News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-12-14
A SERMON ON SCANDAL.
THE wHIsPERERs OF SOCIETY.
Tale Bearers and Scandal MOngers Scath-
ingIy Denounced by DIR. TaImage.

THE WHIsPERERs OF SOCIETY.
Tale Bearers and Scandal Nongers Scath-
ingly Denounced by DIR. Talmage.
|
DR.. Talmage took for the theme of his
sermon on Sunday the subject of SANDER,
choosing for his text one word from the
twenty-ninth verse of the First Epistle to
the Romans-''Whisperers."
In calling the roll of the worlds vii
lainy, said Dr.. Talmage, Paul puts in the
midst those persons known. in all COM
munities as whisperers Whisperers are
always .first-class liars. They are mascu-
line and feminine, with a tendency to
majority on the side of those who are
called the lords of creation. These
creatures are SO small that they escape
the fine-toothed comb of the law They
are to be found everywhere, but their
paradise is a country village of about one
or two thousand people, where everybody
knows everybody. The world to them is
a whispering gallery. One man or wo-
man set on fire with this hellish spirit
Will keep a whole neighborhood aboil.
When two or three of these whisperers
get together they stir caldron of trou-
BILE which makes me think of the three
witches of Macbeth dancing around a
boiling caldron in a dark cave. Here
the preacher recited the witches chorus,
continuing oh, what a caldron
Would you like to have taste of it? 1
have more respect for poor waif of the
street that floats down under the gaslight
for she deceives no one-than for the
hags of respectable society who cover
their tiger claws with a fine shawl and
bolt the hell of their heart with dia-
mond breastpin.
The work of masculine whisperer is
chiefly seen in business embarrassments.
Crash goes everything Ali, if people
would only mind their own business we
would have the millennium next week
Alas for these talebearers, these whisper
ers, these everlasting 60 snoops l' Ihate
'em with an ever-increasing vehemence
OF hatred, and I ask God to give me
more intensity with which to hate them.
L think among the worst of the whis-
perers are those who gather up all the
harsh things that have been said about
you. After they have made your feel
ings all ray they take this turpentine and
rub it in with a coarse towel. Rather
than defamation of good names it would
be a more honorable business to take a
box of matches and razor and see how
many houses you can burn and how
many Threats you can cut. The destruc-
ton of mans name is worse than the
destruction of his life. But how much
worse is it to damage womans reputa-
ton Some people say there is no hell,
but if there be no hell for such despoil-
er of womanly character it is high time
that some philanthropist build one.
What a time the whisperers will have
when they all get together down there
rehearsing things. Semi-heaven of scan
dal-mongers Stopping their gable
about their diabolical neighbors only long
enough to go up to the iron gate and ask
some new conner from earth what is the |
last gossip in Brooklyn. daughter
Now, how are we to ward against this |
iniquity which curses every community
on earth? First, by refusal to listen or
believe a whisper. There is only one |
person worse than the whisperer, and |
that is the man or woman who listens
without a protest. An ancient writer de- |
clares that the slanderer and the man |
who believes the Islander ought both to |
be hanged, the one by the tongue and |
the other by the ear-and I agree with |
him. Don't retail gossip Don't cackle F! |
But although whisperers may do little |
damage their SANDER becomes a eulOgy. |
Go on and do your duty and God will |
take care of your reputation. Make |
right use of your tongue, 1t is loose at |
one end and can swing either way but |
it is fastened at the other end to the
floor of the mouth and that makes you
for whichever way it wags.
The time will soon come when we will all
whisper. The voice will be enfeebled in
the last sickness. When that solemn
hour comes to you and to me, as come
soon it will, may it be found that we
did our best to serve Christ and to cheer
our comrades in the earthly struggle, and
that we consecrated not only our hand
but our tongue to God, so that the shades /
that fall around our dying pillow shall |
not be the evening twilight of a gather
ing night, but the morning twilight of |
an everlasting day!