Conf Pam 12mo #566 ■X NO. 10,. D02^'T SWE^E! BY py. J. B. JETE% D. D., RICHMOND, VA, WiiT, ehould you ? Profane, 8 wearing, ban uvprojiid^ hie practice. Other sins maj yield you. t momentary ad vantage, or pleasura, but this cannot. No^ man will re' Epect you the more, y«u will not, even have Vhigher self- respect, b^eause yau awear. None \will believe ynor word iinor^ Tcadilj: because ypu cotifiri:pVifty an . uncalled for oath. ^ maa ©f sense dtjofi?' 8ie yri^oe a-aiark of good breeding, intelligence, honor or coufSfe. No person could be admitted into good society, or put it^ a post of trns^ -jind emolument, on the claim that he swcara, or excel* jn tlie art of sVearlng. If ifc makes any man appear great, it is oalj in his owa ejes. If it yiells any pleasure,* U is only such as a fiond might enj»y. It has not even the excuse of a strong temptation. It originates in no natural craving of man's physical, intellectual or moral nature.— There i^a fish, called the Fool fish, that will bite at a nai*- ked hook to its own destruction. We wonder at its lack of the instinct of self-preservation; but we wonder more that mia, cheated ia the imige of God, endowed with rea« son and congoience, should indulge in profanity froai the pure love of ginniag. Swearing is not only tinprofitahle but impolite, She truly polite man will do nothing that may inflict needless, pain on others. Pious people hold the name ot God ia great reverence. They are grieved when they hear it iblasphemed, or lightly «sed. Some years ago, an eminent •clergyman said to a person whom he .chanced to meet, < You have hurt my feelings." "I am sure, «aid the man/ " I did not intend to hurt your feelings. What have I 'done?'' *^ You have spoken lightly of my Father," re» ^lied the clergyman. "You U'ust be mistaken' returngd, the accused ; " when did I speak lightly of your father?** <' God is my Father," answered the minister, " and I heard you uttering his uame lightly and irreverently/* !^' I beg your pardon," said the astonished man. "Thafc ^ill not do," replied the pious clergyman, " Tou have of- 8 fended God, and you mnst ask pardon of bim." From that moment the conscience-smitten sinner, from whoL® lips the' writer received the story, ceased to swear and bfe" gen to pray. Who does not perceive that to use the name of a fatter with levity or disrespect in the presence of his BOD is a breach of politeness ? Is itless a breackof politeness io outrage the feelingi of thc'pious by language of pro" fanity and^blasphcmj ? But, it may be said, polite men, do swear. It is admit- ted that men polite in other respects may l^e profane — > and profane to the mortification and grief of their pious friends; but their profanity is a blot on their fair charac- ter for politeness. And if their politeness is not a mere cham — a thin veil to conceal their vulgarity — they wil^ be prompt to acknowledge that their profanity is in der Ogation of their politencsa. It is not enough to affirm that swearing is impolite — it IB vulgar. It is emphatically a low bred vice. It i3 a cheap sin. To adopt the prattice, or to become a profi-» Cient in it, requires neither genius, n^^r learning, nor wit nor money, nor principl«?, i:or character. The swearer's whole stock in trade is a vulgar taste, a frivolous or ma- lignant spirit, a few hackneyed phrases that may be easily picked up in the haunts of dissipation, a farehoad of brass and a tongue unpalaied by the God "whom it blasphemes. Thus furnished he is prepared to go forth and take a prom, inent position among those who by swearing make the land mourn. Jcr. xxiii, 10. This vice may be found among the licb, the learned and refiaed; but it fiourishea most among the ignorant, tlie mean and the degraded. — Its native haunts are the bar room, the grogshop, the the* atre, the brothel; the dark and -filthy lanes of the city, the |)risons and penitentiaries, and the habitatons of degraded men. There arc still stronger reasons why you should not swear. Swearing is a wicked practice. It is written, ''Thou shalt not take the name of the L©rd thy God in yain.^' Ex. xx, 7. " Who is like unto thee, Lord among the gods ? ^lo is like unto thee, glorious in holi« ness, fearful in praises, doing wcuders ?" Ex. xx. iJ. — Who would not fear thee, king of nations ? for to. thee, doth it appertain." Jer. x, 1. By how much God is great, good and gloiious, by so much are his intelligent creatures bound to hold his name in reverence. God is jealous of his glory, and most righteously demands that they ^hall render to him the homage due unto his name. To utter bis name lightly in oaths or curses, - is to treaj him with an indignity and conteiapfc which they would not dare to offer to a respected fellow creature. This sin is the more inexcusable because^ it is committed against light. Many vices are the excesses of innocent disposi- tions and lawful indulgences. They may imperceptibly pass from right to wrong. The most discriminating casu- alist may not be able to decide at what point the right ends and the wrong begins. But the line of demarkation be- tween the proper and the profane iiso of God's name is plain and unmistakable. When a man takes the nime of God in vain, he sius knowingly, and often deliberately an