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w :■! ON M A N.
iyu ) THE stars of the firmament, the
tides of the sea, the bowels of the earth,
a --the winds of heaven, the revolutions of
S; r e seasons, and viciflitudes of the weather,
j t re by the various arts bf observation, fore
i flight, and contrivance, fuccefsfully ap
i ' propriated to hisconvtnience and comfort.
In poflTdfion of such powers and refour
( ces, Its enmity is dreadful, and his friend
ihip of cohfequence to all other animals—
|| and the necelfities of his situation are so
I urgent, and the propensities of his nature
|jj are so powerful, that hfc cannot but regard
I them severally, with qrte or other of
I sentiments.
He is made capable of fuhfifting equal
ly by hunting, by fifhing, or by cultivat
ing the ground. He is guided as much by
taste, in the manner of feeding, as in the
choice of his food: And seldom, like his
i, brother animals, devours it, in its natural
| Hate-his aft ions indeed are all on a feale.
Nature intended him to be the “ architect
L of his own fortune*’ and his predominant
I. pa (lion is, every where, to better his condi-
I tion. He improves the vegetables, and
| dretfes tlir meat he wishes to eat: Reftifies
| : ami refines the liquid he wishes to drink ;
manuiafttiresthe clothes he wishes to wear;
and equally fumiflies himfelf with instru
ments for the dispatch of bufmefs, and
arms for protecting his pcrlon, and catch
ing his prty.
He deviates so invariably and methodi
> cally from nature, and is so totally artifi
cial in every thing, that he is without ex
\ ception, the fnoft extraordinary phenome
non in the whole compass of organifed ex
iftencc-—He sometimes, though rarely,
tlifcovtrs all the merit and worth conceiv
ed in his nature —His manners are simple
an I undisguised; his temper kind and con
descending ; his sentiments of others libe
ral and benevolentand all his aftions*a
dprned with clemency and candour—He
is then the visible divinity, and the amia
ble reverse of all that is savage and unre
lenting in nature. His dispositions are as
harmless as thofeof a DOVE; his manners
; as gentle as those of a FAWN;; and
; life as innocent as that of_ the LAMB.
Nor is the LION more noble, the ELE
PHANT more sagacious, the HORSE
more manageable, or the DOG more
trusty.
Why will not truth bend to the feelings
of the hiftdrian, and prevent the pangs of
fcnfibilityV inseparable from the detail of
lifts so repugnant to nature, and difgrace
ful tc> humanity ? This alas is but a parti
al piftureof man! I'i'ea? him absorbed in
Tlrttifimefs, the dupe of pkffion, or a vic
tim to appetite. Do not the merest trifles
often fire his imagination, poison his affec
tions, rankle in hjs heart, pervert his in
tentions, and petrify his temper? He is
t'inid without modtfty, ineonflant with
out pieature, and flagitious without spirit.
His antipathies spring from pride, his ma
lignity is unrelenting, and all his resent
ments are implacable. The airs he af
taiv.es art* a burlesque on dignity; the pre
t( nfions he claims, a refinement on hypo
ci il'y ; and attachments he forms, a Block
ing prostitution of the heart—woe unto
the objefts of his hatred ! He is never
Id's diipofed to mercy, than when mercy
is molt in his power—Not all the empha
lis ot pity t an once incline him to fpare—
misfortune heaves not his bosom with a
sigh, nor niomens his eyes with a tear.—
The wretch who has once infenfed, has
no fafety, but in the impotence of the w ill
that would destroy. He gives all his black
and treacherous foul to revenge; and then,
like unto another monster glutted with
nrrv, exults in the ruin he has wrought.
Thus he unites in his charsfter, the cun
ning of the FOX, and the fawning of the
SPANIEL, with the fiercenefs of the
WOLF, and the deceipt of the CROCO
DILE; the guilt of a SERPENT, and the
fleetnefs of a JACK ALL* with the fury
of a BEAR, and the cruelty of a TIGER,
the tricks of a JACKDAW, and the fo
lemnitv of an OWL, with the gate of a
GOOSE, the gestures of an APE, and the
tln’lnris of an ASS.
Thus while hr continues to support the
riigtviyv'and obey the legitimate dictates
of his own mindL he seems the model or
*i minute repr fcntation of all that is amiable
'Vr excellent in exigence. It would then
jpßpp’Mr as if he were composed of none
Lti* the mod refined materials, and that his
f\ stem neccftarly excluded every grofler
But the moment he forgets
M naif, nul re'.inquifhes this delicate port
Jot diftinfthm, the molt awful depredation
ftakys {dace. Tue love of goodness cheers
fno#lrs heart, unbroken health flows not
*n his veins and his countenance retains
lfT“Ot - the blufli of innocence. He literally
**v' nes more krutish, than the beads
I f ’.tt and his whole nature is an
» V. ur.s v.-mplecatisin of whatever is moll
\‘i ft an : detefra'dc—So that siting up
'll * ' powers lie places him at
*1 .* :: ;.a of the vdib'e cceaUon, while an
-hhws prvdlitution of them, renders
nLl'* toner, the mud ..hjeft and worth-
Tliougli an animal of prey, snd capa
ble of the most desperate depredations, he
can live alone or in fociely, but his affec
tions are chiefly aflbeiating and political—
Indeed the species Aibfift no where but in
groupes, regulated by forne general rules,
fettling gradually into habits of focicty,
3nd riiing imperceptibly in the arts of in
deftry and elegance —but whether fmgle
or combined, there are no limits to their
acquisitions. Hence the interference of
interefl and paftion, the general competi
tion for power, the universal itch for dif
tinftion, the grasping at wealth and inde
pendence, the unavoidable refinements of
tattle, and ali the appendages of luxury.
Perhaps the mutual attachment of the
sexes is not the leaf! amusing part of his
(lory. The kind, in all well regulated com
munities, is continued by means of politi
cal inftitations. Here polygamy is pro
hibited on many of the most solid and sa
cred reasons. Were it otherwise, the foul
eft enormities might be exjiefted. Apart
! from more solemn considerations, the na
tural fvmpathies of the paternal heart, are
singly decisive on the fubjeft—fuch is the
whimfkal humour of these unaccountable
creatures, that they must even be forced
into a predicament, for which nature de
signed them, and which is the flight of all
their animal desires. Nor do they often
dislike in earnefl, till they find themselves
in each others arms; for hatred is some
times the offspring of love. In how ma
ny ways is wretched man, thus cheated of
the fruition he expefts, as if the moment
he poflefled a blessing, it were his fate to
change it to a curse ! There are, however,
some who mingle their ihterefts and hearts
from purer motives, and have yes the good
fortune, to be singularly happy, where so
many are so singularly miserable.
In every department and position in
which he can be supposed, ambition is the
master fprihg of his system, and the con
troulingdifpofition of his heart. To some
distant objeft all his wishes and aftions are
uniformly directed. His mind aspires as
naturally as his lungs play, his blood cir
culates, or his, pulse beats. Every excel
lence that exalts, every grace that adorns
every deformity that degrades him, origi
nates here. This fills him with ideas of
his own importance, and prompts him to
exertions of felf defence. So that he is
not to be insulted or injured with impuni
ty. Nor is he furnifhed with so many ir
ascible and indignant resentments, in vain.
He occupies a station, obnoxious to the
most hostile and and
is under the neceflity of .afting on the de- ,< ,
fen five, and making reprisals by turrjk rt
~ There is not a doubt, that ofufL.
perior order, regard him, as the greatest
novelty, and miracle, of all that is new
and wonderful in earth or in heaven. To
them it must be a lpeftacle equally afto
nifliing and ludicrous, to behold a little,
pert two legged infeftynot yet emerged
from its Aurelia state, nor near so flour,
and alert, as many of its kindred tribes,
thus, by infinite address and perpetual in
trigue, ilyly acquiring the , sovereignty of
the world,
In a savage ftate,h*fe paffionsareftrongand
ardent, his appetites insatiable, and his rea
son, or intelleft,abforbed in lethargy,or only
difeovering nowand then, the faint ernana
tions of a barbarous sagacity. Under the
afilolute dominiqn of mere animal propen
sity, he fatisfies every desire, and follows
every indication, without timidity and
without re drain t. Yet in the fo
litudes where the voice of law is not heard,
and the faftions of authority are unknown,
he attaches,himfelf to his female, with th*
fidelity of the, DOVE, and provides for
his offspring with the industry of the BEE;
In society, where the frequent collisions
that happen, from a thotifand opposite in
terefls and inclinations, extraft all the fire
and virulence of his compolition, his od
dities are still more apparent and fantafti
cal: For every diftinft combination of the
species is marked with features of peculi
ar deformity. Their irfjprovement apart
is as tmpraftkable, as their ruin together
IVems inevitable. Flagitious example is
always most prominent, and MAN is the
child ofhrtand imitation—His paflionsare
created, by those of others; Faihion mo
dulates his taste; and having once imbibed
the maxims of folly, he has seldom reso
lution enough to renounce them. Every
found he hears, and every fight he beholds,
whet his curiosity, influence his hope, or
alarm His fears. And from the cradle,to
the grave heis constant in nothing so much
as the pursuit of novelty, and a disposition
to change.
Indeetl he is hardly of the Tame mind
together. The materials of
his bodv are net more in a state of trans
mutation, than the idea., which occupy
his undcrtlanding. The truth is, he aft:;
Irom principiesascontradiftory, as the ele
ments which compole his body, and ex
hibits on the whole, a very flrange mix
ture, of meantxfs and merit. He knows
i“Ws of his own system. and
,ycr afftfts those to comprehend of the
nniverie. Though unable to did!ft one
a;adc of grsfs, he would mcafuit the orb?
of heaven : And even, when aliied to the
Caterpillar, boasts an affinity with AN
GELS. The bodies around him do not
more sensibly gravitate to the center of the
earth, than his thoughts and desire soar a
bove the clouds. Yet thele are totally en
grossed by things inadequate to his wifiies,
unsubstantial as his dreams, and perilha
bleas his frame. . His lile is perilous and
precarious, chequered with the strongest
viciflitudes of pleasure and pain, and eve
ry where at the mercy of the capricious
elements. But infignificant as it is, tho’
fore of a better, he adheres to it with a
foolifh but inflexible preference. Nay,
the last pang which tears him from .misery
he forefees, from the firft moment he
breathes, and steadily regards with uncon
querable antipathy and aversion.
Amidst the vast combinations o/ pof-
fentiments, attachments, and a
versions, which his connexion and com
petition with others mud occasion, lie
would be wretched indeed, without a con
science. His benevolent maker, however,
has not left hisframe so imperfect, or his
life so destitute, but stamped on every feel
ing of his heart the preference and love
of Virtue, and the disgust and hatred of
vice. This puts him right when rong,
decides on the tenour of his condud, and
the temper of his mind, and sooths or
flartles him, by all that is delightful, or
dreadful in futurity.
Heinftin&ively therefore takes part with
the injured and opprefl’ed: Never fees a
generous deed without wishing to have
done it, or a bad one, without emotions of
diflikc; uniformly fymphthifcs with the
lufferer, unless where lome other paflion
interferes ; and retains to the last, in spite
of imperfection and debility, a love of
goodness and detestation of evil, t
MAN then is composed of two diftinCt
and independent principles, the one fub
jeCt, the other superior to the laws of mor
tality. Whatever belongs to the body,
with the body dies: And death is as natural
to the animal, as harvest to the vegetable
world. It is the visible and inevitable fate
of all sublunary things, to exchange one
modification of being for another— : Nor.
can man more than any of the creatures
beneath him, plead an exemption from the
general institutions of the universe.
But, in consequence of an event so im
portant in the hiftory of human nature,
what becomes of those faculties which have
no analogy to the known of
matter ? Are reflection and sensation des
tined to flourifh and to live and
Bie together ? May not his mental survive
t his corporeal, functions ? Can tha; living
• aJpLIIfe giving .principle, which a&s so
much , independent of his senses, by the
shock of diflolution, become in one mo
ment, just as inactive and extinCt as they
do ? Does that sacred and sublime lamp of
light, which discovers both worlds to each
other, and which promised an immortal
thus suddenly expire forever ? Are
thole fires which mingled with the radi
ence of heaven, and which seemed to glow
with a flame as lasting and as noble, like
the temporary blaze of a meteor, or fub
jeCttothe fate of a glow worm? How
then, got he acquainted with scenes which
have no reality, to pant for a bliss beyond
thereach of existence ? Is not that BEING
who inspired him with the hopes of im
mortality, who interwove with it the firft
and tenderest solicitudes of his heart, able
and disposed to confer it ? Yes: every sup
position to the contrary is just as fiiocking
as it is impious. For if, only made like
the worms and reptiles beneath his feet, to
live this motnentand diethe next, toftrug
gle in a wretched life with every, internal?
and external calamity, that can aflault his
body or enfeft his mind, to bear the mor
tifications of malignity, and the unmerited
abhorrence of those who owe him the ten
derest esteem, and ther fink in evcrlafting
oblivion, his fate wc’ild stand, on record,
m the annals of the universe, an external
exception to all that can be called good.
“ Nobile opus nee non niji uni , excogitandum."
T „
LONDON, June 10.
■ j-aF k gE .yfe. Jg&ki
From the French Papers.
Examination of the four Coachmen belonging to
tht Margrave of Baden , who were to have
driven the French Plenipotentiaries to Seitz.
’ In compliance with the demand of the
Subdelegation of Baden, the above men
tioned proceeded to the examination of
the four coachmen who were yefterdav
evening to have conduced the French
Ministers by the way of Phmerfdorflf to
Seitz.
1. Andrew Cafpard declared in hisde
polition, that he drove the carriage of the
Minister Jean Debry ; that at his departure
he had been ordered by the Minister Bon
nier to answer, in case he (houid be flop
ped arid a Iked whom he drove, that they
were the French Ministers ; that he was in
effe& flopped by some of the Royal Impe
rial Huflars, at the of the vallev
of Rheinau; that the aforefaid queftipn
was put to him, to which he gave this an
iwer as direst; that being aiked where
Bonnier was. and the name of the person
whom he drove,"he snfivered Bonnier was
in-the second carriage, and Jean Debry
was in his; that on this information a
great number of Huflars rode up to the
carriage, and dragged out of it the'Minif
ter Debry and the Ladies with him, and
immediately attacked the former with their
fabres, putted the woman after them, and
searched them ; that he himfelf received a
blow with the flat of a fabre, on which he
dropped down between his horses, that he
was then asked who he was, and having
answered that he wasthe Coachman of the
Margrave, he was allured no injury lhould
be done to him.
2. James Ghnweller deposes, that he
Jaw Jean Debry receive several blows with
fabres, but at the fame time some Hut Tars
rode up to his carriage, which W2s the
third, and atked him who was in it, that
having answered he drove Bonnier, sever
al Huflars rode up to the doors on both
sides of the carriage and cried, “ Alight,
Bonn er!” They iuftantly broke the win
dows, dragged the Minister out, and maf
faered him before his eyes at the fide of his
saddle horsey that they afterwards plun
dered the Minister and the contents in the
carriage, that he also thought he heard
Bonnier make lamentations in Flench, and
pronounce the word “ pardon.”
3. James Weiss, deposes that he drove
the fourth carriage, in which was the Se
cretary of Legation, Rofential; that he
saw Debry and Bonnier dragged out of the
carriages w hich were before; the treatment
experienced by the former happened at too
great a diftarice for him to make cbferva
tions, but he diftinftly heard the Huflars
cry—“ Where is Bonnier r” That he saw
them drag Bonnier out of the carriage,
strike him at |he time with their fabres on
the leg, and cut him to pieces, when he
fell on the ground. With refpeft to Ro
berjot, the Huflars after the maflacre of
Bonnier, galloped to his carriage and cut
him to pieces. Robberjot bathed as he
was in blood, giving ftili some fignsoflife,
a Huflar on foot (truck him fix times with
his fabre.
4. The fourth coachman deposes, that
his carriage was at the fame time attacked
by (he Huflars. He was asked the name
of the Minister whom he drove, as he did
net know they applied to the servant on
; the coach box, and having learned that it
was Roberjot ; they said, Ah ? ’tis he !’*
They opened the door, dragged out the
Mihifter, and by the order of one of the
under officers, who spoke Hungarian, they
maflacred him in a horrible manner, drip
ped him of his cloaths, renewed their at
tacks while,'here appeared t
life. Madame Roberjot was “aifo torn out
of the carriage, and entreated them repeat
edly, in bad German, to put her to death
with her husband.
(Signed) J. H. W. Muller*
Done at Rajladt, 10th Floreal t
in the presence of M. Pojfelt. I
-■ 1
BOSTON, August 15.
Ruffian Firmness.
The Muscovites, after ravaging the
kingdom of Pruflia, had entered Branden
burg, and were advancing towards Berlin,
conduced by general Permer. Frederick
gave them battle at the village of Zom
dorff, and it may be termed a carnage ra
ther than an afticn. Neither the fury of
his artillery, the valor and difeipline of his
infantry, nor the repeated charges of his,
cavalry, could compel the Ruffians to re
cede a foot, much less to turn their backs.
During thirteen hours, from fix in-the
morning till feveg in the evening of tbs'
25th of August, they withstood, unmov
ed, every effort of the Prussian taffies.—
After the (laughter of 21,000 men, they
ftili disdained to retreat, and night alone
terminate the combat.
August 16.
The house of Meflrs. Hammond’s at
Winchester, was consumed by fire, on the
firft instant, and a child, two years old,
burned to death in it.
NEW-YORK, August 19.
On Saturday morning the United States
frigate Constellation, failed on a short
cruize, in perfuit of the French frigate
which lately dilperfed the American fleet
from St. Thomas, under convoy of the
Norfolk, and schooner Retaliation. The
volunteering of commodore Truxton on.
this cruize, is a trait in his chara&er which
redounds more to his honor than a viffory
over an enemy. Should he be fortunate
enough to fall in with the French frigate,
fight and conquer her, his earthly felicity
must be complete.
May this be the result of the present
cruise.
Extract of a Utter from a gentleman in St.
ikomas’s, to a rcfpeclaoie mercantile house
in this city, dated 2<jth July, ’99.
Within five or fix days we have had
arrivals from Jacrr.d,and the Cape—at the
latter place all is perfectly quiet, and they
are waiting with anxiety the arrivals of
American veflels on the :ft of August.
Tit’s is not the case at Jacmel, its fitr.a-