beaks. Having executed their sentence, they speedily disappeared.—The Popular Science Monthly.
(611)
Covenant—See Blood, The Tie of.
COWARDICE
We see by the following account of English sparrows that any coward may seem brave when he is with the majority:
The English sparrow has been called pugnacious.
He is nothing of the kind. He
does not love a fight. Bird to bird, there is
nothing too small to whip him. I have seen
a chipping sparrow, which is the least among
the pasture sparrows, send the poltroon
scurrying to shelter with all his feathers
standing on end. A cock bluebird, fighting
like a gentleman, and like a gentleman fighting
only when he must, will drive a half-dozen
of them. The English sparrow has
the true instincts of the browbeating coward,
and loves to fight only when in overwhelming
numbers he may attack a lone pasture bird
without danger to himself.—Winthrop
Packard, "Wild Pastures."
(612)
Craziness Indicated—See Concert, Lack of.
Crazy Spells—See Absent-mindedness.
CREATION, A WITNESS OF
Ruskin finds God's witness in creation in contemplating a leaf:
If you ask an ordinary botanist the reason
of the form of a leaf, he will tell you it is a
"developed tubercle," and that its ultimate
form "is owing to the directions of its vascular
threads." But what directs its vascular
threads? "They are seeking for something
they want," he will probably answer.
What made them want that? What made
them seek for it thus? Seek for it, in five
fibers or in three? Seek for it, in serration,
or in sweeping curves? Seek for it in servile
tendrils, or impetuous spray? Seek for it
in woolen wrinkles rough with stings, or in
glossy surfaces, green with pure strength
and winterless delight? It is Mr. Ruskin
who asks these questions: and it is Mr.
Ruskin who adds, "There is no answer."
(613)
Creation, Intelligence in—See Design in Nature.
CREATION, JOY IN
God's heart must laugh a mighty laugh of
joy every spring and summer time. Oh, man!
don't you think you would laugh if you could
make a leaf—not a great big green oak or
maple-leaf, but just a wee, modest, unpretentious
leaf, and yet a real leaf? Now,
wouldn't you thrill with joy to the ends of
your finger-tips if you could make just one
leaf? And well you might, for never yet
was born the man who could make a leaf
without God doing the major part of the
work.
And yet every spring God grows a million leaves and flowers out in the cornfields, back in the forests, down in the meadows of earth. Why, truly God is right down here among us watching things grow, going through the corn-fields and laughing to the rustling music of the green blades of silken corn.—F. F. Shannon.
(614)
Creatorship—See Life, Source of Man's.
CREATURE, A NEW
The author of that noble hymn, "The God
of Abraham praise," was Thomas Olivers,
the Welsh Methodist evangelist, popularly
known as "the cobbler of Tregonan," but
who became a signal instance of the power
of grace to change the heart and to quicken
genius. Left an orphan early in life, he
grew up neglected in learning and morals,
and became known as the worst character
in all the country round. But a sermon by
George Whitefield, at Bristol, entirely
changed the character of the young man,
and the current of his life. Of that change
he himself said: "When that sermon began,
I was one of the most abandoned and
profligate young men living; before it ended
I was a new creature. The world was all
changed for Tom Olivers."
(615)
Credentials, Negative—See Realism, Refraining from.
Credentials of Merit—See Appreciation
of Character.
Credit Refused—See Need, Refused in
the Hour of.
CREEDS, INSECURITY OF
It is natural to desire a few firm and unshakable
beliefs. If we can only formulate
the eternal verities and tuck them away in
pigeon-holes ready to our hand when wanted,
we feel a certain sense of security. To run
