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Article ON THE VICE OF SWEARING. ← Page 2 of 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Vice Of Swearing.
wicked , merely for the sake of wickedness , without either pleasure or profit . Barrenness of invention is , I believe , the ' principal motive to swearing ; men are frequently at a loss for something to say in company ; a sudden thought arises ; that it may be of use to them as long as possible ,- they eke it out with oaths and blasphemies , never giving themselves time to reflect whether it is a vice or not ; they
find that fools pay a more particular regard to their conversation , and as none are so stupid but they know how to flatter , the brightness of their intellects is too often complimented , and the ) . continue to practice that which they think gains them universal attention and admiration , and by that means become incorri g ible . Bad company will oftenby the force of examplecause a man to swear ; if he has sense
, , , reflection instantly seizes him , and he corrects himself in time ; but if otherwise , ten to one but he approves of it , aud consequently practises it . Drunkenness , also , which is the source of almost every vice , is often the cause of this in question ; let a man ' s parts be ever so blight , if he suffers liquor to take possession of the seat of his understandingreason no longer presides ; his passionswhich
before-, , lay dormant , rise up with redoubled vigour , and hurry him ' away impetuously into the abyss of vice , and swearing in that case is generall y the forerunner of all the rest , being , as it were , a signal to let us know that we are no longer our own masters . Happy is the man that will take the hint , and resign himself into the arms of health-restoring
-sleep . I have often known young men , upon their first introduction into life , through a false modesty , give into all the vices of their companions ; they could not stand the ridicule of the thorough-paced debauchees ; to be any ways particular was to them impossible ; they . had not as yet enough considered the beauty of virtue , that se ; fconsciousness of having done well , which enables us to despise the vices and follies of the giddy multitudeinstead of imitating them .
, Man ]? a man has been lost for want of that virtuous confidence . As for the last set of swearers , I mean those who practice it merely because it is a sin , there is no way of reclaiming them ; they seem to be the devil ' s agents on earth , prowling about , and ' seeking whom they may devour . There is one more motive to it , which 1 am sorry to have room to mention , which is , the desire young men of spirit have to
be in the fashion . It has been of late too much the custom for men of quality and fashion to swear by way of giving a grace to their conversation ; others have heedlessly followed their pernicious example , which has been no small reason of its spreading so much . Would the fair sex but for once undcitake to be the reformers as well as the polishers of mankind , and never give encouragement to any manlet
, him be otherwise ever so well qualified , wdio should demean himself so much as to swear ; would but our men of quality look upon it as much an affront for a person to swear in their company as to givS them the lie , then would the vice be extirpated ; theie needs no other means to induce men to-be virtuous , than to make virtue thefashion ,.
Tho' vice may short-iiv'd pleasure give to sense , 'Tis virtue only car . true jo--i dispense , J . s
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Vice Of Swearing.
wicked , merely for the sake of wickedness , without either pleasure or profit . Barrenness of invention is , I believe , the ' principal motive to swearing ; men are frequently at a loss for something to say in company ; a sudden thought arises ; that it may be of use to them as long as possible ,- they eke it out with oaths and blasphemies , never giving themselves time to reflect whether it is a vice or not ; they
find that fools pay a more particular regard to their conversation , and as none are so stupid but they know how to flatter , the brightness of their intellects is too often complimented , and the ) . continue to practice that which they think gains them universal attention and admiration , and by that means become incorri g ible . Bad company will oftenby the force of examplecause a man to swear ; if he has sense
, , , reflection instantly seizes him , and he corrects himself in time ; but if otherwise , ten to one but he approves of it , aud consequently practises it . Drunkenness , also , which is the source of almost every vice , is often the cause of this in question ; let a man ' s parts be ever so blight , if he suffers liquor to take possession of the seat of his understandingreason no longer presides ; his passionswhich
before-, , lay dormant , rise up with redoubled vigour , and hurry him ' away impetuously into the abyss of vice , and swearing in that case is generall y the forerunner of all the rest , being , as it were , a signal to let us know that we are no longer our own masters . Happy is the man that will take the hint , and resign himself into the arms of health-restoring
-sleep . I have often known young men , upon their first introduction into life , through a false modesty , give into all the vices of their companions ; they could not stand the ridicule of the thorough-paced debauchees ; to be any ways particular was to them impossible ; they . had not as yet enough considered the beauty of virtue , that se ; fconsciousness of having done well , which enables us to despise the vices and follies of the giddy multitudeinstead of imitating them .
, Man ]? a man has been lost for want of that virtuous confidence . As for the last set of swearers , I mean those who practice it merely because it is a sin , there is no way of reclaiming them ; they seem to be the devil ' s agents on earth , prowling about , and ' seeking whom they may devour . There is one more motive to it , which 1 am sorry to have room to mention , which is , the desire young men of spirit have to
be in the fashion . It has been of late too much the custom for men of quality and fashion to swear by way of giving a grace to their conversation ; others have heedlessly followed their pernicious example , which has been no small reason of its spreading so much . Would the fair sex but for once undcitake to be the reformers as well as the polishers of mankind , and never give encouragement to any manlet
, him be otherwise ever so well qualified , wdio should demean himself so much as to swear ; would but our men of quality look upon it as much an affront for a person to swear in their company as to givS them the lie , then would the vice be extirpated ; theie needs no other means to induce men to-be virtuous , than to make virtue thefashion ,.
Tho' vice may short-iiv'd pleasure give to sense , 'Tis virtue only car . true jo--i dispense , J . s