Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-07-07

lCaDS from one WllSpeEPI : iipS W M
other whisperers lips until ali the peo-
pie you owe want their money and
want it right away auI the business
circles come around you like a pack OF
anil. though you had assets
four times more than were necessary
to meet your liabilities. crash went
everything! Whisperers. Oh. how
much business men have suffered!
Sometimes 10 the circles Of clergy
men we discuss why II Is that great
many merchants do not 80 TO church.
will tell you why they do not go to
church. BY the time Saturday night
comes they are worn out with the an
noyances OF business life. they have
had enough meanness practiced upon
them to set their whole nervous sys-
tenn a-twitch.
The Meanest TnlebeareP.
think among the worst OF the wills
perers are those who gather up all
the harsh things that have been said
about you and bring them to you-aI
the things said against you. or against
your family. or against your style or
business They gather them all up and
they bring them to you. they Dring
them to you in the very worst shape,
they bring them to you without any OF
the extenuating circumstances. and
after they have made your feelings all
raw. very raw. they take this brine,
this turpentine, this aqua fortls. and
rub il in with n coarse towel and rub
ii in until II sinks 10 the bone. They
make you the pincushion In which they
thrust all the sharp things they
have ever heard about you. Now,
don't bring me Into a scrape. Now,
don't tell anybody I told you. Let 1t be
between you and me. Don't involve
me in it at ALL" They aggrayate you
to the point Of profanity, and then they
wonder you cannot sing psalm tunes!
They turn you OH a spit before a hot
fire and wonder why you are not ab-
sorbed in gratitude to them because
they turn you on spit. Peddlers or
night shade. Peddlers Of Canada this
tie. Pedders of nux vomica. Sometimes
they get you in a corner where you
cannot very well escape without being
rude. and then they tell you all about
this one, and all about that one, and
all about the other one, and they talk.
talk. talk talk. talk. After awhile they
go away leaving the place looking Ike
a barnyard after the foxes and the
weasels have been around; here
wing, and there a claw, and yonder an
eye. and there n crop. How they do
make the feathers fly!
Rather than the defamation OF good
names. II seems to me 1t would be al
most as honorable and useful II you
lust took box of matches In your
pocket and a razor in your hand and
20 through the streets and see how
many houses you can burn down and
how many throats you can cut. That
is not a much worse business. The de-
structlon of mans name Is worse
than the destruction Of his life. A
woman came in confessional TO priest
and told him that she had been SIAN
dering her neighbors The priest prom
ised her absolution on condition OF her
performing a penance. He gave her
a thistle top and said, You can take
that thistle and scatter the seeds all
over the field" She went and did so
and came back. Now" said the priest,
gather up all those seeds She said'
II can't" "Ahw he said, Il know you
can't. Neither can you gather up the
evil words you spoke about your neigh
bors." All good men and all good wo-
men have sometimes had detractors
after them. John Wesley's wife WINS
Dered about him, whispered all over
England. kept on whispering about
that good man-as good man as ever
lived-and kept on whispering until
tho connubial relation was dissolved.
Even Jesus Assailes.
Jesus Christ had these whisperers
after him, and they charged him with
drinking too much and keeping oad
comnany. "A wine blbber and the
friend of publlcans and sinners lou
take the best man that ever lived ana
nut n detective on his track for teo
voars. watching where he goes ana
when he comes, and with a determine
tion TO misconstrue everything. ana 10
think he goes here for a bad purpose
and there for bad purpose. with that
determination Of destroying him. al 'ne
end Of the ten years he will be held
desnicable in the sight OF great many
people.
If II Is an outrageous thing to despoil
n mans character. how much worse y
II TO damage a woman's reputation
Yet that evil grows from century 'C
century. and it is all done by whisper
ers A suspicion is started. The ne1'
whisperer who gets hold OF 1t states
the suspicion as a proved fact ano
many good woman. as honoraDie u
vour wife or your mother, has Deer
whIspered out Of all kindly associA
tions and whispered into the grave
Some people say there Is no he'll Dut u
there be no hell for such a despoiler o.
womanly character 1t is high time tina
some philanthropist built one. bu
there is such a place established ah'
what a time they will have when al
the whis,erers get down there togethel
rehearsing thlngsI Everlasting earni
val of mud. Were it not for the un
comfortable surroundings. you mieh
suppose they would be glad TO &c
there. In that region where they ar
all bad what opportunities for exploita
tion by these whIsperersl On earth U
despoil their nelghbors sometimes thel
had TO lie about them. but down ther'
they can say the worst things possiO'
about their nelghbors and tell th'
truth. Jubilee Of whlsperers. Crane
Gala day Of backblters. Semiheaven o
scandal mongers stopping their gaosi
about their diabolical neighbors onl!
long enough to 90 up TO the iron gap
and ask some newcomer from IN
earth. what Is the last gossip IN IN
city on earth where we used TO liver
Now. how are we to war against thi