Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1892-03-26
HISTORIC PROFANITY.
THE OLD 'UNS WE'RE PAST MAS
TIERS OF THE ART.

Men of Note Whose Custom II Was to
Use Emphatic LnngunSe-An of Eng
lands Ruler but Queen Victoria Used
Profane "Fig"res OF Impresslon.''
1t is astonishing how often the so
called accomplishment of "ingenious and
graceful profanity" interests and is
valued even by gentlemen of culture
IN boon companion and by sovereigns
themselves. Delhi Abdalla. Captain
Pasha, and afterward grand vizier of the
late intelligent and strong minded Sultan
Mahmoud III, was rough, common
boatman on the Bosphorus when he
strangely attracted the notice of that
Sultan. while rowing in his barge. by
the unusual and vulgar oaths which he
swore and his peculiar manner Of shout
ing them ont. For this reason solely,
at the time although so illiterate that he
could not write his own namcl he was
placed at the head of the Ottoman navy.
and afterward, as l have said. raised
high in the favor of the Sublime Porte,
who, as a devout Mohammetlan, was
himself prohibited by the Koran from
swearing at all. Some one may say, il
such are the benefits OF blasphemv, it
might be worth while to cultivate the
habit of "exclaiming profaney," as
gentle Charles Lamb expresses it.
Many of the old English kings and all
of the queens except Victoria who al
though her language is. when not angry.
decorous, still practices some of ti.
shortcomings of the unsavory "FDur
Georges') had their peculiar profanr
Figures of impression, as Addison calls
them, by which they were known. as :,
knight by his device. A catalogue or
roster of old royal and distinguished
swearers, from the sublime biasphenry of
the Conquerer to the oath reverenlial ul
sentimental" (see Leigh Hunt of George
~, would contain some historically tam
Gus names Right Hon. George Canning.
in his young days. talked of writing :,
book on this subject, aud it would have
been received with pleasure by readers
in search for the "curiosities of ltera-
ture, if he had found time to carry ous
his early intentions even in cursory
manner.
The Conqueror, who. as Hume SAYS.
was great even in his blasphcmies. ."
swore commonly by "the spendor OF
God, and on great state occasions by
the resurrection and the throne of tho
Almighty" Rufus the Red (Wiliam
lD. contented himself with swearing bv
"the foot of st. Luke" and the first
Richard, taking counsel from his indom-
liable will, always swore by his great
prototype III that particular, "the Apos-
tie Paul Lord Clarendon says: "Queen
Mary often interarded her conversation
with strange oaths," and Dr. Lingard
reluctantly admits that "she frequently
used very profane expressions" The
Queen Of the Lion Port" Gt is singular.
by the bye, that Faith Ali, Shah of Per-
sia. first applied this royal name to Queen
Elizabeth, in an interview with Sir Hart
ford jones' was in the habit of invoking
profanely the different persons of the
Holy Trinity. Cherbury being presented
to her, says that whenever she spoke
she would swear by her usual oaths"
Dickens adds that, although well edu-
Gated, she was coarse talker and hard
swearer," which Macaulay asserts to bs
true.
The ridiculous profanity of King James
[ minced the vulgar practice down into
what DIsraeli calls Harmless exple-
tives.' of which numerous examples
may be found in rare Ben Jonson,"
Marlowe, and other contemporary writ
ers. An analysis of the transformations
of the supreme name from tho "uds" of
James to the "egad" of Dryden would
be at least amusing. Jonson makes it
cause for praise in his "Fastidious" that
"he swears tersely and with great vari-
ETY." Scarcely an anecdote Of Lord High
Chancellor Thurlow has come down to
us that has not strange oath in it. and
/ suppose he resorted to them on the
principle of Fuseli (himself no new crafts.
man in the art), who advised his wife.
when she was vexed, ITO try swearing,
because she had no idea what relief it
then was" In the Yakkum Nattan-
nawa, a Cingalese Internal hymn, the
devil Oddly is described as dwelling in
desoIate temples and solitary houses and
constantly swearing terrible oaths."
could cite many other instances in
the olden times showing the universally
Of this contemplate practice, but cou-
clude at present by saying it is gratifying
to know that the number who indulge
"in swearing like the army in Flanders"
has within the last half of the 18th cen
tury become "small by degrees and beau
tifully less, and that it is now every
where among gentlemen and ladies re-
garded as a practice much more hon-
ored in the breach than the observance"
for which reformation let US all be thank
ful.-1ndianapolis News.