The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-05-17
}Y. COLUMBIA S. c. SUNDAY MORNING NAV ~ 1914
! Proverbs 10, Fart OF as,n Verse,

Proverbs 10. Fart OF asth Verse.
An old '''1AY SERMON" (by some.
body. revived and dedicated to peo-
pie who have nothing else to do but
slander their nei .hbors:
Reader, in the vast catalogue Of hu-
manity, there is no character more
dangerous than the oily-tongued whis-
perer.
The Proverbs of Solomon are full of
cautions to the wise to beware of lying
lips. the contentious, the whispercr
and the slanderer. His tongue is filled
with subtle poison. the Influence of
which is not at first felt by the victim,
but gradually itspreads through all the
avenues of the sys'em-pervade the
very seat of life. aud feeds with horrid
pleasure upon the form it has polluted
ind destroyed.
The whisperer is coward. Tie
hints at things he dare not avow. He
insinuates that the friendly smile is an
amorous hint. He makes the finder of
apenny in the street housebreaker
He contends that the innocent Jest
means secret wickedness-that the
glance OF jov is an invitation to licen-
tiousness. Nothing is too small for
the whisperer to notice-nothing too
large, too bold or too horrid for his
base and degraded Imagination to
manufacture and circulate.
The whispering slanderer is weaver
OF hnely-spun cobwebs. He puts this
and that together, connects the inno.
cent facts which may have reached his
eye or his ear, and Ills up all vaca,-
cies with the lying coinage Of his pes
tilential heart
The whlsperer makes no allowance.
With him, an indiscretion is u sin; a
thoughtless expression, inherent vi
cionsness. He lives but in falsehoods,
and breathes freely only in the sui
phuroue foulness of his own corrup-
ton. The pure atmosphere of Juno
cence brings disease upon his frame,
and, like true disciple of the wicked
one," he goes about ''seeking whom
he may devour."
How often has the tongue of the
slanderer beggared the merchant by A.
single insinuation of his inability to
paya certain debt? How often has
the mechanic been driven from his
workbench by a hint that q certain
piece OF work was ruined by his want
OF knowledge? How often has female
Innocence been driven to the brothel,
by the base whispers of one OF her
own sex? It seems as il some women
were particularly anxious to build up
their Own, perhaps, damaged charac-
ters as saints. by pulling down the re.
putasion of others, worshippers at the
same sltar. as il they supposed they
could obtain a: sanotifed notoriety by
the degradation Of another. Well did
the immortal bard understand this
trait OF character, when he made Ham.
let exclaim to Ophelia: ''Be thou ms
chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou
shRlt. not escape calumny."
NO one escapes. The prince Of this
world who is the father of lies, ON
poisoned almost every heart with his
vlleness, and the venom rankles in the
aonl until the image of the Almighty
becomes the tabernacle OF the devii.
zBd ''-'Tis slander;
whose edge ls sharper than sword. whose
ou.ysnorps all the worms of the Nile.
hidea onthe parting winds. and doth belle
All corners Of the world, Kings, Queens
end States,
Maids, mstrons, nay the secrets OF the
grave
This viprous slander enters"
Heed not, then, the slanderer. Be.
ware of tho whisperer. Spurn from
your presence whoever hints evil Of
ycn. ne!ghbor. and yet proves nothing.
Shun the ever-tattling gossip who in
sinustes aught against your friend.
Brand him or her az an enemy, and if
enough is said TO make you at all sus-
picions, suspect your informant, rather
than the one slandered. Depend upon
it.. yonr whispering .vender is
only shadowing forth to you the pol
luton OF his own heart. Were he not
guilty himself he would never be SO
ready to create suspicion against
others. We're he innocent, the acts Of
others would not be blackeued with
the shades Of vice.
Let not your friend be injured in
your estimation by aught thut malice
can invent against him. Withhold not
your confidence from your neiGhhor,
because slonderer hrs whispered evil
in your ear. BE lis guarded rs you
please, but at the same time be lust,
not forgetting your own frailties; be
charitable to others. and remember tho
text: "a whisper sepnrateth chief
friends"
Mr. Cborp copI,nkor =, a.. 49,.