Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1890-08-25

CINCINNATI, Aug. 24.-Dr. Talmage,
who is in this city, today discoursed on
a power which, if it had been used as
extensively as Christ intended it to be
used, would have saved the church and
the world from infinite discord and sor-
row-the power of kindness. His text
was, "A soft tongue breaketh the
bone" prov XIV, 80. Following Is
his sermon:
When Solomon said this he drove
whole volume into one phrase. You
of course will 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 a
kind word Although it may seem to
be very insignificant, its force is indie
scribable and illimitable. Pungent and
all conquering utterance, "a soft tongue
breaketh the bone"
If the weather were not so hot, and
| had time, I would show you kind
ness as a means of defense; kindness
as a means of usefulness; kindness as a
means of domestic 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 international
quarrels. But I shall call your atten-
ton only to two of these thoughts.
KINDNESS AS MEANS OF DEFENSE.
And first l speak to you of kindness
as a means of defense. Almost every
man, in the course of his life, is set
upon and assaulted Your motives are
misinterpreted or your religious 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 he sent. Trip him
into the ditch which he dug for your
as that which he inflicted on your soul
Shot for shot. Sarcasm for sarcasm.
An eye for an eye. A tooth for 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 for them
which despitefully use you"
Then the old nature rises up again
and says: You had better not forgive
him until first you have chastised him.
You viii never get him in SO tight
corner again. You will never have
such an opportunity of inflicting the
right kind of punishment upon him
again. First chastise him and then let
him 60" mo" says the better nature;
hush, thou foul heart. Try the soft
tongue that breaketh the bone" Have
you ever in all your life known acer-
bity and acrimonious dispute to settle
a quarrel2 Did they 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 ortho-
dOx in proportion as they had meas
ured lances with other clergymen of
the same denomination. The most out
rageCus personalities were abroad. As
in the autumn a hunter comes home
with a string of game, cartridges 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 had shot with their own
rifle The division became wider, the
greater, until after awhile
some good men resolved upon another
tack. They began to explain away the
difficulties; they began to forgive each
others fault, and 10! the great church
quarrel was settled, and the new school
church and the old school
church became one-the
different parts of the Presbyterian or
der welded by a hammer, a little ham
mer, a Christian hammer, that the
Scripture calls "a soft tongue"
You have a dispute with your neigh
Dor You say to him, II despise you"
He replies, Il can't bear the sight of
you" You say to him, ''Never enter
my house again" He says, IF you
come on my door sill I'll kick you off -
You say to him, ''Pn put you down."
He says to you, You are mistaken,
I'll put you down." And SO the con-
test RACES, and year after year you act
the un-Christian part, and he acts the
UNI Christian part. After a while the
better spirit seizes you, and one day
you go over to the neighbor and say:
''Give me your hand. We have fought
long enough. Time is SO short and
eternity is so near that we cannot af-
ford 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 for all the
rest of our lives" You have risen to
higher platform than that on which be-
fore you stood You win his admira-
ton, and you get his apology. But if
you have not conquered him in that
way at any rate you have won the ap-
pIause of your own conscience, the high
estimation of good men and the honor
of your Lord who died for his armed
enemies.
WHAT ARE WE TO DOW