St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-11-11

L AMMAN / FAh10us
your intellect clearest and your dispo-
sition brightest you feel a sharp, keen,
disconcerting thrust. 1.-THE Lord sent
the hornet"
Perhaps these small insect annoy
ances will come in the shape of do
mestic irritation. The parlor and the
kitchen do not always harmonic. To
get good service and to keep 1t is one
of the great questions of the country.
Sometimes it may be the arrogance and
inconsiderateness of employers; but.
whatever be the fact, we all admit there
are these insect annoyances winging
their wny out from the culinary depart
ment. If the grace Of God be not In the
heart OF the housekeeper, she cannot
maintain her equilibrium. The men
come home at night and hear the story
of these annoyances and say: 'Oh,
these home troubles are very little
thines!" They are small, small as
wasps, but they sting. Martha's nerves
were all unstrung when she rushed in
asking Christ to scold Mary. and there
are tens OF thousands of women who are
dying, stung to death by these pestifer-
GUS domestic annoyances. The Lord
sent the hornet"
These small insect disturbances may
also come in the shape of business irri-
tations. There are men here who went
through the oath of September. 1863.
and the panics of 1873 anu Of 1898 with
out losing their balance who are every
day unhorsed by little annoyances-a
clerks ill manners, or blot OF ink on
a bill of lading, or the extravaganza OF
q partner who overdraws his account,
or the whispering of store condolences
in the street, or the making OF some
little bad debt which was against your
Judgment; but you wanted to please
somebody else.
1t is not the panics that kill the mer-
chants. Panics come only once in ten
or 20 years. 1t is the constant din OF
these everyday annoyances which is
sending SO many of our best merchants
into nervous dyspepsia and paralysis
and the grave. When our national
commerce fell fiat on its face, these men
stood up and felt almost defiant, but
their life is going away now under the
swarm Of these pestiferous annoyances.
"Thc Lord sent the hornet"
have noticed in the history of some
Of my congregation that their annoy
ances are multiplying and that they
have hundred where they used to have
ten. The naturalist tells US that q wasp
sometimes has family Of 20,000 wasps,
and it does seem as if every annoyance
OF your life brooded q million. by the
help of God, to-day want to show you
the other side. The hornet is OF no use
oh, yes! The naturalist tells us they
are very important in the worlds econ
omy. They kill spiders, and they clear
the atmosphere. And I really believe
God sends the annoyances OF our life
upon us to kill the spiders of the soul
and to clear the atmosphere OF our
skies.
These annoyances are sent on N,
think, to wake us from our lethargy.
There is nothing that makes man SO
lively as q nest Of "yellow jackets" and
I think that these annoyances are in
tended to persuade US of the fact that
this is not world for us to stop in. II
we had bed of everything that was at
tractive and soft and easy, what would
we want of Heaven? We think that the
hollow tree sends the hornet, or we may
think that the devil sends the hornet.
want to correct your opinion. The
Lord sent the hornet"
"Oh," you say, IF only had the cir.
cumstances of some well to do man
would lie patient, too" You might al
well say: IF it were not for this water,
I would swim." or, I could shoot this
| gun II it were not for the cartridge
When you stand chin deep in annoyancei
| il the time for you to swim out toward
the great headlands of Christian attain.
ment, so as to "know Christ and the
power of His resurrection and to have
fellowship with his sufferings."
Nothing but the furnace will ever
burn out of us the clinLer and the Stag
have formed this theory in regard te
small annoyances and vexations. II
| takes just SO much trouble to fit No FOL
usefulness and for Heaven. The only
question is whether we shall take it ID
| the bulk or pulverized and granulated
Here is one man who takes it in the
bulk. His back is broken or his eye
sight put out, or some other awful
calamity befalls him, while the vast ma
jority Of people take the thing piece
meal. Which way would you rather
have it? OF course, in piecemeal. Bet
ter have five aching teeth than one
broken jaw; better ten fly blisters thar
an amputation; better 20 squalls thar
one cyclone. There may be differencs
Of opinion as to allopathy and homeo
pathy, but in this matter of trouble
like homeopathic doses, small pellets
| of annoyance rather than some knock
down dose Of calamity. Instead of the
thunderbolt give us the hornet. IT yot
have q bank, you would great dea
rather that so men would come in with
checks less than 500 than to have two
depositors come in the same day, eacf
wanting his $4,000. In this latter cast
yoa coagh and look down to the hoo1
and you look up to the ceiling before
youlook into the safe. Now, my f.ieDds
would you not rather have. these small
drafts of annoyance on your bank o.
faith than some AL staggering demand
upon your endurance? But remember
shat little as well as great Annoyance'
equally require you to trust in Christ TO.
succor and for deliverance from impa
tience and irritabilitv. "Thou wilt keel
him in perfect peace whose mind i,
stayed on Thee"
In the village Of Hamelin, tradition
says. there was an invasion of rats, ani
these small creatures almost devourei
the town and threatened the lives Of thu
population; and the story II that's pipel
came out one day and played . very
sweet tune, and all the vermin FOLLOWED
him, followed him to the banks of til,
.Weser, and then he blew q blast, and
they dropped in and disappeared for
ever. OF course, this il fable, but
wish I could ON the sweet flute of thu
Gospel draw forth all the nibbling anG