The Federal mirror — Concord, N.H., 1796-06-21 00:00:00, page 2

tommetoe, and then of abilities m^l
repair to their cloificr tnd die hermit^
#ge, not from motives of devotion,
but defpiir. Living Genius being
chut happily difpoted of, and chain
ed to obfcuTity, it now remforto:
propose a scheme, which shill have
a two-fold operation ; firft, to make
effectual provision egainft the future
iotrufioos of Genioi into good com
pany, and secondly, by a regular dun
fical education, a projeft I have al
ways had much at hearts to qualify
a man, at the age of twenty one, to
become a worthy member of the
right worfhipful society of fooh. It
7 is well known to those laudably cu
rious persons, who trace nature to her
elementary forms, that the teamed &
pious Sterne in his ecclefifflical hd
tcry cf Triftram Shandy, has, with
all becoming gravity, philofophised
on the influence of the animal (pirits
upon the Homunculus, or emSrra
during the mysterious work of gene
ration. Agreeably co his hypothetic,
children are sprightly or dull, in an
exaft ratio to the brilkoeh or vapidi-
\ ty of those animal spirits, employed
io chit momentous enterprize. Hence,
the children of Love, vulgarly so
called, are most liberally endowed
* with what lord Bolingbroke terms
the etherial. spirit ;iod, on the con
trary, the defceodanfc of the marriage
bed, are puny and feeble, like the ef
forts which produced them- This
hint is (efficient to set at work my
projecting brain, whose very fibres are
worn threadbare for the public good.
I therefore humbly propose to our
representatives in Congreft, that they
forthwith repeal all laws, which make
the murder of Bastards capital ; &
chat, in Committee of the whole,
they seriously debate, whether it will
not be expedient, to bring in a bill
'to discourage abilities, and to ad
vance fol!y, in which shall be offered
to chafe benevolent damsels, who are
fond of making children, a haodfome
premium to destroy them. For I
am clearly of opinion, that the pro,-
fcripcion of ingenuity, should become
a national concern; and that the
members of our great council, as they
regard the withe# of their constituents
and their own future election, should
punilh common sense, as they would
any other common nuifince. fy
the above expedient of premiums,
young maidens being effectually pre
vented from fofteriog their love-be
gotten babes, the married ladies, on
their part, without fee, or any reward,
, except that of confeious virtue, will
assist, it is to be hoped, io the good
work. As the firft ten years fruit of
their lawful embraces will, probably,
poffefi some particles of animation,
which may ripen into Genius, I ad
vise them, from the tenderest mo
tives, to'murder, with all convenient
speed, every child, born within this
period. This advice is highly rea
sonable and merciful in itfelfi would
refeue sensibility from a world of fty
row, and would fubferve the " good
old cause" of dullnefi by eradicating
tbeoppofre character Genin, be
ing thus literally Lifted in the cradle,
1 hurry on "joyfully and with a
glad heart" to the fecoad claule in
my project ; nothing doubting, if I
may judge from the temper of the
/times, that it will meet universal ap
probation, -and already ^holding,
)"ia the mind's eye" innumerable
statues, which will be ereded to my
honor, at the public expense. The
ancients usually commenced every
important tnterpriz with an act of
religion. Let modern murooi for
/ ofccoddefoend to adopt this obfo
, krtfy||@@ custom. At the'
< expiration of the firft ten year# above
ffieDtiojed r retfomog upon Aria
phyfital fiirtiples, the conjugal ca
reffea ofthar mates will become lan
guid and joy left, and the foggilh
, marriage couch will grow so unehf
. tic that, from it rib Genius can spring.
Then I would fetioofly co<wure the
married dames to make it,' with a
lively faith, their daily and earnest
prayer, that their future ^children
. might be born with ^^comfortable
leaden cap on their fxulh. When
infants tauslly appear with this pan
apoly of folly girting their brains, ter
a milch ass be ftraightwsy provided,
and let them be daily fed with her
milk, that they may continually im
bibe some portion of the spirit of
their nurse. The firft rulimenrs of
noofenfe the "old child of folly"
may acquire at home; a talk, which
some indulgent mammas may aiff
if the fatiguing domestic duties of
powdering the hair, pinning a rib
band, and adjuftiog a handkerchief,
will give leave. At the age of four
teen, or before if they have towardly
parts, let the hopeful boy be sent to
some College. I niean in foreign
countries. For those, who experi
mentally know how the talents of a
learner are cheruhed here, and who
have witoeffed the erudition and ur
banity of our university governors
cannot, by any refinement of conjec
ture foppofe that I mean our own.
Here, aided by careful tutors, men,
who have grown grey by the /n#g ex
perience of—eighteen, or twenty
years, he may grow in folly, as he
advances in age, and on Commence
ment Day, if he can exhibit a dia
gram, unintelligible, like a' profeff
or's, or a fpeeimen of eloquence em
barrassed, , like a President's, he may
add to his surname DD, or diftin
guilhed dunce. The interval from
graduation, till twenty one, may be
ufefully employed in masking with
hypocrisy hit passions, if accidentally
he have any, and io acquiring the
habits, I beg pardon for the im
propriety of the expression, I mean
the active and prarfeworthy virtues
of sobriety, chastity and prudence.
Meanwhile, let him affocUte with
sober and staid persons, who rife at
five and go to bed at nine ; who un
derstand interest, both simple & com
pound, and who pray piously for the
poor, but give nothing away, left i
dleoefs should be encouraged. Af
ter a discipline, so goodly, he miy
rife with rapid fleps, to the tiigheft
posts in church and date. If he
burn to enter into holy wedlock, he
may find, in any street, or village, a
young lady ready with open arms to
receive him ; one, in newspaper
phrase, of great beauty and merit
with ten thousand pounds fortune.
Behind a counter, he may fcrall a
date, with profit and loss and be call
ed eminent merchant. Ac the bar,
aided by the braying of his nurse, he
will harangue " about it and about
it," and clients will hail him ingeni
ous pleader. In a lick chamber, he
may prate of Cullen and Cheffelden;
and hit patients, if he have left them
breath enough to pronounce hi# title,
will salute him fkilful dodor: or,
lastly, from the pulpit, he may hurl
roll brimstone at the heads of impeni
tent sinners with the highest applause
After jogging on quietly through
life, without knocking his head,like
Genius, that unlucky rogue, agaioft
(every post, in his way, he will die in
^peace, and be decently interred in a
church yard. Some friend to the de
ceased will place a fair blue stone, o
ver his grave ; and set forth, perhaps
in golden chara^ers, how ho enjoyed
a goodly heritage, how he digged,
and ho, he fenced it, how he plant
ed, and how he watered it, how, like
prudence he lived and how like a
chriftiin he died. %
===^^
From the COURT.
PORTSMOUTH, Juffli 4 .
Wednesday last being the day by
the Confutation for the annual elec
tion of State officers for the ensuing
year; one hundred sod twenty mem
bers attended at the Court House in
, Exeter, produced certificates of their
appointments, and took necessary
oaths, then proceeded and made
choice of the Hod. John Duncan,
Efa. as chairman. The house after
being organized, informed the Hon.
Senate they were ready to proceed to
bufinefi. A -very refpeaable com-,
mjuee was appointed to prepare en
tertaioment and give invitation to
Rev. gentlemen of the clergy, His
Excellency the governor and the
Honorable Council todine together,
and likewise determine on the etiquette
of the day. Agreeable to the report
of the committee, on Thursday His
Excellency was escorted from the
Council Chamber to the meeting
house in the following procession, viz.
Ift. The Committee; 2d. The Mar
shal for the day ; 3d. His Excellen
cy the Governor ; 4th. The Hon.
Council 2 and 2 ; sth. The Secreta
ry and Treasurer ; 6th. The Rever
end clergy 2 and 2 ; 7th. the Presi
dent of the Senate ; Bth. The Hon.
Senate 2 and 2 ; 9th. The Deputy
Secretary ; loth. The Hon. The
Speaker of the House; nth. The
members of the House 2 and 2 ; 12-
th. The clerks of the House; 13th.
Private gentlemen 2 and 2. On his
Excellency's entering the meeting
house a beautiful piece of raufir, to
levied for the occasion waa performed
by a choir of fingers. The Rev.
Mr< Rowland being appointed to
preach the election sermon, delivered
a pertinent and well adapted dis
course from the " 3d of Samuel 23
chapter and 3d verft" —" The God of
l/rael said, the Rock of Israel spake to
me, He that ruletb over men must be
just, ruling in the fear of God." The
meeting house was very much crowd
ed, but the greatest order prevailed
through the whole. After divine
service was over, the Rev. Clergy,
Hi# Excellency and the Hon. Coun
cil were escorted to Mr. Lamfon'a
Hall, where they partook of an ele
gant entertainment prepared for the
occasion.
Yesterday at 12 o'clock agreeable to as
signment his Excellency the Governor deliv-.
ered to both branches of the Legislature the
following
ADDRESS:
Fallow Citizens of the Senate, ,•
and of the House of Reprefentatroes.
ON this annual meeting, as
substitutes and agents of the
people we recognizerin an espe
cial manner the principles of our
free constitution.
In reviewing that 'inffrumette
it affords much pleasure to oti,
serve that it originated-fromthe
true source of govern merit, the
express will of the people ; that,
they have therein not only pro
vided for the appointment of va
rious officers, but have point
ed out their general duties, disc
tinguifhing between their fevers
al powers, in many iriftances,
in so plain a manner as cann%
be mistaken.
As this State isa ooriftituent part
of the United States; both our
interest and duty require that we|
should contemplate the Federi;J
al Conftitutioa; we there find
nnt only the pleafiag origin &#
that fyflera and the general dtp I
ties of oncers under it, butt,
proper diftin&ion between tty
' powers of that government and
those of the particular States of
which it is composed; and in
this, as in our State Constitution
the manner is explicitly detigna
jed, in which alterations may be'
made if found necessary.
When we look back to the
state of our affairs as a nation,
previous to the adoption of the
Federal Confutation, and com
pare it with the prefect ; the
difference appears astonishing;.
at that time want of credit, want
of confidence, want of energet
ic government was so apparent
as to caute general anxiety ; a
fear of anarchy and confufion.
Under the ad minift ration of our
federal government, we have
experienced a degree of pros
perity unexampled in other na
tions.
Such being our happy Rate as
to forms of governmnet, and the
right of electing agents for the
management of our general in
terests returning frequently, we
should examine with candor the
ads of those in office ; guard
againff all unreasonable jealouf-'
ies ; and give, to the system of
general government, and the Y
wife and prudent administrators
thereof our firm support.
By the a& of Congress puff
ed March r, 1^92, Electors arc
tobe appointed in each State for
the election of a President and |
Vice President of the United
States, within thirty four days
preceding the firft Wednesday
in December next. The law of
this State, reipefting Elfflors,
passed June 20, 1792, being
temporary, it will be necessary
that another should be passed
on that fubje&
As the constitution has assign
ed to the governor certain du
ties refpeaing Bills and Resolves,
and as it is necessary he should
have time to deliberate thereon,
permit me to request that all
such public Bills as you (ball
think necessary to pass, may be
brought forward as early in the
session as may be cenvenicnt.
The egreeable circumffances
ofpur affairs as a State must af
ford great fatisfaaion; and
seem to make it unnecessary for
me, more particularly to point
out obje&s of legislation, to
you gentlemen, who are so con
verfint with the interests of the
people ; any fufthi^regulations
you may think nec©fiary for in
(creating the general profperity'
will meet my cordial attention ;
and while I view it important
thAt a good degree of harmony
should subsist between the sever
al branches of government, I
shall at all times tak^ pleafore;
in cultivating and , promoting so .
deiitable an obje&.
J, T. GILMAN.
State cf Ne^hampflike, '^^'
June 3, 1796,