ANSWER HIM SOFTLY by G. N.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 31, 1888

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 14, No. 34.

"ANSWER HIM SOFTLY."

By G. N.

Answer him softly. You cannot know In the depths below How sharp was the struggle, the fight he made Ere the price he paid, And yielded his soul to the tempter's power In a hasty hour.

Answer him softly; for it may be— Like the sturdy tree, Which tested, in many a storm, its strength, To be rent at length— He struggled full oft, and resisted well, Though at last he fell.

Answer him softly, lest you be tried On your weaker side, And fail, as before you so many have done, Who in thought had won; Fail, too, ere temptation had spent its force In its subtle course.

Answer him softly; for none can tell, When the storm clouds swell, Whose barque shall weather the tempest, or whose Its venture shall lose. Speak gently; the weakest may stand the gale, The stoutest may fail.

—G. N., in the Traveler.