Connecticut western news., 1899-07-06
: WHISPERED VENOM.
THE VOICE OF THE GOSSIP LIKE THE
 SERPENT'S HISS.
pr. Talmage Says the Purveyor of Idle Tales h the Poisoner of Socie- ty-A Strong ArraiRnment of Liars and Tmtflera.


 WASHINGTON, July 2.-In this dis course Dr. Talmage vigorously arraigns one of the great evils that have cursed the world and urges generous interpre tation of the character of others; text Romans i, 20, Full of envy, murder debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers.'
 Paul was here calling the long roll oi the worlds villainy, and he puts in the midst of this roll those persons known in all cities and communities and places as whisperers. They are so call ed because they generally speak under voice and in a confidential way, their hand to the side of their mouth acting as funnel to keep the precious infor. nation from wandering into the wrong ear. They speak softly not because they have lack of lung force or because they are overpowered with the spirit of gentleness, but because they want to escape the consequences of defama- ton. If no one hears but the person whispered unto. and the offender be ar raigned, he can deny the whole thing, for whisperers are always first class liars!
 Some people whisper because they are hoarse from cold or because they wish to convey some useful tnforma- tion without disturbing others, but the creatures photographed by the apostle in my text give muff1ed utterance from sinister and depraved motive, and sometimes you can only hear the sibi lant sound as the letter "S" drops iron. the tongue into the listening ear, th' brief hiss of the serpent as 1t project it's venom.
 Whisperers are masculine and femi- nine, with tendency to majority on the side of those who are called the lords of creation" Whisperers are heard at every window of bank cash fer 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 miseries innumerable; they are the scavengers of the world, driving their cart through every community, and today I hold up for your holy anathema and execration these whisperers.
 Paul . Victim.
 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, besides that, he was bachelor, persisting in his celibacy 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 & rare morsel for their scan- dalization, and he cannot keep his patience any longer, and he lays hold of these miscreants of the tongue and gives them a very hard setting down in my text among the scoundrelly and the murderous. Envy, murder, de- bate, deceit, malignity; whisperers."
 The law of libel makes quick and stout grip of open islander. If should In a plain way, calling you by name, charge you with fraud or theft or mur- der or uncleanness, tomorrow morn- ing I might have peremptory docu- ments served on me, and would have to pay in dollars and cents for the damage I 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 on, and they go on, escaping the judges 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 perfdy 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 un- der the force of moral sentiment. They are to be found everywhere, these whisperers. think their paradise Is a country village of about 1000 or 2,OOO people, where everybody 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 keyhole as other people can see with a door wide open. They can hear con- versation on the opposite side of the room. Indeed, the world to them Is a whispering gallery. They always put the worst construction on everything.
 A Fiendish Spirit.
 Some morning a wife descends into the street, her eyes damp with tears, and that Is a stimulus to the tattler and Is enough to set up business for three or four weeks. "I guess that hus band and wife don't live happily to- gether. I wonder if he hasn't been abusing her? It's outrageous He ought to be disciplined. He ought to be brought up before the church. Ill go right over to my neighbors and I'll let them know about this matter" She rushes In all out of breath to a neigh bor's house and says: "Oh, Mrs. Allear, have you heard the dreadful news? Why, our neighbor, poor thing, came down off the steps in flood of tears. That brute of a husband has been abusing her. We'll, it's just as I ex- Il very smiling and very gracious to some one who smiled back, and thought then I would just go up to him and tell him he had better go home and look after his wife and family, who probably at that very time were up stairs crying their eyes out. Oh, Mrs. AIIear, d0 nave your nusDand go over and put an end to this trouble. It's simply outrageous that our neighbor- hood should be disturbed in this way. It's awful"
 The fact Is that one man or woman set on fire of this hellish spirit will keep a whole neighborhood a-boil. It does not require any very great brain. The chief requisition is that the wom- an have a small family or no family at all because if she have large family, then she would have to stay at home and look after them. It is very impor- tant that she be single or have no chill