The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1896-09-09
PLEA FOR KINDNESS.
rev. DR.. TAcMAGE DEPREcATEsA AcRl'
MoNioUS DISCUSSION.


Courteous condect-Power OF Kindness.
The True Christian Spirit.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 30.-In these
days, when satire and retort and bitter
ness fill the air, the gospel carol Of this
sermon will do good to all who read and
practice it. The text is Proverbs XIV,
Is, "a soft tongue breaketh the bone. "
When Solomon said this, he drove a
whole volume into one phrase. You, OF
course, will not be 30 silly as to take
the words of the text in literal sense.
They simply mean to set forth the fact
J. that there is tremendous power in
kind word. Although it may seem to be
very insignificant, its force is indescrib-
able and illimitable. Pungent and all
ccnquering utterance, IA soft tongue
breaketh the bone.'
If had time, Iwould show you kind.
ness as means of defense. as means
of usefulness, kindness as means OF
domestic harmony. kindness as best en-
ployed by governments for the tanning
!. and curing Of criminals, and kindness
{ as best adapted for the settling and ad-
iusting of international quarrel; but l
shall call your attention only to two OF
these thoughts.
And first speak to you Of kindness
as means of defense. Almost every
man, in the course of his life, is get
upon and assaulted. Your motives are
) raisiuterpreted or ycur religious or po-
htical principles are bombarded. What
to do under such circumstances is the
question. The first impulse of the natu-
raj heart says: "Strike back. Give as
I much az hc 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, "You ought to consider
that matter" You look up into the face
of Christ and say, my Master, how
ought I to act under these difficult cir:
cumssances?"
Bless Them That Curse You.
And Chris, instantly answers: "Biess
them that curse you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you" Then the
old nature rises up again and says:
a.You had better not forgive him until
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 punish
ment upon him again. First chastise
him, and then let him GO" "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 aquarrel? Did they not
: always make matters worse and worse
and worse? About 55 years ago there
was great quarrel in the Presbyterian
family. Ministers Of Christ were
thought orthodox i'll proportion as they
had measured lances with other clergy
men of the same denomination. The
most outrageous personalities were
abroad. AS, in the autumn, hunter
comes home with string of game,
partridges and wild ducks, slupg over
his shoulder, so there were many min
listers who came back from the ecclesl-
astical courts with long strings of doc
tors of divinity whom they had shot
with their own rife. The division be-
came wider. the animosity greater, un-
til after awhile somegood men resolved
upon another tack. They began to e1-
plain away the difficulties, they began
to forgive each others faults, and, 10!
z the great church quarrel was settled,
and the new school Presbyte1 ian church
and the old school Presbyterian church
became one. The different parts of tho
Presbyterian order, welded By q ham
mer, q little hammer, Christian ham
mer that Scripture calls "a soft
tongue.
You have dispute with your neigh
Dor. You say to him, Il despise you.
He replies, II can't hear the sight Of
you." You say to him, "NeTer enter
my house again" He says, IF you
come on my doorsill, III kick you of. I"
You say to him, ON put you down. y
He says to you: lyon are mistaken.
I,ll put you dowp.: And so the contest
RACES, and year after year o. act the
un-Christian part and lie acts the I'M
Christian part. After awhile the better
spirit seizes you. aud one day you 60
over to tho neighbor and say, "Give me
your hand. We have fought long
enough. Time is so short and eternity
is 10 near that we cannot afford any
longer to quarrel. I feel you have
yropsed me very much, Int let US settle
all now in one great handshaking, and
be good friends for all the rest OF our
lives" You have risen to higher plat
form than that on which before you
stood. You win 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 estimation OF
good men, and the honor Of your Lord
who died for his armed enemies.
Peace and Patience.
"But," you say, what are we to
do when ISLANDERS assault US, and there
come acrimonious sayings all around
about US, and we are abused and spit
upon"' My reply is: Do not go and at
tempt to chase down the ISLANDERS. Lies
are prolific, and while you are killing
one, fifty arc born. All your demonstra-
tions Of indignation only exhaust your
self. You might as we'll on some sum-
mer night, when the swarms OF insects
are coming up from the meadows and
6;stnrbino vou and disturbing yoor
family, bring up some great. swamp
angel" like that which thundered over
Charleston. aud 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. I saw farmer 60
out to get back swarm Of bees that
had wandered off from the hive. AS ne
moved amid them they buzzed around
his head and buzzed around his hands
and buzzed around his feet. If he had