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.ÿþcustomary English norms that in turn had their roots in Judeo-Christian tra-dition and reflected the conviction that society at large was subject to divinejudgment on the basis of the public moral conduct of individuals.17Presentments thus provide an instructive, if imperfect, guide to the normsand behaviors defining Virginians sense of community and operative in theirinteractions.Swearing affords an arresting example.18 Against a conventionalpicture of the eighteenth-century Virginian as an assertive, freewheeling, andfree-speaking individual stands fascinating evidence of constraints upon pub-lic discourse.Speech mattered.In their public contacts Virginians sought toestablish and maintain standards of decency and civility.19 Those violating thespeech norms found themselves in court and, if convicted, as most were, as-sessed the mandatory fine.20 The public context of this offense is strongly sug-gested by the evidence that 98 percent of the persons presented for swearingwere men, a dramatic confirmation of the extent to which public encountersat courthouse, tavern, racetrack, tobacco warehouse were male encounters.21Presentments for swearing were far and away the most numerous and mostconsistently entered among the targeted moral offenses.22 Court clerks mostoften recorded the offense simply as   swearing  ; some distinguished between  common  and   prophane  swearers.The latter presumably involved the ir-reverent use of the name of the Deity or other words having sacred signifi-cance, while the former employed words deemed offensive but not sacrile-gious.A Frederick County grand jury presented William Roberts Jr.as   acommon swearer  ; a Fauquier County jury presented John Nellson for   Pro-phane swearing  ; while in Prince William County John Shumate was chargedwith   Horid swearing and Imprecations.  23 But   swearing  covered more thanjust the utterance of proscribed words; included also were oaths other thanthose officially administered upon taking office or giving evidence.Maj.RobertHastie was brought before the Prince Edward County Court for   profaneswearing one oath.  24On rarer occasions clerks specified the offending language.Daniel Feilding,for example, was fined for   Cursing the Bible.  25 A parishioner in AccomackCounty was charged with   horrible swearing by his makers blood.  26 A Lan-caster County blacksmith in 1697   did on Sunday night Last Blaspheme theholy & blessed name of our Saviour Jesus Christ by Calling him Son of Awhore, & that his mother is A bitch, with diver other horrible.Expres-sions.  27 Adam Hubbard got into trouble for   prophanely Cursing the Minis-ter and Congregation in the Church Yard Immediately after Divine Service.  28Charles Rice did not so limit himself; he was presented for   defameing the.Miscreants 275 [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]

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