VII.
THE SWEARING CLASS.
WHEN Lily's papa and mamma came home, she was so glad to see them, andthere was so much to hear and to talk about, that she quite forgot herpurpose of asking her father to teach her about the third commandment.Besides, she no longer went to school now that her mother was at home,but had her lesson each day with her as she had done before Mrs. Wardwent on her journey; and so she was not as apt to hear or to say thosecareless words which Daisy Forster had said it was not right to use.
But it was at last brought to her mind one evening as the family allsat at the tea-table.
"Mamma," said Ella, "will you let Lily and me have a tea-partyto-morrow? I want to ask half a dozen of our girls, and I suppose Lilywould like to have a few of the little ones at the same time."
"Yes," answered Mrs. Ward, "you may each ask six of your most intimatefriends."
"Can Walter and I ask some of the fellows?" said Ned.
"Oh, mercy! no," said Ella: "we don't want any boys. It is not to be aregular party, Ned. I just want the girls to spend the afternoon anddrink tea; and it makes more fuss to have boys too."
"Goodness me! You needn't get into such a way about it," said Ned.
"Children," said Lily, her brother's and sister's words bringing backto her what Daisy had said, "children, you needn't either of you swearabout it."
Lily's efforts to keep the family straight were generally consideredas a good joke, and her reproofs and advice received with a laugh; butthis plain speaking was rather _too_ much for either Ella or Ned, andthe former exclaimed,--
"Well, who is swearing, I'd like to know?"
"And who gave you leave to correct your elders?" said Ned.
"Nobody: I just took it," said unabashed Lily; and then, turning to herfather, she exclaimed, "Papa, I b'lieve the girls in our school arepretty heathen, and don't know enough about the comman'ments. So I toldthem we'd have a swearing class, and I'd ask you to teach it, 'causeI s'pose you know a good deal about swearing; and this will be a goodchance when they come to-morrow."
This speech turned the vexation of Ella and Ned into amusement, andthey laughed with the others.
"I don't think your playmates will thank you for asking them here totake tea and then bringing them up for a lecture from me, my pet," saidMr. Ward.
"Yes: they will, papa. They want to know about it, and I think we'dbetter make a swearing party of this. I b'lieve it would do those biggirls good too. They swear, oh, dreadfully! and they don't seem tothink they do, least Cora don't. Mamma, let's make a rule we won't haveany swearing in this house: won't you?"
"Certainly," said mamma, smiling; "and I think we must find out what_swearing_ is, and be careful not to break the rule."
"If one is going to call 'goodness' and 'mercy,' and such things,swearing, one might as well give up talking altogether," said Ella.
"Perhaps not exactly swearing," said her father; "but the use of themis a bad habit, and one that I have noticed is quite too frequent amongall the young people of this place. It is growing stronger too, as allsuch habits do, and going from bad to worse. But I must go out now, andhave not time to talk to you about it. If Lily can persuade her littlefriends to take the 'swearing class,' as part of their afternoon'sentertainment to-morrow, well and good; if not, we will have a littleprivate talk among ourselves some other time."
Ella was not at all pleased by Lily's proposal; and hoping that itwould pass from the child's mind before the afternoon, she was carefulnot to make her remember it by the use of any such words as had calledforth Lily's reproof.
This had very nearly proved successful; and in the excitement ofarranging her baby-house, setting out the new tea-set mamma had broughther, and dressing the doll which had been papa's present, Lily hadalmost forgotten her plan for mingling wholesome instruction with theamusement provided for her young friends.
There were Lola and Violet Swan, Daisy Forster, Rosie Pierson, MinnieGrey, and Bessie Norton; and they were all having a real good timesitting around a small table and playing tea out of the new china set,when Minnie said,--
"I have a secret to tell all of you, if you'll promise never to tell."
"I won't," said Violet.
"On your sacred word and honor?" said Minnie.
"On my sacred word and honor," repeated Violet.
"And you, Rosie?" asked Minnie.
"On my word and honor," said Rosie.
"Sacred?" said Minnie.
"Sacred. Sacred word and honor," was Rosie's answer.
Lily repeated the words as desired, and next came Daisy's turn.
"I won't tell," she said, when Minnie looked at her.
"On your sacred word and honor?" asked Minnie.
"I promise I won't tell, Minnie."
"But you must say on your word and honor."
"I can't," said Daisy.
"Then I shan't tell you; and you're real mean, Daisy Forster," saidMinnie. "Why won't you say so?"
"I don't see why I need, and I don't know if it is quite right,"answered Daisy, coloring.
"Oh, Daisy Forster, what a girl you are!" said Rosie.
"Well," said Lily, "there's nothing left, 'cept these two caramels.Daisy, you eat up this; and, Bessie, you eat up the other. Nowthe tea-party is all done, and we'll go and ask papa about thatcomman'ment. He's been playing croquet with the big girls, but theyseem to be resting now."
Lily was right. Mr. Ward had been persuaded to make the eighth in agame of croquet, for he was a great favorite with all the young peoplein Glenwood, and his presence never put any check upon their games orpleasure parties.
But the afternoon proved rather warm for exercise, even the gentle oneof bewitching croquet; and, after a long game was finished, the wholeparty were ready to agree to Ella's proposal that they should take arest, and send to the house for some cooling drink.
So Mr. Ward was at liberty to attend to Lily, when she came rushing upto him, followed, rather more slowly, by the rest of the children.
"Papa," she said, throwing herself across his knee, as he sat uponthe green mound which was raised about the foot of one of the fineelm-trees which shaded the croquet-ground, "papa, Daisy says weoughtn't to say upon our words and honors! Oughtn't we? And will youteach us about taking God's name in vain now? It's the _singalest_circumstance, but I went and forgot all about the swearing class, tillDaisy said that."
"A very singular circumstance, certainly;" said Mr. Ward, lifting Lilyto a seat upon his knee, and smiling, while the other girls laughed ather speech. "I am quite willing to have a little talk with you all onthis subject; but tell me first what you want to know."
"Daisy is so awfully particular, Mr. Ward," said Minnie, in anaggrieved tone. "She won't let us say any thing; at least, she saysevery thing is 'wrong.'"
"Every thing?" said Mr. Ward: "that is bad. Does Daisy want you all tokeep silence? That _must_ spoil your play."
"Oh, no!" said Minnie, "not that; but she says such lots of things arewrong to say. Why, sir, she won't say 'upon her word and honor,' 'causeshe don't think it is right."
"Why do you want her to say it?" asked Mr. Ward.
"I was just going to tell them all a great secret, and I wanted her topromise, on her sacred word and honor, she would never tell; and shewouldn't do it."
"So Daisy is apt to break her promises, is she?" said the gentleman,with a smile at Daisy, which told very plainly that he was only joking.
"Oh, no, sir!" said Minnie. "Indeed she is not. Daisy always tells thetruth, and never does what she says she won't; at least, we never knewher to do it: did we, girls?"
A chorus of young voices was raised in Daisy's favor.
"And yet you cannot trust her unless she swears to what she promises,"said Mr. Ward.
"Swears, sir!" said Minnie. "I'm sure I don't want her to swear! 'Wordand honor' are not bad words, are they?"
"Not in themselves, certainly;" answered Mr. Ward. "Many a thing whichis good in itself when properly used, becomes bad an
d hurtful if put toa wrong purpose. Now to swear is to say, by some word or person whichyou consider holy and sacred, that you will or will not do, that youhave or have not done, a certain thing. Suppose some man were accusedof a crime, and that the judge were about to try him, and punish him ifhe were guilty, and it was thought that I knew whether or no the manhad done that of which he was accused. So I am called to the court,and there made to promise that I will tell the truth, and nothing butthe truth; and to make sure of this I am made to lay my hand on theBible,--God's holy word,--and call upon Him, to hear me tell what Iknow. And this is considered a very solemn thing, even by many whohave little care or respect for God in other ways; and it is calledswearing, or taking the oath."
"They ought to be 'shamed of theirselves," said Lily, indignantly;"they ought to know you would never tell a story, papa. And to go andmake you swear too! I wouldn't do it if I was you; but I'd tell 'em thethird comman'ment, and run away fast from them."
"But if this is done in the fear of God, and as a sort of prayer thatHe will hear and help us to tell that which is true, it is not takingHis name in vain, Lily," said Mr. Ward; "and to do it falsely isconsidered even by men to be a great crime. This is called perjury;and if any one is found guilty of it, he is severely punished by thelaw. Now it may be wise, and even necessary, for a man to take anoath at such a time as this, when the very life of another may dependon whether he tells the truth or no; but it can hardly be necessaryfor one little girl at play with another to make her promise sure byswearing to it. For to say 'by your sacred word and honor' is neithermore nor less than a sort of swearing or taking an oath that what yousay is true."
"Then we'll make a rule not to say it any more," said Lily. "Wedidn't know it was naughty before, papa. But please tell us now aboutother words. Daisy says we mustn't say 'mercy,' and 'gracious,' and'heavens,' and maybe we mustn't; but why is that swearing? Swearing istaking God's name in vain, and how do such words take His name in vainif we don't speak it? And she thinks playing with the Bible, or sayingits words when we are playing or just talking common talk, is takingGod's name in vain, too. Is it?"
"I will tell you," said Mr. Ward. "Suppose, Lily, that some great kingor queen, or the president of our own country, were to come here; wouldyou not wish to be particularly polite and respectful to them, both inyour manner and way of speaking?"
"Um-m-m, I don't know," answered Lily, doubtfully; "not partic'lar. Iguess I'd just as lieve be saucy to them as to any one else."
Mr. Ward saw this would not do, at least, not for Lily: he must gohigher than earthly rulers.
"Suppose, then," he said, "that Jesus should come down here among us,so that we could see Him with our eyes, walking and talking with us,what would you all do?"
"I'd fall down and worship Him," said Minnie.
"I'd listen to every word He said, and never speak one myself for fearI should miss one," said Daisy; "and then I'd remember them all thedays of my life."
"Dear child!" said Mr. Ward, laying his hand fondly on hers: "I believeyou do treasure your Lord's words and try to live according to them."
"I'd ask Him to put His hand on my head and bless me just as He didthose other little children when He was on earth before," said Lola,softly.
"So would I. And I'd be glad there were no disciples to forbid us tocome to Him," said Lily. "I s'pose they thought Jesus wouldn't careabout children; but He did, didn't He? And you wouldn't think so, papa,would you?" and the little child laid her hand lovingly against herfather's cheek. "I'd keep very close to Him all the time He was here,and take fast hold of His hand, only I wouldn't be troublesome, butjust keep as still as a mouse; and I'd give Him every thing of minethat He wanted."
"So you would all show your love and reverence for Him by every meansin your power," said Mr. Ward, "trying not to grieve or offend Himby treating His name or His presence with the least carelessness ordisrespect, but letting Him see that you honored the one and wereblessed by the other: is it not so?"
"Yes, sir," came from the older as well as the younger children.
"And if, after He had gone away, He should send you each a letter,telling you what He wanted you to do, how you were to love and serveHim, and in which you would find all the advice, help, and comfort youmight need at any time,--how would you treat that letter?"
"I'd keep it all my life, and take such good care of it," said Rosie.
"I'd read it, and read it, and read it; and kiss it, and kiss it, andkiss it," said Lily, "and then I'd put it in my bosom, and keep it, oh!so carefully."
"And so would I, and I, and I," said the rest, satisfied to have Lilyfor spokeswoman.
"And if you saw any one misusing that letter, how would you feel?"asked Mr. Ward.
"I'd be very provoked with them," answered Lily, "and I think Iwouldn't love them any more, 'cept it was you, papa, or mamma, or Elly,or any one of my own that I _have_ to love; and then I'd cry, and askyou not to serve my Jesus' letter so."
"You mean the Bible is Jesus' letter to us: don't you, sir?" askedDaisy.
"Yes; and, dear children, our Lord's presence is here among us as muchas if He were in man's form which He once wore on earth. His ear is asquick to hear our words of love and praise, or those of carelessnessand disrespect, as it was then; His eye as ready to see the use we makeof the precious Word He has given us. But we forget this when we useHis book more carelessly than we would any gift from an earthly friend,or when we take His name lightly or without thought upon our lips. Todo this is to take it in vain, and it displeases Him."
"But, Mr. Ward," said Minnie, "it is not cursing and swearing to say'mercy,' and 'gracious,' and 'good Lord,' and such things, is it?"
"Not cursing, certainly: that is to use God's name profanely, or tocall on Him to destroy us or other people; and this is a most terriblesin. But, Minnie, the use of such words in play or thoughtlessness is abad habit, and leads to worse. Suppose a man breaks open a bank here,and takes all the money from it: that is stealing, is it not?"
"Why, yes, sir," answered Minnie.
"And suppose you take a sugar-plum belonging to your sister: it is avery small thing compared to the money taken from the bank, but is itnot stealing, all the same?"
"Yes, sir; and if I was to be so bad as to take Julia's sugar-plums,I'm afraid I'd maybe steal something worse some time."
"Just so," said the gentleman; "and now you see why it is not wise orright to make use of such expressions. It is, as Lily says, a kind oflittle swearing, and may lead to worse. Besides, it is very useless.You can surely believe one another,--unless, indeed, it is some falseand deceitful child,--without saying 'upon your sacred word and honor,''as sure as you live,' 'Heaven knows,' and so forth. And there is solittle temptation to fall into this sin that it seems strange it shouldbe so common. There is nothing to be gained by it, even of this world'sgood,--no pleasure, no profit. It is only an idle, useless habit,most displeasing and vexing to the holy ear of Him whose commandmentwe break without thought or care. Goodness and mercy and graciousnessbelong to the Almighty; and so, too, we must take heed that we do notspeak of what belongs to Him in an irreverent, careless way. And now Ithink we have had enough talk on this subject for this afternoon. Youdid not ask your friends here that I might lecture them."
"Oh, yes! I did, papa," said Lily; "for we all deserved it very much,'specially the big girls. But, papa, do you believe the Lord troublesHimself to know where the girls put an old, worn-out cushion, and suchthings; and if He does, ought we to say He does?"
"God knows every thing, Lily; even the smallest trifle is seen by Him;but it is very wrong to say, in a heedless way, 'the Lord knows,' forI suppose that is what you mean. And this very thought, that His eyeand His ear are always with us, noticing every word and look, knowingthe very feelings of our hearts, should make us all the more carefulhow we use His holy name. I am glad this question has come up amongyou; for heedlessness in using God's name, and other sacred words, inquoting Scripture,--talking Bible, my Lily calls it,--and
other suchhabits, were becoming too common, I fear, among all the young peoplein Glenwood; and we older ones too, I believe, fall too often into thecustom. We have, too many of us, constant need of the prayer, 'Set awatch, O Lord, upon my mouth; keep the door of my lips.'"
"It is Daisy's doing, sir, that we have come to think of this," saidhonest Cora. "I, for one, have been very thoughtless about offendingGod in this way, and have set a bad example to the rest. I believe thelittle ones have caught it from us larger girls, and we have to thankDaisy that she has taught us a better lesson."
DAISY'S NAME.