Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-12-27
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME ny THE
WASHINGTON PREACHER.
Subject; 'The Petty AnRoyanees
of Life.o


and the vineyards. The Colorado beetle.
/ the Nebraska grasshopper, the New jersey
locust, the universal potato bug seem 20
I carry On tue work which was begun ages ago
[ when the insects huZzci out Of Noah's ark
/ As the ARK was opened.
! In nv text. the hornet flies out on its mis-
| sion. II is u species OF wasp, swift in it,
/ motion and violent In it, sting. Its touch is
| torture TO man OF beast. We have all seen
| the cattle run believing under the cut OF its
1 lancet In b0yhOol We used to stand eau
= tiOusly looking M the glObular nest hung
/ from the tree branch. and while we We're
3 looking at the wonderful covering We were
struck with something that sent us shrieking
away. The hornet goes in swarms. II has
captains over hundreds. ani twenty. OF
them alighting on on, man. will produce
death.
The Persians attempted 10 conquer a
Christian city, but the elephants aud the
beasts upon which PersianS rode were
assaulted by the hornet. so that the whole
army was broken up aud the besieged city
/ was rescued. This burning and noXiOus in
sect stung out the Hittites and the Canaan
mites from their country. WHAT cleaning
sword and chariot of war could not accom-
I plish was done by the punctute OF an insect.
The Lord sent the hornet.
I Ny friends, when we are assaulted by
great behemoths OF trouble we become
chivHlric, and We assault them. We get on
the high melted steed Of our courage, and
we make a cavalry charge at them, and II
I God be with us we come out stronger aud
/ better than when We went in. But, alas, for
/ these inssctile annoyance of life, these foes
too small 20 shoot, these things without any
/ avOirdupois weight. the gnats, and the
/ midges, and the flies, and the waSpS. and
the hornets! In other words, il is the small
singing annOyanceS of our life which drive
US out and use US up. 10 the best con-
ditioned life, for some grand aud glorious
purpose. God has sent the hornet.
/ l remark, In the first place, that these
small singing annOyances may come in the
shape Of nervous organization. People who
are Frustrated under typhoid feyars or with
broken bones get plenty Of sympathy, but
who pities anybody that is nervOusi The
/ doctors say. aud the family say, and every
body says, "Oh, she's only little nervous,
. that's all ~ The sound OF heavy foot. the
harsh clearing Of a throat. discord in
music, want Of harmony between the
shawl and the glove on the same person. a
curt answer. a passing slight, the wind from
the east, any one OF 10, 600 annoyances opens
the door for the hornet. The fact is that
the vast majority OF the people in this coun-
try are overwOrkei. and their nerves are the
first to give out. A great multitude are I'M
der the strain of L"yuen, who. when he was
lpAu hN us NlNSlNlhu NlhA II nc AliA llhk sup
working while he was in such poor phys
ical health he would die. responded. doc
tor. whether | live or die. the waeel must
keep going round" These sensitive persons
of whom ! speak have a bleeding sensitive
ness. The flies love to hight on anything
raw, and these people are like the Canaan
ties spoken Of in the text or in the context
they have very thin covering and are yul-
nerable at all points. And the Lord sent
the hornet
Again. the small insect anuoyauces may
come to us in the shape Of friends AMI ac
quGiut9nces VINO are always saying dlsa gree
able things There are some people you
cannot be with for an hour but you feel
cheerei and coniortei. Then there are
other people you cannot be with for five
minutes before YOU feel miserable. They do
not mean to disturb you, but they sting you
to the bone. They gather up all the yarn
which tho goSsips spin, and retail it. They
gather up all the adverse criticisms about
your person, about your business, about
your home. about YOUR church, aud they
make your ear the funnel into which they
pour 1t. They laugh heartily when they tell
you. as though 1t were a good Joke, and you
, laugh, tOo-Outsde.
These people are brought to our attention
IN the Bible in the book Of Ruth. Naomi
went forth beautiful and with the finest OF
worldly prospects, and into another land
but after awhile, she came back widowed
and sick and poor. What did her friends do
when she came to the city? They all went
out, and, instead OF giving her common
sense consolation, what did they do! Read
the book of Ruth and find out They threw
up their hands and said. is this Naomi rs
much as to say, How awful bad you dc
lOokp' When / entered the ministry,
looked very pale for years and every year
for four or five years. a hundred times 0
year. was asked IL | had not the consump.
ton. and, passing through the room | wOult
sometimes hear people sigh and say. "A-ah
not long for this world | resolved in thost
times that l never, IN any conversation
would say anything depressing, and by the
help of God | have kept the resolution
These people OF whom | speak reap ant
bind in the great harvest field Of discourage
ment. Some day you greet them with hi
larious good morning." and they cont
buzzing at YOU with some depressing inior-
nation. "The Lord sent the hornet"
When Isee so many people in the worl,
who like to say disagreeable things anC
write disagreeable things, come almost il
my weaker moments to believe what man
said to me in Philadelphia one Monda,
morning. | went to get the horse a
the livery stable and the hostler a plaiI
man. said to me, Mr.. Talmage, saw tina
you preached to the young men yesterday.
, 1 said, Yes He said, mo use, no use
, | mans q failure
The small insect annOyances Of life some
times come in the shape OF local physica
: trouble, which does not amount to posi-
tive prOstratiOn, but which bOthers YOl
9 when you want to feel the best. Perhaps i
is a sick headache which has been the plagu
OF your life, and you appoint some oc
cason Of mirth or sociablity or usefulness
and when the clock strikes the hour you can
, not make your appearance. Perhaps tn
trouble is between the ear and the forehead
! in the shape of neuralgia twinge. Nobod,
S can see it or sympathize with it, but just a
the time when YOU want your intellec
clearest, and your disposition brightest, yO'
feel a sharp, keen, disconcertlng thrus,
"The Lord sent the hornet"
Perhaps these small insect annOyanCeS wi
come in the shape of a domestic irritation
$ The parlor and the kitchen do not Away
e harmonic. To get good service and 20 kee
q it is one of the greatest questions o. tn
country. Sometimes 1t may be the arr
gancy and inconSiderateneSs Of employs
but whatever be the fact we all admit Their
a are these insect aunoyances winginc the
, way out from the culinary department.
y the grace Ct God he not in the heart OF tn
housekeeper, she cannot maintain her ecu
librium. The men come home at night an
hear the story of these annoyRpces, and sa!
ooh, these home troubles are very ntt
things" They are small, small as wasp
4 but they sting, Martha's nerves were all III
strung when she rushed in asking Christ
} scold Mary, and there are tens OF Thousand
} OF women who are dying, stung TO death b
Z these pestiferous domestic annoyance
"The Lord sent the hornet"
These small insect disturbances may ais
! come in the shape of business irritation
D There are men here who went through 18;
and the oath Of September, 1869 wtho,
losing their balance, who are every day III
hor5ed by little annoyances-a clerks
manners, or blot Of ink on Il bill of !adiu,
! or the extravaganza of a partner who owe
draws his account, or the underselinc b
D q business rival or fine Nyhis,priuc OF oto,