The record-union., 1899-02-13
of thousands, Yet / know that damna-

of thousands, yet know that damna-
BILE indeed is
SANDER.
Whose edge is sharper than the sword,
whose tongue
out-yenoms all the worms Of Nile, whose
breath
All corners of the world.
Alongside this quotation from Shake
speare, let me place the following from
one of our rabbis Of 1000 years ago:
why is the serpent-likes slanderer
called in Hebrew a 'Shalish'? Because
he kills three 'Shelosho,' namely, the
speaker, the person spoken to and the
person spoken off, 1t is interesting to
note that the same word expresses the
serpent and the figure three. This fact
gave rise to the following utterance:
20, serpent, why is it that thou bitest
in one spot and the whole system is
poisoned?"
Which is more dangerous, the pen or
the tongue? know not, yet the power
of the tongue is beyond all reckoning.
The Bible in the Book of Proverbs
claims Life and death are in the power
of the tongue" Who will deny it?
I1OW lHC WOAaS 1udy llOW liOlll II Al
mellifuous sweetness; how it's CHEEKY
message may soothe a fevered brow
and give vitality to famished heart;
how its word of love may seal for time
and eternity two souls with but a
single thought! How it thunders
against oppression and injustice. and
pleads for the poor and downtrodden:
How like Moses it may speak unto
cold rock in the barren desert of III
difference, and from it force the re-
freshing waters of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.
| But how like a tWO-edged sword is
the tongue, killing here, though it re-
vive there! Discord and disunion arc
it's achievements; friends separated
and homes covered with the pail OF
darkness are it's triumphs Like Lady
| Macbeth, it has the siren sweetness OF
Turing to ruin and destruction. o, the
harm of the unbridled tongue! The
ocean Of it's possible sorrow can nc
plummet fathom.
The poisoned ear that listens is not
guiltless. How often has that now
| tainted ear carried the message OF
| lying story to it's mouth and spread
the calumny into other ears! The un-
| fortunate part of slander is that its
| limit is not fixed. Not meeting with
a denial in the first ear, it travels, gath
ering in momentum as it speeds on its
way. If only an evil story could stop
| in the first ear, how much would be
saved; how many broken hearts and
ruined regulations. might be spared!
The evil is still more aggravated by
our pronenesS to believe what we hear
| We seem to possess happy faculty OF
strainer-like retaining the dregs OF
scandal, and of letting go the pure wine
of truth. Why is it that we have a
reader ear to the miseries, sorrows
and criticisms Of our neighbors than
to their joys, successes and good quail
ties? Why is it that we dislike spending
a little time to question the probability
of the story or the motive of the teller
| These. our weaknesses, serve to hight
en- the guilt of the slander-hearer. The
remark made of old that There are
| two persons who deserve hanging, the
| tale-b bearer by the tongue, and the tale
hearer, by the ear" has in it much JUS
tice. Both have violated the law which
says, Thou shalt not bear false wit
ness against thy neighbor.
| What has been said of libel and
slander holds good in measure of the
| less malicious vices, such as contumely
Misrepresentation, inuendo. personali-
| ties, malevolent spitefulness, jeers,
abuse, aggravating small faults, which,
while they may not have the intent 70
bespatter a reputation and wreck a
home have nevertheless, a decidedly
vicious and far-reaching effect, far out
of proportion to the slight guiltness OF
the sinner. This is failing to which
all of us must plead guilty From this
wrong has no one been free. From
Moses, who in a fit of passion called
his people rebels to Jesus who
angrily designated the Gentiles as
swine before whom it were worthless
| to cast the pearls of religious truth, UP
| to the present moment in our own daily
experiences has no one escaped the
| charge of bringing unnecessary and
vain testimony against his neighbor
The conclusion is not to be drawn that
we should, therefore, not take interest
| in our neighbors' joys and SORROWS
nor that the charming art Of conversa-
| ton should be construed as the i'm
plement of Satan. 1 mean that SHARP
and never-to- be- obliterated line should
be drawn between conversation and
gossip, between truth and veracity, be-
tween honest criticism and carping
censorious, nasty, busy body faultfind-
| ing. In themselves they may not do sc
| very much damage, but who knows
what they may not lead to? James
speaks wisely when he exclaims, Be
| hold how great matter is kindled by
| how small a fire! And the tongue Is a
fire." No, it needs not fire, even
spark falling on inf1ammable material
| is quite sufficient to make charred
regulations and reduce happiness and
peace to cinders and ashes.
| Let me append these few words OF
| homely truth and advice as touching
| the exposition of the ninth command
mont. T. Beware not only of perjury
| but of all oaths. Avoid the oath, if pos
sible, except in courts. Do not call on
| Gods name to witness to the truth OF
your statement. That will not help It,
| if true, and only aggravates the sin,
il false Love the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, but
above ALL live it. See to it that your