Milford chronicle., 1905-08-25
Caln1aqe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt TalmaGe. D. D.

oEAAA0n TIT HANAAAAEA AEUukN4 AlAN prev
alent vice of loose and censoriOus ut
terance, and especially Of slander in
business and social life. The text is
James iii, s, Full of deadly poison"
Never did inspired writer feather his
verbal arrows Of truth with more dra-
matte comparisons than the author OF
my text He seems to take MS out
to the corral Of an eastern Bedouln
chief Methlnks l see the leader Of
this nOmad tribe looking over his herd
Of fine limbed, high spirited, mettle-
some thorOughbreds. Then he turns to
one Of his men and says, John, 1
think we will bride yonder colt today
and break her to the saddle" AYE"
answers the man "That is sooner
said than done. Never did we have
a higher strung uglier four legged
beast than that colt. She will kick
and bite and snort and foam at the
mouth whenever we 60 near her" rs
that so?" answered the chief Then
the sooner we break her the better"
1 see the ropes flung over the colts
neck. / see her attempt to kick and
bite the hand that puts the bit into
her mouth and the saddle upon her
back. l see her eyes fash / see her
rear, plunge and roll on the ground
and afterward bolt, and for miles run
away over the hills. Then l see her |
gradually subdued until at last that |
nOmad chief makes her his pet riding /
mare. l see her finally under perfect |
control, like Jobs mighty war charger, |
smelling the battle from afar. and as
1 see all this transformation the author
Of my text says, Behold, we put bits
in the horses mouths that they may
obey US, and we turn about their whole
body, but the tongue can no
man tame"
Then the author places us upon the
deck Of one of the AleXandrian corn
ships. He pictures one of those awful
Mediterranean euroclydons that played
snch havoc with the shipping Of old
and which destroys so many ships Of .
the present day The wind is blowing ]
a hurricane The sails are whipped ,
into shrcds. But though that ship is {
tossing about in the mighty, heaving ]
pillows, yet she is under complete con- 9
troll Of the steersman, who, with his f
single hand moves the rudder to the J
right or TO the left. Then the author l
of my text says, "Behold also the c
ships, which though they may be 50 I
great, and are driven Of fierce winds, t
yet are they turned about with very @
small helm. whithersoever the gov '
ernor listeth, but the tongue '
no man can tame" II
Then he takes us away up in the o
mountains. He gathers together a few o
dried grasses and strikes a spark and Y
ignites them. No sooner are the s.
grasses afire than the evening winds "
fan them into a great cOnhagratiOn, A
which sets all the forests of those p
mountains ablaze. Aye, for nights you Y
can see them burning as we have seen Of
the mountain fires burning up in the a
Adirondacks or upon the Berkshire v
bills. Then he says, "The tongue is VI
a little member" 1t is almost as in Il
looking as a small spark. is
But "behold how great matter lit o
tie fire kindleth." The damage which d
the tongue or the spark can do is in il,
finite Then he compares the evils Of
the tongue to the awful ravages Of Of
physical disease-to those Of hideOus p
fepfosy or cholera or the bubonic el
defleth the whole body" p
Then. in the four words OF my text, a
he compares the evil tongue Of man to ly
the poisonous fangs Of a kissing ser S
pent. The reason l have drawn for d
you all these different comparisons, n
nsed in connection with the comparison o,
NJ nv text, is this: / want you to n
know that no symbol is too demOniae' e
no comparison is too destructive or too q
repulsive for the author to cite as a oi
criterion by which to Judge the fatal Of
effects Of the human tongue when it Il
IS evil. May God help me today to is
show you some Of the dark dens and tC
cayerns in which this evil tongue OF b.
man. as a serpents fangs, hides itself, pl
and where it is most able to strike its b.
ieadly poison into the flesh and hearts nl
1f its helpless victims.
~ A vindietive Tongue.
The evil tongue Of man, in the first ly
Dlace. is a vindictive tongue. 1t has y
stored up among its deadly poisons the ei
malice, not only Of days. W
but Of weeks and months and years. hi
Like the North American savage OF IL
)ld. It never forgets a supposed injury 81
which some one has done against 1t. bi
1t will 90 out Of its way a hundred te
miles. a thousand miles, aye, it will at
,tealthily lie in ambush for years. to OF
get a suitable opportunity to strike. 1t al
; not like an ordinary snake, which 10
will leave you alone unless you trample al
lpon it, but it is like a panther stalk Vi
NC its prey. It is like hound on the N
rack Of a deer. 1t IS like a lloness bI
ollowing the man who has robbed her al
4 her whelps. It will pursue a sup dl
,osed enemy for miles and miles. and TO
or years and years, always seeking do
he right moment when it can bury its pc
angs in the hearts Of its foes. And W
when that time comes, Ike Shylock, It OF
viii always strike for the vital pound OF
Z flesh nearest to tic beating heart ca
"a. the abiect mercilessness Of a vim "
ictive tongue! You well know its I'M ca
orgiving. relentless nature; for it may NJ
80 l . rtfrTfoffr.o fon0un has IN