The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-05-01
From Arthur's Home INdgo=imc.
$50 THEY SAY"

my window. did not see the speaker;
did not even look. for the street was so
tbronged that would have been unable
to define linn. And yet l was us certain
that the remark was the world wide guar
antec to some piece of scandal rs was
that the voice was coarse, ilI-tcmpcrcd and
masculine.
Some writer has represented "old Mr.
Theysay" as an arrant paradox, who exists
and does not exist, who is everywhere and
nowhere, who is responsible and irrcsponsi-
hle. Without attempting to continue
this figure, or to trace up the genealogy of
the character, we could not help thinking
that those three short simple words, $50
Mry say" have been productive of incalcul;:-
bic mischief in the world.
They arc words that have blasted rcputa
tons, severed the most sacred ties, darkcncd
many Il hcartlStonc, poisoned throbbins
hearts, and disl,onorcd female virtue. They
are the covert of the sandcrer his mus:y
refuge from the searching eye of in
quiry.
Ii there is any curse upon society, any
excrrscence that should he Topped off of it,
it is the slantlcrcr, the scandal monrcr, the
Jew-vcnder Of hligling inucndocs and
vital stigmas, the pawnbrollcr in hintc,;
doubts, "hcsitatcd diSlikcs" and " "slouldcr
shrugged discrepancies"
These "soft huzzing slandcrers, the silk
moths that cat an honest name," are often
found among the opposite sex women who
have warmed themselves into sort of paItry
independence, through, leg;,cics left them
as the wages Of toadcating.
The dark nsinuaton, the half suppressed
sentence, the low whisper, the underlined in
ilmation-tlicsc are the weapons used Ivy
those who should have the brand Of mramy
huri; deep iii their torelea,ls, and bc hung
higher than naaman in the scorn of the
world.
Envy is generally the prompter to SLAM
der. No passion of perverted human ma
t,lrc can sink one lower in the scale of
moral qualities than envy. No species Of
envy is admissible, save that which hurts
neither ourselves nor others. but spurs us
to greater making lis essay to hc
equal TO ar above the subject exciting sucl,
envy. What IN amount of this passion
often lie, hid beneath, "the cold words
that hide the cnvio,s thought as Willis
expresses it.
Emulation may be noble ambition NAV
hc glorious; competition may be praise
worthy, but envy is the Very blackness of
the souI-thc turbi,IneSs that rises from
the fountains depth below. "It is not an
ardor kindled by the noble example of
Others 1t is not IN eager. commcn,labe
desire after prctcrncnt and superiority {;
but on the contrary, is Il jealousy awakened
10y whatever may exalt others-or gives
them pleasures and advantages which we
desire for notwithstanding the impress
of ma'evoence and malgnity.
80 "' VIZ P""H'oiH, says wfitcr,
"cnvy is that which exacts the hardest SER
vice and pays the bitterest wages. It's ser
vice is, to watch the success of our enemy ::
It's wages, to DC Suyc of it ~
Slander is more particularly directed
against defenceless woman. She is more the
creature Of impulse than the less excitabe,
colder and more calculating man. She is
more instructive anG less reasoning; she
is truer to nature and nearer to Cod: last
made in the order of creation, in moral
cmincnce she stands first" Character is
all that the female has to depend on in
the wide, wide world. Oh, then, why
should any, even in jest, whisper words
which, whether true or not, may throw a
blight upon spotless reputation? A
thought may be stifed at birth; but a
word spoken can never he recalled. The
story you whispered will return to YOU in
tones of astounding even your
SELF who were the first guilty wretch to re-
peat so malignant a falsehood.
Envy and censure can never extenuote
ca'"mny. The following sweet, yet simple
lines, by Mrs. Osgood, speak volumes on
the subject:
whisper woke the air
A soft light tone and low,
Yet barb'd with shame and woe
Now, might it only perish there!
Nor further 60.
All, me! quick and eager ear
Caught up the meaning sound!
Another voice has breathed it clear,
And 10 it wanders round
From ear to lip-from lip to ear,
Until it reached gentle heart
And hat-it broke.
~ "Mr. Filkins, you say you know the
defendant-what is his character
"For what, spreeing or integrityr'
"For integrity, sir"