The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1888-05-03

and swift feet and their laughter, which
occasionally trickles through at wrong
.-4Ilos and - suppressed by them until
they can hold it no longer and all the bar
riers burst into unlimited guffaw and
cachination, as in high weather the water
has trickled through slight opening in
the mill dam, but afterward makes wider
and wider breach until ii carries all before
it with irresistible freshetp 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 of them 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 of 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 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 res
idence?
What kind of rays do you shoot forth? Do
you use that splendid faculty to irradiate
the world or to rankle it? | bless all the
apostolic colleges of humorists. The man
that makes me laugh is my benefactor. /
do not thank any body to make me cry. l
can do that without any assistance. We
all cry enough and have enough to cry
about. God bless all skillful punsters, all
reparteeists, all propounders of ingenious
conmdrums, 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, effervesce and bubble. They pla-
cate animosities. They foster longevity.
They slay follies and absurdities which
all the sermons of all the pulpits can not
reach. They have for example Elijah,
who made fun of the Baalites when they
called down fire and il did not come, sug-
gesting that their heather god had gone
hunting, or was off on a journey, or was
asleep, and nothing but yociferation could
wake him, saying: "Cry aloud, for he is
a god; either he is talking or pursuing, or
peradventure he sleepeth and must be
awaken" They have an example in
Christ, who, with healthful sarcasm
showed up the lying, hypocritical Phari-
sees by suggesting that such perfect peo-
pie like themselves needed no improve
ment saying: "The whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick"
But what use are you making of your
wit? Is it besmirched with profanity and
uncleanliness? Do you employ it in
amusement at physical defects for which
the victims are not responsible? Are your
powers of mimicry used to put religion in
contempt? Is it bunch of nettlesome in
vective? Is it bolt OF unjust scorn? Is it
fun at others misfortune? Is it glee at
their disappointment and defeat? Is it Bit
terness put drop by drop into cup? Is it
like the squeezing of artemisia absinthium
into draught already distastefully pun
gent? Ther you are the star Wormwood.
Yours is the fun of rattlesnake trying
how well it can sting. 1t is the fun of a
hawk trying how quick it can strike out
the eve of dove.
But / will change this, and l will sup
pose you are star of worldly prosperity.
Then you have large opportunity. You
can encourage the artist by buying his
picture. 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
genealogical achievement in the orchards.
You can advance arboriculture 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 stock
ing 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 a world. A
rich man with his heart right-can you tell
me how much good James Lennox or
George Peabody or Peter Cooper or q
William f. Dodge did while living, or is
doing now that he is dead? There is not
city, town or neighborhood that has not
glorious specimens of consecrated 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 can not help himself. Suppose that be-
cause his family is sick, and he has had
extra expenses, he should politely ask you
TO raise his wages for this year, and you
roughly tell him if he wants better place
to go and get it. Suppose by your man
ner you act as though he We're nothing and
you were every thing Suppose you are
selfish, and overbearing, and arrogant.
Your first name ought to be Attila and
your last name Attila, because you are
the star Wormwood, and you have embit-
tered one third, II not three thirds, of the
waters that roll past your employees, and
operatives, and dependents, and assO-
ciates, and the long line of carriages
which the undertaken orders for your
funeral will be filed with twice as many
dry, fearless eyes as there are persons oc-
cupying them. The clumsy pall-bearers
may make the gates of your sepulcher
quake by striking your silver-handled
coffin against them, but the world will feel
no jar as you go out of II.
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. 1t may be great,
il may be small. The circle may be like
the circumference of the earth or no
larger than thimble. There are thou
sands of geniuses here this morning, and
in some one thing you are a star. What
kind of a star are your You will be in
this world Jut few minutes. As COM
HftIth Win NAtth my iAb HNag VI hAat A'ilENob
life on earth is not more than minute.
What are we doing with that minute? Are
we embittering the domestic or social or
political fountains, or are We like Moses,
who, when the Israelites in the wilderness
complained that the waters Of Lake
Marah were bitter aud they could not
drink them, their leader cut off the branch
of certain tree and threw that branch
into the water, and il became sweet and
slaked the thirst of the suffering hostY
Are we a branch of the Tree Of Life
sweetening all the brackish fountains that
we can touchy Dear Lord, send us all out
on Thy mission. All around us embittered
lives, emblttered by persecution, en-
bittered by hypercriticism, embittered
by poverty, embittered by pain, em-
bittered by injustice, embittered by
sin. Why not 60 forth and sweeten them
by smiles, by inspiring words, by bene-
factions, by hearty counsel, by prayer,