" Swammie means Lord. As
idolatry is the root of all sin, these children, as you may suppose, in
early life become very wicked. They disobey their parents, speak bad
words, call ill names, swear, steal, and tell lies. They also throw
themselves on the ground in anger, and in their rage they tear their
hair, or throw dirt over their heads, and do many other wicked things.
Let me give you an instance, to show you how they will speak bad words.
A few months ago, a little girl about twelve years of age was brought to
me, with two tumors in her back. To cut them out, I had to make an
incision about eight inches in length; and as one of these tumors had
extended under the shoulder-blade she suffered much before the operation
was finished. While I was operating she cried out, "I will pull out my
eyes." "I will pull out my tongue." "Kurn kertta tayvun." The
translation of this is, "The blind-eyed god." By this expression, she
meant to say, "What kind of a god are you, not to look upon me, and help
me in my distress?" If this little girl had had a Christian father to
teach her to love the Saviour, she would not have used such bad
language. But this father was even more wicked than his daughter,
inasmuch as those who grow old in sin, are worse than those who have not
sinned so long.
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