Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-10-16


brother to eternal misery or you are
lacking In reverence to God, which is
precisely the attitude condemned in
this commandment. Either you de.
spise your fellow men or else you de.
spise the name Of your Creator and
yorE King. There is no other outcome
to these two extremes. Either you are
cursing your fellow man or else you
are hooking your divine Maker.
The beginnings of Profanity.
The profane habit Is to be dreaded
because II is often the outgrowth of
seemingly very harmless beginnings
The blood curdling oaths heard In the
home Of the rich man and among the
80 called respectful BILE members Of so
ciety are not, as a rule. born among
the saloons and the outcasts They
were not once the Inhabitants Of the
slums and the places Of wassail and
crime. In all probability their germs
were fostered in the parlors Of Chris
tian homes and in the weekday school
rooms and even in the Sunday school
rooms attended by Christian children
These germs of the most horrible of
profane oaths were once the exelema
tons and calculations and the slang
expressions SO commonly used by la
dies and children upon our streets.
They are the by Georges" the "By
Graciouses." the by This" and "By
That's" and the by Other Things"
They are the calculations which are
used today by many people who cor
slider themselves educated and polite
and refined.
Profanity can grow from seemingly
very harmless beginnings Therefore it
is the duty Of all Christian parents not
only to refrain from the use of such
unnecessary and absurd exclama tons
rs those just quoted. but they should
instill into their children the right use
of the English langu&A. The Anglo
Saxon tongue is a noble tongue 1t is
especially rich in vehement. emphatic.
expressive and, if I might use the ex.
preston. sledgehammer words. power.
full enough to annihlate any foe. In
It's broad sweep of denunciatory words
the English language is unexcelled by
any language. Therefore, Christian par.
ents, in the education of your children
you should teach them never to use
slang. You should teach them that
slang is only the immature child which
will grow up into the destroying mon
ster called Profanity. You should
teach them that God hurls his con
formations at slang as we'll as at the
hideous monster called Profanity when
Christ says: swear not at all; neither
by heaven, for it is Gods throne, nor
by the earth, for it is his footstool;
neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city
Of the great King. Neither shalt thou
swear by thy head. because thou canst
not make one hair white or black. But
let your communication be, Yea, yea !;
nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than
these cometh Of evil" Could any de-
nunciation be more vehement against
the use of slang common among our
women and children and also among
the men than those words Of Jesus
Christ?
Suicidal Habit.
Profanity is suicidal habit because
it runs directly counter to the express
ed commands Of God. Albert Barnes
once wrote, There is not in the uni
verse more cause for amazement than
Gods forbearance in his dealings with
the blasphemer." But that God will
ultimately punish those who take his
name in vain there is no doubt The
Bible distinctly asserts it. And that
God sometimes instantly Furnishes the
sin of blasphemy is also unquestioned
Incident upon incident can be cited to
illustrate this fact
Some years ago two English soldiers
in the Chatham barracks gathered
some of their comrades about them as
judges. Then these two men made a
wager, Then each started out to find
out who could utter the greatest nun
Der and the most awful variety of
blood curdling oaths so as to win that
wager. After one of the soldiers had
gone on for awhile in his blasphemous
sin he suddenly stopped and said, Now
| shall utter one more oath, more hor-
rible than all the rest of them, and
then l am done" Instantly Gods con
demning wrath struck him dumb. For
three long hours he suffered and strug-
gled for breath. Then he died, a con
dernned blasphemer's death. After the
heart Of the blasphemers body had
ceased to beat his corpse, by the order
of his officers was made a public spec
tacle to teach the populace and the SOL
diers and the sailors alike that they
might realize the awfulness of the
warning In the third commandment,
that God will not hold him guiltless
that taketh his name in vain" Gods
condemning wrath in that instance
came as suddenly as stroke of light.
ming.
Ny father Often mentioned an incl
dent showing how sometimes the
wrath of God can and does strike the
blasphemer down; how it can strike
the profane lips in the twinkling of an
eye. The scene took place in a noted
| iniidel club in Scotland. That night Ii
was decided by the club mem bers that
the man who could make the most aw-
fnl oath in defiance of God should be
elected president of the club. In this
competition OF oaths one man uttered
80 vile an oath that his comrades were
dumfounded. But no sooner was 1t
unanimously decided that this bias
phemer should take the presidents
chair than his tongue began to swell.