The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-08-03
The EYE OF GOD.
DIR. TALMAGE's SUNDAY SERMON
ALI Eternity Past and All Eternity to
Come on That'Retina.

TEXT: "He that formed the eye, shall he
not see?"-Psaln KEW,
The imperial organ Of the human system
Is the eve. All up and down the Bible God
honors il, extols it, illustrates it or arragns
il. Five hundred and thirty-four times it is
mentioned in the Bible. Omnipresence-
"the ewes of the Lord are in every place.
Divine care-"as the apple Of the eye The
clouds-''the eyelids OF the mornin"." r.
rererence-sthe eye that mocketh at its
father" Pride-"Oh. how lofty are their
eyes, Inattention--"the fools eye in the
ends Of the earth Divine inspection
"wheels full OF eyes" SuddeDness-"in the
twinkling of an eye at the last trump o.
ivetic sermon-''the light Of the body is the
eve This mornings text: "He that formed
the eve, shall He not see?" The surgeons. the
doctors. the anstomists and the physiolo-
gists understand much of the glories OF the
two great lights of the human face. but the
vast Inultitudes 60 on from cradle to grave
without any appreciation of the two great
masterpieces of the Lord God Almighty. II
God had lacked anything OF infinite wisdom,
He would have failed in creating the human
eye We wander through the earth trying
to sea wonderful sights, but the most Won
derful sight that we ever see is not so Won
derful as the instruments through which wo
sec il
It has been strange thing to me for forty
wears that some scientist with enough elo-
quence and magnetism did not go through
the country with illustrated lectures on caO-
vas thirty feet square to Startle and thrill and
overwhelm Christendom with the marvels OF
the human eye. We want the eye taken from
all its tstechhnicalities, and some one who shall
lay aside ell talk about the pterygomaNillary
ffssures, and the sclerotica, and the ch'asma
Of the optic nerve. and in common parlance
which you and and everybody can under
stand present the subject. We have learned
men who have been telling us what our orr
gin is and what we were On, II some one
should come forth from the dissecting table
and from the classroom Of the university and
take platform. and asking the help OF the
Creator. demonstrate the wonders OF what
we arel
If refer to tho physiological facts sug-
gested by the former part Of my text it is
only to bring out in palmer way tho theo-
logical lessons at the latter part OF my text.
s'He that formed the eye. shall He not sec?'
suppose my text referred to the human eye.
since it excels all others in structure and in
adaptation. The eyes OF fish andreptiles and
moles and bats are very simple things. be-
cause they have not much to do. There
are insects with 100 eyes. but the 100
eyes have less faculty than the human eyes.
The black beetle swimming the summer
pond has two eyes under water and two eyes
above the water, but the four insectile are
not equal to the two human. Man. placed
at the head of all living creatures, must have
supreme equipment, while the blind fish in
the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky have only
an undeveloped organ of sight, an apology
for the eye. which, if through some crevica
Of the mountain they should get into the
sunlight. might be developed into positive
eyesiSht. In the first chapter Of Genesis we
find that God, without any consultation.
created the light, created the trees. created
the fish. created the fowl. but when he was
about to make man he called convention of
divinity, as though to imply that all the
powers cf Godhead were to be enlisted in the
achievement. "Let us make man. Put
whole ton of emphasis on that word 'us.
"Let us make man" And if God called 4
called a convention of divinity to create man
think the two great questions in that con-
ference were how to create soul and how
to make an appropriate window for that en-
peror to look out Of.
See how God honored the eye before He
created it. He cried, until chaos was irradl"
ated with the utterance. "Let there bs
lichtr' In other words, before He intro
duced man into this temple of the world H.
illuminated it, prepared it for the eyesight.
And so. after the last human eye has been
DESTROYED in the final demolition Of tho
world. stars are TO fall. and the sun is to
cease ifs shining, and the moon is to turn
into blood. In other words, after the hui
man eyes are no more to be profted by their
shining. the chandeliers of heaven are to be
turned out. God, to educate and to bless
and to help the human eye. set in the mantel
of heaven two lamps-a gold lamp aud
silver lamp---the one for the day and the
other for the DiSht. To show how God hon
ors the eve, look at the two halls built for
the residence of the eyes, seven bones max
ing the wall for each eye. the seven bones
curiously wrought together. KinSly palace
Of ivory is considered rich, but the halls for
the residence of the human eye are richer by
so much as human bone is more sacred than
elephantine tusk. See how God honored
the ewes when He made roof for them. 50
that the sweat of toll should not smart them
aud the rain dashing against the forehead
should not drip into them. The eyebrows
not bending over the eye. but reaching tc
the right and to the left, so that the rain and
the sweat should be compelled to drop upon
the cheek. instead of falling into this divine
ly protected human eyesight. See how God
honored the eye in the fact presented by
anatomists and physiologists that there ara
800 contrivances in every eye. For window
shutters, the eyelids opening and closing
3S, 90 times day. The eyelashes so con-
structed that they have their selection as to
what shall be admitted, saying to the dust,
"Siay out" aud saying to the light, "Con1
in For iaside curtains the iris, or pupil Of
the eye, according as the light is greater o.
less. contracting or dilating.
The eye Of the owl is blind i'll the day
time. the eyes of some creatures are blind 1T
night. but the human eye so 1narvelous:y
constructed can see both by day and by
night. Many Of the other creatures Of God.
can move the eye only from side to SIDE,
but the human eye so marrelously con-
structed has one muscle to lift the eye, and;
another muscle to lower the eye, and an
other muscle to roll it to the right, and an
other muscle to roll il to the left, and an
other muscle passing through a pulley to
turn it round and round-an elaborate gear
ing of six muscles as perfect as God could
make them. There also is the retina,
gathering the rays Of light and passing the
visual impression along the optic nerve,
about the thickness Of the lampwick-pass-
ing the visual impression on to tho senorism
and on into the soul. What a delicate lens,
what an exquisite screen, what soft cushions,
what wonderful chemistry of the human
eye! The eye, washed by a slow stream Of
moisture whether we sleep or wake. rolling
imperceptibly over the pebble of the eye and
enptying into bone of the nostril. A con-
trivance so wonderful that it can see the
sun, 100000 miles away and the point of
q pin. Telescope ana microscope in tho
same contrivance. The astronomer swings
and moves this way and that and adjusts and
readjusts the telescope until he gets 1t to the
right focus. The microscopist moves this
way and that and adjusts and readjusts tho
magnifying glass until it is prepared to do
its work. but the human eye, without q
touch, behoids the star and the smallest in
sect The traveller among the Alps. with one
glance taking in Mont Blanc and the face OF
his watch TO seq whether he has time to
ctimbit
Oh. this wonderful camera obscura which
you and carry about with us. so to-day we
can take in our friends. SO from the top OF
Mount Washington we can take i'll New Eng