It is an argument of a candid ingenuous mind, to delight in the good
name and commendations of others; to pass by their defects, and take
notice of their virtues; and to speak and hear of those willingly, and
not endure either to speak or hear of the other; for in this indeed
you may be little less guilty than the evil speaker, in taking
pleasure in it, though you speak it not. He that willingly drinks in
tales and calumnies, will, from the delight he hath in evil hearing,
slide insensibly into the humour of evil speaking. It is strange how
most persons dispense with themselves in this point, and that in
scarcely any societies shall we find a hatred of this ill, but rather
some tokens of taking pleasure in it; and until a Christian sets
himself to an inward watchfulness over his heart, not suffering in it
any thought that is uncharitable, or vain self-esteem, upon the sight
of others' frailties, he will still be subject to somewhat of this, in
the tongue or ear at least. So, then, as for the evil of guile in the
tongue, a sincere heart, _truth in the inward parts_, powerfully
redresses it; therefore it is expressed, Psal. xv. 2, _That speaketh
the truth from his heart_; thence it flows. Seek much after this, to
speak nothing with God, nor men, but what is the sense of a single
unfeigned heart. O sweet truth! excellent but rare sincerity! he that
_loves that truth within_, and who is himself at once THE TRUTH and
THE LIFE, He alone can work it there! Seek it of him.
It is characteristic of the Roman dignity and sobriety, that, in the
Latin, _to favour with the_ tongue (_favere lingua_) means _to be
silent_. We say, Hold your tongue! as if it were an injunction, that
could not be carried into effect but by manual force, or the pincers
of the Forefinger and Thumb! And verily--I blush to say it--it is not
Women and Frenchmen only that would rather have their tongues bitten
than bitted, and feel their souls in a strait-waistcoat, when they are
obliged to remain silent.