The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1885-01-30
a SIN.

wonder, to excuse, to mOralize, or to de-
plore. Drop the kissing secret into the
cool well of indifference. Forget it.
There is a certain house set on a hill,
where two or three charming women hold
sway Very animated and delightful is
the conversation one enjoys at this house.
Quick wit, delicate tact, tender feeling,
high sentiment, all these have their part in
it. Callers come smiling from hat door.
They have been amused, entertained, re-
freshed, often strengthened. The moral
barometer has gone VI. One element is
noticeably lacking in the conversation of
this family. The trivial discussion of other
peoples affairs, which forms SO large a
part of much of the conversation We hear,
does not enter. into the talk of these women.
Personal matters seem by some magic
never to get into it, never to be thought of.
II, by any awkwardness, such matters are
logged in, the change of atmosphere is in
Simultaneous and remarkable. These bril-
liant women become positively stupid.
They are not interested. They have moth
ing to say. They look bored. One feels
that he has committed a taAr pas of the
worst description if, unwittingly, in this
parlor he drops into the familiar they
say or ''have you heard?" They never
have heard. They never know anything
about it. They look as dull as they know
bemoaning the fact that gossip is so pre-
valent. that reports will get about, and
people will repeat and magnify and mis-
judge. They do not condemn gossip. 1t
simply does not thrive in the atmosphere
they live in. Very little of it goes into the
house, and zone comes out of it.
Gossip has been understood to be a fe11i-
nine fault. 4 reference TO the newspapers
during the weeks preceding the late Presi-
dental election is perhaps the best COM
ment on that opinion. True. in this case,
gossip rapidly degenerated into the blacker
sin Of scandal. Scandal if was, in the full
and original import of that word-an of
Tense, and meant to be an offense. But it
must have begun in gossip. in the habit of
listening to and passing on reports of the
personal affairs OF others. of gathering in
knots and discussing and commenting on
such affairs. Scandal comes after gossip.
The ball, small and clean enough perhaps
at first, rolls up huge. obstructive, black
with the CRIME Of the public street.
1t is also a common belief that gossip
prevails and flourishes in rural communities
to a greater degree than in cities. That
proposition is. however. yet to be demon
strated. Listen to the conversation of a
group at a village sewing-circle. and then
to that of a group of fashionable creatures
on a hotel piazza. There is a difference of
nomenclature. The rustic phrase is unlike
the city jargon. But is not the substance
of the conversation composed of much the
same elements III each instance? The
trouble is, gossip is the natural growth of
poor and empty minds, be they country
bred or city bred, masculine or feminine.
Get richer soil, more oxygen in the air
choke out this tenacious little weed by
| planting larger things. THE best way,
some one has said, ''to eradicate a vice is
to implant a virtue If this is not sound
h~orticulturally, it is morally.
A mother, listening to the daily CONVEX
sation of her daughters sehool-mates, was
seriously troubled by the excessive amount
of this small talk poured forth from the
mouths of these young girls. Trivial COM
ments on the dress and appearance of their
companions (too seldom seasoned with
charity, reports of what she said and what
he said, of where she went with one boy,
and how she snnbbed another, of what her
mother let her do, and what another
mother-awfully mean-would not let her
daughter do-these things formed the
warp and wool of their conversation. And
this was not occasionally, but daily, almost
hourly, rarely and briefly interrupted by
| illusions to more important matters.
Dear" said the mother to her daughter,
Il don't like to have you get into the way
of this contemplate gossip, this reporting
and commenting ON the affairs of others.
If you have anything of the sort to say, |
wish YOU would not say it to the girls, but
come and say it to me. ! know sometimes
it is hard not to speak to some one about
these things. We win have a little gossip
together every day, if You please. But
don't get into the habit Of talking freely,
in mixed company, of the concerns of
Others
The daughter agreed. and the proposed
gossip in the mothers chamber took place
a few times. But one day the child came
smiling. Mamma She said, 1--WE
thought Of a better plan than yours. Let
us not talk about these things at all,
find they Slip ont of my mind more easily
if | say nothing about them, even to you"
Wise girl She had gone to the very root
of the matter. Gossip is best left of, as
the vigorous Hebrew proverb declares of
another vice, before it is meddled with.
Boston GloJe; Women as cashiers are
not only as honest and careful, but even
more so than men. In the first place, wo-
men are held by stringent rules toa s%tricter
code of morality. They can and do live
less extensively than men; they are called
upon to give less valuable presents than
men, and if they visit the opera or theatre
their fare is either paid by their male es-
H. - NJ -. IL.