5 
nest, then fluttered down to the ground, gasping and 
almost lifeless. Stephenson crossed the room to 
learn the cause, and saw a mother bird and three or 
four young ones, but all were dead. He picked up 
the poor bird at his feet, tried to nurse it into life, 
but it was of no avail; it died broken-hearted. The 
great man mourned over that bird for many a day. 
Now tell me, could the love of that bird be the 
creation of One Who was without love ? The ques¬ 
tion is absurd. You know it. All life is a sacred 
gift, and all life involves love. It is true the mani¬ 
festation of love will vary, and the depth of that love 
too, as Christ taught, “ Not a sparrow falleth to the 
ground without your Father,” but much more is His 
love for you His children. You are not ignorant of 
nature. You have heard the cry of distress which 
has filled the woods when a nest has been robbed of 
the young birds. You have seen the fear which 
animals manifest in danger. You have noted their 
terror when death threatens them. You have turned 
away that your sensitiveness might not be hurt when 
your pet poodle has met with some accident. There 
is a world of fear, of pain, of sensation as strong as 
your own in what you are pleased to call the lower 
creatures ; you cannot know anything of their lives 
without joining in the words of our great dramatist, 
“ The poor beetle that we tread upon, in corporal 
sufferance, finds a pang as great as when a giant 
dies.” St. Francis of Assisi was wont to look upon 
all beings as existing by and through God, and as 
having a portion of that Divine principle by which he 
himself existed; they were all to him as brothers 
and sisters, and ought to come within the pale of 
Christian sympathy; but of all living creatures he 
loved chiefly the birds, as being most unearthly in 
their nature. “ Blessed are the merciful,” said our 
Ford, let us remember it. 
“ He prayeth well, who loveth well, 
Both man and bird and beast. 
