Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-06-18
ening sky your diamond coroneti
wormwood

patcrnal or maternaP Are your children
cvorlastlngly peckcd at? Arc you always
CRYING "Hushp' to the merry voices and
swift feet, and their laughter, which occa-
sionally tricklcs through ut wrong times
and Is suppressed by them until they can
hold 1t no longer, and all the barriers
burst into unlimited guffaw and cachinna-
ton, as in high weather the water has
tricklcd through slight opening in the
milldam, but afterward makes wider and
wider breach until 1t carries all before it
with irresistible freshetg DO not no too
much offended at the noise your children
how make. 1t will DO still enough when
one Of them is dead. Then you would give
your right hand to hear ono shout from
their silent voices or ono step from the
still foot. You will not any of you have to
wait very long before your house is stilcr
than you want It, Alas, that there are so
many homes not known TO the Society for
tho Prevention of Cruelty to Children,
where children nre put on tho limits, and
whackcd and cuffed and cor pulled and
scnselcssly called to order and answered
sharp and suppressed, until 1t Is q won
der that undor such processes they do not
all turn out Modocs and Mana Sahibs
What is your influence upon the neigh
borhood, tho town or the city of your resi-
dcnccS 1 will suppose that you arc star
Of wit. What kind of rays do you shoot
forth? Do you use that splendid faculty to
irradiatc the world or to rankle it, bless
all the apostolic college of humorists. The
man that makes me laugh is my bcnefac-
tor. do not thank anybody to make me
cry. l can do that without any assistance.
We all cry enough and have enough to cry
about. God bless all skillful punstors, all
repartceists, all propounders Of ingenious
conundruins, all those who mirthfully sur
prise us with unusual juxtaposition Of
words. Thomas Hood and Charles Lamb
and Sydney Smith had q divine mission,
and so have thoir successors in these times
They stir into the acid beverage Of life tho
snccharine. They make tho cup of earthly
existence which Is sometimes stale, cffor-
vcsco and bubble. They plncate en!mosi-
tics They foster longevity. They Stay fol-
lies and absurdities which all the sermons
of oil the pulpits cannot reach.
They have for example Elijah, who
made fun of the Baaltos when they called
down FIRE and it did not come, suggesting
TINT their heathcn god had gone hunting,
or was off on journey, or was asleep, and
nothing but vocifcrution could wake him,
saying "Cry aloud, for he Is god. Either
ho Is talking or pursuing, or pcradvcnture
he sleepcth and must be nwakcd." They
have an example in Christ, who with
hcalthful sarcasm showed up the lying,
hypocritical Pharisccs by suggesting that
such perfect people like themselves needed
no improvements, saying, 1.-The whole
need not a physician, but they that arc
sick"
But what use are you making Of your
wit? Is 1t besmirchcd with profanity and
uncleanness? Do you employ it in amuse-
mcnt at physical defects for which the vic
tins are not rcsponsible9 Are your powers
| of mimicry used to put religion in con
| tempt? Is It n bunch of ncttlesomc in
vective? Is 1t a bolt Of unjust scorn? Is ii
fun at others misfortune? Is it glec at
their disappointment and defeat? Is 1t
bitterness put drop by drop into cup? l.
it like the squeezing of Artcmisia alb
snthium into draft already distastc-
fully pungcnt? Then you are the star
| Norwood. Yours is the fun Of rattle
snake trying how we'll it can sting 1t i,
tho fun of q hawk trying how quickly II
can strike out the eye Of n dove.
Worldly Prosperity.
But will change this and suppose you
arc star of worldly prosperity. Then you
have large opportunity. You can encour
age that artist by buying his picture. Yor
can improve the fields, tsts stables the
highway, by introducing higher style o.
fowl and horse and cow and sheep. You
can bless the world with pomologica
achievement in the orchards. You can ad
vance nrboriculture and arrest this death
full iconoclasm of the American forests
You can put piece of sculpture into tho
! niche of that public academy. You can en-
dow Il college. You can stocking l ,00C
bare feet from the winter frost You car
build church. You can put missonnr,
| OF Christ on that foreign shore. You cal
help ransom a world. A rich man will
his heart right-can you tell me how mucl
! good James Lenox or n George Pcabod,
or II Peter Cooper or a William l.. Dodg'
did while living or Is doing now that h,
Is dead? There Is not city, town or neigh
borhood that has not glorious specimen
of consecrated wealth.
But suppose you grind the face Of TN,
poor Suppose when mans wages ar
due you make him wait for them because
he cannot help himself. Suppose that, DC
cause his family Is sick and he has had ex
ira expenses, he should politely ask you t.
raise his wages for this year, and yo,
roughly tell him II he wants better plac
to go and get 1t. Suppose by your name
you act as though he were nothing an,
you were everything. Suppose you are self
ish and ovorbcaring and arrogant. You
first name ought to be Attila and you
last name Attila, because you arc tho sta
Norwood, and you have imbittered one
third If not three thirds of the waters tina
roll past your employees and operative
and dependents and associates, and tn
long line Of carriages which the undertake
orders for your funeral, in order to max
tho occasion respectable, will be filled wit
twice as many dry, fearless eyes as Their
are persons occupying them.
There is an erroneous idea abroad tina
that there are only a few genuscs. Their
arc millions of them. That is, men an
women who have especial adaptation an
quickncss for some one thing 1t may b
great, 1t may BIO small. The circle may
, like the circumference Of the earth or II
larger than u thimble. There are thor
sands Of geniuses, and in some one thin
, you are star What kind of star M
You? You will be in this world but fc'
minutes AS compared with eternity tn
stay Of tho longest life on earth is not MOI
than minute. What are we doing wit
that minuteS Are we imbittering tho d.
mestic or social or political fountains, c
! arc we like Moses, who when the Israe
ties in the wilderness complained that I'll
Q could not drink them, cut off the branc
OF a certain tree and threw that branch in
. to tho water and II became sweet an