Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1879-04-26
ISLANDER.

party spoken of Secondly, 1t is breach
of the same law, in relation to the party speak
ing There is so much of that evil IN this
community, as well as in others, that it will
not be presumplive to ask the sianderer a
few pertinent questions. Does he desire to
be esteemed in society for his intelligence,
his sense of Justice, his knowledge of tn"
decencies Of life, a;ni for the OhserVances 81
| them d? If he happens to be i'll tempered,
| petulant to his connections aud associates; II
| he makes hasty and troublesome judgments,
which he has to rescind or reform; if he hap
pens to be ridiculous in his deDortment, aud
remarkable for silly van;tles, is he willing to
| have these things set forth i'll any and every
company by any who knows of them
Suppose them to be only some slight founda-
ton for more of these things, which,
if he could have an opportunity to explain,
would be entirely cleared up, is he wiling to
have that slight foundation made the basis OF
structure of reproach, which, if true
or real, ought to eNpel him from decent So
ciety Suppose there be no foundation at all
for any such accusation against him, and yet
somehow, and unaccountabIy, it is ahoat and
circulating, would he not think that great in
Justice had been done him That is ust
what he does to others. He takes away their
GOOD name, and ruins mis- own; he
magnfies their little faults and errors, and
makes them ridiculous and odlous; he tries |
them on indictments Of serious otfenses, |
ao,inst rhich h..y, ha GA M, ,n,nrtunjtv IN de- !
fend themselves, and Of which they are totally |
ignorant Where does he get his infotnaIioni |
Is the source worthy of credit Did he IN |
derstand it as it was intended that he shouldf !
When and how did his informants derive
what they communicated? Were they Thought |
less, or malicious slanderers like himself !
How much has the slanderer added by way of |
recommending and making himself agreeable? |
Has he broken any law by this conduct The |
reply is summed up as follows: He has |
broken every law which al honest and honor
able man and a rational individual, should re-
spect. He makes every person to whom he
has spoken fear and shun him. He has shown
that he does not appreciate the value of
ever had one. He has shown that he is
stranger to self respect: that he likely has
every fault, folly and error, which he ilnputes
to others, whom he tries to draw down to his
own infamous level. Thus he has broken
that law which commands him to do no evil
to himself He has violated that principal of
natural law which commands him to do no in
justice to his fellow man. He ISLANDERS men
and women whom he does not know, and
should he become acquainted with them, find
that all he has said, and helped to circulate,
utterly groundless. On the other hand, if the
slandered be one whom the slanderer occasion
ally meets, and even asks to partake of his
hospitality, how can he greet and manifest
toward him every sentiment of respect and
esteem, when he has traduced his good name2
One of two things must be true: either he
acts a lie when he meets him in such a man
ner, or he speaks lie, when he represents
him as he does to others. He thus breaks one
of the most sacred of divine laws. To this
law, perhaps, he is a stranger, and knows not
what wrong he has done. If so, the kindest
act that can be shown him, is to urge him to
inform himself upon the subject and to learn
what is the sentence meted out to vie slam
derers. 1t may be asked whether one is to
be entirely silent at all times, and on all oc-
as to the character and conduct of
others Certainly not There are many oc-
casions for speaking of others, and for
speaking the truth of them, whatever
that may be- All the members of
every community ore interested in knowing
the true character of each other. The knowl-
edge that this character may be known, is one
of the most salutary corrections of erroneous
conduct, and one of the strongest induce
ments to pursue that which is commenda ble
There it no law which holds it to be immoral
to speak the truth of any one for good motives,
md for UNSUITABLE ends. 1t is all important
that this principal should prevail in this ,
country, where so much depends on public
opinion. Surely ones arms not to be A
folded, and ones lips closed when one sees
another bent or mischief, public or private.
1t may be one of the highest moral duties to
1etect what men are, and what they are aim
ng at, in many supposable cases. There can
De no surer guide than the motiue and the
nd There may be also, and there are frequent
y confidential discussions of characters, espec- q
,,o,, al ,-Lo-