BIRDS ON HATS, ETC. 83 
widest sense? Are there not many preachers of the 
Gospel who are ignorant of nature, from which their 
Master could draw so many great and beautiful lessons ? 
Ministers and churches have, indeed, taken up the 
battle for the dumb creatures that man has forced into 
servitude so that he himself might reach higher and 
nobler aims, but of our dumb kin of woods and fields it 
is still true that “the whole creation groaneth and tra- 
vaileth in pain together until now.” If our science is 
of the right kind and if our Christianity is more than a 
custom, then let. our sympathy and mercy come forth 
and speak for all of our Father’s children that cannot 
speak for themselves. 
Nor need we go back to the prophets and apostles of 
Israel; the seers have lived and many are still living 
in our midst. Have we heeded them? Read the fol- 
lowing lines from Longfellow, who never believed that 
the higher and stronger being should merely act the 
part of the brutal conqueror. 
“Then the little Hiawatha 
Learned of every bird its language, 
Learned their names and all their secrets, 
How they built their nests in summer, 
Where they hid themselves in winter, 
Talked with them whene’er he met them, 
Called them ‘ Hiawatha’s Chickens.’ 
“ Of all beasts he learned the language, 
Learned their names and all their secrets, 
How the beavers built their lodges, 
Where the squirrels hid their acorns, 
