138

THE REMEDY OFFERED TO ALL.

most unlettered of us all may be saved by simple faith in the words of the Book of Life, "GOD so loved the world, that He gave His Only-begotten SON, to the end, that all that believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (S. John iii. 16.)

CHAPTER XV.

"IT IS A HAPPY WORLD AFTER ALL."-GOD'S GOODNESS EVEN IN APPARENT EVIL.-THE DEATH OF ANIMALS PERFECTLY CONSISTENT WITH THIS VIEW.SO ALSO DISEASE AND LABOUR, AND EVEN OUR OWN DEATH.DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN, BUT ALSO THE GATE OF HEAVEN.

"It is a happy world after all," said Paley, as he contemplated the various tribes of animals enjoying their brief existence; the lambs sporting on the hill side, the cattle grazing in the rich pastures, the swallows skimming with rapid wing over the surface of the meadow, the gnats dancing up and down and enjoying

"The summer eve's serenity."

And yet Paley was well aware, and had it in his mind at the time, that the swallows were gobbling up the gnats by dozens, snatching one partner from another, it might be, in the midst of the merry dance; and that the lambs and oxen were fattening for the butcher. Still he judged, and judged rightly, that their brief existence was a

140 THE WORLD FULL OF GOODNESS,

boon kindly given them by the great and beneficent Creator.

In this opinion he agreed entirely with the Psalmist "O LORD, how manifold are Thy works; in wisdom hast Thou made them all. The earth is full of Thy riches. So is the great and wide sea also, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. . . . These wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season. When Thou givest it them, they gather it; and when Thou openest Thine hand they are filled with good.”

Our gloomy modern philosophers take a different view. They see in the short life, and premature death of animals, and specially in the preying of animals on each other, evidence rather of an evil, than of a beneficent Being; and deny the existence of a merciful God and FATHER, the Maker and Governor of the world, and all things in it.

I scarcely think, however, that the philosophers are quite serious or consistent in this matter, or deserve grave confutation. They cannot think the carnivorous propensities of animals so very dreadful, as they say. Imagine a party of philosophers, after having partaken of a good dinner-fish, flesh, and fowl, and all the delicacies of the season-proceeding to discuss the shocking cruelty of animals being created to prey upon

THOUGH ANIMALS EAT EACH OTHER. 141

each other. I think they must laugh in their sleeves, like the Roman augurs, and feel that their discussion was all a pretence. Or, to imagine another case: suppose a philosopher saying to his wife, "My dear, how could you be so cruel and thoughtless as to send beef-tea to that poor sick man, or calves'-foot jelly ?"

"The doctor said it would do him good."

"I have no doubt it would do him good; but you should have considered that you were unnecessarily making yourself an accomplice in the shocking system of animals preying on each other. Think only on the poor calf—

'Licking the hand just raised to shed his blood.'

"O, you dear, good, silly man," said the wife, patting her husband's cheek, "it was a lamb, not a calf;" whereupon poor philosopher is "shut up," and has not a word more to say. Evidently the lady was the stronger-minded of the two.

What makes philosophers do and say such silly things is, that they have got a notion in their heads that all things must be wrong which they cannot explain or account for. The world, both moral and material, is a vast and mingled scene of mystery: good and evil are mixed up together. There are manifest and abundant marks of God's great goodness and kindness to

142

ENJOYMENT OF THE SENSES.

His creatures-the most elaborate contrivances for their happiness-not for their subsistence only, but for their enjoyment of life. Almost everything bears witness to God's goodness. Each sense which God has given us has provision made for its gratifications. Our sight, for instance. GOD might have made all things of one dull, gloomy colour. Instead of which, He has clothed the landscape with bright hues, and has painted each flower of the field and bird of the air with beautiful colours, mainly, as it would seem, to give pleasure to the eye. Sound might have been all one monotonous note; but God has imparted the power of harmony to sounds, that men may sing His praises, and experience the exquisite delight of music. Taste might have been nauseous, or pleasant, or indifferent; and GOD has given a pleasant taste to our ordinary food.

Still it is undeniable that there are also disagreeable things in this life, which it is difficult to reconcile theoretically with perfect goodness. The feeding of animals on each other may be one of these things. Believers in the Bible accept without scruple the permission which God gave to Noah-"Every living thing which liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." They have no doubt that sheep and oxen, fish and fowls were intended to be the food of man. They see no cruelty what