The Red Cloud chief., 1877-11-15
Golden silence.

speech Is SlItcfn Out silence u Rplu
en-" saith the pIoverb. Certainly a TAI
ent for holding ones tongue DESERVES
high rank among negative virtues.
| Many a man passes for wise simply by
saying nothing, and those who talk
least make fewest enemies. True, We
sometimes may repent our silence. but
such repentance is rare compared 10 the
frequency with which We array our
selves I'm mental sackcloth because of
incautious speeches. To adopt the rule
once given TO atalkative girl by a friend
who knew the world. Never speak of
yourself. and never say anything which
is unnecessary" would seem at frs,
likely u make Carthusian monks AMI
nuns Of us all; yet II Is To 5equestioned
whether the advice were not wise.
There are always people who like "a
talk, and good listeners are rare. IL is
said Macaul y once rode half "A day In "A
| coach with "A deaf mute. whom he af-
forwards pronounced a person OF re-
markab!e sound political views. and
Madame de Stael OF one occasion was
induced to haIangue a wax figure for
All hour under the impression that II
(the fgure) was a gentleman who ad-
mired her writings and had expressed
a desire to become acquainted with the
author. These stories may or may no
Ne facts; certain IL is. both Of the great
~personages in question were fond o.
hearing themselves talk, and sufficient
ly egOtistical not to notice whether
| their remarks elected more than sil.n,
acQuiescence on the part of others.
All savage nations place high value
| upon silence, and conversation is be.
yond doubt one Of the arts Of ~civlIizi-
tiol. To know what To say and when
to Say it-this Is the sixth sense which
shall steer its possessor safely over hid
den shoals and through breakers, and
win for him the harbor OF popularity
Fluency and ~garrulity. these are differ.
ent. a. distinct, "a the flowers We cult
vate with care and the weeds we uproo,
in disgust from u flower borders: pity
the one should ever be- mistaken for the
other. CndOubte fly half the mischief
In the world has been done by too much
talking. Had Eve not stopped to parley
with the serpent. Paradise had never
been lost |; and thencefOrth all through
history idle words have been one OF the
agencies which have turned the fate OF
nations. And a word once spoken can
never he unstid; alas for the time,
when we bewail ourselves in dust AMI
ashes over the speeches we would fain
never have spoken. Perhaps the East
ern despots. who cut out the tongues OF
their slaves, placed too high a value
upon silence as a virtue for servants
Yet modern usage demands the vel
trained domestic shall never speak un
less first spoken 10. "Good children are
e but not heard Is q saying. passed
into oblivion with the old fashioned
doctrine which required flial obedience !:
but In the days when IL was part of
household doctrine it must have addei
infinitely To the comfort Of the families
in which it was so observed. In short
throughout all ages sages have laugh,
the virtue Of silence, and hundreds OF
wise sayings might be quoted ia Its
praise; but neither preverb nor precspt
can have more weigh. than the words
OF Holy Writ. wherein it Is said that
For every idle word God shall call US
into Judgment"