The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-29
THE ART OF PROFANITY.
In England 1t Is Dying Out, but in
India II Thrives Tropically.
From the Chicago Times.

From the chicago Times.
Prof Gargoyle, you must understand,
travelled to and fro in the earth, culling
these flowers of speech-a kind of record
ing angel, but without any sentimental
tears. His collection, however, only APP
proaches completeness in the western de-
partments of European language Going
eastward he found such an appalling and
tropical luXuriance of these ornaments
as 10 despair at last altogether of even a
representative selection says an English
writer
They do not curse" he says, lat door
handles and shirt studs and such other
trifes as will call down the meager dis
charge of an occidental, but when they
do begin! hired a promising looking
man at Calcutta and after month or so
refused to pay his wages. he was unable
to get at me with the big knife he car
ried because the door was locked, so he
sat on his hams outside under the veranda
from 6:l5 in the morning until nearly 10,
cursing-cursing in one steady, unbro-
ken fow-an astonishing spate of BIAS
phemy.
First he cursed my family, from me
along the female line back to Eve, and
then, having toyed with me personally
for little while, he started off along the
line of my possible posterity to my re-
hottest great-grandchildren. Then he
cursed me by this and that My hand
ached taking it down, he was so very
rich. 1t was a perfect anthology of Ben
gall blasphemy-vivid, scorching and
variegated. Not two alike. And then
he turned about and dealt with diff
ferent parts of me. l was really very
fortunate in him. Yet itIwas depressing
to think that all this was from one man,
and there are 600, 900, 600 people in Asia.
Your common Englishman now
| scarcely curses at all. A more colorless
| and conventional affair than what in Eng
land is called swearing one can scarcely
imagine. 1t is Just common talk, with
some half dozen orthodox bad words
dropped in here and there in the most
foolish and illogical manner Fancy hav-
ing orthodox words! remember one day
getting into a third-class smoking car
riage on the Metropolitan railway about l
o'clock and finding il full of rough work
| ingmen. Everything they said was sea-
soned with one incredibly stupid ad iective,
and no doubt they thought they were
very desperate characters. At last
asked them not to say the word again
| One forthwith asked me what the -
| q really cannot quote these puerilities)
| what the idiotic cliche that mattered to-
me- So looked at him quietly over my
| glasses, and began. II was revelation
! to those poor fellows. They sat open
mouthed, gasping. Then those that we're
nearest me began to edge away, and at
| the very next station they all bundled
! out of the carriage before the train
| stopped, as though ] had some infectious
! disease. And the thing was justa rough, i'm
! perfect rendering Of some mere common
| places, passing the time of day, as it were
with which the heather of Aleppo used TO
favor the servants of the American mis-
| sionary. Indeed, if it were not for the
| ladies there would be nothing in England
| that one could speak OF as swearing at all
! They have agreed to consider certain
words for no very good reason, bad words
| " is pure convention; it has little or
nothing to do with the actual meaning,
| because for every one of these bad words
! there is paraphrase or synonym CON
sidered to be quite suitable for polite
! ears -