A man in a passion rides a horse that runs away with him
Charles Spurgeon · John Ploughman's Pictures; or, More of His Plain Talk for Plain People
HORSE THAT RUNS AWAY
WITH HIM.
WHEN passion has run away with a
man, who knows where it will
carry him ? Once let a rider lose power '
(195)
196 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
over his horse, and he may go over hedge
and ditch, and end with a tumble into the
stone-quarry and a broken neck. No one
can tell in cold blood what he may do when
he gets angry ; therefore it is best to run
no risks. Those who feel their temper ris-
ing will be wise if they rise themselves and
walk off to the pump. Let them fill their
mouths with cold water, hold it there ten
minutes at the least, and then go indoors,
and keep there till they feel cool as a cu-
cumber. If you carry loose gunpowder in
your pocket, you had better not go where
sparks are flying ; and if you are bothered
with an irritable nature, you should move
off when folks begin teasing you. Better
keep out of a quarrel than fight your way
through it.
Nothing is improved by anger unless it
be the arch of a cat's back. A man with
his back up is spoiling his figure. People
look none the handsomer for being red in
the face. It takes a great deal out of a
man to get into a towering rage ; it is al-
most as unhealthy as having a fit, and time
has been when men hav^e actually choked
themselves with passion, and died on the
A MAN IN A PASSION. 197
spot. Whatever wrong I suffer, it cannot
do me half so much hurt as being angry
about it ; for passion shortens hfe and poi-
sons peace.
When once we give way to temper, tem-
per will claim a right of way, and come in
easier every time. He that will be in a pet
for any little thing will soon be out at
elbows about nothing at all. A thunder-
storm curdles the milk, and so does a pas-
sion sour the heart and spoil the character.
He who is in a tantrum shuts his
eyes and opens his mouth, and very
soon says what he will be sorry for.
Better bite your lips now than smart for
life. It is easier to keep a bull out of a
china shop than it is to get him out again ;
and, besides, there's no end of a bill to pay
for damages.
A man burning with anger carries a mur-
derer inside his waistcoat; the sooner he
can cool down the better for himself and all
around him. He will have to give an ac-
count for his feelings as well as for his
words and actions, and that account will
cost him many tears. It is a cruel thing to
tease quick-tempered people, for, though it
may be sport to you, it is death to them ;
198 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
at least, it is death to their peace, and may-
be something worse. We know who said,
*^ Woe to that man by whom the offence
Cometh."
Shun a furious man as you would a mad
dog, but do it kindly, or you may make him
worse than he would be. Don't put a man
out when you know he is out with himself.
When his monkey is up be very careful, for
he means mischief A surly soul is sure to
quarrel ; he says the cat will break his hearty
and the coal scuttle will be the death of him.
" A man in a rage
Needs a great iron cage.
He'll tear and he'll dash
Till he comes to a smash ;
So let's out of his way
As quick as we may."
As we quietly move off let us pray for
the angry person ; for a man in a thorough
passion is as sad a sight as to see a neigh-
bor's house on fire and no water handy to
put out the flames.
Let us wish the fellow on the runaway
horse a soft ditch to tumble in, and sense
enough never to get on the creature's back
again.
WHERE THE PLOUGH SHALL FAIL
TO GO.
THERE THE WEEDS WILL SURELY
GROW.
I
N my young days farmers used to leave
broad headlands ; and, as there were
(199)
200 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
plenty of good-for-nothing hedges and
ditches, they raised a prime crop of weeds,
and these used to sow the farm, and give a
heap of trouble. Then Farmer Numskull
" never could make out nohow where all
they there weeds could 'a come from." In
those good old times, as stupids call them,
old Tusser said :
" Slack never thy weeding for dear or for cheap,
The corn shall reward it when harvest ye reap."
He liked to see weeding done just after
rain : no bad judge either. He said,
" Then after a shower, to weeding a snatch,
'Tis more easy then the root to despatch."
Weeding is wanted now, for ill weeds
grow apace, and the hoe must always go ;
but still lands are a fine sight cleaner
than they used to be. for now farmers go
a deal closer to work, and grub up the
hedges, and make large fields, to save
every bit of land. Quite right, too. The
less there is wasted the more there is
for us all.
To clothe the fields with plenty and all our barns endow,
We'll turn up every corner and drive the useful plough.
NO PLOUGH, MANY WEEDS. 201
No weed shall haunt the furrow, before us all shall bow,
We'll gaily yield our labor to guide the useful plough.
It would be well to do the same thing in
other concerns. Depend upon it, weeds
will come wherever you give them half a
chance. When children have no school to
go to they will pretty soon be up to mis-
chief; and if they are not taught the gos-
pel, the old enemy will soon teach them to
thieve, and lie, and swear. You can tell
with your eyes shut where there's a school
and where there's none : only use your ears
and hear the young ones talk.
So far goes the plough, and where that
leaves off the docks and the thistles begin,
as sure as dirt comes where there's no wash-
ing, and mice where there are no cats. They
tell me that in London and other big
towns vice and crime are sure to spread
where there are no ragged schools and Sun-
day schools ; and I don't wonder. I hope
the day will never come when good people
will give up teaching the boys and girls.
Keep that plough going, say I, till you have
cut up all the charlock. Don't leave a rod
of ground for the devil to sow his tares in.
In my young time few people in our parish
202 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
could either read or write, and what were
they to do but gossip, and drink and fight,
and play old gooseberry ? Now that teach-
ing is to be had, people will all be scholars,
and, as they can buy a Testament for a
penny, I hope they will search the Script-
ures, and may God bless the word to the
cleansing of their souls. When the school-
master gets to his work in downright
earnest, I hope and trust there will be a
w^onderful clearance of the weeds.
The best plough in all the world is the
preaching of the gospel. Leave a village
without Christ crucified, and it soon be-
comes a great tangle of thorn, and briar,
and brake, and bramble ; but when sound
and sensible preaching comes, it tears all
up like a steam plough, and the change
is something to sing about. "The desert
shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."
Inside a man's heart there is need of a
thorough ploughing by God's grace, for
if any part of our nature is left to itself,
the weeds of sin will smother the soul.
Every day we have need to be looked
after, for follies grow in no time, and come
to a great head before you can count twenty.
God speed the plough.