The Irish standard., 1889-02-09
LOSING ONES TEMPER.

LOSING ONES TEMPER.
Cake 1t All In All. the Human Fan'Ay ~
u Mighty Qucor Set.
q takes 40 little to make man mad,
critics .:A1nber'' in the Chicago Tribune
Jaw q dog in the crowd last parade day.
Somebody stepped on ITS tail, and although
+ could not locate the aggressor it snapped
N general principles. 1t yelped at al Gro
ltion. Although unable to single out any
,ody in particular it made 1t up by including
The innocent many with the guilty one, as
he teacher does when he keeps an entire
yirtuous class in after school because ION
nv Traddles whispered. That is the way
With the average man (and woman). We
will patiently endure great stress OF pnys-
cal pain, horrible mental anxiety, Dank-
.uptcy. desertion, and even the close oruso
# DEATHS battle-axe, but hy all to pieces
,ver some little cause Of ohense, and mako
everybody miserable because OF an anrons
,f less import than the accidental treadngon
adcg's tail in crowd. A man will howl ano
caper like lunatic over refractory conaf-
outton, who would face death on battle helG
ike hero. A. woman will trot around all
aay With birthstone pug dog in her arms,
sit through matinee with seven story has
between her and the stage, walk ten miles
On q shopping expedition and preserve heS
auiability, but will whip her child cruelty
because it spills her perfumery or loses hex
spool of cotton.
A man is proud OF his muscle sind WILL
stand up to be bureted by boxer and purn~
neled into . human poultsce by sclcnaAno
antagonist and call it sport, but il his baby
boy runs against 1llr, and trips harl up, or II
& stranger icstles him in the street, ho Il
mad enough to act Constantinople on arel
Now,if we lost our ter:per only Under greas
provocstion it wouldn't be 80 p!ttul For the
Good Book, among other blessed lcop-hoass
Of escape, sets the clause. VII 1t DO posi-
ble.n Within tho command to Give peace
ably with all men" The dear Lord knew
when the admoniticn was given that Ii
would be cutie impossible 70 live always N
this world of ours without losing our tent-
nes Indeed, think heaven itself would
blush for the man or the woman who was
incapable of getting downright mad for
special causes. When I saw man riding
by my window few moments ago flashing
a poor, old, broken down horse with q
''blac]1snake'' whip = was mad enough to
stone that man all the way from here to
HYDE Park If hadn't been, there might
have been reasonable doubt in the record"
ing angels mind as to whether bad soal
worth balancing accounts with When
oveyhearda woman at the matinee the other
day tell her little t,vo-y easold boy that she
would kill him il he didn't stop being afraid
of the music, felt mad enough at that
travesty Of every thing sacred and sweet in
motherhood to see her put in the peniten-
tiary for the rest Of her life! And when q
father (2} ca the train this morning slapped
his boy in the face because he cried aloud
with ear-ache think could have signed
the brute's death warrant as readily az
could receipt bill. Thank God, every one
Of you, if you have enough 81 Heaven ia
your soul 10 denounce cruelty and impurity
and dishonor wherever encoun tered. Rage
is divinely just wbes, brought to bear
against great and harmful wrongs. But
rage vented on tlihipg issues is as out OK
place rs artillery in hunting grasshoppers.
That One who, alone out OF all who have
lived on earth, kept Himself pure and un~
sulied by earth's dehlements, was not al
ways meek and mild. When He Numbered
He drove the money-changers from the
temple; when He denounced the whining
knaves who did their aims in public and re-
buked those who, being uncleap them
selves, yet judged Of purity in others, he
was neither ssmeek" nor SLOWLY" He
s1note as the bolt smites that leaps from the
Quivering cloud, and He looks for wrath
aud indignation from every one Of us
against all forms Of oppression, pretension
and tyranny. It is only, think, when We
loso our temper &C questions OF personal
import that we are ignobie. Looking ever
at our pattern OF the siniess One, we seq
Him suitten, insulted, reyiled, betrayed,
forsaken and crucified, with never a
whisper but of Divinest patience and ten.
derest forgiving love. The soul that shall
possess itself in patience under the sense
Of all injuries and insults which affect only
its OWL peace, attains closest unto the
Divine siniiitude.
But, o, dearl how easy 1t is to lay down
rules for keeping oneself calm and superior
to the sting Of insults and the slur Of venr
omous tonguesl The first impulse of ths
old Adam within us all is to "give az good
as is sent"
The old na=n who tried the plan OF count
ing one hundred before he spoke, when his
neighbor called him names over the back
fence because he didn't keep his chickens
at home, and went into the house after
ward and hit his wife on the head with
DOOtlach, cXCAu plulCu luo uCEAt VI dlt Gns1
rules laid down to cultivate eelf-posses-
sion. It is next to impossible to keep back
the angry words and keep down the spirit
of wrath under proyocation. /, for one,
am too awfully human to keep still under"
abuse. 1t may be Christian to turn the
other cheek anu hand back soft word for
bitter one, but the only safety for tho
nnsanctihed, il he wishes to keep his
temper, is to run. It takes something
higher than human strength to pocket an
affront sweetly Or to keep your lips closed
when son OF Belial is hingin9 hot shot at,
you. Divine grace will help man through,
but we don't all Of us possess it So the
next best thing to do, If you wish to pre-
serve your self-respect, is to quit the scene.
For next to q man chasing his hat in high
wind, man bandying angry words over q
trifle is the most foolish sight in world Of
folly. Soft you find yourself involved In
circumstances where to stay means TO-
quarrel, gol For tell you no boy ever lost
his marbles more irrevocably out Of a.
rugged nocket than You and I will losa o,r