CHRIST AS A HUMANE TEACHER 6 1 



condition of man and lower animals, the New Tes- 

 tament becomes the animals' Bible as well as the 

 Christians'. I make this statement with all rever- 

 ence, for we must admit that the world of reason 

 and justice is a part of the same creation, as the 

 world of matter and sense. 



The Hindoos have their Vedas ; the Mohammed- 

 ans their Koran ; the Jews their Talmud ; the 

 Christians their Bible; and the animals have their 

 consolation and hope of restoration in the teachings 

 of the New Testament. 



Christ, in His first sermon, " opened His mouth 

 and said : Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is 

 the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the merciful 

 for they shall obtain mercy." In all God's creation 

 no creatures were so " poor in spirit " as the lower 

 animals, and man cannot have his attention called 

 to a more humane expression than this : " Blessed 

 are the merciful." 



Christ's teachings are of the most humane char- 

 acter. No doctrines ever offered to this benighted 

 sin-cursed world have done more to lessen the suf- 

 fering of animals than His. The pathetic history 

 of our Saviour's life furnishes a beautiful lesson as 

 to the proper relation of man to animals. 



