Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-09-02
Parliament of Beasts.

ural amphithe of the forest con-
yention of animals and gorilla from
western Africa came in with his club
and pounded "Order" Then be sat
down in a chair Of twisted forest root
The delegation of birds came in and
took their position in the galleries Of
the hills and the tree tops. And a dele.
CATION Of reptiles came in, and they
took their, position in the pit of the val
I ley. And the tiers of rocks were occu-
/ pied by the delegation Of intermediate
animals, and there was a great aquari.
UNI, and a canal leading into it, through
which came the monsters Of the deep
20 join the great convention. And on
one table Of rock there were four or five
primal germs under a glass case, and in
a cup on another table Of rock there
was quantity Of protoplasm. Then
this gorilla of the African forest with
his club pounded again, "Order, orderw
and then he cried out: "Oh. you great
throng Of beasts and birds and reptiles
and insects l have called you together
10 propose that we move up into the
human race and be beasts no longer.
Too long already have we been hunted
and Gagged and harnessed. We shall
stand it no longer" At that speech the
whole convention broke out into roars
of enthusiasm like as though there
were many menageries being fed by
their keepers, and it did seem as if the
whole convention would march right
up and take possession Of the earth and
the human race But an old lion arose.
his name white with many years, and
he uttered his voice, and when that old
lion uttered his voice all the other
beasts Of the forest were still, and he
said: peace, brothers and sisters Of
the forest. | think. we have been placed
in the spheres for which We were in
tended. l think our Creator knew the
place that was good for US" He could
proceed no further, for the whole con-
vention broke out in an uproar like the
house Of commons when the Irish ques-
tion comes up or the American congress
the night of adjournment. and the rep
tiles hissed with indignation at the
leonine Gambetta, and the frogs croak-
ed their contempt and the bears growl-
ed their contempt, and the panthers
snarled their disgust and the insects
buzzed and buzzed with excitement, and,
though the gorilla of the African forest
with his club pounded, Order, order,
there was no order, and there was
thrusting out of adderine sting, and
swinging of elephantlne tusk, and
stroke Of beak, and a swing Of claw, I'M
til it seemed as if the convention would
be massacred.
Just at that moment at the door OF
this natural amphitheater Of the forest
the curtain of the leaves lifted, and the
bolts and bars Of the tree branches were
showed back, and there appeared Agas-
siz and Audubon and Silliman and
Moses. And Agassiz cried ont: "Oh,
you beasts Of the forests, have studied
your ancestral records and found you
always have been beasts, you always
will be beasts Be contented 70 be
beasts" A" And Audubon aimed his gun
at baldheaded eagle, which dropped
from the gallery and as it dropped
struck serpent that was winding
around one Of the pillars to get up
higher. And Silliman threw rock OF
the tertiary formation at the mammals.
and Moses thundered, Every beast
after its kind, every bird after its kind,
every fish after its kind" And. 10, the
parliament Of wild beasts was prorogued
and went home to their constituents,
and the bat flew cut into the night, and
the lizard skunk under tie rock, and
the gorilla went back to the jungle, and
hungry wolf passing out ate up the
primal germs and a clumsy buffalo up
set the protoplasm, and the hon went
TO his lair, and the eagle went to his
eyrie, and the whale went to his palace
of crystal and coral, and there was
peace-peace in the air, peace In the
waters, peace in the fields Man in his
place, the beasts Of the earth in their
places
Brutalizing Tendencies.
But, my friends, evolution is not only
infidel and atheistic and absurd it is
brutalizing in its tendencies. II there
is anything in the world that will make
a man bestial in his habits, it is the
idea that he was descended from the
beast. Why, according to the idea OF
these eyolutionists. we are only su-
perior kind of cattle, sort of Alderney
among other herds To be sure, we
browse on better pasture, and we have
better stall and better accommodations,
but then we are only Southdowns
among the great focks Of sheep. Born
of beast, to die like beast, for the
evolutionists have no idea of future
world. They say the mind is only su-
perior part Of the body. They say our
thoughts are only molecular formation
They say when the body dies the whole
nature dies The slab of the sepulcher
is not a milestone on the journey up
ward, but a wall shutting us into eter-
nal nothingness. We ali die alike-the
COW, the horse, the sheep. the man, the
reptile Annihilation is the heaven OF
the evolutionist. From such stenchful
and damnable doctrine turn away.
Compare that idea of your oriein-an
idea filed with the chatter Of apes and
the hiss of serpents and the croak OF
frogs-to an idea in one or two stanzas
which quote from an old book Of moro
than Demosthenic or Homeric or Dan
tesque power: "What is man that thou
art mindful Of him, and the son OF man
that thou visitest himl Thou hast made
him a little lower than the angels and
hast crowned him with glory and hon.
or. Thou madest him to have dominion
over the works Of thy hand; thou hast
put all things under his feet, all sheep
and oxen-yea, and the beasts OF the
field, the fowl of the air and the fish OF
Il IS. a and whatsoever passeth through
tho paths Of the seas. o Lord, our
Lord, how excellent is thy name In all
tho Garth ~