The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-12-25
A WORLD OF TROUBLE.
Rev. Or. TaImaae on the Petty Annoy.
ances OF Life.

dNCb6 W LIios
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15.-Dr. Tai
mage to-day chose for his discourse 3
theme that will appeal to most people
viz, "The Petty Annoyances of
Life" His text was, "The Lord thy
God will send the hornet" Deuter-
onomy vii, 20.
It seems as if the insectile world
were determined to extirpate the hu-
man race. It bombards the grain6elds
and the orchards and the vineyards.
The Colorado beetle, the Nebraska
grasshopper, the New jersey locust,
the universal potato bug seem to carry
on the work whioh.was begun ages ago
when the insects buzzed cut of Noah's
ark as the door was opened.
In my text the hornet files out on
its mission. It is a species Of wasp,
swift in its motion and violent in its
sting. Its touch is torture to man or
beast. We have all seen the cattle
run believing under the out of its
lancet. In boyhood we used to stand
cautiously looking at the globular nest
hung from the tree branch, and while
we were looking at the wonderful COW
ering we we're struck with something
that sent us shrieking away. The
hornet goes in swarms. Il has cap
tains over hundreds, and 20 Of them
alighting on one man will produce
death.
The Persians attempted to conquer
a Christian city, but the elephants
and the beasts on which the Persians
rode were assaulted by the hornet, go
that the whole army was broken up
and the besieged city was rescued.
This burning and noxious insect stung
out the Hittites and the Canaanites
from their country. What cleaning
sword and chariot Of war could not
accomplish was done by the punoture
of an insect. The Lord sent the hor-
nets.
My friends, when we are assaulted
by. great behemoths Of trouble, we be-
come chiyalric, and we assault them.
We get on the high mettled steed of
our courage, and we, make a cavalry
charge at them, and if God be with us,
we3oome out;stronger and better than
when we went in. But, alas, for these
iinsectile annoyances Of life-these
foes too small to. shoot-these things
without any avoirdupois weight, the
gnats, and the midges, and the flies,
and the Wasps, and the hornets !! In
other words, it is the small, stinging
annoyances Of our life which drive us
out and use us up. IL the best con-
ditioned life, for some grand and glori-
GUS purpose, God has sent the hornet.
I remark, in the first place, that
these small, stinging annoyanees may
come in the shape of a nervous organ
ization.
People who are prostrated under
typhoid fevers OF with broken bones
get plenty of sympathy, but who pities
anybody that is nervous ? The doc
tors say, and the family say, and
everybody says, ''Oh, she's only q
little nervous; that's all + The
sound Of heavy foot, the harsh clear
ing of throat, a discord in music, a
want Of harmony between tina shawl
and the glove on the same person, a
curt answer, a passing slight, the
wind from the east, any one of 10000
3annoyances opens the door for the
hornet. The fact is that the vast ma
jority of the people in this country
are over-worked, and their nerves are
the first to give out. A great multi
tude are under the strain Of Leyden,
who, when he was told by his physi-
clan that if he did not stop working
while he was in such poor physical
health he would die, responded, sDoc-
tor, whether I live or die, the wheel
must keep going round" ;" These SEN
sitive persons of whom I speak have a
bleeding sensitiveness. The flies love
to- light on anything raw, and these
people are like the Canaanites spoken
of in the text or in the con-
text-they have very thin cover
ing and are vulnerable at all points.
"And the Lord sent the hornet"
Again, the small insect annoyances
may come to US in the shape of friends
and acquaintances who are always
saying disagreeable things. There
are some people you cannot be with
for half an hour but you feel cheered
and comforted. 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 the gos-
sips spin and retail it. They gather
up all the adverse criticisms about
your person, about your business,
about your home, about your church,
and they make your ear the funnel
into which they pour it. They laugh
heartily when they tell you, as though
it were good joke, and you laugh
too-outside.
These people are brought to our
attention in the Bible, in the book Of
Ruth. Naomi went forth beautiful