Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-10-17


ized the enormity OF the injustice
which by the public habit OF profanity
you are doing against some OF your fell
low men. You are so kind hearted you
would not hurt a dog or n cat Surely
after this you will cease to use bias
phemous words in public and not fur
Their cut and lash into the bleeding
hearts OF your Christian brothers and
sisters with the sharp. merciless inn
piety which has heretofore proceeded
from your profane lips
A Cruel and Foolish Habit.
Profanity is not only cruel, but
also a very foolish, habit. My profane
brother. can you cite me one instance
In all your life when the indulgence In
the habit of swearing helped you in
the least? Did the stone over which
you stumbled get out OF your way and
apologize TO you beca use you cursed
II? Did the winds ever abate when
you were crossing the seas because you
blasphemed them? Did your employ
ees ever love you better or work for
you harder because you lost your tenn
per and hurled at them whole lorna
do of oaths? Did your horse ever drive
better because you swore at him until
you were red in the face? Did the
blood stop flowing when you cut your
finger merely because you made the
air sulphurous with your denunciatory
imprecations? Nor you answer. 81
cannot think OF one good result that
family. 1t Is such a foolish habit that
1 sometimes wonder why God does not
let the sticks and the stones and the
dumb brutes have power of speech to
rebuke me. as he once babe the long
cared beast of burden open his mouth
and speak to the quick tempered and
unreasonable prophet of old. ought
TO have better sense"
And yet this evil habit OF profanity
would be absolutely ridiculous and
ludicrous If II were not so heinous In
its results We have read how one Of
the kings of old In order to prove that
he was master of the seas as well as of
the lands ordered his soldiers come
down to the seashore and with whips
lash the waves as they tumbled upon
the beach, and when we read of that
royal order we have laughed at the
kings actions as those OF a mailman
and Of an egotistic, cracked Drained
person. Wherever we have noted the
imbecile act of an unbalanced mind
we have compared Ii 20 the insane am
billions of the hero OF the celebrated
Spanish romance which Cervantes
wrote. But were the picture of king
fighting the waves with whips and
1,- H. -
ote ever more ridiculous and imbecile
than the act of q great, big, strong
man cursing a stone merely because
his toe studded against II or swear
ing at the axle merely because the
grease ran dry or disappearing the
iron head Of n hammer merely because
he, as carpenter. was clumsy fingered
and hit the end of his thumb instead
Of the nail in the plank2 Was ever a
sight more ridiculous, If there was not
eternal misery in its outcome, than a
man standing ut the gate OF an ele-
waited depot cursing the train and wish
ing that its platform wheels and glass
windows and wooden seats might be
consumed In the fires OF an inferno
merely because he was too lazy to get
up In time for breakfast to catch that
elevated express which would have
landed him Mt his office in time to
meet the important business appoint
ment? | tell you there is something
weak about mans head who will con-
tinually swear ut everybody and every
thing. There is something soft about
his brain as well as something very
sinful about his heart.
Profanity From Depraved Hearts.
Profanity is n monstrous habit. II
either comes from n totally depraved
heart. because that heart wishes to
condemn fellow human being to the
awful agonies OF an eternal condemna-
ton. or else Il teaches the users OF pro-
fame words TO have an utter contempt
for the name OF God and for his COM
mandments.
Blasphemer. have you ever stopped
TO consider what would be the effect of
your profane words by which you con-
denim your fellow men IL they were lit
orally carried out? Have YOU eve,
stopped TO consider that when YOU ask
God to condemn your fellow men TO
the Internal regions you express q de-
sire that through all the coming ages
they Will suffer greater torture than
ever human victim suffered upon the
operating table, under n surgeons
knife, when an@sthetics could not be
administered? You express a desire
that they shall be thrown into 1.-THE
lake OF fire and birthstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are and
shall be tormented day and night for
ever and ever" You express n desire
by your profane oaths TO see human
beings suffer as Mark Antony and
Cleopatra commanded them to suffer.
when, at the banquet table, this guilty,
merciless twain ordered poison to be
administered TO their slaves and pris-
oners so that they might witness their
commissions in the throes of an awful
death.
But" answers some blasphemer,
you know just as we'll as l. that there |
is not one man out of thousand who |
ever means what he says when he |
blasphemes. His profane oaths are |
mere ordinations. They come from |
the lip and not from the heart" Then, |
my brother. there is only one other |
deduction which can come from the |
use OF this evil habit. Either you as |
a profane man wish to condemn your
brother 10 eternal misery or you are
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
your King. There is no other outcome
to these two extremes. Either you are
your fellow man or else you
are hooking your divine Maker.
The beginnings of Profanity.
The profane habit Is to be dreaded
because 1t is often the outgrowth of
seemingly very harmless beginnings.
The blood eurdling oaths heard In the
home OF the rich man and among the
SO called respectable members Of so
ciety are not, as rule, born among
the saloons and the outcasts They
were not once the Inhabitants Of the
Sluma md tho nlacao of x,-oecou o,<s |