Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-03-02
GOD AMONG SHELLS.
TALMACE SPEAKS OF 1.-THE
CONCHOLOGY OF THE BIBLE"
What Shells Have Had to Do With
the Worlds History-God's Care
for the Most insignificant
AnimalS-A Brilliant
Discourse.

Everywhere" His subject was: The
Conchology of the Bible. or God among
the Shells" the text being taken rom
Exodus, MN. 81: And the Lord said
unto Moses. take unto thee sweet spices
Stactr and onycla.
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. rs he called
Moses to consider and employ them.
The onycha of my text is Il shell found
Oh the banks of the Red sea. and Moses
and his army must have crushed many
of them undcrfoot as they crossed the
bisectcl waters. onycha on the beach
and onycha in the unfoldcd bed Of the
deep | shall speak of this shell as
Il beautiful and practical revelation OF
God. and as true as the first cnapter
of Genesis and the last chapter OF
Revelation or everything between.
Not only is this shell. the onyclla. found
ut the Red sea. but in the waters or
India 1t not only DELEGATES the eye
with it's convolutiOnS of beauty. white
and luStrolS and Scriatcd. but blciSrS
the nOStril with Il pmgent aroma. The
Shrll-tish. accustomed to feed ON spike
nard, is rcdolent with that odorOuS
plant. redolent when alive and rrdolent
when dead. Its shells. when burnt
bcwitch the air with fragrance. In
my text God commands Moses TO mix
this Onycha with the perfumes OF the
altar i'll the ancient tabernacle. and
propose to mix some OF its perfumes
ut the altar of Brooklyn tabernacle.
for having spoken 10 you on the as
tronomy of the Bible or God among
the stars. the chronology of the Bible
or God among tho centuries. the or
anthology OF the Bible or God among
the birds the minrralogy Of the Bible
or God among The amcthystS. the icll-
THEOLOGY of the Bible or God among
the fishes. | now come to speak of the
conchology Of the Bible or God among
the shells
1t is a secret that you may keep
for me- for | have never before told
it to any one. that in all the realms of
the natural world there is nothing to
me SO fascinating. SO completely alb
Sorbing. so full OF SuggrStivcncSs as Il
shell What? More entertaining than
Il bird. which can sing, when i shell
cannot sing? Well, there you have
made Il great mistake. Pick up the
onycha from the banks Of the Red sea
or pick up Il bivalvc from the beach
Of the Atlantic ocean. and listen, and
you hear a whole choir of marine
voices-bas>. alto. Soprano-in an I'M
known tongue. but seeming to chant
as l put them to my ear: The sea is
his and he made it," others singing:
Thy way. oh God. is in the sea- 9th
the sea- What" says some one
oil, ~ In1
than the STAR" In some respects.
yes, because l can handle the shell
and closely study the shell, while I
cannot handle the star. and if l study
il, must study it at Il distance of mill
ions and millions OF miles. wv hat"
says some one else ARE you more i'm
pressed by the shell than the tlowcr?"
Yes for it has far greater varieties
and far greater richness of color as
| could show you in thousands of sprci-
mems. and because the shell does not
fade. It's does the rose leaf. but MAIN
tans its beauty century after century.
so that the Onycha Which the hOOf Of
Pharaoh'S horse knocked aside in the
chase Of the ISraclitcS across the Red
sea may have kept its lustcr to this
hour. Yes. they are so parti-color"1
and many colorrd that YOU might pile
them up until you have y wall with all
the cOorS of the wall of heaven, from
the jasper ut the bottom to the amc-
thyst 1T ln" top.
Oh. the shells. The pctrifie1 foam Of
the sea. Oh. the shells. 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. grOOvcu,
cylindercd. notified. irilcSccnt. They
were used rs coin by some OF the ma
tons. They were fastened in belts by
others. and made in handles OF wooden
implements by still others. MolluSks
not only Of the sea. mOllllSkS of the
land DO you know how much they
have had to do With the worlds his
tory? They saved the church Of God
from eXtinguiShment. Th" ISraolitcS
marched out of Egypt 2.oOD.om strong.
besides tlocks and herds. The Bible
says the people took their dough be-
fore it was lravencd. their kneading
troughs being bound up in the clothes
on their shoulders. ;: ;: They
were thrust forth ont of Igypt and
could not larry. neither had they pre-
pared for themselves any victuals."
Just think OF it. Forty years in the
wilderness. Inhdclity triumphantlv
asks. how could they live forty years
in the wilderness without food. You
say mamma fell. Oh. that was after a
long while They would have starved
long before the mamma fell. The fact
is. they We're chiefly kept alive by the
mollusks of the land or shrlled crea-
lures Mr. FrOntOn and Mr.. Sicard
took the same route from Egypt to-
ward Canaan that the Israelites took
and they give this as their testimony:
although the children Of Israel must
have consisted of about 2.OOOOOO souls.
with baggage and innumerablc tioclis
and herds. they We're not likely to eX-
pericnce any Inconvenience in their
march. Several thousand persons might
walk abreast with the greatest ease
in the very narrowcst part Of the val
ley in which they first began to file
off 1t soon aftcrward 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 fond, besides almost every
variety Of OdOrifprOIlS Dlant and herb