grew dull
through misuse, and now they are dead. When the squirrels left the
forests in the west and journeyed out upon the open prairies, they
began to burrow in the ground. Finally, for want of use, they lost all
power of climbing. Among the birds the lazy cuckoo began by stealing
the nest another bird had built. But it paid a grievous price for its
theft, for now when the cuckoo is confined by man and wants a nest of
its own it toils aimlessly, and has lost all power to make for itself
a soft, warm nesting-place.

In northern climes the mistletoe has a healthy normal taproot. But in
our rich soil it became too dainty for dirt, and chose the life of a
parasite. So the little seed struck its outer roots into the bark of
the oak, and lazily sucked away the tree's rich sap. Soon luxury and
living upon another's life ruined the mistletoe, just as the
generation of young Romans was ruined by the father's wealth; just as
an active and healthy boy is wrecked when he begins to be a sluggard
and goes to the aunt--some rich aunt--and waits for her to die. And
since all the lower creatures bear about in the body the marks of the
full life-history, it seems natural to expect that man's body, through
its health and beauty, or weakness and decay, should tell the story of
how the soul within has lived and wrought. A short journey through our
streets will prove to us that iniquity sets its mark in the face.
Dickens describes Fagin as a man who was solid bestiality and villainy
done up in bone and tissue. Each feature was as eloquent of rascality
as an ape's of idiocy. Contrariwise, in the kingdom of morals there
are men who seem solid goodness, kindness, and virtue, bound together
with fleshly bands. Even distant ancestors leave their marks in man's
body.

It has recently been discovered that the handwriting of one of our
presidents was almost exactly that in his grandfather's will. The
Bourbon family has always been distinguished by the aquiline nose. One
of the oldest New England families is known for its singular length
and strength of arm. Beauty is a mark in one family, and size is a
mark in the other. Because man is made in the image of God we
naturally look for those divine trademarks in man's body called
comeliness and complexion, just as we look for the artist's name on
the corner of his picture, or the sculptor's name on the pedestal of
his statue. By so much as a babe's cheek is higher than the blushing
peach, it ought