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, 



