The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-06

and human kindness in the home, Tn busi-
 ness and in our everyday dealings with
 friends and enemies. The text Is II Tim
 othy il, 24 Be gentle unto all men"
 The great moral leayeners of the world l have used but little blasting powder. 1 They are not past masters in the High 1 Order of Babblng Quarrelers." Like the
 laborers. lifting higher and higher the
 walls of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem,
 they make but little noise. They tread
 the pathway of life with feet, for the
 most part sandaled in velvet. Their
 voices are not an angry growl, but
 duleet whisper. Their breath is not ey-
 clonic, but summer zephyr. Their
 eountenances are not twisted with the
 demoniae passions of a Hogarth's cari-
 cature. Their eyes are not flashing with
 the llghtnings of a Mediterranean euro- clydon. They are red lipped and laugh ing eyed and rosy checked, with the hap py smile of a glorious June sunrise. They
 believe not in the strenuous life, with it's
 swords and spears and battleaXes and
 clubs and budgeons and conhgratons
 They believe not in hurling storm clouds
 until the deluge comes and the bridges
 
 are battered down. as though two
 mighty armies had turned the valleys into a gigantic battlefield, where the heavens were resounding with the can nonading of the elements. But they be- lieve in the gentle life" They believe in
 the golden pulleys of evaporation, gath ering mp the waters into the reservoirs of the clouds, to be scattered abroad in the blessed refreshment of April showers. They believe in the gentler means, which
 produce life, and not in the fierce, pas
 sionate methods of the iconoclast the anarchist and the firebrand, which de-
 stroy life.
 Nature has her storms, eruptions and earthquakes, which in her angry moods carry death and destruction in their path, but the gentle ways are always used by nature to accomplish her greatest good. Standing upon ships deck some day, l say, "Where did wonder tall, straight
 mast come from? Why" you say,
 hundreds of years ago ago a bird was flying over the main hills towards her
 nest with litle seed in her mouth. The
 keen eye of a hawk spied her When the hawk began to soar higher and higher in the heavens that he might make one ter
 rife plunge upon his prey. the little bird saw him. Before she fled to safety she gave one little frightened cry. When she
 uttered that cry her bill flew opened and
 the seed dropped to the ground. A gen. tie wind blew up the valley and covered
 over that seed with a ltle soil A little shower came and moistened that soil and
 the little seed began to sprout. It took
 root It grew into a bush. It grew Into
 sapling. I rounded out into great
 big tree One day Main lumberman
 came through that valley. With his ax
 he marked that tree for the shipyard. The tree was cut down. It was dragged to the river and Hated down to the saw mill. It was scraped and fixed for
 mast. When this ship was launched that tree was fitted in it's present place for
 mans use. Nature developed that tree, not in the upheavals of a day, but by
 the gentle ways of maturing years" The gentle life of the Christian must be
 manifested towards those with whom we
 come in closest contact. We first of all should be gentle to our parents, our
 wives. our husbands, and children and brothers and sisters and home associates. We should be gentle when we arise in the
 morning and prepare for the breakfast
 table, be gentle when we are fixing the children for school. be gentle when we
 kiss our wives when we start for the train, be gentle when we come home at
 night from the store, be gentle when we
 tuck away the lite ones into their beds
 for the night, for it is by the gentle
 words, the gentle deeds and the gentle
 memories that we hold our greatest in huence over our dear ones and not by the rebukes and the consciousness of our bitter tongues.
 An Old P7overb.
 The old proverb teaches "One warm sunshny May day can woo more buds out of the trees and bushes than five months of winter frosts can ever accom- plish" One word of gentleness can ac- complish more good in the lives of our dear ones than a thousand angry looks can ever do. You know that your moth- CTS smile, your mothers kiss, and your mothers sweet ways were the greatest magnets which made you try to do right. They were not your fathers punishments and sharp rebukes. You know that your wifes gentle ways have far more in- f1uence for good over the lives of your little children than your sharp correc- tions although your wife rarely lifts a hand to strike them a blow. Why, only last week this fact was Illustrated to you in an emphatic way You told your boy not to do a certain act. You told him not to go to a neghbor's house. He vent When you came home you found 1t out
 You were angry. You said to yourself
 "I will make that boy mind me if l have to whip him for his disobedience.' You took him to your room and thrashed him.
 Did that whipping do any good? Not
 
 flashed from your eyes flashed from his
 The same set lines which drew down the corners of your mouth drew down his. He did not cry, he did not even whimper He took his punishment in dogged silence, and then he sullenly went to his rOom
 There is an old saying that all the na-
 lures of the wild and the domestic beasts are caged up in every mans heart. It | only depends upon which cage you open which nature will dominate the man. In | the hearts menagere are the jackal. the | lion, the tiger, the swine and the lamb, and all other kinds of four legged | beasts That whipping which you gave | your boy only developed the mulsh part | of his nature. He became obstinate and ugly. The more you beat him the more l obstinate and mulish he grew. The red | rod and the rebuke never made your | child bend his will to your will.
 | But what happened when your wife | went to your boys room? An she reeag- 1 ed the snarling tiger and the kicking mule in his hearti she let free the lamb | of his better nature. When she first | went in his eyes were blazing with rage. | His teeth were gritting together. His | hands were clinched. He was rapidly | walking up and down the room Up and | down he went When your wife first en- | tered he would not look at her. But up | and down he walked, up and down. Then | he said: "Mother l am going to leave
 home. l am not going to llege. l am not | going to let father give me another cent.
 am too big too be whipped, and he might
 as well know it now and once for all
 Mother hate him. l hate father because