Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-03-13

of the social circle, Attilas of the
church, Attilas of the state. and one
third of the waters of all the world, if
not two-thirds the waters. are poisoned
by the falling of the star Wormwood.
1t is not complimentary to human ma
ture that most men. as soon as they get
great power. become overbearing. The
more power men have the better. if their
power be used for good. The less power
men have the better. if they use it for
evil
Birds circle round and round and
round before they swoop upon that
which they are aiming for. And if my
discourse so far has been swinging round
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 a curse, a
balsam or a wormwood2 Some Of you,
I 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 flood all the mountains and valleys
of our sin aecursed earth Hail, morn
ing star! Keep on shining with encour-
agement and Christian hopel
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 unreasona bleness of your aged
Cot 1xyf
ment, and the star soon comes out 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 start Hang on the darkening
sky your diamond coronet.
wormxvoOd In the Home.
But are any of you the star Worm
wood? Do you scold and growl from
the thrones paternal or maternal? Are
your children everlastingly pecked at?
Are you always crying "Hushl" 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 exclamation,
as in high weather the water has
trickled through a slight opening in the
milldam, but afterward makes wider
and wider breach until it carries all be-
fore it with irresistible freshet? Do not
l. L.
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. You will not
any of you have to wait very long be-
fore your house is stiller than you want
it. Alas that there are so many homes
not known to the Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Children, where
children are whacked and cuffed and
ear pulled, and senselessly called to or
der, and answered sharply and sup
pressed, until it is a wonder that under
such processes they do not all turn out
Mana Sahibsl
What is your influence upon the
neighhorhood the town or the city of
your residence? Twill suppose that you
are star of wit. What kind of rays do
you shoot forth Do you use that splen-
did faculty to irradiate the world or to
rankle it? I 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 who
mirthfully surprise us with unusual
juxtaposition Of words. Thomas Hood
and Charles Dickens and Sydney Smith
had a divine mission, and SO have their
successors in these times. They stir into
the acid beverage Of life the sa ccharine
They make the cup Of earthly existence,
which is sometimes stale, effervesce and
bubble They placate animosities. They
foster longevity They slay follies and
absurdities which all the sermons of all
the pulpits cannot reach. But what use
are you making of your wit? Is it be-
smirched with profanity and unclean-
ness? Do you employ it in amusement
at physical defects for which the vic
Tins are not responsible? Are your pow
ers of mimicry used to put religion in
contempt2 Is it bunch of nettlesome
invective? Is it bolt Of unjust scorn
It it fun at others misfortune2 Is it
glee at their disappointment and de-
feat2 Is it bitterness put drop by drop
into a cup? Is it like the squeezing
of Artemisia absinthium into a draft
already distastefully pungent2 Then
you are the star Norwood. Yours is
the fun of rattlesnake trying how well
it can sting. It is the fun of a hawk
trying how quick it can strike out the
eye of dove.
Star of Worldly Prosperity.
L