"An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in
transgression."--PROV. xxix. 22.
The old sailor Jonas sat before the fire with his pipe in his mouth,
looking steadfastly into the glowing coals. Not that, following a
favourite practice of his little niece, he was making out red-hot
castles and flaming buildings in the grate, or that his thoughts were in
any way connected with the embers: he was doing what it would be well if
we all sometimes did,--looking into himself, and reflecting on what had
happened in relation to his own conduct.
"So," thought he, "here am I, an honest old fellow,--I may say it, with
all my faults; and one who shrinks from falsehood more than from fire;
and I find that I, with my bearish temper, am actually driving those
about me into it--teaching them to be crafty, tricky, and cowardly! I
knew well enough that my gruffness plagued others, but I never saw how
it _tempted_ others until now; tempted them to meanness, I would say,
for I have found a thousand times that _an angry man stirreth up
strife_, and that a short word may begin a long quarrel. I am afraid
that I have not thought enough on this matter. I've looked on bad temper
as a very little sin, and I begin to suspect that it is a great one,
both in God's eyes and in the consequences that it brings.
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