Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1910-03-24
SlanderOuS Tongues.

It has been we'll and truly said
that ''the pen is mightier than
the sword" and the saying ap.
plies even more forcibly to the
human tongue, which was much
in evidence aud had wrought a
world of good and evil-of bless
ing and cursiug-many cycles
ere pen and ink were known. Il
is the tongue Of the eloquent or
ator and enthusiast that has, in
all ages, melted men to deeds OF
wondrous daring and heroism;
it is the tongue, too, Of fiery mar
plots and demagogues that has
led to the most disastrous up
heavals in the worlds history.
But we need not betake ourselves
to the chronicles of old TO form an
idea of it's power for veal or woe,
or to find traces of the ruin it has
caused. We have all the evidence
we want at our very doors. Who
among us, even with very linn
itei experience, can be ignorant
of the havoc wrought by the vile
tongue Of the slanderer-of the
fair regulations it has bighted,
the promising careers it has
blasted, the brilliant prospects 1T
has ruined? How many happy
homes it has wrecked and the
loving hearts it has torn apart
and crushed beneath it's metci-
less iro I heel.
The simple lie, which hurts
only the liar himself, is bad
enough, for Lying lips are abom-
nation" not only to the Lord, y
but to every decent man and wo-
man as well. The charge Of un-
truthfulness is one which even
the child resents with all its
might. He may stand a great
deal of bantering, but if he has a
spark of self-respect in his make
up there is one taunt which his
young spirit will not brook Call
him a liar, and he is up in arms
at once. There is something so
indescribably mean about lying
that the veriest STRIPPING seems
to feel it instinctively from the
moment he begins to reason.
But if simple lying is bad, the
two.edged sword of SANDER,
which wounds both accuser and
accused, is immeasurably worse
worse, in some respects, than
theft or murder. For it is the
theft and murder of that which
people of honor and spirit prize
far more highly than money, or
even life itself. In the category
of crime there are few acts to
compare, in baseness or malice.
with deliberate, cold. blooded cal
umny. The Founder of Christi
anity was exceptionally lenieut
with most classes of sinners,
but the slanderer formed an ex-
ception to the general rule. In
fact, almost the only instances OF
His Indulgence in bitter invec-
tive are his references to the Ii.
belous Pharisees, who were con.
slanlly misrepreseuliug Himself
and His work.
Perhaps one Of the strongest
chapters in all literature is st.
James indictment of the unbrid-
led tongue. The writer evident,
ly felt deeper on the subject
and knew from experience the
truth of the words he penned:
Behold how small a fire kindleth
great wood! And the tongue
is fre-a world of iniquity
being set on fire by hell Man
has succeeded in tanning all sorts
of beasts and birds, but there is
one little force which still re,
mains untamed and unSubdued
the venomous tongue, a resist
less evil, full of deadly poison. In
The matter of libel, as in most
other things, destruction is cas-
ier than construction. u is cas-
ier to pull down and destroy
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