The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-31
POWER OF A SOFT TONGUE.
DIR. TALMAGE,S TENT TAKEN FROM
PROVERBS NNV~ 10.

Kindness n "A Means Of Defense
Christ says Bless Them That
Curse YOu. and Pray for Them
which DespitefuIIy Jse lou-
Kindness a Means Of Useful
ness-kIndness as "a Means Of Re
cIamation Of the NiciouS-We Can
Surely AnOrd 10 BE Kind 10 Each
other.
WASHINGTON. D. c.. Aug SIN these
days when satire and retorr and bitter
ness fu the air. the gospel carol Of this
sermon Viii DO good TO all who read and
practice Il. The text u.s. Proverbs. 25l5.
a soft tongue breaketh the bone"
When solomon said This he drove
whole volume into one phrase. You. OF
course. will not be so silly as 70 take
the words Of the text in "a literal sense
They simply mean to set forth the fact
that there is tremendous power in a
kind word. Although it may seem to be
very insignificant. its force IS indescriba-
Die and nHmitahle. Pungent and an-con-
ouerine utterance: "A soft tongue break
eth the bone"
II Il had time I would show you kind
ness as a means of defense. as a means
Of usefulness. kindness as a 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 adjusting
Of international quarrel, but 1 shall call
your attention only to two of these
thoughts.
And first. I speak to you Of kindness as
a means of defense. Almost every man,
in the course Of his life. is set upon and
assaulted. Your motives are misinter-
preted or your religious or political prin-
ciples are bombarded. What TO do under
such circumstances 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 ne dug for
your feet. Cash him with as severe a
wound as that which he inflicted on your
soul Shot for shot. Sarcasm for sarcasm.
An eve for an eye. A tooth for a tooth
But the better spirit in the mans soul
rises up and says: You ought 10 consider
that matter You look up into the face OF
Christ and say: MY Master, how ought
] TO act under these difficult circum-
stances?" And 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 chastised him. You will never
get him IN so tight a corner again. You
will never have such an opportunity of
inficting the right kind of punishment
upon him again. First chastise
min, and then let him 60" mo"
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 acri-
monious dispute TO settle a quarrel2
Did they not always make matters worse
and worse and worse? About ffty-tive
years ago there was a great quarrel in
the Presbyterian family Ministers of
Christ were thought orthodox in proper
ton as they had measured lances with
other clergymen Of the same denomina-
ton. The most outrageous personalities
were abroad. AS. in the autumn, hunt
er comes home with a string of game,
partridges and wild ducks, slung over
his shoulder, so there We're many minis
ters who came back from the ecclesias-
aical courts with long strings of doctors
of divinity whom they had shot with
their own rife. The division became wild
er. the animosity greater, until after a
while 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 different parts of the Presbyterian
order, welded by a hammer, little ham
mer, a Christian hammer that the scrip
lure calls "a soft tongue"
You 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, IF you come on my
door sill, I'll kick you Off" You say t.
him, 'Ill put you down." He says &c
you, You are mistaken; I'll put you
down And so the contest RACES; anC
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 so over TO the neighbOl
and say: Give me your hand. We hav,
fought long enough. Time is so short
and eternity is so near, that we canno
afford any longer to quarrel. / feel yol
have wronged me very much; but let u
settle all now in one great handshaking
and be good friends for all the rest o
our lives" You have risen TO a highe
platform than that on which before yoi
stood. You win his admiration, and yol
get his apology. But if you have not con
quered him in that way, at any rate yo'
have won the applause o
your own conscience the higl
estimation of good men, and the honor o
your Lord who died for his armed enc
mics.
But" you say. what are we to &,
when ISLANDERS assault us, and there com,
acrimonious sayings all around about us
and we are abused and spit upon?" NJ,
reply is: Do not go and attempt to chas
down the ISLANDERS. Lies are prolific. an,
while you are killing one, fifty are born
All your demonstrations of indignation
only exhaust yourself. You might as wei
on some summer night when the swarm
of insects are coming up from the mead
ows and disturbing you and disturbln,
your family. bring up some grea
swamp angel like that which thunder
ed over Charleston, and try to shoot then
down. The game is too small for the gun
But what. then, are you to do with tn
abuses that come upon you in life? YOl
are to live them down! l saw a farme
go out to get back a swarm of bees tina
had wandered off from the hive As h
moved amid them they buzzed aroun
his head, and buzzed around hi
hands and buzzed around his feet.
he had killed one of them they woul
have stung him to death. But n
moved in their midst in perfect placidit,