Milford chronicle., 1888-04-13


1t Comes from Infrmity Of Temper
and the Prefuse Use of Bywords.
BRooKLYN. April s.-one Of the hymns
sung at the Tabernacle this morning begins
with the words:
So let our lips and lives express
The Holy Gospel we profess
After reading the appropriate passages Of
Scripture, the Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, d.
D., preached on the habit Of cursing and
swearing. His text was from the Book Of
Job, ii, Z. s and 8: $50 went Satan forth
from the presence Of tho Lord, and smote
Job with sore boils from the sole of bis
foot unto his crown. And he took him a
potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he
sat down among the ashes. Then said his
wife unto him, 'Dost thou still retain thine
integrityl Curse God, and die'n
A story oriental and marvellous. Job was
therichest man in all the east. He had cam
els and oxen and asses and sheep, and, what
would have made him rich without anything
else, seven sons and three daughters. It was
the habit of these children to gather together
for family reunion. One day Job is thinking
of his children as gathered together at a ban
quet at the elder brothers house.
While the old man is seated at his tent
door he sees some one running, evidently,
from his manner, bringing bad news What
is the matter nowi "Oh,n says the messen-
ger, "a foraging party of Sabeans has
fallen upon the oxen and the asses, and
destroyed them and butchered all the ser
wants except MYSELF Stand aside Another
messenger running What is the matter
nowl "Oh,n says the man, ''the lightning
has struck the sheep and the shepherds, and
all the shepherds are destroyed except my
self.n Stand aside. Another messenger run
ming. What is he matter nowl "Oh," he
says, ''the Chaldeans have captured the
camels and slain all the camel drivers except
myself Stand aside. Another messenger
running. What is the matter nowl "Oh,"
he says, "a hurricane struck the four cor
ners of the tent where your children were as
sembled at the banquet, and they are all
deadn
But the chapter of calamity has not ended
Job was smitten with eSphantiasis, or black
leprosy. Tumors from head to foOt-fore-
head ridged with tubercles-eyelashes fall
out-nostrils excoriated-voice destroyed
intolerable exhalations from the entire body,
until with none to dress his sores, he sits
down in the ashes with nothing but pieces Of
broken pottery to use in the surgery of his
wounds. At this moment, when he needed
al encouragement, and all consolation, his
wife comes in, in fret and a rage, and says:
"This is intolerable. Our property gone,
our children slain, and now YOU covered up
with this loathsome and disgusting diseaso
Why don't you swearg Curse God and dieln
All, job knew right well that swearing
would not cure one of the tumOrs Of his ago
nized body, would not bring back one Of his
destroyed canels, would not restore one of his
dead children. He knew that profanity would
only make the pain more unbearable, and the
poverty more distressing, and the bereave-
ment more excruciating. But, judging from
the profanity abroad in our day, you might
come to the conclusion that there was some
great advantage to be reaped from profanity.
Blasphemy is all abroad. You hear it in
every direction. The drayman swearing at
his cart, the seNing girl imprecating the
tangled sRein, the accountant cursing the
long line of troublesome figures Swearing
at the store, swearing in the loft, swearing
in the cellar, swearing on the street, swear
ing in the factory Children swear Men
swear. Women swearl Swearing from the
rough calling on the Almighty in the low
restaurant, clear up to the reckless sob
the one is as much blasphemy as the other.
There are times when We must cry out to
the Lord by reason of our physical agony or
our mental distress, ana that is only throw
ing out our weak hand toward the strong
arm of father. 1t was no profanity when
James a. Garfield, shot in the Washington
depot, cried out: 'Nly God, what does this
meant" There is no profanity in calling out
1srr Of
of darkness, in the day of physical anguish,
in the day of bereavement; but lam speaking
now OF the triviality and of the reellessness
with which the name of God is sometimes
managed The whole land is cursed with it.
A gentleman coming from the far west sat
in the car day after day behind two persons
who were indulging in profanity, and he
made up his miIfd that he would make a
record Of their profanities, and at the end of
two days several sheets Of paper were cOv-
cred with these imprecations, and at the close
of the Journey he handed the manuscript to
one of the persons in front of him. rs it
possible said the man, "that we have ut
tered so many profanities the last few
daysr ''It is" replied the gentleman.
''Then,n said the man who had taken the
manuscript, Il will never swear again.
But is a comparatively unimportant thing
if a man makes record of our improprie-
ties Of speech. The more memorable consid-
Grafton is that every improper word, every
oath uttered, has a record in the book Of
Gods remembrance, and that the day will
come when all our crimes Of speech, if unre-
pented Of viii be our condemnation. shall
not today deal in distractions. 1 hate alb
stractions am going TO have plain talk
with you, my brother, about a habit that
you admit TO be wrong,
The habit grows IN the community in the
fact that young people think it manly to
swear Little children, hardly able to walk
straight on the street. yet have enough dis
tinctness of utterance to let you know that
they are danning their own souls or damn
ing the souls Of others. 1t is an awful thing
the first time the little feet are lifted to have
them set down on the burning pavement Of
helll
Between 16 and 20 years of age there is
apt to come a time when young man is as
much ashamed of not being able to swear
gracefully as he is Of the dizziness Of his first
cigar. He has his hat, his boot and his coat
of the right pattern, and now, if he car
only swear without awkwardneSs, and as
well as his comrades, he believes he is in the
fashion. There are young men who walk in an
atmosphere Of imprecation-oaths ON their
lips, under their tongues, nesting in their
shock Of hair They abstain from it in the
elegant drawing room, but the street and the
club house ring with their profanities. They
have no regard for God, although they have
great respect for the ladiesl My young
brother, there is no manliness in that The
most ungentlemanly thing man can do is to
swear.
Fathers foster this great crime. There are
parents who are very cautious not to swear
In the presence Of their children; in a moment
Of sudden anger they look around to see if
tue children are present when they indulge
in this habit Do you not know, oh father,
that your child is aware of the fact that you
swaar, He overheard you in the next room,
OF some one has informed him Of your habit
He is practicing now. In ten years he viii
swear as well as you do. Do not, oh
father, be under the delIision that you may
swear and your son not know it. 1t is an
awful thing to start the habit in a family
the father to be profane, and then to have
the echo Of his example come back from other
generations; 80 that generations after genera
tiOns curse the Lord.