The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1896-01-27

uncont reliable desire 10 speak of their
crime. although the danger of arrest and
punishment faces them.
unprecedented speech Giving utter
ance to spontaneous words) which with.
out calculation flows from the heart like
the stream from the spring. reveals the
heart-cortents more accurately than does
or could almost anything else. Where you
lave the motive to hide or misrepresent
what you feel your words will be calculat-
ed, lest you expose your real sentiments.
But when no such motive exists, or where
one can give free play to his speech, the
character OF what Is In his heart. what he
thinks and desires will be best shown by
his spontaneous. uncalculated, free and
unguarded utterapce.
|. | thinls this Is true In spite Of the conf
mon proverb that actions speak louder
than words" which means that you can
bsler discover mans rial character by
hts actions than by his words. This does
not refer 20 spontaneous physical expires
sion without the use of words into which
men sometimes are betrayed by a sud
den experience, ike the young man who
clapped hts sides and beloved with de-
light when he heard that a Spanish war
ship with all on board had been sunk by
an insursent bomb. 1t refers TO a course
Of action which is deliberately maintained
by one who n words processes a contrary
sentiment toward another course from
:
there IL no ioubt that actions speak more
loudly. tell mere accurately the real char.
acter OF his sentiments than do his living
words.
But when the heart gives unpremedit-
ated and spontaneous utterance 20 what
II holds. that utteIance Is more apt TO
reveal what is the real character or ITS
thoughts and sentiments. Its actual con-
tents. than any deliberate course OF ac-
ticn; for every course of action must he
more or less deliberate. And actions. par
| ticuarly when not In easily discovered
harmony with professions, are always
more or less protected or discounted by
the necessity OF interpretation-you have
10 interpret their meaning. But with SION
! taneous, easy, unprecedented speech
there is no need for Interpretation; like
! dollar. its character and value are stamp
ID on its face.
There is a natural and necessary CORE
| spondence between spontaneous words
and the contents of the heart-like that
| between the fruit and the tree. You may
| indeed graft one kind of sprout on an
other kind of tree and thus make the tree
/ bear different kinds of fruit, but left
! alone the tree will bear one sort and tnat
its own sort of fruit. So our Lord
says in the very connection from which
we have taken our text: Either make
| the Tree good, and its fruit good. or MAKE
| the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt for
the tree is known by its fruit We off
| spring of vipers, how can we, being evil.
! speak good things? For out of the abuu-
| lance Of the heart the mouth speaketn.
! The good man out of his good treasure
hrnEcth forth good things; and the evil
man out Of his evil treasure bringeth forth
cyil things. And ! say unto You
that every idle word that men
shall speak. they shall give account there
! Of in the day Of judgment For by thy
| he led lt,-t ~
words thou shalt be condemned"
That our words enter into the makeup
Of the material for and constitute the
criterion Of our Judgment Is indisputaoic,
and n very little consideration will show
that it is justly so,
| II our words are not as n matter OF
fact revelatory of our real selves, then
I they are by necessity calculated and pre-
| meditated words and should of course.
enter into our judgment, for they are as
| We deliberately and consciously make
, them. Unless words are made inharnloni-
Gus with our real selves they will newt
ably reflect us as we are. like the mirror
reflects the face. And certainly II our
| words are made false we have for them
the additional responsibility that attaches
to intelligent and calculated manufacture
Of what is false.
Assuming that In the main our words
are natural and Spontaneous expression,
mink that by every law of justice the,
| ought 10 enter into the makeup of III,
material Tor, and be in many lights the
criterion of our judgment before God
TT fame. malicious, wicked words are no
round on tho lips Of men whose heart.
are reNerent, benevolent and righteous. An
II there be the correspondence between
prcfane words and profane hearts, malic
u-s words and malicious hearts, wicked
words and wicked hearts, that Jesu!
claims there is. there can be no Quest OF
hat one, who IS as his heart is, ough
% he judged by his profane, malicious
wicked words IL the judgment of him /.
20 be a just Judgment. Justice could no
possibly overlook mans rcsr oasibility TO
eVil words since there is so much powCi
n words which he might have used TO
good. Especially Is this true If just!c,
finds itself under The necessity of givin,
due and proper weight to good words
kind words, righteous words. And ever,
one would think that he was UNJUST,
: dealt with n the kind and good word
uttered sincerely from the heart, whicl
have frightened human burdens and lite,
human sorrows-for sincere words do he'll
Us bear our burdens and sorrows-wer
not given due weight in the judgmen
which estimates character and fixes dos
tiny. II the words that are good and d.
, good are to he considered by necesslt,
he words that are evil and do evil mus
no considered also.
The Lord Jesus in saying that by gu
words We are justified and by our word
we are condemned, precedcs the stntemen
with, "And ] say unto you, that ever
idle word that men shall speak. they sha1
= give account thereof In the day Of judg
> ment."
The meaning Of idle words" seems I
he words lacking in moral purpose; o
, words that have not sufficient care whe
chosen to keep them from evil AMI hurt
rul words. or words whose effect is no
' developed
There can be no question that sue
words arc in the tr'iest sense spontaneous
they are perfectly unthought. careless, IN
I premeditatcd words, uttered as soon as
and the same az they are born. Sue
D words are absolutely true to ;he h"al
9 and character In which they are hor
and from which they comet prricc. IN
I dex to the actual contents Of the heart on
: az whose abundance the mouth speak
d them. Chatter Is quite as often evidenc
: Of a jumhlcd heart as of q tumbled minc
9 and our chatter, senseless and tiresome a
I II IS often times. and Injurious and ev
y | AS II IL too often, enters into the compos