Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-09-03
HELPOFAKINDWORD
REV. DR.. TALMAeE PREAcHEs HUMAN
KINDNESS.
Tt Il Means Of Defense - Wen ~ Useful
ness-EnemIes May Be Conquered with
q Soft TopEue-sympathy Is Potent with
sinnezs-christ's Chief Characteristic.

The text Is Proverbs XIV, Is, GA soft |
tongue breaketh the bone"
When Solomon said this, he drove a
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 a tremendous power in a kind word. Al.
though it may seem to be very insignif.
can't, its force is indescribable and illimi.
table Pungent and all conquering utter
ance, "a soft tongue breaketh the bone"
If had time, would show you kind.
ness as a means of defense, as means Of
usefulness, kindness as 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
quarrel, but shall call your attention only
to two of these thoughts.
And, first, speak to you of kindness as
a means of defense, Almost every man,
in the course of his life, is set upon and as
saulted. Your motives are misinterpreted
or your religious or political principles are
bombarded. What to do under such cir
cumstances 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 feet. Cash him with as Sc
we're wound 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 consider that matter" You look up in
to the face of Christ and say, "My Master,
how ought to act under these difficult cir
cumstancesY" And Christ instantly an
swers, "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 un-
til first you have chastised 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 chasttse him and
then let him CO." "No," says the 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 quar-
rel9 Did they not always make matters
worse and worse and worse2 About 90 years
ago there was great quarrel in the Pres
byterian family. Ministers of Christ were
thought orthodox in proportion as they had
measured lances with other clergymen of
the same denomination. The most out
rageous personalities were abroad. AS, in
the autumn, hunter comes home with a
string of game, partrtdges 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 animosity greater, until after
awhile some good men resolved upon an
other tack. They began to explain away
the difficulties, they began to forgive each
others faults, and, 10! the great church
quarrel was settled, and the new school
Presbyterian church and the old school
| Presbyterian church became one. The diff
| ferent parts of the Presbyterian order,
welded by hammer, little hammer, a
| Christian hammer that the Scripture calls
"a soft tongue.
The Applause OF Conscience.
You have dispute with your neighbor.
You say to him, "I despise you" He re-
plies, ~ can't bear the sight of you. u
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 tc
| him, "I'll put you down" He says tc
| you: "You are mistaken. I'n put you
down" And SO the contest RACES, and
year after year you act the unchristiar
| part, and he acts the unchristian part
| After awhile the better spirit seizes you,
| and one day you go over to the neighbol
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. I feel you have
| wronged me very much, but let us settlt
| all now In one great hand shaking and be
good friends for all the rest of our lives. .
You have risen to higher platform thar
that on which before you stood. You wiI
his admiration, and you get his apology,
| But if you have not conquered him In that
way at any rate you have won the applause
of your own conscience, the high estima
ton Of good men and the honor of youl
Lord who died for his armed enemies
"But," you say, "what are we to dt
when ISLANDERS assault US, and there come
acrimonious sayings all around about us
1
reply is: Do not 60 and attempt to chast
down the ISLANDERS. Lies are prolific, ant
while you are killing one, fifty are born. AL
your demonstrations Of Indignation only
exhaust yourself You might as we'll or
some summer night, when the swarms o.
insects are coming up from the meadows
/ and disturbing you and disturbing you
family, bring up some great "swamp an
| GEL" like that which thundered ovel
Charleston, and try to shoot them down
The game Is too small for the gun. Blu
what, then, are you to do with the abuses
that come upon you in lifeS You are tx
live them down. saw a farmer go out tx
get back swarm of bees that had wander
ed off from the hive AS he moved annie
them they buzzed around his head ant
buzzed around his hands and buzzet
around his feet If he had killed one O
them, they would have stung him to death
But he moved In their midst in perfec
placidity until he had captured the swarm
of wandering bees,
And so have seen men moving annie
the annoyances, and the vexations, and th,
assaults of life In such calm, Christian de
liberation that all the buzzing arount
about their soul amounted to nothing
They conquered them, and, above all, the!
conquered themselves. "Oh," you say
"that's very good theory to preach on
hot day, but 1t won t work. 1t will work
1t has worked believe it Is the las
Christian 9raee we win. Won know ther
In recent letter to the manufact
urers Mr.. W. F. Benjamin, editor o
the Spectator, Rushford, N. Y, says
"It may be pleasure to you tt
know the high esteem in which
Chamberlain's medicines are held b,
the people of your own state, wher,
they must be best known. An aun
of mine, who resides at Dexter, Iowa
was about to visit me a few year
since, and before leaving home wrot,
me, asking if they were sold here
| - o% Oh, l.