Show GOSSIP on the supposition that flies and mosquitoes and in fact every created being fills some niche in the great structure of nature and that they are created to meet some useful end I 1 presume that the gossip aud and scandalmonger scandal mo monger or have their uses as well ais ad ab abuses if they accomplish naught besides be eides they teach us to be patient under criticism and discreet in our bearing toward the rest of humanity they are a sort of preventive agent and in some cases have remedial powers bemuse because were it not for the gossips and scandal mongers bongers there are some who might take advantage of their freedom from attack and not toe the line of irreproachable conduct as they do now herein is the bentive mission 0 of the gossip C the remedial effect is in placing an obstacle in the way of a repetition of misdoing all men and women have in their inner life that irrepressible monitor called a conscience that man or woman who is without it is not worthy of the name they are no different diffie rent from the brute which has no pers pa caption of right or wrong and their conscience is something that in all properly constituted persons persona J does not become seared it is active and asserts itself wherever there is in s wrongdoing wrong doing in contemplation but granting that the gossip and the scandalmonger scandal monger have the their auses ruses uses with some of the other pestilential vermin of the universe in each one w what hat a sacrifice flee of honor ant and i res respect and dignity do we seel see it is a brutal arti g act et to mock and exaggerate the shortcomings of others it is heartless and wicked to spread the report of misdoing when it is just as much the wickedness of one to err as the other there is no infallibility in this world and with this truth in ones mind how is it possible that one should make of himself a judge of the conduct of others to ue do a woman gossip is bad enough but a mate male gossip has haa no right to exist and to enjoy the pleasures of this life A man should he be in better business we can partly overlook mae sin of scandal mongering in the weaker sex because with a great many women time hangs heavily upon their bandstand band hand sand it is certainly very true that an idle brain is the devil devies Is own workshop society is to blame for this listlessness on the part of many bomes and their consequent mischievous acts if it were the fashion to work in place of dawdling and lolling there would be low less time to devote to our neigh bors bora 1 business and his or her chis siua of omission and commission and surely the results would be more hene bene facial and healthy to the individual as well as to society women who respect themselves should be above th this Is wicked amusement I 1 call it amusement because to all gossips it is a positive pleasure to blacken the character of their associates socia tes especially some one that is really better than the tile bearer and if a woman persists in this course if she will take up every bit of street report that affects in a any U Y way the life of another and will revel in it somewhat as a cat rolls about in a bed of valerian and helps to discomfit and blacken the reputation of that other brother or sister it is proof beyond question that she possesses no self respect no com compassion pas and a lamentable want of fore te hought 0 gh t that she is deficient in self respect haigli t et is is manifest because if she had that at proper sense she would never aid in besmirching and ruining the character of another when such criticism can get no good for the scandalmonger scandal monger if there were any genuine feelings of pleasure or any material benefits arising from the indulgence of this appetite there would be some reasons for it but there are none unless one m might 1 I ht call the gratification of a low and a ul morbid taste a material benefit it is also plain that the retailer of scandal has no compassion argument is not necessary to prove that this assertion to is impregnable if there were compassion it would lead us to protect and save and forgive it would never prompt us to injustice and cruelty and as for the lamentable want of forethought it is shown in the absolute disregard of future contingencies does the gossip know that her life will ever be free from mistake Is she sure that no one can ever lay jay a sin big or little at her door and should she fall fail from grace or by some act lose caste in the eyes of her friends does she think that they will show pity and sympathy for her that would woula not be human nature it if we critic criticize ipe others we must expect to be critic criticized criticised leed in turn when we show compassion then we can with justice demand that compas sion shall be shown to us remember that I 1 think that one of the most touching episodes in the life of our beloved savior jesus christ and one of the prettiest incidents in the new testament is 19 the story that bohu tells of the woman who was taken in the commission of a wrong act the pharisees Pharis ees then as they generally do in these modern days took a principal part in the procedure they hie brought the poor woman to our laflor savior and arraigning her before him accused her with some show of superior morality and said unto christ master this woman was taken in adultery in the very act now moses in the law commanded that such should be stoned but what gayest thou this the they said tempting tem p ting him that they might have to accuse him but jesus stooped down and with his fi finger n wrote on the ground as though he be heard them not so when they continued asking him he lifted up himself and said unto them he that is without sin among yu let lei him tint first cast a stone at her and again he stooped down and wrote wrete upon the ground and they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one beginning at the eldest even unto the last and jesus was left alone and the woman standing JD in the midst when jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman he paid unto her woman where are those thine accusers no what man condemned thee she said no man lord and jesus said unto her I neither do I 1 condemn thee go and sin no more the story is told in the simple and abid therefore moving style of the holy boly bible the man who will so far forget himself as to circulate evil stories about a woman whether he knows them to lie be false balse or true is little be better than a dog indeed on second thought he is not half so good he is more of a br brute ute tl than inn 6 a dog and something more of a man than a vampire but he clearly belongs to the rap tilia he should take his place among those creatures that are not permitted to walk upright in the image of their M maker aker but crawl about on all fours it is bad enough for a woman to blacken the character of another woman for a man however to be an alder and abettor of sod so dastardly so villainous and so degrading an act but honestly is 18 there a real man who would do IV it are they net reptiles who have the semblance of a man and who are be tailored until they pass in the world as men the gossip and the scandal mon ger have been execrated from the time in the crudest crude tit forms of organized society the gossip was singled out as the object for contumelious remarks we find here and there in the bible these references As far back as leviticus is this injunction thou rhou shall not go up anti and down as a talebearer tale bearer among the people solomon wrote rhe ahe words of a talebearer tale bearer are as wounds and they g go 0 down into the innermost parts of the belly there are other passages to tb the e same intent the old latin writer juvenal wrote there is a lust in man no charm can tame of loudly publishing our neighbors shame on n eagles wings wiggs immortal scandals fly by while virtuous actions are but born and die 0 there is a pathetic history narrated by the talmud about a noble woman who sinned once but for that one sin she was singled out by the tale bearers for their derision and scorn rachel however was a grand woman she knew that she had sinned and she knew too that the circumstances under which her error had been committed were such as to entitle her to the mercy of her townswomen townswoman towns women she also knew that a life of blameless conduct might be the offering which would atone for her misdeed and she lived a noble life a life that not only silenced the scandal mongers bongers but that t diverted all their vituperation into affection where Is ia one woman like rachel with courage enough to sustain her in the hour of tribulation and with resolution sufficient to live down the stain upon her reputation and its attending consequences therease there ther eare are a hundred who give up in in despair A man survives the effects of a tale bearer s words better than a woman but even in the case of a man especially a man of fine sensibilities ties the tongue of a gossip is venomous and stings with wasp like severity pew few women there are that can arm themselves against this poison they bear the punishment so long as they live do you say th t they deserve some penalty that will last with their lives that will cause them to lose friends social caste and serenity of mind then think how bow easy it to is to make a mistake how much loftier a trait of the mind it its is to forgive than to censure Is it not the mission of human kind to bring joy and light to hours that are gloomy and Is it not the mission of men and women to assuage the grief of the afflicted and to make the cross light instead of heavy 0 01 ye that spare not where mistakes have been made think of this if you are without sin cast the first stone if you are not without fault why do you censure the world is too uncharitable we should cultivate charity charity for the for the misu misdeeds eeds of others what does paul the great areat apostle say of charity though I 1 speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity I 1 am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal and though I 1 bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I 1 give my body to be burned and have not charity it profi teth me nothing charity ereth long and is kind charity not charity vaunt eth not itself is not puffed up doth not behave itself unseemly not her own is not easily provoked thin keth not evil eab not in iniquity but ceth in the truth bearett all things believeth beli bell eveth all things hometh all things en dureth all things 1 these words have the ring of the true metal about them charity is another word for mercy As we expect to be judged when we are arraigned for error so should we judge others sweet mercy is nobility nobil nobl lity itye true badge writes shakespeare in other words that man is the noblest who is the most meri men ful mercy is a grand quality of the human soul shakespeare in his imer merchant of venice puts this exquisite sentiment in the mouth of portia the quality of mercy is not strained it drop peth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath it is twice blessed it bles blessett blesse seth tn him that gives and him that takes tig tia mightiest in the mighty aty it becomes ahe thrones monaree monarch better than his c rown crown 11 let us never forget to be merciful where there is error for with hat bat measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again f dia DB ED ISAACSON AMERICAN FORK jan 10 1890 |