The Connecticut courant — Hartford, Conn., 1774-01-25 00:00:00, page 1

From ths LONDON MAGAZINES
To ^EDITOR o/tAc LONDON MAGAZINE.
S I R,
AT the ttee when the ancient Britont firfl
became, known to the Roman*,they were
observed to entertain the meft exalted notions
of liberty : their aftions ptOred the fad, and
plainly difeovered the reigning principle. Con*
Scions of the worth of that valuable priviledge,
they were fhenuous in supporting their own
claim, and ready to allow the claim of others*
Of this we are informed in these lines es the
?«» •’
Ecco Britannorum moi est laudabiHi iflo t
Lt bibit ar bitrio foculo quifque fiio.
Though these people were entirely ignorant
of the true God, though they were wholly no*
iuflruftcd in the myftcries of revealed religon,
yet they preferred.the highest veneration for, &
allowed to every man hit right to, the liberty
of pradihog that excellent virtue, temperance.
Not one amoogft them was compelled to drink
more liquor than his own appetite didated to
him : Io that if any one fell into a debauch, the
fault, and of conrc the flume, fell upon him*
(elf. .. ,
Thus appeared that just value the ancient
.Britons set upon liberty ; thus they made it evi
dent, how great was their regard for virtue.
And we too are Britons : but oh, how fallen !
how changed ! We too are Aick'crr for liber
ty, and inhfl open being indulged in th: exercise
of it t but alai 1 we forget <o grant the fame
■indulgence to others. They were enveloped in
thick dark cell loft io the mist of ignorance *. we
boast faperior illumination ; yet they maintain
ed a steady attachment to virtue, and both as
ferted and permitted the free cxcrcif? of it: we
iefift upon our right to be as wicked as we
please, yet will not allow others to be @thcr-
Wife than as wicked as eurfelves ,* at least we
contend strongly for that prerogative.
I need not tell the reader how common the
padice is to urge, and even to compel men
to drink more than they are ab’c to bear ; ner
do I need to enlarge upon the fathfidioo some
.mtn find in gaining an advantage over another
in this way ; the fad is too certain to admit
of a dispute, and too notorious to want a pubi
cation. It will be fufficient for me, if I can, io
feme degree, point cut the wickedcefj of the
custom, and the unhappy tendercy of it.
- Do we derive this custom from the Roman
invaders, orfrom some other of those nations,
who have fioce taken up their abode in this
ifiand ? If so, the We'ch may bo aft a more il
luftrions anccftry than we can. Have we intro
duced the custom in coufcquecce of that clearer
light, which the Author of adgeod has favoured
us with 1 Iffo, we have deb^fed our original,
and poured contempt upon that very Be’og.who
fs our chief benefador, and who. certain'y will,
who unavoidably must, resent the indignity.
Drunkenness is a vice that reduces thedruck
ard below the standard of. the meaotft brute in
the brute creation* These are placed in a lew
s(hte. and fcrnifhed with powers equal to it,
fur wife and g'orious ends, aod they exert those
powers agreeably to the direction of the giver ;
but man, the lord of the creation, allo furofthed
wit h abilities furtable to his slate, aftt counter
eo the great design, aod infterd of ufiog hU
powers he deprives himfeif of ,»hcm.'> See the
druakard deprived of his reafou, aay of his very
^February, M»dcc LXW- hUMBbR 475 J
the
C O NNEC7ICUT Oj|S|^ courant.
'l%Og£'W%s^^ /
~■ ■• ' -.
Containing thefrefoeji and moji important both Foreign and Dome/itc.
From TUESDAY, January 25, to T U E S D A Y, February i, 1774.
’-J , ‘ ‘ -r ‘ '
fenles, wallowing like a bog in the mire, or
staggering in the midst of unnumbered dangers,
uaable to guard himfclf against the flighted ac
cident, though threatened with death io a thou*
land forms ; or perhaps raging like a fury,deal
ing deflruftion to all within his compels, and
fpreadiog deflation with an extended arm, ut
tering the moll ftiockiog imprecations and horr
rid blasphemies, defying hsll to produce a more
aboodoned reprobate than himfelf, and daring
heaven rb execute vengeance upon him. Gao
this be sftcemcd consistent with the design of X
tecna! wifdoak,Which is eternally and uniycrfally.
good, & which therefore could not inc ude, tho’
it might permit (uch enormities iCsnthis be cf
teemed a conduct suitable to the Superior station
of man i Nay, would not any thing finsitar to
this be a dilgrace to the mcaneft reptile ?
But so far are we from taking Ihame to c^r*
(elves, that we impudently boast of these things.
We are indeed grown up to such maturity in
wickedness as to plead ooe crime in excuse for
another. “ I may be excused because I was in
liquor” is an apology frequently made by the
offender, and as frequently admitted by the of
fended ; as if to be guilty of one finful aft were
unptrdouabk.whilft a complication of fins might
plead for one another.
Is it pcfiSblefor man to be guilty of more
enormous wickedness than this which we have
been animadverting upon ? Were we to con
‘fu^ one cf those meu whom we call favsges, he
wou'd undoubtedly put his negative upon this
queftlon ,* but wretched experience lays us □□
uer the necessity of giving it bur affirmative.
The man, who runs 00 in the praftice of druck
eunefs, licks beneath the standard of the meah
eft brute ; but he, who can entice aed.tbcr to be
a pamkerof the fame folly, sets hithfelf upon
a level with the blackest devil. It is the province
of devils to tempt men to commit fio ; it is the
only gratification of their vengeful ire> at least
it ia the on!? one we are permitted to know.
When man invades this province, fie does their
drudgery, and by so doing he affomes their
charafter ; but when roan affumts ’he character
of a divel, he may, and frequeatiy does exceed
him in it.Theyroa/«mpt,but theycan’t compel ;
whereas one man nukes it his pride to compel
another to be work th*n the beads thatpcriffa,
and by this meafare makes himfelf worfc tbao
the divi’s, whocxifteoly to be mifcrable.
Dilcafe and its companion, death, are the cer
tain attendants, the fwift pursuers of in tempt r
ance ; & by these must be opened a (cane that is
frightful only to think of When the foul is occe
separated from the .body, when the wretch is
deprived cf all these pleafares wherein he
p aced his whole delight, and oppsfed to what
he car.not enpy, to what his vitiated appetite
cannot rc'ifh, how will he wilh he had coruder--
cd, io his day, the things that belong to his
peace / The time when this may happen is on
certain, though the thing itfelf be fore. It is,
one would imagine, scarcely po^ble,tbat a man
can so far debilitate his intelkftua! faculties, as
not to recoiled that the inhabitants of the old
world were eating, aad dticktog; and givirg
themfclvcs up a prey to left, when fu^denly the
flaod came and swept them away, io a day
which they thought not of, and at an hour when
they were not aware. Let this be remember
ed .! - - -
THEOPHILUS.
PHILADELPHIA, January i 7.
_ In ASSEMBLY,
■ January 13 th, 1774 P. M./
TH E House taking into their
consideration the Governor’s
message, and "the petition from the
inhabitants of NorthumderlandCoun
ty, with other papers relative to the
late tranfadions between this govern
ment and thp colony of Connecticut
refpefting the claim of the latter to
lands within the limits and bounda
ries of the royal grant, came to the
following resolutions, viz. /
Revived, That a number of per
lons, emigrating from the colony of
Connecticut, have, under a pretence
of right to lands within the limits and
boundaries of the royal grant to the
Proprietaries of this province, with
out prosecuting tkeir claim before his
Majesty in Council, the only proper
place of decision, in a riotous and tu^-
multuous manner taken poflefiion of
a tract of country within the said
known limits and boundaries, aad
have held, and ft ill retain their said
podtilion, in an hostile manner, to the
great disturbance of the peace of the
province. - *
: Refolvsd, That the said emigrants 3
together with a number of ill-dispos
ed persons, with whom they are con
federated, have, in defiance of the
Jaws of the country and executive
powers of this government, afforded
protection to offenders of the most
attrocious kind, and have, moreover,
embodied themselves, and in an hos
tile manner attempted to difpoffeffi
the peacab’e inhabitants fettled far
within the limits of this government
Resolved, That the Governor be
earnestly requeffed to give special
directions to -all Magiff rates, Sheriffs^
and other officers concerned in the
administration of Justice, to be vigi
lant and aftive in the difeharge of
their duty within their fcveral jurif
diftions, and exert themselves in qui
eting and suppressing all aCts of vio
lence, and every illegal attempt to
difpoflefsthe peaceable inhabitants of
this province. • ' ”
• Refolded, That thisHoufe will con
cur with the Governor in every rea
sonable measure to strengthen the
hands of government, in preferring
the peace and suppressing all riots and
tumults, and illegal attempts vdiac-