^°* .0* c°is *b j> "W ? ^°- O > VV *« « « **L & ^ ^ 4* * sjt&kZ* *. A. anger: Its Nature, Causes, and Cure. BY REV. W. H. POOLE, Ivlv. E>., OF THE DETROIT CONFERENCE, MICHIGAN. " Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath."— st. paul. CINCINNATI: CRANSTON & STOWE. NEW YOR M SUJ&£ILLIPS & HUNT. [886. 6 <&'*} Copyright by CRANSTON & STOWE, 18S6. PREFACE My design in presenting these pages to the public on the Nature, Causes, and Cure of An- ger is, that they may, in some humble way, assist in promoting the graces of meekness, patience, and brotherly love, which are the brightest orna- ments in the whole constellation of Christian virtues, and the want of which, in our times, greatly retards the onward march of the glorious Gospel of peace. The substance of these pages was given in two discourses to my dear and loving friends in Simp- son Methodist Episcopal Church, Detroit, and those discourses, with several emendations, are here pub- lished by the request of the officiary of that Church. The old divines, Dell, Drelincourt, Addison, Parker, Fawcett, Paley, Watts, and others of their time, wrote more largely on the passions and emotions than we do now. From them, \ 4 PREFACE. especially from Fawcett, I have drawn largely the inspiration and material of those discourses. I trust that this general acknowledgment will be accepted as sufficient for the use I have made of the golden truths I have selected from those sources. J. Fawcett, who wrote one 'hundred years ago, says in his preface : " The finest and most beau- tiful thoughts concerning the government of our passions and the regulation of our manners have been carried away before our times, and little is left for us but to glean after the ancients and the most approved moderns." If any thing, old or new, in these pages shall, with God's blessing, help any one " To govern his passions with absolute sway, And grow wiser and better as life wears away," to God alone be the glory. "Seize, then, on truth where'er 'tis found, Among your friends, among your foes, — On Christian Or on heathen ground ; The plant's divine where'er it grows." W. H. POOLE. CONTENTS I. PAGE. Of Anger in General, 11 Definitions — Derivation of Word — Its Synonyms — Not a Sinful Passion — Anger to be rightly exer- cised — Against What — Not the Same as Wrath and Strife — Envy, Hatred, and Malice — How dis- tinguished from Anger. II. Nature of Anger, 23 Human Depravity — A Wrecked Vessel — Man made in God's Image — Will-mastery — Arnot quoted — Bishop Taylor— T. Adams— Dr. Watts— Ungov- erned Anger— What Evils it works. III. Causes of Anger, 30 Natural Temperament — Fury shown in the Face — Effects of the Passion — Inordinate Self-esteem — Haman and Mordecai — Pride — Ignorance — Weak- 6 CONTENTS. PAGE. ness of Mind — Nabal — Julius Caesar— Plato— Dis- cretion — Carelessness and Inattention — Madness — Disease or Death from Fits of Anger — Cumber- land — Bishop Hall — Archbishop Seeker — Cov- etousness— King Ahab— A Choleric Temper — Cowper. IV. Objects and Limits of Anger, 49 At what may we be Angry ? 1. At Our Own Sins — 2. With the Vices and Follies of Others— 3. Vi- cious Practices and Improprieties in the House of God — 4. Moral Disorders, Disobedience, and Disrespect often manifest in our own Families — But Anger must have its Limits. Restrictions op Anger, 58 1. It must be Impartial — 2. It must be attended with Tender Sympathy and Love — Eeproofs and Admonitions must be Loving and Tender, though Plain and Faithful — 3. Admonitions must be ac- companied with Reason, Arguments, and En- deavors to Reform — Provocations — Edward III — 4. Anger must not continue — How Two Good Men acted — Pythagoras — Dr. Watts — How some Church Officers appeared to Certain Boys— For- giveness must follow Anger at an Offense. CONTENTS. 7 PAGE. VI. When is Angee Sinful ? 71 We Sin when we are Angry, 1. At the Providence of God— Caius Csesar — Jonah — Earthly Comforts of Short Duration — Example of Aaron — 2. At the Laws of God — 3. At the Doctrines and Teachings of the Gospel— 4. At the Good Qualities and Prosperity of Others — 5. At Reproof — 6. At Dif- ferences in Religious Convictions — Example of Jesus — Bigotry and Persecutions in the Church — Zeal without Piety — 7. When Anger prompts Us to wish or desire Any Thing Unlawful — Rage — *f 8. When Anger excites Us to render Evil for Evil — Paul's Words to the Church at Rome — Readiness to do Acts of Kindness — Counsels and Cautions — 9. When Our Anger unfits Us for Our Duties to God— Effects of Anger— Our Duty. VII. Cautions, 93 Anger destroys our Own Peace — Above Cloudland — Storms at Sea— Indulgence in Passion — Blocks up the Way to the Mercy-seat— Forgiveness re- quired—Destroys the Image of Christ in the Soul — Destroys the Spirit of Unity — Injustice of Religious Persecution— Anger exposes a Man to Danger — Meddling with Strife — Makes Work for Bitter Repentance — Stings of Remorse — Cain— 8 CONTENTS. PAGE. Jacob — Balaam — Astyages and Harpagus — Da- rius — Alexander — Nebuchadnezzar — Sulla — Admi- ral Byron. VIII. Cure, Ill Study the Importance of Our Own Tranquillity — Archdeacon Parker — McClintock and Strong's Cy- clopaedia — Command over Passion a Relief in Suffering — Bearing Provocation Indicative of Wis- dom — Plutarch — Dionysius — Plato — Dr. John- son — Form a Correct Estimate of Meekness and Patience — Hannah More quoted — In the Home Circle — Favoritism to be avoided — A Snappish Temper — Examples — Study Self-control — Arch- bishop Cranmer — James Bruce — The Emperor Sigismund — Anecdote of an Indian — Passion tends to Darken the Understanding — We must be Eeady to Forgive Those Who have injured Us— The Gos- pel Rule — Socrates — Oglethorpe — Story of Two Merchants — What is Forgiveness ? — Dr. Dwight — Learn to expect Injuries and Affronts — Secure by a Kind Disposition the Affection and Confi- dence of Others — Tenderly care for Others— Do not expose Wounds — Be humbled on Account of Your Own Follies, Failures, and Errors— Care- fully consider the Circumstances of Offenders — Passion a Fever — Avoid the Company and Fellow- ship of Passionate Persons — Matthew Henry — Let CONTENTS. Aged Persons guard against Angry, Fretful, and Irritable Feelings— Hopes of the Future— Cher- ish Good Humor and Christian Cheerfulness — Chiron — Pythagoras — Difference between Mirth and Cheerfulness — Addison — Be Earnest and Con- stant in Prayer — A Turkish Grandee in Hun- gary—Have a Constant Sense of the Indwelling Spirit — Love to God a Sovereign Kemedy — The Example of Jesus — Fury and Fretfulness both Inconsistent with Wisdom— Imitating the Lord. ANGER ITS NATURE, CAUSES, AN I. OK ANGKR IN GENERAL. "Of all bad things by which mankind are cursed, Their own bad tempers surely are the worst." — Cumberland. "Be ye angry, and sin notplet not the sun go down upon your wrath." — Ephesians iv, 26. Aristotle says: "Anger is a desire to dis- please those who are displeasing to us." Locke says : " Anger is an uneasiness of mind, or discom- posure of spirit, on the receipt of any injury, with a present purpose of revenge." Buck says : "Anger is a violent passion of the mind, arising from the receipt, or supposed receipt, of any injury, with a present purpose of revenge." Watson defines it "a resentful emotion of the mind on receipt of an injury, and strong dis- pleasure at the evil doer;" and Webster, "A strong passion or emotion of the mind, excited by a real or supposed injury, with an intent to injure one's self or others." Worcester further V ANGER. defines it, "Discomposure of mind, excited by- real or supposed injury." "Anger," says Farrar, "is the emotion of instant displeasure, which arises from the feeling of injury, or the discovery of injury intended; or, in many cases, from the discovery of the omission of good offices to which we supposed ourselves entitled. Or, it is simply the emotion of displeasure itself, independent of its cause, or its consequences." The word "anger" comes from the Latin " angor" vexation, and " ango" to vex, which is a compound of an against, and ago to act. It means to act against ; hence, the displeasure. Choler comes from the Greek cholera, from ehole, bile, because the overflowing of the bile is often the cause and the consequence of choler. Rage comes from the Hebrew ragaz or rogez, to trem- ble, or shake with violent anger, as many per- sons do. Fury, in French furie, Latin furor, comes from fero, to carry away, because one is carried away, or controlled by the emotion when it becomes furious. These words have different shades of meaning. Choler expresses something more sudden and virulent than anger; rage is a vehement ebullition of anger; and fury is an ex- cess of rage. Anger may be so stifled as not to discover itself by any outward symptoms; choler is discoverable by the paleness of the visage ; rage ANGER. 13 breaks forth into extravagant expressions and violent distortions; fury takes away the power of self-control, or the use of the understanding, and leaves the man like the fierce tornado, the unbridled steed, or the helmless ship in a storm. The maxim which Periander of Corinth, one of the seven sages of Greece, left as a memorial of his knowledge and benevolence, was cholei kratei, " Be master of thine anger." Choler is a malady too physical to be always corrected by reflec- tion. Rage and fury are distempers of the soul, which nothing but religion and the grace of God can cure. The word anger, in the text quoted, comes from the Greek orge, hence orgizomai, " anger, ire, indignation." It occurs five times in the New Testament: "Whosoever is angry with his brother;" "The master of the house being an- gry." And he was angry, and would not go in." " The nations were angry." " Be ye angry* and sin not." Anger is an affection inherent in our nature. It is, therefore, not wrong in itself. It is not an evil per se. It is wrong only when it is directed to wrong objects or to right objects in a wrong way, or with a wrong spirit, or to a wrong de- gree of amount and duration. Anger, in itself, is as holy a passion as love. Indeed, in its legiti- 14 ANGER. mate form, it is but a development of love — love indignant with that which is opposed to the cause of truth and honor and happiness. In its place, and controlled by meekness and wisdom, it is an innocent and useful emotion. The man was formed to be angry, as well as to love. Both are original gifts and susceptibilities of our nature, and both were given to man by his Creator. The mettle of the young and vig- orous steed is not only harmless, but in the high- est sense most serviceable ; without it the animal would be of little worth. So it may be said of man. He was made to be angry. There are times when he ought to be angry, and if he be a good man, he must be, but his emotion must be under powerful control. As the steed with bit and bridle, as the swift ship is controlled by the helm, and as the engineer controls the steam in the steam-chest, so must the man restrain with true meekness and matured grace the passions and emotions of his nature. We must not allow finger to>be our master, it must always, and upon / all occasions, be our most humble and obedient servant. It should never be allowed to make its appearance except on proper occasions, and always under strict discipline and control. We must not condemn every kind and every degree of anger ; the passion or emotion simply and-in its own ANGER. 15 nature is necessary, and is to be highly com- mended. It was among the original gifts to man from his Creator, and was, among others, pro- nounced to be very good. Coming from God, and planted in us, it is, in itself, an innocent passion, allowable on suitable occasions, and to be exercised at proper times, and always in a becom- ing manner. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who has left us an example that we should follow in his footsteps, was, when on earth, sometimes angry. Mark iii, 5 : " And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand." Dr. Whedon says, in his note on this verse, "Before proceeding to the performance of the miracle he makes a full pause as they stand in silent circle before him. They are fixed in obdu- rate silence of hatred. For one moment the Sa- vior is a judge. There is one glance of that eye which, iu^he final day, will rive his adversaries." Some have wondered that the Lord 'Should bV angry. But justice has its rightful wrath for^ guilt. Right is terribly hostile to wrong. God is angry with the wicked every day, and so the pure and holy Spirit of God may be grieved, ve^ed, made angry, and caused to de- part. Here is anger without sin ; anger in one 16 ANGER. who knew no sin, and in whose Spirit was found no guile. This anger, indeed, was a virtue. Their hard- ness of heart called for this holy resentment. Such conduct as theirs, to one so undeserving, could not be looked upon without indignation. Coolness and indifference here would be out of place. When anger, hatred, wrath, or fury are ascribed to God, we must not understand a hasty, tumul- tuous passion ; these terms indicate his holy and just displeasure with sin and sinners. His anger is a holy emotion arising from fixed prin- ciples, springing out of his holy and just nature, and is, therefore, calm, steady, and uniform. In this way we should show anger. Anger against what? Against sin, as sin; wrong doing, as wrong in itself. True repentance generates a deadly hatred to evil in all its forms, because it is evil ; not because of its penal consequences, but because it is a thing which God hates. This is holy anger. I have but little faith in the moral excellency of those persons who can not go into flames of indignation whenever the wrong ap- pears in the ascendant. There is a time to hate, as well as a thing to hate. There is no good man and true who is not a hater. Johnson, the great moralist, professed, right ANGER. 17 honestly, he liked an "honest hater." St. Paul says: "Who is offended and I burn not?" The stronger a man's love for the right, the more tre- mendous his anger against the wrong. Strong love for the thing loved necessitates strong hate for the thing hated. Dante, who loved well be- cause he hated, hated wickedness because he loved goodness. When a repentant soul muses, not only on the sins of others, but on his own past sins, the fires of indignation kindle into a blaze. The man who has not indignation against sin needs truly to repent. David was a strong hater. Hear him: "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred ; I count them mine enemies." " I hate vain thoughts." " I hate and abhor lying." If we ourselves were perfectly free from sin, and were surrounded only by creatures entirely innocent, there might not be occasion for the ex- ercise of anger. But we live in a world where fhiquity abounds, where the sacred name of God is blasphemed, his holy day set at naught, his house neglected or desecrated, his ordinances de- spised, where oppression and injustice are every day practiced; and with us there are many occa- sions for a righteous indignation and for a holy resentment. " It is good to be zealously affected 2 18 ANGER. always in a good thing." Our heavenly Father implanted in our natures the irascible passions that we might reprove and rebuke the wrong doer, and contend earnestly for the right way. That passive tameness of spirit which allows the transgressor to trample on all law, human and divine, and go unreproved and unpunished, is very far from promoting the honor of God or the happiness of man. We read of " the divine displeasures," " the anger of the Almighty," " the fury of his wrath," " the fierceness of his wrath," " the power of his anger," " the fury of the Lord coming up in his face." That which pleases the Lord should please me, and that which displeases him should displease me. Our natures are so depraved and disordered by sin, that in this, as in other things, the good and the pure and the right are often perverted; and, instead of exercising our emo- tions and passions unto godliness and good works, we indulge, to our own hurt, in the anger that is sinful and the temper that is mischievous — we exhibit it on trivial occasions, or on inadequate provocations. When it becomes rash and re- vengeful, or it is kindled into hatred, malice, and bitterness of feeling, it is an unmixed evil. To consider violent anger as only a mere in- firmity incident to human nature, is to form ANGER. 19 wrong conceptions of it. We must remember that wrath and strife are as expressly enumerated among the works of the flesh, as uncleanness, mur- der, or drunkenness; and although not punishable in civil law, they are offensive to God, hurtful to ourselves, to our fellow-Christians, and to the Church of God. We use the term, "passions," in its most com- prehensive sense, as including all the emotions, whether good or evil. To regulate the good and extirpate the evil is an imperative duty of all. Many of the passions may be summed up in these two — love and hatred. Love is the happy pas- sion, and contributes very largely to the sum of human happiness. Desire, hope, joy, are only developments or modifications of love. Desire, which must be included among the passions, is nothing more than love going out after its object. The only difference between love and desire is that which exists between a man when he is, sit- ting and when he is walking. He is the same person, only in a different attitude. Desire is love traveling towards the object of its affection. Hope is another modification of love. It is love out on the watch-tower, casting a glance onward, f and anticipating the realization of its desire. Joy is another modification of love. It is love rejoic-'* ing in the possession of the object. Hatred is a 20 ANGER. passion that stands opposed to love, and develops itself in anger, resentment, retaliation, envy, re- venge, and lust of power. Every passion and sentiment of the mind has particular parts of the body in correspondence with it, and these are always more or less affected by it. Hatred, scorn, love, suspicion, confidence, admiration, and every other passion of the mind, have particular nerves and muscles in sympathy with them, and affect the features in a particular manner; so that in remote villages and in those countries where the emotions of the heart are not attempted to be concealed or disguised, it is an easy matter to know the state of men's mind by looking in their faces. But in more artificial so- cieties, in great cities, and in courts, where many are struggling for the same object, where there is an everlasting jarring of interest, where men are anxious to conceal their designs and wishes, and dare not avow the real motives of their actions, it is difficult to judge of the feelings of the heart by what appears in the countenance. Yet in the midst of all this affectation and disguise, men of experience and penetration will often see real joy through artificial tears, genuine sadness in as- sumed gayety, and inveterate hatred lurking un- der all the officious smiling display of kindness. Art can not long carry on a successful war with ANGER. 21 nature; men can not be on their guard, or keep their features in everlasting constraint; the gen- uine passion will occasionally show itself in the countenance by the sympathizing muscles. The hypocrite is that instant detected, and all his sub- sequent grimaces are in vain. On the other hand, the true Christian, who has loved kindness and cultivated the principle of broad benevolence un- til it has become to him a delightful and spon- taneous instinct, constantly exhibits his love for God and for all goodness. There is great propriety in grouping envy, hatred, and malice as a trinity of evil. They often dwell in the same person, producing where- ever found "lamentation, and mourning, and Avoe." Envy itself is defined to be " pain felt, and ma- lignity conceived, at the sight of excellence or happiness in others." When envy grows and matures it brings forth hatred; and hatred, when it is finished, brings forth malice. We have a striking example of this union of evil and its maturity in the conduct of Joseph's brethren towards him. First they envied him, probably on account of his superiority or excellence; then they hated him, in consequence of the partiality of Jacob, their father ; and finally, in their malice, they sold him for a slave. A still more striking example occurs in the 22 ANGER. conduct of the Jews to Jesus, in whom all excel- lence met, when, for envy, they delivered him into the hands of the Romans; they envied him for the beauty and splendor of that holiness that shone so clearly around his life. In their full- grown hatred they said, " He hath a devil ;" and in their blood-thirsty malice they cried out, u Cru- cify him, crucify him." " If envy, hatred, malice, reigns, And binds my soul with slavish chains, O Lord, thy heavenly love impart, And drive the demon from my heart." The suppression of anger, therefore, must be highly conducive to the comfort and happiness of personal and home life, the honor of our holy religion, the glory of God, and the welfare of all classes of community. With a view to the sup- pression and removal of this great evil, we pro- ceed to examine the nature, sources, causes, con- sequences, and cure of anger. NATURE. 23 II. naxurk ok Anger. The irregularity of all our passions and emo- tions, of our loves and hates, our desires and de- lights, originates in the depravity of our nature. In the moral as well as in the physical world we may plainly see the indications of that wreck and ruin which has shattered and destroyed the work- manship of the great architect of all things. Out on the hidden reef on a dark and stormy night a vessel is wrecked. We saw her when her lights went out. "We may not, as yet, know its name, or cargo, or its destiny. There are coming in to the beach, on the surf, among the breakers, broken fragments of the vessel. Already we have seen enough all along the shore to convince us that a ship of great beauty and fine finish has disappeared under the wave. The ivy covered ruin shows how grand a palace once occupied the site, long since deserted. So that human wreck, the wreck and ruin of mind and heart, of intellect and morals, of fine form and manly bearing, shows the grandeur of the man when he came forth, richly endowed, from the hands of the great master Builder. The 24 ANGER. sin of Eden thrills still in human hearts and human intellects. The understanding is still darkened, the judgment still perverted, the will still perverse and stubborn, the affections alien- ated and debased, the passions sensualized and uncontrolled, and disorder reigning supreme. There are anger, hatred, wrath, envy, debate, de- ceit, strife, murder. The vices and follies of mankind break forth in a thousand forms, and their fiery passions hurry men on to wretched- ness and ruin. And yet, among all this general demoralization, we see enough of the beautiful and the good to assure us that before man "sought out many inventions " and followed them, he was pure and good, made in the image of God. Amid this general wreck there remain traces which speak his creator, God. Man has not lost all his original perfection and beauty. The dark cloud surrounding him has in it some faint rays to break the terrible gloom, some bright and silvery linings to indicate his ancient splendor. The disorders which reign within him, and the outbursting passions and storms which appear in his outward deportment, arise from an inherited depravity, as the streams which issue from an impure fountain. To this general source we must trace all sinful anger, in all its forms, and in all its developments. NATURE. 25 We say of a man who has no will-mastery, that he is ruled by his passions ; they govern him, not he them. Centuries ago an Arab wrote : " Passion is a tyrant which slays those whom it governs." It kindles like a fire, and when once thoroughly kindled, can scarcely be quenched ; or like the torrent which, when it is swollen, can no longer be restrained within its banks. Call him not a prisoner who has been put in chains by his enemy, but rather call him a prisoner and a slave whose own passions overpower him and destroy him. " Sometimes in our latitudes," says Arnot, "vapors rising from the ground, and floating in our atmosphere, change the white brightness of the sun into a yellow or fiery red. A shade that seems to take the mirth out of man and beast then lies upon the earth. Thus passions, issuing like mist from the soul itself, darken the face of God, hiding his tenderness, and permitting only anger to glance through." Bishop Taylor says: "Anger sets the house on fire, and all the spirits are busy upon trouble, and intend propulsion and defense, displeasure and revenge; it is a short madness, and an eter- nal enemy to discourse, and sober counsels, and fair conversation ; it is a fever in the heart, and a calenture in the head, and a fire in the face, and 26 ANGER. a sword in the hand, and a fury all over. It has in it the trouble of sorrow, and the heats of lust, and the disease of revenge, and the bodings of a fever, and the rashness of precipitancy, and the disturbance of persecution. If it proceed from a great cause, it turns to fury ; if from a small cause, it is peevishness; and so it is always ter- rible and ridiculous. It makes a man's body deformed and contemptible. The voice horrid, the eyes cruel, the face pale or fiery, the gait fierce. It is neither manly nor ingenuous, and is a passion fitter for flies and wasps than for per- sons professing nobleness and goodness. It is a confluence of all the irregular passions. There is in it envy and scorn, fear and sorrow, pride and prejudice, rashness and inconsideration, rejoicing in evil, and a desire to inflict it." T. Adams says : " The angry man is compared to a ship sent into the sea which hath the devil for its pilot. The anger of mortal man should be mortal like himself. But we say of many, as Va- lerius Maximus of Sylla, it is a question whether they or their anger die first; or whether death prevents them both together. If you look into this troubled sea of anger, and desire to see the image of a man, behold you find fiery eyes, a faltering tongue, gnashing teeth, a heart boiling in brine, and drying up the moisture of the flesh, NATURE. 27 till there be scarce any part left of his right composition." Dr. Watts thus speaks : " To be angry about trifles is mean and childish; to rage and be fu- rious is brutish ; and to maintain perpetual wrath is akin to the practice and temper of devils ; but to prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine." The intoxication of anger, like that of the wine-cup, shows us to others, but hides us from ourselves; and we always injure our own cause in the opinion of the world when we too passion- ately and eagerly defend it. Neither will men be disposed to view our quarrels precisely in the light we do; and a man's blindness to his own defects will even increase in proportion as he is angry with others, or pleased with himself. To be angry is to revenge the fault of others upon ourselves. Ungoverned anger is a fruitful source of mis- chief to human life and happiness. Many of the scenes of public calamity and private distress which come to us in our daily press of business, and fill us with astonishment and horror, have their origin in unbridled passion and uncontrolled tempers, which have grown so turbulent as "to kindle at the shadow of a wrong." It is this that mingles the poisoned chalice, sharpens the 28 ANGER. assassin's dagger, purchases, loads, and fires the murderous pistol, bringing sorrow, lamentation, and woe upon nations, communities, and families. This, through successive ages of the world's his- tory, has furnished ample materials for the poet's tragic muse and the orator's pathetic declamation. The stupid, blundering rage of one king, president, cardinal, or counselor has often em- broiled nations, otherwise loving and peaceful, in war and bloodshed. The anger of bishops and priests has deluged the Church of God in blood, even the blood of those "of whom the world was not worthy." Detestable bigotry, cruel igno- rance and superstition, and unhallowed anger have made sad havoc in the fold of Christ. Nothing can be more remote from the genius of the Gos- pel of peace, from the nature of true religion, or from the precepts and example of him who is the Prince of peace, whose nature is love, and whose first and great command is, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself;" and who has left us an example of meekness and charity such as the world never saw before. The miseries and mischiefs occasioned by lawless anger in the Church, in private associations, and in the domestic circle, are without end. How true it is, that " where envying and strife are NATURE. 29 there is confusion and every evil work." Anger, peevishness, wrath, rage, and implacable resent- ment can never be vindicated ; they are so hateful in themselves and so destructive in their nature and so mischievous in their effects, that they can never admit of a defense ; every wise man con- demns them. " Wrath is cruel and anger is out- rageous ; and who can stand before envy f" "The ocean lashed to fury loud, Its high waves mingling with the cloud, Is peaceful, sweet serenity, To anger's dark and troubled sea." — Eastbukne. 30 ANGER. III. CAUSES OK ANGER. Before the skillful physician will undertake to prescribe for the patient, he will first carefully and critically diagnose or examine the case. He will investigate as to the location of the trouble and its primal cause. May we not wisely follow his example? A leading cause for the existence of anger, I think we may safely affirm, is the natural temper- ament we inherit from our ancestors. There are some persons of temperament so cold, so dull, and phlegmatic, that it requires almost an appli- cation of gunpowder or nitro-glycerine to rouse them to action and quicken their sensibilities. Others come into this world with a sanguine, nervous temperament — they are generally hot- blooded or hot-headed. We see this very clearly in the animal kingdom, the dull, crocky, heavy, and the lively, sprightly, fiery animal. The passions are powers in man which are partly be- longing to the body and partly to the mind. The temperament of the body has a great influ- ence in disposing us to irascibility, or to gentle- ness and meekness. Since the passions are not CAUSES. 31 merely or entirely operations of the mind, but of the mental exertions in unison with the flow of animal spirits and the commotions of the animal nature, the differences in the physical and mental structure are very marked, especially in disturb- ances of mind or of body. When, for instance, we see an object that pro- vokes our resentment, we not only feel a certain impression of mind, but also a certain commotion in our bodies. We may not be able clearly to explain the connection of mind and body, or how the commotion is carried on in our bodies, but we know that the animal spirits are agitated, the blood is greatly accelerated in its motion. The effects of the agitation becoT.e very apparent to those around us, even though we may try to con- ceal it. Our eyes, eyebrowSj^iostrils, temples, cheeks, all betray us on this occasion. When Jehovah speaks of the fall of the enemies of Is- rael, in the latter days, upon the mountains of Israel, he says, speaking after the manner of men, the "fury shall come up in my face." (Ezekiel xxxviii, 18.) It is an interesting query how the blood, the seat of life, is under the empire and control of moral impressions. That it is so is obvious, as the innocent blush, the fiery glance, the scowl of anger clearly indicate. It is very evident that our natural constitutions are very 32 • ANGER. different. Certain habits of body more dispose to irritability of temper than others. Some are more fiery in their nature; they kindle into a flame almost by a kind of spontaneous combus- tion; are angry at the children, the servants, the horses, their tools or implements, sometimes at the weather, the sun or moon ; or as Jonah, who was angry at the worm, at the wind, the sun, the gourd. The writer once saw a man in a fit of anger furiously kicking his own gate. The great- est commotions often originate in the smallest matters, for these most readily interest little minds. An angry man, when he returns to reason, is angry at himself. Swift says, " Our passions are like convulsive fits, which make us stronger for the time, but leave us weaker forever after." Henry says, " When passion is on the throne, reason is out of doors." One fretful, angry, peevish disposition disturbs the peace of a whole family. Of all hateful characteristics there is none so odious and ridic- ulous as a selfish and angry temper in a worth- less man. He who shows his passions tells his enemy where to hit him. Angry men have gen- erally good memories. "The wildest ills that darken life, Are rapture to the bosom's strife; The tempest, in its blackest form, Is beauty to the bosom's storm ; CAUSES. 33 The ocean, lashed to fury loud, Its high wave mingling with the cloud, Is peaceful, sweet serenity, To anger's dark and stormy sea." J. W. Eastburne. A fruitful cause of auger is an inordinate and unreasonable self-esteem. It is often called pride, is sometimes confounded with vanity and some- times with dignity. Pride is the high opinion that a poor, little, contracted soul entertains of itself; while dignity consists in just, great, and uniform actions, and is always the opposite of mean- ness. Pride is manifested by praising ourselves, adorning our persons, attempting to appear before others in a superior light to what we are, con- tempt and depreciation of others, envy at the excellencies of others, anxiety to gain applause, impatience of contradiction, and it is the parent of anger. A contentious spirit is usually a proud one; and only by pride cometh contention. It is pride that makes men angry and passionate. Collier says: "Pride is so unsociable a vice, and does all things with so ill a grace, that there is no closing with it. A proud man will be sure to challenge more than belongs to him ; you must expect him stiff in conversation, fulsome in com- mending himself, and bitter in his reproofs." Col- ton says : " Pride either finds a desert or makes one; submission can not tame its ferocity nor 3 34 ANGER. satisfy its voracity, and it requires very costly food — its keeper's happiness." In society pride is essentially exacting, insolent, heartless, de- tracting. "Pride, of all others the most dangerous fault, Proceeds from want of sense or want of thought. The men who labor and digest things most, Will be much apter to despond than boast ; For if your author be profoundly good, 'Twill cost you dear before he's understood." Pride adorns itself with moral corruption, and limps and lisps with affected grace, demanding far too much of us. We can not pay the price. We could not if we would, and we would not if we could. We have a remarkable illustration of this in the anger and rage of Haman (Esther v, 13) : "Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai, the Jew, sitting at the king's gate." He had honors, and dignities, and wealth, and place, and power, the smiles of royalty, and the applause of the people, but Mordecai had been able to retain a treasure which few courtiers pos- sessed — a whole conscience — and he could not, in his conscience, pay an idolatrous obeisance to any human being. Haman was so full of haughtiness and self-esteem that he became quite enraged, filled with indignation. His anger arose to white heat. He breathed nothing but revenge. The CAUSES. 35 life of the offender and the lives of his family would not suffice to cool his boiling wrath. A gallows, one hundred feet high, must be prepared immediately for the man who dares to keep an independent conscience. The vast sum of ten thousand talents of silver is offered for the king's private treasury, if he will only sign a decree to destroy a whole nation, to cool Haman's anger and quiet his vengeful wrath. Such torment of soul did his envy and malice bring upon him. What is the cause of this great anger? Let us inquire. The answer is, It is pride ; " Only by pride cometh contention." "In the mouth of the wicked is the rod of pride." Pride keeps men in continual vexation, while the meek and humble possess their souls in peace and pros- perity. The proud man's character is so odious that people often take pleasure in vexing him, and he has such a lofty opinion of himself that he often imagines he is intentionally insulted when no one ever thought of such a thing; and he considers things an insult to him of which a more sensible man would take no notice. He often thinks that he is not respected by his equals and his dependents as he ought to be ; hence his life is full of disquietude and distraction. Angry, resentful, malevolent passions torment his soul, rob him of repose, and haunt him like specters. 36 ANGER. " Tis all in vain, this rage that tears thy bosom; Like a poor bird that nutters in its cage, Thou beatest thyself to death." How true the words of wisdom, " It is better to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud!" It is pride that fills the world with so much animosity. In the superabundance of self-esteem we forget what we are. We claim attentions to which we are by no means entitled, and we are rigorous to offenses, as if we ourselves had never offended. If our pride were subdued, cut down, and plucked up by the roots, passion would quickly subside. Humility and meekness would take its place, and love and peace would prevail instead of war and anger. It is difficult for a haughty man to forgive one who has caught him in a fault; his resentment will hardly cool till he has, in some way, regained the advantage he lost, and by some means pro- voked the other to do him equal wrong. He hates the man he has once offended, and he nurses his wrath and keeps it warm. To be angry is to revenge the fault of others upon oui.elves. There is an old proverb, "That anger is'like ashes, which fly back in the face of him who throws them." Dr. Arnold, when at Lale- ham, once lost all patience with a dull scholar, when the pupil looked up in his face and said, CAUSES. 37 "Why do you speak angrily, sir? Indeed, I am doing the best I can." Years after he used to tell the story to his children, and say, "I never felt so ashamed of myself in my life. That look and that speech I have never forgotten." Ignorance is very often the cause of sinful anger, as it is always, more or less, the founda- tion of pride. A weak mind is easily kindled into resentment, and a fool's wrath is presently known ; it rises and flames on the slightest provo- cation, it flashes in his countenance like light- ning, and breaks out in boisterous language and unbecoming expressions that betray great weak- ness and folly. A prudent man covereth shame by suppressing his resentment, controlling his temper, maintaining possession of himself, and keeping his wrath as with a bit and bridle. The man of ungoverned temper, of uncontrolled anger, informs every one with whom he comes in con- tact that he is a weak, foolish, ignorant man. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. Solo- mon gives this necessary caution : "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry ; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools." It has its quiet and settled abode in that bosom. It is the constant com- panion, is on hand on all occasions. "He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly ; and a man of wicked devices is hated." His passion hurries 38 ANGER. him away into many rash and foolish words and deeds. " The fool rageth," becomes unmanage- able. His whole nature is thrown into a raging flame of passion. Advice, cautions, and reproofs fall upon his soul as sparks of fire on combusti- ble material. " Make no friendship with an angry man ; and with a furious man thou shalt not go " in company frequently, nor converse with him familiarly as friends do, " lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul." " The discretion of a man deferreth his anger ; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. " That is something more than postponing its avengement, it is checking it. It is blowing out of existence its first sparks, it is crushing it in its very germ. This is his glory. It is a splendid conquest. The wise man is liable to passion ; he has the same nature and temperament as the ig- norant and foolish man, and circumstances in life often occur to evoke it. It rushes up within him, and its instinct is revenge, but he forbears. In- stead of acting under its impulse he waits until its fires cool. It is said of Julius Caesar, that w T hen provoked he used to repeat the whole Ro- man alphabet before he suffered himself to speak ; and Plato once said to his servant, " I would beat thee now, only I am angry." It is a noble sight to see a man holding a calm mastery over the CAUSES. 39 surging billows of his own passions, bidding them go so far and no farther. A discreet man is disposed to be cautious in giving ear to false accusers and" slanderers. He knows that they are Satan's instruments. He will be likely to prevent all angry feeling until he has fully examined all the circumstances of what, at first sight, appears to be a provocation. He will examine all the circumstances in a clear light, and weigh them in a just and even balance. The storm and noise of some men clearly indi- cate a consciousness of the narrowness of their own understandings. They feel their ignorance and insufficiency, and appear determined to gain by their clamors that attention and regard of which they know themselves to be underserving. They make up in noise and bluster what they lack in sense and intelligence. How the em- ployes and domestics of such men are to be pitied! In their hearts they must despise those empty bawlings and angry blusterings. Seneca says truly : " This passion indicates great weak- ness." Pythagoras says: "Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance." "Thou must chain thy passions down; Well to serve, but ill to sway, Like the fire they must obey. They are good, in subject state, To strengthen, warm, and animate ; 40 ANGER. But if once we let them reign, They sweep with desolating train, Till they but leave a hated name, A ruined soul, and blackened fame." — E. Cook. Carelessness and inattention to the state of our own hearts is a prolific source of angry passions and sinful tempers. "Take heed to thy spirit" is a command from God to his people. And again : " Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently." (Deuteronomy iv, 9.) "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." (Proverbs iv, 23.) Every thing depends upon the state of the heart. Jesus said : "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, mur- ders," etc. "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." If the heart as a fountain be not kept pure, all the streams of life will be poisoned. If the heart as a garden be not kept well culti- vated, the whole sphere of life will be overrun with the thorns and weeds of anger and pride. If the heart as a fortress be not kept securely guarded, the enemy will come in and blow up the magazine. The motions and tendencies of the inner man should be kept carefully and con- stantly guarded. Our lives will be regular or irregular, consistent and happy, comfortable, or otherwise, according as we guard our tempers and passions or neglect them. It is not enough that CAUSES. 41 we guard our eyes, our ears, our tongues, our hands, or our feet; the heart must be carefully guarded and kept with all diligence. Anger is such a headstrong and impetuous passion, that the ancients called it madness ; and, indeed, there is but little difference between an angry man and a madman while the fit continues, because both are void of reason, and blind to the state of their own heart. A spark may set a town on fire. One fit of anger may give you cause to mourn all the days of your life. Quench the first rising of the fire. Socrates watched his heart so closely, that when he found in himself any tendency or disposition to anger he would check himself by speaking low, in direct opposi- tion to the motions of his kindling displeasure. If you are conscious of warmth of temper keep your mouth shut, for words fan the flame and increase the mischief. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. Many a person has dropped dead in a rage. " Whom the gods destroy they first make mad," and the ex- ample is often followed now, for, by making your opponent in argument angry, you can all the more easily demolish him. Dr. Fuller used to say that "the heat of passion makes our souls to crack, and the devil creeps in at the crev- ices." Anger is a passion the most criminal 42 ANGER. and destructive of all the passions; the only- one that not only bears the appearance of in- sanity, but often produces the wildest form of madness. It is difficult, indeed, sometimes to mark the line that distinguishes the bursts of rage from the bursts of frenzy, so similar are its move- ments, and too often equally similar are its actions. What crime has not been committed in the paroxysms of anger? The friend has been murdered by his friend, the child massacred by the parent, the Creator blasphemed by the crea- ture. Anger is a storm of the human mind which wrecks all our better affections, drowns rea- son and conscience, and, as a ship is driven with- out helm or compass before the rushing gale, the mind is borne away without guide or government by the tempest of unbounded rage. One angry word sometimes raises a storm that time can not allay. Cumberland says: "The passions may be hu- mored till they become our master, as a horse may be pampered till he gets the better of his rider; but early discipline will prevent mutiny, and keep the helm in the hands of reason." Bishop Hall says : " The proud man hath no God ; the envious man hath no neighbor ; the angry man hath not himself. What can he have CAUSES. 43 that wants himself? What is he better that has himself, and wants all others ? What is he better that has himself and others, and yet wants God ? What good is there, then, in being a man, if he be wrathful, proud, or envious?" "How many there are who check passion with passion, and are very angry in reproving anger! Such a reproof of vice is a vice to be reproved." (Seeker.) "As polished steel receives a stain From drops at random flung, So does the child when words profane Drop from a parent's tongue ; The rust eats in, and oft we find That naught which we can do, To cleanse the metal or the mind, The brightness will renew." Another cause of anger is eovetousness. Men often, when crossed in their designs, frustrated in their purposes, blasted in their hopes, or disap- pointed in their wishes, sink into fretful ness and impatience. Take an example. King Ahab had all the honor, power, and profit that a whole kingdom could bestow. He had the undiputed possession of a throne and kingdom. Much would have more ; the covetous man is like the grave, which never says, " It is enough." Inor- dinate desire for wealth is never satisfied ; so Ahab coveted the little garden spot of his neigh- 44 ANGER. bor. Naboth, being a Hebrew, and under the laws of that nation, could not alienate from his heirs and successors that little plot of ground, so he refused the unreasonable demand of the king. Ahab, who had little thought of the divine law, and perhaps less of the rights of his subjects, came into the palace so sad and sore displeased that he could not enjoy the thousands of good things around him, but threw himself upon the bed in a rage, and turned his face away and re- fused to eat. Poor, petulant, passionate Ahab grew sick with vexation; he pined away under the hot fever of resentment, and breathed only revenge and slaughter. In his anger he slew a man, in his self-will he digged through a wall and took possession of an innocent man's estate. His covetousness overcame his honor and his honesty, and pierced him through with many sorrows. "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house" with impatience and fretfulness, when he can not obtain what his soul lusteth after, or when he loses what he had already gained. He troubles his own house by niggardly provision for the necessities of his family, fretting at every outlay, grudging every comfort, disturbing the peace of the family by his miserable temper and his irritability, anxiety, and angry passions. CA USES. 45 Angry and irritable men are as ungrateful and unsociable as thunder and lightning, being in themselves all storms and tempests, while quiet and good tempered natures are like fair weather, welcome to all, and acceptable to all men; they gather together all whom the other incenses; as they have the good will and good wishes of all their neighbors, so they have the full possession of themselves, and in patience and quietness possess their souls. But how with the angry man who is greedy of gain ? Who thinks well of an ill-natured, churlish man, who has to be always approached in the most guarded and cau- tious way ? Who desires him as a neighbor or a partner in business? He keeps all about him in nearly the same state of mind as if they were living next door to a hornets' nest or to a rabid animal. Bad money can not circulate through the veins and arteries of trade. It is a great pity that bad blood can circulate through the veins and arteries of the human frame. Lamentation is the only musician that always, like a screech-owl, alights and sits on the roof of an angry man. Anger has been well com- pared to a ruin which, in falling upon its vic- tims, breaks itself to pieces. ' It is a very dan- gerous thing to have such neighbors, for we could sit more safely on the horns of a bull than 46 ANGER. to live in quietness with such characters. We, therefore, should form no friendship with a per- son of a wrathful temper, and go no further than is needful with a man of a fiery and unrestrained spirit. Solomon said: "He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly." It requires a man of great understanding rightly to control and regulate the stormy and choleric temper. It is so com- bustible that the tiniest spark of temptation will set it in flames; but our great Creator has given us an understanding to control and use our passions. As a rule, the force of intellect in a man is always equal to his impulses. Where there are mighty impulses, there is powerful understanding equal to those impulses. Such a man can be calm in the storm or "slow to wrath." Temper is a kind of inner atmosphere in which man breathes and lives and works. This atmosphere has great varieties of temperature, from zero to blood heat, and great changes of weather too — serene and stormy, cloudy and sunny. This temper, however, unlike the outward atmosphere, is controllable by man. He can regulate his temperatures and his atmosphere, and it will well repay him to do it. Our greatest victories are victories over tem- per. It endows a man's life with a kind of roy- CAUSES. 47 alty before which meaner spirits bow. " He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty ; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." To conquer self is a most righteous war. His spirit is his own domain. It is the Canaan God has given him to conquer and to rule. He must drive out the Canaanites before he can truly enjoy the land. "The command of one's self," says Drexilius, "is the greatest empire a man can aspire into, and, consequently, to be sub- ject to our passions is the most grievous slavery. Neither is there any triumph more glorious than that of the victory obtained over ourselves, where, w T hilst the conflict is so short, the reward shall ever last." Cowper has very graphically described an ungoverned temper: " Some fretful tempers wince at every touch, You always do too little or too much ; You speak with life, in hopes to entertain ; Your elevated voice goes through the brain ; You fall at once into a lower key — That's worse ! the drone pipe of a humble-bee ; The southern sash admits too strong a light — You rise and drop the curtain — now 'tis night; He shakes with cold — you stir the fire, and strive To make a blaze ; that 's roasting him alive. Serve him with venison, and he chooses fish ; With sole — that's just the sort he did not wish. He takes what he at first professed to loathe, And in due time feeds heartily on both ; 48 v ANGER. Yet still o'erclouded with a constant frown, He does not swallow, but he gulps it down. Your hope to please him vain on every plan, Himself should work that wonder if he can ! Alas! his efforts double his distress; He likes you little, and his own still less. Thus always teasing others, always teased, His only pleasure is — to be displeased." OBJECTS AND LIMITS. 49 IV. OBJECTS AND LIMITS. I have said that anger is an affection of our nature, and has its lawful objects and limits. The text is not a command, it is concession and a caution. We may be angry, but we must not sin. To be angry and not sin, we must be angry at nothing but sin. We are taught how we may exercise our emotions and passions un- der proper restraints, as occasion calls for their exercise. 1. We may be angry at our own sins. Indeed, we ought to be. It is most becoming that we should be. Every man who truly repents is grieved at his own folly ; and more or less angry at himself for having transgressed a holy law, and dishonored God. Thus Job xlii, 6, said: "I abhor," dislike, detest, and loathe " myself and repent." He was filled with indignation against himself on account of his sin. Thus the sons of Israel were grieved and angry with them- selves for having treated their brother and their father in the cruel and unnatural way they did. Their indignation was turned against themselves. "Thus/' the Psalmist said, "my heart was 50 ANGER. grieved, and I was pricked in my reins," deeply wounded with sorrow and anger at my sin. His mind was wounded and distressed. Seneca says : " Let a man consider his own vices, reflect upon his follies, and he will see that he has the greatest reason to be angry with himself." 2. We may lawfully be angry with the vices and follies of others. That meek and quiet spirit which is, in the sight of God of great price, is not a passive tameness of mind where all steadi- ness of principle is renounced, and where a sinful conformity to the world vitiates the whole char- acter. It is no part of Christianity to yield an unlimited compliance with the manners and habits of mankind. The true dignity of our manhood can not be maintained without a strong and stern determination against all wrong. The true purity of the Christian character can never be main- tained by an easy compliance with the maxims and tendencies of those around us. Nehemiah's anger was just and reasonable when he heard the Jews utter their impatient complaints. He says : " I was angry when I heard them cry." (Nehe- miah v, 6, 7.) He was too wise and too strong a man to be guilty of that rashness which be- trays men into the mischiefs of ungoverned pas- sion. He "consulted within himself" before he OBJECTS AND LIMITS. 51 publicly expressed his displeasure ; he took time for sober thought, and then he rebuked the nobles. Theophrastus said : " A good man must be displeased with the vices of the wicked." The meekness so frequently recommended in the Word of God is not a sinful easiness and indifference with respect to the abominations which are prac- ticed in our day. Where is our zeal for God if we be entirely calm and unmoved when we see his laws trampled under foot, his name dishon- ored; when innocency is injured, the widow and the orphan robbed ; the house of the Lord treated as if it were only a place of recreation or amuse- ment; the holy Sabbath despised and lightly esteemed? When a friend is ill treated or a be- loved brother or sister unjustly reproached, it would be criminal to sit in silence and show no concern. Where an innocent person is injured, the defenseless and helpless trampled upon or de- frauded, generosity and compassion call for some degree of indignation. Moses's anger was kin- dled when he saw the people given to idolatry. Lot's righteous soul was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. " I beheld the trans- gressors, and was grieved because they kept not thy law." (Psalm cxix, 158.) "Moses was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar." " Jesus looked 52 ANGER. round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." (Mark iii, 5.) One of the late Dr. Spencer's parishioners in Brooklyn, New York, met him hurriedly urging his way down the street one day ; his lip was set, and there was something strange in that gray eye of his. " How are you to-day, doctor ?" he said, pleasantly. He waked as from a dream, and replied, soberly, " I am mad !" It was a new word for a mild, true-hearted Christian ; but he waited, and with a deep, earnest voice went on, "I found a widow standing by her goods thrown in the street; she could not pay her month's rent, the landlord turned her out, and one of her children is going to die ; and that man is a mem- ber of the Church ! I told her to take her things back again. I am on my way to see him." Who will say that this anger was not commendable ? There is an anger that is always to be depre- cated and condemned ; it has death and destruc- tion in it ; it is the anger of selfishness and of covetousness. And there is an anger that is always commendable as majestic and holy as the anger of truth and love incarnated. If a man meets with tyranny and injustice he should be roused to in- dignation to defend the innocent and maintain the right. But he must not lay up any enmity OBJECTS AND LIMITS. 53 or harbor any grudge. The flame may not be sinful, but the coals are. Revenge is always cruel, mean, and sinful. " Some call it manhood," says Trapp, " but it is rather doghood." The more manly and noble a man is the more mild and and merciful he is. See the manly David taking the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's pillow, and refusing to hurt his most implacable enemy. Great men could not stoop to do a mean, revengeful act. Revenge hurts the offerer as well as the sufferer; as in the foolish bee, when in her anger she stings you, leaving her sting behind, and so is doomed ever after to be only a drone. 3. We ought to be angry with vicious prac- tices and improprieties in the house of God in con- nection with public worship. The place appointed for public worship has always been esteemed as sacred to the service and worship of Almighty God. Solomon said : " Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil." Moses was the meekest man of all that we read of; yet, where the honor of divine worship was concerned, none was more indignant and resolute than he. See his resentment at the golden calf, when in holy indig- nation because of the apostasy of a people so 54 ANGER. remarkably favored and distinguished by the Almighty, he deliberately broke the tables at the foot of the mount, threw the new-made deity into the fire, and stamped it into dust, ground it into powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel to drink of it. When Korah and his company presumptuously transgressed against the law and order of divine worship Moses was very wroth, and in holy dis- pleasure said unto the Lord, " Respect not thou their offering." When Jesus saw the holy house of prayer profaned, and made into a house of mer- chandise, a den of thieves, he, the loving Savior, who was meek and lowly in heart, corrected the abuse with holy resentment; and when he had made a scourge or whip of small cords he drove them out of the temple. The apostle Paul was a model of meekness, a pattern of gentleness ; he bore the greatest injuries and indignities with astonishing patience, both among heathens, Jews, and false brethren ; yet, in the government of the Church, when occasion required, he firmly and zealously used the rod of discipline. 4. We ought to be angry with the moral dis- orders, disobedience, and disrespect often manifest in our own families. To maintain and preserve due authority in the home circle, so as to pre- vent and suppress disobedience, disorder, negli- OBJECTS AND LIMITS. 55 gence and vice, without forfeiting our own peace of mind, and our personal respect is, perhaps, in our present condition, and under all circum- stances, as difficult a branch of duty as any assigned to us by Divine Providence. To train up our children in the way they should go, to have them in subjection with all gravity, to in- struct our households the way of the Lord, and command them to keep it, is clearly enjoined upon us, as heads of families, by the Sovereign of the universe. To put away all iniquity far from our tabernacles, to stir up the slothful and negligent, to rouse the inattentive, to restrain and correct the vicious and unruly, is absolutely necessary, this can not be done without manly resolution, Christian fortitude, constant circum- spection, great forbearance, and an unwavering love that can be angry and not sin. The censure passed upon Eli was very severe, and we fear that it might be said of many fathers in our times " His sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not." The wise and virtuous parent or master is armed with true firmness of soul. He knows that if his children and servants once conclude him to be incapable of resentment they will deny him that regard and obedience which is his due, and indulge themselves in many things which 56 ANGER. family discipline forbids. The great secret of family government lies in maintaining authority without moroseness, discipline without tyranny, and resentment and disapproval without sin- ful passion. The words of the royal Psalmist (Psa. ci) are so appropriate that I quote them ■ "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes; I hate the work of them that turn aside ; it shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me; 1 will not know a wicked person. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off; him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faith- ful of the land, that they may dwell with me ; he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house ; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight." No man is expected to live so free from pas- sion as not to show some resentment; indeed, I have said, that there are times and circumstances when he ought to show it; and it is stoical stu- pidity not to show it; but it must always be attended with and surrounded by such strong guards as to restrict it within proper bounds, OBJECTS AND LIMITS. 57 lest our anger should be displeasing to God, hurtful to ourselves, and injurious to our fellow- creatures. Happy is he who has the least occa- sion for its exercise, and " Who can govern his passions with absolute sway, And grow wiser and better as life wears away." 58 ANGER. V. RESTRICTIONS. That our anger may not be offensive to God or in any way hurtful to his cause and people, let us carefully note a few restrictions : 1. It must be impartial. Jesus showed the great weakness and blindness of the Scribes and Pharisees, who exacted tithes of the aromatic plants in the garden, such as mint, caraway, and anise, and yet omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. To be just in tithes and unjust in judgment, punctilious in little things and careless on great questions of honor and honesty ; obedient to Caesar but diso- bedient to God ; to denounce and reprove the covetous man and sanction and encourage drunk- enness ; to be angry at the drunkard and indulge in slander and evil speaking ; to dethrone Bacchus and deify self; to blame idolatry and indulge in blasphemy ; with mouth and breath and brain saturated with tobacco or opium to condemn the use of wine — this is to be partial in our con- demnation of sin. We should hate every false way. All sin is offensive. I must not consult my own tastes and tendencies and the appetites RESTRICTIONS. 59 of my friends, and resent some branches of vice and connive at others. I must not be strong in my condemnation of one offender and spare another offender altogether, as deep in guilt; that would be to respect persons; and Solomon says, "To have respect of persons is not good." Besides, such conduct would leave ground for the sus- picion that we are not sincere. It might easily and justly be inferred that our zeal is selfish, our views sinister, our judgment warped, and our resentment does not arise from a just sense of the evil of sin as sin, or sin in its own nature. Let nothing be done through partiality. " I hate every false way." (Psalm cxix, 104, 128.) 2. It must be attended on all occasions with the most tender sympathy and love. Love is itself the fountain of anger ; the true source and spring of anger must be love. It is the love of the par- ent that prompts him to punish the erring one ; the child may not see it as long as he is a child, but time and reason will develop the fact. The love of God is the original fountain of his anger against sin and sinners. It is not hatred against our fellow-citizens that influences the magistrates to punish the lawless and disobedient. I have seen the chief-justice weep tears of sympathy while pronouncing sentence upon the transgressor. If, on any occasion, you give way to personal ill- 60 ANGER. feeling and resentful passion, so as to divest your- self of pity, love, and sympathy towards an offender, you know not what manner of spirit you are of. The judge, while he condemns the prisoner to death, and makes him a sacrifice to the public vengeance, and pronounces the full penalty of the law, does so under the exercise of his own pity to the offender. The apostle Paul strongly and sternly resented the conduct of some "who were enemies to the cross of Christ, whose God was their belly, who minded earthly things, and who gloried in their shame," and, at the same time, his resentment was tempered with such a degree of love and compassion that the mention of their names drew tears from his eyes. We must reprove plainly and faithfully, yet tenderly and lovingly. The fire of our zeal must not be the fires of hate to curse or smite, but the fires of heaven to warm, to reform, to save, and to bless. We must learn to " Hate the sin with all the heart, And still the sinner love." We may denounce vice, but we must rescue the victim. I wish that we could all always imitate the pearl oyster; a hurtful particle in- trudes itself into the oyster's shell, and it irri- tates and vexes and grieves the owner. The oyster can not eject the unwelcome intruder, and RESTRICTIONS. 61 what does it do? It goes to work and covers the enemy all over with a most precious sub- stance extracted from out of its own life, and by this means it turns the intruder into a most valuable pearl. If we only knew the happy art we might grow valuable pearls of patience, gentleness, meekness, long-suffering, and forgiveness within us by means of that very thing which had done us so much harm, and vexed and injured us so much. Our reproofs and admonitions, though plain and faithful, must always be tender and affec- tionate. The nature of the case may sometimes make it necessary to reprove with warmth and firmness, but it must never be done with an unfeeling resentment. The apostolic rule is very clear (Galatians vi, 1): "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness ; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. " There must be carefulness and caution lest sinful anger find shelter under the cover of zeal against wrong doing. "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." A tongue set on fire of earthly passion is not likely to promote the cause of heaven. 3. Those admonitions and reproofs should always be accompanied with reason, arguments, 62 ANGER. and suitable endeavors to reform. If, at any time, the reprover grows so violent against his erring brother as to seek to hurt him, or to bring reproach upon him, without due effort to reclaim him, it is properly termed revenge; and revenge is always criminal. " Dearly beloved, avenge not your- selves, but rather give place unto wrath ; for it is written, Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith the Lord." " Recompense to no man evil for evil." "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Before we give way to anger, we should take time to consider the nature of the injury done, and whether it were accidental or done with deliberate design. Things appear to a ruffled mind very different from what, in reality, they are. A little deliberation and calm reflec- tion may enable us to see things in a different light. If, on reflection, there be just cause for resentment, let it be so tempered with reason and kindly admonition, that the offender may see at a glance that we have his interests at heart, and that we only desire his conviction and reforma- tion. Even the heathen moralists taught that we should endeavor to reclaim an offender, not by the violence of anger, but by forcible, reason- onable, and friendly admonitions, for surely the physician will not be angry with his patient whom he wishes to recover. Socrates, finding his RESTRICTIONS. 63 resentment too keen against his servant for an offense he had committed, first corrected himself for that warmth of temper which his philosophy taught him to condemn, and deferred the attempt to reclaim the delinquent to a calmer and cooler hour. This precaution was truly commendable, and worthy of imitation by many Christian professors. When anger rises to a high degree it swells into wrath, fury, and rage, until reason quits the helm, and, as the old philosophers say, the blood boils about the heart, the fames whereof rise into the brain, and reason is, for a time, dethroned. The man is distracted, he is partially insane, and some persons have gone so far under the influence of a long cherished anger that they have actually lost their reason, and have had to be treated for insanity. If we have just cause to be angry, discretion should teach us to guard our tongues and our hands and our tempers, that we may not sin against God and ourselves. While in this world of sin and disorder we must, we may expect to, meet with provocations. We live not among angels, but among men. We may expect trials and vexations, but the frailty of the weak, the omissions of the negligent, the follies of the imprudent, the levity of the fickle, and the anger of the hasty should not so far ruffle 64 ANGER. our spirits as to influence us to use rash words or to indulge in improper tempers. What meaneth the heat of this great anger? Behold how great a matter a little degree of im- moderate anger kindleth ! When this passion is unguarded it is the great disturber of human life, the enemy of private tranquillity, and of public happiness. The wise man tells us that anger is outrageous; when it rises to a high degree it is like the breaking out of waters. It breaks through the bounds of reason, of conscience, of the laws of God and man, of friendship, and even of natural affection, as in Cain, who slew his brother. " Cease from anger, therefore, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in anywise to do evil." It is accorded to the honor of Edward III that, one day having laid himself down upon the bed, one of his domestics, who did not know he was in the room, stole some money out of a chest he found open, which the king let him carry off without saying a word to him. Presently after the boy returned to make a second attempt ; the king called out to him without any violence of passion, " Sirrah, you had best be satisfied with what you have stolen, for if my chamber- lain come and catch you he will whip you se- verely." The chamberlain coming in and miss- RESTRICTIONS. 65 ing the money, fell into a great rage, when the king calmly said to him, "Be content; the chest should not have been left open, the temptation was too strong for the poor youth ; he wanted money more than we do, and there is enough left for us." 4. Anger must not be lasting. "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." When anger is permitted to see two suns it becomes fixed and rooted in the heart. When we refuse a recon- ciliation, and are determined to nurse our wrath and keep it warm, it is rancor, it is hatred, it is fixed malice, and drives out of the heart all the lovely virtues and graces of the Spirit. This was the kind of passion, the slow, secret, revengeful feeling that Esau had against Jacob, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand, then I will slay my brother." Such a man gives place at once to the devil to irritate and inflame him, and keep up turbulent and revengeful passions in his mind. He gratifies that malicious spirit by yielding to his destructive designs. He medi- tates revenge, and is pushed on to execute some dreadful purpose of sin and mischief.] Two good men, on a certain occasion, had a warm dispute, in which both took an earnest part. One of them, remembering the exhorta- tion of the apostle, " Let not the sun go down 5 66 ANGER. upon your wrath," just before sunset went to the other, and, knocking at the door, his offended friend came and opened; when, seeing who it was, he started back in astonishment and surprise. The other, at the same time, cried out, " The sun is almost down." This unexpected salutation soft- ened the heart of the friend into tenderness and affection, and he promptly returned for an answer, "Come in, brother, come in." What a happy method of conciliating matters, of redressing grievances, and of reconciling brethren! 11 Thou that didst bow the billow's pride Thy mandates to fulfill, Speak, speak to passion's raging tide, Speak and say, ' Peace, be still !' " — Mrs. Hemans. Pythagoras, a heathen philosopher, recom- mended to his disciples that if any quarrel should arise, or any degree of anger be cherished, they should, before the sun went down, shake hands and become friends again. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath to unfit you for your evening devotions, or to disturb your repose during the night; much less should it remain with you the following day. Dr. Watts, in an excellent discourse on the passions, has given the following description of that slow and inveterate anger which is, most of RESTRICTIONS. 67 all, to be dreaded : " Sometimes it spreads pale- ness over the countenance ; it is sullen and silent, and the angry person goes on from day to day with a gloomy aspect and a sour and uneasy carriage, averse to speak to the offender, unless it be now and then a word or two of a dark and spiteful meaning. The vicious passion dwells in the soul, and frets and preys upon the spirits; it inclines the tongue to tease the offender with a repetition of his crime in a sly manner, upon certain seasons and occurrences, and that for weeks and months after the offense, and some- times for years. This kind of wrath sometimes grows up into settled malice, and is ever con- triving revenge and mischief. May divine grace form my heart in a better mold, and deliver me from this vile temper and conduct." As we should seldom suffer our anger to be awak- ened, so the continuance of it should be very short. The sullen and long-continued resentment above described, is as much contrary to the spirit of meekness as a sudden fit of rage and fury. And as it becomes a settled and deliberate passion, the guilt becomes all the more heinous and marked with deeper aggravations in the sight of God. One long anger and twenty short ones do not differ to any great extent. Two boys were one day conversing on the good 68 ANGER. qualities of certain Church officers. "He is a good man, I think," said one; "don't you think so ?" " Yes," replied the other ; " I think he is a good man to hold a spite." That anger that is kept alive and nurtured in the heart becomes hate, and whosoever hateth his brother is a mur- derer; and ye know that no murderer hath eter- nal life abiding in him. Haste, then, and for- give, and be reconciled while there is enough of life left to enjoy reconciliation, and experience the renewal of kindness; forgive while you have something else to bestow on repentance than lingering looks and faltering words. For- give that you may be forgiven. "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you ; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Half the animosities of social life arise for want of a little reflection ; but when the foolish act is done, when the uncharitable expression has been uttered ; man must defend himself, and by so doing he sins against himself and against God. When the heart fully perceives what sin is, what an injury to the reputation of God, what a spot on the beauty of the moral universe, what an inlet of wretchedness and pain, under a sense of guilt the true penitent will say, O God, forgive RESTRICTIONS. 69 me, and I will forgive those that trespass against me. It must come to that sooner or later, or you can not offer acceptable worship to God. See the Jewish assembly in the act of worship. The altar, the victim, the priest, all are ready; God's voice is heard, Stop, suspend your worship, leave your gift there, for there is a thing of greater importance to be attended to first. What is that? Can any thing be more important than public worship ? " Go, and be reconciled to thy brother;" go, and remove all that angry feeling from thy bosom. Reconciliation, just here, is more important than worship, the tokens of di- vine approval can not come to you until all anger and hatred be put away. Every word you utter is an insult to God, your prayers, your praises, your hearing, your worshiping, is worse than tri- fling while hostility is in thy heart. It is not worship at all, it is presumption, and an abomi- nation to God. First, be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and worship. Do not grumble at the requirement, my brother. All the hindrances that exist now will exist to-morrow, and more, the longer you postpone your duty the more the ob- structions go on increasing. The great head of the Church, the future Judge of the universe, has said, " Go, and be reconciled to thy brother." And shall you not do it? It is not your indi- 70 ANGER. vidual happiness or misery only that becomes now involved, but the authority of the divine Legislator himself. Many have turned them- selves from the Church of God under the in- fluence of unkind feelings, and have descended lower and lower in sin, become apostates, trav- eled on in defense of their conduct, given up all their holy and benevolent habits, sunk into the low plane of hostility to the Church of God and to his children, and into dissatisfaction with them- selves, and died wretched, without hope or recon- ciliation with God or man. "The blossoms of passion, Gay and luxuriant flowers, are brighter and fuller of fragrance, But they beguile and lead us astray, and their odor is deadly." — Longfellow. WREN SINFUL. 71 VI. WHEN IS ANGER SINFUL? In the foregoing remarks I have noted briefly, the nature of anger, with its several causes and restrictions. I have said that this passion is from the great Architect, and that, with other passions and emotions it has its own appropriate place ; that prudence and piety must always hold the reins of government with a strong, steady, firm, impartial hand; that wisdom and meekness must always have an open eye, and a commanding voice to limit and restrict its operations, and guide and control its tendencies. As to the ocean in all its strong moods the Lord has set boundaries, beyond which it can not pass, so God has given a divine rule in reference to anger. It is, as a rule, very short, but very com- prehensive : " Be ye angry and sin not." If, there- fore, we indulge in anger at all, it must be at such times and at such objects as are lawful, and to such an extent only as may not be sinful. Sinful anger is not allowable on any occasion, or under any circumstances. The law is very plain. We must now consider the occasions and circum- stances when we transgress this rule. 72 ANGER. When we are angry with the providence of God our anger is sinful and unwarrantable. The dis- pensations of divine Providence are dark and mysterious to us. Our range of vision is, at best, very narrow and circumscribed. His ways are, like his throne, surrounded by clouds and dark- ness. Sometimes his ways are grievous and af- flictive to us. When we hope for smiles and blessings there come frowns and chastisements. Those afflictions are from a Father's hand. They are correctives, not corrosives ; they are medic- inal, and, like most medicines, they are not pleasant to the taste. These cross our inclina- tions and plans, and sometimes seem to oppose our secular interests, and often interrupt our pleasures and arrangements. Under the disap- pointment we are apt to fret and worry, if not to grow angry and impatient, to strive with our Maker, and to struggle and chafe like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. More of the graces of humility and meekness would have taught us to be submissive and pa- tient, to bear up under the chastening hand of the Lord, and kiss the hand and the rod, and say from our heart, "He doeth all things well." W T hen Caius Caesar made a grand banquet, and had his guests all invited, and every thing in order, the storm cloud gathered on the sky, and WHEN SINFUL. 73 thunder and lightning prevented the noble lords and ladies from attending the feast. Csesar grew angry with the heavens, and impiously re- proached the Deity. We have, in the case of Jonah, a striking instance of anger against the dispensations of divine Providence. This prophet was sent to preach to the people of Nineveh, to declare unto them that within forty days that great city would be overthrown and destroyed. This royal commission, of course, implied if they continued impenitent. Jonah was so reluctant to go and deliver his message, that he fled from the presence of the Lord, and took a through ticket to the western isles, where other gods were wor- shiped. When out on the high seas going west- ward, the sea became exceeding tempestuous, and the sailors, who feared God, threw the runaway prophet overboard. By a train of marvelous and miraculous interpositions his life was pre- served, and, at length, he went to deliver his awful message. The Ninevites heard the Word, realized the situation, repented in good earnest, and sought and found mercy. God spared the city, for his mercy endureth forever. Jonah, instead of rejoicing at the success of his ministry, was greatly displeased, and filled with those rest- less, impatient feelings which always betoken an angry, petulant, unsanctified heart, in direct rebel- 74 ANGER, lion against the dispensations of divine Provi- dence. He sat down in bad humor, sullen and angry. The blessed Lord, who knows how weak his servants are, prepared a large leafed plant, a gourd, to form a grateful shade to protect his servant from the heat of the sun. Jonah was, no doubt, tired and nervously exhausted, and was exceeding glad of the gourd, and the quiet rest and comfortable shade he enjoyed. All earthly comforts are, however, of short duration. When we set our hearts on any earthly comfort we have reason to expect its speedy removal ; the days of mourning for its de- parture are near at hand. There came a worm and it smote the gourd, that it withered. No gourd can flourish, no earthly comfort can bless, no transient joy or grief can come without the divine Word. The prophet's joy was, like all earthly bliss, very short. While rejoicing in it, he knew not that it was going. Created comforts are withering things ; they perish while we admire them ; they come forth like flowers and are cut down. That comfort proves least secure which, to us, is most dear. But whether God gives or takes away, whether he send a gourd or a worm to destroy that which he has sent, still he is car- rying on the same design of instruction and blessing to us. His intention is to humble and WHEN SINFUL. 75 instruct us, and to confirm our hearts to trust him at all times and under all circumstances. There were lessons of tenderness, of compas- sion, of patience and humility, which Jonah must learn. While we are morose, unkind, and resentful to those around us, we do them very little good, and the infinitely wise Disposer of events has many ways to teach us that tenderness and sym- pathy in which he delights, and which, to us, is a great source of power. Who would have thought of a prophet lost in anger and impatience, hurried away with angry passions for the loss of his gourd ! Astonishing ! And yet we may find many things in our own tempers and spirit equally astonishing, and even more so, than this. Jonah wished in himself to die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." "Jonah, dost thou well to be angry?" " I do well to be angry, even unto death." To be angry at God, and angry for a thing so small as a gourd! How unaccountable, that anger should so blind the mind that a man should, under its influence, make light of sin, and bid defiance to death; justify his rage, and wish to depart this life under influence so bad. His angry passion carried him away beyond himself, until he lost all reverence for God, and cared 76 ANGER. more for his own honor and comfort than for God's glory. See him fretting and scolding at the warmth of the day and the cold of the night, at the repentance of man and the mercy of God. He was angry because Nineveh was spared with her six score thousand souls, and wished to die because he could not have his own way. How different were the temper and spirit of Aaron under that awfully severe dispensation which cut off his two erring sons at one stroke, under the manifest displeasure of God. He, under a sense of the divine justice, held his peace. He uttered not one murmuring word. Once, we are informed, that David was angry when the Lord made a breach upon Uzzah. Years after, when his heart had been washed and purified, how different were his temper and his spirit, when he said, " It is the Lord, let him do as seemeth good unto him." When we are angry at the laws of God we commit sin. His laws are holy, just, and good. HagioSj holy in all its claims; dikaios, just in itself; agathos, good in all its fruits. "But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; the tes- timony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." " The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." " Thy WHEN SINFUL. 77 word is very pure; therefore thy servant loveth it." "By them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward." These are expressions from the hearts of true servants of Christ. There are those, however, who dislike the restraints of the law, and who have in their hearts feelings of rebellion against it. In their minds they say, "Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us." " We will not have this man to reign over us." The law of God reproves them, and, in- stead of fighting their sins, they fight the law, and the lawgiver, and say, "Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." We sin when Ave are angry at the doctrines and teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have many mournful evidences of the fall, none more convincing, perhaps, than the hatred men show to the truth. Jesus himself was teaching in the synagogue on the holy Sabbath day (Luke iv, 28, 29) : " And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong." Stephen was speaking the truths of the Gospel, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. So enraged were they at the words he 78 ANGER. spoke they became furious, and " then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him." Paul was preach- ing one Sabbath day, and many were listening to the truth : " but when the Jews saw the multi- tudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming." Seneca says: "The wrathful man is angry with the truth itself, when it is in opposition to his inclination or his humor." When we are angry at the good qualities and prosperity of others it is exceedingly sinful. It was this species of anger that prompted Cain to slay his brother, because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. The same en- vious feeling prompted Joseph's brethren to throw him into the pit, and then to sell him to the merchantmen. He was hated for his dreams and for his words. The sweet singer of Israel was hated by King Saul, because it was evident that the Lord was with him. He says of himself, " They hated me without a cause," and " they also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is." Ma- caulay says : " John Wesley was the best abused man in all England." WHEN SINFUL. 79 " Beside thine hearth, thine home within, Lies couched and still a deadly sin, O chain it while 'tis time! • Learn on thy brother's joy to gaze With thankful eye ; and heaven's high counsel praise, That crowned him with the forfeit of thy crime." — Keble. We sin when we are angry at reproof. David said truly and beautifully, Psalrn cxli 5 : " Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oii which shall not break my head." If we do that which deserves a rebuke, and a friend is so just and kind as to deal faithfully with us, we surely ought not to return anger for love and hatred for kindness. David blessed- God for the counsel of Abigail, and thanked her as the mes- senger of the Lord. It was no disparagement to Naaman to hearken to the reproof of his servant, when he turned away in a rage from the prophet, refusing the prescribed cure for his leprosy. Seneca says: "A good man rejoices when he is admonished." We all know men who can not endure a reprover. It is most ungrateful to be angry with a kind reprover, who has our welfare at heart, and warns us of that which would be pernicious to us. Then, if ever, our anger is to be condemned. The reprover may magnify his office, and give unnecessary pain, his admonition 80 ANGER. may be lacking in prudence, yet it is an act of kindness, and to resent it would be highly criminal. Solomon says : " As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear." These are two things rarely found, and yet of great value. " While passions glow, the heart, like heated steel, Takes each impression, and is worked at pleasure." — Young. When we are angry at those who differ with us in religious convictions, and in forms of worship our anger is sinful. The wordy wars that have been fought out, to the bitter end, by religious parti- sans in the pulpit, on the platform, and through the press, during the past eighteen hundred years, have done the cause of Christ more real harm than all the opposition of all the infidel writers since the days of the apostles. The right of pri- vate judgment was clearly taught by Jesus Christ and his apostles. He charged his disciples to call no man Father, Rabbi, Master, upon- the earth, in the sense in which men claim to be leaders or masters, having dominion and authority over the faith and consciences of men, or over the judgments and opinions of others. Christ alone, by his Word and Spirit, is the only infal- lible teacher and guide, and to him only we owe absolute obedience and implicit faith. He ex- WHEN SINFUL. 81 horted the common people to search the Scrip- tures, and so to judge for themselves. Jesus also gave us an example, in that he fre- quently quoted the Scriptures as illustration and proof of the great truths which he taught : "Have ye not read this Scripture/' and "the Scripture was fulfilled ;" " This day is this Scrips ture fulfilled in your ears;" "He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said." And he commanded the people to "search the Scriptures," and find out for themselves, and so judge and determine. The apostles, also, and the early teachers of Christianity maintained this right and privilege as divinely secured to the people for all time. St. Paul says : " Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind; I speak to wise men, judge ye what I say ;" and we are in- formed that their hearers assumed this duty and privilege, "and searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so." Such exhorta- tions from Christ and his apostles could have no meaning, if the right of private judgment is not clearly implied ; indeed, they were a deception and a fraud if that privilege be denied. Let no man, therefore, indulge in angry in- vective against those who conscientiously differ with him in articles of faith or in forms of wor- ship. Let him not thunder his anathemas against 6 82 ANGER. us who differ with him, because by those anath- emas he curses himself, " for thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." Why should I be displeased with any man for differing with me in religious matters? He has the same reason to be angry with me for the liberty I have thought proper to assume. Gently, brother, gently, " Who art thou that judgest another?" The right of private judgment is the very groundwork and foundation of Protestant- ism, the heart and soul of the Reformation. Seal the lips of thy brother and gag his utter- ances because he dares to differ with thee, and then the lady, that has her seat on the seven hills, will find a way to padlock your tongue, and do your thinking for you, and the dark ages may again envelop the nations until another John Huss and Latimer and Ridley and Rogers and Taylor and Luther may arise to claim again the right of free thought and free speech. O no, my dear reader, the right to think for myself, and to differ, if needs be, is a God-given right, and we must, under all circumstances, concede that right to others which we claim for ourselves. Happy for us that the warmth of persecution on religious grounds has very much abated. The fires of persecution, if not entirely extinguished, are at least smothered. Even in old despotic WHEN SINFUL. 83 countries, many are emerging into the light, and strongly asserting the right of a Bible for every man, and little by little the fetters of tyranny and religious despotism are falling to pieces, and multitudes are searching the Scriptures for them- selves, and thinking and judging and acting ac- cording to the light they have in all those mat- ters which relate to the worship of God, the salvation of the soul, and rights of conscience. The Church of God, since the days of its infancy has been always more or less exposed to the rage of blind bigotry and persecution. This anger has sometimes been confined to Church disputes and newspaper quarrels, but more fre- quently it has broken out into open, roaring wrath, and statecraft and priestcraft and self- craft have desolated the fair garden of God, and his children " had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and impris- onment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword ; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins ; being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy) ; they wandered in de- serts, and in mountains and in dens, and caves of the earth." What a pity it is that Christianity should ever have been so explained — I would say so perverted — as to feed the unholy fires of resent- 84 ANGER. ment and promote angry passions ! Surely nothing can be more diametrically opposite than religion and revenge, piety and persecution, prayer and plunder, the service of God and the slaughter of men, the fires of love and the fires of hate. Angry passions and resentful feelings in religious disputes naturally lead to persecution, as in the case of John Calvin and even of the Puritan fathers. "The beginning of strife is as when one let- teth out water; therefore, leave off contention before it be meddled with." "A fro ward man soweth strife ; and a whisperer separateth chief friends." " Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice ; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Those angry, furious partisans ought to have learned the genius of the Gospel. When one of the disciples of Jesus came unto him, saying, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followed not with us," Jesus said, " Forbid him not." Afterwards, when the Samaritans did not receive him, John and James being too violent in their resentment, and having but a scanty acquaintance with the genius of the Gospel, spoke of com- manding fire to come down from heaven to con- WHEN SINFUL. 85 surae them, Jesus turned and rebuked them, and said, " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." We profess respect and zeal for the religion of Jesus; and shall we at the same time allow ourselves to be carried away with that harshness and severity which are so opposite to its nature, its spirit, and tendency ? Let us not presume to retain the Christian name if we are so entirely destitute of the Christian spirit, lest Jesus should say unto us : "I know thee, that thou hast a name that thou livest, but thou art dead." A meek and gentle disposition, amidst the strife of interfering interests, prevents the vio- lence of contentions, renews endearments, softens animosities, and keeps alive the seeds of har- mony. But, " Passions, indulged beyond a certain bound, Lead to a precipice, and plunge in woe The heedless agent." When our anger provokes us to wish or desire any thing unlawful, it becomes sinful. This de- sire in the mind has given origin to the word malevolence, from male, "ill," and volo, "to wish" — to wish ill to any person. Also the word malediction, from male, "ill," and dico, "to say" — a declaration of a wish of evil against a person. Sometimes it assumes the form of an 86 ANGER. imprecation, the praying down of evil upon a person whom we suppose to have offended us, or it may be upon ourselves. This was the case with Moses once, though always commended for his meekness; yet, on a very trying occasion, his language indicates a defect in that for which he is most commended, "If thou deal thus with me kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, and let me not see my wretchedness." Like the angry prophet, he thought " it is better for me to die than to live; I do well to be angry, even unto death." In some cases, as perhaps in Mo- ses' case, it arises from disappointment, but those sudden gushes of a feeling which wishes for death, produced by any of those passions, can not at all be excused. "Full many mischiefs follow cruel wrath, Abhorred bloodshed and tumultuous strife, Unmanly murder and unthrifty scathe,* Bitter despite, with rancor's rusty knife, And fretting grief — the enemy of life." — E. Spenser. Rage is bad. When a man gives way to sin- ful temper he dishonors his nature, he imperils his well-being, he wars with God, and the order of the universe. A celebrated moralist has written with great energy on this subject: "What shall we think of him who has a soul so infected that he can not be happy himself until he has made WHEN SINFUL. 87 another miserable? What wars may we imagine perpetually raging in his breast ; what dark strata- gems, unworthy designs, inhuman wishes, dread- ful resolutions ! A serpent curled in many in- tricate mazes, ready to sting a traveler, and to hiss him in the pangs of death, is no unfit em- blem of such an artful, unsearchable projector." Our anger in all cases becomes sinful when it excites us to render evil for evil to him who has injured or oifended us; Christianity never tol- erates this to friend or foe. We should beware of giving way to revengeful or passionate resent- ments, which may lead us to desire the hurt of the offender by way of retaliation. This would be to place ourselves on his level, to imitate his example, and to become sharers in his guilt. No amount of provocation should ever irritate us so far as to abate our concern for peace. We should keep so strict a watch over our anger as never to meditate, contrive, or attempt any thing by way of private and personal revenge. If we be compelled in self-defense, in defense of person, family, or property to seek satisfaction in due course of law, we should never do it in an angry, quarrelsome spirit, but from a desire to preserve peace and the good order of society, and to ob- tain justice from the wrongs and injuries of unreasonable and wicked men. 88 ANGER. There is great beauty and a wealth of mean- ing in Paul's words to the Church at Rome (Ro- mans xii, 18-21): "If it be possible" — it may not be, such may be your circumstances, but if it be possible — "as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath ; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink ; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but over- come evil with good." Let us never presume to wrest the scepter out of God's hands, it is his prerogative to inflict the deserved punishment. Leave your cause with him. We should be ready to do every office of kind- ness and compassion, even to our worst ene- mies. "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use and persecute you." Let no ill treatment you meet with from others so far inflame your angry passions as to make you desirous of rendering evil for evil, or even to cause you to weary of showing kindness to them. Let the power of divine grace on your heart so manifest itself in the exercise of meek- ness, kindness, and forbearance under the highest provocations, that all, even your greatest ene- WHEN SINFUL. 89 mies, may see in you how a Christian can live and love and forgive and be forgiven. This is the way not be overcome of evil," but to overcome evil with good. Anger, as a sinful passion, is never justifiable, but it oftentimes exists without any real cause whatever. Like a lion enraged at his own shadow, the angry man is angry at the reflec- tion of himself; it is his own image that he sees. He imagines and, in many cases, this is all ; his own evil temper colors all besides. The object of his wrath is innocent, perhaps as quiet as an unruf- fled brook. Be sure, before you give way to anger, that your neighbor or friend has injured you, and then be sure that you forgive him. But even if an apparent cause does exist, and some one really has injured you, is not that enough? He that sinneth wrongeth his own soul ; shall you, therefore, sin and bring condemnation upon your soul ? To have an enemy is bad, to be one is far worse. And why should you undergo self- punishment for the crime of another? There is a degree of madness connected with anger, as we have seen. We see it in Xerxes, who chastised the waves, and cast fetters into the sea to bind it, because it smashed his bridge of boats. How intoxicated with passion he was ! Contrast the madman with the calm, sensible Athenodorus, who, when about to retire from the court of 90 ANGER. Augustus Csesar, gave the emperor this advice: " Remember, whenever you feel angry, that you neither say nor do any thing until you have re- peated all the letters of the alphabet." This is good advice ; but it is better, when a man feels himself sinking into the gulf of angry passion, to turn the eye of his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, and cry out, " Lord, save, or I perish." The rising storm will pass away, and all will be calm and peaceful. " The wise will let their anger cool, At least before 't is night ; But in the bosom of a fool, It burns till morning light." When our anger unfits us for the duties which we owe to God and to one another, then our anger is sinful. We can not love God and hate our brother ; the two things are not, in any sense, compatible. John says : " A new command- ment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you ; because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is the light, and hateth his brother, is in dark- ness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. We know that W11EN SINFUL. 91 we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer ; and ye know that no mur- derer hath eternal life abiding in him. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen ?" Violent anger darkens the whole horizon of the soul, obstructs the visions of faith, and bur- dens the conscience with a sense of guilt, and puts the whole soul out of tune for the service and work of God. An angry man can not pray, not even the Lord's prayer, with his emotions boiling up in him. He can not praise God, for all his affections are turned in an opposite direc- tion, and praise is the natural and proper ex- pression of love, not of hate. v To reprove, rebuke, and exhort are duties we owe to one another. Giving and receiving re- proof are duties which we owe to each other, and are of great advantage to our growth in all the graces of the Christian. "If a brother be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness," not in a spirit of anger. Reproof should never be given with a wrathful spirit or an angry tongue, 92 ANGER. "for the wrath of man worketh not the right- eousness of God." No amount of the grace of sanctification places us above the need of admo- nition. We are to watch over one another in love. In like manner, reproofs should be re- ceived with humility and gratitude; thanks to a kind and faithful reprover, and praises to God for the blessings of sanctified Christian friendship. Coleridge says: "Advice is like the snow, the softer it falls the longer it stays, and the deeper it sinks into the mind." "Full many a shaft at random sent Finds mark the archer little meant, And many a word at random spoken May soothe or wound a heart that's broken." We are also commanded "to be pitiful and tender hearted ; to weep with those that weep, and to rejoice with those that rejoice, to love as brethren, to follow after the things which make for peace, and things whereby we may edify another." Now, whatever temper of mind unfits us for those duties, it is wrong, it is oifensive to God, and destructive to" the work of divine grace in our own hearts. CAUTIONS. 93 VII. CAUTIONS. Anger agitates and destroys our peace of mind. It is true, as the prophet said, " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Not all the powers of evil, nor any of the agencies of the world or the flesh can disturb the peace of the good man, and yet one flash of sinful anger cherished, or indulged in, may disturb his peace and greatly disquiet his soul. How serene and peaceful would every man's soul be to himself if true Christian meekness did but reign in his breast to the complete casting out of anger, wrath, malice, and all bitterness. I say casting out; it is not enough to suppress and chain down those disturbing foes — they must be thrown out, and that with a holy violence and a firm determina- tion that they must enter no more. It is not enough that we cut off, here and there, a branch of this deadly upas tree of sin; we must cut it down and cut out every fiber of its roots from the soil of the heart, and plant in its stead the tree of life. We must crucify the old man with his lusts, passions, and propensities, mortifying the 94 ANGER. flesh and the deeds of the body that we may live. "Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth," " that the body of sin may be destroyed, that henceforth we shall not serve sin." v There is an altitude above us that is always free from the tumultuous whirlwind, the sweeping tempest, and the surcharged cloud, away above and beyond us. It is only in the regions of the atmosphere near our earth that thunderings, light- nings, and fierce storms generate and disturb the quiet of nature. So there is a state of mind, an altitude of Christian experience, where we may have a calm and undisturbed tranquillity, a con- stant sunshine, and a heartfelt joy. As our poet sang : " Anger and sloth, desire and pride, This moment be subdued ; Be cast into the crimson tide, Of my Redeemer's blood." Then— "Anger I no more shall feel, Always even, always still, Meekly on my God reclined ; Jesu's is a quiet mind." There is often sunshine up on the mountain side when storms rage furiously below. Chris- tianity furnishes a sublime experience where all is calm and joy and peace. Come up on the CAUTIONS. 95 mountain, dear reader, and Jive in the clear sunlight. The fiercest storms at sea, which make such sad havoc of our shipping, never stir the depths of the ocean ; down below all is quiet and mo- tionless. As on the surface the white caps are driven into spray, and the ocean seems as if it were boiling over, so, under the fierce gales of temptation, one man is lashed into fury, and, for the time, he loses all control of himself, while his neighbor is calm and peaceful as a Summer evening, far from danger and from fear, knowing that the love of God casteth out fear. O for an experience in the deep things of God ! There may be a seeming quietness of behavior, arising from self-constraint or education or a nature past feeling, sometimes prompted by a mean, disguised intention, while the spirit is rough and turbulent. "The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart ; his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords." As a man is in heart, so is he. By the frequent indulgence of this furious pas- sion it gains strength, and after a little indul- gence it becomes a habit, and fastens itself, like other habits, as with hooks of steel, destroying all the man's internal tranquillity, and kindling his whole soul into a flame at every little provoca- 96 ANGER. tion. He is so completely under the power of this demon passion, that he can not control his anger until the case be examined, and the offense proven ; nor can he, by any means, proportion his anger to the cause which excites it, or regu- late it by any rule of propriety or discretion. Such a slave to a bad habit is surely to be ranked as among the unhappiest of mortals. As he ad- vances in years he grows more and more miser- able, and his natural weakness and infirmity increase his irritability of mind, until his friends, long since weary of his peevishness, and his chil- dren almost afraid of him, leave him a to devour his own heart in solitude and contempt," as an old moralist has it. "Thy own wickedness shall correct thee," says the prophet. Such men "eat the bread of wickedness." They sow wicked- ness and reap the same. Thorny reaping it often is. " It is an evil thing and bitter, that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord." When humility, meekness, and patience find a throne in the heart, they reign secure. Though storms may over- spread the sky without, all is quiet and calm within. The man's peace is too deep and too high to be aifected by the thunders that echo on another's sky. He sits calm on tumult's waves, he controls his feelings, curbs his tongue, bridles his passions. He has a peace which the world CAUTIONS. 97 "can neither give nor take away." "He de- lights himself with the abundance of peace." He has ten thousand times more satisfaction in for- giving injuries than others can have in revenge. Sinful anger blocks up the way to the mercy- seat, and hinders us in our approaches to the di- vine throne. Through the work and mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ a new and living way has been opened for us to the throne of grace. It is the exalted privilege of all be- lievers in Christ to come, at all times, to that throne and find grace to help in time of need. But if we come to God with anger and ill feeling in our hearts, God will not hear our prayers. No man can come acceptably to God with wrathful feelings cherished in his heart. The tumult of passion makes us both unable and unwilling to pray, and should any come in such an angry mood they consciously realize their own unfit- ness, and they can not acceptably draw near to God. St. Paul says: "I will, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands with- out wrath and doubting." All bitterness, wrath, and evil speaking must be laid aside, if we desire to hold sweet communion with God. The words of Jesus are very plain and de- cisive on this point. " Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that 7 98 ANGER. thy brother hath aught against thee" — and that is the time and place most likely to remember any alienation of mind — " leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." And Jesus makes it still stronger: "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." On another occasion Jesus illustrated the same principle by an exam- ple : " And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormenters, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." The man who has an unforgiving feeling in his heart can not be forgiven, and he can not hold sweet communion with God. The way to the throne of mercy to him is barred, until he can dismiss his unholy resentment, and become recon- ciled. His anger unfits him for devotion, indis- poses to duty, and if performed, it renders it unacceptable to God. Anger destroys the image of Christ in the soul. The apostle teaches that we are to "put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him ; that ye put CAUTIONS. 99 off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holi- ness." And that this inward mau is to be "re- newed day by day." "Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." He was pa- tient under the rudest insults and most barbarous treatment. When he was reviled, he reviled not again ; when he suffered he threatened not. " He gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hairs; he did not hide his face from shame and spitting." For the greatest evil he returned the greatest good ; he shed his blood, and gave his life to redeem those who treated him with disdain, and as they mocked his dying agonies, he prayed for them, saying, " Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." In him there was no rashness, no resent- ment, no unholy anger, no pride, no unholy ambition. This distinguishing part of the Lord's char- acter was so generally known that the apostle Paul said: "I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ." Meekness is the inward temper, gentleness is the manifestation of it toward others. This inward temper and outward 100 ANGER. behavior were most clearly seen in Christ. How unlike him those are whose tempers are angry and hateful, and whose outward man is boister- ous and resentful. "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you." Sinful anger destroys the spirit of unity among brethren. The Church is the body of Christ, and all ye are brethren. " Let brotherly love con- tinue," and by all suitable means cultivate it, promote it, make sacrifices in order to its devel- opment. "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory ; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." If con- ceited, self-seeking persons, confident of their own comparative excellences and inconsiderate of others, come together in the spirit of party or pride or self-glorying, how soon, and how easily, are the sparks of a great and destructive fire kin- dled ; each, in turn, being angry with the other, and indulging in mutual recrimination and complaint. Some men seem to be of such a disposition that they are not only careless of pleasing, but studious to offend. They imagine that they aggrandize themselves by teasing and mortifying those around them. They delight in wanton provo- cations and contemptuous treatment of others. This is tyranny, and has its origin in pride and CAUTIONS. 101 self-esteem, and it usually provokes both pity and resentment. Some are morose and sullen. Their resentment often becomes noisy and quarrelsome. They have no peace and rest themselves, and they interrupt the quiet and happiness of all who come within their reach. Some good, well- meaning men are so unhappily addicted to warmth of temper that the poet's inquiry concerning his angry deities seems appropriate to them : " Can so much wrath be found in heavenly minds?" In all our intercourse with those persons we must be careful to have soft answers always on hand, knowing that "A soft answer turneth away wrath ; but grievous words stir up anger." Give them room and time to cool by keeping out of their way ; by all means escape to a calmer shore. A learned and pious writer on the absurdity and injustice of religious persecution says : " Could we see the members of Christ's mystical body divested of bigotry and prejudice, no longer divided by parties and factions, nor stained and sullied by viciousness of life, joined together by a union of friendly dispositions and kind affec- tions, and vying with each other in the promo- tion of mutual benevolence and good will, this would give us the strongest idea we can at pres- ent have of the happiness of the future world, and of those sublime social pleasures which the 102 ANGER. righteous shall enjoy when they come to the 'city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of augels, to God, the Judge of all, to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.' " Without a degree of candor, for- bearance, and mutual love, the peace of the Church can not be maintained, nor can brethren dwell together in unity. There must be recip- rocal endeavors to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. When the members of the Church are meek and lowly in heart, full of kindness and benevolence, of gentleness and meek- ness toward one another, then, and then only, they adorn the doctrine of God their Savior, and evidence the true spirit of Christianity. Then they will be careful not to inflict the least wound on the feelings of another. Then they will be courteous and kind in their address, affable and mild in their behavior, ever ready to oblige and as willing to be obliged by others. Then will reproofs be administered with the greatest tender- ness and love, and all the kindly offices per- formed with ease and delight. Each one will then think and feel that it his duty and honor to be clothed with humility, and to put on in his whole behavior that charity which is the bond of perfectness. Every one will then seek to please CAUTIONS. 103 his neighbor, for his good unto edification ; to conceal, by all means, any superiority of rank, position, or talents, which might, in any way, be a hindrance to the weak and less favored of the flock ; to be kind and tender-hearted, to be piti- ful and courteous — in a word/to prove himself or herself to be under the influence of the wisdom from above, which is " first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." Of such a Church it might be said : " The beauty of the Lord our God is upon them." "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard ; that went down to the skirts of his garments ; as the dew of Her- mon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion ; for there the Lord com- manded the blessing, even life forevermore." Anger frequently exposes a man to danger. When an angry man meets one furious like him- self they very often inflict wounds that are mor- tal. Many of the sad records of murder so prevalent in our time may be traced directly to the influence of an angry temper. " Wise men turn 104 ANGER. away from wrath, but a fool's lips enter into con- tention ; his mouth calleth for strokes/' and he often receives them as a reward for his anger and insolence. His ill nature shows itself in his readiness to pick quarrels and originate strifes. All those splenetic fools are- mischief makers. Their temper is turpentine, which a spark will set ablaze. "It is an honor for a man to cease from strife; but every fool will be meddling." Meddling is the parent of strife. An officious interference with the business of others, a prying into their concerns creates discord. All strifes, domestic, social, ecclesiastic, and political may be traced to meddlesomeness. No one draws his sword or uses his cane against the meek and inoffensive lamb, while the noisy, snarling cur frequently feels the stroke. The cool and dispassionate man escapes many troubles which the angry and revengeful one pulls down upon his own head. The associates and domestics of an angry man live in constant sus- picion and anxiety, no one knowing the moment when his anger may kindle into unreasonable reproaches or fury. When his anger kindles, it is no wonder that mutual animosities prevail, and none can ever tell where the mischief may end. It is better to dwell in the corner of a housetop than with such a one in the most splendid and CAUTIONS. 105 spacious palace. A judicious writer on this sub- ject has said, "that in the ruffled and angry- hour we view every appearance through a false medium. The most inconsiderable point of in- terest or honor swells into a momentous object, and the slightest attack seems to threaten imme- diate ruin. But after passion or pride is sub- dued, we look around in vain for the mighty mischiefs we dreaded; the fabric which our dis- turbed imagination had reared totally disappears. We have irritated the passions of others, we have alienated a friend or many friends, we have sown the seeds of future suspicion, malevolence, or disgust." "He that is hasty in spirit, exalt- eth folly." Anger makes work for bitter repentance. We often hear of teachers and parents who, undertaking to correct their children in a fit of passion, have inflicted irreparable injury upon the helpless and, perhaps, innocent child. What must they feel on every sight of their poor, deformed, afflicted children blinded or disabled by their fury ! What terrible stings of remorse must attend them through every succeeding day and night of their lives ! The greater part of the disasters which men suffer from in this life are brought upon them by their own ungoverned passions. Should they 106 ANGER. escape the physical or external evils which their passions naturally occasion, they can not shun the internal punishment which is all the more severe because it is self-inflicted. The govern- ment of this world is so administered that the divine laws execute themselves against the trans- gressor, and carry their sanctions along with them; there is no need for the prison of hell to be unlocked, or the thunders of Jehovah to be poured forth in order to punish the angry and cruel man. He is self-punished. It is enough that those furious passions, which render such persons the disturbers of others, be suffered to burn and smolder and rage within. Who can think of the condition to which Cain had reduced himself by his angry passion without a feeling of horror ? Stung with the keenest anguish and remorse, he was a terror to himself, and was dreaded by all who knew him. Under the lash- ings of his conscience, in the bitterness of his soul he cried out, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." He was angry with his brother Abel, because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. Heaven smiled upon the one and frowned upon the other. Having nursed his anger and indulged it, it grew to be malice; and cherishing his resentment to that degree it became murderous, and at last his passion be- CAUTIONS. 107 came his master, and he imbued his hands in his own brother's blood. Many of the evils that endanger the life of man arise from anger protracted into malevo- lence, and exerted and gratified in revenge. The angry feeling has no sooner burnt out or spent itself in deeds of terrible cruelty and blood, than the victim is filled with sorrow and shame at his own cruelty and madness. But no amount of sorrow can repair the mischief done in the mo- ment of angry passion. We could scarcely have credited the veracity of the historians who record the deeds of cruelty and blood, did we not see in our own day, and in our own happy land, the same causes still producing the same effects. What tides of human blood have been shed to gratify this cruel and furious passion ! How sol- emn and how striking the prophetic exclamation of the inspired Jacob concerning his two son s (Genesis xliv, 5-7) : " Simeon and Levi are breth- ren ; instruments of cruelty are in their habita- tions. O my soul, come not thou into their se- cret ; unto their assembly ; mine honor, be not thou united ; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce ; and their wrath, for it was cruel ; I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." 108 ANGER. The wrathful man is cruel to himself. His worst wounds are self-inflicted ; and many men have died in a fit of rage. The tortured soul has rushed from its clay tenement, amoug fiends and furies, its most befitting companions. "Wrath," says Job, "killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one." He is cruel to his family, to his children, and servants; as when a man is intoxicated with wine. He is cruel to his beasts of burden." A good man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." Thus Balaam desired a sword that he might take the life of the animal that saved his life. How many excellent and useful animals groan under the cruelty of the passionate man ! The Jews were terribly cruel and unjust to the blessed Savior because of their angry passion : "And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong." "Wrath is cruel." Astyages, king of Persia, being displeased with Harpagus, invited him to supper, and caused him to feed upon the flesh of his own son ; and, when the repast was over, he asked him how he liked the repast, at the same time showing him the mangled remains of his CAUTIONS. 109 son. When Darius had conquered Scythia, (Eba- sus, a nobleman whom he had conquered, re- quested the tyrant to leave one of his three sons with him to comfort his distressed father, and to content himself with the service of the other two. The emperor promised that he would dismiss them all from his service and immediately caused them all three to be slain, and the dead bodies to be thrown at the feet of the unhappy father. Alexander, in his anger, at a festival murdered his own friend Clitus because he was too honest to flatter him in his crimes; and threw Lysi- machus to the fury of a lion. Nebuchadnezzar, in his anger, being full of fury, caused the three Hebrew children to be cast into a fiery furnace, heated sevenfold. Lucius Sulla, in his anger against Marcus Marius, caused his legs to be broken, his eyes to be pulled out, his hands to be cut off", and his body to be torn asunder. Admiral Byron, of the British navy, was an eye-witness to the following shocking exhibition of brutal anger. We quote his own words : " Here I must relate a little anecdote of a Christian cacique. He and his wife had gone off at some distance from the shore in their canoe, when she dived for sea eggs ; but not meeting with great success, they returned a good deal out of humor. A little boy of theirs, about three years old, 110 ANGER. whom they appeared to be doatingly fond of watching for the return of his father and mother, ran into the surf to meet them. The father handed the basket of sea eggs to the child, which, being too heavy for him to carry, he let fall ; upon which his father jumped out of the canoe, and catching up the boy in his arms, dashed him with the utmost violence against the stones. The poor little creature lay motionless and bleeding, and in that condition was taken up by the mother, but died soon after. She appeared inconsolable for some time, but he, the brute of a father, showed little concern about it." How true is the saying of Seneca, "There are a thousand evils included in this one of anger, and they are diversified into a thousand different branches." The worst of slaves is he whom passion rules. " How terrible is passion ! how our reason Falls before it! while the tortured frame, Like a ship dashed by fierce encountering tides, And of her pilot spoiled, drives round and round, The sport of wind and wave." — Barfoed. CURE. Ill viii. cure ok Anger. Having examined the nature and causes of anger and given a few cautions against its indul- gence, we now proceed to mention a few remedies for its cure. We must first study the importance of our own personal tranquillity. The great Architect de- signed us for happiness and for usefulness, and he has said : " Let every man be slow to wrath." " Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice." "Ye also put oif all these, anger, wrath, malice." "Charity is not easily provoked." These precepts clearly show that the passion of anger is subject to our control. Ex- perience teaches the same thing. We see a per- son in a perfect storm of rage, and immediately the presence of authority or of a well-known Christian teacher causes the hurricane of angry feelings to subside, and with a sense of shame, and an apology, there is a great calm. This passion, like other passions, was given to be a servant, and not a master ; and every thoughtful man ought to know himself and be lord over it. 112 ANGER. Rev. Samuel Parker, archdeacon of Canterbury two hundred years ago, says : " The first reward of virtue is its own natural and intrinsic pleasure. Acts of love and kindness are in themselves grate- ful and agreeable to the temper of human nature ; and all men feel a natural deliciousness consequent upon every exercise of their good-natured passions ; and nothing affects the mind with greater com- placency than to reflect upon its own inward joy and contentment. So that the delight of every virtuous resolution doubles upon itself. In the first place, it strikes our minds with a direct pleasure by its suitableness to our natures, and then our minds entertain themselves with pleasant reflec- tions upon their own worth and tranquillity. And this is made so apparent from the plainest and most easy experience, that it can not possi- bly escape any man's animadversion. There is no man that does not perceive more satisfaction in the affections of love and joy and good will than in the black and unquiet passions of malice, envy, anger, and hatred that do but torment the mind with anguish, restlessness, and confusion. A base and ill-natured disposition frets and vexes itself with perpetual malcontentedness, and the man that gives himself up to any spite and ran- cor of mind, is not so much as within the ca- pacity of happiness ; at least in the same propor- CURE. 113 tion that good or bad passions prevail in the minds of men, in the same are they affected with joy or misery. Now this being made plain and visi- ble in the whole intercourse of human life, it must needs lay a mighty enforcement and manifest obligation to a suitable behavior; for what mo- tive can we conceive of nearer concernment than when the action itself is its own reward or pun- ishment ?" McClintock and Strong's " Cyclopaedia " says of anger : " Like most other emotions, it is accom- panied by effects on the body, and in this case they are of a very marked kind. The arterial blood-vessels are highly excited ; the pulse, dur- ing the paroxysm is strong and hard, the face becomes red and swollen, the brow wrinkled, the eyes protrude, the whole body is put into com- motion. The secretion of the bile is excessive, and it seems to assume a morbid consistency. In cases of violent passion, and especially in nervous persons, this excitement of the organs soon passes to the other extreme of depression ; generally this does not take place till the anger has subsided, when there follows a period of gen- eral relaxation. The original tendency to anger differs much in individuals according to tempera- ment; but frequent giving way to it begets a habit and increases the natural tendency. From 114 ANGER. the nature of anger it is easy to see that it must be — often at least — prejudicial to health. It fre- quently gives rise to the bile-fever, inflammation of the liver, heart, or brain, or even to mania. These effects follow immediately a fit of passion; other evil effects come on after a time, as a con- sequence of repeated paroxysms, such as par- alysis, jaundice, consumption, and nervous fever. The milk of a mother or nurse in a fit of pas- sion will cause convulsions to the child that sucks ; it has been known even to occasion instant death, like a strong poison. The controlling of anger is a part of moral discipline. In a ru- dimentary state of society its active exercise would seem to be a necessity ; by imposing some restraint on the selfish aggressions of one indi- vidual upon another it renders the beginnings of social co-operation and intercourse possible. This is its use, or as it is sometimes called, its final cause. But the more social intercourse comes to be regu- lated by customs and laws the less need there is for the vindictive expression of anger. It seems an error, however, to suppose that the emotion ever will be — or that it ought to be — extirpated. Laws themselves lose their efficacy when they have not .this feeling for a background, and it remains as a last resource for man, when society — as it does every now and then — resolves itself CURE. 115 into its elements. Even in the most artificial and refined states of society, those minor moralities on which half the happiness of social intercourse depends, are imposed upon the selfish, in great measure, by the latent fund of anger which every man is known to carry about with him." Such are some of the evils of anger to the person who indulges in that passion. These are, however, confined principally to his physical and moral being, but his unruly temper goes much farther; it has an influence upon his relation to God, to his family, and to society at large. An irritable, discontented, and quarrelsome person can never be happy himself, and he is constantly the cause of irritation and unhappiness to others. The man who has rightly studied the impor- tance of personal peace and tranquillity will have ascertained that self-control is one of the most difficult, as it is one of the most noble, of human conquests, especially when it is maintained under a sense of insult or injury received. In all cases the loss of self-control over our temper involves the loss of self-respect, and also the inevitable loss of the respect of others — that is a loss which the world's wealth can not repay. No man can, for any length of time, receive the real homage and respect of others who lacks the mastery of himself. Station, power, wealth may do some- 116 ANGER. thing for him ; native talent and genius still more; but not even these can ultimately keep back from merited contempt the helpless slave of his own miserable passions. Sad, indeed, is the spectacle of one born to high honors, and en- dowed by 1 ature with princely gifts, from whose hand is stricken the scepter of dominion over his own spirit. The man who has gained a sovereignty over himself, who has all his impulses and faculties at his command, has a wonderful relief in suffering. Such a man has power to steel to some extent his nerves, close his senses, and argue away his pains. By the power of calm reflection he can make the darkest of his sufferings luminous with stars. Like the iEolian harp, he can turn the fiercest tempests into music. To be able to bear a provocation without yielding to anger or resentment is indicative of wisdom. Some one has said that it would be human to resent a wrong, but it would be god- like to forgive it. Has any one injured you in person, character, or estate? Bear it with pa- tience. Anger is like rain, which breaks itself upon that on which it falls. Hasty words will only rankle and irritate the wound which soft and gentle words may dress and heal ; forgive- ness entirely cures it, while forgetfulness removes CUBE. 117 all the marks and evidences that a wound had been made. A person having behaved very rudely to Mr. Boswell, the latter went to Dr. Samuel Johnson and talked of the insult very seriously ; but the doctor only laughed, and said : " Sir, con- sider how very small and insignificant this will appear twelve months from this." If a person is bent on quarreling with you, leave him to do the whole of it himself, and he will soon become weary. Even the most malicious animal will soon cease to butt against a disregarding object, and will usually find his own head more injured than the object of his blind animosity. Anger is like the waves of a troubled sea; when it is corrected with a soft reply, as the the ocean is, with a little strand, it retires and leaves nothing but the froth and shells washed up from its own depths. "It is an easy mat- ter," says Plutarch, "to stop the fire that is kin- dled only in hair, wool, candlewick, or a little chaff ; but if it once have taken hold of fuel that hath solidity and thickness, it soon inflames and consumes it. When advanced to the highest timbers of the roof it becomes much more diffi- cult. So he that observes anger while it is in its beginnings, and sees it by degrees smoking and taking fire from some speech or chaff-like scur- rility, need take no great pains to extinguish 118 ANGER. it, but often puts an end to it by silence or neg- lect. For as he that adds no fuel to the fire hath already as good as put it out; so he that doth not feed anger at the first, nor blow the fire in himself, hath prevented and destroyed it." And the same author again says : " Had I a careful and pleasant companion, that should show me my angry face in a glass, I should not at all take it ill, for to see one's self so unnatarally disguised and disordered will conduce not a little to the impeachment of anger." Dionysius, who had injured Plato, and dreaded his anger, said to him : " Thou wilt speak ill of me when thou art with thy philosophers in the academy." "God forbid," answered Plato, "that we should have so much time to lose as to speak of Dionysius." Lavater says : " He that can sub- due his own anger is more than strong; he that can allay another's is more than wise; hold fast on him who can do both." Dr. Johnson says: " The round of a passionate man's life is in con- tracting debts in his passion, which his virtue obliges him to pay. He spends his time in outrage and acknowledgment, injury, and reparation." And Sir Thomas Brown declares: "There is no man's mind of such a discordant and jarring temper to which a tunable disposition may not strike a harmony." CURE. 119 Be sure to form a correct estimate of the im- portance of meekness and patience in the home circle. Next in importance to peace and tran- quillity in my own heart and mind I must study how to cultivate and develop the lovely graces and fruits of holiness in the enchanted spot we call home. In that sacred spot is the magic circle within which the weary spirit finds refuge, the sacred asylum to which the care and toil worn heart retreats to find rest from the toils and inquietudes of life. That home may be a castle or a cottage, a palace or tent, but whatever may be its surroundings or its interior, "it is a green spot in memory, an oasis in the desert, a center about which the fondest recollections of his grief- oppressed heart cling with all the tenacity of youth's first love. It was once a glorious, a happy reality, but now it rests only as an image of the mind." Into this home let no noisy, boisterous, angry words ever find an entrance. Let no sullen, murky, wrathful feelings ever dare to intrude themselves among the purest, truest, and holiest loves of earth. Husband and wife should not indulge in a bitter word or angry thought against each other. Parents must not provoke their children to anger. Masters must forbear threat- ening. Domestic happiness, that only bliss of 120 ANGER. Paradise, that has survived the fall, must not be broken or endangered by trivial or by imaginary causes. Small offenses must not kindle a flame, and kind and loving reproof must take the place of intemperate passion and hasty chiding. Hannah More says : "The angry word suppressed, the taunting thought, Subduing and subdued, the petty strife, Which clouds the color of domestic life ; The sober comfort, all the peace which springs From the large aggregate of little things — On these small cares of daughter, wife, or friend, The almost sacred joys of home depend." There is always something becoming and proper in the displeasure of master, mistress, or parent at what is wrong, and such an amount of reproof and chastisement as is necessary to the reformation of the offender, but it must always be tempered with the meekness and firm- ness of wisdom, and regulated by tenderness and love. Outbursts of anger and passion, uncontrolled and unnecessary, render heads of families contempt- ible and ridiculous, and convince their domestics that they are so far from being fit to govern others that they are wholly unable to govern themselves. There is a happy medium between Eli's indulgence and NabaFs brutal churlishness, which, if properly studied and secured, would CURE. 121 preserve peace and tranquillity, with good order in all our dwellings. There is one mischievous source of anger and bitter resentment in families against which par- ents and guardians should always carefully guard, that of favoritism and partiality among children. Perhaps, of all our infirmities, none is more com- mon, none is more unreasonable, unwise, and unjust, and none more fatal in its consequences to ourselves and to those around us. It not only sets father against mother and mother against father, sister against brother and brother against sister, but it often fatally discourages the one who is slighted, whom a little kindness might have saved, and it almost always ruins the favorite one. It sows the seeds of jealousy, anger, discord, and malice, which frequently produce innumerable mischiefs in families, embittering the lives of both parents and children. If parents are unable to suppress the feeling of partiality in their own hearts, they ought to set a double guard upon their actions, which may be understood as an index to their feelings. Both prudence and jus- tice, as well as policy, demand of them an equal distribution of their affection, their countenance, and their estates. Some of the best of men have made grievous mistakes on this point. In sacred biography we 122 ANGER. have some names recorded that stand out as a beacon to show the dangerous rocks that lie hid- den around there. In the patriarchal age we have the partiality of Isaac for his son Esau, whose savory meat was all the more tasty, because it was from the hand of his favorite son. We have Rebecca and her unjust scheming for her favorite son Jacob. How the domestic circle was for long years a scene of strife and con- tention, and how the advanced years of the ven- erable patriarch were embittered as he reaped that which he had previously sowed! How the minds of the two brothers had been alienated for the greater part of their lifetime, and their fami- lies and children embittered forever! The trifling circumstances of personal beauty, the color of the eye or of the hair, or the spright- liness of expression, and such like trifles, which, in themselves have neither merit nor demerit, have been quite enough to establish distinctions in families which have destroyed the domestic peace, flattering and pampering the one and cruelly discouraging and embittering another or several others. How painful it is to live a life of turmoil and contention in our homes, to have perpetual dis- quietudes where there should be unbroken tran- quillity. If a man can not have peace at home CURE. 123 where may he expect to find it ? Some persons are complaisant, polite, gentle, and good-humored among strangers, but morose, snappish, and ill- tempered at home. This is sheer hypocrisy, and shows how little concern they have for the com- fort and happiness of their families, and also that the fear of man has greater restraint over them than the fear and love of God. There are men now, as there were in the days gone by, whose greatest trial of life has been at home, and their prudence and their piety, and their patience, too, have all been taxed to their utmost tension by the bitterness of home life. Moses had a querulous Zipporah, ever averse to duty. Job had a wife who tempted him to curse God and die. Samson had his treacherous De- lilah. David's life was embittered by a scoffing Michal. Socrates had his Xantippe. John Wes- ley's wife nursed her jealousy and kept her anger warm. In all the departments of home life we must study and practice self-control, and by so doing we will acquire the power of controlling others. E. P. Hood says: "My lads, when a dog makes too free, jumps, and bounds over you, you say, 'Down, Nero! down, sir!' That is what you must say when passion rises, 'Down, sir!' " I once took a passionate man very much aback 124 ANGER. by asking him to hold his tongue while he felt my pulse, or else while I felt his. It is aston- ishing how efficacious a moment or two of quiet is in the midst of a great storm. When the fit of anger is very strong upon you, think how you would appear before a glass, or, rather, think how you do really appear before God. The greatest of all heroes is he who can rule his spirit in a great storm. "A man's house should be on the hilltop of of cheerfulness and tranquillity ; it should be so high that no shadows rest upon it, and so situated that the morning comes so early and the evening tarries so late, that the day has twice as many golden hours as those of other men. He is to be pitied whose house is in some valley of grief be- tween the hills, with the longest night and the shortest day. Home should be the center of joy, equatorial and tropical." Archbishop Cranmer had great control of his temper, and understood how to control the pas- sions and tempers of others. Though he lived in evil times, and had to associate with all classes of evil doers, he strangely won the confidence of his domestics, and preserved the confidence of his friends. Once a plot had been formed to take away his life. The kind hand of divine Provi- dence, however, so ordered affairs that the papers CURE. 125 which would have completed the plan were inter- cepted, and the authors of the plot discovered and traced to one of those who lived in the arch- bishop's family. Another of the conspirators had been greatly served by the kindness shown him by Cranmer. Having received the papers he took those men to a private apartment in his palace, and informed them, with great calmness of mind and manner, that some persons in his confidence had disclosed his secrets, and even accused him of heresy, and had planned for his betrayal and murder. They loudly censured such villainy, and declared the traitors worthy of death, one of them adding, that if an executioner was wanted, he would perform the office himself, such was his zeal and love for his bishop. Struck with their perfidy, he returned thanks to God for his wonderful preservation, lamenting the depravity of man ; and praying for his would-be murderers, he produced their letters, and inquired if they knew their authorship. The men now fell on their knees, confessed their crime, and humbly implored forgiveness. Cranmer mildly and ten- derly expostulated with them on their evil con- duct, forgave them, and never again alluded to their treachery. How calm and self-possessed in the midst of a storm ! His forgiveness of inju- ries was so well known that it became a by- 126 ANGER. word, a Do my lord of Canterbury an ill turn, and you make him your friend forever." When James Bruce, the renowned traveler, was in Abyssinia, one of the chiefs or governors, according to the custom of the country, sent him twelve horses, saddled and bridled, desiring him to fix on one for his own use. The groom, who well knew the temper and habits of the animals, urged Mr. Bruce to mount one of them, assuring him that it was a most excellent animal, and very quiet and safe to ride. It was soon seen the animal was extremely vicious, of which the man was well aware, and had indeed selected that one especially for the stranger with a malicious intention. The traveler, however, was well skilled in horsemanship. After a severe contest between the horse and the rider, the unruly animal was successfully curbed and completely subdued. Both well exhausted, Mr. Bruce descended unhurt. The governor expressed the greatest surprise and regret at the transaction, most solemnly protest- ing his entire innocence of any design on his part, adding, that the groom was already in irons, and before many hours passed would be put to death. "Sir," said Mr. Bruce, "as this man has attempted my life, according to the laws of the country, it is I that should name his punish- ment." " It is very true," replied the governor, CURE. 127 "take him and cut him in a thousand pieces, if you please, and give his body to the kites. He deserves to die." "Are you now really sincere in what you say?" asked Mr. Bruce, "and will you have no after excuses?" He swore solemnly that he was sincere, and that there should be no interference or excuse. " Then," said Mr. Bruce, "I am a Christian; the way my religion teaches me to punish my enemies is by doing good for evil ; and, therefore, I keep you to the oath you have sworn ; I desire you to set this man at lib- erty at once, and give him the place in your employment that he had before, for he has not been undutiful to you." Every one present seemed to be pleased with these words. One of the attendants could not contain himself, but, turning to the governor, said: "Did I not tell you what my brother thought about this man ? He was just the same all through the Tigres." The gov- ernor, in a low voice, very justly replied, "A man that behaves as he does may go through any country." Be master of thine anger. Certain courtiers reproached the Emperor Sigis- mund that, instead of destroying his conquered foes, he admitted them to favor. The illustrious monarch answered thus : " Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my fast friends?" We should always be willing and ready to 128 ANGER. make a just and honorable acknowledgment if we have given an offense. The little words, " I am sorry," " I was mistaken," " I am in error," are very easily said, if we have the spirit of a true Christian ; and no amount of pride or dignity or vanity or selfishness should lead us to vindicate an error or to defend a wrong word or act. We often fancy that our honor and our dignity are concerned ; but true humility and deep penitence, would reflect much more to our honor than any attempt at a justification of what was unbecom- ing or disrespectful to another. Most men are very sensitive on the point of honor, credit, or reputation, yet few persons duly consider how these can best be promoted, or what is the best way of obtaining them. Meekness and gentle- ness, in the point of true honor, are a thousand times better than obstinacy and resentment, both in the sight of God and man. " He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." The Alexanders and Caesars of history could conquer others, but they could not conquer themselves. A rational victory is far more honorable than a physical one. To govern an enemy within us is far more glorious than to kill an enemy without, and it is far more diffi- cult. To quiet intestine broils, to calm and still CURE. 129 an insurrection of passions and tempers in our bosoms, and to mortify the intruders — that is, to make them dead — is a much grander and nobler work than to take a kingdom or conquer a nation. A short time before the Indian war in Penn- sylvania an English gentleman, who lived on the borders of the province, was standing one even- ing at his own door when an Indian, faint and weary, came and asked for a little food. He was informed there was none for him ; he then asked for a little beer, and received the same answer^ Not yet discouraged, he begged for a little water, but the gentlemen only answered, "Get you gone for an Indian dog." The Indian fixed his eyes for a little time on the Englishman and then ,went away. Some time after this gentleman, who was fond of shooting, pursued his game till he was lost in the woods. After wandering awhile, he saw an Indian hut, and went to it to inquire his way to a distant plantation. The Indian said : "It is a great way off, and the sun is near down; you can not reach it to-night, and if you stay in the woods the wolves will eat you up, but if you have a mind you may lodge with me." The gen- tleman gladly accepted the invitation and went in. The Indian broiled some venison for him, gave him some rum and water, and then spread 130 ANGER. deer skins for him to lie upon. Having done this, himself and another Indian went and lay at the other end of the hut. In the early morning the Indian called his guest, and offered to go with him and show him the way to the plantation. Taking their guns, the two Indians went ahead, and he followed. When they had gone several miles the Indian told him they were now within two miles of the plantation he wanted ; he then turned round and stood in front of him, and said, " Do you know me ?" In great confusion the gentleman answered, " I have seen you before." The Indian replied, "Yes, you have seen me at your own door; and now I will give you a piece of advice. When a poor Indian, that is hungry and dry and faint, again asks you for something to eat and a drink, do n't bid him get him gone for an Indian dog." So he turned and went away. Which of these two was the greater gentleman and the truer hero? The an- swer is near at hand. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." We are often told that revenge is sweet ; but courtesy, forgiveness, and true noble- ness of mind are much sweeter; and let all the people say, Amen. The man who is given to indulge in anger CURE. 131 would remember that passion has a tendency always to darken the understanding, becloud the judgment, and warp all the powers of the mind. No two persons can differ more from each other than the same man differs from himself when on fire of passion and when calm and composed. If wrath and malice bear rule in the thought our judgment of the case before us can never be of any weight or any worth. One of the strongest proofs of the blinding influence of passion on the human mind is the general disposition of the angry man to justify his extravagance in word and deed, by the old plea, " I do well to be angry," although in his cooler and more tranquil moments his soul is vexed within him that he should have yielded to his besetting sin, and destroyed his own peace and proved himself a troubler of Israel. By means of late improve- ments our engineers now turn on the mighty pro- pelling power of steam to arrest the motion of our trains instead of the old-fashioned muscular force of the brakemen. O that we had some agency to help those weak brethren whose old habits and passions have so often humbled them in the dust, and shaken the last fragment of their confidence in themselves, and almost hopelessly blighted the hopes of their dearest friends in their final victory over "well-circumstanced" sin! O 132 ANGER. that we had some power to make them strong in the hour of their weakness, when the enemy comes in like a flood ! Thank God ! we have in Jesus Christ our Lord the greatest agency in the universe to quench the rising fires of passion. He says : " My grace is sufficient for thee." In the midst, therefore, of weakness we may be made strong, out of weakness we may be made victorious, for "the weakness of God is stronger than men." In Jesus we have a fountain in which are extinguished all the rising fires of anger, and the soiled and blackened nature is washed whiter than snow. This is the only remedy for those warm passions and turbulent emotions, and this remedy will do for us what the new arrangement does to help the engineer when he desires to put on the brakes — it turns all the forces of his new nature into a new direc- tion, and gives him complete mastery over him- self, and enables him to sing, " Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord." We must always be ready to forgive those who may have injured us, and to show that they are forgiven. The law of love must be written on our hearts, and the law of kindness expressed by our lips. We must show meekness, not only to the good and gentle, but to the fro ward also, to the CURE. 133 perverse and wicked, and to those who despitefully use and persecute us. A spirit of forgivenss is essential to Christianity ; and the consideration of God's forgiving us our many sins should in- duce us to grant a ready forgiveness of those who have injured us. The Gospel rule is, "as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." This rule must soften the hardness and sweep away the resentment and anger against others, and dispose us to forgive as we have been forgiven. We are commanded " to show all meekness unto all men." The answer of Cato to one who had struck him in the bath, and came to acknowledge his offense, was worthy of a great man. "I do not remem- ber it," said Cato. It is the glory of a man to pass over a transgression. A certain noble cour- tier being asked by what means he had continued so long in favor, replied, " By being thankful, and patiently enduring injuries." Socrates hav- ing, without any provocation, received a rude blow on his head by an insulting bravado, bore it with that patience which has put many pro- fessing Christians to the blush. With us it would likely lead to a quarrel or a lawsuit. But Soc- rates kept cool, and only made this calm and humorous remark: "It is a pity that a man can not know when he ought to come abroad with a helmet on his head." 134 ANGER. "We all At some time have had need to say, Forgive ; O ! nothing in this low and ruined world, Bears the meek impress of the Son of God So surely as forgiveness." — A. Cary. Oglethorpe, governor of Georgia, said, in a violent passion, to Mr. Wesley : "That vile serv- ant of mine misbehaves, though he knows I never forgive." "Never forgive!" said Mr. Wesley; " then I hope you never sin." The beautiful re- proof overcame the angry governor. Two merchants of the same city being neigh- bors, and jealous of each other, lived in shameful enmity. One of them embracing religion was at once condemned for his resentments. He consulted a pious friend in whom he had great confidence, and inquiring how he should manage to bring about a reconciliation, was told: "The best means at your disposal is this ; — when any person comes to purchase an article you have not, recommend them to go over to your neighbor and purchase of him." He did so. The other merchant, being informed of the person who sent them to him, was so struck with the good offices of a man he hated as an enemy, that he repaired immediately to his house to thank him, and to beg his pardon, with tears in his eyes, for the hatred he had entertained towards him, and besought him to admit him CURE. 135 among the number of his best friends. His for- giveness was soon granted, and the love of God closely united those whom self-interest and jeal- ousy had divided. A little blind boy being asked what forgive- ness is, replied : " It is the odor that flowers breathe when trampled upon." Did not this precious youth, to whom the world was dark, who had never seen the pleasant light of the sun, nor the beauty of flowers, give the true idea of for- giveness ? It is not difficult to feel kindly towards those that love you and confer favors upon you; but to have a store of good wishes and kind deeds for those that abuse and treat you ill, to be like the cinnamon-tree, that sheds its sweet perfume around the ax-man that wounds it, — this is not quite so easy. But it is what the meek and lowly Jesus did, and what his true children do. Here, then, is a test, by which all may know if you love Christ. If ye love them only that love you, what thank have ye? How do you feel when your friends and associates treat you ill? Can you return good for evil? Can you give them love for hatred? Can you pray for those that injure you? If so, you have this pleasing evidence ' that you " are the children of your Father which is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good." Remem- 136 ANGER. ber that one way to manifest the spirit of for- giveness is by kind words. A missionary in Jamaica was questioning the little black boys of his school on Matthew v, and asked, Who are the meek ? A little boy replied, " Those who give soft answers to hard questions." This accords with Solomon's words, "A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger." Dr. Dwight mentions a man of his acquaint- ance, of a vehement temper, who had a dispute with a friend, a professor of religion. He met with so much frankness, humility, and kindness in his Christian friend that, on returning home, he said to himself: " There must be something more in religion than I have hitherto supposed. Were any one to address me in the tone of haughtiness and provocation with which I accosted my friend this evening, it would be impossible for me to preserve the equanimity of which I have been a witness. There is something in the religion which he professes, and which lam forced to believe he feels and enjoys ; something which makes him so superior, so much better, so much more amiable than I can pretend to be. The subject strikes me in a manner to which I have hitherto been a stranger. It is high time to examine it more thoroughly, with more candor, and with greater solicitude than I have done CUBE. 137 hitherto." From this incident a train of thoughts and emotions commenced in the mind of this man, which terminated in his conversion and con- secration of his future life to the work of the Christian ministry. The calm, Christian spirit of forgiveness in one man led the other man to Christ. "Ill passions," says Beaumont, "are like rapid torrents, they swell the more for meeting with a dam in their violence. He that will hear nothing in the rage and fury of anger will, after a pause, inquire of you. Seem you to forget him, and he will remember himself. It sometimes falls out that the end of passion is the beginning of reason." Learn to expect injuries and affronts, so that you may not be surprised when they come. We do not live among angels, nor among men free from weakness and infirmity. Persons by whom we are surrounded are so much like ourselves, having tempers and dispositions, bodily and men- tal peculiarities such as we have, that they are as likely and as liable to err in judgment, and to make mistakes, and thus to grieve and offend us as we are to grieve and injure them. In all our connections and relations we may reasonably look for many things to displease and grieve us. Our sweetest roses have many sharp thorns ; our earthly sweets have more or less bitter mingled with 138 ANGER. them. Our joys are followed closely by sorrows, so that we can hardly expect to be perfectly at ease in a world of so much change and variety. Offenses will come, often even among God's dear children; but much more frequently among those who are unconverted. Many there are around us whose hearts are fully set in them to do evil; and it is true now, as of olden time, men " do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles." We must still learn " to keep our mouths as. with a bridle, while the wicked are before us." The scorpion tongue is yet close on our path ; the poisonous asp yet lurks among the lilies ; the wolf has not yet learned to dwell peaceably with the lamb, nor the leopard to lie down with the kid. "If thou seest the violent perverting judg- ment and justice, marvel not at the matter." Be not surprised into disquietude and passion; hav- ing been forewarned you may be forearmed by meekness and composure of spirit, and thus, in patience possess your souls, without resentment or fear, knowing that " when a man's ways please the Lord he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him." "He submits," says Lavater, "to be seen through a microscope, who is caught in a fit of passion." Steele says: "We should employ our passions in the service of life, not spend life in CUBE. 139 the service of our passions." And Seneca re- marks : " Malice drinks half its own poison." Carefully consider the great importance to yourselves and others of securing by a kind, gen- tle, and obliging spirit the affection and confidence of those with whom you have to do. We are formed for society. It is natural for us to desire the companionship and love of our neighbor; and all our interests and welfare are best promoted by that mutual co-operation and assistance which one neighbor can so easily give to another Our personal happiness in time is largely pro- moted by a friendly intercourse with others. Duty and interest both imperatively demand that we should "be kindly aifectioned one to another with brotherly love." The first law of nature and the first and great commandment in grace is, that we should love one another. We need one another's help and sympathy in the great battle for health and life against sick- ness and death ; and still more, in the greater con- flict of truth and holiness against error and sin. The more kindness and sympathy we show to others, the greater reason we have to expect a return of gentleness and good will. When we fall under afflictions, or are overtaken by distress- ful calamities, we need the sympathy, counsels, and prayers, as well as many other friendly offices 140 ANGER. of those around us, but how can we expect to realize any of those instances of kindness and neighborly love from them, if we have made them our enemies by cold indifference or mo- rose treatment ? The will of our Heavenly Father is, that we should show our love to him by our faith, our de- votion, and our zeal, and, also, by tenderly caring for one another. If we take pleasure in vexing and irritating each other along the paths of health and activity, what reason have we for expecting kindness and gentleness along the sloping hill- sides that lead us to the valley of departing shadows? When some of the courtiers of Philip the Good tried to persuade him to punish a prel- ate who had used him ill, he declined, saying : "It is a fine thing to have revenge in one's power, but it is a finer thing not to use it." If a man strikes me with a sword and inflicts a wound, suppose, instead of binding it up, I go round showing it to every body, and, after it has been bound up, I keep at work, constantly taking off the bandage and showing how long it is, and examining how deep it is, and making it fester, is there a person in the world who would not call me a fool for keeping up the irritation and hurt- ing myself? However, just such a fool is he, who, by dwelling no little injuries or slight in- CURE. 141 suits, causes them to agitate and irritate his mind and influence his feelings. How much better were it to put a bandage on the wound and allow it to heal at once. Sometimes angry words wound more deeply than swords or spears. Be deeply humbled before God on account of your own follies, failures, and errors. We have already shown that pride is the parent and nurse of passion and resentment. True humility is a garment that is, upon all occasions, an orna- ment for all Christians. Solomon said : " Before honor is humility," and " by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life." The apostle says: "Be clothed with humility," every day, and put on "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit." The humble man does not regard many things as insults and injuries which are so regarded by a proud man. He is not so weak and unreasonable as to suppose that he only has opinions and inclinations that ought to be respected, and he does not imagine, as many do, that little things said or done were always meant to annoy and vex. Carefully consider the circumstances of the per- son who may have offended you. To engage in a contention with one who is your equal in talent, ability, and piety is, to say the least, doubtful. Why not propose instead of angry strife, a mu- 142 ANGER. tual interchange of good wishes and agree to love and differ in opinion? To engage in strife with your superior argues a very great weakness, and borders on madness and folly. What if he be in the right and you in the wrong? To engage in a contention with your inferiors is greatly to lower yourself, and borders upon meanness. Why should you condescend to be angry and resent a slight under these circumstances? When Pisis- tratus was reviled by a poor drunkard inflamed with wine, his attendants urged him to avenge the insult; but the chief replied, that he was "no more moved by his reproaches than he should have been with a blind man who might happen to run against him without any knowledge or de- sign." The man who is intoxicated with anger deserves our pity as well as the one who is drunk with wine. Has a wicked man offended you by word or deed ? You need not at all to be surpised at that; he is serving his mater, whom he obeys, led cap- tive by the devil at his will. Why wonder that he ill-treats one of the Lord's children? It is his general character to *do so. Don't, on any account, allow your spirit to be ruffled by such a man. Was it a good man that offended you? It is a great pity that you should be disposed in any way to harbor resentment against one who is CUBE. 143 of our family, a child of God, too, an heir of heaven. There is some mistake somewhere. You must wait in charity and love until the whole case has been mutually investigated. You can not afford to be angry at a good man. The law of brotherly love imperatively forbids you. Is it so, that a wise and learned man has, or is sup- posed to have done you an injustice and hurt your feelings? Let your respect for his abilities soften your resentment. Once, it is said, Lu- ther had wofully wronged and reviled Calvin. "Well," said Calvin, "let Luther hate me and call me a devil a, thousand times, yet will I love him, and acknowledge him to be a precious serv- ant of the Lord." Such a feeling as that honors our great Savior. Is it a weak and foolish man who committed the offense? Perhaps he knows no better. Is he rich ? His wealth lays him open to the most powerful temptations to forget himself. Is he poor? His poverty may have crushed his spirit and broken his temper. Let his poverty move you to compassion and for- giveness. Was it a child? His youth will plead in his behalf. You could not be angry at a child. Is he an aged person ? Then great allow- ance must be made for his years. You would not like to harbor an angry feeling against an aged person. In almost every case where our feelings 144 ANGER. are hurt, a little careful consideration will always suggest some reason why our resentment may be modified. Passion is a fever, and, like most fevers, it leaves us weaker than it found us. The slave of sensual and selfish passions is miserable in all the activities of life; his fretfulness and peevishness make him unhappy, and drive away his friends and associates until he is left to die in solitude and contempt. Pride and angry passion are often our controlling impulses, and with the strong grasp of our resolute will we crush back into silence and obscurity our nobler and better feelings, and be- come less genial and more icy and hard hearted than before, until, by our own choice and act, we become a sort of moral suicide. Conquering the tongue and the temper is one of the last and highest attainments of Christian grace. Avoid the company and fellowship of passionate and furious men. It is an old saying, that " a man is known by the company he keeps." We almost instinctively learn the language, manners, and habits of those with whom we are on terms of intimacy. We easily drink in the spirit of those with whom we associate. How true it is that "evil communications corrupt good man- ners." Like the chameleon, we take a tincture or color from that which is near us. Familiarity CURE. 145 with opium and tobacco eaters and smokers en- dangers our purity and good taste. Frequent intercourse with drunkards endangers our temper- ance and sobriety. Association with the lascivious endangers our chastity. Become familiar with the proud and insolent, and your humility and good manners are in peril. Become an associate with an angry, passionate man, and you will most likely lose your meekness, gentleness, and self- control. The wolf is no fit companion for the lamb, nor the leopard for the kid. "Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man thou shalt not go : lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul." Come not into his company, do not converse frequently or familiarly with him as with a friend; the in- fection of his example and influence is more dangerous and more deadly than that of the lep- rosy or the small-pox. " A furious man aboundeth in transgression." In the misery and unhappi- ness of men of violent tempers and ungoverned passions we learn how important it is to be mas- ter of our anger, and ever cultivate true gentle- ness of spirit and a forgiving disposition. Matthew Henry tells us of a married couple who were both of this warm, excitable tempera- ment, both naturally passionate, but who lived verv happily together, bv simply observing this 10 146 ANGER. rule, never to be both angry at the same time. A