Democratic messenger., 1893-02-11

thing that God created was the fish: II
preceded the bird. the quadruped. In,
human race The fish has priority oi
residence over every living thing. Tn,
next thing done after God had kindlet
for our world the golden chandelier oi
the sun and the silver chandelier of tn,
moon was To make the fish. The first
motion of the principle of life. Il prin
ciplc that all the thousands of years sine,
have not been able to define or analyze-
the very first stir Of life-v-ls in fish.
What an hour that was when in tn,
Eaphratcs. the Gihon. the Pison and tn,
Hiddckcl, the four rivers Of paradise
the waters swirled with fins and bright
ened with scales. All the attributes oi
the infinite God We're called into action
for the making of that first fish. Lanceo
late and translucent miracle, There i,
enough wonder in the plate of stur
geon or i'll the cartilage of shark I,
confound the scientists. Ii does moi
take the universe to prove a God. \
fish does it. No wonder that Linnau.
and Cuvier and Agassiz and the Greatest
before its anatomy.
Oh. its beauty and the adaptcdneSs oi
its structure To the element in which il
must live; the picture gallery on the side,
of the mountain trout unveiled rs they
spring up to snatch the flies; the gray.
ling. called the flower of fishes; the salm.
on. ascending the Oregon and the Sew.
ern, easily leaping the falls that would
stop them: the bold perch, the gudgeon,
silver and black spotted: the herring,
moving i'll squadrons five miles long; the
carp. for cunning called the fox of fishes
the wondrCus surgeons. formerly re-
served for the tables of royal families,
and the isinglass made ont of their mem
brane; the tench. called the physician of
fishes, because when applied to human
ailments it is said to he curative; the
lamprevs, so tempting to the epicurean
that too many of them slew Henry IL
aye. the whole world of fishes.
Enough of them floating up and down
the rivers To feed the hcmispheres il
every ear of corn and every head of
wheat and every herd of quadruped and
if every other article of food in all the
earth were destroyed Universal drought,
leaving not so much rs a spear of grass
on the round planet. would leave in the
rivers and lakes and seas for the human
race a staple commodity of food which,
if brought TO shore. would he enough not
only to feed hut fattcn the entire human
race.
In times 10 come the world may he so
populated that the harvcsts and vine
yards and land animals may he INSULT
cient to feed the human family. and the
nations may be obliged to come to the
rivers and.ocean beaches TO seek the liv-
ing harvcsts that swim the deep, AMI
that would mean more health and yigor
and brilliancy and brain than the hu-
man race now own.
iIPORTANC'E OF PI.AiN FOOD.
The Lord. by placing the fish in the
first course of the menu in paradise,
making il precede bird and beast. indi-
Gated to the world the importance of the
fish as an article of human food. The
reason that ncn and women lived three
and four and five and nine hundred years
was because they We're kept OIL parchcd
corn and fish. We mix mp fantastic
food that kills the most of us before 30
wears of age Custards and whipped sill
labubs and Roman punches and chicken
salads at midnight are Il gantlet that few
have strength To run.
We put on many n tombstone glowing
i.
died of patriotic services or from ex-
haustion in religious work when moth
ing killed the poor fellow but lobster
eaten at n party four hours after Ee
ought 10 have been sound asleep i'll bed.
There are men today i'll our streets 81
many walking hospitals who might
have been athletes if they had taken the
hint of Genesis in my text and of our
Lords remark and adhered to simplicity
of diet.
The reason that the country districts
have furnished most of the men and
women of our time who are doing the
mightiest work in merchandise. in me
chanics. in law. in medicine. i'll theology,
in legislative and congressional halls,
and all the presidents from Washington
down-at least those who have amount
ed to anything-is because they were in
those country districts of necessity kept
on plain diet.
No man or woinan ever amounted to
anything who was brought up ON float
ing island or angel cake The world
must turn bacl. to paradisiac diet if il is
To get paradisiac morals and paradisiac
health. The human race today needs
more phosphoros. and the fish Is charged
and surchargcd with phosphorus -phos-
phorus. that which shines i'll the dark
without burning.
What made the - apostles such stall
wart men that they could endure any
thing and achieve everything: Next 10
divine inspiration, il WAS because they
were nearly all fishermen and lived on
fish and few plain condiments Paul.
though not brought mp to swing the net
and throw the line must of necessity
have adopted the diet of the population
among whom he lived and you see the
phosphorus in his daring plea before
Felix. and the phosphorus In his boldost
Of all utterances before the wiseacres on
Mars hill. and the phosphorus as he
went without fright to his beheading.
and tho phosphorus you see in the lives
Of all tho apostles who moved right on
undnunted to certain martyrdom, wheth-
er to'bc decapitated or flung off preci-
piccs or hung in crucifixion.
Phosphorus, shining in the dark with
out burning. No man or woman that
ever lived was independent of questions
Of diet. Let those who by circumstances
are compelled to simplicity of diet thank
God for their rescue from the tempta-
tion of killing delicacies. The men and
women who are to decide the drift of the
Goth century, which is only seven or
eight steps or. are now five miles back
from the rail station and had for break
fast this morning similar bill of fare
to that which Christ provided for the
fishermen disciples on the banks of Lake
Galilec.
Indeed the only articles Of food that