A Thousand-Mile Walk 
one big fellow that was caught young and was 
partially civilized and made to work in harness. 
Many good people believe that alligators 
were created by the Devil, thus accounting for 
their all-consuming appetite and ugliness. But 
doubtless these creatures are happy and fill the 
place assigned them by the great Creator of 
us all. Fierce and cruel they appear to us, but 
beautiful in the eyes of God. They, also, are 
his children, for He hears their cries, cares for 
them tenderly, and provides their daily bread. 
The antipathies existing in the Lord’s great 
animal family must be wisely planned, like 
balanced repulsion and attraction in the min- 
eral kingdom. How narrow we selfish, con- 
ceited creatures are in our sympathies! how 
blind to the rights of all the rest of creation! 
With what dismal irreverence we speak of our 
fellow mortals! Though alligators, snakes, etc., 
naturally repel us, they are not mysterious 
evils. They dwell happily in these flowery 
wilds, are part of God’s family, unfallen, un- 
depraved, and cared for with the same species 
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