The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-07-24
SERMON BY
REV. ]. SHAPE.

oduS 2O:l6.
Language is the sacred possession
of man. We may listen to the jab.
bering Of the monkey, the pleased
purr of the cat the atfectionate bark
Of the dog, the monotonous twang vi
pretty poll, " or the neigh Of that
intelligent animal, the horse, but to
man alone is given tine power to
clothe in appropriate dress 'thes
thoughts Of his mind, and this dres
we call language. 1t may be oral, as
when eve to eye human beings con-
verse, console or quarrel, by means Of
spoken words. 1t may be written
and then in after years as we recall
the memories Of departed friends we
read the language which their hands
have one time penned, we seem to
commune again with them from whom
we re parted, and their written words
become to us sacred language. Who
has not at times spent hours in the
reading Of letters received from
friends long since removed or glorih-
ed? For some time before his death
Gladstone spent his time in reading
the letters he had received for years
from correspondents. There were
1000 of them, and he was classify.
ing, reading, arranging. What
task! Yet what pleasure.
Words are wonderful things. Lam
guage is marvellous gift. What a
wonderful omnipotent God must be
the giver Of it. How inspiring 1t
must have been to the disciples to
gather together after the Master had
left them and speak about that Of
which He had spoken, and recall His
precious words.
This, perhaps, is how it became
possible for us to have the Gospels,
which record His life and teaching.
The sermon on the Mount was writ
ten not by stenographer, taken as
the Master preached, but written per
haps in after years from memory, so
indelibly must He "who spoke as
never man spoke' have impressed it
upon their minds. After that sad
but memorable walk to Emmans with
the two, and He had left them, it was
His language that fingered like the
aroma Of the rose to strengthen them
for they say 'Did not our hearts
burn within us, while lie talked with
US by the way, while He opened unto
us the Scriptures
Yes, our words are immortal for
"by thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words, thou shalt be con-
demned.
Look at that young couple bending
over the crib Of their baby, and
screaming with delight. What has
happened? The baby has just said
"Papa"-the baby talked. Wait
awhile until some day at the close of
the school the teacher says, MARY
Jones' will remain after school, Mary
has talked. See those two women
with heads touching over the back
fence, and whispering in soundless
(and senseless) words the name Of a
neighbor against whom spite is di-
rected, and see him afterwards, de-
spised in all the community, just be-
cause somebody talked. See those
two men on yonder corner; you can.
not hear word they say, but they
are gesturing wildly, and actively.
Presently you see one Of them lift his
fist and knock the other down. 1T
was talk once more.
See that sick patient in yonler
home. Go in and bend over the SUI
fering, drawn face and whisper, "ln
my Fathers house are many mansions,
and see how words can comfort. What
is this | hold in my hand? 1t is the
Word of Cod What is there about
this book that sends Livingstone to
Africa or u Carey to India or a Gram
mer to the stake? Simply words, the
printed word ofGod.
Let US thank God for the wonder
full gift Of language. Words fifty
spoken are like apples of gold in pic.
lures Of silver; but word S falsely spok-
ell are like arrows Of poison hurled
from Satan's bow. No wonder then
that God should have Numbered
from Sinai the words, Thou shalt
not bear false witness against our
neighbor.
Dr.. George Dana Boardman says:
1.-THE ninth commandment differs
from the third in this respect. The
third forbids perjury against God;
the ninth forbds perjury against man.
A few weeks ago we d discussed Our
Neighbours Body" and afterward,
"Our Neighbor's Home. Last week
it was "Our Neighbours Property"
and tonight 'Our Neighbours Repu.
tation."
Our ncighbors reputation is not
the same as his character, but is relat.
ed to it in this respect, namely,
Character is, or ought to be, the ba-
sis OF reputation. Reputation is our
neighbours good name, and
Good name, in man or woman, dear
my Lord,
Is the immediate Jewel Of their
souls;
Who steals my purse, steals trash;
IT'S something, nothing.
Twas mine, tbs his, and has been
slave to thousands;
But he who tilches from me my good
name,
Robs me of that which not enricheS
him,
And makes me poor indeed. y
With this conception Of "Our
neighbor's reputation, it is easily
seen that no man can break the ninth
commandment without shattering
tbs eighth.
Let this also be said. Our neigh
Dor is perfectly helpless in our hands.
knnw no man 40 imnrepnable in