The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-07-25
24-NUMBER Al
L Couairy Vice.

Ia passing through some OF our
country towns recently, we nave bean
very much struck with the habits ~
profanity prevailing in them. Cities
: are commonly supposed to De the
a60des OF vice, but certainly vice. If
/ present, has % lie concealed. In the
matter To which We aliude our c0un-
I try neighbOrs must be quite immoral
unless all their fauit is Haunted Op-
eniy before the public, and nothing
I hidden. We have never been in a
| city where you could hear men adOrn-
. ing their ordinary conversation in the
streets, hotels and depOts with loud
OaIhs-sOmething not uncommon at
All IN towns which enjoy a much bet
ter reputation for innocence. In cit
les vicious men aim to conceal their
f0ibles from the people; in country
places they seem % think il q very
prliseworLny thing To exhibit them.
In the former, a regard for public de-
eeney cOmpels the prOfane man to
mutIer his Oaths under his breath; in
the latter, the louder he can swear the
greater fellow he seems 70 consider
himself. We were amazed the other
day on getting off the ears at q pretty
country village, bearing many evi-
deuces of refinement and prosperity,
20 hear acquaintaEces prefaeing In
quiries after each others welfare with
a prayer for the perditiOn of their
souls. Drivers were addressing their
beasts with threats of future state of
punishment, while laying on the /
whip to insure their temporal tribu. !
latiOn. Earnest men were vOuching /
on all sides for the speed of a horse, |
the weight of hog, or the yield OF q I
field by the authority Of the Savior of 1
the world. A box couldn't be ifftedOr
a trunk moved without some profane I
formula. The swearing was ali done 4
loudly, fearlessiy, and in the presence
of women and children. The coarse 4
expressions which keep company with (
OaLhs were flying in the air as thick 4
as notes in n sunbeam. We don't 4
profess to be at all pious, but we were
very much shocked at the yulgarity
of the whole scene, and concerned for
the waste Of Strong language which
was taking place. FC see men strut /
ting and staggering about as if proud /
Of their vile and indecent slang, was
go laughable that we could hardly re- n
main Indignant +
It is a rule of rhetoric that vigorous
expressions should be sparingly used. 1
as a continual effort to be foreible
gives sameness to the style and weak
ems il. AS a matter of artistic taste,
weshOuld therefore infer that u very
small amount Of profanity Is necessa-
~ to invigOrate 4 mans conversation. Il
AS a matter Of good manners and K
good morals, we are OF course forbid
den to swear at all. An oath thrown
into the speech of a man whose usual (
tone is one Of moderation, strikes US
with startling effect; willie the talk OF 4
one who garnishes his conversation
with an embroidery Of curses passes
unheeded. There is u perpetual fusil-
ade of mere blank cartridges in the
shape of profanity. But the habit OF
swearing not Only weakens the effect /
Of mans conversation, considered
but actually destroys the
power of expressionin in the
course Of time. A prOfane man, in
stead of stopping to analyZe an Opin-
ion and state his reasons for holding
it, asserts his conviction with an oath
whose earuestness is supposed to sup
ply the place OF argument. Instead
u SCicCtnS al dpPIOpIiaLe duJtCLlftI
in praise OF an object, or powerful
epithet in its denunciation, he uses an
sxecratiOn to express his feelings in
the matter. This course saves trouble
in ransaeking his vocabulary, and the
words grow rusty in the armOry Of
speech, and their uses are soon forgot
ten. A mind, too, that is accustomed
to profanity, grows too lazy for think
ing. Oaths thus become symbols FOR
I number Of suitable words and for
processes of thought, and, in the end,
abridge a mans capacity of u utterance
II he depends upon the m.