The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1902-11-07
THOUGHTS.
lnr Nemol

]
fully accused Of murder, could go Ia
the city Of Refuge aud be safe until
trial and afterwards. am not going
to say that our times are worse than
then, because don't believe it, nor am
| going to speak Of murders or lynch
ings or other suryivals Of savage in.
stincts in the murderer or the present.
day Avenger Of Blood.
In one direction all Of us have a long
way to travel before we have reached
perfection. That pathway should lead
us to a gentler instinct, making US ever
refrain from accusing any one Of any,
thing until we are positively sure Of
our grounds. There is no City Of
Refuge from the unjust accusation. it
flies on the wings Of the wind, it is
borne hither and thither, the good
thoughtless one repeats it unthinking
~, the evil one repeats it and enlarges
upon 1t, the newspapers get hold Of il
and spread il broadcast. Then for the
poor soul improperly accused, whether
it be of small matter or great, there Is
a life to live in which the rumOr will
revive just when its revival means sor-
row. An unjust accusation never ut
tered needs no burying; uttered, it will
not stay buried We can destroy mon
uments that lie, but we cannot stop
a rumor that lies.
In Mrs. Shelley's famous novel,
Frankenstein makes a mechanical
man, and then gives it life. From that
moment he is helpless to stop or undo
his almost satanic work, and his evil
invention continues tospread terror and
misery wherever it goes. No more
terrible, or unrecallable, is the act Of
anyone Of US when we turn over in our
minds an evil suspicion against anoth-
er and then give it life through utter
ance.
] doubt whether there are many,
even Of the most holy, who never have
thoughts about their fellows, except
such as could be uttered; in fact is it
not true that even in the midst Of most
solemn occasions thoughts altogether
out Of keeping with the occasions,
and absolutely abhorrent to it come
into the mind? Perhaps very few
Of Us are masters OF our minds,
but unless we are gibbering idiots we
can be masters Of our own tongues.
An evil thought dies when the
action Of the mind turns in another
direction, but if we utter that thought
il never dies. You often see in the
papers notice Of some occurrence in
connection with person who has been
notorious in some way. In a certain
class Of papers you feel perfectly sure
that, somewhere down in the item, you
will find a fiendish memory tagging
onto the perfectly innocent occurrence
now recorded all the slur and slime Of
a less pure occurrence IN the past.
This is an absolutely gratuitous injury
to the peace Of mind Of one, who in
later years and wiser years is trying to
live down the error Of the past. 1t
makes one feel as though modern civil
ization with its thousand ways Of re.
things, is absolutely relent.
less in its capacity for torture upon
those who. having done wrong, try to
live for better things, or who having
done no wrong are suspected Of evil.
Let every reader of this make a re-
solve for the benefit Of the human race, .
and for the betterment Of the owners
heart, that no rumor Of evil shall be
'oiced forward on its way, that no one
rying to climb again to a moral height
hall be hindered by any word that we
nay say, and even as we would Others
hould do unto us we also will do
This may make our conversation at
lines less spicy and interesting, but it
will bring into being moral City Of
Refuge, and that City Of Refuge shall =
,e the greater human heart open to all !
Who resurge from the slough of evil, OF :,
Who, unjustly accused, struggle in an
,uish to get away from the dread con-
equences of idle and vindictive gossip. =
Thus ancient lore would have us learn
Three things there be which ne'er return:
Arrows, Lost Chance, and Spoken Word
The archer fits his final shaft,
With steadfast eye and careful craft,
And anxious aim DER long deferred.
True wisdom grasps occasion meet,
And never dreams OF dark defeat.
or sadly signs with vain regret 81
So soberly should speech be curbed
Since, like the silent pool disturbed, II
IL circles ever wider get 4