Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-07-13
'TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE SIN OF GOSSIP LAST
SUNDAYS SUBJECT.
"Puft OF Envy, Murder, Debate, Deceit,
Malignity, whisperers'-Rom Chap
ter L, Verse 29-The Fire of q
II ellish Spirit.

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Paul was here calling the long roll
of 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
called because they generally speak IN
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 wandering into the
wrong ear. They speak softly, not be-
cause they have lack of lung force, or
because they are oyerpowered with the
spirit of gentleness, but because they
want to escape the consequences OF
defamation. II 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-
tion without disturbing others; but the
| creatures photographed by the apostle
| in my text give muftied utterance from
sinister and ,deprayed motive, and
sometimes you can only hear the slb-
| liant sound as the letter IS" drops from
the tongue into the listening ear, Inc
| brief hiss of the serpent as it projects
| its venom.
Whisperers are masculine and femi-
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
| ier and are heard in all counting
rooms as we'll 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 anathema 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
"
made him, perhaps, the target Of their
ridicule. And beside that, he was 4
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 a rare morsel for their
standardization; 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 SANDER. If | should
in plain way, calling you by name,
charge you with fraud, or theft, or
murder, or uncleanness, tomorrow
morning l might have peremptory
documents served on me, and l would
have to pay in dollars and cents for
the damage | 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 pertidy and they
start on another. You cannot by the
force of moral sentiment persuade
| them to desist. You might as we'll
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 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 keyhole 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
| 10 CT hor do with
and that is a stimulus to the tattler
and is enough to set up a business for
| three or four weeks. Il guess that
husband and wife don't live happily to-
gether. | wonder if he hasn't been
abusing her? It's outrageous. He
be brought up before the church. I'll
| 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
| boris house and says: 20! Mrs. Allear,
| have you heard the dreadful news?
Why, our neighbor, poor thing, came
| down off the steps in a flood of tears.
| That brute of a husband has been
abusing her. Well, it's just as | ex-
| pected. l saw him the other afternoon
very smiling and very gracious to some
one who smiled back, and / thought
then l 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. o. Mrs.
| Allear, do have your husband 90 over
and put an end to this trouble. It's