The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-06-05
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVlNES SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: .The Lords Mercies."

IthtngS ana Vying Jotct, oot" yoe"9 ".e,>
and n,aidens: old men and children. let
them praise the name Of the Lord."-Psalm
c1lviii., 10, 10 and 13.
What a scene it was when last Thursday,
at the call of the President ard Governors,
this nation assembled to chant the praises Of
God But the day was too short to celebrate
the ediyine goodness Of such year. The sun
did not rise over Brooklyn until one minute
before seven o'clock that morning. and it set
four o'clock and thirty-fve minutes that
evening. What a small space Of time in
(which to mediate upon twelve months Of
benefactious. So I add to that day this
Sabbath morning service, and with the fruits
and harvests of the earth still glorifyi1g the
pulpit and the galleries, ask you to continue
fhe rehearsal of the divine goodness.
By a sublime egotism man has come to ap-
nropriate this world to himself, when the
fact is that our race is in small minority.
The instances of human life, as compared
with the instances of animal life.s are not
one to million. We shall enlarge our ideas
of Gods goodness and come to better un-
derstanding of the text if, before We coma
to look at the cup Of our blessing, we look
at the goodness Of God to the Irrational
creation.
Although nature is out of joint, yet even
in its disruption l am surprised to find the
almost universal happiness OF the animal
and the grass are most populouS with life,
you will not hear a sound Of distress unless,
berchance a heartlesS schoolboy has robbed
= birds nest, or hunter has broken birds
wing. or a pasture has been robbed Of a
aamb and there goes up bleating from the
docks.
The whole earth is filed with animal de-
tight-joy feathered and scaled and horned
and hoofed. The bee huns it; the frog
crooks it.: the squirrel chatters it; the quail
whistles it; the lark carols it; the whale
spouts it. The snail, the rhinoceros the
grizzly bear, the toad, the wasp, the spider.
che shellfish have their homely dehghts-Joy
as great to them as our joy is to US. Goat
climbing the rocks; anaconda crawling
through the jungle; buffalo plunging across
the prairie; crocodile basking in tropical sun;
the desert are so many bundles Of joy; they
do not go moping or melancholy; they are
not only half supplied; God says they are
filed with good.
The worm squirming through the sod up
turned of plowshare, and the ants racklng
up and down the hillock are happy by day
and happy by night. Take up, drop OF
water under the microscope and you find
that within it there are millions CT creatures
that swim in a hallelujah of glad
ness. The sounds in nature that are re-
pulsive to our ears are often only utterances
Of joy-the growl, the croak, the bark, the
howl. The good God made these creatures,
thinks of them ever, and will not let plow-
share turn up mole's nest, or fisher
man shook trans61 a worm, until by
eternol decree, its time has come Gods
hand feeds all these broods, and shep.
herds all these focks and tends all
these herds. He sweetens the clover top
tor the ox's taste, and pours out crys-
talline waters in messed cups OF rock
for the hind to drink out of on his way down
the crags and pours nectar into the cup. OF
the honeysuckle to refresh the humming
bird, and spreads a banquet Of hundred
fields Of buckwheat, ana lets the honey bee
put his mouth to any cup of all the banquet,
and tells the grasshopper to 20 anywhere he
Likes, and gives the hocks Of heaven the
choice OF an the grain fields. The sea ane-
none, half animal, half flower, clinging to
the rock in midocean, with its tentacles
spread to catch its food, has the owner OF the
universe to provide for it. We are repulsed
at the hideousness Of the elephant, but God,
for the comfort and convenience OF the mon
'ster, puts forty thousand distinct muscles In
his proboscis.
20 down on the barren seashore and say,
500 animal can live in this place OF desola-
tion;" but all through the sands are myraids
OF little insects that leap with happy life. l
go down by the marsh and say. In this
damp place and in these loathsome pools OF
Stagnant water there will be the quietness OF
death" but, 10! see the turtles on the rotten
qog summing themselves and hear the oo2s
quake with mutitudinous life. When the
Nnaedged robins are hungry God shows the
old robin where she can get food to put into
their open mouths.
Winter is not allowed to come until the
ants have granaried their harvest and the
squirrels have filed their cellar with nuts.
1e1o erl.o I,,rr sohr Vf-ha
may find the crocodile's eggs; and In arctic
climes there are animals that God so Law
1shly clothes that they can afford to walk
Through Snowstorms in the finest sable and
Armine and chinchilla, and no sooner is one
set of furs worn out than God gives them a
new one. He helps the spider in its archl-
tecture Of its gossamer bridge, and takes
care of the color of the butterfy's wing.
and tinges the cochineal, and helps the
moth ept Of the chrysalis.
The animal creation also have its army
and navy. The most Insignificant has its
means Of defense, the wasp its sting, the
reptile its tooth, the bear its paw, the dog
hts muzzle, the elephant its tusks, the fish
PITS scale, the bird its swift wing, the rein
deer its antlers the roe its fleet foot. we
are repelled at the thought Of sting and
Vides them for the defense Of the animals
Sights.
Yea, God in the Bible announces His care
for these orders OF creation He says that
He has heaved up Notifications for their
defense-Psalm civ, Is, THE high hills as
Arefuge for the wild goats; and the rocks
for the conies." He watcher the birds
nest-Psalm CIV, II, "As for the stork, the
fr trees are her house" He sees that the
cattle have enough grass-Psalm CIV, IA,
A'He causeth the grass to grow for the
cattle" He sees to it that the COWS and
sheep and horses have enough to drink
Psalm civ, 10. IL: "He sendeth the springs
into the valleys, which run among the
bills; they give drink to every beast Of the
deld. The wild asses Quench their thirst. "
Amid the thunders Of Sinai God uttered
the rights Of cattle and said that they should
have Sabbath. Thou shalt not do any
work, thou nor thy cattle" He declared
with infinite emphasis that the OK on the
thrashing floor should have the privilege OF
eating some OF the grain as he trod 1t out,
and muzzling was forbidden. II young
birds were taken from the nest for food, the
despoiler's life depended on the mother
Ding free. God would not let the mother
grd suffer in one day the loss Of her young
and her own liberty. And He who regarded
In olden time the conduct Of man toward
che brutes to-day looks down from heaven
and IS interested in every minnow that
swims the stream, and every rook tina,
cleaves the air, and every herd that bleat:
ornelghs or lows in the pasture.
Why did God make all these, and why
make them so happy? How account for al
this singing and dancing and friskins annie
the irrational creation? Why this heaven fo
the auimalcule in dewdrop: Why for th
condor a throne on ChimboraZo? Why tn
glitter Of the phosphorus III the ships wax
on the sea, which IS said to be only the froli
of millions of insects: Why the perpetua