Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1895 — TALMAGE'S SERMON. [ARTICLE]

TALMAGE'S SERMON.

HE TALKS ON THE PETTY ANNOYANCES OF LIFE. The Hornet on Its MisSfft>n—Varieties of Insect Annoyances—Necessity for Kittle Troubles—They Are ings in Disguise. A World of Trouble. ■ . Di Tnlniu;-iv-!»trimlJty t'lmiin fm hjyitiS— Course a theme that will appeal to'mPst people—viz, “The Petty Annoyances ofc Life.” His text was, "The Lord thy God will sendthe hornet.” Deuteronomy vii., 20. 11 seems as it theinsretflo” world were determined to extirpate the human race. It bombards the grainfields and tiie or,Chards..and; the viney a.rds, : The Coloradobeetle. _lhe_N_ebi:a ska _grxtsshor_>i>e_r,_ theZ New Jersey locust, the universal potato bug seem to carry on the work Which was ..begun ages ago when the insects buzzed = offFof^^ah J s’’nWms-thtrdoor-was-oueited._ —ln inv text the_hornet flics, out on its: mission. It is a speciesTrf xvasp, swift in its motion ami violent in Bs sting. Its ilmtrh is tort pre in men'or beast.. We have all seen the cattle run bellowing under the cut of its lancet In boyhood we used to stand cautiously looking at the globular nest hung from the tree branch, and while we were looking at the wonderful covering we were struck with something that sent us shrieking away. The hornet goes in swarms. It has captains over hundreds, and twenty of them alighting on one man will produce death. The Persians attempted to conquer a Christian City,” but the elephants a,nd the beasts on which the Persians rode were assaulted by the hornet, so that the whole army was broken up and the besieged city was rescued. This'burning and noxious insect stung out the Hittites and the Canaanites from their country. What .gleaming- sword and chariot of war could not accomplish was done by the puncture of an insect, '/he Lord sent the hoTnets.

Smail' Annoyances. My Trietrds, .when we are assaulted by great behemotiis of trouble, we become chiValric, and we assault tfieiih We get on the high inc tiled steed of our courage, and we make a cavalry charge at them, and jf God be with us, we*come out stronger and better than when we went in. But. alas, for these inseetile annoyancos of lift' these foes too small to shoot —these things without any avoirdupois weight, the gnats, and the midges, and the flies, and the wasps, and the hornets! In other words, it is the small, stinging annoyances of our life which drive us out and use us up. Injlie best conditioned life', for some grand and glorious purpose, God has S<jnt the horpQb_ I remark, in the first place, that these small, stinging annoyances may cqwte in the shape of a nervous organization.. People who are prostrated under typhoid fevers or with broken bones get pllrnty of sympathy, but whoT>ities anybody that ix nervous? The doctors say, and the fafl| ily say, and everybody says*. “Oh, only a little, nervous; that’s all!” The 9 souiid of a heavy foot. the harsh clearing of a threat, a discord in music, a w:.nt of harmony between file shawl and the glove on the same person, a curt answer, ft passing slight,. the the eh.sf,’, any one of Moor for the hornet. The faeb is ivart-nrajOTlty Of The•£sptC‘ajf this 1 j try are ovorworketl, ’ find Their nerves, arc the first to give out. A great multitude are under thestfain of “Leyden, who, when lie was told by his physician' that if he did not stop working while lie vvas in suell poor’-physical health he would die. responded. ‘'Doctor, whether I live or die, the wheel must keep going round.” These sensitive persons of whom I speak have a bleeding sensitiveness. The flies love to light on anything yaw, and these people are like the Canaanites spoken of in the text or in the context — they have a very thin covering and are Vuliisrable at all points. “And the Lord sent the hornet.” • I.ike Insects.

Agtin, the small insect annoyances may come to us in the shape of friends and acquaintances who are always saying dis, agreeable things. There are some people you canhot be with for half an hour but you feel cheered and comforted. Then . there are other people you cannot lie with ' for five minutes They do not mean to disturb you, but they sting you to the bone. They gather up al! the yarn which the gossips spin and retail it. They gather up all the adverse criticisms about your person, about your business, about your home, about your churr-h, and they make your ear the funAel into which they pour it. They laugh heartily when they tell you, as though ft were a good joke, and you laugh, too— outside, c These-people are brought to our attention in the Bible, isfMhe book of Huth. Naomi went forth beautiful and with the finest of worldly prospects, and into another land, but, after awhile, she came back widowed and sick and poor. What' did her-fiiepds do when she came to the city? They all went'out, and instead of giving her common sense consolation, what did they do? Read the book of Ruth and find out. They threw up their hands and said, “Is this Naomi?” as much as to say, ‘‘How awful you do look!” When I entered the minstry, I looked verypale for years, and every year, for four or five years, a hundred times a year, I -was -md>e44f I had not- .tlMj .consumfvtijm, and passing through the room I would sometimes hear people sigh and say, “A-ah, not long for this world!” I resolved in those times that I never in any conversation would say anything depressing, and by the belf) pf God I have kept the resolution. These people of whom I speak reap and bind in the great harvest field of discouragement. Some day you greet them with a hilarious "goodmorning,” and they come buzzing at you with some depressing information. "The Lord sent the hornet.” When I see so many people in the world who like to sav disagreeable things and write disagreeable 'hirigs, I come almost In my weaker moments to believe what a man said to me in Philadelphia one Monthe livery stable, and the hostler, a plain man, said to mo, “Mr.-yi'tYlmagev L-safec that you preached to the young mefi yesterday?” I said, "Yes.” "Nouse—no use. Man's* a failure.” Physical I tie. The small insect annoyances of life sometimes come in the shape of local physical trouble, which does not amount §to a positive prostration, but which bothers you when you want to feel the best. Perhaps it is a sick headache which has been the plague of yotir life, and yomflppoint some occasion of mirth or sociality or usefulness, and when the clock strikes the hour you cannot make jrour appear-

ance. Perhaps tlie trophic is between the ear and The forehead, in the shape of a neuralgic twinge. Nobody can see it of sympathize with it, bat just at the time whenyou want your intellect dearest and your disposition brightest you feel a sharp, keen,disconcerting thrust. “The Lord sent the hornet.” Peril.aps these small insect annoyances will come in the shape of a domestic irritation. The parlor and the kitchen do not always harmonize. To get good service and to keep it is one of the greatest questions of the country. Sometimes it may be the arrogancy and inconsiderateness of employers, but. whatever be the —ta ct. we all ad mi t t here are these insect; annoyances winging their way out front the culinary department. .If the grace.of God be not in the heart of the housekeeper. she cannot maintain herjKjuilibrium. Tlie - nlenTdonieHiiinfe' at "night and hear lli<> story of th'-se annoyam'es and say. •‘‘Oh, these home troubles are very little things!” .They are small, small as wasps, but they stiiig. nerves wyre.all' unstrung- when she rushed in, asking Christ to scold Mary, and there are tens 'of thousands of women who are dying, stjing to death by these pestiferous domes- ■ tic annoyances. “The Lord sent' the hornet?’ . ~ '

These small Insect disturbances may also come in the sirtfpe of business irritations. -There uro njen here who went through 1557 and the pith of September, 1869, without losing’ their balance, yvho are every day unhorsed by little annoyances—a clerk's ill manners,'or a blot of ink on a bill of lading, or the extravagance of a partner who overdraws his account, or the underselling by a business rival, or the whispering 1 of store confidences -in the street, or the - making of some little bad debt which was against your judgment, just to please somebody else. The Lord Sends Hornets. It is not the panics that kill the merchants. Panics come only once in ten or twenty years. 11 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 flat on its face, these men stood up and felt almost defiant, but theiifSlife is going away now under the s warm-ofthesepesiif erou sa anoyances. “TTie EordTehTTJur hbrnet.’” " I have noticed in the history of some that their anpoyances are multiplying ifnd that they have a hundred where they used to have ten. The naturalist tells us that a wasp sometimes has a family of 20,000--wasps,- and it does seem as if’-ev-ery annoyance of your life brooded a million. By the help of God I want to show you the other side. The hornet is ,of no use? Oh,' yes! The naturalists tell us they are very important in the world’s economy, 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 bur , skies. These annoyances are sent to nis, I to wake us up from our lethargy. There is nothing that makes a man so jfe’.cl.y as a nest of “yellow jackets,” and ■F-think that these annoyances are intended to persuade us of the fact that this is not a world for us to stop in. If we had a bed'Of everything that was atfractive. and soft and easy, what would hbrnet> or we may 'tiiiiik that the devil sends the hornet. I want ta.correct your opinion. “The Lord sent the hornet.”

Then I think these annoyances come on us to patience. In the gymnasium y^r v find upright parallel “Ears—upright bars,, with holes over each other for pegs to be put in. Then the gymnast takes a peg in each hand, and he begins to climb, .one inch at a time or two inches, arid getting his strength cultured, reaches after awhile the ceiling. And it, seems to me that these annoyances in life are a moral gymnasium, each worriment a peg with which we are to climb higher and higher in Christian attainment. We all love to see patience, but it cannot be cultured in fair weather. Patience is a child of the storm. If you had everything desirable and there p as nothing more to get, what would you want with patience? The only time to culture'it is when you are lied about and sick and half dead. "Oh,” you say, “if I only had the circumstances of some well-to-do man, I would be patient, too!” You might as well say, “If it were not for this water, I would swim,” or “I could shoot this gun if it were not for the charge.” When you stand chin in annoyances is the time for yon to swim out toward the great headlands of Christian attainment, so as to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to have fellowship with his sufferings. \ So as by Fire. Nothing but the furnace will ever burn out of us the clinker and the slag. I have’ formed this theory in regard to small annoyances and vexations. It takes just so much trouble to fit rts for usefulness and for heaven. The only question is whether we shall take it in the bulk or pulverized and granulated. Here is one man who takes it in t fie bulk. His back is broken, or his eyesigpt put out, or some other awful calamity befalls him, while the Vast majority of people take the thing piecemeal. Which wgy would you rather have it? Of course, in piecemeal. Better have five aching teeth than one broken jaw; betted ten fly blisters than an amputation; better twenty squalls than one cyclone. There may be a difference of opinioir as to allopathy and homeopathy,'but in this matter of trvutdeTTike'Tibtne r " bpathie doses—small pellets of annoyance rather than some knockdown dose of calamity. Instead of the thunderbolt give ns the hornet. It you have a bank, you would a great deal rather that fifty men would eopm in with cheeks less than SIOO than to have two depositors come in the same day, eaefl wanting his SIO,OOO. In this latter easeyou cough and look down to the floor, and you look up at the ceiling before you look into the safe. Now, my friends, would you not rather have these’ small drafts of annoyance on your bank of faith, than some all staggering demand upon, your endurance ? ’ But remember that li<; tie as well as £reat annoyances equally? require yon to trust in Christ for succo/ and a deliverance from impatieneft irritability. "Thouwilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind Js staid on thee.” In the village.of Hamelin, tradition says, there was anfinvasion of rats, and these small creatures almost devoured the town and threatened the live s of the population, and the story is that a piper came out one day and played a very sweet tune! and all the vermin followed him-t-followed him to the banks of the Weaer. Then he blew a blast, and then they dropped in and disappeared forever. Of course this is a fable, but I wish I could, on the sweet flute of the gospel, draw forth all the nibbling and burrowing aacoyancee

of your life and phy them down into thak depths forever. How many touches did Mr. Church give to his picture of “Cotopaxi” or bis “Heart of the Andes?” I suppose about 50,000 touches. I hear the canvas saying: “Why (lo JW keep me trembling with that pencil so long? Why dohT you put -it on In one dash?” “No,” says Mr. Churcb, “I know how %c make a painting. It willlake*so,ooo of these touches.” And i want you? niy friends, to understand that it is these 10/100 annoyances which, under God, are making up the picture of your life, to be hung at last in the galleries of heaven, tit for angels to at. Go’tbkiiows how to make a pieZZ ture. <•* Little Strokes Only. I go into a sculptor’s studio and see him shaping a statum He has a chisel-ln one hand aiid a mallet in thTTblfcetr~sri(ri>e~ gives • a very" genflSTtfolie—click, click, click! I say, “Why don’t you strike harder?’’ “Oh,” he replies, shatter the stafup. 1 can’t do it that way. I must do it this’ way.” So he works on, and after awhile the features come out, and everybody that elfffors the studio is charmed and fascinated. >Well, God has your son! under process of developinpnf,. and it is the little annoyances and vexations of life that are chiseling out your “immortal nature.’ It is click,click,click! I won der why some gren t pro v idenre dnew not come and with one stroke prepare you for heaven. Ah, no. God says that is not the way. And so ho -keeps on by strokes of little vexatious until at last you shall be a glad spectacle for and for men. You know that a large fortune may be spent in small change, and a vast amount of moral character may go awaj' in small depletions. It is the little troubles of life that are having more effect upon you than great ones. A swarm of locusts will kill a grainfield sooner tHan the incursion of three or four cattle. You say, “Since I lost my child, since I lost my property, I have been a different man.” . But yomdo not recognize the architecture of little annoyances that are hewing, digging, cutting, shaping, splitting and interjoining your moral qualities. Rats may sink a ship. One lucifer match may semf ffestruction through a block of storehouses. Catherine de Medici got her death from smelling a poisonous rose. Columbus by stopping and asking for a piece of bread and a drink of water at a Franciscan convent was led to the discovery of a new world. And there is an intimate connection between trifles and immensities, between nothings and everythirigs. Now, be careful to let none of these annoyances go through your soul unarraigned. Compel them to your spiritual wealth. The scratch of a sixpenny nail sometimes produces lockjaw, and the clip of a most infinitesimal annoyance may damage you forever. Do not let any annoyance or perplexity como across your soul without its making you better.

Our government docs not thjpk It belittling to put a tax On small articles? The indjyj'Jpal tnsos do nos ah<ount to much, but in the aggregate to mill'tons arid millions of dollars. And I would have you, O Christian man, put a high tariff on every annoyance and vexation that comes through your soul. This might not amount to much in single cases, but in the aggregate it would be a great revenue of spiritual strength and satisfaction. A bee can suck honey even out of a nettle, and if you have the grace of God in your heart you can get sweetness out of that which would otherwise irritale and anpoy. Faithful in Little Things. A returned missionary told me that a company of adventurers rowing up the Ganges were stung to deqth by flies that Infest that region at certiin'seasons. I have seen the earth strew.i with the carcasses of men slain by insect annoyances. The only way to get prepared for the great troubles of life is to conquer these small troubles! What would you say of a soldier who refused to loaddiis gun or to go into the conflict became it was only a skirmish, saying: “I am not going to expend my ammunition on a skirmish. Wait until there’ comes a general engagement, and then you will see how courageous I am and what battling I will do.” The general would sap to such a man, “If you are not faithful in a skirmish, jou would be nothing in a general engagement.” And I have to tell you, O Christian men, if you cannot apply the principles of Christ's religion on a small scale you will never be able to apply them on a large scale. If I had my way with you. I would have you possess all possible worldly prosperity. I would have you each one a garden, a river flowing through it, geraniums and shrubs on the sides, and the grass and flowers as beautifuFas though the rainbow had fallen. I would have you; a house, a splendid mansion' and the bed should be covered with upholstery dipped in the setting sun. I would have every 1111,11. in your house set with statues and statuettes, and then I would have the four quarters of the globe pour in all their luxuries on your table, and you should have forks of silver anil knives of gold, inlaid with diamonds and amethysts. Then you should each ope of you have the finest horses, and your pick of the equipages of the world. Then I would hav» you live 15p years, and you should no< have a pain or ache until the last breath.

' Wisdom in It All. “Not each one of us?” you say. Ydb, Each one of you. "Not to your enemies?” Yes. The only difference I would make with them would be that I would put a little extra gilt on their wlflls and a little extra embroidery on their But, you say,JlWhy-dpes not God give ns all these things?” Ah, I bethink myself he is wiser! It would make fools and gards of us if we had onr way. No man puts his best picture in the portico or vestibule of his house. God meant this 'world to be only the vestibule of heaven, that great gallery of the universe toward which we are aipiring. We must not have it too good in this world, or wa would want no heaven. Polycarp was condemned to be-burned to death. The stake was planted. He was fastened to it. The fagots were plarzd around him, the fires kindled, but history tells us that the flames bent Mtward ?iketbe canvas of a ship in a stout breeze, ■so that the flames, instead of destroying Polycarp, were duly a wall between him and his enemies. They bad actually to destroy him with thepopiard. Theflames “sßrmjld not touch him. Well, my hearer, I want you to understand that by God's grace the flames of trial, instead of consuming your soul, are only going to be a wall of defense and a canopy of blessing. God is gtdng to fulfill to you the blessing : and the promise, as he did to Polycarp, "When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned.” -Now you do not understand. You shall know hereafter. In heaven you will bless God even for the hornet. _ Do right yourself, and you will heln gome other man tp behave himself.

Although our British neighbors have bought from us this year jb early a million barrels of Hour Wh than they purchased in the eorresponding nine months of 1891, yet it must not be imagined that they are starving, says the American Economist. From Frauee they have bought 250,000 barrels wore than last year; from Austria 100,000 barrels more; from Canada 300,000 barrels more; from Germany and other countries 20,tKJO barrels more. The American farm product is the'only onb that is seen less in the markets of the world. The report of the Commissioner of Pensions brings down the •work of the office only to June 30, 1895, when the net increase of names on the pension roll was 980. During the quarter which ended 'jjiov., 4, 1895, 1,400 names were dropped from the roll of the Indianapolis agency, of which 0-18 were what is known as invalid pensioners,. If the falling off at the other agencies has been in the skmff ratio, there were at least twenty thousand lesa names on the rolls Noy., 4; 189-5, than when the Commissioner made his report, June 30, 1895. This shows that under the present method of administeriug; the pension" laws thJ high-waler ; mark has been reached and the i is now quite rapidly fall. hjgoff.—lndianapolis Journal.

... ~.'A.;.patifio,n ..ia.lie.ing circulated among our citiz ms ■ asking T-Ke'l Town—BdftfT-to. buy the—elect ric i light plant now-here. The petition does, not request the Board to pay any specified price for thej plant, nor to buy it at all unless it • can be done by paying only w hat, ■ in the judgment of the Board, is a i “fair compensation .” Now as our ■ present town board is composed of men of eminently ibund judgment and of the most honorable limb public spirited views, we believe ' this petition should be generally : signed, and the legal authority be ! thus given to Require the plant if it can be done on prices and terms which the board deems satisfactory. The petition will not oblige, the board to buy the plant, but simply gives it authority to do so, if they think best. - We have a ! town board worthy of our trust, I now let ua trust them. They are ' pledged to fully and carefully investigate the present condition . and comparative value of the plant, before- buying; and may be de-! pended upon to manage- the affair ■ for the town with the same care and i shrewdness as they would and do apply to their.own business affairs. ! v ' ! The American Economist says; “When the Democratic Tariff bill ; was passed we were told that it would benefit the workingman by enabling him to purchase good, • honest, well-made all wool English goods at the same prices that he had been paying to American j manufacturers for the low grade ■ shoddy clothes he has-been buying. “We have rf'few samples, just received, of some wa.ijens the hngi lish are now sending us. While the goods are wed lipished and ad mi£ably ance yet of all the disreputable, worthless, rotten stull eyfer sent to this' country, ~Uwae samples shew that Yorkshire./is now taking the unquestioned Wd. |, After paying duties, these gobclS'; can be landed here at a few ce.nls

*' i ’ ■' i 1 ess"-1 Ani e ric an .giiods, a ; nd qnehlly. ._ they are bought and *bu t Up into . garments. W hat bem-ht ’ the, American public will derive from l buying such fraudulent stuff, how- i ever, is problematical —unless the experience obtained be of value, i These are the goods which me ‘ made, according to our Bradford correspondent, of linsey (old rags,; largely cotton) at 1 1-19 cents per pound, as stated’ on page- 242 of i the. -Lmuiieaii Ecu'H.omist, u£_tlo4 r vember 22... lu a letter just received from Bradford we are informed that business there is bet-1 ter than it has been for thirty 1 years a. d that many mills have T American orders ahead to run them for a year. ’We may be assured, threfore, of receiving large I i additional quantities of this worth- I I less rubbish with which the Demo- i cratic> party desires to clothe the ; American people. All interestedparties are invited to call and in- : spect these samples of Free Trade i clothing.”