Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1885-10-17

pose them, give them different back
ground, show them with such different
lights and shades, tat they will be
utterly false and slanderous.
s. There is still one more favorite
method of the poisued-tongue: That
is imputing to every action-however
good it may be--a stlfsh or unworthy |
motive. A man performs noble deed,
a benevolent action Instantly upon
its being known tfe first impulse Of
some mean souls is % attribute it to
some mean and selfish motive. How
often do we hear some such sneering
comment as this upon benevolent
actions 20 he hassome ak to grindP'
30 he will get it back tenfold in some
wayl You'll seel" Such sneers are al
ways magic mirror, which reflects
the interior life q those who sneer!
They cannot conceive of any other
motive or motives which could induce
them to act in similar manner. So
they conclude that the generous man
is just as narrpw, sordid and selfish
creature as themselves. Lay this down
as rule Of life3 The man who habitu-
ally attributes The generous acts OF
other men to selfish or dishonest
motives is himself selfish and dis
honest.
Before passing to consider the sec
ond truth Of ihe text, let me press a
few cautions:
I. Don't worry if people hate you
and speak evil of you. No man who
amounts to anything can hope to es-
cape, no natter how purely and nobly
he lives. They slandered the Lord
Jesus Ch.ist, and said worse things
about Him than any one ever dared
say aboutyou. There is much truth
and some consolation in the old adage,
"The better the apples the surer the
clubs in the tree"
2. If you have spoken i'll of any
one, undo tiff you can. 1t is impossi-
Bile to wholly undo such a wrong.
Slander is ike contagion in the air:
the fever-patient breathes it out; the
draft carries it through the open win
} dow; a passer-by inbreathes it; from
: him it passes to others. The man
who started it cannot recall or arrest
that con,agion; he may die but it will
! live and work the work Of death con.
, tinually. Just SO the man who starts a
. slander, how can he recall it or undo
! it? 1t passes from one to another and
becomes part Of the social life Of the
, community. But, if you have in
, jured any one undo it as far as yor
: can; make manly, open confession and
reparation.
f 3. Beware of "silent partnership
in scandal. The man who listens tc
} gossip becomes partner in the vile
Y business of gossipping. Some one ha'
l said that "Both, the teller and the
t hearer of scandal ought to be hang
4 ed; the one by the tongue, and the
: other by the ears" The receiver o
] stolen goods is held guilty with tht
: thief The accomplice of the mur
4 derer is dyed with his principals crime
The willing, eager hearer Of scanda
+ is as guilty as the retailer. He is a re
\ ceiver of stolen goods. and an aecom
Il plIce IN the murder of his eighbor'
f reputation. And if you repeat a scan
E dal then it becomes your own; you pu
!, your name on the back of it and hence
: forth the vile paper is yours.
: q. Be very guarded in what yo'
2 say about others Better go to you
S grave in silence, than to go with tn
memory Of having made false charge
e or circulated a SANDER against som
e one 1t will be the heaviest weigh
e which can rest upon your SOUL A
h ways speak of your fellow men kindly
e lovingly, tenderly Avoid all hurtfu
Il words. When you cannot do good b
Il speaking be silent.
e pass to few words upon the sec
If ond truth of the text: We are tolc
S "The tongue no man can tame" Blu
r God can. The tongue needs to b
# converted. We are not to commit tn
c folly of the man who burned down hi
d barn to get rid of the rats The tongu
!. is merely the telephone, the instrr
a ment through which the soul speaks
} 1t is merely the channel through whic
II the hearttountain discharges its stream
n "The tongue is set on fire of hell2"
t. must be set on fire of heaven AS tn
e evil is fundamental the cure must b
:. radical. The fountain of thought an
l. feeling must be cleansed, then tn
S stream will be pure. Christ only ca
e do this purifying work: as He ono
a came to Jerusalem's temple an
! cleansed it Of all that despoiled an
5, desecrated it, SO will He cleanse ou
a souls. When sins poison is, by tn
is grace and power of God, taken out c
d the soul, then there will no poiso
c driD from the tongue.