St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-03-23
SPEECH.

Christ told his disciples, mot that which
goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but
that which cometh out of the mouth, that
defiIeth man,
Many good and worthy persons, exem-
plary in every other respect, are guilty in
this ''their speech betrayeth them" With
out doubt more sin is committed in CONVEX
sation than in any other way. If the unhap
piness and sorrow produced by talking could
be Withdrawn from the sum of human mis-
cry, there would not remain one-fourth of
the amount.
''Let your speech he always with grace" By
grace is not meant grammatical correctness,
polish or elegant diction. The biblical
meaning of grace seems to be love-Christ
like. ''The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ"
'the grace of God that bringeth sal
vation,' all indicate love. Not courtly,
after the ways of the world, but
gracious after the Great Exemplar, speaking
at the dictation of the Esprit of
Christ which dwelleth in you" is the mean
ing of "speech with grace" Certain traits
must enter into the composition of such
speech. The first and most indispensable is
absence. A false tongue can never be
gracious tongue. Truth, the exact truth is
the essential grace of conversation. To take
a surmise for fact; report for authentic in
formation; or to utter lies spoken by others,
is lying, careless, unintentional it may be,
but lying all the same.
To speak only of what one positively knows
10 ba trua ic tha r111a 1uith mi c al
gracious speech must come. Of course there
are many temptations, to talker, to stray
beyond the actual into the regions of fiction,
to give zest and brlliancy to his converse
ton, but he can do 80 only at the expense of
his conscience, and by becoming an accom-
plice in the wrong done by repeating the
false reports.
Speech is like coin, the true may be circu-
lated with IMMUNITY and men gain by the cir
culation, but the passing of the spurious is a
crime attended with severe punishment.
The man who passes counterfeit money shares
the crime and disgrace of the coiner. So a
person, who repeats story ignorant OF its
truth or falsity, becomes partner of the one
who first told it. By repeating it he gave it
it his own. 1t is a critical experiment for a
man to trust to his ignorance to shield him
in passing counterfeit money. tits his bust
ness to know the genuine, as it is ours to
know the exact truth of what we speak.
Another essential of "speech with grace''
is cleanliness-purity. Taking mankind as
unit with all their peculiarities, their i'm
projections and sins, there is nothing more
unaccountable than vile conversation. That
there should be beings capable of seeing
and hearing the beautiful sights and sounds
of nature, and the sweet harmonies of music;
with minds to comprehend in some measure,
the wonderful works of God, and yet could
delight in low, filthy conversation, and be
willing to reveal themselves to all who hear
them, as the possessors of such vile thoughts,
without shame enough to hide them; is
as ineXplicabe as those commissions below
the surface of the earth, which find vent in
eruptions of sulphuric gases attended with
noisome smells. Of course there is no grace
in such speech.
Sincerity is another virtue of gracious
speech. Not only to speak the truth, but to
have courageous sincerity in expressing
ones opinions. This is very different thing
from the offensive thrusting of ones opin-
ions upon others on all occasions. What we
think or believe is of more Importance to
ourselves than to any one else, and to come
to the front every time with our beliefs is
only an exhibition of our ignorance and self
conceit.
Our opinions are entitled to our sup
port and defense when the vital principles
to which they assent are called in question.
That Christian should hear the truth of his
religion, or any of its details denied or ridi-
culed without his free outspoken defense is
Incredible. That man can know little of
that 'shope which is an anchor to the soul, -
who can hear the honor of his Savior i'm
peached, unchallenged.
Sincerity of opinion goes further than this
1t means the duty of every man to do his
part in forming public opinion. There is an
old story which shows pretty clearly how pub
lie opinion is manufactured at the present
time. According to that, sail the inhabi-
tants of the earth once agreed to raise a
shout at a certain specified moment, that the
blended voices of the whole human race
might reach the moon; but when the desig
mated moment arrived, every man, woman
and child, except one man in China who
was stone-deaf, stood silent, each one waited
to hear the rest.' So do we, when we see
things deserving of censure, evil things
which have become monstrous abuses by
public Indifference, wait for the voices of
others to condemn them.
There are abuses and wrongs in this COM
munity, there are shams tolerated at the ex-
pense of the public veal, that would perish
like Jonah's gourd by plain honest effort.
Take the subject of Temperance, what
might not be accomplished by the strong
and full utterance of the honest convictions
of all sober men and women.
Instead they pause to listen to the voices
of those who are interested on the wrong
side. Money interests, the worship of the
god of gentility, all speak out for their side
like the deaf man in China, and the other
side wait for each other. If our speech pos
sessed the grace of sincerity, would we praise
man whose only merit was money made
dishonesty, when our inward conviction was
that he was thief Would we welcome a
genteel lbertine to our homes if we dared to
be sincere ? Should Mrs. B request the
pleasure of his absence, how soon would our
doors be closed to him!
Sincerity of opinion does not require the
expression of all our angry, bilious feelings.