Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1899-07-08

| many houses you can DUfn down ana
how many Threats you can cut. That
Is not much worse business. The de-
struction OF Il mans name Is worse
than the destruction Of his life. 4
woman came in confessional to priest
and told him that she had been SLAM
dering her neighbors. The priest prom
I iSed her abSolutiOn on condition Of her
/ performing penance. He gave her
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,
81 can't" "Ah" lie said. II 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 whis-
pered about him, whispered all over
England, kept on whispering about
that good man-as good Il man as ever
lived-and kept Oh whispering until
the conuubinl relation was dissolved.
Even Jesus ASsni1ed.
Jesus Christ had these whlsperers
after him, and they charged him with
drinking too much and keeping bad
company. "a wine bbber and the
friend of publlcans and sinners" You
take the best man that ever lived AMI
nut q detective on his track for ten
wears, watching where he goes and
when he comes, and with determine
ton to mlsconstrue everything, and to
think he goes here for bad purpose
and there for bad purpose. with that
determination OF destroying him. ut the
end Of the ten years he will be held
dcspicable In the sight of a great many
people.
If it is an outrageous thing to despoii
q mans character, how much worse IS
it to damage Il woman's reputation!
Yet that evil grows from century TO
century, and it is all done by whisper
ers. A suspicion is started. The next
whisperer who gets hold OF 1t states
the suspicion rs proved fact' anu
many good woman. as honorable hs
your wife or your mother, has been
WHISPERED out Of all kindly associa-
tons and whispered into the grave.
Some people say there Is no hell, but II
there be no hell for such despoiler OF
womanly character it is high time that
some philanthroplst built one. But
tlare is such place established. ana
villa. a time they Will have when all
the wills erers get down there together
rehenrsing things! Everlasting carni-
val of mud. Were it not for the un-
comfortable surroundings, you might
suppose they would be glad to get
there. In that region where they are
all bad what opportunities for eXploita-
ton by these whisperers. On earth to
despoi their neighbors sometimes 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 whisperers. Grand
gala day of backbters. Semiheaven OF
scandal mongcrs stopping their gable
about their dabolical neighbors only
long enough to go up to the Iron gate
aud ask some newcomer from the
earth, What Is the last gossip In the
CITY on earth where we used to llve?
Now, how are we to war against this
iniuuity which curses every community
on earth? First by refusing to listen
to or believe whisper. Every court
OF the land has for law, and all de-
cent communities have for q 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 lis
tens without protest. The trouble is
you hold the sack while they fill 1t.
The receiver Of stolen goods Is just as
bad as the thief. An ancient writer de-
clares that q slauderer and q man who
receives the SANDER ought both to be
hanged-the one by the tongue and the
other by the ear. And | agree with
him.
Don't Retail Slnnder.
When you hear something bad about
your neighbors do not 20 all over and
ask about it, whether it is true, and
scatter it Il al spread it. You might as
we'll go to smallpox hospital and take
Il patient and carry him all through
the community asking people il they
really thought ii is Il case Of smallpox.
That would be very bad for the patient
and for all the neighbors. Do not retail
SANDERS and whisperings. DO not make
Yourself the inspector Of warts, and
the supervisor OF carbuncles, and the
commissioner for street cutters. and
the holder of stakes for Il dogtight.
Can it be that you. an immortal man,
that you, an immortal woman, can find
no better business than to become
gutter inspector?
Besides that. ut your family table al
low no detracton. Teach your children
TO speak well of others. Show them the
difference between bee and wasp
the one gathering honey, the other
| thrusting Il sting. | read of family
where they kept what they called "A
SANDER Book and when any SANDER
OILS WORDS were ullVicu III tiiS bOa'C
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 Il great many en-
tries, but after while there were no
entries at all Detracton stopped in
that household. 1t would be good
thing to have Il 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 n 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 de-
stroy them. 1t is said that the old
cranes found this out, and before they
started on their fight they would al
ways have stone in their mouth 80
they could not cackle, and then they
would fly in perfect safety. Oh, my
friends, be as wise as the old cranes
and avoid the folly Of the young
crnnesl Do not cackle.