=Use of profanity.=--It is perfectly natural for a boy to long to be a man. So, it was not long before that boy again wanted to be a man. This time, a boy, some three years older than he, was visiting his home. His friend was some three inches taller, twenty pounds heavier and a few grades higher in school than he. As these boys rambled over the fields, climbed trees, and played together, my little friend had to listen to a constant stream of oaths, pouring from the lips of his visitor. He had been taught that swearing was a very great sin. Had he heard a little dirty street waif, or an old bloated, swaggering drunkard swearing, it would have been disgusting. But this time, swearing did not sound so badly. His friend wore fine clothes, his family had wealth and culture and this seemed to change the nature of swearing in this case. Before that day was over our little friend had decided that the only difference between him and his friend was, that his visitor could swear and he could not. He felt, that, if he could only swear, instantly he would grow six inches taller, twenty pounds heavier and a great deal smarter. He finally decided to try it. While they were walking by the back porch, he made the effort of his life and out came a big ugly oath. His heart hurt him. His conscience condemned him. He was sure that God heard him. He had dishonored his father and mother. He had insulted God. He wondered if his mother was not near. Glancing quickly over his shoulder, he saw his mother on the porch, and the expression on her face showed that she was much grieved. When the visitor had returned home and our little friend had danced at the end of a peach tree switch for some moments, he decided that swearing would not make a man. This was his first, last and only oath. He has never ceased to thank and love his mother for her faithful training. Almost all men and boys who swear started where he did. They thought swearing would make them taller, heavier, wealthier, and smarter. This sin has never helped a boy to become a man. If a boy can swear and be manly, his mother and sister can swear and be perfectly ladylike. No man or boy can give a good reason why he swears. Intelligent people are supposed to understand and mean what they talk about. Idiots do not. Not one man or boy in a hundred, who swears, understands and means what he says. The words that he uses make him call upon God to send something or someone to hell. He does not understand or mean this. Idiots would be excusable for swearing; sensible men and boys are not. The kind of clothing a boy wears, the house he lives in, and the carriage he rides in, do not make his swearing manly.