Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-03-17
men have the better, # they use IT for

discourse 80 IdT mas Dttu swinging IbuAu
and round, this moment it drops straight
on your heart and asks the question, Is
your life benediction to others CT an
imbitterment, blessing or curse, a
balsam or a wOrmwOodg Some Of you.
know, are morning stars, and You are
making the dawning life Of your chill
dren bright with gracious influences,
and you are beaming upon all the open
ing enterprises of philanthropic and
Christian endeavor, and you are heralds
of that day of gospelization which will
yet food all the mountains and valleys
of our sin accursed earth. Hail, morn
ing star Keep on shining with encour-
agement and Christian hope
Some Of you are evening stars. and
you are cheering the last days Of old
people, and though cloud sometimes
comes over you through the querulous-
ness or unreasonableness of your aged
father and mother, it is only for mo-
ment, and the star soon comes ont clear
again and is seen from all the balconies
of the neighborhood. The old people
will forgive your occasional shOrtcom-
ings, for they themselves several times
lost their patience with you when you
were young and perhaps whipped you
when you did not deserve it. Hail,
evening star Hang on the darkening
sky your diamond coronet.
wormwood In the Home.
But are any of you the star Worm
woodl Do you scold and growl from
the thrones paternal or matelnalg Are
your children everlastingly pecked att
Are you always crying Hush" to the
merry voices and swift feet, and to the
laughter. which occasionally trickles
through at wrong times. and is sup
pressed by them until they can hold it
no longer, and all the barriers burst in
TO unlimited guffaw and cachinnation.
as in high weather the water has
trickled through slight opening in the
milldam, but afterward makes wider
and wider breach until it carries all be-
fore il with irresistible freshet? Do not
be too much offended at the noise your
| children now make. 1t will be still
| enough when one of them is dead. Then
you would give your right hand to hear
one shout from the silent voice, or one
step from the still foot. Nou will not
any of ycu have to wait very long bee
fore your house is stiller than you want
| it. Alas that there are so many home
not known to the Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Children, where
children are whacked and cutfed and
ear pulled. and senselessly called to or
der. and answered sharply and sup
pressed. until it is wonder that under
such processes they do not all turn out
| Mana Sahibsl
What is your influence upon the
| neighborhood. the town or the city OF
your residencel will suppose that you
are star Of wit. What kind Of rays do
you shoot FORTH Do you use that splen-
did faculty to irradiatc the world or 10
rankle itg bless all the apostolic col
lege of humorists The man that makes
me laugh is my benefactor do not
thank anybody to make me cry. can
do that without any assistance. We all
cry enough and have enough TO cry
about. God bless all skillful punsters,
all reparteeists. all propounders Of in
genious conundrums. all those whc
mirthfully surprise us with unusual
iuxtaposition Of words. Thomas Hood
and Charles Dickens and Sydney Smith
had a divine mission. and SO have tEell
successols in these times They stir into
the acid beverage Of life the saccharine.
They make the cupof earthly existence,
which is sometimes stale, etteryesce ano
bubble. They placate animosities They
foster longevity. They slay follies anc
absnrdities which all the sermons Of al
the pulpits cannot reach. But what us'
are YOU making of your witt Is 1t be
smirched with profanity and unclean
ness? Do you employ it in Amusement
at phvsical defects for which the vic
Tins are not responsible2 Are your pow
ers of mimicry used to put religion Il
| contemptf Is it bunch of nettlesom'
invectiveg Is it a bolt Of unjust scorn
| 1t il fun at others misfortunef Is i
olee at their disappointment ana de
feat9 Is it bitterness put drop by drol
into a cup2 Is it like the squeezin'
of Artemisia absinthium into draf
already distastefully pungentY Ihei
/ Won are the star Wormwood. Yours
the fun of rattlesnake trying how wei
it can sting 1t is the fun Of a hawl
trying how quick it can strike out tn
eye of dove
stnr Of worldly Prosperity.
But will change this and suppos
Won are a star of worldly prosperity
Then you have large opportunity. 1ol
can encourage that artist by buying III
picture. You can improve the fields tn
stables, the highway. by INTRODUCING
, higher style Of fowl and horse and COY
and sheep. You can bless the world wit
genealogical achievement in the orchard
, Yon can advance arboriculture and al
, rest the deathful destruction OF tn
American forests. You can put piec
of sculpture into the niche of that put
. lie academy. You can endow college
ii You can stocking 1000 bare feet trol
the winter frost. You can build
. church. You can put missionary Q
II Christ on that foreign shore. lou ca
help to ransom world. \ rich ma
with his heart right-can you tell III
q how much good James Lenox or
4 George Peabody or Peter Cooper or
William E. Dodge did while living o
b is doing now that he is dead There
D not city. town or neighborhood tina
has not glorious specimens OF conse
, | Grated wealth.
u But suppose You grind the face OF tn
/ poor. Suppose, when a mans wages ar
due, you make him wait for them be
cause he cannot help himself Suppos
that, because his family is sick and Ii
: has had extra expenses, he should po
J. litely ask you TO raise his wages for tnl
year, and you roughly tell him If d
+ wants a better place to go and get IL
+ Suppose, by your manner, You act a
& though he were nothing and you wer
l. everything Suppose you are selfish an
overbearing and arrogant. Your mrs
name ought to be Attila and your las