The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-03-22

|
whose congregations attach particular I'M
portance to the observance of the Lenten
season.
| There was an unusually large congrega-
ton at Christ Episcopal church yesterday
morning where the morning service was
conducted and a sermon preached by the
rector. Rev. H. u. AYES.
The text was taken from the twenty
sixth verse of the first chapter of st. James
| IF any man among you seem to be re-
| ligous and brdleth not his tongue. but
deceiyeth his own heart, this mans re-
| ligion is vain.
| In part the sermon was as follows:
In this season of Lent the one thought
which we want to bring and keep before
ourselves is that OF our own sinfulness.
| This morning | want you to think with
me of tho most prevalent, most personal
and most harmful sin with which our life
| is harassed. the sin of evil speaking. If
| by means similar to the photograph we
| might be brought to rehear in order all
the words. all the artculate and accen-
| tuaied sounds which for a single month
| vast have served as the index and express
| sion of your thought and feeling in con-
| versation. in the home In the friendly cir
! Gle. in club rooms, in private and confiden-
| tal confab with intimate and congenial
| spirits, the probabilities are that to some
Of us 1t would bring painful shock of
surprise. perhaps a shock of shame and
| disgust and confusion. not because of any
| defect of speech, but because of our sin
| full and shameful abuse of speech. we
| would hear many idle words. silly. dull.
puerile observations; we would hear many
hollow words. empty pretensions. mslead-
| ing, many sharp words, sarcastic and cut
ting. bitter words. words full of the venom
| OF evil passion. perhaps singing words of
hatred, perhaps blasphenous words. or i'm
pure words. perhaps scandalous and SLAM
derous words
And the surprise shown would he in the
Sudden 'onylc'i of grave ard ssri.,s
wholly or half unconscious.
| For there is no sin so prevalent: TO sin
| to which we are all so liable, and no SIN
mere easily detected nor more heartily Do
| tested in others ard no sin of whose Ir.s-
enoe we (ourselves) are as a rule less con-
scious than the indulgence of idle worGs,
| the sin of harmful speaking tn abuse q
the good gift Of speech. 1t is to be found
among all classes of society among the
educated as well as the ignorant; among
masters as well as servants; among the
seemingly religious as we'll as the seeming
ly irreligious.
In its worst form. gossip which amount.
10 sidHutr, lUleStS inc quiet county Tow n
no less than the crowded bustling city.
Even the prosaic saying of Horace Smith,
| Half the world takes pleasure in invent
ing scandal and the other half In believing
it. contains enough of truth to give it cur.
rency.
The prevalence OF evil speaking and the
popular demand for social scandal upt
which the masses of men may feel. reds
no proof With no direr plague the World
was ever smitten. And the more to lie hated
is the sin of evil speaking. because ils very
commences would seem to he a paliation
of its guilt and because It is so commonly
INDUCED in thoughtessly.
Let us throw side light upon this evil
which viii bring out some of IT'S features
which characterize its atroclty.
First It is dreadful and detestable be-
cause 1t Injuries man In the mos; VITAL
way Tho attainment OF character arc a
good name is the end of all honor1ble er-
deavor. II is the most precious Of all FER
sonal possessions. Take this away ~ &C.
base its worth in the eyes of men ana you
have pillaged the most sacred of san"'rti-
les; You have deiiled the very aoly OF holt
of the human soul
Primarily. evil speaking does only burt
the estimation of character and that is
bad enough; but too often Its secondary
effect is to lower the whole topA % the
person injured and to make him reckless
Such Is the Nervousness of the STA of
evil speaking and yet OF all social e.
lenses IT is the freest from penalty the
most difficult of detection and prr'shment
Words may he deadlier than knife and
poison. yet we can seldom seize them.
Their falsi'y may be publicly proven.
every atom may he sfted. explained and
annhilatcd and yet there is the faint hut
indeiible stain OF suspicion which no de-
csion Of the court can erase entirely there
viii always be more who heard the cal
umny, but who never heard Ut never at
tended to the recitation.
The deadliest poisons, says Robertron.
are those for which no test is known. S-lch
is the deadly suhtlety of SANDER when con
veyed by the keen needle point OF words
OF innuendo. the perfumcd speech OF ma
licious irony or the insinuation OF a
studied gesture.
The shortest and safest way to ruin a
character is by creating a suspicion Nor Is |
IL necessary that word should he dist net |
~ spoken. Some of tho neatest bits of |
character killing are often ACCOMPLISHED |
without even whisper Of dlspralse. swiftly |
conveyed by dropped lip, an arChed eve. |
a shrug significant look. They nave done |
the mischief the venom is left btei1ad 10 |
influence hearts, tn fever human existence |
and to poison human society at the foun,.in |
springs OF life.