The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1899-10-11

text is deuteronomy vii, 20, The Lord
thy God will send the hornet"
1t seems as if the insectile world were
determined to extirpate the human race.
1T bombards the grain fields and the or
chards and the vineyards. The Colorado
beetle, the Nebraska grasshopperi the
New Jersey locust, the universal potato
beetle, seem to carry on the work which
was begun ages ago when the insects
buzzed out of Noah's ark as the door was
opened.
In my text the hornet flies out on it's
mission. 1t is a species of wasp, swift in
it's motion and violent in it's sting. Its
touch is torture to man OF beast. We
have al seen the cattle run believing I'M
der the cut Of its lancet. In bOyhood we
used to stand cautiously looking at the
globular nest hung from the tree branch,
and while we were looking at the wonder
full covering we were struck with some
thing that sent us shrieking away. The
hornet goes in swarms. 1t has captains
over hundreds, and twenty of them
alighting on one man will produce certain
death.
The Persians attempted to conquer a
Christian city, but the elephants and the
assaulted by the hornet so that the whole
army was broken up, and the besieged
city was rescued. This burning and nox-
ious insect stung out the Hittites and
the Canaanites from their country. What
cleaning sword and chariot of war could
not accomplish was done by the puncture
of an insect. '"The Lord sent the hor-
net"
My friends, when we are assaulted by
great behemoths of trouble we become
chivalric. and we assault them. We get
on the high mettled steed Of our courage
and we make a cavalry charge at them,
and if God be with us we come out
stronger and better than when we went
in. But alas for these insectile annoy
ances Of life, these foes too small to
shoot, these things without any avoirdu-
pois weight the gnats and the midges
and the flies and the wasps and the hor-
nets! In other words, it is the small
singing annOyances Of our life which
drive us out and use US up. In the best
conditioned life for some grand and glori-
GUS purpose God has sent the hornet.
I remark, in the first place, that these
small singing annoyances may come in
the shape of a nervous organization.
People who are Frustrated under typhoid
fevers or with broken bones get plenty Of
sympathy, but who pities anybody that is
nervous? The doctors say and the fam
lily say and everybody says, "Oh, she's
only little nervous; that's ALL" The
sound of a heavy foot, the harsh clearing
of throat, a discord in music, a want Of
harmony between the shawl and the
glove on the same person, curt answer,
passing slight the wind from the east,
any one of ten thousand annoyances,
opens the door for the hornet. The fact
is that the vast majority of the people in
this country are overwOrked, and their
nerves are the first to give out. A great
multitude are under the strain Of Ley
den, who, when he was told by his ply
stefan that if he did not stop working
while he was in such poor physical health
he would die, responded, Doctor, wheth.
er l live or die, the wheel must keep GO
ing round" These sensitive persons Of
whom [ speak have bleeding sensitive.
ness. The flies love to light on anything
raw, and these people are like the Cana
antics spoken of in the text or in the con-
text-they have very thin covering and
are vulnerable at all points. 'And the
Lord sent the hornet"
The Retailers of Gossip.
Again, the small insect annoyances may
come to us in the shape Of friends and
acquaintance who are always saying dis
agreeable things. There are some people
you cannot be with for half an hour but
you feel cheered and comforted Then
there are other people you cannot be with
for five minutes before you feel misera-
BILE. They do not mean to disturb you,
but they sting you to the bone. They
gather up all the yarn which the gossips
spin and retail it. They gather up all
the adverse criticisms about your per-
son, about your business, about your
home, about your church, and they make
your ear the funnel into which they pour
it. They laugh heartily when they tell
you, as though it were a good joke, and
you laugh, too-outside.
These people are brought to our atten-
ton in the Bible, in the book of Ruth.
Naomi went forth beautiful and with the
hnest worldly prospects into another
land, but after awhile she came back
widowed and sick and poor. What did
her friends do when she came to the cityY
They all went out, and instead Of giving
her common sense consolation, what did
they do? Read the book Of Ruth and
find out. They threw up their hands and
said, us this Naomi?'' as much as to
say, "How awful bad you do lookv'
When I entered the ministry, looked
very pale for years, and every year, for
four or five years, many times year
was asked if had not consumption, and.
passing through the room, would some
times hear people sigh and say. "A-ah,
not long for this worldv' I resolved in
those times that never in any converse
ton would say anything depressing, and
by the help Of God have kept the reso-
luton. These people of whom speak
reap and bind in the great harvest ield
Of encouragement Some day you greet
them with hilarious Good morning."
and they come buzzing at you with some
depressing information. "The Lord sent
the hornet"
1t is astonishing how some people pre-
fer to write and to say disagreeable
things. That was the case when Henry
NJ. Stanley returned after his magnificent
exploit Of finding David Livingstone.
When Mr.. Stanley stood before the sa-
wants Of Europe and many Of the small
critics of the day, under pretense Of get