The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-04-26
TALMAGE'S SERMON,
The Weekly Discourses Of Tho Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
Subject: "'The Habit of Pro-
fnnity.''

presence cy We LORD, ana Smote Jo6 tCith
sore bolts from the sole Of his foot unto his
croton. And he tooh him potsherd to
scrape himself ,oithal: and he set do,cA
among the ashes. Then said his t8ife Unto
htm: .Dost thou sttl retain thine integrity?
Curse God, ard die. Book of Job, IL, Z, 8
and O.
:, A story oriental and marvellous Job was
the richest man in all the east. He had cam
els and oxen and asses and sheep, anu, what
would have made him rich without ah ything
else, seven sons and three daughtefs. IL was
the habit of these childfeh 10 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
1oor ne sees some one running, evidently,
from his manner, bringing bad news "What
is the matter nowf" "Oh,h says the tnessen-
| ger, "a foragihg 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 ger running, What is the matter
nowi oh says the man, ''the lightning
mas struck the sheep and the shepherds, and
all the shepherds are destroyed except nv
self" Stand aside Another messenger rum
ning What is tho matter now? "Oh,n he
| says, "the Chaldeans have captured the
cameis and slain all the camel drivers except
! myself" Stand aside. Another messenger
he says, "a hurricane struck the four cor,
ners OF the tent where your children were
deadn 80
But the chapter of calamity has not ended.
Sob was smitten with elephantiasis, or black
i,eprosy: Tumors from head to foot--fore-
nead rldged with tubercles--eyelashes fall
outInostrils excoriated-voice DESTROYED
intoierable exhalations from the entire BODY.
untll with none to dress his sore he sits
gown 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
..Tt; W1e comes m IN fret and rage, and says:
This is intolerable. Our property gone,
our children slain, and now you covered up
WIN thlS loathsome and disgusting disease,
why don you swears Curse God and diel'
An, JOB knew right well that swearing
would not cure one of the tumors Of his ago
Ilzeo oody, would not bring back one of his
DESTROYED camels, 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-
| menu 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 profan-
ity.
Blasphemy is all abroad. You hear it in
| every direction. The drayman swearing at
MS cart, the sewing girl imprecating the
tangled skein, the accountant cursng the
long line OF troublesome figures. Swearing
at the store, swearing in the loft, swearing
IN tne cellar, swearing on the street. swear
ing IN the factory. Children swear. Men
swear Women swear! Swearing from the
rough calling on the Almighty in the low
restaurant clear up to the reckless 'Oh
Lord!" of a glittering drawing room; and
tne one IS as much blaspheny as the other.
lnere are times when we must cry out to
the Lord by reason of our physical agony or
our mental distress, and 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 my God, what does this
meanT There is no profanity in calling out
upon God in the day of trouble, in the day
Gl es aarkness, IN the day of physical anguish
IN tne day OF bereavement; but am speaking
now OF the trivia!ity and of the recklessuess
WIN which the name of God is sometimes
used. The who'e land is cursed with it,
"A gentleman coming from the far west sat
M the car day after day behind two persons
VINO We're indulgtng in profanity, and ho
made up his mind that he wonjd maka a
record of their profanities and at the end Of
Two days several sheets Of paper were COW
ered with these imrrecations, and at the close
OF the Journey he handed the manuscript to
one OF the persons in front of him lis II
possible" said the man, ''that we have MT
Tered Ter SO many profanit es the last few daysg'
IL is, replied the gentleman. Then, said
the man who had taken the manuscript: 81
VIII never swear again"
:. butltlsa a comparatively unimportant thing
u man makes record of our improprie-
ties OF speech. The more memorable consid.
eration IS that every improper word, every
oath uttered, has record the book Of Gods
remembrance, and that the day will
come when all a,.iy,, of
pented OF, will be our condemnation. / shall
not To-Day deal in distractions. J hate alb.
stractlons. am going to have plain talk
with you, my brother, about habit that
you admit to be wrong
Inc habit grows in the community in the
lact that young people think it manly to
swear. Little children hardly able to walk
straight on the street, yet have enough dis
tlnctiveness of utterance to let YOU know
that they are danning their own souls or
damning the souls of Others 1t is an awful
thing the first time the little feet are lifted
TO rave them set down on the burning pave
ment of he'll!
Between 16 and 20 years of age there is
apt to come 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 can
only swear without awkwarkness, and as
wen as his comrades, he believes he is in the
Iasnion. There are young men who walk in
an an atmosphere OF imprecation-oathso on their
lips, under their tongues, nesting in their
snock OF hair They abstain from it in the
elegant drawing room, but the street and the
ciuo mouse ring with their profanities They
nave no regard for God, although they have
great respect for the ladies Ny young
prother, 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 moment
OF sudden anger they look around to see if
the chlidren are present when they indulge
in this habit. Do you not know. oh father.
that your child is aware of the fact that Won
sweara He overheard you in the next room.
or some one has informed him of your habit.
He is practicing low. In ten years he will
swear as well as you do Do not. oh
father, be under the delusion that YOU NAV
swear and your son not know it, 1t is an
awful thing to start the habit in family
the father to be profane, and then to have
the echo of his example come back from other
generations; so that generations after genera
tions 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 business
establishments When you go down to look
at the work of the scaffolding and you find
it is not done right, what do you say' It is
not praying, is it, The employer swears-
the employe is tempted to swear. The man
says: II don't know why my employer,
worth $4,000 or 100000, should have any
luxury should be denied simply because
am poor. Because l am poor and dependent
on days wages, haven't as much right to
swear as he has with his large incomel"
employers swear, and that makes SO many
employees swear
Ihe habit also CONES from infirmity of
temper. There are a good many people who,
when they are at peace, have Righteousness
Oh 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 whole year in one
red hot paragraph of five minutes. / knew
OF man who excused himself for the habit,
saying: Il only swear once in a great wnle.
must do that Just to clear myself out
The habit comes also from the profuse uss
OF bywords. The transition from a byword
which may be perfectly harmless to impre-
cation and profanity is not very large
transition. 1t is ''my starsl" and mercy on
mel' and good graciousr' and "by Georgeln
and "by Jovel" and you go on with that
little while, and then you swear. These
words, perfectly harmless in themselves, are
I n - 4r-~ g.. - Il -