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with iir.prec: tion of divine vengeance.—The filverabout 
which thou curfedjf, and fpeakeft of a!fo in my ears, be¬ 
hold the filver is with me. Jud. xvi. z. 
CURSE, /. Malediction; wi(h of evil to another.— 
Neither have I (uttered my mouth to fin, by wiihing a 
curfe to his foul. Job. —Affliction; torment; .vexation: 
Curfe on the (tripling! how lie apes his lire ! 
Ainbitioufiy fententious! Addifon , 
“ To Curse with bell, book, and candle.” This 
faying is handed down to us from the times of popery; 
and taken from the form of excommunication in the 
Romifli church. 
CUR'SED, part. adj. Deferving a curfe; hateful; de- 
teftable ; abominable; wicked; 
Merciful pow’rs! 
Reft rain in me the curj'cd thoughts that nature 
Gives way to in repofe. Shakefpcarc. 
Unholy; unfanctified ; blafted by a curfe : 
Come, lady, while heav’n lends us grace, 
Let us fly this curfed place, 
Left the forcerer us entice 
With fome otlier new device. Milton. 
Vexatious; troublcfome : 
One day, I think, in Paradife he liv’d; 
Deftin’d the next his journey to purfue. 
Where wounding thorns and curfed thifiles grew. Prior. 
CUR'SEDLY, adv. Miferably; fhamefully : a low 
cant word. —Sure this is a nation that is curfcdly afraid of 
being over-run with too much politenefs, and cannot re¬ 
gain one great genius but at the expence of another. Pope. 
CUR'SEDNESS, f. The ftate of being under a curfe. 
CUR'SER ,_/1 One that curfes.—A man of pleafure, 
in the vulgar acceptation of that phrafe, means only, .a 
bcaflly drunkard, an abandoned whoremafter, and a pro¬ 
fligate fwearer and curfer. Citejlefcld. 
CUR'SHIP, f. The quality of being currifh, mean- 
nefs, dogfhip. AJh. 
CUR'SING,/! The aft of uttering curfes.—Some¬ 
what allied to this, though in an inferior degree, is the 
offence of profane and common fwearing and curjing. 
Blackjlone. 
CURSING and SWEARING, an offence againfi 
God and religion, and a fin, of all others, the mod ex¬ 
travagant and unaccountable, as having no benefit or ad¬ 
vantage attending it. Several laws and ftatutes have 
been made for punifhing this crime. By 21 Jac. I. c. 20. 
it was enafted, that if any perfon fhall profanely fwear or 
curfe in the prefence of a juftice of peace, or the fame 
fhall be proved before a juftice, he fhall forfeit one (hil¬ 
ling for every offence, to the ufe of the poor, to be 
levied by diftrefs ; and for want of a diftrefs, the offender 
to be fet in the flocks, &c. By 19 Geo. II. c. 21. which 
repeals all former ftatutes, if any perfon (hall profanely 
curfe or fwear, and be convicted by the oath of any one 
witnefs before any juftice of peace, he (hall forfeit as 
follows, viz. Every day-labourer, common foldier, com¬ 
mon failor, and common feafnan, one (hilling. (Sailors 
are alfo punilhable for this offence by a court-martial.) 
Every other perfon under the degree of a gentleman, two 
fliillings. Every perfon of or above the degree of a 
gentleman, five (hillings, a fecond offence double, and 
every other offence treble. If the offence be committed 
in the hearing of a magiftrate, he may convift without 
further proof. If the offence be committed in the hear¬ 
ing of a conftable, if the offender be unknown to him, 
he (hall (ecure him, and carry him before a juftice of 
peace; but if the offender be known to the conftable, 
he (lull make information againft him before a juftice of 
peace. On information, a juftice is to order the offender 
to appear, and if on conviction he do not pay or give 
fecurity for the penalty, he (hall be fent to the houfe of 
correction for ten days ; or, being a common foldier or 
failor, be fet in the Itocks. On default of duty, juftices 
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t@ forfeit five pounds, and conftables forty (hillings. All 
convictions arc to be written on parchment, and returned 
to the next feffions. 1 he penalties to go to the poor cf 
the parish, and the offender to pay all charges of con¬ 
viction, or be committed to the houfe of correction for 
fix days extraordinary. All profecutions to be within 
eight days. This aCt to be read in all churches four 
times a-year, under the penalty of five pounds. The 
juftice’s clerk may take for tire information, (umrnons, 
and conviction, one (hilling, and no more. Each oath or 
curfe being a diftindt or complete offence, a perfon may 
incur many penalties in one day. Though the convic¬ 
tion cannot be removed by certiorari, yet an information 
will lie againft a magiftrate corruptly convicting under 
it, without hearing the defendant’s witneffes. 
CUR'SITORS, f. [Clcrici dc Curfu.~\ Clerks belonging 
to the chancery, who make out original writs; anefare 
called clerks of courfe, in their oath appointed lSEdw. III. 
(tat. 5. There are of thefe clerks twenty-four in num¬ 
ber, which make a corporation of themfelves; and to 
each clerk is allotted a divifion of certain counties, in 
which they exercife their functions. 
CUR'SON, or Corceone (Robert), cardinal, who 
lived in the latter end of tire twelfth, and beginning of 
the thirteenth, century, was an Englifhman by birth, 
who, after (tudying in the univerfity of Oxford, went to 
Paris, where he became doCtor and chancellor of the 
church and univerfity. On the elevation of Innocent III. 
to the papal chair, who was his acquaintance and friend, 
he was called to Rome, and created a cardinal, in the 
year 1212. He was deeply imbued with the fanaticifnr 
of the times, which was directed to the recovery of the 
holy land from the power of the infidels ; and he was 
was fent by the pope to France, to publifh the crufade 
in that country. In 1212 he held a council at Paris, in 
which he caufed many good regulations to be made for 
the reformation of manners, and publifhed Ibme ordi¬ 
nances which (hew him to have been friendly to the ex- 
tenfion of literature and fcience. His zeal occafioned his 
being appointed papal legate to the Eaft, whither he ac¬ 
companied the infatuated crufaders as far as Damietta, 
in which place he died in 1218. He was the author of 
different works, now loft or forgotten, among which was 
a treatife on this queftion, “ Whether Origen is in Para¬ 
dife or no ?” 
CUR'SOR, f. A fmall piece of brafs that Aides; as, 
the piece in an equinoClial ring-dial that Aides to the day 
of the month ; or the little ruler or label of brafs Aiding 
in a groove along the middle of another label, reprefent- 
ing the horizon in the analemma ; or the point that Aides 
along the beam-compafs, See. 
CUR'SOR ARY, adj. [from curfus, Lat.] Curforyj 
hafty; carelefs : 
I have but with a curforary eye 
O’erglanc’d the articles. Shakcfpcare. 
CUR'SORILY, adv. Haftily ; without care ; without 
folicitous attention.—This power, and no other, Luther 
difowns, as any one that views the place but curforily muft 
needs fee. Alterbury. 
CUR'SORINESS,yi Slight attention. 
CUR'SORY, adj. \_cuforius, Lat.] Hafty; quick; in¬ 
attentive ; carelefs..—The firft, upon a curfory and fuper- 
ficial view, appeared like the head of another man. Add if 
CURST, adj. Froward; peevifh; malignant; mif- 
chievous ; malicious; fnarling.— Curjl cows have ftiort 
horns. Proverb. 
CURST'NESS.y. Peeviflinefs; frowardnefs; malignity? 
Her mouth (he writh’d, her forehead taught to frown. 
Her eyes to fparkle fires to love unknown ; 
Her fallow cheeks her envious mind did fnew, 
And ev’ry feature fpoke the curjlnefs of a fnrew. Dry den. 
CURT, adj. [from curtus, Lat.3 Short. 
To CUR'TAIL, v. a. [curto , Lat. It was anciently 
written curtal , which perhaps is more proper; but dogs 
that 
