The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-09-10
REV. TALMAGrS SUNDAY SERxOA
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE.
Subject; "The Soft Tongue"

| HONtT III u hlnu WOTU. Alln0uHl III NAV
| seem to be very Insignificant. its force Is in
describable and illimitabe. Pungcnt and
all-conquerlng utterance; "A soft tongue
! breaketh tho bone"
III had time 1 would show YOU kindness
rs means OF defense. ne a means OF useful
ness. Kindness rs means OF domestic har-
mony, Kindness as best employed by govern
ments for the tanning and curing OF criminals,
| and kindness as best adapted for the settling
| and adjusting OF international quarrel; bur
shalt call your attention only to two of
| these thoughts.
And first, speak 70 you OF kindness as n
meane OF defense. Almost every man. in the
course OF HIS life. Is set upon aud assaulted.
| Your motives are misinterpreted or your re-
| ligious or political,pTincipes are bombarded.
| What TO do under such circumstances is the
| question. The first impulse OF the natural
heart says: "Strike back. Give as much rs
+ he sent. Trip him into the ditch which he
| dug for your feet. Cash him with as severe
| awound "a that which he inflicted on your
| soul. Shot for shot. Sarcasm for sarcasm
An eye for an eye. A tooth for n TOOTH" But
the better spirit in the mans soul rises up
and says; you ought to consider the mat.
ter You look up into the face OF Christ
| and say. "My Master, how ought 1 to
act under these difficult circumstancesY'
aud 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
ch9stised him. You will never get him In SO
| tight corner again You will never have
such an opportunity Of inficting the right
KIND OF punishment upon him again. First
chastise him and then let him go" "No. '
says tho better nature. "hush. thou foul
heart. Try the soft tongue that breaketh
the bone
Have you ever in all your life known
acerbity and acrimonious dispute to settle a
quarreR Did they not alway. make matters
worse and worse and worscY About ffty-
i've years ago there was a great quarrel i'm
the Presbyterian family. Ministers OF Christ
were thought orthodox in proportion as they
had measured lRnces with other clergynnH
of the same denomination. The most out
rageOus personalities were abroad. As. I'm
the autumn, n hunter comes homo with "A
string OF game. partridyes and wild ducks.
slung over his shoulder, so there were many
ministers who came back from tho ecclesias.
teal courts with long strings OF doctors of
divinity whom they had shot with their own
rifle. Tho division became wider, the nni.
mostly greater, until after awhile some good
inensresolved upon another tack. They be-
gan TO explain away the difficulties; they be-
gan 10 forgive each others faults; aud lol
the great Church quarrel was settled: and
the new school Presbyterian Church aud the
OH school Presbyterian Church became one
The different pnts fthe Presbyterian order,
welded by hammer, a little hammer, a
Christian hammer that the Scripture calls
"a soft tongue"
But" you say, "what ARE we to do when
slanders assault US, and there come acrim.
onious sayings all around about us. and we
are abused and spit upoug" Ny reply is
Do not 80 and attempt to chase down the
slabders. Lies arc prolific. and while YOU
are killing one. fifty are born All your
demonstrations Of indignation only exhaust
yourself. You might rs well on some SUM
mer night when the swarms OF insects are
coming up from the meadows and disturb
ing you and 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
Tor the gun. But what, then. are you TO do
Win the abuses that come upon you In life?
You are to live them down!
pass now to the other thought tbat I DO
siro to present. ana that is. kindness ~ a
means OF usefulness. In all communities
you md skeptical men. Through early ed
ucation, or through the maltreatment of
proiessed EChristian people. or through
prying curiosity about the future word.
tnere are Il great many people who become
skeptical in religious things. How shall
you capture them for God2 Sharp argument
ana sarcastic retort never won single soul
from skeptcism TO the Christian religion
While powerful books ON evidences of
christianity have their mission in confirm
ing Christian people in the fifth they havc
hlready adopted, have noticed that when |
sIepdcal people are brought into the king !
dom OF Christ, II is through the charm ot |
some GENIAL soul and not by argument at all |
Men are not saved through the head; they !
nre saved through the heart. A storm comes |
out OF Its hiding place. 1t says: "Now wen |
Iust rouse up all this sea- and IL make. "a |
great blusier but 1t does not succeed. Part |
OF the sea Is reused up--pernaps one.hali Of (
II or one-fourth Of it, After awhile the /
calm moon, placid and beautiful, looks !
down. and the ocean begins to rise. II
comes up to high-water mark, it cm- |
braces the great headlands. Ii sub |
lnerges the beach OF all the continents II |
Is the heart.throb OF ono world against
tho hCurt-throO OF another world And |
have 10 tell you that while all your
storms OF ridiculo and storms of sar-
casm may rouse up the passion OF an i'm
mortal nature, nothing less than the attrac-
tive power OF Christian kindness can over
raise the deathless spirit 20 happiness and 10
God. have more faith in the prayer OF
child i've years old, in the way OF bringing
an iniide back TO Christ and to heaven than
l nave in nll the kissing thunderbolts OF
ecclesiastical controversy. You cannot over
come IN IN with religious augmentation. II
you come at sceptical mau with an argu-
ment on behalf OF the Christian religion.
You put the man on his mettle. He saws: II
see that man has n carbine. I'll uso my
carbine. III answer his argument with my
argument But II YOU come tC that mau,
persuading him that you desire his happl-
nes, on earth and his eternal welfare in the
world TO come he cannot answer il.
what have said is Just Hs true in the
reclamation OF the openly vicious. Did you
ever know drunllard TO be saved through
me carlcature OF a drunkard2 Your mimicry
Oh ihe staggering step and the thick tongue,
ana the disgusting hlccOughs, only worse
maddens his brain. Bat II you come 10 hira
Win Kindness aud sympathy; IL you show
MIN that you appreciate the awful grip OF
deprayed appetite; II you persuade him o.
the iact that thousands who had the Crap
bling hooks OF evil inclination cutchod IN
lheir soul MS firmly as they now are in his
nave been rescued, then ray OF light will
nash across his vision, and il will seem as il
q supernai urol hand were steaiying his stag
Sering gait A good many years ago there
lay IN the streets OF Richmond, Va, a man
lead drunk, his face exposed 10 the blister
ing MONDAY sun. A Christian woman passed
Along. lDOlFH1 M him al Col |