The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-08-25
WORLD OF ACTIVITY
The Rev. DR.. Talmage Draws
Lessons From Insect Life.
Human neinRs Can We'll Emulat,
Wise ways of the Ant-This
IL No Place For
ldIeness.

sermon the preacher. drawing an object
lesson from the insect world, shows
the importance In human affairs OF
honest. Intelligent, unrcmltting indus
try and the folly Of those who belittle
or undervame 1t. The text Is Proverbs
VI. o, "Go TO the ant, thou sluggard
consider her ways and be wise"
II was hot, sultry afternoon In
summer on the famous Chautauqua
grounds Of New York when Bishop
John H. Vincent knocked at Wilbur
Chapman's door Come in," called
the evangelist. In walked the founder
Of the ChautauQua movement In this
country. lie said. chapman. l want
you TO 20 and hear a lecture this after
noon" What ony' 1t is given by q
college professor. The lecture is en-
titled My Friends the ella Monster
the Horned Owl. the Opossum aud the
Rat" "No, bishop" said Dr. Chap
man; Il cannot 90 am utterly worn
out by speaking Besides that have
IA big meeting for tonight for which !
must rest and prepare. You must LET
me of this once" NO Chapman,
Will not let you Off. You must come.
There IS great treat in store fol-
you" So under the pleading demands
Of Bishop Vincent he went
AT first" said DR.. Chapman after
ward, Il sat away back IN the audi
encc. that might be able to slip away
unseen But as the speaker began TO
talk about his novel friends became
more and more absorbed. UncOn-
sciously l went halfway down the
aisle and took seat nearer 20 the
speaker. Then. as be talked on and
On, crcpt farther and farther until !
was In the front seat. There sat for
nearly two long hours laughing and
crying and learning the great lessons
Of life from the lives OF the most hum
ble OF Gods creatures. never before
realized that there was 40 much love
aud affection and unselHshness and
brain power in creeping things and
loathsome reptiles and poisonous liz
ards and repulsiye rats"
The little things OF earth reveal the
power OF Gods love and care. as well
as the greater things. King Solomon
would Introduce to US one OF his little
friends lie would have us use an ant
hill for a pulpit He would have for
the preacher Of the morning one of the
ordinary. commonplace, large mandi-
bled, many JOinted, long antennaed,
six legged insects that we can see in
almost every country bypath. He
would tell us that the ants intelligent
fOrethOught, her persevering energy.
her many social afiinities, her mortal
hotreds. her scnsitiveness 10 smell and
color. her architectural genius with
which she constructs the palace In
which are to be deposited the precious
eggs, her slaves and nurses who serve
her in peace, her military captains who
marshal her great armies In war, her
care for the cOcOons In which the grubs
are developed into the perfect Insects,
as the caterpillar unfolds the transng-
ured life Of butterfly. offer unlimited
fields for gospel Illustration. 60 TO
the ant, thou sluggard, consider her
ways and be wise"
Busy. busy. busy. BUSY as an ant
is m old proverb. Whether she Is car
ing for her eggs or finding the grubs;
whether she belongs 10 forsging par
" or is going forth upon a war Of con-
quest 70 capture the eggs Of another
hive. which eggs she intends 10 devel-
op into future slaves; whether she Is
migrating from one part Of the country
10 another or is building the walls and
the Railways. squaring the chambers.
laying the foundations or srching the
dome Of a new house. the ant Is al
ways busy. She works during the day,
she works during the night, she works
while she eats; II almost seems that
she works while she sleeps. Her ambi-
ton is not to find out how little she
can do. but how much she can do She
works. and works, and works. She
keeps on working To do something is
the very breath Of her existence.
This proverb Is automatic. You 60
out for summer stroll and one of your
little children calls: "Oh. mother, come
md look See these little black things.
What are theyr' Ants, my dear"
you say. Then you stOop over that hive
ana watch them They are moving al
WAYS moving Some are busy house
cleaning II you could enter the cham
Der Of an ant mound. you would find
that each room and connecting hall
way are absolutely clean. Every par
-icle Of dust which once chOked those
galleries has been carried out. piece by
piece. and deposited afar of. where II
viii not obstruct the openings OF the
mt hill Some Of these ants are house
rleanine Some are going after food.
Some are caring for the grubs. But
they are all working the ants are al
ways working. Their working hours
ire simply unlimited. Sir John Lub-
book. the famous naturalist. reported |
hat he once watched a single ant who |
worked without lntermlssion or relaKa-
ion from 3 o'clock In the morning until
nearly 10 O'Clock NJ night For sixteen
hours that ant continued diligently az
ler task. You cannot dream Of lot |
" ants getting together. as 90 some
men today. whose chief aim seems 10
be 20 find out how little work they |
.an do In life and what is the maxi
mum Of pay they can force out OF
heir employers for minimum Of Ia
Dor Oh. no. That ls not the ants
way. No sooner does the sunlight craw
over the eastern hills than the ant hivt
becomes busy The different ants say
Come, sisters, we must get 20 work
Hurry mp now We have so much worl
10 do and such little time in which
10 10 it BE busy. he busyw The hu