The Forrest City times., 1890-08-30
"A SOFT TONGUE.
DR. TALMAGE's SERMON IN GIN
 ClNNATI.
The Eloquent Divine Delivers . Powerful sermon on Kindness as
 Defense and as . Means of Use. fu1neaa.

| .ss'- 'ts soth"St PttHtutO fu
 on Sunday. His text taken from Proverbs
 s5. 15 was "A soft tongue breakcth tho
 bone" He said:
 When Solomon said this he drove whole
 volume into one phrase. You. of course,
 will not he SO silly as to take the words ot
 the text in literal sense. They simply
 mean to set forth the fact that there is n 1 tremendous power iu n kind word. Al.
 though it may seem to be very insignificant, ! It's force is indescrlbable and illimitable.
 Tangent and all-conquering utterancei
 "A soft tongue brcuketh tho bone"
 IT the weather were not so hot aud I had
 time, I would show you kindness as a
 means of defensc kindness as a means ol
 usefulness; kindness as n means of domes-
 tic harmohy; Kindness as best employed by governments for the tanning and curing of | criminals; and kindness as best adapted
 for the settling and adjusting of interna-
 tional quarrels; but I shall call your at.
 tention only to two of these thoughts. l And first. speak to you of kindness as a l means of defence, Almost every man, In
 the course of his life. Is set upon and as-
 sauited. Your motives are mlsinterprcted
 or your religious or political principles are
 bomharded. 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 ntd
 tho ditch which he dug for your feet. Cash him with as severe a wound as that which he inflicted on your soul. Shot for shot. i sarcasm for sarcasm. An eye for an eye, l A tooth for a tooth" But the better spirit | In the mans soul rises up and says: You
 ought torcconsider that natter" You look | up into the face of Christ and say: .My 1 Master. how ought to act under these difii- l cult circumstances?" And Christ instantly answers: Bless them that curse you. and
 pray for them which despltefully use you" l Ihar. tt.. ..fI "Iou had better not forgive him until first l you have chastiscd him. You will nevei 1 get him tn so tight a corner again. You | will never have such an opportunity of in l fiicting the right kind of punishment upon
 him again. First chastise him and then lei
 him go. No" says the better nature,
 ''hush, thou foul heart. Try the soft tongue
 that brcakcth the bone" Have you ever ir all your life known acerbity and acrimon-
 ious dispute to settle quarrel? Did they | not always make matters worse. and worse, 1 and worseg
 Many years ago there was graeat quar- l rel in the Presbyterian family Ministers
 of Christ were thought orthodox in pro.
 portion as they had measured lanccs with other clergymen of the same denomina- 1 tion. The most outrageous personalities
 were abroad. As, In the autumn. huntei
 comes home with a string of game part. ridges and wild ducks slung over his | SHtuiutFs so tntft were many ministers
 who came back from tho ccclesmstieal courts with long strings of doctors oi divinity whom they had shot with theii own rifle. The division became wider. the animosity greater, until after a while
 some good mon resolved upon another tack They began 10 explain away the difficulties, l they began to forgive each others faults ! and, lol the great church quarrel was set.
 tied. and the now school prcshytcriar
 Church and the old school Presbyterian l Church became one. The different parts oi
 the Presbyterian order, welded by n ham.
 mer. little banner. n christian hammer that tho scripture calls 'a soft tongue.'' You have dispute with your ncighbor You say to him: 1T desplse you" He re. 1 plies; .1 can't boar the sight of you" Yot
 say to him; Never enter my house again. | He says. "lf you come on my door sill, IT kick you oif." You say to him: .,I1i put you down" He says to you. .You art
 mistaken: I'll put You down" And so thu ! contest rages; year after year yoii act the un, hristian part, and he acts the nnchris. tian part. After while the better spI ri { scises you, and one day you go over tt the neighhor and say. sGive me yoltl
 hand. We have fought long enough. Timt | is so short, and eternity SD near. that VI cannot afford any longer to quarrel. fec you have wrongcd me very much: but Tel
 us settle all now In one great hand d-shaking and be good friends all the rest of out ! lives You hayc risen to higher plat. form than that on which you before stood 1 You win his admiration, and you get hi. ! apology. But if you have not conquered hlm in that way. ai any rate you have wot l the applause of your own conscience. ths high estimation of good men, aud the hpnol of your Lord who died for his armed enc. l mics.
 "i;nt,'' you say. what arc we to do wher
 islanders assault us. and thero come acri.
 aeulous sayings all around about us aud | we abused and spit unonSr My reply is, ] Dc not To and attempt to chase down ths 1 islanders. Lies arc prolific, and while yo, are killing one. fifty are born. All you, demonstrations of indignation only exhaus, yourself, You might as we'll on some sum. | mer night when the swarms of insects are | coming up from the meadows and disturb. ! ing yon, and disturbing your family. brirs
 up some great swamp angel" like that ! which thundercd over Charleston, and trS
 to shoot them down. The game is tos 1 small for the gun.
 Bat what, then. arc you to do with ths
 abuses that come upon you iu liteq Yot l are to live them down, l saw farmer es 1 put io get back swarm of bees that hae | wandered on from the hive As he moved 1 anid them they huzxed around his head 1 and huzxvd around his hands, and busxee around his feet. If he had Killed one oi l them they would have stung htm to death ! Hut ho moved iu their midst in pcrfeci 1 plactdtts until he had captured the swarm { of wandering bees. And so have seen ,uer { moving amid the annoy ances and the yey, 1 aiinns, and the assaults of life in such ca Inn 1 christian deliheratiun. that all the burring around about ,holr soul amounted to moth | ing. They conquered them. and above All ! they conquered themselves. O. you say, 1 that's very good theory 10 preach on a
 hot day, hnt IL won't work It will work. 1 IL has worked. l believe it Is the las, 1 christian grace VIC win. Ton know there I are fruits which we gather In June and ! others In July. aud others in August. and 1 others in September, aud stil others ia | October, aud have to admit that th.s l grace of christian forgiveness Is about the
 last fruit Of the christian soul
 l We hear a great deal about the bitter l tongue. aud the sarcastic tongue. and the quick tongue, and the singing tongue. but
 we know very little about tho soft tongue that breakcth the bone ' We read Hudl. bras, and sicrnr. and Dean Swift and the ! other apostles of acrimony. but give little l time to studying the example of Hin, who was rcsiled. and yet rcviicd not ag ain. o that the Lord. by Hts spirit. would endow
 as all with the soft tongue that breaketh the bone"
 1 pass now io the other subject that de-
 sire to present. aud that is. KINDNESS AS A MEANS OF USEFULNESS, in all communities you find sccptical mcn. Through early  l education. or through the maltrcatmcnt oi professed christian people, or through pry- Ing curIously about the future world there | are great many people who become seep- iical in religious things, How shall you capture them for Gody sharp argument aud
 sarcastic retort never won n single soul
 from seeptictsui to the christian religion | While powerful books on the "Evidcnrcs of Christianity" have their mission inconfirm~
 lng christian people in the faith they have ! already adopted, have noticed that whom scepttcai people arv brought Into the king I iom of Christ it Is through the charm of
 some genial soul and not by argument n, all.
 Men arc noi saved through the head :. l they are saved through the heart. X storm comes out of it's hiding place. IL says. "Now we'll tust rouse up all this sea \" and it makes great hiuster, hut it does not suc- 1 cecd. Part of tho sea Is reused upper haps one-half of it, or one-fourth of it. | After R while tho calm moon. placid and
 beautiful. looks down. and the ocean be l sins to rise. ft comes up to high-wates
 mark. It embraces the great headlanas. It .tt