CHRIST AS A HUMANE TEACHER 63 



arresting of their tortures and the righting of their 

 wrongs ? It did not merely ' happen so,' that the 

 unintelligent creatures of God should have been 

 that night in close neighborhood. Not a kennel in 

 all the centuries, not a robbed bird's nest, not a 

 worn-out horse on the tow-path, not a herd freezing 

 in the poorly-built cow-pen, not a freight car bring- 

 ing the beeves to market without water through a 

 thousand miles of agony, not a surgeon's room wit- 

 nessing the struggles of the fox or rabbit or pigeon 

 or dog in the horrors of vivisection, but has an in- 

 terest in the fact that Christ was born in a stable 

 surrounded by animals. He remembers that night, 

 and the prayer He heard in their pitiful moan He 

 will answer in the punishment of those who mal- 

 treat them." 



On many occasions Christ urges their meekness 

 and innocence upon His followers. He compares 

 Himself to an innocent dove and the meek and docile 

 lamb. "I am the door, by Me the sheep enter. 

 . . . He gathereth the lambs in His arms, and 

 carries them in His bosom, and gently leads those 

 that are with young." 



The Saviour represents the spirit of kindness 

 in the figure of the Good Shepherd. He tells His 



