The sin of the slanderer.
"Privily slandereth his neigbbour." Modern law cannot reach the slanderer unless his slander has produced pecuniary loss to him whom he has slandered. Eastern kings judged on principles of equity, and not according to written rules or established precedents, so they could punish all slanderers. To a king the term includes the jealous informer who tries to breed suspicion, and the sycophant who flatters the king, and speaks evil of others in order to obtain place and favour.
I. THE SLANDERER IS A MISCHIEF MAKER. HIS interest is taken not by anything good, but by something evil. Every true and good man covers over, hides, smothers down, the evil, because it is like fire—let it spread, and it will do a world of mischief. The slanderer fixes on the tiny spark of evil, fans it until it flares, and consumes reputations and ruins lives. Gossip is the slanderer's weapon. Malice is his inspiration. Self-conceit is his guide. Often pure devilry makes a man start the evil suspicion which makes the mischief of broken hearts and untold misery. It is no excuse for the slanderer, when made to face the consequences of his slander, to say, "I did not mean it." As mischief makers, gossiping women are worse than men.
II. THE SLANDERER IS A THIEF. He does not steal men's goods; he steals what is of far more value to man than what he has—he steals his reputation. Estimate the difficulty every man finds in building up a character. It may fall, like a house of cards, before the suspicion started by the slanderer; that suspicion may stick to a man for life, and he may find it impossible to recover his place. The robbery of the slanderer is oftentimes irremediable.
III. THE SLANDERER IS A DETERIORATOR OF HIMSELF. The most serious injury a man can do to his own moral nature is to give expression to the suspicious, or malicious, temper. If a good man or woman ever find themselves betrayed into becoming the originators of a slander, they feel the bitterest regrets and most searching humiliations. The had man who finds he has slandered, and will be humbled by no regrets, belongs to the devil, and will have to find his home with him.—R.T.