Curse. To Wish evil, To Execrate, [?Hnol]
To afflict hope – to imprecate Evil
Curse – Malediction wish of evil to another – Driden [sic]
Torment Vexation Addison – Johnsons Dictionary
Admit[t]ing S Painter said that J Peirce had been a curse to Society, he cannot be understood to have meant more than that he had been an affliction a torment, or a vexation