In former times sovereign princes had their favourite oaths, which they
made use of on all occasions when their feelings or passions were excited.
The oaths of the English monarchs are on record, and a list of them might
easily be made, by having recourse to the ancient writers of our history,
from the conquest to the reign of Elizabeth, who did not scruple, _pia
regina, et bona mater_, of the Church of England as she was, to swear by
"_God's wounds_," an oath issuing at this time frequently from vulgar
mouths, but softened down to "_zounds_."
Brantome, who lived in the court of Francis the First, contemporary with
Henry the Eighth of England, has recorded the oaths of four succeeding
monarchs immediately preceding his time. He tells us that Louis the
Eleventh swore by "_God's Easter;_" Charles the Eighth, by "_God's light;_"
Louis the Twelfth used an oath, still common among the French rabble, "_The
Devil take me;_" but the oath of Francis the First was polished enough for
the present day: it was, "_On the word of a gentleman_."
K----ll, Norfolk.