New-York tribune., 1874-08-04
THE LATTER-DAY GOSSIPS.
DIsCovERY-CONs FOR THE DEFAMATION
OF PERSONAL CHARACTER.

OF PERSONAL CHARACTER.
To the Editor Of The Tribune.
SIR can very readily believe that several scores
of people in this and the neghborng city feel sharp
twinge of conscience at the mention OF gossip ana
gossps The old-fashioned tae-bearerof of the novelist
and the essayist, whose eyes were as keen as her
tongue, and whose temper as strong as her tea'
is familiar figure in every memory: but OF late this
community has made the startling discovery mat
much more malicious and dangerous type ot the
busybody has put III appearance among us. 10
state it briefly. it has recently come to the knowledge
of the reading pubiic-and nowadays the whoie pup
lie reads-that scanGalous aud filthy series OF
stories duplicating distinguished preacher ana
Christian lady, set in motion by man VINO mcan-
while owned the lady as his wife, and who had
gained success chiefly through the guidance, IN
lluence and aid of the man he accused have been
nur5ed and kept alive with their oathsomenesS fuily
aired and sent their swift and devastating
Journey, not by flash newspapers or persons
professedly lewd, but b. people who claim
to be political and moral reformers-and
here no reference is made 10 advocates OF
lcentiousness-by lecturers, by editors by business
men, by men and women who devote themselves TO
the work of securing the ballot for women. and By
Others holding good positions in 4 society half III
erary and half fashionable There could scarcely
be "A more hilcOus anomaly than the clrrIon Ist ot
these ef-pr0claImed advocates of woman over tie
supposed fall Of ono OF the sex they chdmPohe ana
of a great preacher who had done more tEan any
one OF his profession 10 aid tde chief measure Wlich
many of them were bent upon accomplishing; but
no such consideration served 10 deter them from
their chosen task. The nauscating details, once
rolled under thc tongue, were drbbled out to every
confidential friend. and by them repeated with PIE
turcsque additions and eXaggerations to then con-
~ ~, ftttf ft.ir
confidential friends should not lose such treat.
so ran the tuTbid stream OF scandal and nastlneSs
Did these people ever ponder what they doins'
Even if the great preacher guilty. why should
ladies' and gentlemen socalled. have soii.d their
lips with accusations which a PoIics GG-e'te would
scarcely have dared - print If be- were innocent
how awful the responsibility OF those who wau!only
blackened the fairest fame Ia th" puipi; II the
Western World
As for the man who set this foul current IN motion
and kept up an oiicous stirring lest it mI2t grow
sagnant there remains fortunately little need OF de
fining his position Those who still regard honor,
truthfulness and purity manly virtues will take
satisfaction III the thought that whatever may come
of this dcplorabe business there can be NJ doubt OF
the sentiments of this community toward the chief
of these gossips who goGsiped of his own dishonor
If the man whom he attacks be innocent, rs | hope
the depth of his slanderer's blackness and perjury
If the accused one should be proved guilty. even
those who will gOat over his fall will have feel
ing but one of loathing for the man who struck him
down. The name of Wilkes Booth became as bate
full to the Southern Fire e-cater as to the Northern
Abolitionist.
The whole affair is an excellent illustration of the
wisdom of the injunction, Mind your own business.
Remember that a mans house is his castle, and that
when you ntrude upon its privacy, You invade
sacred ground. Take of your family and your
nelgbbors will take care of theirs. And when "A man
comes to you with story compromising his wifcs
honor, or wants to read yOu " statement OF an
"apologyp or trpartite agreement" and asks for
your advice as to its wording. its general rhetOr
cal effect or the ingenuity of its evasons and pre-
varcations take him by the collar and set him ont
of doors with the request that he his family
affairs according to his own ideas of pr0prety. If
the possps of both sexes, who joined this conspir
acy of defamers had asserted their manhood and wo-
manhood when they first pluckedb by the sleeve,
this dreadful scandal would years ago have become
a thing of the past. Its pr0mulgatOr would have
found all pure ears closed to him. He would have
been forced to abandon his scheme and seek some
other way of running his lifelong benefactor; or
supposng, for the sake of argument, his charges to
be true he might have been spurred TO sufficient
manliness to state them in a proper way. In either
event the air would long since have been cleared;
now there lies upon us cloud which not even abso-
lute proof Of innocence can wholly dspel.
Netr- York Aug |, 1874.