Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1904-07-28
Uncle Toms
Chat.
THE TALE BEARER.

90 not KNOW GnaG can 90
justice to the subject | want to
talk about, to wit THE Tale
Bearer. Ofall the different spec
linens of humanity none are
more prominent than the talking
class, none are more slick
tongued and deceitful. You
know them for they are the east
est people to get acquainted
with of any ON earth and are also
very presumptious. You can
hardly insult them and keep
them at arms length. They will
intrude themselves into the
home and into the family circle
and they are generally in hur-
ry but will stay long enough to
talk about all the neighbors. BY
insinuating that such and such a
person said SO and so about you
they get you angry thus causing
you to say things which you
ought not. After accomplishing
their purpose they get anxious
to go and declare they did not
intend to stay a minute. You
rather insist on their staying
awhile longer or coming again to
spend the day. This they agree
to do, though they would have
come without an invitation. So
off they go very anxious to see
the one of whom you spoke I'M
kindly and you may rest assured
that your words will lose nothing
in the telling but will be heaped
up u little for good measure.
This taller is very good friend
to both and won't hesitate to
take your part or, at least, say
that they did. have had some
experience with those people but
have never allowed them to dis
turb the relationship Of my fam
lily to their neighbors. | have
never allowed tatlers to become
intimates with my family being
generally able to keep them at
arms length. Some people, how
ever, are so credulous that they
believe what is told them and al
low themselves to become angry
at their neighbors without any
real season.
Tatlers adjust themselves to
all conditions and circumstances
of life. At church during u revi-
val service they are very sanity
and none apparently are living
such devoted Christian lives as
they. At the same time their
mouths are full of criticisms a.
bout certain neighbors who re-
fuse to speak to each other when
their own tatling is the direct
cause of this GOODNESS. They also
frequently say that sinners
would do better if Christians led
more devoted lives. A sinner of
high intellectual attainments
told me not long since that he
went to church where series OF
meetings were being held. The
preacher delivered u fine sermon
and called for mourners. A GER
tain woman of the neighborhood,
a taller, went into the audience
to talk with sinners and so dis
gusted the person mentioned
that he left. | believe that tat
lers are so well known that the
church would be doing God u
service by telling such to keep
quiet. Tatling is lying and, as IL
ars seldom if ever reform, the
best thing to do it seems is to
get them out of the way. Moth
ing is too sacred or solemn to es-
cape their sharp tongues, not ev-
en- excepting death itself. Hard
ly a death occurs but that some
false report is started concerning
something which the doctor or
this or that member Of the fami-
ly should have done amiss.
That reminds me that some
cymling heads say that our
preachers have a select few with
whom to take dinner, when real
ly the only invitations they get
are from those few. | call the
others the tatIing inhospitable
members whose chief stock
in trade is talking about
better people and trying to drag
them down to the low place they
occupy.