Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-10-13

shalt not go up and down as a le-bearer
among thy people" In Eccl XII, 10,
read Surely serpent will bite without
enchantment, and bsbbler is no better, i"
lu Prov. XVI, 20, | read; Where no
wood is the fire goeth out; so when there
is no iebearer the strife ceaseth." This
tongue has been wagging from the earii,
est days jeremiah Xxx, l0} says. II
have heard the defsming of many; repnrt
say they, and we will report it," That is
| let some one start the report and we will
see that 1t Is kept circulating. We viii
make ourselves daily postmen aud ,rot
about from house to house with Il Paul
met and described these people. In Tim
othy v, l3, you will find his unfia,tering
| description Of them, wandering about, "
| he says, from house to house
| not only idle, but tattlers also, and busy
| bodies, speaking things which they ought
| not"
These passages aptly describe the mod
ern tale bearing tongue. | do not need 10
define what tsttllng Is. You are all too
familiar with the thing already. II is a
| species OF gossip II IL picking up and
peddlIng around those little bits Of scandal
that rise In the community. Every sus.
plCious circumstance 10 the life OF men
and women is gr, edly ssIhed upon by the
tale bearer as stock IN trade. Some people
have relish for thst sort Of thing The
words OF 8 tale-bearvr, SAYS Solomon, are
dainty mor~el. One person hears some
suspicious circumstance about somebody
and under the VOW Of secrecy. he tells
the first person he meets. These two tell
II 10 two other fools. aud thus the thing
gets wings and flies abroad. This making
ones self
The Devils ro~tman
For all the tIttle-tattlc that goes on In the
community l. species OF mental lmheciit-
~ too base for description How men and
women can stoop Ia gather up and hawk
about the g"ssipy garbage sud drisclngs
If society Is something b.yonh compfe-
hcnsion Il j. A. though an angel would
hire himself out 10 b. a .cavcnger The
tale hs aTcr " III gladly convey new. that
should be shat up In an eternal quarantine.
They DO infinite harm DO not, | pray
you, lsnd your tongue or Your ear TO this
ncfarious business 'Ht that repeateth
mstter.N says Solomon. "separateth very
friends"
when | think II tale bearers and gossip.
ers ,hink OF swine that love 10 wallow
In nlth and mud think of worms crawl,
Ing over and eating The rotting corp-es Of
graves, think Of vultures faitening on
the fostering flesh Of carrlor. think Of
capnihals smackng polluted lips a. they
MUNICH the roasted bodies ~ their unfurtu.
nate victims. The track Of the goasiper
or tale bearer l. Ike the track made hy the
hot lava that pours dp~n the sides Of Etna
hlighting. blasting hlaCkenlng everything
that j. pure and beautiful 10 hnman char
Acicr. Against such heaven. gate, are
eterua,ly barred. II YOU are ever disposed
to gossip. II YOU are tempted TO rcpet,
some suspicious circumstances that Won
have heard of, pause moment, and hear
the voices Of Conscience ard Charity bid
ding you hold your tongue.
G. tsciy related to the tongue OF the
talr-oesrer il the back-htIng tongue. or
tongue of SANDER. The tale bearer il an
apprentice to the slandeTer The evolution
from one to the other Is natural and
rapid.
The >aNag~ry ofthc Tongue
l. now here more relen,lessy cruel, more
maliciDnsly iicndish than In slander In
the language OF the Bible. L Is set on IRE
Of hell. and 1t starts the fires of he'll burn
ing on earth. Slandcr Is the foulr.t whelp
Of hell Webster defines -iander TO be a
false report mal!ciou~ly uttered and tend
ing 70 tn!nre the reputation Of another
Many public men Of blameless character
have been systematically yiltied by the
poison tongue OF slander. In political
campaigns editors Of newspaper. have
been known - throw mud on rival canii-
dates. Platform orators have not always
RETAINED from talking chsractcr away
and bounding reputatlons down. The
whole business is deadly and demoni-h
The ralmud taught that there we're four
men who never had the face Of God light
a b.rya
l!ar. and the slandcrcr-
The Jews called .landerer a man with
a three-forked tongue. injuring three per
sons a. the same time, namely The per.
son slsndered. the hearer Of the SANDER,
and the sla nderer himself, In the fifteenth
Psalm the uestlon Is asked :" Who shall
dwell n the holy hillf' The answer reads
He that hackbiteih not with his tongue
nor taketh up Il reproaCh against his nei Oh
bor." In another place we read Whose
slandereth his neighopr viii | cut OF.
Slanderers are well described in the iioth
Psalm They have >hsrpenei their
tongues Ike r serpent: adders' poison IS
under their lips.
The Bible "A Safeguard.
wish people would read their Bibles
more on these questions. wish that they
would learn that Il j. 4 sin 10 take up and
repeat q repr0ach against uelghhor. Il
/, a. great crime 10 pass counterfeit
money a. 10 manufacture II. II il as great
a crime 70 circulate damaging repor.
against your brother man a. to coucoct
one The same Bible which says, Thou
shalt not raise false report also says.
He that ultereth a slatder is fool.
The fact that some body told you thus and
- about your neighbor does not Justify
in Van 20 al
rcpest the false story ii shows that be was
.landerer and you fool. Thou shalt
not bear false witness against thy neigh
bor
Think of the sorrow caused by the tongue
Of slander. The reputation Of the whitest
saints has been blaCkened and fouled by
the vomitlngs Of the scandal-monger. BE
thou chaste as Ice, as pure as snow, thou
shalt not escape calumny."
Think OF friendships severed lives
clouded, hearts broken, by this bad tongue,
and resolve before God that YOU will never
lend your tongue to such devilish uses.
/ There Is no serpent's tongue 50 venom Gus,
no a-ssssins dagger so deadly a. the three
forked, backbiting tongue of SANDER. 'Tis
/ SANDER
| Whose edge Is sharper than the sword. whose
tongue
/ outyenom- all the worms of Nile, whose
/ Rides on the posting winds and doth belle
| All corners of the world, kings, queens, and
states,
| Maids, matronz, nay, the secrets Of the grave
This ViPerou- slasder enters
! The Word ..Devil' Itself Means SIanderer
| Tradueer.
There is another bad tongue that needs
| to be held, or rather cut out. More de-
grading than the profane tongue; more
criminal than the lying tongue; more
pestilential than the slanderous tongue is
| the obscene tongue. The old prophet de-
scribed this vice when he said II dwell
among a people Of unclean lips" Some
Of you may say to me, go out into the
dives and saloons Of the city and inveigh
against this foul vice, but do not offend
the ears polite of respectable congrega.
tlon like this by insinuating that any of
them need to be reproyed of this form of
speech. My knowledge of men and life
compels me to believe that this foul
tongue Is sometimes found among people
processing high respectability. l have
known educated men, men Of good stand
ing in society, who take delight in sala-
cious stories and lewd jokes. An incident
seasoned with smut they roll under their
tongue as a sweet morsel. The ribald
song and indecent sugge stion are music in
their unclean ears. There are men who
are skilled in the vocabulary Of Sodom.
Their breath is foul with the exhalations
that rise from the stenchful sewer pits OF
perdition. Their tongues, like the troubled