The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-03-18

third part Of the rivers and upon the
fountains OF waters. and the name OF
the star is called Norwood"
Have you ever thought how many
enbittered lives there are all about
US, mi~santhropie, morbid. acrid. satur-
nine? The European plant from which
NORWOOD is extracted. ArtemiSia alb
sinthium, is a perennial plant. and all
the year round il Is ready TO exude its
oil, and in many human lives there Is
perennial disullation OF aerid expert
eneeS Yea. there are some whose
whole work is 10 shed a baleful in
huenee on others. There are Attilas
Of the home Attilas OF the social cir
Gle. AttilAs OF the church, Attilas Of
the state, and one-third OF the waters
Of all the world, IL % two-thirds the
waters are poisoned by the falling Of
the star Norwood. II is not uncom-
Plimentary TO human nature that most
men. as soon as they get great power,
become o~verbearing. The more power
men have the better. il their power be
used for good. The less power men
have the better. IL they use it for evil.
Birds circle round and round and
round before they swoop upon that
which they are aiming for. And II
my discourse so far has been swinging
round and round, this moment II drops
straight on your heart and asks the
question: Is your life . benedieton to
others or an l~mbitterment q blessing
OF Q curse, a balsam or 4 wormwood?
Some Of you, / know. are morning
stars, and you are making the dawn
ing life Of your children bright with
gracious influences, and you are beam
ing upon all the opening enterprises
Of philapthropic and Christian endsAs-
or, and you are hsnlds Of that
day Of gospeliEatiOn which viii yet
food all the mountains and valleys Of
our sin accursed earth. Hail. morn
ing start Keep on shining with en-
eouragsment and Christian hopsi
Some Of you T evening stars, and
you are cheering the last days Of old
people. and, though q cloud sometimes
comes over you through the querulous-
ness or unreasonAbleness Of your aged
father and mother, 1t is only for . mo-
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
shortcomings. for they themselves sew
eral 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
dsrkening sky your diamond coronet
But T any Of you the star Worm
wood? Do you scold and growl from
the thrones paternal or maternal? Are
your children everiastingly pecked at?
Are you always crying "Hushl" to the
merry voices and swift feet and TO the
laughter which occasionally trieklss
through at wrong times and Is sup
pressed by them until they can hold II
no longer. and all the barriers burst
into unlimited guffaw and cachinna-
tion. as in this weather the water has
trickled through a slight opening in
the mildam, but afterward makes
wider and wider breach until II carries
all before il with irresistible freshet?
Do not be too much offended at the
noise your children now make. II will
be Still enough when one OF them is
dead. Then you would give your right
hand 10 hear one shout from the silent
voice or n step from the still foot.
You will not any OF you have TO wait
very long before your house is ,tiller
than you want it. Alas, that there
are so many homes not known TO the
Society for the Prevention Of Cruelty
toChildren, where childrenare whaeked
and cuffed and ear pulled, and sense
lessly called TO order, and answered
sharply. and suppressed, until It is a
wonder that under such processes they
do not all turn out Mana Sahibs!
What is your influence upon the
neighborhood, the town or the city Of
your residence? I viii suppose that
you are 3 star Of wit What kind Of
rays do you shoot forth? Do you use
that splendid faculty to irradiate the
world or to rankle It? l bless all the
apostolic college Of humorists. The
mar that makes me laugh is my bene-
factor. / do not thank anybody to
make me cry. / can do that without
assistance. We all cry enough and
have enough TO cry about. God blessall
shllful puns:ers, all repsrteeists, all
~propounders Of ingenious 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 80 have their su~ccessorsin
these times. They stir into the acid
beverage Of life the saccharine. They
make the cup Of earthly existence,
which Is sometimes stale, effervesce and
bubble. They plaeate animokties.
They foster longevity. They alay fol-
lies and absurdiues which all the SER
mons Of all the pulpits cannot reach.
But what use are you making of your
WITT Is 1t beSmirched with profanity
and ~uncleanness? Do you employ Il in
amusement at physical defects for
which the victims are not responsibility
Are your powers Of mimicry used to
put religion in contempt7 LISTS bunch
Of nettlesome invective? Is 1t a bolt OF
Unjust scornP Is IL fun at Others mis-
fortune? Is II glee at their disap-
pointment and defeat? Is It bitterness
put drop by drop into a cup2 Is II like
the squeezing Of Artemisia absinthium
into a draft already distastefully pun
gent Then you are the star Worm
wood. YourSis the fun Of q ra~ttlesnake
trying how well It can sting.
ButIwill change this and suppose you
are q star Of worldly prosperity. Then
you have a large opportunity. You can
encourage that artist by buying his pic
ture. You a improve the fields, the
stables, the highway, by introducing
higher style Of fowl and horse and COW
and sheep. You can bless the world
with genealogical achievement in the
orchard. You can advance arboricul.
ture and arrest the beautiful destruc-
ton Of the American forests. You can
put q piece Of sculpture into the niche
Of that public academy, you can endow
. college, you can stocking 1000 bare
feet from the winter FROST you can
build a church, you car put a mission
airy of Christ on that foreign shore,
you can help 10 ransom a world A
rich a with his heart right-can you
tell me how much good a James Lenox
or a George Peabody Of q Peter Cooper
or q William Z. Dodge did while living
or Is doing now that he is dead2 There
Is not a city, town or neighborhood that
has not glorious specimens Of conse-
Grated wealth.