The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-02-17
Aso.,3 oosstss.


Here - 49, . grsat deal Of
sAoughtie Desiticsx = ~ em-thoueht.
lesa end. thsrefosss unjust TIE es-
sentiai idea Of gossiping 10 the telling
Of mail things. There u nothing
very bad about that in itself consid.
cred. Oratory Is the 6ns' telling Of
large things. All me- applaud that.
But small rhings need to be told also.
70 mako the sum Il human Intelligence
complete. Indeed. they are often the
Discriminate things. The little wheels
play into the big ones and make them
70 round. They. are stupid phi
losophers who reckon only the big
deeds and the big speeches. The lit
lie. svery.days make the great crisis.
A great speech is only the noble con-
densation Of lot Of small talk.
Gossiping Of itself. then, has no
bad character. Dickens is Q great
gossip. but his details Of talk seem to
be appreciated, and to have some
value. Telling things may be a very
good thing. All depends on. how it is
done. We would make progress very
slowly if the doings Of yesterday were
not told as guide for the doings Of
to-day. And what a desperately dull
affair this life would get 10 be- II only
stilted events and great occasions were
discoursed about. What strutting Don
Quixotes We would be reduced to, and
what . huge joke life would become.
Small talk is to fine speech very much
what the pinch Of salt is to the joint
Of mutton-it gives it flavor.
n Let US, then, be discriminating. SO
shall we be just. For there are gos-
'sips-and gossips. For instance, there
ore garulous gossips. Their small
talk has NO specific character They
do not pick out any particular line Of
things to talk about. They have no
purpose in their talking. They are
simply channels. The ears tell it to the
tongue, and the tongue to the neighbof-
hood. They talk because they are shall
low, fill up very easily, and 50 run
over. Like Tennyson's Brook, they
Just run on and on forever Whether
their talk shall be bane or blessing
depends altogether on their surround
lngs If they hear and see pleasant
things, they will fill listening ears with
things of that sort. They do not color
things; they do not vitriolize them.
They are like sandy soil that does not
tinge the summer brook. They are a
sort Of daily paper without edi.
torial comment. They publish their
small world just as it lies around them.
What is the use of blaming that kind
Of gossipsps This world was not made
to be kept under bushel. Blame
facts. events. things, but not the
tongue that gives them publicity. Pub.
Lofty waits on every thing. The gossip
only hurries the inevitable process.
But there are less lovely, kinds Of
gossip. There 10 the venOn1Ous gossip.
He u not content to tell things. He
must inject into them an evil meaning.
Hs Is sort Of talking cutie fish. Hi
words darken every thing around him.
His own spleen goes into the simples,
event or fact, and instantly its color il
changed. A harmless chat between 4
pair Of schoolgirls takes on Guy
Fawks air. Old housewives talk across
the garden fence bscomes redolent Of
treasons. Nothing simply happens
Commonest events have some hidden
and dangerous meaning. One such
gossip can touch off q whole neighbor.
hood and throw 4 into fits Of most VIC.
lent explosion When the explosions
come and bih OF character are lying
around in every direction, disjectd
nsembra, theu the venomous gossip il
happy. He works for results, is moi
content till he sees them. The bigger
the wreck the greater his contentment.
1t gives hin new subject for talk. HI
can gossip about the fragments.
Then there is the insinuating gossip
Things are not merely told. Neither
are they ialsifed. They are given will
. slight twist. 1t may not be in word
Perhaps only an accent, a gesture, 8
lock. Pantomime supplements speech
and slightly changes its direction. The
fact il exaggerated. A tritie become.
important. The insignificant attain,
to some significance. The idle wore
gets to have intelligence. Small tall
gets larger. The way of saying a thins
often masks the thing. Thus the insin
uniting gossip makes good story. snt
his or her veracity can not be i'm
peached. Was not the truth told
What Il shrug Of the shoulder dit
give II . TWIST.
The reader has doubtless met will
still other varieties. This society ha
many points Of attack. The best pro
lection is noble pursuit. 1t is Difficult
to gossip about Mount Blanc. Al
idle life Of eating and drinking and be
ing merry affords ample scope for silly
or sly. or sinister speech. But o iii,
driven earnestly forward along lines o
useful activity offers little advantage t
that microscopic spirit of gossip which
must have small things TO engage it
attention. The man or woman VIII,
has no time to listen to gossip is prett,
secure against being the subject Of it
! Inferior.
| AZ ANA Newman