The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-04-08

| r IS ANGELES, CAL April In Us
sermon the preacher deals with one
IL of the familiar evils of our social
and business life. the curse of ungovern-
able temper. and shows how the misdi-
rected energy of those who are victims
of the habit may be transformed into a
blessing. The text is Proverbs xvi, 81,
'fIe that is slow to anger IS better than
the mighty and he that ruleth his spirit
than he that taketh a city,
Popular enthusiasm is most easily
Eindled when the admiring multitudes are
allowed to bend the knee before human
idol clothed in soldiers uniform The
most inspiring call for the common peo-
pie is the bugle blast sounding the cav
alryman's charge 'Tis true. the most
beautiful monument of Edinburg is the
one erected to Sir Walter Scott, the
writer and in London it is the one
erected to Prince Albert. Queen Victoria
consort, and in some respects the most
conspicuous monument in Brooklyn is
that erected 10 the memory of Henry
Ward Beecher, the preacher. But where
there is one monument erected in prom
inent cities to the memory OF a states
man, scientist, a poet or an artist
there are FIVE, ten. twenty monuments
erected to the memory of military heroes
| Il is right to honor the heroic deeds OF
these chieftains but the heroes of peace
should be honored also.
King Solomon recognizes this fact in
the words of my text. He is not depre-
! catlng such triumphs as that of Cyrus,
who fifty years later laid siege TO the
city of Babylon and captured it by turn
! ing the Euphrates river from its course
and by marching under the city gates
by night. when the king and all his
! courtiers were bemuddled at a drunken
carnival. lie is not sneering at military
genius such as was displayed by Titus,
who captured Jerusalem in 20 A. D., but
i he is eXalting the noble work of a man
! OF God who can capture the citadel OF his
! own heart and hold his will and life in
subsection to a higher law. So today l
want TO show you why self-control is so
! important for successful life and why
The that is slow to anger is better than
the mighty and he that ruleth his spirit
than he that taketh a city"
| The ungoveTnabe temper is to be dread
| eG and feared For the time being it I'M
dermines a mans thinking and reasoning
! powers 1t may even become suicidal. 1t
! puts a man in the unenviable position Of
! fighting against and destroying himself.
As a snake when leased by an enemy
il cannot reach will in its frenzy bury
its poisonous fangs into its own body so
the slave of ungoverneG temper becomes
the victim of his own rage and chagrin
Dependent on Each other.
The brain in its action is very similar
10 the organs of the body. All its diff
ferent parts are interdependent, as the
faa.I 144R,
and the stomach act and react upon each
other When the heart stops its regular
steady pumping. then every other organ
langulshes on account of his weakness.
Then the water of the blood exudes
through the tissues. and dropsy sets in.
When the lungs refuse to do their work,
then the digestive apparatus is affected
Stomach trouble can cause nervous pros
tladon. Once get the nerves out of tune
and you may have nervous dyspepsia.
The organs of the body are like the I'M
derstones of a great arehing bridge. Take
away any of the substoncs and the whole
arch tumbles into a ruin. Such is the
interdependence of the different parts of
the brain. Let the will power once lose
! Its grip and the reasoning faculty or
the seat of judgment is gone. Then
man in his actions an dwords becomes
like a runaway horse taking the bit In
against a stone fence or to leap a preci-
pce or to dash before The onrushing To-
eomotive as he is TO keep the straight
road of safety.
| At such times man will do something
on the spur of the moment which he is
apt to regret all the days of his life. He
| is like a drlnkard drawing a knife in
saloon brawl. He is like a general en-
trenehed in some impregnable Gibraltar
| 1plihor1tplV
makes a foolish sortie. lie is like an
army which goes off and leaves its fort
ress unguarded to be pounced upon by
a waiting foe.
Now. life under the very best condi-
tons is such an awful and a close strug
gle that YOU and / cannot afford to make
any mistake ON account of an uneon-
querable temper. When we are in con-
flict with skilled foe we cannot af-
ford to let our contempt get the better
of us, as did Goliath when he went forth
! to attack David If you do, just sure
as you live you will place yourself at
the mercy of your antagonist. When you
are preparing for life's work because
something goes wrong or an injustice has
been done you have no right to lose your
temper as did Philip II. Sheridan at West
Point when he thought sergeant had
insulted him. SO fiery was the young
lrishmans temper at that time that he
made an attack upon his officer with a
murderous bayonet and by that act was
in danger of being expelled from the
academy. and his glorious services to his
country would have been lost. Because
some enemy has been unrelenting in his
attacks you cannot afford, no matter how
great or little you may be, to lose your
temper as did James G. Blaine when lie
once attacked Roscoe ConlIing in Con-
gress and thereby destroyed forever all
his own prospects of entering the White
| House as chief executive. Every time a
man lets his anger get the better of him
he does not injure his enemies nearly as
much as he damages himself. If you
would be great in your influence over
others, You must be great in your power
over yourself. This means that no mat
| ter how great the provocaton. you must
learn to suffer injustice in silence. You
must learn to bare your back for a cas-
| tigation If you deserve it and grimly
hold your tongue even when the lash is
fetching the hearts blood.
An UngovernabIe Temper.
The ungovernable temper is to be
dreaded and feared for a second reason.
No sooner does "A man lose his temper
than he drives from his side those who
would naturally come forward as his de-
tenders. He spikes the guns of those who
would be his protectors. All through the
world there is desire to see fair play.
If when going down the street you see a
big boy whipping a small boy YOU natu-