Ornamented with a Copperplate Engraving, reprefenting a PLAN of the CITY of WASHINGTON. NEW-YORK: PRINTED BY THOMAS AND JAMES SWORDS, No. 27, WILLIAM-STREET, -1792. THE Reader is requested to turn to the New-York Magazine for November, 1791, for a Description of the City of Washington. We have not feen any other account of this place, that would serve as an Explanation of the Plate which accompanies this month's Magazine, but what is there contained in fubftance; and we judged it inexpedient to republish either the whole or any part of what had been fo recently inferted. -To Correfpondents. The Fragment shall have a place in our next-its great length prevented its infertion this month. The Differtation on Porter, a felected piece, fent by A Subscriber,' is under confideration. Several other pieces, both profe and poetical, are come to hand, and will be noticed in their order. THE NEW-YORK MAGAZINE; O R, LITERARY REPOSITORY; FOR JUN E, 1792. IT For the NEW-YORK MAGAZINE. The DRON E.-No. IV. T is fomewhat strange, that' modern writers have univerfally neglected to clafs among the ornaments of rhetoric, that useful and beautiful figure, Swearing, a figure of fuch extenfive ufe in converfation, fo agreeable in its effects upon the mufic of language, fo univerfally and cafily applicable to any ftile or fubject, as to be justly entitled to this diftinction. Inftead, however, of hearing it extolled according to its merits; inftead of the exertions of men of genius and abilities to encourage and improve its ufe, we find it almoft univerfally decried whenever it is mentioned, as fenfelefs, ufelefs, ungenteel, and profane. That it fhould be objected to as deftitute of fenfe, that an argument fhould be urged against it, which is equally applicable (though never applied) to every other ornament of fpeech, is amazing, and bears ftrong marks of prejudice and illiberality. Were nothing committed to writing, or publifhed to the world, but useful information and plain unadorned common fenfe, what would become of three fourths of the paper-makers, printers, and other attendants upon the fhrine of Apollo, who are now in flourishing circumstances, but would in confequence of this be deftitute of employment? This, however, we may rationally hope, will not foon be the cafe; and until it is, fwearing has as good a title to a place among the beautifiers of fpeech, as any trope or figure in the catalogue: and in this refpect it is highly useful: our language is at belt but imperfect as to harmony, and few poffefs the faculty of arranging it in fuch a manner as to combine ftrength of expreffion with cafe and elegance of diction. To people in general, therefore, fomething is wanting to fill up thofe interftices and chafms, which create a roughnefs in language and render it difagreeable: for this purpofe we are provided with oaths of all fizes and degrees, to fill up the blanks of difcourfe-For this reafon, those who aim at the fmooth fluency of genteel conversation, find great relief from the happy introduction of an oath or a curfe at certain intervals, fince it not only ferves to render their difcourfe agreeable to the ear, but when fenfe happens to be fcarce, and their words outrun their wit, it is of use to keep the converfation in motion, without proceeding (like the false march in military difcipline) until the ideas have time to recover themselves and proceed. Το might have been impolite in his Lordship's time, or, as the best may err, perhaps his precepts, in this inftance, were inculcated without his ufual circumfpection, aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus: whatever may have been the cafe, let it be remembered that whatever is fafhionable is genteel; fwearing is now fashionable. Ergo, &c. This, however, is cer To that numerous and refpectable class of gentlemen called Bucks, fwearing is not only of infinite utili ry, but of indifpenfible neceffity :What would become of the wit of their converfation, but for the graces of fwearing, of which nine tenths of it confift? What would become of the converfation itself? How could Buck without it defcribe the adventures of a horfe-race, a game at vingt-tain, that of all his rules for genteel un, or a keep-it-up frolic? How behaviour, none is oftener quoted by could even these rational amusements his enemies, or more neglected by themselves exist without a large pro his admirers. portion of this elegant mixture? And without them, what would become of that numerous and valuable clafs of fociety, who live but in them, and with them would be annihilated? Imagination paints the confequences, and Prudence bids us guard against them. The benefits of fwearing in the authentication of facts otherwife incredible, in fupplying the place of courage in the company of gentlemen, and of gallantry with the lidies, are so obvious as only to require the mention, to imprefs the mind with a full conviction of its excellence in these refpects. After this let none but the ignorant votaries of prejudice pretend to affert that fwearing is ufelefs. Those who defpair of overturning this practice by other methods, attack its gentility; they reprefent it as the language of failors, pickpockets, and the lowest of mankind-fo indeed is every word in the English language, and might be objected against with equal reafon, could a good word be defiled by being found in a vulgar mouth; but the value of language is intrinfic; a gold ring is ftill gold, though on the finger of a flave; nor is a pearl the lefs valuable though the inhabitant of an oyster. The authority of Lord Chesterfield, the oracle of politeness, is produced againft the gentility of the practice; perhaps it Some well-difpofed, but oldfashioned perfons, object to fwearing on account of its wickednefs, and can never talk of it without connecting with it the epithet, profane: all their reafons, however, are deduced from an old treatife, entitled, The Bible, which is a good fort of a book enough; but fince it has been difcovered that human reafon is preferable to divine revelation, and that none but ourselves can make us either wifer or better, its precepts are laid afide as ufelefs, and confidered as futile objections to any arguments drawn from other fources. Since, therefore, fwearing is both ufeful and genteel; fince profanity and want of fenfe are no arguments against it, why should it not be introduced to more honourable and univerfal practice? Why should it not be entitled to a confpicuous place among the fpeeches of our orators and the writings of our authors? By admitting of its ufe in writing as frequently as it occurs in converfation, great advantages would undoubtedly follow: our periods would flow on fmoothly and agreeably; every fentence would exhibit marks of ftrength and beauty; good writings would abound as plentifully as bad ones do at prefent; and the Englifh language would, by fuch means, foon become the standard of copious expreffion and claffical elegance. The The ancients held the fcience of fwearing in high eftimation, and made ufe of it, as we do at prefent, not only to confirm the truth of their relations and promifes, but also as an ornament of fpeech: when a fentence was deficient in harmony, Jupiter, Apollo, Hercules, or fome other Deity, was always ready to fill up the vacancy, and add dignity as well as beauty to the period. Laws were made, not as with us, illiberally forbidding the practice, but prudently regulating its ufe; pointing out the manner in which it was to be used by perfons of different ranks or fexes, in different fituations. Poets and orators introduced it frequently and fuccefsfully in their works; critics examined its beauties, and taught its effects in compofition; Longinus, in his obfervations upon one of the most celebrated orations of Demofthenes, fingles out a folemn extempore oath, unexpectedly intro'duced, as a fublime effort of genius, and one of the moft beautiful ftrokes of that great orator. With fuch advantages, and fuch encouragement, we need not wonder that those celebrated authors attained to that high degree of energy, beauty and harmony, fo obvious in their works. We must regret our inferiority to the ancients in thefe advantages; they had fo many objects to fwear by, and fo many methods of invoking them, that the field of converfation was almoft infinitely extended. A gentleman fwearer might, in thofe days, find oaths adapted to every fubject and every circumftance; he had all the gods and goddeffes at his fervice, from Jupiter the thunderer, down to Priapus the fcarecrow: if he were in a high ftation, or elated by pride, he might fwear by Jove, or in emulation of the gods themfelves, by the tremendous Styx: a gentleman of the army had Mars, Bellona, and the Furies always ready to aflift him in difcourfe; phyficians and poets might fwear by Apollo; and a gentleman of univeral genius, or a buck, might go through the whole catalogue of divinities, and keep up the converfation with fpirit for half an hour together, without the leaft labour of the imagination, or expence of wit. This kind of difcourfe must certainly have been highly pleafing to. the fair fex, and doubtlefs conftituted the ipod, or small talk of antiquity, as the gentlemen might dif courfe with eafe, and the ladies liften fecurely without fear of being shocked by any fudden glare of fenfe, or any meaning, either fingle or double. Such were the fuperior advantages poffeffed by the Greeks and Romans; ours are not fo numerous, but by diligence we may make them as great. The true amateurs of the noble science of fwearing must be pleased at its prefent hopeful progrefs, and the eclat with which it appears in polite converfation; while thofe whofe minds and habits are yet to be formed, will, no doubt, use the most laudable exertions to acquire in perfection, an art fo eafy of attainment, fo useful in practice, fupported by fuch honourable examples, and, by the affiftance of its kindred arts, gaming, lying and cheating, fo glorious in its confequences. D. ANECDOTES of COUNT CAGLIOSTRO. From his Life, lately published. SINCE INCE the death of Jofeph Francis Bori, the celebrated chemift, herefiarch, phyfician, and prophet, who diftinguished himself about the beginning of the feventeenth century, by his uncommon capacity and numer ous impoftures, Europe has not, perhaps, produced fuch an extraordinary character as Jofeph Balfamo, commonly known by the name of Count Caglieftro. In |