Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1840-07-01
The Government. of the Tongue.

If any man offend not in word, the is per-
feet man, and able also to bride the whole body.
James 3: 2.
The tongue afirms this Apostle,
{ can no man tame Animals the most !
fierce and the most formidable have been
subjected to The rule Of man, and, by his |
sagacity, rendered tractable and dociIe.-
But it transcends all human power to i'm !
pose an effectual curb on the tongue Of
unregcnerate man, or entirely to counter
act the venom emitted from his lips
Hopeless, however, as might be the effort
TO control the tongue of another, not so is
the attempt to control our own. 1t is
confessedly difficult but it is indispensa-
bly, requisite; for the same Apostle has
said If any man among you seem to be
religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but
deceivetn his own heart, this mans reli-
gion is vain The Government CT the
| Tongue then, it is absolutely necessary
to attain; and he who acquires it in the
highest degree, is the Christian of most
distinguished eminence - If any man Of
fend not in word, the same is a perfect
man, and able also to bride the whole
body The human body is here repre-
scented, by the Apostle, as complex sys-
tenn of members and organs, designed to
be subject to the authority, and subservi-
ent to the purposes of the indweling mind.
Of these organs, there is one, over which
it is peculiarly difficult to obtain due as
tendency. If then that control be acqulr-
ed, much easier will be the task of duly
restraining the rest; so that the man who
has acquired the government of his tongue,
may be supposed to have attained cor
respondent dominion over all the organs,
over all the senses, and over all the appe-
tites of the corporeal frame. If any man,
therefore, could be found, who, since the
acquisition of that power, had never in
any instance abused, or failed to improve
| the faculty of speech, he might be regard
+ ed as a perfect man and, in so far as
f there is an approach to this exalted attain
ment, there is acquired, by the controlling
mind, facility in bridling and governing
9 the complex system of the outer man.
4 Let me, then, engage your fixed atten
e ton,
e FIRST, to the peculiar importance O
the government of the Tongue; and
: SECONDLY, To the principles by whicl
= this Government Is to be acquired an
r maintained.
), FIRST, Let US reflect on the import
st ance of attaining this control.
d Consider, first, The dignity and exec
r lence of the faculty Of speech.
!, He who delights to gather material
'e for admiration and praise, out of the cur
a US AMI wondro US economy of mans liy
,e ing frame, will find much to repay his re
d searches in the contemplation OF the fat
a ulty of speech. Think of the delicat
Of and difficult calculations which intellig
N BILE speech requires. Think of the com
r bination of few simple and elementar
!! sounds denoted by small number of a
a. phabetical characters, SO as to form all tn
es thousands Of words which we employ
ar the conveyance of. thought. Think
lg the power acquired in early life, of COZ
sn Meeting with these sounds the.ideas whic
lis they are employed TO express; so that ev
m en- before the formalties of educatio
yh have commenced, there has been an adm
in rable progress made in the knowledge
d, the arbitrary symbols of thought, b
is means of which ne converse. Think
We the power of memory which the use
" language involves. Think of the infll
I'd ence of word in aiding and guiding a
,r- our processes of thought, even when r
as sentence escapes our lips. Who gave, |
" this power of articulate speech. whic
IN raises us so FAR above the most sagacloI