The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-05-09

| age of life the saccharine. They make the
cup Of earthly existence, which IS sometimes
stale, effervesce and bubble They placate
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 Baalites when they called down
| fire and it did not come, suggesting that their
heather god had gone hunting, or was on
on a Journey, or was asleep and nothing but
vociferation could wake him, saying: Cry
aloud for he Is god; either he is talking or
pursuing or peradventure he sleepeth and
must be awaked." They have an example in
Christ, who with healthful sarcasm showed
up the lying, hypocritical Pharisees, by sug-
costing that such perfect people like theni-
Selves needed no improvement, saying: 1.-THE
whole need not a physician, but they tha
are sick" 90,
But what use are you making OF your WIN
Is it besmirched with profanity and unclean.
ness! Do you employ it in amusement al
physical defects for which the victims are
not responsiblea Are your powers OF mlmicry
used to put religion in contempt: Is IL q
bunch of nettlesome invective? Is 1t bolt
of unjust scorn9 Is it fun at others mis-.
fortunes Is it gles at their disappointment
and defeat? Is it bitterness put drop by drop
into cup? Is it like the squeezing OF arte'
misia absinthium into draught already dis
tastefully puDgenta Then you are the star
Wormwood. Yours is the fun Of rattle
snake trying how well it can sting. 1t is the
fun Of hawk trying how quick it can strike
out the eye of dove.
But will change this. and I will suppose
you are star of worldly prosperity. Ihe'
you have large opportunity. You can en-,
courage that artist by buying his picture
You can improve the fields, the stables, the
highway, by introducing higher style OF
fowl aud horse and cow and sheep. You can
bless the world with pomological achieve
ments in the orchards. You can advance
arboriculture and arrest this deathful lcono-
clasm of the American forests. You can put
a piece of sculpture into the niche of that
public academy. You can endow college
You can stocking thousand bare feet from
the winter frost. You can build churcn;
You can put missionary OF Christ on thas
foreign shore. You can help ransom q world.
A rich man with his heart right. Can you
tell me how much good James Lennox or a
George Peabody or Peter Cooper or Will
lam E. Dodge did while living, Or is doing
now that he IS daad2 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 wher q mans wages are due you
max. ai.a walr Tor --.e--2 De.eu.o ue canuo6
help himself. Suppose that because MS
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 II he
wants a better place to 60 and get it. Sup
pose by your manner you act as though ne
were nothing and you were everything:
Suppose YOU are selfish and overbearing and
arrogant Your first name ought to be At
tia, and your last name Attila, because you
are the star Wormwood and you have en-
bittered one-third, If not three-thirds, OF the
waters that roll past your employees and
operatives and dependents and associates,
and the long line Of carriages which the un-
dertaker orders for your funeral in order to
make the occasion respectable, Will be nlled
with twice as many dry, fearless eyes as there
are persons occupying them. The clumsy
pail 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 IT,
There is an erroneous idea abroad toat
tlere are only few geniuses. There are
:nillions Of them; that Is, men and women
who have especial adaptation and quickness
for some one thing. It may be great, it may
bs small. The circle may be like the circum-
ference of the earth or no larger than
thimble.. There are thousands Of geniuses
here this morning, and in some one thing
YOU are q star. What kind OF star are
you2 You will be in this world but few
minutes. As compared with eternity the
than q minute. What are we doing with
that minutel Are we embittering the domes-
tic. 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 and they could
not drink them, their leader cut on the
branch Of q certain tree and threw that
branch into the water, and it became sweet
and slaked the thirst Of the suffering host!
sweetening all the brackish fountains that
we can touchl Dear Lord, send us all out
on thy mission. All around US embittered
lives, embttered by persecution, embittered
by hypercriticism, embittered by poverty,
enbittered by pain, embittered by In.
justice, embittered by sin. why y,u,;ISS not
90 forth and sweeten them by smiles smiles
by by ps hearty council BY prayer, by
gospelized behavior. Let Us remember
that if We are wormwood to Others we are
wormwood to ourselves, and our life will be
bitter and our eternity bitter. The Gospel
Of Jesus Christ is the only sweetening power
that is sufficient It sweetens the disposl-
tion. It sweetens the manners. 1t sweetens
life It sweetens mysterious Providences.
It sweetens Affections. 1t sweetens death.
IL SW6SU6ua cfcEJ euiuS' fS~fA~
asked in social company: ''If you could have
three wishes gratifed what would your three
wishes be 2" If could have three wishes
met this morning tell you what they would
be. First-More of the grace Of God: Sec
ond-More OF the grace Of God. Third
More Of the grace Of God In the door yard
of my brother John, missionary in Annoy,
China, thePe is q tree called the emperor
tree, the two characteristics Of which are
that it always grows higher than its sur
roundings, and its leaves take the form OF a
crown. II this emperor tree be planted by q
rose bush it grows little higher than the
bush, and spreads out above it a crown II
it be planted by the side Of another tree it
grows little higher than that tree and
spreads above it a crown. Would God that
this religion Of Christ a more wonderful
emperor tree, might overShadow all your
lives; are you lowly in ambition or circum.
stance, putting over you its crown; are you
high in talent and position, putting over you
its crown. Oh: for moro Of the saccharine
in our lives and less Of the wormwoodl
What is true Of individuals is true Of ma
tions. God sets them up to revolye as stars,
but they may fall wormwood
Tyre-the atmosphere Of the desert fra
grant with spices coming in caravans to her
fairs; all seas cleft into foam by the keeis Of
her laden merchantmen; her markets rich
with horSeS ana camals, from Iogarmah,
her bazaars filled with upholstery from
Deian, with emeralds and coral and agate
from Syria, with wines from Helbon, with
embroidered work from Ashur and Chill.
mad. Where now the gleam of her towers,
where the roar Of her chariots. where the
masts Of her shipsl Let the fishermen who
dry their nets where once she stood, let the
sea that rushes upon the barrenness where
once she challenged the admiration Of all ma
tions, let the barbarians who set their rude
tents where once her palaces glittered, an