Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-08-25

! NAtuOut ia tue emo having OlaSphe-
nous tongue. A gentleman some years
ago was riding on the Erie railroad,
aud just before the train passed over
the bridge which spans the Hacken-
sack river he saw a large sign painted
by the track for the railroad engineers.
II read thus: "Shut You Ash Pan" The
gentleman wondered what that sign
meant Then he asked the reason. and
this was the reply: when the train
crosses the river some OF the live Goals
might fail out OF the engine and land
ON the wooden ties and burn up the
wooden bridge" oh, yes, I said to
myself when / read that story. II Is
well that the engineer should be care
ful or the live Goals of his ash Dan.
but how much more should man be
careful OF the live Goals OF h;s tongue,
THE tongue is a fire." Once let the
live Goals OF the vlndictive and the ly-
Ing tongue and the lewd tongue scatter
and they will fall down and burn ur5
the work that proceeds from Christ's
cross. They will scatter and burn up
Christs church and Christ's Bible and
mans immortal hope. Blasphemy is
the natural outcome of mans tongue
poisoned with evil In his dealings with
man.
DePrRved Tongue.
But / cannot close this line of nv
talk without declaring that the bins
phemous tongue Inevitably becomes the
tongue of a human beast of carrion.
AS soon as man gets out OF tohch with
God be inevitably acquires depraved
IDEA OF the human race. Like the buzz
zard which circles about in the heav-
ems over the hills and the valleys and
the prairies OF southern California wait
ing for the horse or the COW or the
sheep TO drop dead in his tracks that
he may pounce upon It, so the evil
tongue of man seems to glory in the
banquet OF dead regulations, of evil re-
ports and Of debasing rumors which af-
firm that men and women have gone
astray and become as bad as or even
worse than ourselves.
No example OF the evil tongue ts
more sinfully suggestive than when n
party OF men and women get together
to discuss the overthrow OF a fellow
man. Have you heard the newsY'
asks one evil tongue. NO" answers
another evil tongue. 'sTen IL me
| What is it," ''Wby, you know Mrs
So-and-so, the daughter of our pastor
Well, she is being sued for divorce by
her husband" us that so? Well.
knew it would come! 1 never did like
her father. He always pretended 10
be so good that felt there was some
thing wrong about him. IL that father
had only lived as good a life as he
pretended to live, lis daughter would
not have turned out as she did. Good
Tor himl never did like that daush-
ter anyhow. She always thought she
was better than any one else, and
now to think she is nothing but a
| hypocriter' 'Have you heard the
newsT' again asks the evil tongue.
mo. What is itY Mr.. So-and-so
has just failed" "Ahal He has! Well,
always thought he was living be-
| yond his means. These men who send
their children Off to college and do
not pay their bills are nothing but
thieves. Yes, he has got Just what he
deserves oh, evil tongue, ready 10
put the worst Interpretation upon your
neighbor's actions, are you here to-
day? Vile serpent, with thy deadly
| poison, thou art not destroying thy
neighbor nearly as much as with hiss
and rattle thou art proving to God
thine own infamy and thine own de-
pravity OF heart. 'The tongue can no
man tame. 1t is an unruly evil, full
OF deadly poison" Is that your
tongue. O needless man?
Tanning the Tongue.
But. though man cannot tame his sin
full tongue, thank God, the Lord God
Almighty can tame IL, and will tame
II by the power OF the Holy Spirit, II
we will only let him. He will make
the vindictiye tongue the tongue OF
forgiveness; the tongue or vileness the
pure tongue; the tongue OF deceit the
truthful tongue: the tongue OF bias
phemy the praying tongue. and the
tongue OF condemnation the tongue OF
charity. 1t Is said that many years
ago In n hotel dining room the late
DR.. Annesley heard some men cursIng
God and their fellow men at an ad-
Joining table. The good doctor babe
the walter carry a glass OF water to
the blasphemers with his compliments.
What is that FORT" they asked. 'I
thought" said DR.. Annesley gravely,
that you would like to cool your
tongues In 1t, after the fiery Language
you Were uttering." That may have
been just rebuke. But IL we today
will thrust our evil tongues into the
water OF life" we shall not only cool
them, but by the power OF the Holy
Spirit we shall change them. oh. my
friend, will you not today let God
change your evil tongue into the
tongue or purity. the tongue OF prayer.
the tongue OF love and the tongue of
gentleness?
But" says some one, show can God
make this changer / do not know
how Ii Is done, but do know he can
do 1t and he will do 1t, II you will only
talk with him and ask his help. He
can change your evil tongue In the
same way that your Christian mother
used to change It, You remember.
when you look back to your boyhood
life. how angry you used to get. i
can see you now in one OF your omar
rels with your brother. Your little
fists were clinched. Your eyes were
flashing. Your breast was heayIne
You had raised your arm to strike
blow when you looked up and saw
your mother. She looked at you so
tenderly and reprovingly as she said.
Chariey" at first you could not an.
swer. Then the muttered imprecation
left your lips. Your hand was low.
cred. Then you burst into tears as Won
said: Mother! Oh. motheri Forgive
me. mother? So with this evil tongue
OF ours. II we only use il to daily
talk with God. II we only use 1t to
pour out our desires into his ear. In
stead OF being the organ OF hate and
OF hasphemy. it will become the or
gan OF kindness, the organ of gentle
ness and forgiveness and mercy and
love. Oh, my friends. Will you not let
God today conquer your evil tongue?
Would that this daily habit OF talk
Ing with God might become ours!
once read OF mother who tried TO
stop the evil tongue scattering its
poison by her hresIde by writing