Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-10-16
TALMAGE
SERMON
BY Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMACE. DID,.
Pastor of Jefferson Park Presby-
terrain Church, Chicago


family is made by Rev. Frank De Witt
Talmage In this sermon on the text
Exodus Xxx, 7, "Thou shalt not take the
name Of the Lord thy God In vain"
The blasphcmer's condemnation is a
mighty theme. It's curse Indirectly af-
fects the whole human race Every
man belongs to one of two classes-ei-
Their he Is blasphemer and therefore,
on account of his profanity, comes d.
rectly under the condemnation of God,
or else he belongs to that large class
whose ears are polluted by his profane
utterances, in which class are some
who listen with Indifference or con
tempt, while others shudder with hor-
ror as they hear the blasphcmous men
ton of the name of their Master and
King.
No street car or factory or shop or
camp is entirely free from this shock
ing plague. In our streets and public
resorts there is daily and hourly evil
dence of the prevalence of this PERM
c!ous habit. Not only does the hus-
band and father swear, but his exam
pie is sometimes followed by his wife
and his son and even his little chill
dren, MotOrinen swear at the trucks.
Engineers swear at theiI fires. Boys
swear at their lessons in the school
room and at their baseball bats upon
the playground Merchants swear at
1,..f, a,
breath in the store and ont loud when
they are away from the counters, swear
81 their employers. Men swear when
'hey are buying goods Fishermen
swear at their hooks and lines and at
the fish they do not catch. CONNER
cial travellers swear because the train
or the hotel meal is late or because
there is no water pitcher in the bed
room. Sailors swear at the ropes and
the winds Farmers swear at the cat
lie and the grain and the weather.
MeE swear at the gutter into which
they tumble and at the wagon wheel
which spatters them with mud. Bias
rheu ois swear when they are happy;
they swear when they are sad; they
81 y 4.
The peculiarly Of this habit of profan-
ity is that it SO permeatcs the bias
phemor's mind and conversation that
he gets TO swear unconsciously. He
can swear automatically in the same
way that the lungs can breathe auto
matically or q child's eyelids can open
and shut automatically or as speak
Nb ar hn iS N IN u I'm, ND y,lo
out an address, can walk up and down
his study automatically. ii is about
time tina: Christian pulpits should ut
ter their protest against the universal
evil Of sacrilegious imprcCation.
p. ofanity ia a cruel and a cowardly
habit. because it shocks the hottest
feelings and picrces the hearts Of
thousands and hundreds of thousands
q Christians who are unable by law
TO sop this awful and blood curdling
infamy Only the other day a tole-
phone girl had a Chicago merchant ar
rested and fined $40 and costs in the
police jasticc court because the de-
fendant swore at her over the wires,
HIS defense before the justice was that
he was hungry and wanted 10 order
his dinner from a neighboring rcstau-
rant and that the girl in the central
office Of the telephone company would
not give him the right connection But
when the justice heard the young girls
statement that she could not make the
necessary connection because the lines
were busy at that time he decided
against the defense of the Chicago
merchant. He said, mo man has a
right to hurl profane words at any
public servant when that man or wom-
AL is trying to do his or her full duty"
But Christian people cannot as class
stop the profane remarks which they
hear every day from the passersby
upon the different public thorough
fares
The Blasphemer Coward.
The hlaspbemer is essentially a cow
ard, because he inflicts suffering on
persons who are powerless to resist or
retalate. II is a hard word, but | use
the plain, unvarnlshed Anglo-Saxon
word which describes the cowardly act.
l want you swcarers to realize the ex-
tent of the injuries which you are do
ing against some OF your fellow men
when you swear in public. ! want
you to fully realize how you are cut
ting and decorating Christian hearts
with your blood curdling oatAs by try
ing to put yourself, If possible, in your
Christian brothers place, who Is com
PEELED to listen every day to the public
utterances OF profanity. You can judge,
perhaps, how your Christian neighbor
feels by supposing that some one is
speaking slightingly and disrespectful.
ly and slanderously of some one you
very dearly love. You have a mother
or wife or, perhaps, to use better
illustration, young daughter whom
you fondly cherish. Suppose in some
public place you should hear her name
vilifed. What would You do? Why
need you answer? Even now l can
see your cheek flush and your teeth
become set and your hands clinch to-
eether You would Immediately de-
mand an apology from the yilifier or
perhaps, II you are an impulsive man,
you would raise your fist and knock
that man down. You would do just
what friend OF mine did some years
ago in Waynesburg, W. Va. He was
bringing home the dead body Of his
little girl, who was his idol AS a
great rough, brutal porter took tho