Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1899-07-14
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
TIE SIN OF GOSSIP, LAST
SUNDAYS SUBJECT.
"Fall of Envy. Murder, Debate, Deceit,
MaIisnity, Romans, Chap
ter L. Verse 20 - The Fire of
HeI.ish Spirit.

and places as whiSpererS. Ihey are So
called because they generally speak I'M
der voice and in a confidential way,
their hand to the side of their mouth
acting as a funnel to keep the precious
information from nderlng Into the
wrong ear. They 81 k softly, not be-
cause they have lack OF lung force, or
because they are overpowered with the
spirit of gentleness, but because they
want to escape the consequences Oh
defamation. If no one hears but the
person whispered unto and the OF
fender be arraigned. he can deny the
whole thing, for whisperers are al
ways first-class liars.
Some people whisper because they are
hOarse from a cold. or because they
wish to convey some useful infOrma-
ton without disturbing others; bat the
creatures photographed by the apostle
in my text give muifled utterance from
sinister and depraved motive. and
sometimes you can only hear the SID
liant sound as the letter s. drops from
the tongue into the listening ear, 1ne
brief hiss of the serpent as it projects
its venom.
Whisperers are masculine and feml-
nine. with a tendency to majority on
the sides Of those who are called the
lords of creation Whisperers are
heard at every window of bank cash
Ter. and are heard in all counting
rooms as well as in sewing societies
and at meetings of asylum directors
and managers. They are the worst
foes of society; responsible for mis-
cries innumerable; they are the scaV-
engers of the world. driving their cart
through every community, and today, l
hold up for your holy anatnema and
execration these whisperers.
From the frequency with which Paul
speaks of them under different titles, |
conclude that he must have suffered
somewhat from them. His personal
presence was very defective, and that
made him, perhaps, the target of their
ridicule. And beside that, he was \
bachelor, persisting IN his celiDacy
down into the sixties, indeed, all the
way through, and some having failed
IN their connubial designs upon him,
the little missionary was put under the
raking fire of these whisperers. He
was no doubt a rare mOrsel for their
standardization; and he cannot keep his
patience any longer and he lays hold
of these mscreants of the tongue ana
gives them a very hard setting down
in my text among the scoundrelly ana
the murderOus. Envy, murder, de-
bate, deceit, malignity; whisperers. y
The law of libel makes quick and
stout grip OF open SANDER. If | should
in a plain way. calling you by name,
charge you with fraud, or theft, or
murder, or uncleanneSs, tomorrow
morning 7 SHIT have peremptory
document. led on NE, and | would
have to pay in dollars and cents for
the damage l had done your character.
But these creatures spoken of in my
text are so small that they escape the
fine-tOOth comb of the law. They go
and the juries and the penitentiaries.
The district attorney cannot find them,
the sheriff cannot find them, the grand
jury cannot find them. Shut them off
from one route of perfidy and they
start on another. You cannot by the
force of moral sentiment persuade
them to desist. You might as well
read the Ten Commandments to flock
of crows, expecting them to retreat
under the force of moral sentiment.
They are to be found every where,
these whisperers. | think their para
disc is a country village of about one
or two thousand people where every
body knows every body. But they also
are to be found in large quantities in
all our cities.
They have a prying disposition.
They look into the basement windows
at the tables Of their neighbOrs, and
can tell just what they have morning
and night to eat. They can see as far
through a kcyhole as other people can
see with a door wide open. They can
hear conversation on the opposite side
of the room. Indeed, the world TO
them is a whispering gallery. They
always put the worst construction on
everything.
Some morning a wife deScendS into
the street, her eyes damp with tears
and that is a stimulus to the tattlel
and is enough to set no business fol
three or four weeks. Il guess thai
gether. | wonder if he hasn't beer
abusing her? It's outrageous. H.
ought to be disciplined He ought Il
be brought up before the church. II
go right over to my neighbors and II
let them know about this matter" Sh,
rushes in all out of breath to a neigh
bCr's house and says: 20, Mrs Allear
have you heard the dreadful news
Why, our neighbor, poor thing, cam,
down off the steps in a flood of tears
That brute of a husband has beer
abusing her. Well. it's just as l ex
pected. / saw him the other afternoon
very smiling and very gracious to som
one who smiled back, and | though
tell him he had better go home an
look after his wife and family, VIII
probably at that very time were up
stairs crying their eyes out. o. Mrs
Allear, do have your husband go owe
and put an end to this trouble. It