(first part)
Rumour.
"And rumour shall be upon rumour." One element of the dark times of the destruction of Jerusalem is the constant accession of new and terrifying rumours—one contradicting another, yet all presaging fearful events. This is always an accompaniment of times of unrest, and Christ referred to it in his picture of coming evils (Matthew 24:6). We may have seen some such thing in our own happier days; but the telegraph and the newspaper have done immense service in substituting authentic news for vague and floating rumour, so that it is difficult for us to understand the distress of less rapidly informed ages, which must have been far more the prey to uncorroborated reports and chance rumours.
1. THE MISCHIEF OF RUMOUR.
1. Rumour distresses by its prophecy of coming evil. There may be rumours of good, to cheer. But in the present instance we have only rumours of evil brought to our attention. Such reports cloud the present with dim visions of a possible dark future. It is hard enough to face the difficulties of today; add to these the portents of tomorrow, and the load may be crashing. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
2. Rumour alarms by its vagueness. Rumour is not news, not the picture of the distant, but only its shadow. If we knew the worst, we might know how to prepare for it; but rumour comes with large, general adumbrations, leaving us to fill in the details with imaginary horrors.
3. Rumour confuses us by its contradictoriness. Rumour is to follow "upon rumour." There is to be a succession of reports. Possibly these might confirm one another. But general experience would suggest that they are more likely to conflict one with another. The result is a chaos of impressions and a paralysis of energy.
4. Rumour exaggerates evil. It is rarely, if ever, true to fact. It is like the snowball, that grows as it rolls.
II. OUR DUTY IN REGARD TO RUMOUR.
1. We should be careful how we spread a rumour. First, it is necessary to ascertain that we receive it on good authority. Then it is important to guard against adding our reflections and impressions as parts of the original report. If the rumour be one calculated to do harm it may be well to keep it to ourselves. No good comes of scandalmongery. A vulgar sense of self-importance delights in telling shocking news; but the motive is a low one, and the action may be most unkind. Panics spring from rumour. When a thoughtless person cries "Fire!" in a public place, he cannot answer for the consequences of his rash and perhaps fatal folly. We need self-restraint to prevent the mischievous spread of rumour.
"Rumour is a pipe
Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures,
And of so easy and so plain a stop,
That the blunt monster with uncounted heads,
The still-discordant wavering multitude,
Can play upon it."
2. We should be on our guard against yielding to turnout. It wants courage and strength to resist this influence, especially when our neighbours are carried away by it. But past experience should teach caution. We have better than rumour to follow in seeking our highest interest. "We have not followed cunningly devised fables." We have "the more sure word of prophecy," and the inward personal experience of the soul with God. Christianity is not based on a rumour of ghost stories; it sends on the historical facts of gospel history and on Christian experience,