Swear

“ A footman can swear, but he cannot swear like a lord. He can swear as often; but can he swear with equal delicacy, propriety, and judgment? No, certainly, unless he be a lad of superiour parts, of good memory, a diligent observer, one who has a skilful ear, some knowledge in musick, and an exact taste; which hardly fall to the share of one in a thousand among that fraternity, in as high favour as they now stand with their ladies. ”

“ It is religion that doth make vows kept,
But thou hast sworn against religion
By what thou swear’st against the thing thou swear’st,
And mak’st an oath the surety for thy truth
Against an oath. The truth thou art unsure
To swear, swears only not to be forsworn,
Else what a mockery should it be to swear? ”

“ I swear—and be sure my oath is sincere, for let me become blind if I swear falsely!—I swear by the consecrated animals which are sacrificed with the knife, that love has broken my heart, and I can no longer endure my life. ”

“ Coming down the companionway to it, it seemed that the few who were there were rather dropping an ordinary word into strings of swear-words, than dropping a swear-word into their speech. Men lay here and there, men sat here and there on bunks. ”

“ So far as we have mastered the system of Dan Michael we are driven to the conclusion that the practice of swearing, as understood in the Cloister of Saint Austin, was, save for the outward distinction of dress, much the same as prevails in the later world. “For there are some,” says he of the cloister, “so evil taught that they are able to say nothing without swearing. Some swear as if smitten with sudden pain. Others swear by the sun, the moon, by the head, or by their father’s soul.” ”

“ For all must swear—all and in every place,
College and wharf, council and justice-court;
All, all must swear, the briber and the bribed,
Merchant and lawyer, senator and priest,
The rich, the poor, the old man and the young ”

“ As regards not swearing, in which also you say that Christ completed the law given to these righteous men of antiquity, I cannot be certain that they did not swear, for we find that Paul the apostle swore. With you, swearing is still a common practice, for you swear by the light, which you love as flies do; for the light of the mind which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, as distinct from mere natural light, you know nothing of. ”

“ For who will force another to swear, of whom he is certainly persuaded that he abhors to lie in his words? And again, as Chrysostom and others say, For what end wilt thou force him to swear, whom thou believest not that he will speak the truth? ”

“ Your swearing is not solum vinculum, but novum vinculum, is not the only, but only a new and another bond to tie you to the obedience of the things you swear unto; which are so excellent and so glorious, that if God gave those that take it a heart to keep it, it will make these three kingdoms the glory of the world. ”

“ Some boys seem to think that it is manly to swear. Passing along the street, one is shocked to hear oaths from well-dressed, intelligent boys, who evidently belong to cultivated Christian families. I am going to tell the boys a true story about swearing, which I trust will influence them to break themselves of this ungentlemanly and wicked habit.
"When I was a young lad," said a gentleman, "I learned to swear. I had a good Christian mother, and she had taught me what a heinous sin it is to use the name of God in vain. ”

“ It was taking the name of swearing itself in vain. It substituted for any closer argument the incisive logic of ridicule.
It occurs to us to notice that Shakespeare, who was certainly alive to the hidden springs of swearing, has conceived the notion of winging much the same folly with a precisely similar shaft. It had been the fashion among the gay Ephesians of Eastcheap, during Elizabeth’s reign, to swear by their honour. “Where learnt you that oath, fool?” ”

“ I shall put you in Mind, by and by, how expresly our Saviour forbids Christians to swear by the Creatures, because of the Relation they bear to their Creator, and because as they are the Creatures of God, to swear by them is in Effect to swear by God; and then it must be a Sin of a much higher Nature, for Men in their common Conversation to swear directly by God himself.
The Name of God is pronounced in Scripture, to be holy, and glorious, and reverend; and it is one Part of the Prayer, which our Saviour taught us, that God’s Name may be hallowed ”

“ Where mark the emphasis in the first words, 'Above all things, swear not;' and the greatest danger of it is in the last words, 'lest ye fall into condemnation;' for woe and sorrow will be in the end.
If the matter be light and vain, we must not swear at all; if mighty, then we may lawfully swear, as before a magistrate, being called to it, when we must only use the glorious name of our God in a holy and religious manner, as you may see in Deut. ”

“ It continued to swear with that breadth and variety that distinguishes the swearing of a cultivated man. ”

“ But I say, swear not at all, not by heaven--His throne, nor by the earth--His footstool. Do not swear by your head, for you yourself cannot control what must be. Let your communication be as simple as the words 'Yes' and 'No,' for too many words often result in evil. ”

“ This practice of the Essens, in refusing to swear, and esteeming swearing in ordinary occasions worse than perjury, is delivered here in general words, as are the parallel injunctions of our Savior, Matthew 6:34 ”

“ Swearing is either just and lawful, or sinful and abusive. To a just and lawful oath it is necessary, 1. That it be God alone ultimately that we swear by; because no witness and avenging judge above human courts can be appealed to but God: and therefore to swear by any creature properly and in the sense that God is sworn by, is to idolize it, and to ascribe to it the properties of God. ”

“ The general run of our people do not swear much; and those that do commonly limit themselves to the name of the devil either straight out or in some of its various disguised forms, or to some harmless imitation of a curse. You do indeed come across persons who go higher, but they are rare. Yet while keeping themselves generally within safe bounds, it must be confessed that many of the people have a sort of sneaking admiration—lurking secretly and seldom expressed in words—for a good well-balanced curse, so long as it does not shock by its profanity. ”

“ The Bible says, "swear not at all," and I s'pose you know the Commandments about swearin'?'
"The old lady sort of brightened up—the preacher was her `duck of a man'; the old fellow with the `nose' and cane let off a few `umph, ah! umphs.' But 'Indiany' kept shady; he appeared to be cowed down.
"'I know,' says the preacher, 'that a great many people swear without thinkin', and some people don't believe the Bible.'
"And then he went on to preach a regular sermon agin swearing, and to quote Scripture like he had the whole Bible by heart. ”

“ To curse is so, because whoso curseth another, knows that at the same time he would not be so served himself. 2. To swear also is a sin against he same law; for nature will tell me that I should not lie, and therefore much less swear to confirm it. Yea, the heathens have looked upon swearing to be a solemn ordinance of God, and therefore not to be lightly or vainly used by men, though to confirm a matter of truth (Gen 31:43-55) . ”

“ Thy customary swearing is an uncharitable accusation of the hearers, as if they were so incredulous, that they would not believe a man without an oath, and so profane, that they delight in the profanation of the name of God ”

“ While by no means to be accounted friendly towards the vile excrescences of swearing, the ordinary man of the world is not to be repelled by every street oath, or put to lasting confusion by every passing word of unseemliness. To put it upon no higher ground than that of mere custom, it were too arrogant to assume abhorrence of a practice that is as trite and customary as the incidents of one’s daily rounds. ”

“ For though men have sometimes used to swear by their Kings, for feare, or flattery; yet they would have it thereby understood, they attributed to them Divine honour. And that Swearing unnecessarily by God, is but prophaning of his name: and Swearing by other things, as men do in common discourse, is not Swearing, but an impious Custome, gotten by too much vehemence of talking. ”

“ Thou shouldest fear a man when he sweareth, lest he do somewhat on account of his oath against his will: how much more shouldest thou fear God, when He sweareth, seeing He can swear nought rashly? He chose the act of swearing for a confirmation. ”

“ Art thou not yet in Hell? Wonder, O heavens and be astonished, O earth, at the goodness and long-suffering of that God whose great name swearing persons so often and so awfully profane! Swearer, be thankful, oh! be exceedingly thankful, that God has not answered thy prayer! thy tremendous prayer; that his mercy and patience have withholden the request of thy polluted lips! Never let him hear another oath from thy unhallowed tongue, lest it should be thy last expression upon earth, and thy swearing prayer should be answered in Hell. ”

“ And here we hardly need point out the distinction between swearing when at its earnest, and swearing when at its play. In numberless courts and alleys, in the sinks and hiding-places of a great city, we may be sure there are innumerable spots where oaths and imprecations never for [Pg 151] a moment are laid aside. They are as punctual and as regular as the ticking of a clock. No word is uttered that has not its accompaniment of an oath; no bread broken that is not devoured with cursing. For why? Human nature is at all times bent upon possessing, and upon increasing what it has acquired. ”

“ HIS OATH EXPLAINED.
What! a Swearer pray! Yes, Swearer, whether thou thinkest so or not, each of thine oaths is a prayer,—an appeal to the Holy and Almighty God, whose name thou darest so impiously to take into thy lips.
And what is it, thinkest thou, Swearer, that thou dost call for, when the awful imprecations, Damn, and Damnation, roll so frequently from thy profane tongue? Tremble, Swearer, while I tell thee! Thy prayer containeth two parts: Thou prayest first, that thou mayest be deprived of eternal happiness! Secondly, that thou mayest be plunged into eternal misery! ”

“ but if you swear by that that is not, you are not forsworn: no more was this knight, swearing by his honour, for he never had any; or if he had, he had sworn it away before ever he saw those pancackes or that mustard. ”

“ What can we then think of those who make use of so tremendous a name in the ordinary expressions of their anger, mirth, and most impertinent passions? of those who admit it into the most familiar questions, and assertions, ludicrous phrases, and works of humour? not to mention those who violate it by solemn perjuries! It would be an affront to reason to endeavour to set forth the horror and profaneness of such a practice." [627]
If a Frenchman was forbidden to swear, he would probably laugh at the first word of the admonition ”

“ This work, which appeared in 1613, is much concerned at the abusive element that had at that time entered into English conversation. No longer, says Sir John, do [Pg 56] men swear devoutly by the cross and mass, or by such innocent oaths as the pyx or the mousefoot. Now they invite damnation as their pledge of sincerity. “Goddamn-me,” he repines, had then become the customary oath. This appears to us to be the first intimation of the fact that we find in English literature. ”

“ The swearing must be conceived in that fashion which he uses who takes it. 21. Whence it follows that an oath must be conceived in that form, which he useth who takes it; for in vain is any man brought to swear by a God whom he believes not, and therefore neither fears him. ”

“ Therefore God swears not according to the manner of men, neither can we be induced from thence to swear. But let us so do and say, and show ourselves such by speaking and acting, that we need not an oath with those who hear us ”

“ To curse effectively one must invoke a reality or, at the least, a possibility. Any swearing that fails to wound the susceptibility of the person sworn at or of the witness [13] to the oath, is mere play. Few people enjoy being sworn at, but there are no forms of humour more boring than guaranteed non-alcoholic substitutes for the true wine of swearing. ”

“ Swearing, without the greatest necessity which obliges one to do so, is very wrong for every man and woman, and takes away good opinion, but, above all, in men of position, in whom it is very indecent and goes against their credit, dignity, and authority, so I charge you to be very careful about swearing, and never to swear by God or other rare oaths, which neither are nor should be used by people of your rank. ”

“ One day, when a very good friend was visiting me, I thought I would begin on my course of depravity. The first lesson would be in swearing. When an opportunity presented itself, I uttered a word that I thought was strong enough for an amateur to begin on. It stuck in my throat and nearly choked me. My friend laughed and looked both amused and ashamed. Reader, if you have lived to maturity and never indulged in profanity, you can’t imagine how awkward it will be for you to turn out your first piece of swearing. You can’t do it justice. ”

“ AS we confess that vain and rash Swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ, and James His Apostle, so we judge, that Christian Religion doth not prohibit, but that a man may swear when the Magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the Prophet’s teaching in justice, judgment, and truth. ”