The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1890-09-04
GENTLE WORDS.
DR.. Talmage DWells Eloquent
ly Upon the Power of
Kindness.
Souls Cannot be Won for
Christ by any Other
Means.

SiNCiNNAIi, " HlO, Specldi.-Or. 1AimdSe,
discoursed on power which, il Ia had been
.used'as extensively as Christ intended it to be
used, would have saved the church and the
world fr ON infinite discord and sorrow-the
power OF kindness His text is: "a Soft
Tongue Breaketh tho Bone" PROV. XIV,
I5.) Following in his sermon:
When Solomon said this, he drove q whole
volume into one phrase. You, ofcourse, will
not be so silly as to take the words Of the
text in q literal sense They simply
meant to set forth the fact that there is tre-
mendous power in a kind word. Although
1t may seem to be very insignificant.
Its force is indescribable and in imitable
Pungent and all conquering utterance: "A
Soft Tongue Breaketh the Bone"
1t the weather we're not so hot, and had
time, would show you kindness as means
OF defense; kindness as means OF usefulness:
kindness as a means of domestic harmony;
Kindness as best employed by government
for the tanning and curing of criminals; and
kindness as best adapted for the settling and
adjusting of international quarrels; but
shall call your attention only to two of these
thoughts.
And first, l speak to you of kin dness as q
means OF defense Almost every man, in the
Souioc Vi lft, Is Seu upOu anu aSSdulCeO.
Your motives are misinterp reted or your re.
hgious 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 az
he sent. Trip him into the ditch which he
dug for your feet. Cash him with as severe
wound as that which he inflicted on your
soul. Shot for shot. Sarcasm for sarcasm.
An eye for an eye. A tooth for TOOTH"
But the better spirit in the mans soul rises
up and says: "1ou ought to reconsider that
matter" You look up into the face of
Christ and say: MY Master how ought 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
tight corner again. You viii never have
such an opportunity of inficting the right
kind Of punishment upon him again. First
chastise him and then let him CO." "No,"
says the better nature, "hush, thou fonl
heart. Try the soft tongue that breaketh
the bone" Have you ever in all your life
known acerbity and acrimonious dispute to
settle 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 lances with other cler-
gymeu of the same denomination. The
most outrageous personalities were abroad
AS in the autumn, hunter comes home with
string game, cartridges and wild ducks
slung over his shoulder, so there were many
ministers who came back from the ecclesias-
tical courts with a long string of doctors of
divinity whom they had shot with their own
rifle.
The division became WIDER and the ami
mostly greater; until after a while some other
Il
began to explain away the difficulties; they
began to forgiveea others fault, and, lol the
great church quarrel was settled and the new
school Presby church and the old P res
byterian became one. The different parts of
the Presbyterian order. welded by a ham,
MGR, a little hammer, Christian hammer
that the Scripture calls "a soft tongue"
GU have dispute with your neighbor
You say to him, Il despise you.' He re-
plies, Il can't bear the sight Of you" You
say to him, Never enter my house again"
He says, !fyou come on my door sill I'll
KICK you Oh" You say to him: "IIl put
you down" He says to you, "You are mis-
taken: I'll put you down." And so the con.
test RACES; and year after year you act the
unchristian part, and he acts the unchristian
part. After while the better spirit seizes
you, and one day you go over to the neigh
Dor, and say: '.Give me your hand. We
have fought long enough Time is 80 short.
and eternity is SO near, that we cannot afford
any longer to quarrel. I feel you have
wronged me very much; but let US settle all
now in one great DEMONSTRATING, and be good
friends for all the rest of our lives" Yon
nave risen to higher platform than that on
which before you stood. You win his admit
ration, and you get his apology. But if you
nave not conquered him in that way, st any
rate you have won the applause of your own
conscience, the high estimation of good men.
and the honor ofyour Lord, who died for
His armed enemies.
But, ," you say, what are we to do when
ISLANDERS assaultus, and there come acrim oni-
GUS sayings all around about us, and we are
abused and spit upon?" NY reply is: Do
not go and attempt to chase down the sland
ers. Lies are prolific and while you are kill
ing one, fifty are born. All your dem onstra-
tlons OF Indignation only exhaust yourself
You might as well, on some summer night
when the swarms Of insects are coming up
from the meadows and disturbing Won. md
disturbing your family. bring up some great
swamp angel" like that which thundered
over Charleston, and try to shoot them
down" The game is too small 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! l saw farmer 90 out
to get back swarm OF bees that had wan
dered of from the hive. AS he moved amid
them they buzzed around his head. and
buzzed around his hands, and buzzed around
his feet: l. he had Killed one OF them they
"oui' H"'C Sung ulIu 10 ueGCn. But he
moved in their midstin per ect placidity nm
til ne had captured the swarm of wan derinr
bees. And 80 have seen men moving amid
the annoyances, and the vexations. and the
assaults OF life in such calm, christi an delhi
GRAFTON, that all the buzzng around about
their souls amounted to nothing. They con.
quer them. and above all they conquer them
selves 20" you say, chats a very good
theory to preach on hot day. but it won't
work" 1t will work. 1t has worked i be-
lievc it is the last christian grace we win.
You know there are fruits which we gather
in June, and Others in September, and still
Others in October; and I have to admit that
this grace of christian forgiveness is about
the last fruit OF the christian soul.
We hear great deal about the bitter
tongue, and the sarcastic tongue, and the
quick tongue, and the singing tongue; but we
know very little about ''the 50 t tongue
that breaketh the bone" Weheard Hudibras
and strene, Dean Swift and tho other apos-
ties OF acrimony, but give little time to
studying the example Of Him who was re-
yiled, and yet reviled not again @ that
the Lord, by his spirit, would endow us
all with 1.-THE soft tongue that breaketh
the bone"
pass now to the other thought that de.
sire to present. and that u.s. Kindness as q