Abs. Spoke like a man! But pray, Bob, I observe you have got an odd kind of a new method of swearing— Acres. Ha! ha! you've taken notice of it—'tis genteel, isn't it!—I didn't invent it myself though; but a commander in our militia, a great scholar, I assure you, says that there is no meaning in the common oaths, and that nothing but their antiquity makes them respectable; because, he says, the ancients would never stick to an oath or two, but would say, by Jove! or by Bacchus! or by Mars! or by Venus! or by Pallas, according to the sentiment: so that to swear with propriety, says my little major, the oath should be an echo to the sense; and this we call the oath referential, or sentimental swearing—ha! ha! 'tis genteel, isn't it. Abs. Very genteel, and very new, indeed!—and I dare say will supplant all other figures of imprecation. Acres. Ay, ay, the best terms will grow obsolete.—Damns have had their day.