Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-23
MUCH NEGLECTED
COMMANDMENT
Whisper of Evil Often Grows
and Ruins a Repu-
tation
Beatrice Fairfax

'"Sht tuCheu away between OtneTS,
which seems vastly more important.
is the ninth: Thou shalt not bear
raise witness against thy neighbor."
And yet people who entertain them
serves with gossip and scandal would
be rather startled to find that they
are set down on the Books of Law
IN very close juXtaposition to those
VINO XIII and steal. OF course. the
commandments have gone a little out
OF style-honoring your father and
your mother and remembering the
sabbath Day to keep 1t holy and omit
ting to swear. do not seem to have the
hold they once had. However, few
people think about
these things nowadays; and / have
dency.
Ihe ninth commandment Is a par
lcular favorlte OF mine. Sometimes
think tn. 1t almost takes in the
sNth and the eighth and paves the
way Tor the tenth! If you don't hap
pen TO see the application, l suggest
you go read those ten very excellent
ana interesting documents. Whether
YOU regard them as inspired and God
SlNen as not. you will have to ac-
nIo"lsuSe that they have lasted
ionEer than most literary prod icts
nehoIu them triumphantly outwearing
seNerdl hundred of millions of gem
erations of best sellersl
hearlng false witness against your
neiShbor is not a matter of stand
ing up in court and giving testi-
mony which may steal his reputation.
ms fortune, his happiness or even his
lie itself. That Is the melodramatfc
last ugly possibility at which break
ers of the ninth commandment NAV
arrive. But along the road which
leads to public and sworn and mali
cious false testimony there arc miles
ana miles of sinister possibilities.
An EVIL Growth
A whisper of evil often manages TO
grow into a veritable thunder storm
OF cruel ugliness. An unkind sug-
Sestlon may be the beginning of de-
stroying a reputation, for unl<ind sug-
gestions are fertile seeds when they
fan into the ground of human imagi-
nation.
A Few years ago a rather conspicu-
ously golden-haired young woman
came to a summer resort where [
was visiting. She held herself some
what aloof from the guests, and her
quiet dignity suggested nothing more
TO me than well-bred desire to be
alone with her thoughts and plans
until such time as she found her
friends worth having. One afternoon
was sitting with a group of seven
women, who began discussing the un-
known.
Said the first: There's something
rather odd about her. I wonder why
she's so exclusive. Do you suppose
she doesn't think any of us good
enough for her?"
Ihat suggestion inspired the Sec
ond. who went a bit further. She's
bold-looking woman. 1 don't think
were exactly her style. Wait until
the men come down for the weekend.
III wager she'll put herself out a
bit then"
The third ventured a bit further.
she looks like that sort of woman.
But there may be one particular man
perhaps that's why she's so exclu-
sive."
With a sneer In her voice the fourth
jabbed her embroidery needle a bIt|
deeper into the human fabric wei
women were shading with stitches oil
unconscious cruelty-and rather high
coloring: "Of. course. She's a motor
ious woman. You can see that"
The fifth laughed sardonicalIy: "I|
think she's that horrible Mrs. Xavier|
for whom young Wilton killed him-|
self a few years ago, after his wifeI
had divorced him on her account She|
she had shot him, and now they sayI
she has Jimmy Hargrave in her tolls.
That will just about kill his mother.
for l hear he's gong the pace. andI
in his position he might easily enough
actually embezzle the funds of his|
trust company for her. oh, she's al
horrible woman, X. I recognized
her from her photograph"
Here she comes now," said the|
hai n"
us. l don't propose to sit here and1
be contaminated by her society,""
All the women In the group wereH
INFINITELY older than /, but could notH
refrain from telling them a bit of
what was going on in my mind "YouI
don't know one thing about thatI
woman except that she bears a chanceI
resemblance to an old newspaper
photograph. And you sit there Sc
renely destroying her reputation be-
cause you resent her exclusiveness'
and her mystery. I don't see how
you dare sit there and kill another
woman's good name. I think she is
smiling at me, and I'm going straight
up to her and talk with her."
There was a chorus of excited ex-5
clamatiors. l am not going to insist
that my motives were entirely beau
tiful and noble. was not afraid of
they had fairly goaded me into a de-
sire to show them how worthless Il
considered their fevered and ugly
imaginings.
So I walked over and said, GOOD
afternoon" and was met with a cor
dial request that l sit down and
chat. i've been wanting to get you
alone for a little talk, but you're al
ways surrounded by crowd of peo-
MI hn
have had no time for people. How
ever, by next week, l hope to be free
and then you must introduce all your
friends. l simply must finish the las
chapters of my book by next We'd
nesday. Publishers are so insistent
I'm incognito just now-Mrs. Smith
you know, on the register. But
rather thought you would know me-
And the notorious woman" re-
vealed herself; she was one of Amer
ica's half dozen really noted writer's
And that is gossip!
Breaking the ninth commandment
cannot hurt a woman of assailablt
position as 1t can timid and shrink
ing wife. an unprotected young girl
lonely old woman. a middle-aRe
man who is struggling against the
tide-but there is no one whose lifa
does not hold the possibility of being
wrecked by gossip and slander.
Homes have been broken up. for
tunes swept away, men have actu
ally been driven to suicide and womer
have become outcasts and pariahs be
cause the world has neglected thd
Importance of keeping the ninth com
mandment!
stupid people talk about people
moderately clever people talk abou
things and real intellectuals tall