The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-31
THE CURSE OF EVIL TALK.
Life and Death are Within the Power
Of the Human Tongue.

Gyneaking-He Denounces Tt as One
Of the Greatest Sins That Man Can
Conmit-Thousands Of Souls Lost
Through the Terrible Tongue of
SANDER.
Rev. T. H. Blenus, of the Christian
church, preached yesterday morning on
the sin of 'evil speaking" basing his SER
mon on the 1st chapter of James, and
kindred passages.
The tongue, said Mr.. Blenus, is the ex-
moment of the moral and intellectual char
acter of man. Out of the abundance of
the brain and heart come the words of his
lips. Life and death are in the power of
the tongue.
After showing the various ways in
which evil speaking is committed, Mr..
BIenus dwelt forcibly upon the evil of
heartless Islander, showing its sin, gener-
al causes, pernicious consequences, and
some strong Bible condemnation of the
evil. OF all the iends that live, move and
breathe on this fair land, there are none
so destitute of the grace of God,
or so vile as the slanderer.
s'For it's SANDER whose edge is sharper
than the sword, whose tongue out-venoms
the worm of the Nile, whose breath rides
on the passing winds and doth BELIZE.
Like the loathsome worm, he leaves
Shiny trail; pollution, death, and poi
son breathing an infection in the face of
purity until it becomes mass of living
corruption. II takes a religionless, heart
less, blood-thirsty inhuman wretch to be
a slanderer. The hawk seemingly loves
to revel its beak in the blood of its vic
tim and the cruel shrike to impale the
trembling body of itsprey upon the sharp
point of the thorn, while il exultingly
gloats over the dying agonies of the IN
fortunate.
THIEF OF THE SOUL.
The evil speaker steals into ones heart
and then cruelty betrays him to an enemy
1t goads on the unfortunate to the com
INITIAL of heinous crimes, and then alone
leaves him to mock at fate so sad, and
the misfortune of his own work. This
travelling pest knows no elmo, recOg-
nizes no nationality. 1t stalks, bearing
its poisonous shafts, across oceans,
over continents, up mountains, ira
verses deserts, poisoning with its
pestiferous breath, corrupting with
the touch of it's polluted hands, q
recognized emissary of the Plutonian
realm. Not only is it un-Christlike, but
1T is inhuman to SANDER Not only is it
sinful, but it is devilish. Not only is it
condemned, but it is dOuble-dyed iniquity.
Some one has said that an angel of God,
with an Archimedean moral lever and
with all heaven for fulcrum, could not,
IN thousand years, raise a slanderer to
the grade of a convict felon, so deep does
he sink in the black, polluted waters of
eternal infamy.
Much of the evil-speal1ing of to-day,
said Mr.. Blenus, is done under the cloak
of hyprOcritical profession of morality
and religion, but instead of being q mark
of love and concern for the welfare of
humanity, it shows the deepest kind of
cruelty of disposition, want of charity,
lack of tenderness, of feeling, and great
want of respect for the interests Of our
fellowmen. 1t is in direct violation of the
law of God, it debases man, hardens the
soul, increases guilt, and viii greatly ag-
gfaVate human misery. There seems to
be fearfully misguided propensity in
the unregenerate human soul to delight
In the downfall and misery, suffering,
and degradation of those around US.
WORSE THAN A BRUTE.
The emaciated, hunger-maddened wolf
will fall upon and tear in pieces his
wounded companion in the chase, and
feast upon the flesh of his kind. The hui
man wolf will also fall upon the poor IN
stumbled in the rugged road of the
worlds temptation, and most unhumanly
tear the poor wretch morally limb from
limb 1t is wolflsh, it is devilsh.
81 have known some poor unfortunate
woman, more sinned against than sim
ning," said Mr.. Blenus, ''set upon by
her sisters, swept from society and
FIelegated to the lowest depths of
human degradation, while her
betrayer was fawned upon, courted,
smiled upon, and finally Joined in the
holy bonds of wedlock to one who looked
with lOathing upon the victim of his in
fanny, This may be the way of mankind
but it is not the way of God 1t is re-
lated of Alexander the Great that he had
an ugly scar on his forehead in a con-
splcuous place. When great artist placed
MN IN position for picture, he posed
Alexander reclining with one finger of
his hand carelesslV covering the scar of
ms face and thus causing it to be hidden
IN The painting. 1t is our duty, our Cod
enlolned, brotherly, and sisterly privilege
TO cast mantle of charity over the defects
OF our fellow travellers to eternity, instead
OF exposing, aggravating, or involving in
mystery their failings. We should sane
tlty our tongues to God, and always keep
Ihem subservient to the hallowed re-
stralnts of our holy religion. When
tempted to utter anything of deroga-
tory import against a friend, height Dor,
brother, we should first put the quer-
les TO our own hearts, Is it true9 Is it
klndf Is it necessarily
1T is not necessary to the committal
OF this heinous sin that we circulate what
IS absolutely false We may even tell
the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, and yet violate the deep and ever
lasting obligations we are under to our
iieIloWman, Oh, for that charity, heaven
porn, soul-cheering charity emanating
from pure and undefiled religion, that
cchanty that honored and glorifed print
i've Christianity! Gould an angel bear
palm of such charity into our hearts. then
you'd sa}i earth BECOME heaven and hell
= soil peace it brings wherever il arrives;
- oulIds our quiet-'latent hope revives';
Lays the rough path of nature smooth and
even,
ana opens in each breast little heaven"
says There was No One on Board.
Editor Morning New: 1t has been
stated that Samuel Thomson the how