WHY SHOULD ANY MAN SWEAR?

I can conceive no reason why he should but ten thousand reasons why he should not.

1. It is mean. A man of high moral standing would almost as soon steal a sheep as swear.

2. It is vulgar; altogether too mean for a decent man.

3. It is cowardly; implying a fear either of not being believed or obeyed.

4. It is ungentlemanly; A gentleman, according to Webster, is a genteel man. Well bred—refined. Such an one will no more swear, than go into the streets to throw mud with a clod-hopper.

5. It is indecent; offensive to delicacy, and unfit for human ears.

6. It is foolish. “Want of decency is want of sense.”—Pope.

7. It is abusive; to the mind which conceives the oath, to the tongue which utters it, and to the person at whom it is aimed.

8. It is venomous; showing a man’s heart to be a nest of vipers, and every time he swears, one of them sticks out his head.

9. It is contemptible; forfeiting the respect of all the wise and good.

10. It is wicked; violating the divine law, and provoking the displeasure of Him who will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.