Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1871-02-16
From the New iork RuralJ
THOUGHTS AND QUERIES.
A Short Sermon on slanderous
speech.

ohOt oeEHoN on BihuueFOue
speech.
If all the good deeds performed,
all the kind words spoken, I'll holy
desires breathed, were placed upon
one 81 e Of a great boat. aud all
the wicked deeds, unkind vor Is,
and selfish thoughts placed upon
the other side, would the boat drift
fro n the shores of time to the far
off coasts Of eternity, evenly bal
an ed? Though they were equal
in number, the good deeds and the
ev !, methinks the side of evil
would do much toward dragging
the whole boat down to the very
depths Of the ocean Of darkness.
Do not evil influences reach ont
farther than the most righteous !?
Are we not too apt to remember
Injuries much lOnger than we do
favors? -? Let one whom all our
lives we have believed our firm
f'liend-trom whom we have re-
ceived obligations without mum
ber-but speak a single sentence
againstus, and, if it be, waited to.us
on wings of a slanderOus tongue,
our anger is instantly aroused.
We forget to cast in the kind OBJ
legations we have received, to over.
balance, it may be, the imaginary
wrong,-and quickly begin to pick
flaws in that persons character,
whom an hour before we had be-
lieved almost perfect.
A young lady may be beautiful
and beloved. For years she is the
bright, particular star of large
and admiring circle Of friends, SHE
is obedient to her parents, ainia-
BILE, and affeetionate; kind to the
oppressed, watches With the sick,
and attends to their many wants.
often sacrifices her pleasure for the
sake of giving comfort and happi-
ness to her friends. Suddenly she /
is tempted and betrayed by one she /
trusted next to God. Sic takes
one wrong step. Is there a rush
to save her from falling down to
the depths of darkness and de-
spair? Does all her former purity
and loveliness of character cover
the deformity of her one sin? BY
no means. All Of her good quail
fcations are, as it were, Gotted
out. Everybody "knew that she
WASH a likely girl" Her wrong
doing is talked over at every tea
table and every neighborhood
gathering for miles around. Peo.
ple who had never before heard OF
such an individual as laura NJ,
hear now. not Of how good she
always had been, but of her eaor-
nous crime. Never again must
she be permitted to enter the walks
of respectable society, no matter
how pure her life may be hereafter
Only CHRIST can look upon such,
and say, Thou art forgiven look
upon stricken one, and strive again
to be worthy Of wearing an angels
crown
Let but one eye of suspicion be
cast upon an innocent person, liv.
ing in a large community, and tits
almost impo sible to throw off the
incubus; indeed, it may be quite
impossible to become entirely rid
of the stain.
For nearly two thousand years
the lessons Of CHRIST have been
taught:- ''Do ulto Others as ye
would have others do unto you,
"Forgive, as ye would be forgiven :"
Judge not, that We be not judg-
ed.a And yet we find few per
sons who really and truly make
these texts the aim of their lives,
and why is il that these lessons are
not better needed? lris not be-
cause evil influences prevail?
II He, in his divine goodness
and purity, can look upon all and
say, Il forgive why may not
those who are constantly breaking
Gods commands, forgive each
other? If we could and would
forgive these first crimes, how often
might those who are conyiets nel~'
have become lights of life and love |
in every good cause! When one
of the Disciples asked how many
times he should forgive his broth
er, our SAVIOUR replied, Il say
not unto thee seven times, but
until seventy times seven," mean
ing as often as he sinned. If we
build high the walls of forgiveness,
will they not be garnished with
gems more precious than diamonds
or emeralds2 MAY MAPLE.