The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1896-06-24
Some 81 ON are evening stars, and
you agS hsering the last days q G old
peop and thoug u 81 bud sometttnea

people, and though d cloud 81 81 soymet tines
comes IS over you thro Ii Che quernl lols.
ness Or unreasof fabl le ID ess 81 q your old /
! father 81 and mot her &c Is onl u for a mo. i.
ment, and the I SStars 81 on comes out
clear again and Isl seen from q II the
balconies Of the nelg b0rh ood The
old people will forgive your occa aston al
short comings, for they thensel yes
several times lost their patience when
YOU were vnling and SLAPPED YOU uwhen
you did not deserve it. Hail, evening
starl Hang on the darkening sky your
diamond cOronet q, III M
But arc any OF you the star Worm-
wood & Do you scold and growlfr from
the thrones paternal or ,naternal3 Are
your children eyerlastingly pecked at2
Are you always crying 'sHushl' to
the merry voices aud swift feet, and
their laughter, which occasionally
trickles 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
cachinnation, as in high weather the
water has trickled through . slight
opening in the milldam, but after
ward makes wider and widor breach
until it carries al before itwith irre-
sistible freshet2 Do not be too much
offended at the noise your children
now mako. II 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
ono step from tho still foot You will
not any OF you have 10 wait very long
before your house is stiller than you
wantit. Alas, that there arc so many
homes notknown to the Society for
1.-The Prevention of Cruelty to Children
whore children are put on the limits,
and whacked and cutfed and ear
pulled and dSsenselessly called 10 order
and answered sharp and suppressed,
until it is sawonder that under such
processes they do not all turn out
Modocs and Mana Sahibs Gi
. What is your, influence upon the
neighborhood, the town or the city of
your residence2 will suppose that
you arc a star OF wit. What kind Of
rays do you shoot forth2 DO you use
that splendid faculty to irradiate the
world or to rankle it2 / bless all
the apostolic college Of humorists.
The man that makes mo laugh is my
benefactor I do not thank anybody
TO make me cry. I can do that with
out any assistance. We all cry
enough and have enough to cry about.
God bless all skillful punsters, all re.
parteeists, all propounders of ingeni-
GUS sconundrums, llthose who lnirth-
fully surprise us with unusual juxta-
ton of words. Thomas Hood and
| Charles Lamb and Sydney Smith had
a divine mission, and So have theil,
successors in these times. They stir
into the acid beverage of life the sac
charine. They make the cup of earth
ly 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 can
not reach.
They have for example Elijah, who
made fun Of the Baalites when they
lcalled down fire and it did not come,
| suggesting that their heathen god had
gone hunting, or was off on journey
or was asleep, and nothing but yoci-
feration could wake him, saying:
"Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either
he is talking or pursuing, or perad-
venture he sleepeth and must be
| |awaked." They have an example in
| Christ, who with healthful sarcasm
| showed up the lying, hypocritical
Pharisees by suggesting that such per.
feet people like themselves needed no
improvements, saying. ''The whole
need not a physician, but they that
are sick"
| But what use arc You making Of
your wit? Is it besmirched with pro.
family and iuncieanness? Doyou om-
ploy itin amusement at physical de-
fects for which t.e victims are not re-
| sponsible2 Are your powers of mimi
cry used to put religion in contempt9
Is it a bunch of nettlesome invective2
| Is tia bolt of unjust scorn9 Is it fun
at others 1nisfortune2 Is itglee at
their disappointment and defeat9 Is
| it bitterness put drop by drop into a
| cup2 Is it like the squeezing of Arte-
misia absinthium into a draft already
distastefully pungent2 Then you are
the star hWormwood. Yours is the
fun Of rattlesnake trying how we'll
it can sting. It is the fun of q hawk
trying how quickly it can strike out
the eye ola dove. a.sS
| But | will change this and suppose
you are star of worldly prosperity.
Then you have large opportunity.
You can encourage that artist by buy
| ing 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 promological
4 achievements in the orchards. You
can advance arboriculture and arrest
this deathful iconoclasm of tho Amer.
ican forests. You can put piece of
sculpture into the niche of that public
academy. You can endow a college.
| You can stocking 900 bare feet from
the winter frost. You can build O
church. You can put q 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 q James Lenox or
q George Peabody or Peter Cooper or
q William d. Dodge did while living
or is doing now that he is dead There
is not a city, town or neighborho0d
that has not glorious specimens of CON
secrated wealth.
| But suppose you grind the face Of
the poor. Suppose when man. 3
wages are due you make him wait for
them because he cannot help himself.
Suppose that, because his family is
siclIand 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
60 and get ii. Suppose by your
manhcryou act as though he were
nothing and you were everything
Suppose you are selfish and overbear-
ing and arrogant. Your first name
ought TO be Attila and your last name
| Auila because YOU arf, the star w Worfn. .