The record-union., 1892-04-02

tongue. What the helm is to the ship,
that the tongue is to the man. Control
the helm, and you control the ship. The
only way to control the ship is by the
helm. The only way to control the horse
is by the bit. So James says the only
control his tongue. A disciplined tongue
is the
HIGHEST EVIDENCE OF PERFECTION
In goodness. The man or woman who
has the tongue under control so that it
will say what they want it to say, and
not say what they do not want it to say,
is perfect. 1ou can govern your appe-
titeS, your passions, your temper, if you
can govern your tongue. What bit and
curb are TO the horse, what the helm is to
the ship, the tongue is to the entire man.
II you do not govern your tongue your
tongue will govern you. There is q
world OF truth in that passage in Prov
cribs, which says: "Whoso keepeth his
mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul
from troubles" Nine-tenths of all the
troubles in the home, troubles in the
church, troubles in society, and troubles
in business, arise from unruly, ungov-
erned tongues. Somebody said some
thing that ought not to have been said.
Thus the trouble began, and like kick
ing COW in barnyard, one kick starts the
whole yard kicking.
1t would be better for ourselves and
better for everybody connected with us,
II we would make and execute the re-
solve of the Psalmist, when he said: 81
will take heed to my ways that | sin not
with my tongue. | will keep my mouth
with bridle;" and again, when he said:
Il am purposed that my mouth shall not
transgress." Job made similar resolve
when he said: while my breath is in
me, my lips shall not speak wickedness
nor my tongue utter deceit In the text
read, he says: Teach me, and / Will
hold my tongue"
SOME PEOPLE REQUIRE A GOOD DEAL OF
TEACHING.
DR.. Johnson said a man has no more
right to say an uncivil thing than to act
one. he has no more right to say a rude
thing to another than to knock him
down. Quarles, an old English writer,
quantity says: If thou desirest to be
held wise, be so wise as to hold thy
tongue. Give not thy tongue too great
liberty, lest it take thee prisoner"
Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed orator.
says: Let us guard this little member,
the tongne, more than the pupil of the
eye" We, every one, need daily to offer
the prayer-'Set a watch, oh, Lord, be-
fore my mouth; keep the door of my
lips" The chief sin in Moses life was
that he "spalle unadvi, edly with his
lips" His unruly tongue kept him out
of Canaan.
The power of the tongue has been noted
in the proverbs of nations.
The homeless tongue, SO small and weak,
Can crush and Kill, declared the Greek.
The tongue destroys 81 greater horde,
The Turk asserts, than does the sword
The Persian proverb wisely saith
A lengthy tongue an early death.
Or sometimes takes this form instead
tongue
The tongue can speak a word whose speed
Says the Chinese, outstripS the steed.
From Hebrew with the maxim sprung
Though feet should slip, meier let the tongue
The sacred writer crowns the whole
Who keeps his tongue, doth keep his soul
When the doctor is called in to see a
sick person, about the first thing he asks
is TO see the tongue of the patient The
state of the tongue, in many cases, re-
veals the nature OF the disease. A bad
tongue means a good deal. 1t is dan
gerous symptom. The disease registers
itself on the tongue. The tongue tells on
the BODY.
This is true in a higher sense. 1t is
true intellectually. a mans words re-
veal the quality of his thought. Mems
speech betrays them. The word on the
tongue is mirror of the thought in the
heart. A man is known by the words he
uses. BarrennesS of language and lean
ness OF thought go hand-in-hand. A
clear, crisp thinker will be clear, crisp
speaker. If your thought is muddy, your
speech will be turbid.
a mans moral condition is registered
on his tongue. Nothing so reveals a
mans character as his conversation.
know man better by listening to his
words than by looking into his face.
There is nothing that so closely resembles
a man as the words he uses. In this fact
lies the force Of what our Savior said: "By
thy words shalt thou be justified, and by
thy words thou shalt be condemned. -
This is a reasonable basis of Judgment
because the mans words reveal the man s
character. The principle is
AS TRUE OF NATIONS AS OF INDIVIDUALS.
The language of nation is the index
of its intellectual and moral condition.
The Latin language abounds with mill
tary terms. That fact alone shows that
the Romans were fighting people. Some
nations have no such word as sympathy,
pity, in their language. That fact shows
they are a cruel people. The life and
character of nation are embalmed in
their language.
These facts show the importance of a
proper education and government of the
tongue. Language creates thought as well
as reveals thought. Language creates
character as we'll as reveals character.
James is scientifically correct when he
affirms that to govern the man you must
govern his tongue or language. Lam
guage is the parent, as we'll as the child of
thought. Pure thoughts will reveal them
selves in pure words. 1t is also true that
pure words will beget pure thoughts.
We do well to consider the reciprocity of
influence between thought and language.
ideas and words. When James says the
way to govern the mind and morals of
man is to govern his tongue. he plants
himself on the principle that language
influences thought as truly as thought in
fiuences language. You do not think of
this often. When you think of it now.
you do not at first believe it. But the
more you consider it the more you will
realize the truth that language exercises
a powerful molding influence over the
mind and morals of a people.
This suggests an important principle
of education. To teach child to think
clearly and correctly, you must teach it
precedes thought. The child learns to
think while learning to speak,
THE TONGUE INFLUENCES THE BRAIN.
AS the brain influences the tongue.
James is wiser than men give him credit
when he says. what the helm is to the
ship the tongue is to the man. Control
the language and you control the man.
The language a man learns from his
mothers lips does more to shape his char
acter and destiny than he ever dreams of.
If you and | had learned to speak the In
dian language. we would have learned to
think Indian and live Indian. To civil
iZe and ChristianiZe the Indian YOU must
teach him our language. He will be In
dian in his ideas and habits SO long as he
is Indian in his language. You must