingtisher, the pelican, which is
the caricatIlrs of all the feathered ,crea-
ton; the owl, the goldfnch, the bittern,
the barrier, 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 and sometimes ten hours in success
sion; the heron, thequail, the 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, leav-
ing nothing wanting in suggestiveness.
They were at 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 birds
voice