Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-03-02
lOrigina.l
DECENCY.

"The woman shall not wear that which pertain
eth to the man peither shall a. man put on a
woman's garment" Deut. 22:5.
The Bible, beyond all controversy, is the
best book in the world. The maxims which
it lays down for the regulation of society, are
far infinitely superior to any we find in any
other books. Of the Jews, who practiced the
precepts of the Bible, it may be said they
were model gentlemen and ladies. In fact,
the Jews of the present day, in all their de-
generacy, are the most refined and gentle
manly people on earth. There was lordly
hospitality about the old Jewish patriarchs
which will be admired as long as the world
lasts. Their wives were perfect ladies. The
same may be said about the better class Of the
Jews of the present day. The Bible has
made its impress upon them, and whatever
may be said, truthfully, against them, it can
not be said they are an indecent people. God,
in the Bible, sets down certain practices as
indecent. They are an abomination to him
and he would have his people to abstain from
them.
One of the most serious objections to Gre
clan and Roman civilization, was the the fact
that many of the practices of those people
were indecent. Their civilization was, in
many respects, abominable. With regard to
the civilization of the ancient Jews, this
charge can not be fairly made. The precept
which is laid down in Deuteronomy, %: 5,
must commend itself to every man who has
any regard for the welfare Of society. The
words "keH geber," which are translated by
the phrase "that which pertaineth to mar" "
may mean "the weapons or the armor Of a
man." The translators of our English Bible
thought they mean what they translated them /;
and in all probability they thought correctly.
The fundamental principle upon which this
precept is based, is that stated in the seventh
commandment. That precept which forbids
the committing of adultery, also forbids the
doing of anything that is indecent.
Roman historians tell us that Publius Clo-
dius, a member of family of distinction, at
tired himself in a woman's dress, and for the
vilest purposes entered the house of Julius
Caesar. The old Romans regarded the act
as sacreligious, and for this crime he was tried.
There may be circumstances in which it would
be excusable in a woman to wear mans
clothing, or for man to wear woman's, but
under ordinary circumstances it is an abomi-
nation unto the Lord. In decency there may
not be great deal Of piety, but without piety
there is usually great deal Of indecency.
SAVE Your PASTOR FROM DEBT.-Many
a minister would preach with new vigor if he
could escape from the thralldom of debt. No
man is so oppressed, hindered, and heavily
weighted in the race of life by debt as the
minister of the gospel. 1t haunts him day
and night, takes the heart out of him, obscures
his vision of the spiritual and eternal, mars
the beauty of his thoughts, and tinges every
discourse more or less with gloom. Besides
this, debt jeopardizes his reputation, very Of
ten prevents the word he breaches from enter
ing the mind of the hearer, stops frequently
his intellectual growth, makes him shame
faced and distrustful, and so more than i'm
perils success-it renders failure almost GER
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