The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-11-29
"THEY WHISPER"
CONTINUED FROM THE FIRST PACE.

1
whisperers. One whisperer starts a sus-
| piciOn; the next Whisperer tells the sus-
| piciOn as an established fact. And many
q woman as honorable as your mother
or your wife, has been whispered out of
all kindly association, and whispered
| into the grave. Now, there are people
who say there is no hell. But if there
Is no hell for such an accursed despOiler
| OF woman's good name, then it is high
| time we take up collection and have
one built. There is such place already
| established, and what a time they will
have when all the whisperers get to-
gether to rehearse things down there.
| What an everlasting carnival of mudl
If IL were not for their insufferable sur
| rOund1ngs they would enjoy the new
opportunity in that realm of the outcast.
All the bad being there, what rich and
rare field for exploration by whisperersl
| On earth they had often to belle people
in order to destroy them, but now they
can say all the bad things possible
about their npighbOTs and still speak
the truth. Jubilee of whisperers! Grand
gala day of back biters! Semi-heaven
for scandal-mOnger! Only stopping
their gabble about their diabOlical
neighbOrs long enough to ask at the
iron gate some new conner from the
earth, what is the last gossip from
Brooklyn.
Now, how are you to help quell this
great iniquity? First, by refusing to
listen to or believe anything against
anybody till it is positively proved. By
all law of COurss and all common decen-
cy. let every one be supposed innocent
till he or she is proved guilty. do not
commend my way to you, but l will tell
you what L almost always say when l
hear or read anything defamatOry of
anybody: IL guess that is a lie." The
only person that is worse than the
whlsperer IS the person who, without
protest, accepts and believes the Whis-
perer. The trouble is, you hold the sack
while they fill it. The receiver of stO-
len goods is just as bad as the thief. An
ancient author said that those who ut
tered slander, and those who believe it,
ought both to be hangTd, one by the
tongue, the other by the ear. When you
hear anything about your neighbOrs, do
not go about asking questions concern
ing the charges made, and so spread it.
| Don't bemean yourself by becoming in
spectOr of warts and supervisor of car
| buncles, and commissioner of cutters,
and the holder of stakes at a dOg-6ght
Allow no defamation at your breakfast
or dinner or tea tables. Teach your chll
dren not to speak ill Of others. Show
them the difference between a bee and
"1sp, the one gathering honey and the
OLher thrusting sting. | have heard
of a household where they carefully
kept what is called Slander Book, and
everything said in the house in the way
of detractiOn is as carefully recorded as
any ledger is kept. For the first few
| weeks there were many entries; now
very seldom is anything written ii. that
book. If you are, any of you, in the
| habit OF whispering, let me advise you
| to desiSt. Mount Taurus is a great place
| for eagles, and cranes flying along there
cackle so loudly the eagles know they
| are coming, and pOunce upon them to
their destruction. But it is said that
the cranes have found this out, and they
take a stone in their mouth before they
| start, so that 1t Is impossible for them
to cackle, and so they fly in safety. Be
wise as those old cranes, and avoid the
| folly of the young cranes. Don't cacklel
| Take courage if you are maltTeated of
| WhiSperers, because such creatures soon
run themselves out. They come to be
| understood as well in community as
though some one had chalked on their
OVercOat or shawl the words: "Here
comes whisperer; make room for tile
| leper." You come on and do your duty
my persecuted friends, and some day
you will be Vindicated. Get down on
your knees and put your reputation and
everything else in Gods keeping.
L sOlemnly charge all of you to make
right and holy use of your tongue.
| Though it is loose at one end and can
swing either way, it is fastened at the
other end to the floor of your mouth,
and you are responsible for which way
it swings. The philosopher Xanthus
ordered his servant to provide a great
dinner, all the best things from the
market, as some friends were coming to
dine. Seated at the table, he found there
was nothing on 1t but tongue, the guests
had tongue served up to them in great
many different styles. The philosopher
said to his servant, what do you mean
by giving us nothing but tongue, when
told you to get the best things you
could find in the marketP" He answer
ed: "The tongue is the best thing. 1t
is the organ of truth, and the organ of
sOciability, and the organ of worship"
Then the philosopher said: "TO-mOr-
row 1 want you t. get the worst thing
you can find in the market for our table,"
Seated the next day at the table, he
found again nothing upon it but tongue
served up in different styles. Then the
philosopher said to his servant: "What
do you mean by giving US nothing but
tOngue?" He said: you told me to
get the worst thing L could find in the
market. The tOngne Is the worst, be-
cause it is the organ of lies, the organ of
blasphemy, the organ of defamation"
My friends, let your tongue, which God
hath so wonderfully constructed as the
instrument of taste, as the instrument
of deglutitiOn, as the instrument of ar
ticulatiOn, be employed for making 9TH
ers happy, and in the service of God. If
you whisper, whisper good encourage
ment to the disheartened and hope to
the lost. The time will soon come when
we will all have to whisper. The voice
will become feeble in the last sickness;
and, though we could once shout and
sing and halloO till the forest answered
in echo, we can only whisper comfort
to those whom we leave behind, and
whisper about our hope Of heaven. And
while speak there are hundreds whis-
pering their last utterance. In that sol
emn hour which will soon come to us
all, may be found that we did our best
to serve Christ and cheer our comrades
in earthly struggles, not only our hand
but our tongue cOnsecrated to God; and
so the shadows about our dying pillow
shall not be the evening twilight of
gathering night, but the morning twi-
N o,bt Of ON avnrIa atiD0 dow