Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1857-04-25
ny REV. f. c. JONES.

bf REV FS' u JONES.
" lie that hath knowledge spa.eth his words"
How uotivo-on ogeut for guUd OF evil Is
the tongue, and how rarely do we tcei the
importance of its management as lever OF
aclon Some there ere TO whom any ad.
vice on such a theme would be looked upon
as supeihuous and unreasonable. They
have always been cha acterizcd by volubiIi.
ty and with them speaking is the essential
condition of existence Indeed the great
mass of seutient and responsible beings
speak too much. To be garrulous is not the
index and type of advancing age. 1t ap-
pertains to humanity in the abstract The
tongue has its circuit through which il must
revolve, if il conforms to the exactions of
conventional usage That circuit is an ex-
teDsive one. Ittakes in the survey of the
business and the domestic privacies Of our
acquainiances, sweeps the field Of legalized
scandal, passes its vetoes on Scriptural
truths, inveighs against the doings of states
manship, oanvasscs the heights and depths
of "A transcendeotal philosophy, and then
having completed revolution which often
has in il mole of the malignant influence of
a bnleful come, than the genial light and
heat of the solar orb, ceases from its labors
till it is reused into activity with the dawn.
Now we do not belong to those who ccnsure
freedom in the discussion Of ordinary and
recurring topics of interest and we fully re-
alize the fact that genial flow of words, as
well rs pleasant cmiles, impart warmth and
glow, and zcst 10 the humanities of social
being. We know that to chain up the cur
rent of ofspeech as such would be TO transform
Paradise into the Arctic zone As well as
Homer, the blind old bard OF Scio, we full
ly appreciate the advantage and the moral
power, and the winning influence of ewing
ed words" Those words may have heal
ing on their wings. And il is lust because
we would have them so that we pen these
lines. We believe that the ordinary topics
Of social converse could be sublimaed and
refined. We believe that where two Or
three are met together, they may aud ought
to separate with a higher tone of moral
feeling, keener appreciation of lher rela.
tive duties, more brotherly regard for
their kind, and little wiser in some points
of practical information. Society has no
right to expect me TO spend my hours of
social fellow ship in the vapid and spirilless
detail OF hum drum gossip. If its tone is
SO low, let me try TO elevate it either by the
opportune Introduction of some sensible re-
mark, or by that silent rebuke which init
mates spirit Of disapproval.
There is such thing ms gracefully turn
ing the tide ofremark, which is still q bet
ter plan. When person has the tact and
skill, he can often divert the current into
healthful chahacis. One little, sagacious
remark may thus lead company into high,
er regions of thought and fancy, and lead to
The development Of intellectual activities
hitherto undreamed of, because latent and
unexercsed. There is higher motive how
eYer,to the proper government of the tongue
that demands our notice. 1t is not founded
upon mere social utility. 1t derives all it's
force from the higher sanctions of the re.
vealed will of the Almighty. Persons may
say, as did the ungodly in David's time,
" Our lips are our own" but this does not
alter the relation in which we stand to God
" By thy words thou shalt be justified, and
by thy words thou shalt he condemned. :"
Such is the statute of the Saviour, and be
never repea an iota of what he ulters.
"Swift to hear, slow 10 speak" is the apos-
toIic maxim. And again. says ST. James,
"who is wise man and endued with knowl.
edge among you? Let him show out of q
good conversation his works with meekness
or wisdom Here let us observe that
good conversation constitutes works. That
words, however apparently fleeing. like the
down Of flowers, pass into the air TO germi-
nate afresh, that they are veritable deeds in
their issues for wea! or woe, that The talking
man is the acting man, that there is efficien.
cy in simple utterance, that profit or disad
vantage makes its nest in syllables and SEN
tences. Oh, with what sublime and ma
iestic dignity are words invested as they
march from the portals of our lips. Let
them not rush out. then, like the mixed null
titudes thatcame from Egypt butin the calm
andmeasu,ed dignity Of Spartan chiefs. Let
not our lips be the porch OF Venus or Bac-
chus, whence lewd and obscene and vulgar
slang shoots out unbiushngIy, as if to court
a laugh at table or be regarded as a ioval
boon companion, was something for which
propfiety should be sacrificed and modeety
struck dead f'Let no corrupt communica.
ton proceed out OF your mouth but that