THE GAME OF SCANDAL.
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ave you ever played at "Scandal," friend? Pure must the heart be that feels no sudden pang of conscience at that bomb-like question. But the startling query, in this instance, mildly refers to a game called "Scandal," the delight of juveniles; "too joyous to be very wise." Yet is there wisdom and warning enough in the game itself to force the conclusion that its origin was in the brain of some sage satirist, who hid a sober moral with a sportive mask.
The players sit in a row; the one at the head whispers to his neighbor a communication concerning some absent friend; the neighbor whispers the news, as he hears it, to the one next to him, who conveys the intelligence, still in a whisper, to the one nearest; thus it is imparted again and again until it reaches the end of the line. As the sentence is transmitted from mouth to mouth, it is unintentionally, unavoidably altered; the words have been incorrectly caught by the listening ear; with each repetition they undergo a change; by the time the sentence has travelled to its journey's
(220)
