The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-05-08
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The sluggard Advised to Study
The Ways of the Ant.


utilized for moral and RELIGIOUS pur
poses; text, Proverbs, vi, S Go to
the ant, thou s!uggsrd, consider he1
ways and be wise, which, having no
guide, overseer or ruler, rrovideth be!
meat in the summer and gathereth he1
food in the harvest"
The most of Solonon's writings have
perished. They have gone out of exist.
ence as thoroughly as the 20 books OF
Pliuy and most of the books ofiEschylus
and Euripides and Varro and Quinti-
lian. Solomon's Song and Ecc!eslastes
and Proverbs, preserved by inspiration,
are q small part Of his volum nous pro-
luctions. He was great scientist.
One verse in the Bible suggests that be
vas botanist, zoologist, an ornitholo
gist, an ichthy yolcgist aod knew slI
about reptilia. I Kings ", SO, He
spake Ct trees, from the cscs- tree tia:
is in Lebanon even unto the hyssoI
that springesh out Of the wall; he spske
also Of beasts and Of fowl and Of crsep-
ing things and Of i:hes." Besides all
these scientific works, he composed
5000 proverbs and 005 s2ngs.
Although Solomon lived long before
the microscope was constructed, be was
also an insectologist and watched and
describes the spider build its suspen'
sion bridge Of silk from tree, calling ii
the spiders web, sad he notes lis
skillful foothcld in climbing the smooth
wall Of the thronercom in Jerusalem,
saying, The spider tsketh hold with
Ter hands and is in kings palaces. u
But be is especially interested in the
ant and recommends its habits as
worthy Of study and imitation, saying,
''Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider
her ways and be wise, which, having
no guide, o7er5eer or ruler, pTovidetb
her meat in the summer and gsthereth
her food in the harvest"
But it was not until about 300 years
ago, when Jan SHammerdan, the son
of sn apothecary at Amsterdam, Bol-
land, began the study Of the ant nader
powerful lens that the full force of
S.lcmon's injunction was understood.
The great Dutch scientist, in his ez
animation Of the insect in my text, dis
covered as great a display Of the Wis
dom Of God IN its anatomy as sstTono-
mers discover in the heavens and Wss
SO absorbed and wrought upon by the
wonders he discovered in the ant snd
other insects thst bcdy aod mind gave
way, and he expired at IS years Of sge,
3 martyr of the great science Of ins:c,
tology.
No one but God could have fashioned
the insect spoken, of in the text or
given it such genius Of instinct, its wis
dom fer harvesting at the right time,
its wonders Of antenr &c. by which it
gathers food, and Of nanoibles, which,
instead Of the motion Of the human jaw
up and down in massicat!on, move from
side to side; its nervous system, its en-
largins doors in hot weather for more
sweep Of breeze, its mode Of attack and
defense, closing the gate at night
against bandit invaders; its publication
Of the earth for human residence, its
social life, its republican government,
with the consent Of the governed; its
maternal fdelities, the habit Of these
creatures Of gathering now and then
under the dome Of the ant hilloek,
seemingly in consultation, aud then
departing to execute their different
missions.
But Solomon would not commend sll
the habits of the ant, for some Of them
are SIS bad as some Of the habits Of the
human race:: Some Of these small crea-
lures desperadoes and nurderers.
Now ana then they marshal themselves
into hosts and march in straight line
and come upon an encampnent Of their
own race and destroy its occupants, ex
cept the young, whom they carry into
captivity, sn6 if the army come back
without any such csptives they. are not
permitted to enter. but are sent forth
to make more successful conquest.
Solomon gives no commentator to
such ssnguinary behavior among insects
any more than he would have COM
mended sanguinary behavior among
men. These little creatures have
sometimes wrought fearful damage,
and they have undermined q town in
New Granada, which in time msy drop
into the sbyss they have dug for it.
But what are the habits which Solo
mon would e1join when he says, Con.
slider her ways and be wise" First Of
all, providence, forethought, anticipa-
tion Of coming necessities. lam sor
~ to say these qualities are not chsrac
teristic Of all the ants. These cres-
lures Of Go6 are divided into grari7cr,
Gus and csrni7orcus. The latter are
not frugal, but the former sre frugal.
While the sir is warm and nov.Dg
about is not hindered by ice or Stow
bank they import their cargoeS Of food.
They bring in their caravan Of provi.
sions; they haul in their long train Of
wheat or corn or oAss, The farmers
are not more busy in July aad August
in resping their harvest than sre the
ants busy N July and August reaping
their harvest. They stack them away;
they pile them up. They question
when they have enough. They aggre
gate 8 sufficient amount to last them
until the next warm season. When
winter opens, they are ready. Boz,
ye winter blasts! Hang your icic.es
from the tree branches! Imbed all the
highways uDder sno"drlfts! Enough
for all the denizens Of the hills. Hun.
ger shut out, and plenty sits within.
God, who feedeth every living thing,
has blessed the ant hill
In contrast with that insectile be-
havior, what doyou think of that large
number Of prosperous en- and women
who live up to every dollar that they
make, raising their families in luxuri rs
habits and st death expecting some kind
friend to give their daughters employ
ment as music teachers or tRpewriters