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EVIL SPEAKING:

SERMON

REV. ISRAEL CHAMBERLAYNE.

~GQ

EVIL SPEAKING:

OR,

A BRIDLE FOR THE UNBRIDLED TOftGUE:

SERMON,

REV. ISRAEL CHAMBERLAYNE.
in

delivered before the preachers' association of niagara disteiot ;
(genesee annual conference of the m. e. church,)
niagara falls, august 1, 1848.

[PUBLISHED AT THE BEQUEST, AND UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF SAID
ASSOCIATION.]

[Copt Right Secured.]

ROCHESTER, N. Y.
STEAM PRESS OF JEROME & BROTHER, AMERICAN BUILDINGS
1849.

EVIL SPEAKING.

James i. 26. If any man among you seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, but deeeiveth his own heart, this man's religion
is vain. \
Speech was the crowning gift of all the other gifts of God
to man. Unperverted by sin, it was to have been the endlessly
diversified medium and instrument of the highest social/happi
ness of his race. Unperverted by sin, it was to have worn the
high honor of publishing, as nothing else can do, the praises of
the all-bounteous Creator, without intermission and without
end. Even as it is, averted from its destiny of blessing, at once
and forever, both the receiver and the Giver, a gracious inter
vention continues to it susceptibilities and capabilities, which
suffice for intimating its original grandeur and power. Else,
whence is the soul enabled to body forth its inward workings
its mightiest thoughts? Whence those exquisite touches by which
it can denote, at once, its own emotions, and sweep those mys
terious chords by which responsive emotions are awakened in
the breasts of thousands ? Or by what instrument are the deep
things of eternity revealed to man ; or penitence and hope
awakened ; or, in a word, a revolted world recalled to the alle
giance of its Maker ?
But this faculty, thus fertile, thus potent, we are to consider,
and the preceding reflections will enable us the better to con-

4
sider, as operating under the influence of that malignity with
which sin has infected it, while, at the same time^ it spurns the
guidance and restraint of divine appliance. Thus conditioned,
two facts, out of countless numbers, will be sufficient to mark
the extent of its power for evil.
The first is, that this perverted faculty wears the hellish honor
of having achieved the enthralment and ruin of our race. The
snare was set in silence ; but it was a godless word that sprung
it. The devil said something ; and the next moment saw him
swelling with exultation over the enslaved representatives of a
world. The second illustration of the energy which this faculty pos
sesses for evil, is furnished by the fact, that the human heart,
utterly-void of good, utterly fraught with evil, and, consequently,
not merely inimical, but enmity, itself, against the God of infi
nite holiness ; that this heart, with all the malice which all hell
can inspire into it, cannot concoct a sin, that, by itself, is suffi
cient to place it beyond the pale of pardon, till that more con
centrated and active venom is shot into it, which the tongue
alone distils. That madness of impiety-rand one must needs
tremble while he writes it — which hates all the Trinity ; blas
phemes them all, as far as the heart alone can do it, would seem
incapable of completing the sin against the third Person of the
adorable Three, till utterance gives it the finished form.*
Quotation, or even reference, should be unnecessary when
our Savior's authority, upon which these statements are

* Unwilling to encumber the text with matter not immediately relevant, and still desiring, if
possible, to throw a little light on the subject of the question : Why is utterance a necessary
condition of this irremissible crime ? I shall venture on the attempt in this note ; and the rath
er, as, possibly, tho reader, like the writer, has met with nothing satisfactory on the subject. ,
1. When the mind, for its greater gratification, in hearing its own echo, or the still greater
luxury, of wounding its object in the estimation of others, or of direct insult to the object him
self, is meditating, and, as yet, but merely meditating, the prerequisite volition of the crime in,
question, it can only be, because the malevolent motive is not yet sufficiently strong to induce
that volition. This, then, is the first reason why that malevolence, while it is in that state, is
not unpardonable.

based, is so. well known, , It was " because they said ' He hath
an unclean spirit," that, Jesus averred: " Whoso blasphemeth"
— that is, as the word itself means, and as himself explains —
"he that speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, hath never
forgiveness." Impressed by these great deeds of a lawless tongue, you will
look with lessened surprise on its more ordinary actings. In

2. By a law of the mind, as all its actions, verbal, as well as others, are effects of its volition,
so those actions produce a re/lex influence on the mind itself, moving it to will the iteration of
the same, or similar, action. The mind wills a beneficent word : that word reflects its appro
priate influence on the mind ; which influence is added to the pre-exist en t influence, under which
the mind acted before. Its next volition is made with a facility and effect, answering' to the
augmented motive by which it is prompted. It wills maleficently. The maleficent word flies to
its mark ; and thence, with a glance, like a poisoned arrow, it strikes the mind, that projected
it. The mind, thus re-envenomed, is prepared to strike its object with augmented and unspar
ing virulence. The application, which will be made in another place, is so far anticipated by the
reader, as to impress him with a second reason for conditioning the irremissibleness of the sin
in question, on the overt act of utterance.
3. As the law which punishes the highest crime against human government,- namely, that
which strikes directly at the government itself, is based on its injurious influence upon soci
ety, and, consequently, suspends its penal infliction till overt action reaches society with that
influence ; so the crime in question, is hot treated as actionable, in this highest lights in which,
with malice prepense, it strikes directly at the known and immediate Agent on whom the opera
tions of God's government depend, till it reaches that point at which it could begin to influence
others. That point is utterance.
Up to that point, then, the turpitude that leads to it, is forgivable :
1. Because, till uttered) that turpitude is not an action,
2. Because, till acted, no reflex influence can have imparted to it the highest possible degree
of intenseness.
3. Because, anterior to utterance, not being an act, as remarked before, by which I mean an
overt act, it can have produced no social mischief.
Once spoken, however, it takes on every character of the highest possible criminality, consid
ered, either with regard to him who commits it, or those against whom it is indirectly commit
ted ; indirectly, in form, bu,t directly, and, as far as we can know, exclusively, in effect. For,
in this case,
1. At the moment of. willing and acting the crime, the malevolence of the perpetrator is as in
tense as it possibly can be, prior to the reflex influence of the act itself.
2. Immediately after, by the constitutional reaction, already noted, that malevolence is in
definitely intensified ; and thus, cause and effect, mutually reinforce each other, on and on.
3. From this acme of malevolence — the highest possible, at each successive period of its aug
mentation—the subject of it attempts to sap all that is vital in the interests of all his race, and of
all the beings in the universe, by seeking to identify Him, whose office it is to inspire vitality
in those interests, with the most malignant and abhorred of all beings in earth or hell : a crime
as much more injurious, in its tendency, to the universe, than that which would merely annihi
late his Godhead, as Satan would be a worse successor of the Holy Spirit, than a mere negation .

the light of inspired description, it should be, but is not, bridled.
It is, therefore, a beast, untamed, and, untamable, by human
power and skill. His tread is leviathan's, his paw the leopard's ;
his embrace the boa-constrictor's, his voice the syren's ; his hiss
the old serpent's, his breath the dragon's ; his eye the basilisk's,
his fang the viper's ; his tear the crocodile's, his heart the tiger's ;
his scent the vulture's, his wing the— wind. What can he not
achieve, since he has ruined earth ? What dare he not do, since
he has opened his blasphemous mouth against the Heavens? >
The spirit of the text stands equally against all verbal ungod
liness ; but we are now to invoke its sacred authority against
the most common and pernicious form of that ungodliness —
Evil speaking. In doing this, we shall consider : What con
stitutes it ; What causes it ? and What will cure it. ?
I. What constitutes the sin of evil speaking ?
1. The highest degree of it consists in the origination and
utterance of a known and perfect falsehood, with the intention
of injuring the object of it. None can doubt, that this is evil
speaking. It is all that, with a surplus, sufficient, under certain
circumstances, to justify an action in civil law, for slander, or
libel,' according as the matter of it is published orally, or in
writing. 2. It is constituted by aiding to publish what he, who does it,
knows to be false, and by which, at the same time, he intends to
injure, or, what is the same thing, while he is a'ware of its ten
dency to injure, the object ; notwithstanding he was not sole,
nor even a party, in the authorship. " He that loveth," as well
as he that "maketh a lie," shall have his part in the lake of fire.
And what clearer proof can he give, that he loves a lie, than
by volunteering his agency in sending abroad the winged misr
chief? 3. He incurs the guilt of evil speaking, who reports any thing
detrimental to character, by whomsoever originated, while the

truth or falsehood of it is not positively known. We are not
how enquiring, what the civil law would do with him. He may
wriggle out of its meshes ; bujt how will he escape the penalty
of that eternal mandate : " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy
self?" But, finally, and to cover the whole ground at once, the
crime, under consideration, is constituted,
• 4. By asserting or insinuating any thing, more or less unfa
vorable to the Reputation of another, though believed, or even
known, to be true. It is all-important that we .understand this ;
that, properly, and strictly, evil speaking is not lying, but telling
the truth, of an absent person, when that truth relates to any
thing evil in that person's conduct or character. Thus Mr.
Wesley, in answer to the question: " What is evil speaking ?"
" It is not, as some suppose, the same with lying and slander
ing. All a man says maybe as true as the Bible ; and yet the
saying of it is evil speaking. For evil speaking is neither more
nor less than speaking evil of an absent person ; relating some
thing evil, which was really said or done by one that is not pres
ent when it is related. Suppose having seen a man drunk, or
heard him curse or swear, I tell this when he is absent; it is evil
speaking.— This command ; "Speak evil of no man," is tram
pled under foot, if we relate to another the fault of a third per
son, when he is not present to answer for himself."*
The law of love, which condemns this practice, may, indeed,
on some rare occasions, justify it. For instance : you know of
a design to injure the property, or take the life, of another per
son ; and the circumstances ere such, that its execution can be
prevented in no other way, than by giving information to him

*See Mr. Wesley's Sermon, entitled; " The Cure of Evil Speaking;" See sections 9 and
.5, chaps. 1 and 2 of Methodist Dis., (old arrangement.) See Dr. Clarke on Ps. IS. See also
l Homily, on the general subject, in the old " Whole Doty op Man," in which the leading
lews of this present discourse are stated and substantiated. For a more lax morality, it were
it least, useless to search the codes of our own Church; the Church of England, or that high-
ist, from which both are derived— the word of the living God.

8
who is to be injured by it. By doing this, you speak evil of
the author; but the law of love, which forbids the act under
every other class of circumstances, justifies, and even requires
it, in this case. But, as was said, such cases are exceedingly
rare ; and he who does not meet with one in his lifetime, can
never have a justifiable pretext for evil speaking, and if he ven
ture upon it, it is at the peril of his soul.
Having seen how the sin is constituted, we are to consider,
II. What causes produce it. t .
It is a child of many fathers. All the unhallowed passions,
jointly, or in turns, conspire in producing the miscreated
thing. 1 . Pride, the first born of hell, is largely a father here. Pride,
that would rather be supreme in hell, than subordinate in hea
ven. Pride, that would raise itself to notice, by ascending a
human pyramid, piled by its own hand. Pride, that would turn
all eyes to its own excellence, by shrouding that of every other
in total darkness. True virtue, like the diamond, is knowa by
scintillating in the sunbeam ; while the factitious article can
only twinkle under favor of the night ; a night of its own cre
ation: 2. It is the child of Envy. It filiates itself on that detesta
ble passion which feels pain, and conceives malignity, at the
sight of excellence and happiness^ in another. Envy directly
begets it, licks it into shape, and, tiger-like, teaches it to hunt
for the precious life. Envy, the carrion kite, which feeds on
putrescence, and snuffs up its odor as a choice refection. Pleas
ed with a large object, envy will, nevertheless, condescend to
a very small one. Every little infirmity is caught at, and where
it cannot find, it makes one.
" All are infectc d, that th' infected spy ;
" As all are jav ndic'd, to the jaundic'd eye."

9
3. Sycophancy ; a desire, for mercenary ends, to please a
superior. Here the poor fool picks up, and carries to his pa
tron, every little tale of scandal he can find, in hopes of get
ting, in return for it, a pat on the head, a bone, or a piece of
bread. At once pander and priest, he is ready to offer up
whole hecatombs of character, in propitiation of the god of his
idolatry. 4. Newsmongery; a passion for telling new and strange things,
especially such as are spiced with detraction ; a morbid pro
pensity, which gratifies itself, by ministering to appetites as mor
bid as its own. He and she — inviduous distinctions are some
times made between the sexes, as to this general practice ; but,
not being an adept at hair-splitting, I must be excused the
making of a difference, where, to say sooth, I could never see
one — he and she, who are the subjects of this distemper, can
keep a hot coal and the surmise of a neighbor's fault in their
mouth, for an equal length of time, and with equal comfort.
But what most pains them, is the fear that they will not be
" in at the death ;" that some fleeter and better winded com
petitor will serve them, as Ahimas did Cushi, arid tell the tale
before they get there. Look at her hot haste ! See how he runs !
5. Mere garrulity ; an itching tongue ; the sheer love of talk.
People who talk forever, unless they thumb the same subject,
over and over, must talk about every body and every thing,
good, bad, and indifferent. The mill that never stops, and, at
the same time, depends, for its motion, on a very small stream,
requires that every possible contribution should be made to it ;
as, otherwise, there would be very, great danger, that, sooner
or later, its clack would cease. So these never-ceasing talkers,
as they rarely possess any great resources of their own, findtit
necessary to invoke all the spirits to their aid, whatever shape
of gossip, scandal, or detraction, they may come in; as, without
this precaution, the woof of the web of conversation might not
be exclusively their own; and that they would appear to count
a huge misfortune.

10
It were easy to swell this copaternal list with other names,
that equally belong to it ; as lechery, anger, jealousy, revenge,
and, in a word, of every propensity of a fallen spirit, whether
fleshly or infernal ; for, as all are gratified by dalliance with the
sin in question, all are, more or less, concerned in the guilt of
its , production. ' Thus," as was said, evil speaking is a child of
many fathers ; and, to do it and them full justice, I add, that
the devil is the great father of them all.
But, if you are an evil speaker, you will probably say:
1. "0 1 mean no harm !" No harm at all. You only en
act the part of Solomon's madman, or fool — I forget which —
throw around you fire-brands, arrows and death ; and, wiping
your mouth, demand : " Am not I in sport ?" But, perhaps,
you are he that " seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not his
tongue." If so, you will be very apt to say :
2. "I can't bear, such abominable practices — such vile crea
tures ; and I must speak my mind." I understand you. You
must sin, because you love God so well. You hate sin, and
love holiness, so violently, that you must serve the devil. Is
thjs your religion ? Bless God that you have no more of it ;
for, if what you have, impels you to break one of his plainest
commandments, it follows, that, if you only had enough of
it, you would be constrained to break them all. Be no lon
ger deceived. There is * no necessity for it. The case is
plain.' It is not because you hate sin, and love holiness, that
you are an evil speaker. Directly the reverse : it is because
you love sin, and are unwilling to be sanctified, that you are
living in this scandalous and guilty practice to this day.
3. But objections come thick, and must be disposed of by a
shorter method.
Ob. — " If we must say nothing of the absentbut good, we shall
find ourselves under very uncomfortable restraints."
Ans. — And so you- ought, till you learn to be easy and happy
without dabbling in the muddy waters of detraction.

11
Ob. — " The whole world is in the practice."
Ans. — " The whole world lieth in the wicked one." "Come
out from among them, and be ye separate."
Ob. — " But the Church is in the'same condemnation."
Ans. — " All are not Israel, that are of Israel* " The charge is
too indiscriminate. " Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis,
who have not defiled their garments."
Ob. — " Who is free from it?"
Ans. — Every truly honest man.
Ob. — "According to this doctrine, where is there a true
Christian ?"
Ans. — Wherever the principles, laid down in the 15th. Psalm,
and in the 13th. chap, of 1st. Cor., are exemplified.
Ob. — " This view of the subject, shows a very strait way to
heaven." Ans.—" Strait is the gate."
Ob. — "It opens the portal of life to but a very few."
Ans. — " Few there be that find it."
Ob. — "But what is to become of all the ministers and Church
members, who habitually speak evil one of another ?"
- Ans. — We can tell better, when we know whether they finally
repent, or not.
If there are other objections, we must turn them over to be
dealt with, in our attempt to show,
III. What will cure the sin of evil speaking.
The remedial effect must be reached, if ever, through the
medium of, what we call, moral suasion ; considerations adapt
ed to impress the mind with the evil, and thus. rouse it to
effectual res 'stance. Such considerations have already pressed
upon the path of previous investigation. In accomplishing
what remains, we must not be expected to impannel every
reason that urges us to wash our hands from this impiety.
Time and space— the all of both, indeed— would not suffice.

If
This would be too narrow ; that, too short. Neither shall we
attempt a classification ; but shall bring the individuals suc
cessively before you, that you may the more easily perceive
their dimensions and feel their force.
To keep you out of this abominable practice, if you are out :
or to help you out,, if you are in ; consider :
1. It never does any good. As you have probably tried it, I
ask ; What good has it ever done you, to speak of the faults
of another in his absence ? Has it put money into your pocket,
wisdom into your head, or holiness or happiness into your
heart ? If neither, then it has never done you any good. Has
it done him any good, of whom you have spoken evil ? Has
it improved his pecuniary circumstances, or his intellectual
or moral character ? If not, then it has done him no good.
Has it benefitted him, to whom you have spoken ? Abstrac
tions apart, is any one, of all to whom you have spoken evil of
others, appreciably improved, in property, intelligence, or moral
worth ? If not, then it has never done him any good. Is soci
ety, at large, made better by it ? Whom ? Where ? In what ?
All must answer ; you must answer : Nobody. No where.
Nothing. What, then, should save it ? Answer : Nothing.
To increase aversion, if you are the happy subject of it, or
to produce it, if you are not, consider :
2. It destroys peace. One thing at a time. I say nothing
now, therefore, of any other harm it does but this : it destroys
peace. Let any competent observer mark the origin of feuds
m neighborhood, and of the controversies which agitate the
Church ; and he will find, whatever of other elements may have
mingled in the conflict, that, in a great majority of cases, the
original occasion was furnished by a word; a word uttered in
the way of evil speaking. For myself— rand my observation has
been taken in no very limited field — for myself— if the extent of
observation, referred to, will justify me in doing it — I must say ;
that, in nineteen cases out of twenty, in which individuals, or

1?
society, including religious society ; are found together by the
ears, the occasion that sets them on, is something said, by some
body, to somebody, of somebody. To be more certain, let us
ask Somebody No. 3— What is the ground of this long and loud
quarrel between you and Somebody No. 1? Has he cheated
you ? No. Has he stolen from, or robbed you ? No ; neither.
Has he struck you ? Not at all. Pray, then, what has he
done ? Worse than either, or all; he has said something bad
about me. And, pray, what was it ? Why, he told Sbmebody
No. 2, thai I was a——. " Behold, how great a matter a little
firekindleth!" To augment your honest indignation against this knavish
practice, I urge you :
3. To make the case of him who is spoken against, your own'.
This test is easy ; it is plain. Will you adopt it? Ihope you,
say, " Yes." ff you are a Christian, or even a Christian mor
alist, how can you haggle at an assent, which virtuous heathen.
and deists give to the divine precept ; " Whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye even the same to them?"
You yield. It is well. I hardly need ask you, whether, in case
you have spoken, or are tempted to speak, of your neighbor's
fault in his absence, you can lay your hand on your bosom, and
say: I wish he would do the same by me, to the first person he
meets. You know you cannot. Then the case is settled, with
your full consent; and you are never to speak of his, or any
other person's fault, in his absence, as long as you live.
To give the preceding considerations more full effect, you
will do well to weigh this question :
4. Are you not vulnerable 1 You are running up a long
score, by throwing stones at one, and another, and another, of
your neighbor's houses. What walls of granite are to render
them harmless, when rehurled at yours ? You never thought
of that ? The greater is the pity. You hold yourself at lib
erty to say all the evil you know, believe, or hear, of others.

14
And do they, think you, know, believe, or hear, nothing, which,
uttered, would annoy or injure you ? Nothing criminal — in
discreet — ridiculous ? You are pensive. That corrugated
brow shqws that painful thoughts are at work within ; and the
shadow that is on it, is cast there by some remembered sin or
folly. Thou art in the Court of Conscience, brother. Thou
ente^edst with the bearing of the accuser, and art fain to sneak
out of it, biting thy lip from the mortification of conscious
guilt. Go ! and before thou gather up these stones, just fallen
from thy palsied hand, which thoubroughtest to cast at Frailty,
be certain that thou art not in the same, or any equivalent
condemnation. " Judga not, that ye be not judged. For with
what judgment ye judge" — others — "ye shall be judged"— by*
them, who will naturally be excited to return the unkind treat
ment which they receive.
To render you still more sensible of the impoRcy, as well a*
the wickendess, of evil speading, consider :
5. It is flatly against your own interest. This must have
appeared already ; but I wish to re-urge it, and, in a more dis
tinct form. He or she who indulges in this low practice, come s,
in no long time, to be distrusted; hated; shunned. Are dis
creet people fond of intimacy with such a character ? Does
he attract esteem ? Does he conciliate confidence ? I hear
your unhesitating negative to all these questions. In as far, then,
as you imitate that character, you are an object of suspicion .
You enjoy less of the esteem and confidence of society than you
would, if known as one who invariably treats absent character
as a sacred thing. As it is, whether you know it or not, the
mark of Cain is on you. You are regarded as an evil minded
man, and — whatever you may think of yourself — as a weak one.
Or does mental strength, naturally associate with the open
mouth; the slanderer ; the blab ? Every person of your ac
quaintance knows, that he who is entertained at the expense
of some poor wretch of an absentee, to-day, must furnish enter-

15
t ainment for another set of customers to-morrow. Of course,
I take for granted, that you have no dealings with any one who
is green enough to suppose, that you, who are known to spare
no body else, will, when his regular turn comes, make a gra
cious exception of him.
T hus known, you are scarcely welcome any where ; and you
are never safe. That soft whisper of yours, will be repeated
a little louder ; and re-repeated a little louder still ; till, reach
ing its object, it comes back with a thundering rebound upon
its dastardly author. This comes of your secret. Poor weak
fool ! It was too hot for you ; and so you pledged fifty gossips
to help you keep it ; and they have kept it, just as you did.
The oonsequences are :
1. Inevitable exposure, with the settlement of a quarrel on
your hands.
2. Not to speak of, what they call, '' exemplary damages,"
which sometimes get into the account before it is settled — an
item that questions your purse a little inconveniently — another
invariable result is : a deeper brand of shame, with a rich har
vest of obloquy and scorn.
It is fixed, in the order of a retributive Providence, that this
sin, even in the present world, shall, sooner or later, be visited
' upon the head of the sinner. Take the following little scene
from real life as an instance.
The Rev. Mr. White, though not distinguished in the pulpit,
was generally conceded to be a' highly agreeable companion,
as well as a very estimable and amiable man. The conse
quence was, that, in the social circle, he was ever sure of being
met with an emphatic welcome. Mrs. Brown receives his first
visit : and, after a cordial greeting, and the smiles and bows
and courtesies accompanying- the introduction of the elder
sons and daughters, little Emily — she. is only four years old —
must needs be exhibited to the new minister. '' Emily, my
dear, this is the Rev. Mr. White, who preached to us last Sab-

16
bath." "Ma!"— and she turned half round toward her mother,
whose delighted glance was given, alternately, to the minister
and the child— "Ma / is this the Mr' White that you said you
did not like to' hear preach ?" Mercy ! — But I drop the cur
tain, and leave, the after-piece to your imagination. Poor
creature ! She is snared with the words of her own mouth.
Such are the mortifications, to say nothing of worse consequen
ces, which, more or less frequently, excruciate all who labor at
this thriftless trade. Had you not better unlearn it ? Self-
interest help you ! Heaven help you !
But, to, aid the effect of previous prescription, and in hope
that a clean tongue will yet testify that your distemper is sus
ceptible of cure, you must digest what follows.
6. The practice is most disgraceful. What else can you
make of the various appellations, which the Bible, and com
mon consent, apply to him who is guilty of it? Evil Speaker,
is the least opprobrious of these titles. Do you wish to wear
it? Tale bearer; that means you. Tattler; is that digni
fied ? Busybody ; will you bear that ? Whisperer ; is that
magnanimous ? Backbiter ; is that human ? — "is that human?"
Let us see. Backbiter, is a figure, derived from the dog, and
very properly applied to the human subject; for the 'reason,
that the human, like the canine biter, selects that moment of
attack, when your face is turned the other way. Justice, how
ever, is due, even to dogs. All of them do not deserve a place
hi this comparison. The nobler; the better bred; and, espe
cially, he that is conscious of his own strength, if determined
to have a mouthful out of you, takes- it manfully, compared
with the backbiting varieties, canine and human ; for, after a
warning growl, instead of fastening upon your back, he throws
himself directly into your face. The backbiter, then, who
affects humanity, acts not- only the part of a dog, but of a mean
one, and a despicable coward at that. Backbiter ! — I speak to
the biped — Backbiter 4 have done with these doggish tricks, or
take you to the kennel.

17
" But I am not a coward. I had as lief he would hear it as
not." No, you had not. Witness your uniform selection of his
absence, when you speak evil of him. Witness, too, the dis
concerting effect of finding, as you have sometimes found, him,
an unexpected listener. No, you are not precisely indifferent,
as to whether he; whom you ridicule or censure, hear you or
not. You are a coward, and emulate the dog.
" But they are very small matters that I speak of." By so
much are you a very small specimen of the genus homo, wheth
er male or female ; as, according to your own showing, you
are engaged in a very small business. Apropos of Domitian,
It is said of this Roman emperor, in justification of the con
tempt which loads his memory, that " he employed his leisure
hours in catching and tormenting flies." Sure enough, that
was mean ; the meanness of cruelty. And, pray, how much
more honorably are you employed, in seizing, transfixing, and
holding up, all the poor little things that crawl and flutter, in
the shape of rumor, that you, and those who share your elevated
sentiments, may see them spin, and hear their buzz ? Now,
I do not ask, at this point, whether the practice is not too
wicked ; but whether it is not, for any of God's creation, wear
ing the human form, too meanly abominable, and too abomina
bly mean ?
But some whose tongues riot in this iniquity, " seem to be
religious," and claim to be dealt with, on higher and holier
grounds. I address to them, therefore, this additional dissua
sive :
7. Moil Speakingis a capital breach of charity. By charity,
here, is intended, that love to God and man, which the Scrip
tures, in various terms, declare to be the scope and end of the
whole dispensation of grace. That love to God and man is
the sum and effect of all true religion, is clear, from1 such de
clarations as these : " Love is the fulfilling of the law :" " The

18
end of the commandment is charity :". " He that loveth another,
hath fulfilled the law :" "All the law is fulfilled in this : 'Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Love thus established as
the sum total of true religion, it o^ily remains to be shown, that
evil speaking is. a capital violation of it. This will appear,
whether love be understood as referring, either to God or man.
1. Understood as having the former reference, evil speaking
violates it ; for it is the nature of love to aim at pleasing its
object ; and God has expressed his pleasure, on this head, by
the commands : " Speak evil of no man :" and, "Speak not
evil one of another." So that, if knowingly to displease God,
is a breach of love to him, knowingly to speak evil, is equally
so, or rather, the same thing,; as it is precisely that, which he
has repeatedly and. emphatically marked, as displeasing to him, ,
by repeatedly and emphatically forbidding it.
2. If the love, in question, be understood as having man for
its object, evil speaking is an equally palpable violation of it ;
for, " love worketh no ill to his neighbor ;" not even in thought ;
for, " charity thinketh no evil," and, by necessary consequence,
can speak none. Evil speaking, therefore, is a flagrant breach
of that charity, which is the sum and effect of all true religion.
Love is the whole of divine requirement., Evil speaking violates
love. It is, therefore, a summary breach of that all-compre
hending requirement. From all of which it is already obvious —
and will any religious evil speaker re-assure himself against it ?
—that, 8. An evil speaker has no true religion. This is not only
decided by evidence already before us, but,
1. By the general authority of the text ; which clearly comes
to this : He who professes the religion of Christ, and so far
¦ disregards its spirit and precepts, as habitually to indulge him
self in speaking uncharitably of others, is devoid of saving
Christianity. That such a person's religion is a nullity, will
appear,

19
2. From the import of the term itself. Religion, as a word,
is compounded of ligo, to bind, with the prefix re, intensive, or
repetive ; or it may stand for both. Accordingly, religion
means, either, first, that which strongly binds ; or, secondly,
that which binds again ; or, thirdly, uniting both definitions of
the particle, that which binds its subject again, and strongly
binds him. No word, in our nervous and copious language, so
well and forcibly represents the appliance which God employs
in subjecting the rebel man to his blessed service. It was his
original bond. He broke it. It re-binds — binds again, and
strongly binds him again, to the service of his Maker. Such
a man is before you. " He seemeth to be a religious," i. e.; a
bound man ; but his reduplicated and strong bonds do not bind
him. He breaks them, spurns them, runs riot over the fence
which God has thrown around his brother's character, and
rushes upon that inhibited thing with open mouth. His " reli
gion" is, therefore, ' " vain," for the plain, the common-sense
reason, that it does not bind him.
You say, perhaps : " I am not very particular on this head,
and yet it seems to me, that I have religion." This only proves
that you are, what the text supposes, a man with an unbridled
tongue, who seemeth to be religious, and thereby deceiveth his
own soul.
" But I speak evil of others, and yet I am sure I have got
¦religion." So you ha've ; but — Listen ! It is the Judge him
self who is about to decide the issue. Look ! His lifted finger
points at you, while his voice, which is for the warning of man
kind, exclaims : " This man's religion is vain."
To inspire you with deeper horror of this anti-christian prac
tice, consider:
9. It is preparing you for the judgment in the wrong way.
What would you think of that company of indicted traitors,
who, on their way to trial, instead of concerning themselves to
make good their own defence, respectively, should employ their

20
time in villifying1 their fellow culprits ? You and they whom
you condemn, are going together to the judgment of the great
day. The Judge himself has kindly notified you, that your
acquittal is conditioned on your charitable consideration and
treatment of them; that whatever you measure to them,
whether of severity or mercy, he will measure to you again.
Regardless of all- this, you are preparing to meet him, not by
demeaning yourself as a penitent and humble subject of the
law, but by a bold infraction of it, in the condemnation of your
fellow subjects ; thus, practically, denouncing, as unjust, not
only the law itself, but the Lawgiver and the Judge. For, by
setting aside the law, you say, that the law is unjust; and, by
consequence, that the Lawgiver and Judge, in making and ex
ecuting it, is equally unjust.
This, as was remarked before, is preparing for the judgment ;
but it is doing it in the wrong way. " Speak not evil one of
another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and
judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the
law. But if thou judge the law, thou are not a doer of.the law,
but a judge. There is" — but — " one Lawgiver who is able
to" — and will — "destroy" — the captious violator. "Who art
thou that judgest ?"
Thus characterized, and thus premonished, it is no longer
doubtful, as to the result of your final audit. That you may
shun this accursed and abominable practice, as you would the
perdition to which it leads, consider, then :
10. And finally, where the judgment will find, and where it
will place you, if you die under the guilt pf it.
1. It will neither find you among the members of the true
Church on earth, nor the heirs of the celestial inheritance.
" Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? Who shall dwell
in thy holy hill ?" Premising, that the tabernacle, in the wild
erness, represents the Church' below, and the temple on Mount
Zion, the fixed and exalted state of the' Church above, I remark,

21
that we have here the two questions: Who is a rightful
member of the Church on earth ? Who shall inhabit the glori
fied state? The sacred Oracle responds, negatively and posi
tively. Omitting the positive, as not directly pertinent to this
specific issue, we draw your attention to so much of the nega
tive of the Divine response, as touches our present interest in
the general subject. It stands thus : "He that backbiteth not
with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a
reproach against his neighbor."— Generally, then, the true den
izen of the earthly and heavenly Zion, is neither &u originator,
nor a retailer of detraction. But, particularly ;
(1.) He is not a backbiter, that ought to be in the Church on
earth, or that shall be in the Church above ; any more than
other dogs ought to eat of the holy things of the one, or shall
partake the pure felicities of the other. " For, without are
dogs." (2.) He ought to be expelled the militant, as he shall be ex
cluded the triumphant Church, who "taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor."* The heir of glory cannot prevent the
factors and colporteurs of Satan, from bringing to his door, and
throwing down, the contraband commodity ; but, blessed be
God ! he can let it alone — he need not take it up — he need not
carry the reeking abomination to the next door. ' Nor will he.
It may lie there forever, for all him. O ! there is magnanimity
in that man. He ought to go to heaven. It were safe to as
sume, that no virtue is uncherished in his heart ; for the virtues,
like the vices, go together; and where Charity appears, she is
ever, hand in hand, with all the sacred Sisterhood. As hell
differs from heaven, so does the evil speaker contrast with this
* That the discipline of the M. E. Church requires the expulsion of all pertinacious evil speak
ers, See Dis. Chap. 1, Sec. 9, and Chap. 2, Sec. 15, the former of which supplies the following'
" Ques. How shall we guard against Sabbath breaking, Evil speaking ?"&c. "Ans. 1. Letus
preach expressly on all these heads. 2. Read in every society the Sermon on Evil Speaking
3. Let the leaders closely examine, and exhort every person to put away the accursed thing!
4. Let the preachers warn every society that none who is guilty herein can remain with us."

22
fair picture. He backbiteth with his tongue, and taketh up a
reproach against his neighbor. It comes to his door — he be
longs to the regular line — and away he goes with his smutty
load. If you are^an evil speaker, then, it is certain, that the judg.
ment will not find you among the heirs of heaven.
2. But when God shall " call to the heavens from above, and
to the earth, that he may judge his people," you will be found
among those whom he will thus designate for destruction : —
" What hast thou to do to declare my statutes" — Alas ! some
of them had been preachers of charity — " Seeing thou hatest
instruction, and easiest my words behind thee? When thou sawes
a thief" — stealing what was dearer to its possessor than gold—
" then thou consentedst with him" — " Thou givest thy mouth to
evil" speakings" and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest"
— deliberately — "and speakest against thy brother; thou slander-
est thine own mother's son" — a man, like thyself, and, perhaps,
a member of the same Church. "These things hast thou done,
and" — because — " / kept silence, thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such a one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and" —
though long forgotten by thee, will — " set them in order before
thine eyes."
Such, then, is the company in which you will be found ; such
the reproaches with which you will be stunned ; such the con
dition in which you will be placed, by that awful day ; unless,
indeed — which God grant — you tale the warning, thus merci
fully sent you, in advance : " Now," — while there is space for
repentance — " consider this, ye" — backbiters— " that forget God,
lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver."*
It is time I had done. The Scriptures, which I have hardly
begun to array against this practice, denounce it from end to
end, as an unmitigated sin. They surround it with the gloomy
* See Psalms 15, and 50. See also Rom. 1, in fine, where backbiters are classed with haters
of God, and other reprobates. •

23
portents of its coming doom. They hang out against it the
fiery signals of the wrath of heaven. It is the world's sin. It
is the Church's sin. Aye, it is the catholic sin, and, without
a catholic repentance, will be followed by a catholic curse.
Let repentance begin to-day. Let it begin where, for the want
of it, judgment must begin ; at the house of God. ' My strain is
evangelical. If, therefore, this sin is upon your conscience,
repent of it, as you would of any other, which, unrepented of,
would shut you out from the kingdom of grace and glory. And
remember, that, with regard to this, as every other damnable
transgression, it is as necessary, as "it is meet, to be said to
God ; ' If I have done iniquity, I will do no more."
Ministers of our God! you want a mighty revival of the pri
mitive Christian spirit. Set yourselves against this sin in the
name of the Lord. Live against it. Pray against it. Preach
against it. Level the discipline of Christ's Church against it ;
and you shall see the greatest reformation, the heavens ever re
joiced over, since a wondering world ceased to exclaim:- " See
how these Christians love one another !"
Christians! you would convert the world. Be converted
yourselves. Put away this evil of your doings from before the
Lord's eyes ; this stink from his nostrils ; this stumbling-block
from before, the wicked, and weak believers. You invoke the
power of religion. You do well ; for an unbridled tongue makes
loud proof that you need it. You pray foij a clean heart— for
scriptural perfection. Behold the scriptural test of that rare
attainment : " If any man offend not in word, the same is a
perfect man." The evil aimed at in this discourse, is at once
the plague-spot of the Church, and the great element of her in
efficiency : the direst curse and scourge of earth : object of the
frown of heaven. Let hell, whence it issued, take it back to
her congenial fires.
With two words, I leave my subject to your consciences and
to God. One shall be counsel; the other prayer. Diligently

24
observing the one, and importunately pressing the other, you
shall escape this snare which has come upon all the earth.
Counsel. "Wherefore let us not judge OTe another any
more ; but let us judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingr
block, or an occasion to sin, in his brother's way."
Prayer. " Set a guard, O! Lord, at the door of my lips,
that I sin not with my tongue." Amen.

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