The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-09-11
A SOFT TONGUE.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Discourses on
Human Forbearance.
Kind Words and a Gentle Demeanor
as n Weapon OF Defense
against the Assaults
of the UnruIy.

A soft tongue breaketh the bone-Proverbs,
XIV, 10
When Solomon said this he drove a
whole volume into one phrase. You,
of course, viii not be so silly as to
take the words of the text in a literal
sense. They simply mean to set forth
the fact that there is a tremendous
power in a kind word. Although it
may seem to be very insignificant, it's
force Is indescribable and illimitable.
Pungent and all-conquering utterance,
"a soft tongue breaketh the bone"
If 1 had time, l would show you
kindness as a means of defense, as a
means of usefulness, kindness as a
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 L shall call your atten-
ton 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 assaulted. Your motives
are misrepresented or your religious
or political principles 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 he 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 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 into the face of Christ
and say: "My Master how ought [ to
act under these difficult circum-
stances?" = 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 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 infiicting the right kind of punish
ment upon him again. First ohastise
him and then let him go," NO" says
heart. Try The soft tongue that
breaketh the bone" Have you
ever in all your life known acerbity
and acrimonious dispute to settle a
quarrel? Did they not always make
matters worse and worse2 About So
years ago there was u great quarrel in
the Presbyterian family. Ministers of
Christ were thought orthodox In pro-
portion as they had measured lances
with other clNrgymen of the same de-
nomination. The most outrageous
personalities were abroad. As, in the
autumn, a hur ter comes home with a
string of game, cartridges and wild
ducks, slung over his shoulder, so
there We're many ministers who
came back from the ecclesiastieal
courts with long strings of doctors
Of divinity whom they had shot
with their own rife. The division be-
came wider, the aniuosity greater,
until after awhile some good men re-
solved upon another tack. They be-
gan TO explain away the difficulties;
they began to forgive each others
faults; and 10! the great church quar-
rel was settled, and the new school
Presbyterian church and the old
school Presbyterian church became
one. The different parts of the Pres
byterian order, welded by hammer,
little hammer, n Christian hammer
that the Scripture calls "a soft
tongue"
You have a dispute with your neigh
Dor. You say to him, 81 despise YOU. "
He replies, Il can't bear the sight of
you" You say to him, Never enter
my house again" He says, "lf You
come on my door sill Ill kick you off. a"
You say to him, I'll put you down."
He says to you, You are mistaken;
III put you down" And so the con-
test ragesi and year after year you act
the unchristiau part. After awhile
the better spirit seizes you, and one
day you go over to the neighbor and
say: Give me your hand. We
have fought long enough. Time
Is SO short, and eternity is SO
near, that we can not afford any long,
er to quarrel. feel you have wronged
me very much; but let let us settle all
now in one great hand shaking, and be
good friends for all the rest of our
lives" You have risen to a higher
platform 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 esti-
nation of good men, and the honor of
your Lord, who died for His armed
enemies.
But, you say, what are we to do
wien 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, 80 are born. All your
demonstrations of Indignation only ex-
haust yourself. You might as well on
some summer night when the swarms
of insects are coming up from the
meadows and disturbing you and dis
turbing your family, bring up some
great swamp angel" like that which
Numbered over Charleston, and 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? l saw a farmer 60
out to get back a swan Of bees that
had wandered off from the hive. AS
he moved amid them they buzzed
around his hands, and buzzed around
his feet If he had killed one of them
they would have stung him to death.
But he moved in their midst in per-