St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-08-05

, fury, and It II al done BY Whisper. A
. suspicion is started. The next wAis-
perez who gets hold Of it states the sus-
picion as proven fact, and many good
woman, rs honorable as your wife or
your mother, has been whispered out Of
all kindly associations, and whispered
into the grave. Some people say there
is NO hell, but If there be no hell for such
despoiler Of womanly character it is
high time that some philanthroPist
build one! But there is such a place es-
tablished, and what . time they will
have when all the whisperers get down
there together rehearsing things!
Everlasting carnival of mud. Were 1t
not for the uncomfortable surroundings
you might suppose they would be glad
to get there. In that region where they
are all bad what opportunities for ex-
ploitation by these whisperers. On
earth, to despoil their neighbors some
times they had to lie about them, but
down there they can say the worst
things possible about their neighbors
and tell the truth. Jubilee Of whisper.
ers. Semiheaven Of scandal mongers
stopping their gable about their dia-
bolical neighbors only long enough to
20 up to the iron gate and ask some new
conner from the earth: what il the
last gossip in the city on earth where We
used to live?"
Now, how are we to war against this
iniquity which curses every community
on earth? First, by refusing to listen
to or believe whisper. Every court OF
the land has for q law and all decent
communities have for O law that you
must hold people innocent until they
are proved guilty. There is only one
person worse than the whisperer, and
that is the man or woman who listens
without protest. The trouble is, you
hold the sack while they I'LL it. The re-
ceiver Of the stolen goods is just ~
bad as the thief. An ancient writer de-
clares that a slanderer and man who
receives the SANDER ought both to be
hanged-the one b. the tongue and the
other by the ear-a ! / agree with
him.
When You hear so.lething bad about
your neighbors, do not 60 all over and
ask about It, whether it is true, and
scatter it and spread it. You might n
we'll 70 to smallpox hospital and take
a patient and carry him all through the
community. asking people if they really
thought 1t q case of smallpox. That
would be very bad for the patient and
for all the neighbors. Do not retail SLAM |
ders and whisperings. Do not make |
yourself the inspector of warts, and the |
supervisor Of carbuncles, and the COM |
missioner for street cutters, and the |
holder Of stakes for dog fight. Can it |
be that you, an immortal man; that |
you, an immortal woman, can find no |
better business than to become . gut |
ter inspector?
Beside that, at your family table H. |
low no detraction. Teach your children |
to speak well of others. Show them the |
difference between a bee and wasp
the one gathering honey, the other |
thrusting a sting. read Of family /
where they kept what they called "A
SANDER Book" and when any SANDER
GUS words were uttered in the house
about anybody or detraction uttered 1t
was all put down in this book. The
book was kept carefully. For the first
few weeks there were great many
entries, but after awhile there were NO
entries at all. Detraction stopped in
that household. It would be . good
thing to have = SANDER book in all
households.
Are any Of you given to this habit of
whispering about others. Let me per-
suade you to desist. Mount Taurus was
a great place for eagles, and cranes
would fly along that way, and they
would cackle so loud that the eagles
would know Of their coming, and they
would Pounce upon them and destroy
them. 1t is said that the old cranes
found this out, and before they started
on their fight they would always have
stone in their mouth so they could
not cackle, and then they would ny in
perfect safety. Oh. my friends, be n
wise rs the old cranes and avoid the
folly Of the young cranes! Do not
cackle.
If there are people here who are whis.
pered about, if there are people here
who are siandered, II there are people
here who are abused in any circle OF
life, let me say for your encourage
ment that these whisperers soon run
out. They may do 4 little damage for
awhile, but after awhile their detfac-
ton becomes eulogy and people un-
derstand them just as well rs though
some one chalked all over their over
coat or their shawl these words: ''Here
goes whisperer! Room for the leper.
Room!" You go ahead and do your
duty, and God will take care Of your
reputation. How dare You distrust
Him? You have committed to Him
your souls. Can you not trust Him with
your reputation? Get down ON your
knees before God and settle the whole
matter there. That man whom God ,,
takes care Of is well sheltered.
Let me charge you. my friends, to :
make right and holy use Of the tongue.
1t Is loose at one end and can swing i.
either way, but is fastened ut the other :
end to the floor Of your mouth, and that .
makes you responsible for the way It !
wags. Xanthus. the philosopher, told
his servant that on the morrow he was
going to have some friends to dine, and +.
O1eA mama ~ 6SV tnS OC0t luIHK uG C0Ul0 q
ind in the market. The philosopher :
and his guests sat down the next day :
1t the table. They had nothing but {
or five courses of tongue
tongue cooked in this way and tongue =
cooked in that way, and the philosopher a
lost his patience and said to his servant: | I
Didn't tell you to get tho best thing :
n the market?" He said: "Idid get the 4
'est thing in the market. Isn't the =
'ongue tbs organ Of sociability, the DR. i
yanof eloquense, the organ of kindness, :
The organ Of worshipT Il
Then Xanthus said: Tomorrow 1 e
want you to get the worst thing IN the 1
And on the morrow the phil d
'sopher sat at the table, and there was II
nothing there but tongue-four or five n
courses Of tongue-tongue in this shape q,
md tongue in that shape, and the ii
philosopher again lost his patience and b
aid: Didn't tell you to get the "