The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-05-03

No person WIFI eyes All al Sah Aai w
observe the fearful increase of profanity
throughout the country. We see it in nj
mos, every secular paper; we see 1t in
sup- Iapors that would be thought reli.
uSnis: we see it even in books we heai
il almost cverywhere-sometimes from tho
puipit. There are innumerahle varieties
% the vice. Proteus could not assume
more shapes. nor did the Lernean Hydra
So resist decapitation. Inventive genius
eNhaasis itself in contriving new forms Of
irEcveTent expression. Newspaper para
graphists vie with each other in the shame
ti contest rlIe succeeds who can make
hisdisIes piqulnt with the spices OF pro
fame and irreverent suggestion. The wordi
Of the wise are passed by with Indifference.
white the profane slang of would-be witt
Is coIlated with diligence and paraded with
pride.
We are not writing Of the horrid and
vulgar oaths that shock the ears of we'll
bred, not to say religious, people on the
cars. on steamboats,. in hotels, mi on tho
ntreets. We are writing. rather, Of that
iudehnabie spirit Of irreverence that in a
thousand ways ~insinuates itself into the
written and spoken language of our people.
The irreyerent, because undevout, use OF
the awful name of God is as common rs 1t
il sinful. We hear il in all sorts of connec-
tions-in alterations and jests, in idle ex-
CARNATIONS and indolent signs. 1t drops
from the lips of age and youth. Fair wo-
men and little children are not exempt from
the infection. We write it with unspeak-
able shame. Many professors of religion,
and even some ministers of religion, sin
against God and their own souls by the idle
and irreverent use of the lneffable Name.
We do not mean that any man, calling him
self q Christian minister, will deliberately
'swear profauely,n as drunkards and COM
mon rowdies will do; but some of them
sometimes tell anecdotes whose point is in
their irreyerence. 1t may be in n group of
friendly listeners. Children may be there.
The quick ear catches the interlarded oaths
in the story, and that Is remembered when
the story itself, perhaps, is forgotten. Little
boys sometimes bear their first oaths from
consecrated lips, and learn to swear in imi-
tation of their pastors. Suppose they did
occur in anecdotes : Suppose they were
told to amuse Gods name is in no con-
n~ection, and under no excuse that can be
invented, a fit subject for TESTING.
We said above that we sometimes hear
profanity in the pulpit. We mean simply
this that some preachers without meaning
to do wrong. and without knowing that they
do harm, nave contracted the unfortunate
habit Of using the holy name quite unne-
oessarily and quite out Of place. This point
it Is difficult TO illustrate. Most intelligent
hearers have noticed the evil to which we
Rllude. We nav a friend, n very worthy
preacher, much given to exaggerated forms
of speech. We have heard him, dozens of
times in one sermon, use the Phrase God
Almighty's green earth :" Another con-
stantly cries out Great God and
God knows and many such like phrases
we are unwilling to introduce. We have
mentioned these three forms of this irrever.
ant Of tha ntpNRA nR, Ia .l,A ...,1,.,N -
make our meaning plain. IL VIC ARE mista.
ken Us to the irreverence of this pulpit
habit, how wretched the taste that such ex.
pressions manifest 1t does not make ar.
gument more forcible; it does not substi.
tute the lack of feryor or elegance; it con
yinces nobody it awakens nobody but IL
does often shock the hearts of the most de
yout.
Another most prevalent form of the
Astounding profanity is seen and heard in
the travesty of scriptural language. Posi-
lively it Is q plague upon our iapSuage
Of late this misuse Of Bible words and
phrases has been conspicuous in "head-
lining" kilograms and local items in the Sc
cular papers. The late Lord-Hicks mar
riage in New York furnished opportunity
for the dailies to multiply puns on the name
Of Jehovah, and to twist into the uses of
AAAAo Wv HlttlOuh NOIuh
in the sacred Scriptures. As illustrating
the spirit of the times, we give an instance:
A young Georgian moved to Texas, failed
and returned. Upon his arrival Mt home n
local paper headlines" the article thus
''Fatted Calf for One"
The recent discussion of the subject of
nell has been Il rare opportunity to the
secular press The words which represent
the most awful truths, that express the
woes OF the lost, have been banded about
with childish frivolity. Some years ago
we knew a cultivated audience applaud to
the echo the speech Of a ~flippant young
lawyer during the commencement exercises
OF n female college whose jests were all
pointed with holy words and Bible phrases.
Representing n lover as urging his suit, he
put in his lips with such verbal changes as
suited his purposel, the first verse of the
fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John
And the people laughed and applauded till
the hall rang again. But enough. These
few illustrations will bring multitudes lik,
them-perhaps woIse-to the remembrance,
of our readers.
There is no estimating the tremendou!
power against religion that this prevailing
iiippant irreverence e~xcites. 1t is NOR,
chilling, perhaps, than the out and out OPP
position of more solid infdels. There il
little hope of the salvation of n man whC
has formed n deeply fixed habit of laughing
and testing over holy things. We are per
suaded that Satan has few methods that
are more potent to resist the influences Of
the Holy Spirit. When once the spirit Of
frivolous irreverence has fairly possessed o
soul there is little to hope for. The thun.
ders Of Sinai are heard without fear, and
the spectacle of Calvary witnessed withou,
emotion 1t may be doubted whethe,
crime more certainly hardens the heart and
indurates the conscience, than does the fel
spirit of fiippant profanity and irreverenc,
that is abroad in our land. Decency n
well as piety demands n reformation
7110s Christian idnoedtc
THE CLOCK IN TRINITY's TowER.
The clock in Trinity church tower is tn
heaviest in America. IL mipht seem TIM