Part 8 (1/2)

”Wherefore it is a wonder that any person of rank, any that hath in him a spark of ingenuity, or doth at all pretend to good manners, should find in his heart, or deign to comply with so scurvy a fas.h.i.+on; a fas.h.i.+on much more befitting the sc.u.m of the people than the flower of the gentry; yea, rather much below any man endued with a sc.r.a.p of reason, or a grain of goodness. Would we bethink ourselves, modest, sober, and pertinent discourse would appear far more generous and masculine than such mad hectoring the Almighty, such boisterous insulting over the received laws and general notions of mankind, such ruffianly swaggering against sobriety and goodness. If gentlemen would regard the virtues of their ancestors, the founders of their quality; that gallant courage, that solid wisdom, that n.o.ble courtesy which advanced their families, and severed them from the vulgar; this degenerate wantonness and sordidness of language would return to the dunghill, or rather, which G.o.d grant, be quite banished from the world.”

4. _The positive scriptural commands against swearing._ ”Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy G.o.d in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” ”Ye shall not swear by any name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy G.o.d: I am the Lord.” The Christian Lawgiver thus utters His voice, ”Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all: neither by heaven, for it is G.o.d's throne: nor by the earth, for it is His footstool: neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.” St. James thus utters the inspiration of the Spirit: ”But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay: lest ye fall into condemnation.”

It is the duty of all who reverence the name of G.o.d, and desire not sin upon their brother, to stand up in firm fidelity, to reprove and correct this evil as it may come before them. The following instances ill.u.s.trate how this may be done.

”My lads,” said a shrewd captain, when reading his orders to the crew on the quarter-deck, to take command of the s.h.i.+p, ”there is a favour which I ask of you, and which, as a British officer, I expect will be granted by a crew of British seamen; what say you lads, are you willing to grant your new captain, who promises to treat you well, one favour?”

”Hi, hi, sir,” cried all hands, ”please to let's know what it is, sir,”

said a rough-looking, hoa.r.s.e-voiced boatswain.

”Why, my lads,” said the captain, ”it is this: that _you must allow_ ME _to swear the first oath in this s.h.i.+p_; this is a law which I cannot dispense with; I must insist upon it, I cannot be denied. No man on board must swear an oath before _I_ do; I want to have the privilege of swearing _the first oath_ on board H.M.S. C----. What say you, my lads, will you grant me this favour?”

The appeal seemed so reasonable, and the manner of the captain so kind and so prepossessing, that a general burst from the s.h.i.+p's company announced, ”Hi, hi, sir,” with their accustomed _three cheers_, when they left the quarter-deck. The effect was good, _swearing was wholly abolished in the s.h.i.+p_.

When the Rev. Rowland Hill was returning from Ireland, he found himself much annoyed by the reprobate conduct of the captain and mate, who were sadly given to the scandalous habit of swearing. First the captain swore at the mate, then the mate swore at the captain; then they both swore at the winds. Mr. Hill called to them for ”fair play.”

”Stop, stop,” said he; ”let us have fair play, gentlemen; it is my turn now.”

”At what is it your turn?” asked the captain.

”At swearing,” replied Mr. Hill.

Well, they waited and waited, until their patience was exhausted, and they wished Mr. Hill to make haste and take his turn. He told them, however, that he had a right to take his own time, and swear at his own convenience.

The captain replied with a laugh, ”Perhaps you don't mean to take your turn!”

”Pardon me, captain,” answered Mr. Hill, ”I shall do so as soon as I can find the good of doing it.”

Mr. Hill did not hear another oath on the voyage.

John Wesley was once travelling in a stage-coach with a young officer who was exceedingly profane, and who swore curses upon himself in almost every sentence. Mr. Wesley asked him if he had read the Common Prayer Book; for if he had, he might remember the collect beginning, ”O G.o.d, Who art wont to give more than we are to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve.” The young man had the good sense to make the application, and swear no more during the journey.

On another occasion Mr. Wesley was travelling, when he had as a fellow-pa.s.senger one who was intelligent and very agreeable in conversation, with the exception of occasional swearing. When they changed coaches at a certain place, Mr. Wesley took the gentleman aside, and after expressing the general pleasure he had had in his company, said he had one favour to ask of him. He at once replied, ”I will take great pleasure in obliging you, for I am sure you will not make an unreasonable request.” ”Then,” said Mr. Wesley, ”as we have to travel together some distance, I beg, if I should so far forget myself as to swear, you will kindly reprove me.” The gentleman immediately saw the reason and force of the request, and smiling, said, ”None but Mr. Wesley could have conceived a reproof in such a manner.”

IX.

THE AFFECTED.

”All affectation is vain and ridiculous; it is the attempt of poverty to appear rich.”--LAVATER.

This is a talker with whom one sometimes meets in society. He is not generally very difficult to recognise. His physiognomy often indicates the cla.s.s to which he belongs. He has sometimes a peculiar formation of mouth, which you may notice as the result of his affectation in speaking. His voice, too, is frequently indicative of his fault. It is pathetic, joyous, funereal, strong, weak, squeaking, not according to its own naturalness, but according to the affectation of his mind. And these variations are generally the opposite of what they ought to be.

They neither harmonise with the subject spoken of, nor the person speaking.

Affectation is a fault which attaches itself to a certain cla.s.s of ”young ladies and gentlemen” who have spent a few months in a village academy or a city school, and wish to give to their friends and parents unmistakeable evidence of their success in the acquisition of learning.

It also belongs to a limited cla.s.s of young ladies who have advanced somewhere the other side of thirty, and begin to stand in fear of a _slip_. Their affectation, it is hoped, will be very winning upon the affections of a peculiar sort of young gentlemen who have gone so far in life that they are almost resolved to go all the way without any companion to accompany them. It is a fault, too, which often clings to another cla.s.s of society,--that which, by a sudden elevation of fortune, are raised from the walks of poverty into the ranks of the wealthy. The elevation of their circ.u.mstances has not elevated their education, their intelligence, their good manners. Nevertheless, they affect an equality in these, and at the same time sadly betray the reality of their origin and training.

This affectation in talk as well as in other ways mostly develops itself in society which is supposed to be higher than the parties affected. The ignorant talker is affected in the company of the intelligent; the uneducated in the company of the educated; the poor in the company of the rich; the young lady in the company of the one who is superior to her, and into whose heart she wishes to distil a drop or two of Cupid's elixir.