The Press., 1895-01-03
Number 40.

lance of a sharp and bitter tongue. Ideas change slowly in our country towns, and we are more apt to measure people and their actions by the same standards ap- piled by our grandfathers, than they are in cities. There are many customs in vogue to-day regarded by the public at large as perfectly legitimate which were once drowned upon as harmful. There Is tendency iu our country towns to hold to these older and more illiberal stand ards of judgment. care not how severe person may be in the standard of iudg- ment that he applies to himself. Every person has perfect right to say: "Under- standing myself better than anyone else does, knowing my special temptations, as for me, I shall walk within the very narrow lines" But let him be very careful in saying, My neighbor also must walk within the same lines, he must be meas ured by the same little yard-stick, and if he falls short it is impropriety." Now that neighbor may have larger horizon and a more liberal standard of measure ment; has he not the same right to 1t as the other man has to his The wisest, the best, and most humane advice to fol- low is that of our Savior, who said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
 It always seems to me that the most malicious feature of islander consists in putting constructions upon actions and words so that they will appear in a light altogether different from what their au- thor intended. You can sew a fringe up- on a garment that so changes it's general appearance as to make it look like some thing altogether different. To thus mis- construe the words and deeds of others is the chief work of the gossiper,; of course it is mean and cowardly and shows up the hollow ingenuity of it's own brainlessness. The construction usually employed by gossip is of a bad nature; it throws the mantle of evil over words and deeds that in themselves are perfectly innocent. Gossip and islander are always on the alert to find some unworthy motive to whatever is said and done. People who are evil minded themselves are not satis- fled unless they can find evil as the con trolling motive in the lives of others. Did 1t ever occur to you how greatly you could injure your neighbor by saying moth. ing whatever about him under certain con ditions? That In this way you can make the strongest insinuations against him I For instance, a stranger comes to town 1T search of farm help; he hears that [ neighbor of yours is slooking for that kinC of employment. As the position is re sponsible one he wants only the servicel lof worthy man. He inquires of you conceining that mans habits, ability ant trustworthiness. Suppose you answer like this: "You must excuse me, friend for prefer to say nothing about it, , Now the natural inference is that yorl neighbor Is a man of such notoriously baC character that it would be unwise to en- I You have literally said nothing, either fol or against him. But so far as results gc you have maliciously slandered him. He may be neither an unworthy or incapable very friendly terms. You have certainly this to reflect upon, that your closed lips have spoken most slanderously in the ears of a just God, and that in your mute ness you have not refrained "your tongue from evil nor your lips from speaking guile"
 Evil speaking may not always be prompt ed by maliciousness. A mere careless thoughtless word may sometimes work untold injury. Let me illustrate. Some years ago was invited to a large socia gathering, together with my brother min ister of the Second church. He was prominent temperance worker, and rar for the governorship of the state on tht prohibition ticket. At that gathering the caterer put a little sherbert into { large bowl of lemonade, in fact so little as hardly to flavor it. Somebody said Iaughingly, that Rev. MT. So and So is taking little punch. It began to bt noised about in real earnest that Rev. MT So and So had drank punch. The nex, day the whole place was upset by the ru nor. He got into the papers, and you know newspapers are sometimes as gos sipy as people, and made quite a commo tion. That minister told me that he re ceived wailing letters from all over ths state wanting to know If he had taken tC drinking. Looking at the matter in thu light of the facts it seems like joke, bu it proved to be no joke, for it did thu brother vast amount of harm. Hoy much we need to guard ourselves agains the little, idle, foolish words, for here aa much as anywhere we need the advice
 Refrain thy tongue from evil and tn, lips that they speak no guile."
 One of the most astonishing features O gossip is the liberty it takes in assumin, to be the judge of others. What author ity has gossip got to deal with the things
 of others? Who has commissioned ont man to be the judge of his neighbor? l.
 a tramp enters a mans front hall anC steals his umbrella or overcoat, he is q once set down as a sneak thief. Nov there are some things that people gener ally consider Of greater value than um
 brellas or overcoats, such as honesty, in
 tegrity, temperance and morality. AnC yet people come into our houses witt their busy tongues and measure thes, things by their own standards, and weigl them in their own scales, and handl, them with their owned soiled fingers, anC scatters them all over the front yard ant along the street for public inspection hn 1ol5 s<II, tale from house to house, whether tru, or false, he or she has committed what ii reality amounts to daring act of bur glary. Our homes have been invaded anC robbed of what most people prize nor, highly than gold or silver. Evil speakin. is vitually this and nothing less.
 Gossip, however, is not the only feat ure, if it is the leading one, of evil speak ling. Under this head must ha rank knne,