The Penn's Grove record., 1896-06-19

= ~ AFNNs 49, aaN-a
that makes me laugh Is my benefactor. / do
not thank anybody to mako me cry2 / can
do that without any assistance. We all cry
enough. and have enough to cry about. God
bless all skilifu1 punsters. all reparteeists,
all propounders OF ingenious conumdrunas,
all those who mirthfully surprise us with I'M
usual ~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 bev-
erage OF life the saccharine. They make the
cup Of earthly existence, which Is sometimes
| stale, eiEsrvesce and bubble. They placate
anlmoslttes. They foster longevity. They
STAY foliies and absurdities which all the seq
mons OF all the pulpits cannot reach.
They have for examples Elijah, who made
fun ofthe Bdnlites when they called down
Ore, and II did not come, suggesting that
their heather god had gone hunting. or was
of on a journey, or was asleep, and nothing
but vociferation could wake him, saying,
l"Cry alosd for he Is n god. Either he Is
talking or pursuing or peradventure he
sleepeth and must be awaked." They have
an example M Christ. who with healthful
sarcasm showed up the lying, hypoerlticaf
Pharisees by suggesting that such perfect
people like themselves needed no improve.
ments, saying. '"The whole need not a ply
stefan but they that are sick.
But what use are you making Of your WIFI
is ID besmirched with profanity aud uncfean-
mess? Do you employ 1t in amusement Mt
physical defects for which the victims are
not responsible? Are your powers Of MINI
iicry used to put religion in contempt Is 1t
a bunch of nettlesome invective2 Isl a bolt
iof unjust scorn2 Is 1t fun at others misfor-
tuner Is It glee at their disappointment and
defeRt2 Is 1t bitterness put drop by drop
into a cupY Is II like the squeezing OF Ar
temisia absinthium into a draught al
ready pungant? Then you are the star
| WIOrunu}ond Xouuu Ia the fun nf n rQffta-
snake trying how we'll 1t can sting. 1t Is the
fun OF a hawk trying how quickly it can
strike out the eye OF a dove.
But wfll change this and suppose you arc
q star Of Worldly Prosperity. Then you
have large opportunity; You can encourage
improve the fields, the stables, the highway,
by introducing higher style OF fowl ant
horse and COW and sheep. You can bless the
world with pomo,oglcal achievement In the
orchards. You can advance arboriculture
and arrest this deathfulH iconoclasm Of the
American forests. You can put n piece OF
sculpture into tho niche OF that public
academy. You can endow a college. You
can stocking a thousand bare feet from the
winter frost. You can build q church. You
can put a missionary of Christ on TINT
foreign shore. You can help ransom a world.
A rich man with his heart right-can you
toll me how much good a James Lenox or a
| ooOtko Cnbtuy w u EtOh OOoBGi VI u
William E. Dodge did while living, or Is
doing now that he Is dead2 There is not n
city, town or neighborhoode that has not
glorious specimens OF conseerated wealth.
But suppose you grind tho Arce of the
poor. Suppose when a mans wages are due
you make him wait for them because he can
not help himself. Suppose that, because 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 II he
wants a better place to go and get II. Sup
pose by POUR ann you act as though he
were nothing and you were everything. Sup
pose you are selfish and overbearing aud ar
rogant. o first name ought to be Attila
and your last name Attlla, because you are
the star Norwood, and you have imbIttered
one-thfrd II not three-thirds of the waters
that soil past your employees and operatives
and dependents and associates, and the long
line of carriages which the undertaken orders
for your funeral, in order TO make the ocea-
sion respectable, will be filled with twice as
many dry, fearless eyes as there are personsl
occupying them.
There Is an erroneous idea abroad that
there arc only n few geniuses. There are
millions OF them-that i, men and women
who have especial adaptation and ~quickness
for some one thing. Ii may be great; 1t may
be small. The circle may DO like the circum-
ference OF the earth or no larger than n thim-
BILE. There arc thousands of geniuses. and
m some one thing you are a star. What
kind of a stag are your You will be in this
world but a few minutes. 8 compared with
eternity tho stay of the longest life on earth
Is not more than q minute. What are we
doinp with that minute2 Are we imbittering
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 and they could
not drink them, cut of the branch of a GER
/ al. A-a. l.x.I I.~. 4Lak a--Ah . AA4
water, and 1t became sweet and slakei the
thirst of the suffering host2 Are we with n
branch OF the Tree Of Life sweetening ali the
brackish fountains that we can touch2
Dear Lord, send us all out on that mission.
All around us fmbittered lives-imbit-
tered by prosecution, imbittered by hyper
criticism, imbittered by poverty, i'm
imbittered by sin. Why not go forth n
sweeten them by smile, by inspiring words.
by benefactions, by hearty counsel, by prayer,
by gospelized behavior Let US remember
that II we are NORWOOD to others we are
NORWOOD to ourselves. and our life will be
bitter and our eternity bitterer. The gospel
Of Jesus Christ is the only s~weetening power
fhat Is sufficient. Il sweetens tho DISPOSE
tion. 1t sweetens the manners. II sweetens
life. 1t sweetens mysterious providences.
II sweetens afitctions. 1t sweetens death.
It sweetens everything. I have heard peo-
PIE uskeu III HOciHi cUfuphuY. II you coulu
have three wishes gratiaed what would your
three wishes be?" II / could have three
wishes met this morning. / tell you what
they would be: /. More of the grace of God.
2. More Of The grace OF God. 8. More OF the
grace of God. In the dooryard of my
brother John, missionary In Annoy. China,
| there was a tree called the emperor tree, the
two characteristics of which are hat it al
ways grows higher than its surround
tngs, and Its leaves take the form of a
crow II this emperor tree bo planted
by d rosebush, II grows a little higher
than the bgsh and spreads out above 1t a
crown. II 1t be planted by tho side of an
other tree, 1t grows a little higher than that
tree and spreads above 1t u crown. Would
God that this religion OF Christ, a more Won
derful emperor tree, might overshadow all
your livesl Are you lowry In ambition or
circumstance, putting over you its CROWN
Are you high Ia talent and position, putting
over you its cfownl Oh, for more OF the
saccharine in our lives and less Of the worm
wood
What Is true OF Individuals Is true Of ma
tioLs. God sets them upto reyolve as stars,
but they may fail wormwood.
Tyre, the atmosphere OF the desert, ira
grant with spices, somingin caravans to her
fairs, all seas cleft into foam by the keeis OF
her laden merchantmen, her markets rich
with horses and cainels from Fogarmah, her
baGaars iked with upholstery from Dedan;
with emerald and coral and agate from
Syria, with wines from Helbon, with em-
broidered work from Ashur and Chtlmad
Where now the CLEAN of her towers, where
the roar of her chariots, whore the masts OF
her ships? Let the fishermen who dry their
nets VIII re- once she stood, let the sea that
PUSHES upon the ~barrenness where once she
challenged the admiration OF all nations, let
the barbarians who set their rude tents
where once her palaces giittered. answer
the question. She was u star, but by heS
own sin turned to NORWOOD ami has fallen.
Hundred gated Thebes, for all time to bi
the study OF the Antiquarian and hterosty-
phist, her stupendoas ruins spreal over ~
miles, her sculptures presenting IN ngures Of
warrior and chariot the victories witt when
the now forgotten kings of Egypt shook the
nations, her obelisks and columns, Oarnac
and Luxor, the s~tupendous temples OF her
pridel Who can imagine the greatness OF
Thcbes in those days when the hippodrome
rang with her sports and foreign royalty
bowed at her shrine and her avenues roareo
with the wheels Of PROFESSIONS 10 the WAKE
Of returning conquerors2 What dashea
down the vision OF ohariots and temples =
thrones? What hands pulled upon the
| ~alupnna nf har ularv9 What ruthle9SneHB