The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-09

LdAll III d dilll1-btlc ldIl4Si " be plOltlut,
and then to have the echo of his example
come back from other generations, so that
generations after generations curse the
Lord.
The crime is also fostered by master
mechanics, boss carpenters, those who are
at the head of men in hat factories, and in
dock yards, and at the head of great bust
ness establishments. When you so down to
look at the work of the scaffolding, and you
find it is not done right, what do you say
1t is not praying, is its The employer
The man says: 81 don't know why my EN-.
ployer, worth $4,000 or 500, 900, should
have any luxury should be denied simply
because | am poor. Because l am poor and
dependent on a days wages, haven't ! as
much right to swear as he has with his large
incomeN Employers swear, and that makes
so many employees swearl
The habit also comes from infirmity of
temper. There are a good many people
who, when they are at peace, have right
eousness of speech, but when angered they
blaze with imprecation. Perhaps all the
rest of the year they talk in right language,
but now they pour out the fury of a whole
year in ono red hot paragraph of five min
utes | knew of a man who excused him
self for the habit, saying: ~ only swear
once in a great while. | must do that just
to clear myself out"
The habit comes also from the profuse
use of bywords. The transition from a by
word which may be perfectly harmless to
imprecation and profanity, is not a very
large transition. 1t is "my starsp and
mercy on mel" and good graciousl and
"by George" and "by Jove!" and you ID
swear. These words, perfectly harmless in
themselves, and next door to imprecation
and blasphemy. A profuse use of bywords
always ends in profanity. The habit is
creeping up into the highest styles of So
ciety. Women have no patience with flat
and unvarnished profanity They will
order man out Of the parlor indulging.in
blasphemY, and yet you will sometimes find
them with fairy fan to the lip, and under
chandeliers which bring no blush to their
cheek, taking on their lips the holiest of
names in utter trivialty
Why, my friends, the English language
is comprehensive and capable Of expressing
all shapes of fee ing and every degree Of
energy. Are you happy, Noah Webster
will give you ten thousand words with
which to express your exhilaration. Are
you righteously indignant, there are whole
armories in the vocabulary, righteous
neutrality-suspicious. armies of denunciation
and scorn, and sarcasm, and irony, and
caricature, and wrath. You express your.
self against some meanness, or hypocrisy
in all the oaths that ever smoked up from
the pit, ard | will come right on after you
and give a thousandfold more emphasis OF
denuncation TO the same meauneSs and the
same hypocrisy in words across which nc
slime has ever trailed, and into which the
fires of hell have never shot their forked
tongues-the pure, the innocent, God
honored Anglo-Saxon in which Milton
sang, and John Bunyan dreamed, ano
Shakespeare dramatzed.
There is no excuse for profanity when
we have such a magnificent language
words, mighty words, words just to suit
every crisis and every case What
ever be the cause of it, profanity i,
on the increase, and il you do not know it
it is because your ears have been hardened
by the din of imprecations so that you are
not stirred and moved as you ought to be
by profanities in these cities which are
enough to bring a hurricane of fire like
that which consumed Sodom.
Do you know that this trivial use OF
Gods name results in perjurys Do you
know that people who take the name OF
God on their lips in recklessness and
thoughtlessness are fostering the crime OF
perjury! Make the name of God football
in the community, and it has no power
when in court room and in legislative as
sembly it is employed in solemn adjuration
See the way sometimes they administer the
oath: ''S'help you God-xiss the
bOokW Smuggling, which is always vic.
lation of the oath, becomes in some circle:
grand joke. You say to man: "How
is it possible for you to sell these goods s,
very cheap' / can't understand it," "Ahr
he reolies, with twinkle of the eye, "the
custom hnnsa tariff nf thaGa urnn1c icrnff nj
much as it might be-" An oath does moi
mean as much as it would were tine name OF
God used in reverence and soemnity. Why
is it that so often jurors render unaccount
able verdicts, and judges give unaccount
able charges, and useless railroad schemes
pass in our State capitals, and there are
most unjust changes made in tariffs--tarii
lifted from one thing and put upon another
What is an oath' Anything solemn
Anything that calls upon the Almighty
Anything that marks an event in a mans
history! Oh, mol 1t is kissing the book
There is no habit, | tell you plainlg-and
talk to hundreds and thousands of men to-
day who will thank me for my. utterance-
| tell you, my brother-I talk to Yon not
professionally but just as one brother talks
to another on some very important theme
i tell you there is no habit that so de
pletes a mans nature as the habit OF pro
family You might as well try to raise
vineyards and orchards on the sides OF
belching Stromboli as to raise anything
good on a heart from which there pours out
the scoria Of profanity. You may swear
yourself down; you cannot swear yourself
up. When the Mohammedan finds piece
of paper he cannot read, he puts it aside
very cautiously for fear the name of God
may be on it. That is one extreme. We
go the other Now what is the cure Of this
habiti 1t is a mighty habit. Men have
struggled 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 a fever
He had for many years lived a most up
right life and was honored in all the com
munity; but when he came into the delirium
of this fever he was full Of imprecation and
profanity, and they could not understand
1t. After he came TO his right reason he
explained it. He said: "When | was
young man | was very profane conquered
the habit, but had 10 struggle all through
life. You haven't for forty years heard ms
say an improper word, but it has been ar
awful struggle. The tiger is chained, but
he is alive yet"
If you would get rid Of this habit, want
you, my friends, to dwell upon the useless
ness Of it. Did volley Of oaths ever start
a heavy loadS Did they ever extirpate
meanness from a customerl Did they ever
collect a bad debtl Did they ever cure O
toothachei Did they ever stop the twinge
of the rheumatism Did they ever heir
you forward one step in the right direction
Come now, tell me, ye who have had tht
most experience in this habit how much