The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-08-30
GENTLE WORDS.
Dr. Talmage DWells Eloquent
" Upon the Power Of
Kindness.
Souls Cannot be Won for
Christ by any Other
Means.

oiscANNAfi, hlO, opeclal.-DE. Ialmage
d'scoursed on a power which. j it had been
used'as extensively as Christ intended It to be
used, would have saved the church and the
world fr I'm infinite discord and sorrow-the
power OF kindness. His text is: "a Soft
Tongue Breaketh tho Bone" prov. XIV,
To- Following in his ser mon:
when Solomon said this, h. drove q whole
Voiu me into one phrase. You, ofcourse, will
not be SO silly as to take the words of the
text In o literal sense. They simply
meanto set forth the fact that there is a tre-
mendous power in a kind word. Although
IL may seem to be very insignificant,
It's force is indescribable and in imitable.
fungent and all conquering u~tterance: "A
Soft Tongue Breaketh the Bone"
1t the weather were not so hot, and had
time, would SHOW you kindness as a means
OF defense; kindness as a means OF usefulness:
kindness as q means of domestic harmony:
kindness as best employed by government
LOT the tanning and curing of criminals; and
klndness as best adapted for the settling and
adjusting OF International quarrels; but
snail call your attention only to two of these
thoughts.
And first, l speak to you of kindness as q
means OF defense. Almost every man, in the
course OF life, is set upon and assaulted.
your motives are misinterpreted or your re.
ngiou or political principles are bombarded.
what to do under such circumstances is the
question. The first impulse of the natural
heart says: 'Strike back. Give as much as
ne sent. Trip him into the 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. Sarcasm for sarcasm.
An eye for an eye. A tooth Tor a 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 I to
act under these difficult circumstances?'
And Christ instantly answers: ".Bless them
that curse you, and pray Tor them which
despitefully use you" Then the old nature
rises up again and says: "You had better
not forgive him until first you have chas-
tised him, You will never get him in SO
such an opport unity of inflicting the right
kind o. punishment upon him again. First
chastise him and then let him CO." mo"
says the better nature, 'hush, thou fonl
heart. Try the soft tongue that breaketh
the bone" Have you ever in oil your life
known acerbity and acrimonious dispute to
settle a quarrel? Did you not always make
matters worse, and worse, and worse?
Many years ago there was a great quarrel
in the Presbyterian family. Ministers OF
Christ were thought orthodox in proportion
as they had measured lanccs with other cler-
gymeu of the same denomination. The
most outrageous personalities were abroad.
As in the autumn, a hunter comes home with
a string OF game, cartridges and wild ducks
sluug over his shoulder. SO there were many
ministers who came back from the ecclesias.
%sno1 oo,,wkc rs& h a. 1~~, ~%ns~.. ~f ~.A~. -
divinity whom they had shot with their own
rife. "
The division became wider, and the ami
mostly greater, until after q while some other
good men resolved upon another tack. They
began to explain away the difficulties; they
began to forgiveeach others ault, and, 10! the
great church quarrel vas settled. and the new
school Presbyterian church and the old Pres
byterian became one. The different parts 0
mcr, q little hammer, q 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, 81 can't bear the sight Of you.". YOU
say to him, "Never enter M house again
He says, "If you come on my door sill II
kick you of" You say to him: "Ill put
taken; I'll put you down." And SO the con
test RACES; and year after year you act tn,
unchristian part, and he acts the unchristial
part. After n while the better spirit seizel
you, and one day you go over to the neigh
Dor, and aay:4"Give me your hand. w
have fought long enough. Time is so short
and eternity is & o near, that We cannot affort
any longer to quarrel. l feel you hav
wronged me very much; but let US settle al
now in one great hi nd-shaking, and be goot
friends for oil the rest of our lives" 70,
have riaen to a higher platform than that o,
which before you stood. You win his ADM
ration, and you get his apology. But if 70,
have not conquered him in that way, ut an,
rate you rave won the applause of your owl
conscience, the high estimation Of good men
and the honor oiyour Lord, who died 70
| His armed enemies.
"But,n you say, what are we to do whel
ISLANDERS assault us, and there comes crimoni
GUS sayings all around about us, and we ar,
abused and spit upon?" Ny reply Ia: D,
not go and attempt to chase down the sland
ers. Lies are prolific, and while you are kill
ing one, fifty are born. AL your demonstra
tions of Indignation only exhaust yourself
You might as vel. on some summer nigh
when the swarms of insects are coming ri
from the meadows and disturbing you, m,
disturbing your family. bring mp ome grea
sswamp angel" like that which thundere,
over Charleston, and try to shoot then
down. The game is too small for the gun,
But what, then, are you TODD with tn
abuses that come upon you in lie? You or
to live them down. | saw o farmer 60 gu
to get back q swarm oil bees that had war
dered off from the hive. AS he moved ami
them they buzzed around his head, an,
buzzed around his hands, md huzzed aroun,
his feet. 1.-The had killed one of them the
would have stung him TO death. But b
moved in their midstin per Get plncidity m
til he had captured the swarm Of wanderin
bees, And so I have seen men moving ami
the annoyances, and the vexations. and tn
assaults OF life in such calm, christi IN delit
Grafton, that all the buxzing around abou
their souls amounted to nothing. They cor
ouer them, md above all they conquertheu
selves. &C. You say, athnt's q very goo
i theory to preach on q hot day, but III won
work" 1t will work. it has worked. ] b
lieyc it is the last christian grace we wiz
You know there are fruits which we gathe
IN .June and others in September, and eti
others in October; and / hare to admit tina
this grace of christian forgiveness is abou
the last fruit OF the christian soul
We hear q great deal about the bite
tongue. and the sarcastic tongue, and I'll
Quick tongue, and the singing tongue; but Y
know very little about the 30 7 tongu
that breaketh the bone. We heard Hudibra
and Strene, Dean Swift and tho other apo
ties Of acrimony, but give little time t
studying the example OF Him who was r
yiled. and vet reviled not again. Q thu
the Lord, By his spirit, would endow !
all with the soft tongue that breaket
the bone.
paas now to the other thought that /
aire TO present, and that is, Kindness as.
means ofusefulness. IN al community e
hnd scepticai men. Throughearly education
or through the maltreatrnent q profest
Christian people, or through prying curio
ity about the future world, there are a grel