The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1853-06-01
THE LANCASTER LEDGER,

is loss Of seg-respect, and he INJURY inflicted
upon the moral sense have put these two
together, loss Of sclfrcspect, and injury to
the moral sense, because they affect your
character MS men. Without these, where is
your manhood! On what can YOU RELY in
the dark scenes and stern struggles of life,
which demand all your energies, both physi-
cal and moral, to contend with them, when
you have fallen in your own estimation by
the indulgence of so despicable habit, and
your delicate sense Of right and duty has be-
come perverted. cannot but pity the man
who has lost these, for he has lost that pearl
above all price, which so peculiarly and so
eminently marks the notwithstanding
him from the brute that pcrishes, while he
walks among men, man only in appearance,
without n spark Of that divine life which he
received at first from God 1t is nm awful
thing to lose these, and they are in danger
OF being lost, when, in thoughtlessness or in
,yiciousness, man sullies his lips, and pol'utcs
his soul by the utterance of profane oaths
and cursing. May God, in his infinite mercy,
spare you the shame
The last consequence to which shall al
ludc, and that which concerns you most
deeply of all, is loss Of reference for God and
sacred things. | can assure you, my friends,
thls means n great deal. You may not
think OF 1t in the hours of your joyous pros
perity, when the heart is wealthy with its
blessings, and life seems all sunshine and
JOY. But the time will come---sooner or
later 1t must come to us all--whcn the sun
OF our life will go out in darkness, when for
tune may withdraw the favors she has show
cred into our laps in glorious profusion {:
when we shall need God--nccd the sustain
ing influences of his Holy Spirit, and need,
too, yes, need il the more for having neg
lectcd it so long-faith in Jesus Christ, upon
which we must lean "when flesh and heart
fail MS, and eternity opens upon us. Think
you that then these holy names will como
with trusting reverence from lips sullicd
by their irreverent use? Think you that
the mind, accustomed to such irrcvcrent
thoughts, can be made pure in moment,
even by the waters of your penitcnce, that it
may receive, as a holy thing, the name which
you have so often uttered in unholncss p
Think you that your spirit will aspire with
free delight to God, when its wings are so
laden with the burden Of your profanity as
to bear down the spirit to earth Alas
very few are they, fear, who, in the hours
of their thoughtless utterances, awaken
themselves to thoughts like these. If they
did, they could not take that Holy Name in
vain upon which they must CALL ard whose
mercy they will 90 much need, when the
Angel of Death comes to call them into the
presence Of that God who "will not hold
him guiltlcss, that taketh his name in vain .
And beseech you, my fricnds--nay more,
charge you, in the name of that God upon
whom you so irrevercntly call. by all your
hopes of forgiveness, by all your earnest
striving for penitence, by the faith which,
as Christians, you profess in the Son of God
by your manhood, your selfrespcct, your
moral rensc, by your hope of happiness here
and hereafter, and in this respect. "ccase to
do evil" And then may you with confidence
hope for the blessing Of God, for then you
will speak His Name only with the deepest
reverence and the trucst love.