The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-23

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on shining with encouragement and Chris
tian hope.
Some of you are evening stars, and you
are cheering the last days of old people, and
though a cloud sometimes comes over you
through the querulousneSs or unreasonable
ness of your old father and mother, it is
only for moment, and the star soon comes
out clear again and is seen from all the bal
comics of the neighborhoo1. The old people
will forgive your occasional short comings,
for they themselves several times lost their
patience with you when you were young
and slapped you when you did not deserve
1t. Hail, evening start Hang on the dark
enlng sky your diamond coronet.
But are any of you the star Wormwood2
DO you scold and growl from the thrones
paternal or material. Are your children
everlastingly pecked at9 Are you always
crying: "Hush :" to the merry voices and
swift feet and their Laughter which occa-
Sionally triekles through at wrong times
and is suppressed by them until they can
hold it no longer and all the barriers burst
into unlimited guffaw and cachination, as
in high weather the water has
trickled through a slight opening in the
mill dam, but afterward makes wider and
wider breach until it carries all before it
with Irresistible freshet. Do not be too
much offended at the noise your children
now make. 1t will be still enough when
one of them is dead. Then you would give
your right hand to hear one shout from
their silent voices, or one step from the still
foot You will not any of you have to
wait very long before your house is stiller
than you want it, Alas that there are so
many homes not known to the Society for
the Prevention oil Cruelty to Children,
where children are put on the limits and
whacked and cuffed and ear-pulled and
senselessly called to order, and answered
sharp and suppressed until it is a wonder
that under such processes they do not all
turn out ModocS and Mana Sahibs.
What is your influence upon the neigh
borhood, the town or the city of your resi-
dence9
l will suppose that you ara star of wit
What kind of rays do you shoot forth Do
you use that splendid faculty to irradiate
the world or to rankle it 4! | bless all the
apostolic college of humorists. The man
that makes me laugh is my benefactor. |
do not thank anybody to make me cry. |
can do that without any assistance. We
all cry enough and have enough to cry
about. God bless all skilful punsters, all
reparteeists, all propounders of ingenious
conumdrums, all those who mirthfully sur
prise US with unusual juxtaposition of
words. Thomas Hood and Charles Lamb
and Sidney Smith had a divine mission,
and so have their successors in these times
They stir into the acid beverage of life the
saccharine. They make the cup Of earthly
existence which is sometimes stale, effer-
vesce and bubble They pacate animosities.
They foster longevity. They slay follies
and absurdities which all the sermons
of all the pulpits cannot reach. They have
for examples Elijah, who made fun of the
Baaltes when they called down fire and it
did not come, suggesting that their heathen
god had gone hunting, or was off on jour
ney, or was asleep and nothing but vocifera-
tion could wake him, saying: "Cry aloud,
for he is god either he is talking or pur-
suing or peradventure, he sleepeth and
must be awaked." They have an example
in Christ, who with healthful sarcasm
showed up the lying, hypocriticl Phari-
sees by suggesting that such perfect people
like themselves needed no improvements,
saying; 1.-THE whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick" "
But what use are you making of your
wit2 Is it besmirched with profanity and
uncleannessl Do yol employ it in amuse-
ment at physical defects for which the vic
Tins are not responsibles Are your powers
of mimicry used to put religion in contempt2
Is il bunch of nettlesome invective2 Is
it bolt of unjust scorn2Is it fun at others
misfortunel Is it glee at their disappoint-
ment and defeaN Is it bitterness put drop
by drop into a cups Is it like the squeezing
of Artemisia Absinthium into draught
already distastefully pungentl Then you
are the star Wormwood. Yours is the fun
of rattlesnake trying how well it can
sting. II is the fun of a hawk trying how
quick it can strike out the eye of dove.
But | will change this and | will suppose
you are star Of worldly prosperity. Then
you have large opportunity. You can en-
courage that artist by buying his PIC
ture. You can improve the fields, the
stables, the highway, by introducing higher
style Of fowl and horse and COW and sheep.
You can bless the world with pomological
achievement in the orchards You can ad-
vance aborcuture and arrest this deathful
iconoclasm OF the American forests You
can put piece of sculpture into the niche
of that public academy. You can endow a
college. You can stocking thousand bare
feet from the winter frost. You can build
a church. You can put missionary of
Christ on that foreign shore. You can help
ransom world. A rich man with his heart
right--can you tell me how much good
james Lennox or George Peabody or a
Peter Cooper or William e. Dodge did
while living or is doing now that he is dea :.
There is not a city, town or neighborhool
that has not glorious specimens Of conse-
Grated wealth.
But suppose you grind the face Of the
poor. Suppose when a mans wages are
due you make him wait for them because
he cannot help himself Suppose that be-
cause his family is sick and he has had ex-
ira expenses he should politely ask YOU to
raise his wages for this year and you
roughly tell him If he wants Il better place
TO go and get it, Suppose by your manner
you act as though he We're nothing and you
were everything. Suppos3 you are selfish
and oyerb airing and arrogant. Your first
name ought to be Attila and your last
name Attila, because you are the star
Wormwood and you have embittered one
third il not three-thirds, of the Writer'S
that roll past your employees and operatives
and dependents and associates, aud tho
long line Of carriages which the undertaken
or iers for your funeral in order 10 make
the occasion respectable, will be filed with
twice as many dry, fearless eyes rs there
are persons occupying them. The clumsy
pall-bearers may make tne gates Of your
sepulchre quake by striking your silver
handled coffin against them, but The world
will feel no jar as you go out Of it.
There is an erroneous idea abroad that
there are only few geniuses. There are
millions Of them; that IS, men and women
who have especial adaptation and quick
ness for some one thing II may be great,
it may be small. The circle may be like
the circumference Of the lrth or no larger
than thimble. There are thousands Of
geniuses here this morning, and in some one
tuing you are "A star. What kind Of star
are you! You will be in this world but few
minutes. As compared with eternity, the