The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-04
ROUNDING.
Good Advice to Scandal Mongers and
Thoughtless Gossipers.

Soou AuV1cs TO scandal MongerS ana
Thoughtless Gossipers.
Stop! Don't say it. Shut your lips
together firmly and turn away from the
eager ears hungrily waiting to hear the
evil tale, Go away from them with
the words unspoken, and your heart will
be cleaner and your conscience lighter.
Why should you help to hound down an
erring man or womanl For phys sake
do not lend your voice to the spreading of
a vile SANDER
Sunday after Sunday, the ministers of
the gospel preach from the pulpit char
ity, charity, and their congregations list
euing, think it means a matter of dollars
and cents for the heather. They can not,
or they do not choose to understand that
1t means just as much brotherly love, the
nttering of kind words, and the refrain
ing from uttering unlkind ones, of stretch
ing oIt helping hand to the fallen and
erring ones at their own DOORS instead of
pushing them little further down.
When the first faint breath of scandal
is waited from some obscure corner, how
rapidly it is joined and swelled by like
poisonous airs from the north, east, south
and west, and it rolls along, gaining in
volume until it rushes down on the COVER
ing victims head with the force of
mighty wind, crushing and blasting his
life. When how easily this man or this
woman might have been spared this
deadly blow If. on the first echo of the
evil tale that perchance, held no truth in
it, those bloodhounds of society-malic-
lous, splteful tongues-had been held in
leash, instead of being let loose to go
yelping, yelping after their victim,
bounding him down in the mre OF dis
grace.
Oh, We men and women! Immaculate
in your self-right why can you
not exercise little of the spirit of Chris
tian charity, and refrain from repeating
an evil story when you hear it. What
satisfaction does it give you to see a fell
low creature writing at your feet, while
you gather your skirts around you and
pass on the other sidel DO you know
what the temptation was that led them
to sin? Can you pretend to understand
the power that assaulted them in their
weakest point, and broke through their
armor in an unguarded moment@ Are
you so strong that you can AFFORD TO Judge
your fellowlmen and condemn them}
When you hear an evil tale, before you
run with eager feet to spread the dam
aging report, would it not be better TO
stop and assure yourself first that it is
not all a slander' And even if there be
grain Of truth in it, or even three grains,
or if it is all truth still, is it not kinder
to let it stop with you. Don't be guilty
of the petty weakness of talking scandal
1t does you harm, 1t does the whole COM
munitY harm. 1t is like poisoned breath,
floating in our moral atmosphere. II
stunts the growth of the fair blossoms of
kindly charity, of generosity, and for
bearance, and eugenders the growth
of the rank weeds Of petty spite, of
meanness. and narrowness of spirit. And
besides this, suppose the man or the wo-
man whom you dare to condemn is not a
hardened sinner, suppose it is his or her
first glaring offense, do you not think
that the remorse of their conscience is
sufficient punishment, without the aid Of
spiteful tongues ever ready to lend their
voices in hbunding the offender down
to still lower depths of misery. Many
and many man and woman, who have
sinned for the first time would gladly and
willingly have gone back into the path
way of right, had not the venomous scan
dial of the thoughtless and selfrigh teous,
pushed them out from the coveted foot
hold
mo one can exercise 100 nuCQ cnarlty
towards the fallen. There is never a
kind word dropped but it finds some
soil to grow in, there is never an evil or
unkind word spoken, but it makes just
that much more hardness and pain in the
world. And what is the use, what is the
good of it, Should we not take infinitely
more pleasure in helping a fellow Great
ure up, than in pushing him down. Is there
not room for all? And tell you that the
quickest and surest way to crush men or
women down into the dust is to blacken
their names with the vile whispering Of a
cruel scandal, which if widespread
pushes them out into the cold, and causes
them to sink down into the mire of social
degradation, where no helping hand is
stretched out to save them.
1t is out just that every human being
should be given chance 10 redeem him
self before the world, and if the social
hounds who are thirsting to SEQ their
victim hunted down, could only be muz-
zed and chained, then every man would
have a fair opportunity Of proving that
one error committed does not necessarily
mean that he is lost to all sense of good
ness, and that, with kind words and for
bearance from his fellow men, he could
once more regain his former standing
H. p. w.