The Newtown bee., 1895-05-17

the cOlueSt WluGeT. OpOA buls WdbcIy continent grow great forests which have nc roots and bright Bowers innumerable | waited everywhere and never suffering | from drouth. The sea is desert; but l yet in this desert are things creeping in- numerable, both small and great beasts. A drop of water is world within whose | depths float animalculae unnumbered with room enough to spare, and through the collected drops of the ocean swim the mighty leviathan of the deep and creatures greater than the land ever knows. The sea is Gods great provis- wind sweeps over your meadow, not seed germinates in the moist ground,
 NOT A VINE
 puts forth it's young shoots and green tendrils, not dew-head sparkles on single grass-spire, but does all this be- cause of the rich beneficence of the sea.
 Again, think of God as One who loves all that is beautiful, as One who has placed the beautiful everywhere in Nature about us and has set the love for the beautiful within us, that we may en- joy all His marvellous works; and dis cern this beauty in the sea. Have you ever stood on the stern of great ship after nightfall and watched the wake of phosphOrescent foam that stretched far away to the rearward? This is one of | the pleasing wonders of the deep. The phosphorescence is caused by little crea- | lures which, like fire-fies and glow worms on the land, have the power of emitting light, some in flashes, some in steady glow. These little creatures are invisible to the naked eye, but they are as multitudiuods as the sand and beautiful as the stars. It is beautiful l (there is no other way to describe it), the waves tipped with flame and covered wiGh sheets of light.
 Then there is the beautiful color of the sea. We speak of s'the deep blue sea"-the seq is seldom deep blue. Take a tumblerful of seawater and hold it to- the light; it is clear as purest crystal. When, however, collected in the ocean depths, it generally has here and there patches of red, white, yellow or crimson tinge, imparted by the color of the bot tom, the shadow of the clouds, the in- iads of organisms that make the sea their home. What was it that delighted our touring party most as we were land ing at the Bermudas? Was it that once again we should press firm soil, after our night of fearful storm, after having been snatched, as it were, from the jaws of the deep? Was it that we had left the pitiless winter of our northern homes far away and were entering land of perennial freshness and bloom? Did ex- clamations expressive of such thoughts come as in small boats we left our big ship and made for the harbor of St George? No, not at all, but expressions like these: Why, did you ever see water coiored like that? Isn't it beauti- full? We'll, that's worth passing through the storm to see." And well might we give evidence of joy, for such MARVELLOUS TINTING OF WATER
 and glinting of light and shade perhaps nowhere else are found. The Bermudas are coral islands, built up by sea-anemones, the tiny masons of the deep. Under the water there are millions on millions of these small workmen, stretching for miles on miles, building up at last great reefs of rock and whole islands. All these islands grow from one common root, which branches again and again, each branchlet bearing hundreds of liv- ing creatures, so that the whole island is one creature and yet millions. This working of these tiny masons of the deep is the best illustration I know of the great law of sacrifice, each little creature losing it's life and yet saving it, itself dy- ing but it's life going on in the mighty lands piled up that withstand the most furious shocks Of the oceans storm. Il The sea is filled with beauty, in it's manifold life, in it's varied conch-shells, in it's white caps of foam, in it's reflection of sky and stars, in it's rippling waves of color and dancing pillows of light. And this teaches me that God wishes us to surround ourselves with that which is beautiful; beautiful homes however plain they may be, beautiful churches however small the outlay that is at our disposal, beautiful garments for ourselves and children however little we can afford to spend. God loves that which is beauti- ful. Beautiful faith of childhood, beau tiful purity of maidenhood and woman hood, beautiful love for each other of those who are truly welded, beautiful life of unselfish devotion to others good, beautiful peace at life's ending, beautiful hope in dying, and beautiful bliss of Heaven-all these find suggested in the beauty of the sea.
 Then, too, think of God as a God of power, and this quality of the Infinite discover in the sea. Man has done great things. He has caught the | lightning from the clouds, has tanned and harnessed it and compelled it to run his messages and dc his service he has tun- neled mountains and bridged seas and leveled hills; he has sounded the depths of ocean, has measured the stars, has weighed them as in balance, and has followed the thoughts of their Creator along the shining pathway of blazing worlds.
 | ALL THIS MAN
 has done in illustration of his genius and his strength, but none of his achieve l ments speak for him greater praise than