The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-06-03

plied. each consisting Of tongue.
did not order you." said Nan
,hus. in violent passion. TO
INV the best victuals the mar.
ket afforded?" Yes, and have
not obeyed your orders?" said Aesop.
"Is there anything better than tongue?
ts not the tongue the bond OF civil
society, the organ of truth and rea-
son. and the instrument OF our praise
and alteration OF the gods?" And the
philosopher was convinced and silent.
But the next day Xanthus ordered his
servant to go to the market and buy
the worst things he could find. Aesop
went. and again when the covers were
lifted, behold there was nothing but
tongue,-tongue boiled. tongue baked,
tongue stewed tongue stuffed, tongue
sliced, tongue minced, tongue. What,
tongue AGAIN." exclaimed Xanthus.
Most certainly" rejoined Aesop; "the
tongue most surely is the worst thing
I'm the world. 1t is the instrument OF
all strife and contention, the inven-
tory of lawsuits, and the source OF
division and wars; IL Is the organ of
error, OF lies, calumny and blasphe-
mics"
The witty servant was only putting
INTO practical form the statement of
the Apostle James, THE tongue Of
man no one can subdue-it is turbu-
lent evil, full Of death-dealing poison;
with 1t We praise God. even the Faith
er and with It we curse men made in
the image OF God: from the same
mouth come forth eulogy and a
curse"
Universal Disease.
There was disease prevalent in
the church in the days Of James and
it is epidemic in our own times. II
Is an internal disease and the sym2-
toms are discovered by an eruption
which appears upon the tongue. II
you would diagnose the state OF a per-
sons heart, like skillful physician,
the quickest, surest way to get at II
is to initiate the doctor and say
LET me see your tongue" The hand
the eye, the foot, the ear are impoT'
tcnt members OF the human body. but
they do not show the mental, moral
spiritual, as well as physical condition
of the individual SO perfectly as the
tongue. The ancient Greeks used the
same word for speech and thought
and the modern German was as wis
as he was witty when he said, II viii
believe that any animal thinks when
he tells me So"
Words Are Indices.
That is to say, the words OF man
are the indices of his character They
are the stream that adyertises tho
nature of the spring; out OF the same
fountain does not flow sweet waite,
and bitter. or course, IL Is possible
to control the speech so as TO hid'
the real disposition in the heart, ant
by constant watchfulness to deceive
the closest observer as to ones tru
quality. until a certain purpose ha
been accomplished, but that sort o
scheme cannot be carried out through
whole life time, sooner or later Tn,
restrained and curbed horse will rui
away; in some unguarded moment IN
real self will be revealed. by III.
words thou shalt be justified and b.
thy words thou shalt be condemned
That is to say, 1t is not so much VIVA
man says. as It is that his languag
is the expression of what he is. Tha
will be the criterion by which he vii
be estimated by God and man. a
viii Carleton puts it:
Boys flying kites haul in their whit
winged birds
You can't do that way when your
flying words.
Thoughts unexpressed. may some
times fall back dead.
But God Himself can't kill them whe
they're said"