Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-05-13

II.
The poisonous snakes are 60 kill. but
not those that are not poisonous. The
snakes We have around here. for the
most part. are a great blessing TO the
farmers. They kill the bugs and in
sects which destroy the crops Snakes
are not always the enemy. but often
the friend. OF man" Yes. my brother
We should not only leave the OK I'M
muzzled upon the thrashing floor. be-
cause the laborer Is always worthy OF
bis hire. but the sheep and oxen and
cattle and horses and birds and fishes.
and sometimes even the snakes, are
laborers we have.
The Love OF Animals.
Again. l assert that we should honor
the Humane Society OF America be-
cause i sometimes think that the birds
of the air, as well as the beasts OF the
earth, may have an ardor OF affection
even greater than that Of man If that
loving power of the heart is ever al
lowed to develop. | believe that dog
can love as man can love. | believe
a horse can love as n man can love.
and a bird also. We should be very
careful lest we trample upon the
hearts of the dumb brutes. as some Of
US too often trample upon the hearts of
men. what. \ dog love as man
loves? Absurd" says some one. Is 1t
absurd? Have you never heard OF
dog dying from grief because his mas
ter died? My father once had noble
hn
from home that dog became so lonely
without my father that he refused to
eat, and literally died from grieving for
his master. Absurd! Did you never
see a dog grievfng among the chief
mourners at q funeral? Again and
again we tried to drive Beauty, little
sky terrier. out Of the room OF death.
But he would not go. Under the casket
he lay, hour after hour. Mournfully
he went from room to room after the
undertaken had carried the precious
burden away to sleep among the flow
ers. For days and weeks Beauty was
hunting. He was always hunting. He
was hunting for the dead. Have you
never had a Beauty In your homer
Is Ii absurd to suppose that the horse
and the dog. and even the bird. cannot
love as man loves7 Then why did that
little pet OF Mrs. Thomas A. Hendricks,
the wife OF the vice president OF the
United States, give a frightened cry
and fall OF her perch AND de when
her mistress one day lost her patience
and cried out to the feathered singer.
to whom she had never before spoken
q cross word; BE still. tell you,
be still!' All, those who have had low
ing pets know TO some extent the
height and the depth OF their affec-
tions! You should be kind to the dumb
brutes and the feathered companions
OF your lives because In q sense they
can love as we ourselves can love.
The World Not For Mnn Alone,
But lastly, we should be kind and
gentle and loving toward the dumb
brutes because God loves them, and
what God loves we should not despise.
i used to think that God created
this world for man. l used to think
that ell other worlds were merely
empty, burned out worlds like the
moon. ] used to think that the other
worlds were not worth the decorating
and upholstering because man was not
there. But now believe all worlds are
created as our own world was created
because God loves the beautiful and
has declared that everything he created
In the universe was good. Yes. God
hath made everything beautiful I'm his
time" In his eyes the trout spring
Ing out OF the brook and sporting In
the eddy IN good: therefore we should
not catch IL for mere wanton sport to
let IL rot upon the bank. God tuned
the throat OF the nightingale and the
lark to sing after the twilight, and I'm
Gods sight their music Is sweet. As
our Father loves the birds we should
not think IL silly TO throw n few
crumbs into the snow bank for the
snowbirds which have been caught in
the blizzard. nor to leave for our feath-
cred friends cup OF water upon the
window slll-in times OF drought.
God loves the lambs. He made the
sleeps gentleness the symbol OF a di.
vine gentleness. Christ was led as
sheep dumb before his shearers. and
as lamb at the slaughter he opened
not his mouth. God made the horse
and saw that he was good. On that
great day OF the triumph OF righteous
ness over sin Jesus. the eternal con-
queror, shall come riding down the
heavenly heights upon the white
charger OF victory. Oh. my friends, IL
God created the beasts OF the fields
and the birds or the air and the fish of
the seas and saw they were good we
should be kind and gentle and loving
toward them nil! From the dumb crea.
lures as well as from the sweet voices
or the woods we may learn some OF the
best lessons OF Christian love.
God bless the Humane Society of
America! God bless all those men and
women who are taking off the cruel
collars CALLING the necks Of the horses
suffering with sores and unhitching
horses that ara hobblipg along on de-
cayed feet! God bless the Christlike
movement which makes men treat their
dogs at least ~ kindly az they would
treat their human seemiss, God bless
all movements that would respect the
inaiienable rights OF tina sheep and the
horses and cattle which stood about
the manger en- the night that Jesns
was born! God bless all those who
would nationally and with Christian
Keeling translate to the human heart
the commandment OF my text which
says, Thou shalt not muzzle the OK
when he treadeth out the corn,'
Copyright. 1904 by Louis Kiopschl
Two Views Of One Lecture.
Ihere are manifestly two views |