The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-08
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
OUR DUMB FRIENDS, MANS REIA-
TION TO THE ANIMAL WORLD.
A short sermon by the Rev. w. J..
Hooking. Vicar Of All saints. Tuf-
nell Park, London, England.

"A righteous man regardeth the life Of his
beast, but the wicked are cruel BE We there
fore merciful.'
Il has been laid at the door of the Chris
tian religion-sometimes as a slur by the
scoffer, sometimes as an indictment by the
skeptic, sometimes as q matter of the deep
est regret by Christians themselves-that
the animal kingdom outside man finds no
recognition in its creeds, its moral maxims
or its ethical dogmas; that animals are
seldom mentioned except as the servants
of or as food for the lord of creation
Sir Edwin Arnold says: "Al Christian
peoples stand for the most part a sadly long
way behind those of the East in their con-
duct to animals. Good Buddhists never in
tentonaIly take away life at ALL By a
single decree of Mohammed the whole of
Islam acts a thousand times more kindly
10 animals than Christendom"
1t is narrated of Mohammed that one day
young Mecan peasant brought to him two
young pigeons which the feathered mother
had followed all the way from the nest
Sec said Mohammed, "she has more
courage than the stoutest of my spearsmen!
She braves instant death for her younglings!
DO you dream Allah created the heart of
a dove like this, that you should carelessly
spill the love and life forth from it at your
fancy? l bid ye give back her couplets to
that mother-brd, and henceforth never shall
any true believer presume to STAY bird or
beast for food without first asking pardon
from God and patience for the victim. re-
peating these words: In the name of God.
the compassionate" To the credit of Mo-
hammedanism be it said that never since
that day has any devout Mussulman tasted
the flesh of bird or beast over which the
hallal has not thus been pronounced Is
there not tenderness enough in our Chris
tan sentiment to effect similar thing?
Are the followers of the gentle Christ to be
less gentle than the Mussulman?
! want you to think Of mans relation to
the animal world. And first grasp this fact.
that man and every other living creature
have a common origin 1 do not care what
theories you hold as to life development; /
DO not care whether you follow Moses or
Darwin in accounting for the phenomena of
life upon earth--this is a fact which cannot
be gainsaid, that man shares with every
animal that lives the primal and the con-
stituent elements of life
SURPRISING SIMILARITY.
Wondrous similarity also exists between
many of the organs and organic functions
IN man and those of other animals Speak
ing of ourselves, we say, in the language
of the old Hebrew poet, For l am fearfully
and wonderfully nader but the smallest
insect that spreads its gossamer wings under
the glowing rays of the summers sun
equals, if it does not surpass us in the
fearfuness and wonderfuiness of its crea-
ton. There is evidence of as much creative
skill, as much marvellous design, in the bee
the butterfly the humming bird and the
eagle, as in what Shakespeare calls 1.-THE
paragon CT animals man. The denizens of
sx-a-R Il
that skim and float and fly in the vaulted
dome of heaven, vie with man in witnessing
to the studious care displayed by God in
the adaptation of faculty to function and
function to environment. As far, too, as
provision for their mere animal wants is
concerned, it is as abundant for the brute
as for the man. OF the birds of the air
Christ said: Your Heavenly Father feed
eth them" And we read also. 1.-The eyes
of all wait upon thee and thou givest them
their meat in due season. He filleth all
things living with righteousness"
Secondly, 1 want to emphasize the fact
that animals possess, along with man,
though not in the same degree, the powers
of volition for constructive, preservative and
pIeasurabIe ends.
Time was when men disputed that ami
mails had minds; instinct was allowed them,
but reason denied them. That disputation
has now been repnNved into the limbo of
dead follies. Not 70 ignore the tremendous
difference between the potentialites and
attachments of human reason and those of
the reason of the brutes we have come to
discern-and that so clearly as to leave no
room for doubt-that animals betray inteli-
gence. and in many cases of a very marked
and high degree; that they share with us
many of the finer feelings and emotions;
that they have memories; that they con-
tinually form progressive percepts that
they invent new means and methods of
gratifying their faculties for enjoyment;
and that like man, they learn by expert
ence Many animals possess a marvellous
amount of sagacity and of thoughtfulness
manifested in provision and forecast; in
courage and in self-sacrifce; in gratitude
and i'm affection even surprising those
things in man.
7 might give you d long list of mental
phenomena which man and brute share in
common though in varying degrees. But
take those Of the emotions only: Fear, sur
prise. affection, pugnacity curiosity. jeal-
ousy. anger hatred. mirthfulness. SYM
pathy. pride. resentment. grief cruelty,
beuevolence, revenge. shame. regret, deceit
and in many cases an extreme sense and
love of the beautiful. That some. or all of
these. are common to a thousand forms of
animal life nobody would deny
OTHER FACULTIES.
There is also striking evidence that some
animals possess faculties and powers which
man does not possess. and that though we
surpass them in reason. they surpass us in
other potentiaIities which-if we knew their
value-might make us envy the brute in its
possession of them. There is the dogs keen
sense of smell: and | have seen a look in
dogs eye which gave me the impression
that the dog knew or had sense of some
thing of which ! was wholly ignorant The
ant. the bee and the spider from whatever
motives they work. have certainly been
mans teacher and precursor in constructive
and adaptive methods of work; long be-
fore the human geometrician had formed
his laws, those laws existed in the brain
OF the tiny creature that constructed the
honey comb. or wove the siken webs in
the hedge-row. / should like to feel what
the lark feels when il scars to heavens
gate and sings. It's songs tell me that there
is something thrilling in its tiny bosom to
which my hrpact ie coO,nTafa ctrap0o~