Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-01-13
REV. DR.. TALMAGH.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divines Sun.
day Sermon.
subject, "eod Among the Birds"


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 waiting for the coming back Of
rich plumes and warbling VOICES. solos,
duets. quartetes. cantatas and re Deums.
But the Bible is full Of birds at all seasons
snd prophets and patriots and apostles. and
Christ Himself, employ them for moral and
religious purposes. Ny text is an extract
from the sermon on the mount. and perhaps
u was at a moment when flock OF birds
few Fast that Christ waved His hand toward
them and said. Behold the fowls Of the ARR
And so IN this course Of sermons on Col
everywhere preach 10 you this third SER
mon concerning the Ornithology OF the .
Bible: or, God Among the Birds.
Most OF the other cienceS YOU may study
or not study as YOU Please Use your own
judgment exaTc Sc your own taste But
about this science of ornith0logy We have
no option. The divine command is positive
when 1t SAYS in my text, Behold the fowls
OF the air. That is, stu lv their habits.
Examine their colorS. Notice their speei.
See the hand o. Col in their construction.
IL is easy for RE TO obey the command OF
the text, for l was brought up among the
race Of wings and from boyhood heard their
mathis at sunrise and their veSpers at sun
set.
Then nests have been to me fascination
and my satisfaction is that ! never robbed
one Of them any more than would steal a
child from cradle, for a bird is child of
the sky. and its nest is the cradle. They are
almost human, for they have their loves and
hates, Abilities AMI antipathieS, understand
JOY and grief. have conjugal and maternal
instinct, wage wars and entertain jealouieS,
have a language of their own and powers of
association. Thank God for birds and skies
full of them 1t is useless to ex ,ect 70 IN.
derstand the Bible unless we study natural
history.
Five hundred and ninety-three times does
the Bible alluie 20 the facts or natural his.
tory, and DO not wender that it makes 50
many illusions OrnitholOgical The skies
and the caverns OF Palestine are friendly to
the winged creatures, and 50 many fly and
roost ami nest and hatch in that region that
inspired writers DO not have far to 90 to get
OrnithOlOgicll illustration Of divine trutn
There are over FORTY species Of birds recog-
nized in the Scriptures
Oh, what a variety OF wings in Palestine!
The dove the robin the eagle, the corno-
rant or punging bird, hurting Itself from
sky " wave ana with lOuS beak cutchiny
its prey; "a, thrusa. winch especially dis.
likes a crow the parIriiges the hawk,
bold and ruthless towering head to wind
ward while watch u Tor prey. the swan, At
home among the marshes aud with feet 50
constructed II can walk on the leaves OF wa
ter plants: the raven, the lapNiny, malO Tor.
Gus ana In the Bible denounced as inedible,
though It has extraordinary headdreSs;
the storG, the ossiirage. that always
had habit of dropping On stone the turtle
It had lifted AMI SO killing It tor food, AMI
on one occasion mistoOS the bald head OF .
Kschylus, the Greek poet, for Write stone,
and dropped a turtle upon It. killing ths
famous Greek: the cuckoo, with crested P
heal and crimson throat and wings snow
tippej, but too lazy 10 build its own ncs,,
and so having the habit OF depositinS ITS .
eggs in nests belonging 10 other biri' the
b.uaiav. the grOuse the pOyer, the maybe
the Ringfsher the pelican, watch Is the carr +
cature ii all the festhered creation; the owl,
the goliAach. the oitterD, the hlrrier, the .
bulbuL the osprey; the vulture, that king OF .
scavengers, with neck covered with repulslye
Gown instead ofattractive feathers; theQulr.
relsoms startling; the swallow, flying mile a .
minute and sometimes ten hours IN success i
siop; the Leron, the quail the peacock, the os- T
trich. the larf, the crow, the kite the Bat
the blackbirl and many Others, with ell .
co.Ors, all sounds, ali styles OF flight, ali .
habits all architecture Of nests leaving
nothing wanting in suggestlyeness. They
were at the creation placed ali around on
the rocks and in the trees and on the ground f
10 serenaGe Adams arrval. 1ney took
their places on FRIDAY. as tae first man was
made on Saturday Whatever else he hal .
or did not have, be should nave music. The
first sound that struck the human ear was .
birds voice.
Yes. Christion scology-for you know
there Is a Christian geology as well as an IN
fdel geO.ogy-Christian geology comes in .
anu helps the Bible show what we owe to 7
the bird creation Before tue human rGc3 .
came into this world the world was occupied .
by reptiles ami D. all sorts Of destructive
monsters-milliOus of creatures. loathsOme
and hideous. God sent huge birds 70 clear
the earth OF these creatures before Alan
ana Eve were createt. The remains Of these
birds nave been found im5eddei in tina
rocks. The skeleton Of one eagle has been .
found twenty feet in hei INT and fifty feet
from tip of wing to tip OF wing. Many ar .
mics OF beaks and claws were necessary to /
clear the earth Of creatures that would have
DESTROYED tue human race with one clip. .
like 10 find this harmony OF revelation and 4
science. and 70 have deuonstra ted that the
God who made the world made the Bible.
Moses the greatest lawyer of ali time and
a great man for lac.s, hal enough senti-
ment and poetry aud musical taste t. well
come the illuminated wings an the voices
diviuely drilled into the first chapter OF
Genises How should Noah, the old ship
carpenter, go years o. age, find CUT when
the world was fit again for human residence
after the universal freshet, A bird will
tel, and nothing else car. No man can
come down from the mountain to invite
Noah and his family Gu. 30 terra hrma, tor
the mountains we're submerged. As bird
first heralde1 the human race into the
world, now 8 bird will help the human race
back to the world that had shipped sea
that whelmed everything.
Noah stands on Sunday morning at tina Z
window Of the arr, in his hand a cooling
dove, so gentle. 50 iuroc,nt so atfsc iOnate,
and be said: Nov, my little dove, fly away
over these waters, explore and come back
and tell us whether il is safe 20 lsni.' After
a long Eight Il returned hungry an weary
and wet, and by its looks and manners said
10 Noah and his family: The worli is not
it for you to disembark' Noah waite a
week. and next Sunday morning he let the
dove fly again for a second exploration and
Sun ay evening Il came back with q leaf
that mad the sign OF Just having been
p.ucsei from a living fruit tree. and The
bird reported the rid would do tolerably
well for bird 70 i've in, but not yet suih-
cient.y recovered for human residence.
Noah waited another week, and Dext Sun
day morning he sent out the dove on the
third exploration, but u returned not. for 1t
found the world 30 attractive now it did not
want 10 be cagei again, and then ths
emigrants from the antediluvian world
lsnaed. II was a bird that told them when
to take possession OF the resuscitatel planet.
SO the human race were saved by BIRDS
wing, for, attempting to land too soon they
would have persisted.
Aye, here comes a whole flock Of doves
rock doves, ring doves, stock doves-anl
they make Isaiah think OF great revivas
and great awakenings when souls fly Tor
shelter Ike a flock Of pigeons swooping to
the opening Of a pigeon coon, and he cries
out, Who are these that fy as doves TO
their windowsT David with Saul after
him. and flying from cavern to cavern, COM
pares himself 70 a desert partridge, bird
which especially haunts rocky places. and /
boys and hunters to this day take after il
with stick, for the partridge runs rather
than flies
David. chased ani clubbai and hlrrisd OF /
ursuers. saws II am hunted as a partridge
on the mountains" Speaking Of his forlorn
condition. he says. 81 am like a pelican in
the wilderness" Describing his loneliness
he saws, II am swallow alone on the house
tor" Hezekiab in the emaciation of his
sickness, compares himself 10 a crane. thin
and wasted Jo5 had so much trouble he
coul not sleep nights. and he describes his
insomlia bv saying. 81 am companion TO
owls" Isaiah compares the desolations Of
bsnish ed Israel 10 an owl AMI bittern aud
cOrmorant anon n city's ruins.