The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-09-23
REV. DR. TALMAGE
6UNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY THE
NOTED DIVINE.
Subject: "The Soft Tongue"

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 there Is a tremendous
power in kind word. Although 1t may
seem to be very insignificant, its force is in
.descrbable and illimitable. Punsent and
M-conquerlng utterance: "a soft tongue
bresketh the bone"
If fRad time I would show you kindness
| as a means Of defense. as means Of useful
ness, Kindness as means Of domestic har-
! mony, kindness as best employed by govern
ments 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 o.
these thoughts.
And first. speal, to you of kininess as a
meane of defense. Almost every man, In the
course Of his life, Is set upon and assaulted.
Your motives are misnterprsted or your re-
ligious or political principles are bombarded.
What to do under such circumstances is the
question. Tho first impulse OF the natural
heart SAYS: 'Strike back. Give as much as
he sent Trip him into the ditch which be
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 the mat
ter" You look up into the face of Christ
and say: "My Master, how ought l to
act under these difficult circumstances
and Christ instantly answers: "Bless
1 which despitefuly use you" Then the old
nature rises up again and says: "You had
1 better not forgive him until first you have
n chastised him. You will never get him in so
tight corner again. You will never have
such an opportunity OF inaicting the right
kind of punishment upon him again. First
chastise him and then let him go. mo,
heart. Try the soft tongue that breaketh
the bone
Have you ever In all your life known
! acerbity and acrimonious dispute to settle
quarrel2 Did they not always make matters
worse and worse and worse? About fifty
five years ago there was great quarrel In
the Presbyterian family. Ministers OF Christ
were thought orthodox in proportion sthey
had measured lances with other clergyman
F. of the same denomination. The most out
rageous personalities we're abroad. As. In
the autumn, a hunter comes home with a
string of game. partridses and wild ducks,
slung over his shoulder, so there were many
ministers who came back from the ecclesias.
tical courts with long strings OF doctors OF
divinity whom they had shot with their own
Ei1e. The division became wider, the ami
mostly greater, until after awhile some good
men resolved upon another tack. They be-
gan to explain away the difficulties; they be-
gan 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 pats of the Presby; erian order,
welded by hammer, a little hammer, q
Hhr;ct hon that fha Snrintnra .rQlll
"a soft tongue"
But" you say, "what are we to do when
ISLANDERS assault us, and there come acim-
tonious sayings all around about US, and we
are abused and spit upon?" My reply is:
Do not 20 and attempt to chase down the
ISLANDERS. Lies are prolific. and while you
are killing one, fifty are born. All your
demonstrations Of indignation only exhaust
yourself. You might as we'll on some sum-
mer night when the swarms OF insects are
coming up from the meadows and disturb
ing you and disturbing your family. bring
|up some great "swamp angel like that
which thundered 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!
pass now to the other thought that de-
Sire to present, and that Is, kindness as a
means Of usefulness. In all communities
Gou find skeptical men. Through early ed
hcation, or through the maltreatment Of
professed aChristian people, or through
brying curiosity about the future world,
here are great many people who become
keptical in religious things. How shall
Fou capture them for God2 Sharp argument
md sarcastic retort never won single soul
rom skepticism to the Christian religion.
While powerful books on evidences Of
hristianity" have their mission in confirm
hg Christian people in the faith they have
lready adopted, have noticed that when
keptical people are brought into the king
ON Of Christ. 1t is through the charm Of
bme genial soul and not by argument at all.
len are not saved through the head; they
re saved through the hea7-::. A s:orm comes
1t Of its hiding place. 1t says: snow we'll
LIST rouse up all this sea-" and it makes a
-eat bluster, but 1t does not succeed. Part
the sea is reused up-pernaps one-half Of
or one-fourth Of It. After awhile the
aim moon, placid and beautiful, looks
own, and the ocean begins to rise. 1t
pines up to high-water mark, 1t en-
races the great headlands. It sub
Rerges the beach OF all the continents. It
the heart-throh Of one world against
e heart-throb OF another world. And
have to tell you that while all your
|orms of ridicule and storms OF sar-
sm may rouse up the passion OF an i'm
brtal nature, nothing less than the attrac-
be power OF Christian kindness can ever
Use the deathless spirit to happiness and to
bd. have more faith in the prayer Of
lid five years old, in the way OF bringing
inldel back to Christ and to heaven than
have in oil the Kissing thunderbolts OF
clesiastical controversy. You cannot over
me m N with religious augmentation. II
u come at q scepticai man with an argu-
ent on behalf Of the Christian religion,
u put the man on his mettle. He says: II
ae that man has carbine. I'll use my
rhine. I'll answer his argument with nv
gument." But il you come tc that man,
rsuading him that you desire his happi-
IS on earth and his eternal welfare in the
orld to come. he cannot ans wer it.
What I have said Is just as true in the
clamation of the openly vicious. Did you
er know drunkard 10 be saved through
7e caricature Of drunkard? Your mimlcry
the staggering step and the thick tongue,
bid the disgusting h1ccoughs, only worse
addens bis brain. Bat II you come to him
fth kindness and sympathy; If you show
vm that you appreciate the awful grip Of q
praved appetite; ii you persuade him Of
. fact that thousands who had the crap
Ing hooks OF evil inclination clutched in
eir soul as firmly as they now are in his
W been rescued, then ray Of light will
sh across his vision, and 1t will seem as if
Supernatural hand were steadying his stag
ring gait. A good many years ago there
n in the streets OF Richmond, Va, a man
ad drunk. his face exposed to the blister
& MONDAY sun. A Christian woman passed
bng, looked at him and said: Poor fell
W." She took her handkerchief and spread
over his face and passed On. The man
used himself from his debauch and began
look at the handkerchief, and, 10! on It
as the name Of highly respectable Chris
an woman OF the city OF Richmond: He