The Mirrour — Concord, N.H., 1794-05-26 00:00:00, page 1

IS said to have been abolished — and
Atheism, denominated Reason, in
troduced in its ftesd. It such an e
vent has taken place, it has been ef
fefted by the people, without any in;
terpofition of government—as the
1 following passage of an Address of
Jthe National Convention, reported by
Roberfpiere, in answer to the Mani
fefto of coale feed Powers, will demon
strate. It is not flrange, that a Peo
ple so long duped by the absurd
forms and nonsensical rites of privi
leged Prieftbood, should on their re
turn to rational knowledge, deleft the
machines and machienery which kept
them in ignorance, and in the vi
bration from defolution,approach the
border of error—and that when thus
at the extreme they should deem —
" Religon a politic la% defan'd by the knaves
oftbefcbools,
To keep the dull rabble in a<we, andjo humbug il
literate fools."
But when they (hall fettle in the
mid-way, they will be convinced that
the inftiturion of the worship of Al
mighty God, in the assembly of the
the people, is a duty ; and will be ac
-1 companied with the best terreftial, to
fay nought of celestial blgffings. Let
us hear the And refs:—
" THEY accuse us of irreligion ;
- they give out, that we have declar
ed war against Gob himfelf. How
edifying is the piety of tyrants!, and
how pleasing to Heaven must be
tfiofe virtues, which line in their
courts, and the goodnels which flows
from them! Who is the God they
are talking of? Do they know any
, but pride, debauchery, and all forts
of vices ? They call themselves ima
ges Os God, perhaps in order to cause
all the world to desert his alrars.=
They assert their authoriy is his Work.
No! God has created tygers , and
Kings are the masters of human de
pravity. They invoke heaven in or
der to usurp the world. They talk
of God, to put themselves in his
place ; they refer to him the prayers
of the poor, and the groans of the
wretched ; they themselves are the
gods of the rich, of the oppressors,
and the affdffins of the people. To
revere God and punish kings is the
famejwg. What people ever of
fered so pure a worship to the Su
preme Being as we do? Under his
aufpiciei, we have proclaimed the
principles of all human society. The
laws of eternal justice were byway of
contempt called the dreams of honest
people ; we have given them a real
and beneficial existence. Morals were
confined to the writings of philo
sophers we have by them enobled the
government of nations. We have
signified the death warrant of tyrants,
forgotten in the enervated and timo
rous minds of men.—The world was
the exclusive property of two or three;
^ races of tyrants, as the desert wilds of
' Africa are the domains of tigers and
terpenes. We have restored it cd hu
fflan kind..
>T" Nations ! Your matters tell you,
that the French nation has proscribed
f / all tend of religion ;. and replaced
^ the adoration of God by that of
Ito individuals. They reprefenc
teto you as a mad and idolatrous
[Vol. IL-tNum. Bg.]
•From the Columbian Centinel.
MR. RUSSEL,
Religion in France,
CONCORD
■th;'*''' , 1 ^
©Be ®m#t
BY RUSSELL.
nation. They lie. The French peo
ple and their representatives refpeft
all forts of religious worship, and do
not proscribe any.---They revere the
virtue of the martyrs of humanity
•without infatuation or idolatry. They
abhor incoherence and persecution,
whatever cloak they, may assume.
They equally condemn the wild ex
travagances of philofophifm, the fol
lies of foperftition, or the crimes of
famcifm."
,Exraa from a SPEECH of Mr. FOX, in the
Britifb Houje of Commons.
66 The success that has attended our
arms, has been painted with all the
falfe colouring thaceloquence can give,
but if the present moment of general
calamity were a time to depart from
ferioufnefs,this success was of the most
laughable kind, for it was pleasing to
all the powers engaged in the war,
and the fubjed of general hilarity:
the affair of Toulon is here held out
as a most signal success, and was a
ground of public rejoicing ; in France,
on the fame account, feafts are made
to celebrate this glorious event ; with
the events of the campaign, all par
ties seem perfectly contented, full of
joy and elevation on the occasion ;
and were it possible to appoint some
place where they could meet, they
might all rejoice together upon the
occasion : but amidst their rejoicing,
what is the situation of Europe ? It
exhibit a scene of calamity and dis
tress, that must touch every heart, not
totally loft to sensibility and human
ity?'
Extras from a Speech of Mr. Duoaery, in the
Irifb House of Commons, Feo. §.
" Mr. Duquery asked, For what
puipofe we were carrying on the war?
He was shocked at the folly and
wickedness of a war commenced
and continued upon the principles of
extermination. The principles held
out were, that we are to maintain the
contest until France should renounce
republican principles. How long
that might be, was to be conceived
from the mass of French rushing with
enthusiasm to the frontiers, from the
retreat, of the allied forces acrpfs the
Rhine, from the firft Generals in the
world having been beaten by undis
ciplined troops, and from the fineft
fleets in the world seeking fafety in
flight and the darkness of the night.
Ireland in support of the contest
should go so far as to spend her last
(hilling and shed the last drop of her
blood—but let her know the ground
upon which she Hands. We should
be fore that our Sovereign leagued
with a German Despot, bad not been
mifadvifed into a reprehensible war.
Why was Valenciennes, in the re
duction of which we expended so
much blood and treasure, surrendered
to the Emperor exclusively ? Why
was Toulon taken shortly after in the
name of Louis the XVilth ? Were
we to ftreogthea the Emperor in Al
sace and Lorrain ? Are we co subsi
dize Prussia ? Are we to take the
Austrians into odr pay as well as the
Hessians ? He never heard much of
the Bricilh connexian, unless in mis
fortune. We' love the House of
Hanover 'but is that a reason why
we should fight the French until they
love the House of Bourbon $ which
for centuries had been the oppressors
MONDA Y, May 26, 1794.
So <well known and refcaed in the United
States, and until lately so highly celebrated in
France, an enlightened world will not suddenly
forget, notwithstanding he has expired on the
scaffold. Perhaps when the fervid enthusiasm
which animates, and in several instances, misleads
his latefellow-citizens Jhall sulfide, and the calm
of reason permit the voice of impartialjufiice to he
beard, his fame ma, be rescued from the obliges,
which at present surrounds it. Whatever may be
bis fate, the following, as bis last work, will
be gratifying to the public.
of the people? We have had our
bloody days—and had the fame com
bination attempted to punish the
murder of Charles the Second, the
feme disorders and massacres would
have taken place, which began with
the manifeftoes of the Duke of Bruns
wick. Why did not America
DRAW THE SWORD FOR Louis who
fought for her and against us, and
who styled himfelf her deliverer ? —
Because, America acted without
Passion, and tho' in an infant state,
has given Lessons of wisdom and
CAUTION to OLD ENGLAND.
I pitty those unhappy prisoners who
carry with them a conscience loaded
with crimes ; every minute must be
to them an hell,they must dread their
trial as they would a massacre. For
my part I have no fear of this kind. —
When free I always regarded a prison
with horror ; I am now a ptifoner,
and this horror has disappeared, for I
am resigned to whatever may happen.
Our lives must have an end, 1 shall
not be taken at unawares, I am pre
pared.
He that it not wearied with his
own company in the solitude of opin
ion, certainly Hands well with him*
felf . ,
To be well with ones felf is to
possess a good conscience.
Conscience is a faithful mirror, ug
ly figures are not fond of consulting
their mirrors.
To be exempt from hatred, jealou
sy and revenge, is a fore proof of our
superiority over human nature.
The man who in every adion
steadily pursues the publick good,
never flops to revenge himfelf on his
wicked perfecutorl, and regards with
pleasure men of superior talents who
distance him in the fame course.
The magnitude of thpfe evils
which afflift mankind is owing more
to imagination than reality.:
BRISSOT's Refltaions in Confinement.
EVERY moment of life should
be improved for the benefit of
ourtelves or of others ; my furious
enemies have cast me into prison ;
here I propose to give myfelf up to
medication to retrace the past, and
to commit to writing my ideas on
what has happened, and on what fu
turity has in store for us. 1 shall de
liver my sentiments as if I 'had no
part in the present scene ; as a man
who knows his faults and who dares
to acknowledge them.
The solitude of a prison affords
the foul that calm which is necessary
to write the truth. In this solitude I
am in the presence of two witnesses,
but little attended to in the tumultu
ous bustle of the world ; I am io the
presence of my conscience and of my
God.
Foreign Miscellany.
M. BRISSOT,
THE exertions of those worthy
citizens who are organizing a
system for collecting money to relieve
our unhappy countrymen, tow |an
guifhing under the complicated mis
eries of slavery, command the grati
tude of every generous mind : But
can that fatisfy the feelings of the
heart ? Can we withhold our aid and
not relinquilh all pretensions to hu
manity ? Can we be free and opulent
ourfelvei, reclining on the bed of ease
and Sheltered from misfortune, and
yet cruelly shut our aers against the
groans of misery which ride op every
gale ? Forbid it Virtue ! Humanity;
forbid it ! Sons of affluence, quit for
a moment th^ flowery path which
your more happy lot has pointed out,
and view with me the dark, damp
cells of slavery—Prostrate and expir
ing on the flinty bed to which he is
chained, observe that fpedre, who
scarcely retains the traces Os humani
ty I Pale, lean, excoriated by the
whips of his barbarian master, his eyes
revolve not in their deepened sock
ets to mark our near approach !
Those eyes once sparkled with the
fire of freedom, though setting now
in death—The memory of happiness
forever loft, and- sense of present mis
ery now heave his bosom !—That
bosom once embraced the dearest in
terests of our common country, and
swelled with ardor in the road to glo
ry—-He groans t—There bursts a
heart, till now, alive to every sense of
honour and warmed with heaven'de
fcended charity—His foul, indignant
at his chains, rejoins Montgomery and
Warren, with all the hosts of his com
patriot heroes, beneath a milder sky.
Yet turban'd slaves, relent before
some chosen curse from heaven (hall
blast your feeble hopes of happiness !
Oh that one ray of Liberty could but
enlighten and meliorate their hearts !
Let us, my countrymen, assert our
claim to all the finer feelings of com*
passion, and shew that we deserve the
happiness which heaven accords.—
Jerfeymen, be generous as you are
brave, and foften, as far as in your
power, the rigours of captivity—So
may do chains disgrace your free born
sons, and peace support you on her
downy pillow. C.
DEBT of GREATBRITAIN.
Two hundred and seventy millions, the
national debt of Greatbritain, is a sum the
human mind can hardly form an idea of ;
to give some assistance in forming a notion
of it, were it to be laid down in guineas in a
line, it would extend upwards of 4300 miles ;
if in (hillings, it would extend three ends
half tim& round the globe ; and if paid
foiid silver, would require more than 60,000 t
horses to draw it, at the rate of 's°° weight
a bode.
We judge of misfortune by the
privation of present enjoyments, and
by the inconveniences Which ensue,
the philosophic mind quickly forgets
the firft, and accommodates itfelf to
the, last,
Re)ign ^je^ and ton to fuffer.
Thele few words comprise the most
important knowledge and the whole,
happiness of man. " ,
I always had a good opinion of the
man who could deep soundly in pris
on for fix or seven hours, undisturb
ed deep arises from a good conscience
and a state of resignation.
From the (Newjersey, State Gazeette.
A CALL TO COMPASSION.
[Price 7s. per ann.]
NEWHAM.