Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1890-09-11
"A SOFT TONGUE"
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON IN GIN.
ClNNATI.

The Eloquent Divine Delivers q
Powerful Sermon on Kindness a.
. Defense and as q Means Of USE
falhess.
Rev. DR.. Talmage preached in Cincinnati
on Sunday. His text taken from Proverbs
25 Is was "A soft tongue breaketh the
bone" He said:
When Solomon said thn ne drove q whole
volume into one phrase. You, of course,
viii not be so silly as TO take the words Of
the text In literal sense. They simply
mean to set forth the fact that there is
tremendous power In kind word. AL
though 1t may seem to be very Insignificant,
its force Is indescribable and illimitable.
Pungent and all-conquering utterance:
"a soft tongue breakcth the bone.''
IT the weather were not SO hot, and had
time. I would show you kindness as a
means OF defense; kindness as a means OF
usefulness; kindness as q means Of dOmes-
tic harmony; kindness as best employed by
governments for the tanning and curing OF
criminals; and kindness as best adapted
for the settling and adjusting OF intcrna-
tional quarrels; but 1 shall call your at
tention only to two of these thoughts.
And first, speak to you Of kindness as q
means OF defence. Almost every man, In
the course OF his life, is set upon and as
eaulted. Your motives are misnterpreted
OA yOuI OE pOlltlCdl principles AFo
bombarded. What to do under the circum-
stances is the question. The first impulse
of the natural heart says: 'Strike back.
Give as much as they sent. Trip him into
the ditch which he dug for your feet. Cash
him with as severe a wound as that which
Sarcasm for sarcasm. An eye for an eye.
tooth for TOOTH" But the better spirit
In the mans soul rises up and says: you
ought to reconsider that matter" You look
up into the face of Christ and say: "My
Master, how ought to act under these Diff
cult circumstances" And Christ instantly
answers: 'Bless them that curse you, and
pray for them which dcspitefully use YOU"
Then the old nature rises up and says:
''You had better not forgive him until first
you have chastised him. You will never
get him In so tight a corner again. You
will never have such an opportunity OF in
flicting the right kind OF punishment upon
him again. First cLastise him and then let
him go. "No," says the better nature.
''hush, thou foul heart. Try the soft tongue
that brcaketh the bone" Have you ever in
all your life known acerbity and acrimon-
ious dispute to settle a quarrel? Did they
not always make matters worse. and worse,
and worsey
Many years ago there was graeat quar-
rel in the Presbyterian family. Ministers
OF Christ were thought orthodox in pro-
portion as they had measured lances with
other clergymen of the same denOmina-
ton. The most outrageous personalities
were abroad. As, in the autumn, hunter
comes home with a string OF game, part
ridges and wild ducks slung over his
shoulder, so there were many ministers
who came back from the ecclesiastical
courts with long strings of doctors of
divinity whom they Lad shot with their
own rife. The division became wider, the
animosity greater, until after while
some good men resolved upon another tack.
They began to explain away the difficulties;
they began to forgive each others faults,
and, 10! the great church quarrel was set
tied. and the new school Presbyterian
Church became one. The different parts Of
the Presbyterian order, welded by ham,
mer, little hammer. christian hammer
that the scripture calls "a soft tongue"
You have a dispute with your neighbor.
You say to him: II despise YOU" He re-
plies: II can't bear the sight Of you" You
say to him: "Never enter my house again"
He says: III you come on my door sill. I'll
kick you off, You say to him: I'll put
you down." He says to you: "You are
mistaken; I'll put You down." And so the
contest RACES; year after year you act the
un, hristian part, and he acts the unchris-
tan part After while the better spi rit
the neighbor and say: 'Give me your
hand. We have fought long enough. Time
Is SO short, and eternity SO near. that we
cannot afford any longer to quarrel. feel
| you have wronged me very much; but let
| us settle all now In one great hand shaking,
and be good friends all the rest OF our
lives" You have risen to higher plat
form than that on which you before stood.
| You win his admiration, and you get his
apology. But II you have not conquered
him in that way, at any rate you have won
the applause OF your own conscience, the
y t.rt. tnsN
Of your Lord who died for his armed enc
mics.
But" you say, "what are we to do when
| ISLANDERS assault US, and there come acri-
me- NOUS sayings all around about us, and
We are abused and spit upon?' My reply is
Do not so and attempt to chase down the
| ISLANDERS. Lies are prolific, and while you
are killing one. fifty are born. All your
demonstrations OF indignation only exhaust
yourself. You might as well, on some sum-
mer night when the swarms OF insects are
, coming up from the meadows and disturb
ing you, and disturbing your family. bring
up some great "swamp angel" like that
which Numbered over Charleston, and try
to shoot them down. The game 10 toe
email for the gun.
But what. then. are you to do with the
abuses that come upon you in life? YOU
are to live them down! I saw farmer e
out to get back q swarm Of bees that hat
| WanueFeu Oh IrOn tne ulNc. AS he moved
amid them they buzzed around his head
and buzzed around his hands, and buzzet
around his feet. If he had killed one o.
them they would have stung him to death
But he moved in their midst in perfec
placidity until he had captured the swarm
Of wandering bees. And so have seen mer
moving amid the annoyances, and the vex
atoms, and the assaults Of life in such calm
christian elaboration, that all the buzzin,
around about their soul amounted to moth
ing. They conquered them, and above all
they conquered themselves. 49," you say
"that's very good theory to preach on
hot day, but 1t won't work" 1t will work
1t has worked. I believe it is the las
christian grace we win. You know Their
are fruits which we gather in June, an,
others in July, and others in August, an,
others In September, and still others II
October, and l have to admit that thi
grace Of christian forgiveness is about tn
last fruit of the christian soul.
We hear a great deal about the bite
tongue and the sarcastic tongue, and tn
quick tongue, and the singing tongue; bu
we know very little about 1.-THE soft tongu
that breaketh the bone" We read Hudi
bras, and Sterne, and Dean Swift, and tn
/ NR 1x,,t "a