The Brookhaven leader., 1888-04-19

of Ave minutes. knew of a man who
excused himself FER tire habit, saying: II
only swear once i" great while. mus'
do that Just to clear mysClt out"
The habit comes also from the f-"fuse
usC Of hy-words. The transition from
by-word which ray be perfectly harmless
to impreCation and profar'i'y. Is not very
large transition. 1t is my stafS " and
"mercy on me-" and "good graclOtis" "
and NV GeOrgew and "by Jove." and
you go on witt that little while, and then
YOU swear These words; perfectly harm
less in themselves, are next dGr tn tm-
precation and blasphemy. A profuse ji7"
of by-words always ends in profanity.
The habit is creeping up into the highest
style of society. Women have no patience
with fat and untarnished profanity. They
Will order a man out Of the parlOr indulg-
ing in biasphemy, and yet you will sOnIe-
times find them with fairy fan to the lip,
and under chandeliers which bring 10
blush 10 their cheek, taking on their lips
the hOliest of names in utter triviality.
Why, my friends, the English language
is comprehensive and capable OF express
ing all shapes Of feeling and every degree
of energy. Are you haFrv. Noah webster
will give you ten thousand WJr'Hs with
which to express your exhilaration. Ara
ou,righteously indignant, there are whole
armOries in the vocabulary, righteous
vocabulary whole armies of denun Cia-
ton. ard stpl'n, and sarcasm. and irony,
and caricature. ard wrath. You express
yourself against some meanneSs or
hypocrisy, in all the Oaths t1Gt ever
smoked up from the pit, and | will come
right on after YOU and give thousand
fold more emphasis OF d"nunclatlon to
the same meannesS and tic same
hypocrisy ~ words across which no Sims
has ever trailed and .rto which the fires
Of hell have never shot their forked
tongues-the pure, the innocent, Gca5
IGNORED Anglo Saxon in which Milton
rang, and John Bunyan dreamed and
Shakespeare dramatized.
There ia no excuse for profanity when
~ tafe such a magnificent language
such a flow of good words, potent words.
mighty words, words just n suit every
crisis and every case. Whatever he the
cause of it, profanity is on the increase,
and if YOU do not know it, it is because
NOrlr ears have been hardened by the din
of imprE"atians so that you are not stirred
and moved as you ought to be by pro-
fanities in these cities which are. enough
W DIlHS uIl VI All lIhN N''''t "A44NIt
consumed Seldom.
Do you know that tf:i1 trivial use Of
Gods name results in perjury: 10 you
know that people who take the name Of
God on their bps in recklessness and
thoughtessness are fostering the crime of
perjury? Make tho name of God a foot
tall In the community, and ithas no power
when in coll,tsr66iB and in Legislative as
sembly it is employed In solemn adiHra'
ton! See the way sometimes they adj
minister the oath: So help you Cod
kiss the book" Smuggling, which is al
WAYS a violation of the OATH. becomes in
some circles a grand joke. You say ~
man:
"How is it possible for you to sell these
goods 50 very cheap: l can't understand
it."
.'8h"' he replies, with q twinkle r: tho
eye, "thc 'nstOm-hOuse tariff of these
goods isn't as much a. Il might be" An
| oath does not mean as much as IL ~"Hld
HIrf the name of God used in reverence
and in solemnlty. WHY il it that so often
| jurors render unaccountable veIGif'e and
Judges give unaccomtable charges, ana
useless railroad schemes pass in our State
capitols, and there are most unjust
one thing and put upon another;
What is an 0atlt7 Any thing solemn
Any thing that calls upon the Almighty:
Any thing that marks an event II: mans
history: Oh, no. 1t is kissing the book
| There II no habit, l tell you plainly-and
talk IL hundreds and thousands of men to-
day who Mill thank me for my utt"rance-
/ tell YOU my brother--t talk to
| l,,,t a..
one brother talks TO another 5:l some
very important theme-I tell you there Is
no nabtt that so depletcs a mans nature
as the habit OF prota"'ty, You might as
well try to raise vineyard ad5 orchards
on the sides of belching Stromboli rs tE
| raise any thing good on heart from
| which there pOurs out the sCOria OF pro-
| family. You may swear yourself down;
you can not swear yourself up. When the
Mohammedan finds piece Of paper he
can not read, he puts it aside very cuu-
| tiously for fear the name of God may be
on it. That is one extreme. We go 10 the
| other. Now, what is the cure of this hab-
| ity 1t is mighty habit. Men have strug-
gled for years to get over it. There ARE
men in this house of God who would give
half their fortune to get rid of it. An aged
man was in the delirium of Il fever He
had for many years lived a most upright
life and was hOnored in all the cOmmuni-
| ty, but when he came into the delirium of
this fever he was full of imprecatiOn and
profanity, and they could not understand
| it. After he came to his right reason he
! explained it. He said:
| "When was young man was very
profane. l conquered the habit, but had
| to struggle all through life. You haven't
| for forty years heard me say an improper
| word, but it has been an awful struggle.
| The tiger is chained, but he is alive yet"
If you would get rid of this habit, l want
| you, my friends, to dwell upon the use
! lessness of it. Did vOlley of Oaths ever
| start heavy load: Did they ever extir-
| pate meanness from a customer? Did
they ever collect a bad debt: Did they
| ever cure a toOthache? Did they ever
stop the twinge of the rheumatism? Did
they ever help you forward one step in the
right direction? Come, now, tell me, yC
who have had the most experience in this
habit, how much have you made out of it!
Five thousand dollars in all your life:
| No. One thousand? No. One hundred:
| No. One dollar? No. One cent? No. Iii
the habit be so utterly useless, away with
it.
But you say: 81 have struggled to over
come the habit long while, and | have
not been successful" You struggled in
your own strength, my brother. If ever d
man wants God, it is in such a crisis oi
his history. God alone by His grace car
emancipate you from that trouble. Cal
upon Him day and night that you may be
delivered from this crime. Remember
also in the cure of this habit that il
arouses Gods indignation. The Bible re-