Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-11-08

the AtionUc ocean becomes g ferry,
and San Francisco and New York are
made Xt-doOr neighbors. Wherever
mans magic wand is lifted the beasts
of the field. the birds of the air. the
fish of the sea. are compelled to do his
bidding. Wherever we turn we see
man intellectually supreme over the
animal, vegetable and mineral worlds.
Mans Perfect Hands.
what do you consider the most con-
spicuous sign of mans intellectual en-
inencep l once asked the most bril-
liant physicist ever knew. THAT he
can do this" he replied, touching each
| one of his fingers with the end OF his
thumb. do you know that man is
the only animal In the world that has
perfect hand2 AT the base of mans
thumb God has placed a little hypothe-
mar bone about the size of the half of
small pea. This little round ball of
bone allows man to fashion and to do.
All other animals have paws simply
for motive power. But mans suprem-
acy is revealed in bis perfect hand"
Thus whenever you look upon mans
moving thumb you can see a sign by
IOO 10 W on CAN
now mold iron, tunnel mountains, con-
quer the wild beasts of the woods, sail
across the seas, plow fields, build
cities, lift a throne which shall domi-
nate all the animal and vegetable and
mineral kingdoms. BY the Joint of
your moving thumb have given you
power to do all these things" Thus
whenever you see man, even in his
vilest and lowest form, you see an an
tmal that by the power of brain and
hand can accomplish what no other
living creature upon the face of the
earth can do. Therefore "honor all
men" Honor them ON account of their
intellectual and physical supremacy.
Honor them wherever they may be
found.
But man has more than intellectual
and physical pre-eminence to distin-
guish him from the rest of the animal
creation. He is the only being alive
today who, after he has been born, has
immortality of existence Man is the
only being to whom God has given the
assurance that when he is born he
snail live on forever. The eagle is sup
posed to be the longest lived bird. The
elephant is supposed to be the longest
lived OF the mammals. The deep sea
turtle has been known to live hundreds
of years. In the Galapagos islands. off
the western coast of South America,
there have been found living deep
sea turtles at least 500 years old
But though mans earthly life may
seem insignificant when compared to
the longevity OF a turtle, an elephant
! or an eagle. yet his Immortality stretch
es on through centuries after the
longest lived turtle has died Of old age.
Man is immortal; he never dies.
Mans Immortality.
But 1 am never more impressed with
mans Immortality than when study
his existence in the geological library
OF the rocks. When L tramp along a
country road through the dirt, as l
walk l say: This soil may soon pass
away. The spring freshets may come
| and wash it down into the valleys be-
low" When / watch the birds 1ying
overhead or the squirrels and the rab-
bits scurrying into their holes, say,
Every few years the woods have a
new generation of Inhabitants" When
l look upon the great trees of n Gala
veras grove l say, Even these trees
must die" But when look upon the
rocks, old and furrowed and with
many indentations from the storms and
the lightnings of centuries. seem to
see them forever standing there In all
their majestic grandeur. look upon
them and say: These rocks were Just
the same thousands upon thousands Of
years ago. These rocks may be stand
ing there in all their grandeur thou
sands upon thousands OF years hence
Long after i have been laid In the
grave my descendants may be camp
ing under their shadow as / am doing
now" But longer than even those
rocks VIII endure shall live. Long
after the mighty heights of the EIima-
layas are melted III the last confiagra-
ton of burning world the meanest
and the poorest and the most insignifi-
cant Of human beings who was ever
ciasped in mothers arms shall live.
We honor the vases and the rings
and the stones which have been ex-
humed from the ruins of Memphis,
Babylon and Nineveh because they are
old, no matter how filthy and dcfaced
they may be. Shall we not honor hui
man life wherever 1t is found when we
realize that man, once born, will new
er cease to exist. no matter how long
time may be? Shall we not honor the
life which shall last throughout eter-
nifty?
But there is another fact for which
we should honor the human race. God
has placed within every human heart
conscience by which man. to a great.
er or less extent. is able to distinguish
right from wrong This conscience is
10 man what the mariners compass is
TO the sailor at sea. 1t tells him what
he should do and what he ought not
TO do, where he should go and where
he ought not to go, what he should
say and what he ought not to say.
And the more the man truly follows
his conscience the more it will point
out the true ways Of life to,protect him
from the shadows and the DESTROYING
rocks of error and sin.
Mans Conscience.
Have you ever watched the wheel
man In the pilothouse steering the
ship? In all probability he viii not
see you or heed your presence while
you are watching him. his whole
mind and thought will be concentrated
upon the quivering needle in the square
box just ahead OF him. Every wave,
every current. every gust OF wind that
throws the prov of that boat even
few feet of Its course, that trembling
nesdle at once shows the change. At