CHAPTER III.

KINDNESS;

OR, THE HERO WHO BEST CONQUERS.

“A SOFT answer turneth away wrath," Prov. 15: 1. The force of this proverb will be more clearly understood, by comparing it with one or two other passages of divine wisdom. In Prov. 25: 15, it is said, "By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone." In the text, we have a general rule for gentleness; but in the proverb last quoted there is an extreme case presented—an angry prince exercising absolute power-and herein it is declared that kind forbearance will have the mightiest power to persuade. It was in this way that David wrought upon and subdued Saul's enraged temper, and "the meekness of wisdom" is always the most potent instrument of conquest.

In reproof Jehovah showed what he could do in "the strong wind and earthquake." But his most effective rebuke was in the "still small voice "-without violence-keen, yet tender. The soft member breaking the hard bone seems paradoxical, but the Scripture before us is but a literal statement of the power of gentleness over obdurate hearts and exasperated minds. Soft and conciliating words achieve a double victory -over ourselves, and over the most outraged among our brother men.

To establish the above doctrine, we will proceed to show that kindness is the greatest strength; that it exerts the strongest influence; does the most good; and receives the brightest reward.

In the first place, kindness is the element of greatest power in man. Almost all the delightful words in our language

which link our heart and its tenderest associations with home and everything that is dear in the sweet charities of social life, have the same root and family resemblance-kin, kind, kindred, kindness.

Great talents may command admiration, the offering of the intellect; but the qualities of the heart can alone excite affection, the tribute and glory of the heart. Manly natures that are the sternest, when great emergencies demand the exercise of superior strength, are usually invested with the gentlest affections; as the softest down is found upon the breast of eagles.

"Courtiers as free, as debonair, unarm'd,

As bending angels; that's their fame in peace:

But when they would seem soldiers, they have galls,
Good arms, strong joints, true swords, and Jove's accord,
Nothing so full of heart."

Eros was the embodiment of the idea of love, as held by the ancients. They represented her, sitting on a lion, strength, which monarch of the wilderness she guides with a silken cord, moderation. The lesson is not altogether pagan which teaches us that the gentleness of the weak can control the passions of the most strong. "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." On the contrary, "soft pity enters at an iron gate," and exerts the greatest strength in every gloomy retreat of penury and despair. The true disciple of our holy religion carries with him in every walk warmth as well as light, in wisely blended and gently beaming influences, which render him as welcome as he is powerful everywhere.

"His dream of light,
From morn till night,
Is Love-still Love."

In the second place, kindness exerts the strongest influence on earth. The most prominent enactment in the great code designed by the Creator for the rule of the universe is the royal law of affection. No eloquence is so efficient as the mildness of a good heart. The drops that fall gently upon the corn ripen and fill the ear; but violent storms beat down the growing crop, and desolate the field.

"O, it is excellent

To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant."

A kind and accommodating spirit is the fairest trait in the most exalted type of character. Once two goats met on a bridge which was too narrow to allow them either to pass each other or to return, in which difficulty one of the goats lay down that the other might pass over him. That great and good man, Mr. Cecil, has very justly pronounced the courteous and accommodating goat a much finer gentleman than lord Chesterfield.

Benevolence is an universal language, promptly read and easily comprehended by all; it is the vernacular of heaven, and needs to be more widely inculcated in practical exemplification on earth. Says bishop Hall, "We should not draw a sword to kill flies, nor call for scorpions when a rod is too much." Gentle warmth opens the pores of our body sooner than an intense heat. The wild rose of the wilderness, and its kindred flower more delicately nurtured in our gardens shut themselves up alike when the sun retires and the chilling damps of night approach; they were made to expand only to the light of morning, the genial influences of day, and no fierce storms of rain or hail can force them open. Flint and marble sometimes appear to weep, but it is only in mild weather. The light and heat of sincere emotion go most directly to the heart, and produce the most ennobling effects. The blandishments of benevolence expand the soul as well as beautify it;

they furnish the strongest wings to sustain hope, and the most vigorous aliment to support toil.

revenge.

An unsanctified temper is a fruitful source of error, and a mighty impediment to truth. Kindness is ever nobler than We are never more successful in beneficent toil, than when moved by "the cool and temperate wind of grace." A Spanish proverb counsels us to "Grow angry slowly, for if there be cause, time will not fail thee to become so." But the direction of infinite wisdom is, not to be in anger at all. Whatever excellence it is possible for us to attain in respect to moral worth, is won by freeing ourselves from gross indulgence and violent passion. The Egyptian sphinx is an allegorical representation of this truth; in it the head of a woman grows forth and rests on a body composed of parts of different animals, mingled with each other. This signifies that humanity-here represented by a woman-must by its own effort emerge from the despotism of animal desires.

When stone and steel meet, fire is elicited; but "a soft answer turneth away wrath." The experience of a distinguished physician is pertinent to this point. Says he, " Kind words being dropped incessantly, at length vivify the petrified features; the statue, so to say, begins to smile, and speaks and laughs, and then bounds across the green-sward with his children at play, metamorphosed into a happy man." There are plenty of deserving objects which demand the fullest exercise of our beneficent regards. In our own great city, how many there are whose bitter experience is not unlike that of Moffat, as described in his wanderings in Africa. "We continued our slow and silent march. The tongue cleaving to the roof of the mouth from thirst, made conversation extremely difficult. At last, we reached the long wished for water-fall; but it was too late to ascend the hill. We laid our heads on our saddles. The last sound we heard was the distant roar of the lion; but we were too much exhausted to feel anything like fear. Sleep came to our relief, and it seemed made up of

scenes the most lovely. I felt as if engaged in roving among ambrosial bowers, hearing sounds of music, as if from angels' harps. I seemed to pass from stream to stream, in which I bathed, and slaked my thirst at many a crystal fount flowing from golden mountains enriched with living green. These pleasures continued till morning, when we awoke speechless with thirst, our eyes enflamed, and our whole frames burning like a coal." And so do many wretched sons of poverty and vice among us sleep their fitful slumbers of dreamy pleasure, only to awake encompassed with squalid miseries the most dire. But a little discriminating kindness may discover splendid gems of intellect in the crowded dens of misfortune, and rescue them for the noblest use. It is better to sow a young heart with generous deeds than a field with corn, since the heart's harvest is perpetual.

It was by "the meekness of wisdom" that Gideon melted the frowardness of the men of Ephraim; Abigail restrained David's hands from blood; and Daniel stood fearless before the mighty monarch of Babylon. Because their lips knew what was acceptable, and their demeanor was wisely conciliating in the presence of the passionate, God honored them. The lovely and beloved disciple, when he leaned on the bosom of the great Redeemer, felt nothing there but the throbbings of gentleness, tenderness and love. The epitome of all that Jesus taught is, if you would be mighty, be kind. The secret of this superior strength consists in the principle that kindness is happy, and makes happy. It infuses the greatest energy into both body and soul, and creates that spirit of self-abandonment to the general good which annihilates selfish considerations and binds all classes in the bonds of peaceful and holy brotherhood.

Our third remark is, that kindness does the most good. Not unfrequently more depends upon the manner of bestowing a favor, than upon the favor itself. The warm hand, melting eye, and soothing tones of friendliness are often the