Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-06-20


discourse so far has been swinging round
and round this moment it drops straight
OH your heart and asks the question, Is
Your life berediction to others or an
imbittcrmcnt, IL blessing or curse,
balsam or wormwOOd:
Some of you know are morning stars,
and you are making the dawning life of
your children bright with gracious in
Aucnccs, and you are beaming upon all
the opening enterprises Of philanthropic
and Christian endcavor, and you are
hcralds of that day of gospclization
which will yet flood all the mountains
and valleys OF our sin cursed earth
Hail, morning star! Keep on shining
with cncouruscmonta and Christian hopel
Growers and Scolds.
Some of you arc evening stars, and
you are cheering the last days of old pco-
pie, and though cloud sometimes comes
over you through the querulousncss
OF nnreasonablencss of your old father
and mother it is only for moment,
and the star soon comes out clear again
and is seen from all the balconies Of the
ncighborhood The old people will for
give your occasional shortcomings for
they themselves several times lost their
patience when you were young and
slapped you when you did not deserve
it. Hail, evening start Hang ON the
iarllening sky your diamond coronetl
But are any of you the star Worm
wood? Do you scold ard growl from The
thrones paternal or maternal? Are your
children everlastingly peckcd ut? Are
you always crying HushH' to the merry
voices and swift feet, and their laugh
ter, which occasionally tricklcs through
at wrong times and is suppressed by
them until they can hold it no longer,
and all the barriers burst into unlimited
gul2aw and cachinnation, as i'll high
weather the water has triclsed through
a slight opening i'll the milldam, but
afterward makes wider and wider
breach until it carries Ill before 1t with
irresistible froshct? Do not be too much
offended ut I &c noise your children now
make. 1t viii 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 one step from the
still foot. You will not any of you have
to wait very long before your house IS
stiller THAI you want it. Alas, that there
are so many bones not known to the So
ciety For the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children, where children are put on the
limits and whaclled and cuffcd and ear
pulled and sensclessly called to order
and answered sharp and suppressed UNI
til il IL wonder that under such proc
esses they do not all turn out Mcdocs
and Mana ;3ahibs.
What il your influence upon the
neighborhood, the town or the city OF
your residence? will suppose that you
IRE star If wit. What kind Of rays dc
you shoot forth? Do you use that splen'
did faculty to irradiate the world or to
rankla ii? [ bless all the apostolic col
legc Of humorists. The man that mak2s
me laugh is my benefactor. l do not
thank anybody to make me cry? l can
do that without any assistance. We ali
cry enough, and have enough to cry
about. Ccd bless all skillful punstcrs,
all repartccists, all propoundcrs of III
gerious conumdrums, all those who
miithfully surprise us with unusual
iuxtapositicn of words. Thomas Hood
and Charles Lamb and Sidney Smith
had q divine mission, and so have their
successors in these times They stir into
the acid beverage of life the saccharinc.
They make the cup of earthly existence,
which is sometimes STAGE, cffcrvescc and
bubble. They placate animosities. They
foster longevity. They Stay follies and
absurdities which all the sermons of ali
the pulpits cannot reach.
Need Of n Physician.
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 off on a journey,
or was asleep, and nothing but vocifer-
alton could wake him, saying, "Cry
aloud for he is Il god Either he is talk
ing or pursuing or pcradycnture he
slccpeth and must be awaked. " They
have an example III Christ, who with
healthful sarcasm showed up the lying,
hypocritical Pharisees by suggesting
that such perfect people like themselves
needed no improvements, saying, 1.-The
whole need not physician but they
that are sick y
But what use are you making of your
wit? Is it basmirchcd with profanity
and unclcanncss? Do you employ it i'll
amusement at physical defects for which
the victims are not responsible? Are
your powers Of mimicry used to put re-
ligion in contcmpt9 Is it u bunch of
ncttlesomc iIlvcctive? Is it Il bolt of un-
Just SCORE? Is it fun at others lnisfor-
tune? Is it glec at their disnppoiutment
and defeat? Is it bitterness put drop BY
drop into cup? Is it like the squeezing
of Artemisia absinthium into a draft
already distastefully pungent? Thcnyou
are the star Woimwood. Yours is the
fun of a rattlcsnalsc trying how well it
can sting. 1t is the fun Of hawk try
ing how quickly it can strike out the
eye Of dove.
But will change this and suppose
you are star of Worldly Prosperity.
Then you have large opportunity. You
can encourage that artist by buying his
picture. You cm 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 polnolosical achievement in the
orchards. You can advance arboricul-
ture and arrest this beautiful iconoclasm
of the American forests. You can put
piece Of sculpture into the niche CT that
public academy. You can cndow col
lege. Yon can stocking q thousand bare
feet from the winter frost. You cal
build a church You can put mission
airy of Christ on that foreign shore. You
can help ransom world. A rich man