American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-07-12
Misconduct at Church.

supposed TO be endowed with ordi.
nary intelligence, and Il led 90
OF right and wrong. bat who. jud ged
by their b, havior at church. would
fall far short of he distinction. Our
present purpose is to institute al!
inquiry into the claims which they
set up to pubIic respect, and ascer-
tain to what extent they merit IA
vOrable consideration.
As basis for the arguments
which are 70 follow, we lay down
this broad proposition, that no man
who is really and truly a gentleman,
by birth, by education, and aSsocia-
ton, will, knowingly and wilfully,
violate an established law of socie-
ty, or treat with levity, Indifference
or contempt, the nsages and ems
toms which form its safeguards
and which should carry with them
respect worthy of their sanct ity
by this we mean the laws which
protect the social compact; the
rules which govern the domestic
stone, and the obServances
demanded by the regulations of ali
public insti- utions, and more espe-
cially those which relate to places
of religious worship. All these
laws, rules and regulations, we
maintain, should be binding upon
every man. and are of character
that no gentleman can violate at
VIII and sill retain the respect and
confidence of the community.
The first duty of every parent
who desires the wclI-being of his son
should be to impress upon his youth
ful mind the necessity of strict
observance of all rules by which
the moral, social and religious
world is governed. 1t is around
the family altar that impressions
are made which impart a brighter
or a darker hue to life and charac-
ter, according to the nature of the
Impressions made. The youth who
Is taught, in the halIowed sanctuary
OF home. to respect the Christian
Sabbath, and revere the solemn
temple of Jehovah, will never, in
manhood, openly disregard the oh
serVances Of the one, or desecrate
the affairs of the other; and as hu-
man nature is the samein all chimes,
I'd liable to the same influences
for good or evil, the man who will
visit the place cOnSecrated to relig-
iOus worship as he would
theatre, and by rude jests, vulgar
laughter and idle conversation, mar
its solcmnity,-aHd annoy those who
are there for better and holier pur-
poses, has either been unfortunate
in his early training, or else is so
debased by nature, or the corrupt
-f1g Influences Of evil associations.
that lie has lost all respect for him
self, his fellows, and his God. Now,
on this principle, we hold that any
man who will thus act, not only for
frits all Claim to public considera-
tion. but by such conduct proves
himself deficient in all the essential
elements of gentility, refinement.
good breeding and sound morals,
and as such should he held up to
scOrn and Indignation. The man
who is so far lost to shame, to con-
mon decency, to pride and true
manliness, as to mock at sacred
things in tue earthly courts of the
Most High, has. crossed the Rubi-
con of hope temp oral and hope eter-
nal, and should be ruled ont of So
ciety, at least until he shall prove
himself worthy of esteem and conf
dence.
Every mans life is only devel
Opemen-. a visible exhibition of the
principles 10y which it is governed
and what must be the moral stains
of that man who violates the laws
OF decency and morality by such
conduct as we are considering? 1t
is an insult to the pastor, an ont.
rage to the feelings of the conere-
CATION. ard reflection upon the
mother who gave him being.
AS we stated, in the beginning of
this article, almost every commuui-
~ is subject to such annoyaDces
and Canton, we regret to say, is no
exception to the general raIe, Par
ticularIy is this observable at th,.
Methodist church. The extent to
which such disgraceful conduct
has been carried has now reached
point beyoud which :. forbearance
ceases to be virtue" and we are
assured by those who are most
deeply interested, that unless n
change for the better is observed
Q Fps will be taken to protect the
congregation in their peaceful
solemn worship.
Public opinion il q, ,,,