boll-weevil has been known to devastate great sections in the wheat belt.
The grub kills the corn as soon as it sprouts; the potato bug, the
tobacco worm, the army worm, the Gypsy moth, celery worm, California
scale, etc., on and on, until we find that every fruit, grain or vegetable
is beset by some vermin destroyer which, if not removed or poisoned, will
sting to death, or gnaw at the vitals until they wither and die. The
horticultural kingdom must contend with imps of death until garnered
safely in the harvest.
When we examine the animal kingdom we find the same conditions obtain;
every animal from the bug to the buzzard, from the ant to the elephant,
from mice to monkeys, have a bitter struggle for existence. A
distinguished German professor has this to say, addressing the Fishery
Association of Berlin: "War is the watchword of the whole of organic
nature; there is a constant war of all organisms against outward
unfavourable circumstances, and there is a constant war among the
different individuals. The seed grain which falls into the ground, the
worm crawling on the earth, the butterfly hovering over the flower, the
eagle soaring high among the clouds--all have their enemies; outward
enemies threatening their existence, and enemies eating their life and
strength." Following these remarks he gave a long list of fish parasites
sufficient to destroy the whole finny kingdom.
Another eminent naturalist, speaking of the perils of insect life, said:
"With such savage murderers prowling among the shadows, life among our
singing meadows is anything but a round of pleasure. The warfare is
broadcast. Not even the fluttering butterfly is safe, but is pounced upon
in mid-air, its wings torn off in mockery, and is then lugged off to some
dark hole in the ground. And the bee returning to its hive is waylaid on
the wing, and its body is torn open for the sake of the morsel of a
honey-bag within."
Still another scientist tells us: "The microscope shows that these
murderous imps appear to have been made to inflict the most excruciating
torture upon their victims." He makes special mention of the sand hornet:
"He is the greatest villain that flies, and is built for a professional
murderer. He carries two keen scimitars, besides a deadly poisoned
poniard, and is armed throughout with a coat of mail. He lives a life of
tyranny and feeds on blood."
Every drop of water is swarming with hideous creatures which, if
sufficiently magnified, would be frightful beyond description; the air we
breathe is surcharged with death: infecting organisms which, if the system
in the slightest degree becomes unable to eliminate them, bring on
dreadful diseases. We must fight for our physical life daily. But for the
immunity provisions of Providence, our bodies may be a charnal house, at
any moment, of billions of bacilli hastening our end. These are stern
facts which face every student of biology or natural history.
As a professor has well said, "He, therefore, who objects to the teaching
of the sacred Scriptures concerning Satan and demons, and appeals to the
Cæsar of the natural world, can get no help, for that Cæsar echoes back
with thunder tones that there are myriads of living, malignant and
destructive organisms in every realm of nature, so far as is known, or so
far as one can reason from analogy, that, like Satan and demons, trouble
and torment the innocent as well as the guilty; that in some instances
these malignant organisms appear to inflict suffering for the sheer
delight of doing it."
What is the conclusion of the whole matter: The existence of Diabolus and
demonia is a fact of Revelation verified by both science and philosophy.
_Printed in the United States of America_