The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1901-09-28
THE SPIRIT OF AMITY
DR.. Talmage Commends Good Feel
ing Among Mankind.
Mentions uIustriOus Examples in His
sermon-The Grace of Forgive
ness Kindness IA Mag
niHcent Word.

HenQS the oHAAAb .
feeling and mentions illustrious exam
pies of that spirit; text, Acts, 54;2'
'The barbarous people showed US no
little kindness"
Here we are on the island of Malta,
another name for Melita. This island,
which has always been an important
commercial center, belonging at dill
ferent times to Phoenicia, to Greece,
to Rome, to Arabia, to Spain, to France,
now belongs to England. The area OF
the islands is 100 square miles. IL is
in the Mediterranean sea and OF such
clarity of atmosphere tina Mount
Aetna, 1870 miles away, can be distinct
Nv seen. The island is gloriously mem
orable because the knights of Malta
for a long while ruled there, u most
famous because of the apostolic ship
wreck. The bestormed vessel on which
Paul sailed had laid to" on the star
hoard tack. and the wind was blowing
east-northeast, and, the vessel drifting
.probablv a mile and a half an hour.
She struck at what is now called st.
iPaul's bay. Practical sailors have TAX
en- up the Bible account and decided be-
tyond controversy the place of the ship
wreck. But the island, which has so
rough a coast. is for the most part a
garden. Richest fruits and a profu-
sion of honey characterized 1t in st.
Paul's time as well as now. The finest
oranges, figs and olives grew there.
When Paul and his comrades crawled
up the beach. saturated and hungry
from long abstinence from food and
chilled to the bone, the islanders,
though called barbarians because they
could not speak Greek, opened their
doors to the shipwrecked unfortun-
ates. Everything had gone to the bot
tom of the deep, and the b~arefooted,
b~areheaded apostle and ships crew
were in a condition to appreciate hos
pitality. About 25 such men a few
years ago l found in the life station
near East Hampton, Long Island.
They had got ashore in the night from
the sea, and not a hat or shoe had
they left. They found out, as Paul and
his fellow voyagers found out, that the
sea is the toughest of all robbers. My
aext finds the ships crew ashore on
Malta and around a hot fire drying
themselves and with the best provision
the islanders can offer them. And
they go into government quarters for
three days to recuperate, Publius, the
ruler, inviting them, although he had
severe sickness in the house at the
time, his father down with a dangerous
illness. Yea, for three months they
stayed on the island, watching for a
ship and putting the Inequalities OF
the islanders to a. severe test. But il
endured the test satisfactorily, and il
Is recorded for all the ages of time AND
eternity to read and hear in regard to
the inhabitants of Malta: "The bar.
barous people showed us no little kind.
ness"
Kindness! WHAT a great word thai
IS, 1t would take a reed as long as
that which the apocalyptic angel uset
to measure Heaven to tell the length
the breadth, the height of thai munifi
cent word. It is a favorite Bible word
and it Is early launched in the book o
Genesis, caught up in the book o
Joshua, embraced in the book of Ruth
sworn bv in the book of Samuel
crowned in the book of Psalms and en-
throned in many places in the New
Testament. Kindness, A word N
more gentle than mighty. l expect i
will wrestle me down before l ge
through with it. 1t is strong enoug1
to throw an a%rchangel. But it will b.
well for us to stand around it an,
warm ourselves by it's glow as Pau
and his fellow voya gers stood aroun,
the fire on the Island of Malta, wher
the Maltese made themselves immor
tai in nv text by the way they treateD
their victims of the sea. ""rhe bar
barous people showed us n o little kind
ness"
Kindness! All definitions of tina
m~ultipotent word break down hal
way. You say it is clemency, benign
ity, generosity; it is made up of goo
wishes; it is an expression of benef
cence; it is a contribution to the hal
piness Of others. Some one else says
"Why, | can give you a definition {
kindness; it is sunshine of the soul;
&c affaotion uerenniol. IL iS a cIimati