The Sun. — London, England, 1812-10-01 00:00:00

" We shall naturally be expected to say - some- . thing of Mr. Tooke's philosophical writings; but this, is a subject into which our limits do not per mit' us to enter at large. Besides, it has been lately discussed with midi ability, and in a man ner, to us at least, so satisfactory, that, we could do very little more than repeat to our readers remarks that have already been made with infi nitely greater force and authority. " Shortly, however, our opinion is this—that though Mr. Tooke's philosophical works are the esult of no common talent and industry, yet they are neither written in a. true philo optical nor display traces of, a mind Which; if even it had , been wholly dedicated to the'study of metaphysics, would have mulch enlarged the bounds of our ,knowledg-c in that nice and intricate part of sci— ence. His objects have been ratter to retard than to adyance the progress of philosophy, by re calling us from those sound conclusions as to the nature and operations of the' human mind, which are built upon observation and experience, to vague .speculations drawn from the imperfect analogy ex isting bett!Veen the moral and physical world.— There can be no doubt that the proposition which he has succeeded in establishing is highly interest ing and important 5 and that in the illustration of :t he has shewn great "learning, ingenuity, and research. But then, on the other hand, he has so monstrously exaggerated its importance, and so widely mistaken its tendency, and has attmpted to raise so vast a superstructure upon so narrow, slip pery, and inadequate foundation, that we are quite lostqn amazement when we recollect how com pletely the sa; , acity which guided him so well in the investigation of his principal fact, appears to desert him when he domes to apply that fact to the plirPoies of a theory. The'distance between. what be has proved . and what he wishes us to be . lievetbat he proved, is enormous. What be has!proved is,'that all words, even those that are expressive of the nicest operations of our minds, were originally borrowed from the objects of ex- I The body of the unfortunate man who leaped off Blaekfriars 'Bridge last week has not yet been found, though several attempts have been made for that purpose. • Stapleton, the accomplice of Murphy- in the murder of the Rev. Mr. Tisdal, has been recognis ed by an 01ficer who lately joined the 52d,regi inent in Snain, as a private soldier M that corps. We understand he is now on his passage to this country, under proper care.—(Cork Paper.) LOND()N: Printed by THOMAS wooD o f N t y.35., Maiden-lane, Coyent-garden and Published by WILLIAM AIIMIGEB SCRIPI'S, South Molton-street, Grosquarer-squ At the. Still OFFICE.. No. .112..Strane. wliere dittrertisements, Ureters for the Paper, Letters for the Editig, &c , (post iaid), must be addressed. 01.31 N For the following masterly delineation of the character, conduct, and labours, intelleetuA and politiCal, of this man, which is founded upon a life of;hirn, lately published, but of which only a pass ing .notice is taken, we are indebted to The Quar terly Ren4w, . [Continued from our Paper of Yesterday.] His styleis strongly impressed with the cha racter of his mind ; —neat, clear, precise, and forci , He, free from affectation, void of ornatnent. We . do not thirik he is ever vulgar-; but he is full of that genuine Anglicism' of which the course of his studies rendered hint at mice an admirer and a - master—that native idiom which the brilliant suc cesses of some of those who have written English as a foreign language, hits within the , last fifty years, brought into disuse, and almost into viol': The most finished specimen Obis composi tion is probably to be found in the two or three letters written in answer to the -attacks-of Junius and he had the honour, which in those days was deemeno inconsiderable one, of being the only knight, that returned with his lance unbroken from eombatwith that unknOwn but terrible champion. If he Wants the exquisite, polish and the brilliant, invective• of his adversary, that dexterous ma iipity which comes,in with such effect as blackens a character by insinuation after invective has ex hausted its powers, and above all, the well-sus . tained - tone of austere dignity which gives to Junius the air and authority , of a great personage in . disgiriSe ; be is superior .to him in facility, vivacity, and that appearance of plainness and sin-, ecrity which is of such importance in controver sial writings. The great fault of 'Junius is a sort of stiffness and appearance of labour. !Ifs com positions smell too much of the lamp. He want ed nothing to be a perfect master of his art, but the power of concealing it. Mr. Tooke's-letters have the flow, unity, and simplicity which' belong to writings struck off at a heat, and which depend for their effect rather upon the - general; powers of the writer than upon great nicety and. labour in the particular instance. In justice to Junius, as a writer, we must add that he-was la , bouring under the disadvantages of a Weak case. It is evident that he was, early and deeply sensible of his own mistake; and he was therefore glad to put an end to the contest as soon as possible, even at the price of leaving his adversary in pos session of the - field ; a humiliation to,-which he would not have submitted but from the conseioui ness of his having originally selected an unfavour able ground. • In speaking of Mr.Tooke's intellectual character we have hitherto omitted to notice one of its most striking features,. the love of paradox ; a disposi tion, which, though the natural companion of subtlety and ingenuity,. was, we believe, never found combined with true - greatriets of mind. To J. add to the difficulty_of a proposition by a :plaint unusual Method of enunciating it, - to display a vain dexterity in defence of an acknowledged error, to dress up Truth in a strange masquerade garb, in hopes that Somebody will mistake her fotFalse hood—these are frivolous childish amusements, and indiCative of an unsound or ilhregulated un derstanding. .No man that possessed the reason- . ing power in its full perfection, was ever willing to waste it in drawing a stare from ignorance and vulgarity : on the contrary, those who have con triz uteri most •to enlarge the bounds of human knowledge, by the discovery of new and import ant truths, have almost always been anxious to place them in that point of view in which they would give the least possible alarm, and win their way to a general acceptance 'with the least possi ble opposition from the common prejudices and feelings of the world. But truth and error, as 'such,. were almost indifferent to Mr. Tooke. He ,was more a sophist than a philosopher, 'and was always most inclined to maintain that proposition, whatever it might be, that afforded him the best opportunity of exhibiting to advantage his argu mentative acuteness and skill. He was a sort of intellectual juggler ; and provided he could keep the multitude gapinz at the dexterity with which . he handled his cups and balls, he cared very little '-hat farther effect the spectacle might have upon • their -minds. ternal perfection, a tirtuinstahce hig ly cations in the history.of language, cons'equentiv in therh is tory of the human mind itself; and the complete demonstration of which of course reflects . great credit upon its atithor. . " What he thinks be has proved is; that the etymological history of words is our true .guide, both as to the present import of the words them-. selves, and as to the nature of things which they are intended to signify—a proposition so mon strous, that he has no where ventured, to enunci ate it in its general form, but. has rather left it to be collected from the ten - our of his remarks upon different instances- In truth, the iffierences at which Mr. Tooke arrived, so far from being warms ranted by his facts, are directly the contrary of these to which he ought naturally to have been led by the result of his own studies, when they were most successful. "In tracing upwards through the ma/es - of etymology, the origin of words he ought to have seen more clearly, if possible, than any body else ; that their real present sense.is not to be. sought for in their primitive signification, or in the ele ments of whiCh they. were originally composed; but, on the contrary, their actual import, with which alone in reasoning we have to do ; hardly ever corresponds with their etymological - mean= . ing, although the one always bears to the other a certain resemblance, more.or less accurate, accord.. ing to the greater or.leas effect. of.: time and acei-; dent. One could without diffiCAty understand how a person unaccustomed to such Considerati ons, and misled by a few instances partially chc).= sen, should adopt a~ theory like _that which•Mr: Tooke was desirous of establishing ; but how a, philosopher minutely acquainted- with the whole subject, and proceeding upon a most copious in duction of particulars, should not have perceived. that in ninety-nine instances out of .a hundred, such a doctrine would)ead to absolute absurdity, is, to us at least inconceivable. We will, take a, single instance, which willisatter explain what we mean'. .It is ,one of those which have been select= ed by - Mr. Stewart ;. (vide .Diversions of Purley, vol. 2,:p. True, as we now write it, or trew, as it was formerly Written, means simply and ines:ely—that which is trowed. -And, instead of its being a rare commodity on earth, except only in words, there is nothing but truth in the world. That every man, in communication with others should speak that which he trowel), is of so great importance to that it . ought not to surprise us, if we find the most extravagant and exagerated praises bestowed upon truth.' " Now we apprehend' that this passage con tains one very questionable proposition, and two more that are absolutely false. " In the first place, we think it doubtful, whe-2 ther those who first formed the noun truth, froM the verb to trove' meant to limit their new coined•word to the sense, which in strictness it seems to bear. It appears a much more natural account of the matter to say, that having found or believing they had found that what is trowed,' . as commonly the same as what is,' they were content that the one expression should be con sidered universally as synonimous with the other, and therefore used the word truth' from the very beginning, in precisely the same sense as that in which we now employ it. To speak what one thinks or trows is in a moral sense to speak truth,—that is, not to conceal or disguise what is in the mind ; and the word being once generally adopted for expicssing moral truth, was in process of time naturally extended to phy :sical ; nothing being more common in popular practice than -to include a whole class of kindred ideas under one term; especially where the dis tinction between theta is of a subtle abstract na ture, and out of the range ,of vulgar observation. But supposing (what for the sake of the argument we will admit), that they intended to use the word in its more confined and strictly derivative mean'-': ing; still, what becomes of Mr. Tooke's infe— rence, that it is, or ought to be (for we are not• quite sure which he means) employed in no other meaning now ? What 'is this but to set . op :the supposed practice of a barbarous period, against the universal consent of whole, ages of civilization and learning ?, Is .not language purely conven tional ? And are not words merely the signs by which men ha.ve agreed to convey (as well as they can) certain' ideas ? And is it not therefore to the last degree idle to talk of the precise etymolo , logical signification, or the intention'of the Anglo Saxons, as that which ought to outweigh the unbroken custom of a whole nation through eight or nine centuries. ?, But it is only wasting time to argue against such a doctrine ; let us however ad vance a stepfather in concession, and allow not only that the word truth' was originally used in its: strict etymological.signification, but that out of respect to the Ileptarchy,.it ought to he used only in that signification,- T -and still we :should not be one. particle. nearer to Mr. Tooke's last and most monstrous conclusion; namely, that there is no such thing as truth, in the sense in which -we have erroneously presumed to use the word for several-hundred years past. Nothing more could be inferred from either proposition, than that which is directly stated in them—that the subjects of Ethelwolf and Wurgan had no intention. of eternal immutable truth, and that we have no business to use their word to convey ideas diffe rent from tbax which they annexed to it ; in short it woulirbe shewn that the language was im perfect ; but the metaphysical question about. truth would remain just where stood before." (To be continued.) SEPT. 26.—0 n Thursday last the Rev. Dr. rLA 34ANK yvas unanimously elected Mayor of Budtnin, Cornwall, for the year ensuing : • ROMAN CATHOLICS The activity with -Which the Irish Catholic and their supporters in this 'country exert themselves in the attenipt to remove every Salegtmrd raised by our ancestors for the protection of our happy ItistaH bliShmeut in Church and State, renders it imps ricusly netes'Sary fOr the friends of that establish , - ment to display equal iea; in its defence. If f 6-- Vent and obstinate perseverance on the one side is ta.be Met only by languid resistance on the 'other, the, most fat d tousequZnces may be expected, and the dreadful SeeneS Which history recordS niay he 'acted again. It is in vain to contend that the RoMan Catholics are not the same that they were two hundred years ago ; they' pride themselves.; not only on the : nfallibility of their Church, 'but on the unchangeable character of their faith; and hence 'What they have done in the days of their unContiolled authority, they may be expected to do again if ever they should have power, which Heaven forbid.. Though, in their public writings, the'Roman Catholics think proper to profess libe rality towards Protestants, yet, in priVate, they have no Scruple in describing them as heretics 5 And it is obvious ; frOm the ViolenCe with which Alley maintain their Opinions in private, and the bitterness with which they revile the Members of the Established Church, that theti' would .be no restraint upon their persecuting Spirit, it ever they could -regain an aseenddhey in. the State. We, therefore, deem it s a .duty to, notice every work that tends to counteract the progresS of POpery, alld shall occasionally avail ourselves of what pro mises to lean admirable depository of the opinions : , ;;:•guincnts, and illustrations Of•thoSe writers vvhi - i employ their talents and their learning in support of that Establishment in Church and State, which has long rendered 'l.ls . the happieit people on earth, and which will keep us so, if properly defended; in. spite of all,the artifices of bigotted Papists; in conjunction wig) pretended patriots... The Work we allude to is intitled—L“ THE PROTESTANT Mi . - . voc . iveE,"-- ; --and we submit the follbwing extracts from it to our :Readers, that thty may be fully, ap prised of its Motives, principles, -and tendency " At a time when the exertions of the Roman= Catholics are distinguished by a public activity, unexampled in the last century, and when a list lessness (more apparent, we trust, thaarreal) seems to pervade the minds of the' Protestants Of these kingdoms ; when the Roman Catholic Body are mailing the most strenuous effoks, in every part 'of the United Kingdom, to impress on the Public thenecessity of attending to the;r claims, and evert confidently assert a general Willingness 'that they should be granted, it will appear only a measure of self-defence that there should be a Protestant Advocate, to defend'our Establishments in Church and State, and to 'maintain the general cause 'Of civil and religious liberty azainst the intolerant principles of the Roinan Catholics, and their un ceasing attempts to obtain possession' of political power. " The objects which the Protestant Advocate will' have more immediately arc, to unite the exertions of Protestants of all descriptions, in defence of the liberty, civil and religious, which is now enjoyed by the ,subjects of these realms ; to convey such general information as may lay open the designs of the Roman Catholics ; to expose the mis-statements, religious and political,. of the advocates of their cause ; to open the eyes of the Public to the tenets really professed by the Irish Roman Catholic Church ; to show that it is not a' slight, 'but a great and essential difference, which exists between Popery and Protestantism, and - that! the - leading doctrines of the fornier religion-are . the same now as they were at the period of the blessed Itefarmation ; to'scrutinize the pretensions of the "Roman Catholics, and to prove the utter hopeless ness of conciliating their affections by any thing short of a surrender of the Constitution ; to point out the unfairness with which their claims are brought forward, todisplay their real extent and their Unavoidable consequences, and to shed What the effect on the Constitution generally would be, and what, especially on our invaluable privileges, as Protestants, and on the cause.Of religion; if those persons were' again admitted to power in this kingdom, whose exclusion from power was; at The time of the Revolution, made a permanent principle of the Constitution. " The object, in short, of this publication; is . one . common 'to all Protestants ; it is to guard the sacred cams of religious liberty;• it is td defend . our Prosestant Brethren, in Ireland, especially, against Roman Catholic ascendancy and eventual perseeution—against tire doMination of A sect, which history' has shewn to be invariably hostile. to all religions . freedom ; it is to preserve, for the sake of peace and security, that Established Church, whose principle and practice it is to leave every man at liberty to worship Gad according to the dictates of his own conscience. r By pursui - . g such a course, the Conductors,„ of the Protestant Advocate hope they shall opeik the eyes of the Public to the vital irap,)r;:nce of the subject "and that, whether in Parliament or in Electiont, whether in social intercourse or in publications, they shall contribute to excite a pro per feeling for the maintenance of that Constitu tion, which has long been, and which, if we he true to it, will, we trust, long be the admiration and the safeguard Of the political,' moral, and re ligious world. It will be their endeavour to•point out in every view and every instance, the duty 'and real interest of Protestants ; it - will also be their, `earnest wish to "draw the Roman Catholics to a SCUSC of their duty and real interest,-4he duty they owe to their King rather than to the Pope, to their Country rather than to Ronte,—and to remind, them of the many acts' of indul g e nce gr a nt e d th e m during the present rei n. Whatever success may attend their endeavours, the Conductors . of this work pledge themselves never to depart from the principles upon which it :s undertaken. Par theii minds are indelibly impressed With the truth, that it is not by yielding principles, and surrendering institutions, jo the difficulty ortimes, hut only by maintaining themagainst all opposition; and cling ing to them steadily, e ven through the severest persecutions, that we . can hope to pass th roug h the storm of infidelity and anarchy which is za thering .around us, unperceived;while our eyes are dazzled by the glare of a spurious liberality:" T~ ~~~ir t ~ 11 l iIT i~~MIx 1 : (011,1winn. for P. *liich.was issued br larimi the Flist, i s . w e i cm _ titled to the notice Of the Constitifent BOdy at the present peridd :--6 BeeauSe the true' and aficierit institution of Parliament do require the Lower House, at thii time if ever, to be compounded of the gravest; ablest, - arid worthiest members that may be found: we.do hereby, Out of the care Of the Com:. ru'on good, wherein themselveS are participant, "without All prejudice to the freedom Of elections', admonish all our loving subjects, that votes in the eleCtion -Or Knights and Burgesses, of these few points following : - '"f hat they cast their eyes, upon the worthiest Men of all sorts, Knights and Gentlemen, that are lights and guides in their countries, e x p er ie nce d Parliathent mpri, wise and discreet. .Statesmen; that have been - practiSed in public affairs, whether At home-Or abroad, grave and eminent lawyers; substantial citizens and burgesses; and generally such as are interested and have portion in the estate." . . . „ " Secondly,That they . make ChOice of such Ls are well affected in religion, without declining either on the one hand to blindness and supersti tion; or on the other handto schism or turbulent dispoiition." - rhirdly, and lastly, That they •be truly sen .. ale, not to disvalue or disp a r age t h e H ouse w i t h bankrupts and necessitous persons; that may (It•- , sire long Parliathenti only for _protection ; lavr.; yers of mean account and estimation ; young,trien that are not ripe for grave Consultation.; dependants upon great. persons, that piay be thritight : io have - their voices under vnintatidj and such like obscure and igerior persons ; .stt that, to conclude, we may Wye the coin Cy.t to see .before us the very face, of a sufficient and weli composed House, such as may he worthy to be a representative of. a'third estate of our kitigil.nrn, it to nourish a loving and towfortable meeting .between us and people, and fit to he a nohli instrument uni:er-the blessing of Almighty God; and oar princely care and power, and , with the loving conjunction kg our Prelates and Peers; far the settling so great of 'airs.7 MELROS ABBEY. (FROINS TAE KELSCI IYIAiL.) the following•partitylars, 'relating tei the dii; cOvery of a stone coffin and Skeleton in this vele rable structure; we have no 'doubt will'be interest ing to the majority of our readers, even although . they should not agree with our worthy corres-: pomlent, in rygarding these ancient relics as the very coffin and the .‘ ery bones of Michael Scott, the wizard. We mike. no apology foi presenting the cbmnannication of Our correspondent in his own words, being, as he is, the living chronicle of the - antiquities of Melrose, and the respectabli. beadle of its far-famed Abbey , "Melrose, sept, 16, 1914. " SIR, . . . " I do take the freedom o f informing von, that I: as digging a hole to' pia s to n e s into, in the, small aisle, next to the aisle where the high altar' stood in Melrose Abbey, and t ca rn e upon a-114- Stone, and by taking it out 1 fo . o iit! more (log, which did cover eight 'feet . .vf ground ; I tore them up, and to my astonishment it was built ou every side with hewn work, forming a coffin , alla, a place extending one foot and a hair from the ;can to hord the.head. I. digged -till, I came a , the bones of the dead, and, found the.scull to 1- of great strength, and the thigh bones which ap peared more like a 'creatiire'.l,bones than human,. for.strength.. The length of the person, by niea suring, appeared to be six feef in length ; ana some few nails I found,' which were crumbling in to earth, whose.tops Were like the bigness of a farthing. He is buried at the side of a font' . stone, to say mass'for his soul. He is laid in g. wettisl. - piece of ground, and may be conSitrcd-W have remained there fer four hundred years in til earth ; and it is found about the place where 5.:- chael Scott; the wizard, cloth lie, which isfame-LI ' .' in the Lay of the Last Minstrel ; it is thought fo be the Very person, as it answers so exactly to the . Poem, and IS . within - two yards of the place wbero Waiter Scott pointed out himself. "You May put this . sfory in the News, if yott pleas'e, :ii)i the" desire of several Gentlemen, at'cl, publish it with other News nio n gers , as a relict a autignity. . " Sir, your's, &c. "Jou BowErt." EtaTUS. On Thursday the 17th ult. at Wick, North Briktint Lady of Kenneth Macleay, Esq. of Newinore, of a Son. On Tuesday, at Tork-place, Queen's the Lady ofsa O'Donel, Esq. of a Daughter. Park-place,, Lady Mary 31arlihani, of a Daughter. : On the 2,9 th ult. Mrs. G. Morewood, of NewiugiG: l- Pro lln of a Son. MAIUUEv. On Thursday last, at' St. Allmn's, Valentine . Morris, of Sloane-street, Chelsea, to Ann, second daughter of bard Watkins, Esq. ofrSt. Lawrence,-near Chepstow. MED. On Friday .last, at his house n I►'ll Pr nfreY -Mt ' John Dieters, sincerely regretted .virtues and $ qualities.. He was justly esteemed one of the most celiac" tiassical scholars-of the age. c e Ou Monday last, at the advanced age o f 84, at the 1 1 ° 1 k 1 1 ,, of her son, Williain,Smitb, Esq. of Crayford, Mrs. Sinqb; late of the City of Durham, Widow a n d r e li c t o f Miles 81131 Esq. COAL MARKET, SEPT, 30. Ships at Marget. Ships sold. Price. 6 4, 53.1 Newcastle .. . 284 .. . 435. Od. to 505. 0 4, 24fSunderlatgl . . . . . . 425. ed. to PRICE OF STOC ;KS YESTERDAY. Bank Stock, shut Old Ana. r (pi! Navy 5 per Cent. 88 874 871 Excheq. MHz, 31d. Pe 4 par Ceut. shut !s. 4s. dis. 3 per Cent. Red. shut Ditto, 3:4d. per day, 3s. Pr' 3 per Cent. Cos. 5741 i 58{ Omninin,'Bliii Bank L.Ann. shut India Stock, 167 Indißunds, Bs. 6s. dis. India co u f Imperial fur 3 9th per Oct.o n5t7.1566 c7rtßO V gi HIGH WATER AT LOSTDON BRIDGE TO-M-- , fter - Morning, 59 minutes after 11. I Evening, 24 minutes!....oo,