Page:MyPrayerBookHappinessInGoodness.djvu/81

 ut while  common  sense  convinces  us  of  the  truth of kind  interpretations,  common  selfishness  ought to open  our  eyes  to  their  wisdom  and  their  policy. We must have  passed  through  life  unobservantiy  if  we  have never perceived  that  a  man  is  very  much  himself  what he thinks  of  others. Of course  his  own  faults  may  be the  cause  of  his  unfavorable  judgments  of  others;  but they are  also,  and  in  a  very  marked  way,  effects  of  those same judgments. A man  who  was  on  a  higher  eminence before  will  soon  by  harsh  judgments  of  others sink to  the  level  of  his  own  judgments. When you  hear a man  attribute  meanness  to  another,  you  may  be  sure not only  that  the  critic  is  an  ill-natured  man,  but  that he has  got  a  similar  element  of  meanness  in  himself,  or is  fast  sinking  to  it. A man  is  always  capable  himself of a  sin  which  he  thinks  another  is  capable  of,  or  which he himself  is  capable  of  imputing  to  another.

ind words  are  the  music  of  the  world.

ind words  produce  happiness. How often  have we ourselves  been  made  happy  by  kind  words,  in a  manner  and  to  an  extent  which  we  are  quite  unable to explain? No analysis  enables  us  to  detect  the  secret of the  power  of  kind  words;  even  self-love  is  found inadequate as  a  cause. Now, as  I  have  said  before, happiness is  a  great  power  of  holiness. Thus, kind words, by  their  power  of  producing  happiness,  have also a  power  of  producing  holiness,  and  so  winning  men to God.

ind words  cost  us  nothing,  yet  how  often  do  we grudge  them? On the  few  occasions  when  they