St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-08-08
blessing or curse, ! balsam Of worm.

W0OQY
Some Of you, l know, ARE mbrnin,
stars. and you are making the dawn
Ing life Of your children br;Snt witl
gracious influences: cud you are bead
ing upon a. me eeea:hK enterprise
OF s-..iianth-5pic and Christian en-
dea~cf. and you are heralds Of tha
DAY Of gospelization which will We
Hood all the mountains and valleys Q
our sin-cursed earth. Hail, nnornin,
| starl Keep On shining with enronf
ARemcnt and Christian hope.
Some of you are evening stars, an,
You are cheering the last days cf oil,
people; and though = cload sometime
comes over 70. through the querulous
ness or nhreasonableness Of your oil.
father and mother, it is only for ,
moment, and the star soon comes Ou
clear again and II seen from ali tn.
balconies Of the neighbcrAocd. III,
old people will forgive Your occasiona
Shortcomings, for they themselves
several times lost their patience wher
yun were young, and slapped 70,
when you did not deserve. it Hail,
evening star! Hang on the darkenirl
sky your diamond coronet.
But are any Of You the star o,
Wor mwuod? Do you scold and grow
from the thrones paternal or mater
nal? Are your children everlastingls
pecked ats Are you always crying
"Hush" 70 the merry voices and swift
feet and their laughter, which occa-
sionally tricklcs through 1t wrong
times. and is suppressed by them until
they can hold it no longer, and al the
barriers burst into unlimited guffaw
and cashinnatipn, rs in high weather
the water has trickled through .
slight opening in the mill-dam, but af-
terward makes wider and wider breach
until it carries all before it with ire
sistible freshet? DO not be too much
offended at the noise your children
now make. It 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 one step from
the still foot You will not any Of
you have to wait very long before your
house IL stiller than you want it.
Alas, that there are 20 many homes
not known to the Society for the Pre-
vention to Cruelty to Children, where
children are put on the limits and
whacked and cuffed and earpulled.
and senselessly called to order, and
answered sharp and suppressed, until
it is . wonder that under such pro-
cesses they do not all turn out Modocs
and Mana Sahibs!
What is your influence upon the
the town or the city Of
your residence? l will suppose that
you are star of wit Whatkind OF rays
do you shoot forth? DO you use that
splendid faculty to irradiate the world
or to rankle it? / bless ali the apos-
tolic college Of humorists. The man
that makes me laugh is my benefactor.
l do not thank anybody to make me
cry? can do that without any as
sistance. We all cry enough, and
have enough to cry about God
bless all skillful punsters, all
reparteeists, all propounders of
ingenious conundrums, Ill those
who mirthfully surprise rs with un-
usual juxtaposition of words Thomas
Hood and Charles Lamb and Sidney
Smith had = divine mission, and so
have their successors in these times.
They stir into tho acid beverage Of
life the saccharine. They mako the
cup of earthly existence. which il
sometimes stale, effervesce and bub-
BILE. They placate animosities. They
toster longevity. They slay follics
Ind absurdities which all the sermons
Df all the pulpits can not reach.
But what use are you making of
your wit? Is it besmirched with pro-
fanity and uncleanliness? Do you en-
ploy it in amusement at physical de-
fects for which the victims are not re-
sponsible? Are your powers of MINI
cry used to put religion in contempt7
b It = bunch Of nettlesone invective?
Is IL = bolt of unjust scorn? Is it fun
It another's misfortune: Is it glee at
heir disappointment and defeat? Is
t bitterness put drop by drop into =
up? Is it like the squeezing Of Ar
,emisia Absinthium into = draft al
ready distastefully pungent? Then
vou are the star Wormwood. Yours is
,hc fun Of the rattlesnake trying how
we'll it can sing. It is the fun of .
hawk trying how quickly it can strike
,ut the eye of . dove.
But suppose you grind the face Of the
poor. Suppose when = mans wages
ire due you make him wait for them
because he can not help himself. Sup
pose that. because his family is sick
Ind be has extra expenses, he should
politely ask you to raise his wages,
or this year, and you roughly tell
lin II he wants better place to 60
md get it Suppose by your manner
1ou act a though he were nothing
md you wero everything. Sup
,ose you are selfish, and over
,earing and arrogant. Your first
lame ought to be Attila and your last
lame Attila, because you are the star
and you have embittered
IL not three-thirds, of the
vaters that roll pAst your employees.
md operatives. and dependents. and
and the long limo of car
iages which the undertaken orders for
,our funeral, in order to make the oc-
asion respectable, will be filed with
wice - many dry, fearless eyes -
here arc persons occupying them
Dear Lord. send NJ AL ont on that
mission. All around us embittered
ives-embittered BY persecution. em-
by hypercriticism, embittered
y poverty, embittered BY injustice,
mbittered by sin. Why not 60 forth
md seweeten them by smile. BY inspir-
ng words, by benefactions, BY hearty
by prayer. By Gospelized BE-
lavior! Let ~ remember that Il we
Iro wormwood to others We are worm
wood to ourselves. and our life will b
litter and our eternity. bitterer. The
sospel Of Jesus Christ b the only
power that i sum-
lent It sweetens the disposition. Il
Iweetens the manner4 It sweetons
lie. It sweetens mysterio1s Provi-
lenceA Il sweetsns aAlictiona. Il
Jweetens death. Il sweetens every.
hing. Ihave heard people ask IN 60
:ial company: IF You could have
hvnA --AsAAS -A>A