Neither Henry Beston nor Mark twain, great writers though both may be, ever wrote any wordage that I can place above the Highest Authority in my life, that of the Word of God. And in that Word, in the book of Genesis, concerning the account of creation, after God created all other beings, including the birds, He created man on the sixth day. In verse 28 it is recorded that God blessed man, told them to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
This reference is not intended by me to show that by man's dominion over other living beings he has the right to abuse them. I certainly do not believe or ascribe to that. Some may feel my shooting of pigeons occasionally shows that I do. I disagree.
I referenced the creation account in Genesis to show that, regardless of what Beston believed, they ARE our underlings, as commanded by the Creator. And, regardless of what Twain thought, man is NOT the lowest form of life on the earth, but the HIGHEST, again, as the Creator spoke, and was created in the image of God himself.
Believe Beston if you will, believe Twain if you prefer. I choose to believe the infallible Scriptures.
With this post I respectfully withdraw from this discussion, because, as Daddy used to say, "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."
All my best, SRH
