The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1900-02-03

What can il no, do9 It 4 climb it
lit, Il can push, IL can repe'' u
,an menace, Il can clutch, It can deny
il can affirm, Il can extend It can
weave. II eau battle, il can smite, II a
humble. il can sxalt, il can soothe' II
can throw, Il eau defy, Il ean wave
4, can ~impreeate. Il can pray.
A skeleton Of the hand traced on
blackboard. or unrolled in diagram or
hung in medical museum, is nightly
illustrative OF the divine wisdom and
goodness, but how much more pleas
Ing when In living action all its nerves
and muscles and bones and tendons
and tissues and phalanges display
what God invented when He invented
the human hand. Two specimens OF
II we carry at our side from the time
when in infancy we open them to take
a TOW tim in the last hour OF a long life
We extend them In bitter farewell.
With the divine help | shall speak
OF the hand as the chief executive Off
GER Of the soul, whether lifted for de
Tense, or extended for help, or busted
In the arts, or offered In salutatiou, or
Sruns in despair. or spread abroad In
bepedic,ion. God evidently intended
ali the lower orders Of living beings
should have weapons Of defense, and
hence the elephants tusk. and the
horses hooi, aud the cows horn, and
the lions tooth. aud the Insects sting
Having given weapons OF defense TO
the lower orders Of living beings OF
course He would not leave man, the
highes; order Of living beings on earth,
deienseless and at the mercy Of brutal
or rufian attack. The right, yea, the
duty Of self-defense Is so evident Il
needs no augmentation. The hand
Is the divinely fashioned weapon OF
defense. We may seldom have TO use
II for such purposes, but the fact that
we are so equipped insures safety.
The hand is a weapon sooner loaded
than any gun, sooner drawn than any
sword. Its fingers bent into the PALM
II becomes q bolt Of demolition. Sol
omou speaks Of the hands as the
keepers Of the house." or the defend
ers. Surely such a castle as the hui
man body needs such protection as the
hand alone can offer.
What a defense II is against acci-
drutl There have been times 10 ell
u experiences when we have with
the hand warded of something that
would have extinguished u eye
sight. or broken the skull, or crippled
US for a lifetime. While the eye has
discovered the approaching peril, the
hand has beaten ii back, or struck II
down, or disarmed 1t. Every day thank
God for your right hand, and II you
want to hear lis eulogy ask him who
10 swift revolution OF machinery has
had II crushed, or at Chspultepec OF
South mountain or San Juan hill OF
Sedan lost H.
And In passing let me say that be
who has the weapon OF the hand un'
injured and In full use needs no other.
You towards who walk with sword
cane or carry a pistol in your hiT
pocket had better lay aside your dead.
ly weapon. At the frontier, or in bar
barous lands, or as an officer OF The
law about to make arrest. such
srming may be necessary. but DO citi
rem moving in these civilized region'
needs such reinforcement. II you ar,
afraid to 90 down these streets oil
along these country roads without
dagger or firearms, better ask youI
grandmother to go with you armed
with scissors and knitting needle
What towards, u not intended muir
derers, uselessly to carry weapons o
DEATH In our two hands God gave u
all the weapons We need to carryl
Again. the hand Is the chief exec
uiVe officer OF the soul for sfiordinl
help. Just see how that hand is con
strueied. How easily you can love-
It TO raise the fallen. How easily !
Is extended to feel the invslld's pulse