The evening Republican., 1902-07-09
1.-THE GARRU-
LOUIS FOOL. f."
A Sermon Preached BY
The Kew. John Shape,
July 9th, 1902.

emptiness and is often the proof of
it. ENplosiveness rarely aids eX-
pressiveEess Silence is golden
speech; garrulousness is fcolishncss.
! When gun goes OFT it is always
/ followed by noisy report, which is
! never, i'll any way, connected with
the gunner's aim. The noise of the
shot is no proof of accuracy. We
speak of gun going off but that
is speaking metaphorically. You
can't hear gun go off what you
hear is noise occasioned by the
rushing together OF the air, cleft by
the gunner's load. Thunder is re-
united atmosphere-so glad to get
together after the lightniny's flash,
that it shouts aloud on meeting.
And the sharper the lightnings
flash the louder the atmospheric
I shout. He who is startled at the
thunder's crash, is startled a mo-
ment too late Thunder never kill
ed anybody.
Persistent garruluusness, like the
report Of a gun, is ofteu proof OF
poor and poorer purpose.
In cunning quite frequently it is
the gunner, not the game, that gets
hit, especially il the load is SO big
that the gun kicks.
Rdmor is a pistol which u fool
didn't know was loaded, but il hit
and mortally wounded, his best
friend The full load was aimed ut
the heart Of reputation aud the aim
was accurate.
Gossip is perhaps, less dangerous
than a one pound cannon ball, but it
is as annoying as eleven hundred
mosquitoes. A gatlins gun is less 10
be feared than IA Cabling tongue,
for the tongue San shoot IN whispers
while the gun cannot conceal its
MUSE Gossip and war are synonyms,
and they both take their rise from
the same place. Only one kills
bodies, and the other murders chara
cters. A gallopjng horse is less to he
fearsd thana gaIIop'ng tongue, for
one 8 allops in the open while the
other runs in secret.
An automobile running away
through crowded streets is not SO
great II mcnAncc to public health as
a runaway tongue. An uncomfortable
automobile can usually be kept in the
street, but an uncomfortable tongue
always gets in peoples houses Every
nature Of wild beasts and birds, of
creeping things and things in the sea
is tanned and has been tanned by hui
man nature But the tongue no man
can tame: restless evil full Of dead
ly poison
With no purpose to rant or to say
unnecessarily sharp things, let us
seriously consider together this fifth
fool in our series on "'Ihe Fools Of
the Bible. We call him the Gar
rulous Fool. -
Did you ever play the game Of
Gossip: pat all evenings party.
1T is played by some one at the end
OF the room telling to the one next to
him Il story in a whisper, which is
repeated to the neXt and SO on and
SO on, until 1t returns to the author.
1t is wonderful how that story
changes and grows and twists in the
process, OF repetition. IL is just so
with real gossip. II the author there
Of, could sec it as it will be when it
at last comes back to him, (and it
always comes back he would never
in this world be the starter Of an idle
story.
Garrulousness is compound of
gossip, tlattely, anonymous letter
writing, scandal, slander and BIAS
phemy.
Slander, that worst of enemies al
ways finds,
An easy entrance to ignOble minds.
If we could just see that some Of
the ingredients of this compound
enter into the mixture of much Of
the speech of our lips, how careful
ly we would guard them that they
speak no guile. The gossip is to be
pitied as well as blamed. II he, or
she, be Il confirmed gossip, the case
is desperate A pest Of society and
an object of pity. Hearing some
idle tale, OF imagining one, and null
tiplying words about it until it has
reached the ears of community
and blistered the lips Of hundreds.
Fitting like some carr'ion of the
fields from carcass to carcass, to
suck up poison within himself, and
flying off with hands and mouth
both full. to squirt it out on willing
or unwilling victims.
Plautus, an old writer once said:
'"Those men who carry about, and
those who listen to ISLANDERS, should,
if l could have my way, all be
hanged; the tattlers by their tongues
the listeners by their ears" l do
not think should want to 20 as far
in my denunciation as old Plautus
did, but I shoul be almost willing
to prescribe for them a dose of Del
aware justice.
Flattery is another form of the
garrulousness that characterizes
this tifth fool. He is always "glad
to meet YOU" aud says so with a
gush and mock earnestness that
would be commendabe II 1t were
not nauseatlng. He can repeat the
s1noothest words to you aud mean
the least with them OF any fool IN
the catalogue.
The garrulous fool is usually an
arony NOUS letter writer. and as
such he Is the me anest Of men. The
assassin with his dirk is gentle
man compared with his pen. One
is almost ready 10 say that he
would rather not even be praised !
anony mously, lest there be a siris.
ter motive underlying the fusome.
ness OF him who is ashamed OF his |