St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-10-24
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Power OF q Soft Answer IN Dis
arming Wrath.


An Eioqusat DIseosrse Upoa the Coed
Elects Of Human Kiadaess and
Forbesrance IL Our
Daily DealsagA
Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage preached the
following sermon before his Washing
ton congregation, basing it upon the
text:
A soft tongue oreaketh the bone.-Proverbs,
XIV, Is.
When Solomon said this he drove \
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 q tremendous
power in a kind word. Although it
may seem to be very Insignificant, its
force is indescribable and illimitab BILE.
Pungent and all-conquering utterance,
"A soft tongue breaketh the bone.'
II l had time. l would show you
kindness as means of defense, n a
means of usefulness, kindness rs a
means Of domestic harmony, kindness
rs best employed by governments for
the tanning and curing of criminals.
and kindness as best adapted for the
settling and adjusting ofinternational
quarrel; but l shall call your atten-
ton only to two of these thoughts.
And first, Ispeak to you Of kindness
as means Of defense. Almost every
man. in the course of his life. is set
upon and assaulted. Your motives
are nisrepresented 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 Is 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 MP 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: "Ycu 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 infiieting the right kind of punish
ment upon him again. First chastise
him and then let him 60" NO." says
the better nature. shush. 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 q
quarrel? Did they not always make
years ago there was a great quarrel in
the Presbyterian family. Ministers of
Christ were thought orthodox in pro-
portion as they had measured lances
with other clergymen of the same de-
nomination. The most outrageous
personalities were abroad. AS, in the
autumn, q hunter comes home with .
string of game, cartridges 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 be-
came wider, the luminosity 6eeater,
until after awhile some good smen 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, a Christian hammer
that the Scripture calls n; SOFT
tongue"
You have a dispute with your neigh
Dor. You say to him. II despise you. -
He replies, 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 or y
You say to him, iii, put you down.
He says to you, ''You are mistaken;
I'll put you down." And so the con-
test RACES; and year after year you act
the unchristian 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 50 short, and eternity is so
near, that we can not afford any long
fer to quarrel. i 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
hx1e not conquered him in that way.
~ eny rate you have won the applause
aOH ypursown conscience, the high esti-
faxtfon of good men, and the honor Of
your Lord, who died for His armed
enemies.
''But," you say, ''what are we to do
when ISLANDERS assault us, and there
come acrimonious ayings al around
about us. and we are abused and spit
upon?" My reply is::s Do not go and at
tempt to chase down the ISLANDERS.
Lies are prolific, and while you are
killing one, SO are born. All your
demonstrations Of indignation only ex-
ha0st yourself. You might as well on
some summer night when the swarms
of-insects are coming up from the
ssnsadows and disturbing you and dis
turbing your family bring up some
grDat swamp angel" like that which
tlnandercd over Charleston, and try
tosslloot them-down.s The game is too
small for. the gun. But what, then,
ara sou to do with the abuses that
cone upon you in life? You are to
live them down? l saw a farmer 60
ro4 TO get back swan of bees that
had wandered off from the hive. As
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