The constitutionalist — Exeter, N.H., 1810-07-09 00:00:00, page 1

THE CONSTITUTIONALIST.
THE history of the progress, char
acteristics, and degeneracy of Nation
al Manners and Language presents to
our view the picture of nations, emerg
ing from barbarism, ascending to the
zenith of civilization and refinement,
then declining and falling into a state
of luxury, effeminacy, and ignorance.
From Patagonia's dreary clime to the
bleak regions of the North, where an
imated nature scarcely feels the genial
warmth of the solar rays, from the A
merican wilds to the remotest Asiatic
bounds, there are all the varieties of
tongues, and diversities of national
character, of which the human mind
can conceive : yet in this wide range,
no two nations with different civil or
religious institutions, possess a perfect
similarity of manners or dialect, but
each has some distinguishing character
istic. Climate, government, and vari
ous other physical and moral causes
contribute to form this diversity of
manners ; and the latter have their pe
culiar influence upon the genius and
idiom of language.
If, in one country, the arts and sci
ences are cherished, admired, and rais
ed to the pinnacle of greatness, man
ners and language refined and polished
in another, they are neglected, despised
and degraded, and man is savage and
barbarous.
When the human race were sunk in
the glooms of " untaught nature,"
when they first established political so
ciety, as their manners were rude and
uncultivated, their language was, of
course, narrow and sterile, expressive
only of the passions, the impulses of
nature, or ideas, derived from sensible
objects. But in proportion to the
progress of manners, and of the arts
and sciences, language advanced, be
came more harmonious and copious,
and acquired form and polish. Lan
guage admits not of the display of abil
ities and talents, till it has acquired
fixed rules and ^settled standard. Then
the arts and sciences rear their heads
and flourish, genius is aroused from its
lethargy, and this delicate instrument
of thought, from being in its early age,
the " child of necessity, becomes the
parent of convenience and ornament."
The character and temper of nations
have peculiar effects upon their mode
of expression ; and the latter is a very
exact index of the former. But if na
tional manners influence language, lan
guage, when its rules are ascertained,
has, in its turn, an influence on man
ners, and will long preserve to every
people their distinguishing character
istic.
The Reciprocal Influence of
Manners and Language, the annals
of nations clearly evince. In the Ori
ental kingdoms, thegrand prerogatives
of humanity have ever been trampled
under foot, the spirit of despotism
ever checked the native growth of the
human mind, and genius has been but
a mass of ore buried in the mine. On
the natives of Asia fair liberty never
shed its genial influence. Their ideas,
being relative only to tyranny and
slavery, their language is, consequent
ly, in unison with their servile manners.
True it is, that the Sun of Science first
glimmered upon the eastern world:
but the liberal arts and sciences made
not rapid progress towards perfection
till they were transplanted into the re
public of Greece, a soil more congeni
al to the growth of such noble plants.
The character of the original inhabit
ants of Greece was savage and ferocious,
and although their language was, con.
sequently, rude, harsh, and rugged,
yet in proportion to the progress of
literature and refinement, it became
more rich, copious, and harmonious.
When Greece attained the meridian of
her glory and splendor, as eloquence
•was power, and paved the way to the
highest honors and preferments, uni
versal attention was paid to the culture
and improvement of language. Andit
was finally brought to a degree of per
fection, perhaps, unknown to modern
tongues by the splendid talents of the
incomparable Demosthenes. In the
Greek language were excellencies and
beauties with respect to its idiom and
construction, unrivalled in the annals
of composition ; yet such is the muta
bility of all human tongues, that they
must, like governments, when arrived
at a certain degree of perfection, have
a period of decline. When the tyrant
of Macedon put an end to the liberties
COMMUNICATIONS.
Vol. L]
For the Constitutionalist.
AGAINST THE INSIDIOUS WILES OF FOREIGN INFLUENCE, THE JEALOUSY OF A FREE PEOPLE, OUGHT TO BE CONSTANTLY AWAKE Washington.
of this fair republic, the polite arts and
sciences, like sickly plants, withered
by the beat of too warm asun, droop
ed their heads and languished; and the
decline of the language of the Greeks
kept pace with the degeneracy of their
manner,.
The monuments of antiquity, which
have escaped the ravages of time, bear
evidence, that the genius of the -Ro
mans, while their republic was in its
infancy, was bent wholly upon milita
ry gl° r y, while education and the im
provement of the faculty of speech
were neglected and despised. But
when the Punic wars were ended, and
proud Carthage, their rival was no
more, when the general taste was form
ed for the study of a language, which
contained sortie of the choicest treasures
of learning, and the " Greecian Muses
were led captiverind in chains to Rome,"
then the use of speech began to be per
ceived and cultivated, and made rapid
progress, till it attained the acme of
its excellence by Cicero, that illustri
ous model of eloquence. Harmony,
majesty, copiousness, and a'nervous
energy of expression were character
istics of the Latin, which was conform
able to the transcendent genius of the
people, who formed it. In the decline
of the Roman empire, when false re
finement had banished the taste of the
Augustan age, the corrupt national
character extended its influence to the
genius of language, and the decay of
taste, apparent in all the productions
of literature, kept a regular pace with
the depravity of manners. By the in
undation of barbarians from the north,
the monuments of Roman genius and
splendor, of their former arts and re
finement were almost obliterated and
destroyed; language soon degenerated
into a barbarous and unintelligible jar
gon. Then succeeded a long night of
ignorance, in which the faculties of the
human mind seemed palsied, and the
harmonious languages of Greece and
Rome were threatened with eternal ex
tinction. At the revival of letters
when the gloom disappeared, the ge
nius of language was so changed and
the manners of the people were so dis-,
ferent, " tffat it was almost impossible
to understand what the ancients had
said concerning their public spectacles,
customs, and institutions."
The smooth, liquid, effeminate, and
melodious language of the natives of
modern Italy exhibit a striking picture
of their effeminacy, voluptuousness,
and their mental and physical debility.
While the gaiety, volatility, politeness,
and lively fancy of the French may be
discovered from the correspondent
characteristics of their native tongue.
The temper, genius, and manners of
any nation, whether exalted to the
zenith of civilization, or sunk in the
glooms of barbarism, may be learned
from its style or diction.
A brief inquiry into the peculiar
character and excellency of our ver
nacular tongne, celebrated for the
choicest productions, and known in
every quarter of the globe, may not be
displeasing to the votaries of literature
or the lovers of speculation. As the
British Isle was, at different periods,
conquered by various nations, the Eng
lish language in its early age became
mixed and incorporated with their dis
cordant dialects ; and although in its
origin it could claim little simplicity,
yet in process of time, it was reduced
to such order, precision, and systemat
ic beauty with respect to its grammati
cal structure, as rendered it admired
and cherished. For its unconstrained
freedom and energy of expression, its
nervous boldness and extreme copious
ness, it has ever been dependent on the
correspondent national manners and
institutions: What delightful and
pleasing emotions must spontaneously
arise in the minds of Americans, when
they reflect, that they are blessed with
a language, which has nearly attained
the perfection 'and beauties of the an
cient classics, those models of compo
sition, and which may have a benign
influence in refining, and long preserv
ing the purity of their manners; that
they inhabit the only soil, where " the
tree of liberty is planted, and the seeds
of freedom are sown," and where all
classes of society may taste those rich
and delicious streams, which proceed
from the fountain of knowledge.
But while we fondly indulge those
flattering prospects, which naturally
originate from our increasing national
prosperity and greatness, the veil,
which hides the secret events of futuri
ty, may be spread over oureyes. We
are told in Stoy of the decline and fall
EXETER, (N.H.) MONDAY, JULY 9, 1810.
No doubt this may sometimes be
true; but it is, fake notion, that
talents are not at last duly appreciated
by the world; Men of true genius &
education, wherever they are, in what
ever remote corner, whatever may be
their rank in society, whatever barri
ers they may have to oppose, whether
poverty, or meanness of parentage,
yet in time will emerge from their ob
scurity and assume the places for which
nature designed them. Vain are the
pretences of disappointed ambition to
the contrary. They are the unavail
ing complaints of poverty of intellect,
seeking to detract from honest worth,
and erect its hut of wretchedness over
the ruins of deserving fame. It excites
the envy of the ignorant and malicious,
to see others rise above them to emi
nence and distinction.
When we turn over the page of bi
ography we find a long catalogue of
illustrious characters, who rose from
the depth of obscurity and commanded
the respect and admiration of the world.
The immortal earl of Chatham com
mencing his splendid life, had to com
bat the overpowering and indolent fac
tion of a Walpole, struggling in vain
to heave a mountain on his gigantic
genius and hide him from the world.
The parliament and an admiring na.
tion stood astonished at the vast com
prehension of his mind, at the force,
suavity and celestial fire of his elo
quence, arid promoted and supported
him. His genius consecrated him.
He arose in his strength, -and not like
the champion of Israel, who perished
in the ruin of his enemies, he crushed
them beneath their own evil machina
tions. Vain attempt for the minister,
supported by the " unfeeling insolence
of office," to thinkto repress him! The
efforts of his genius were futile, " the
hair-brained eccentricities of a roman
tic boy"—to chain to earth a mind so
ethereal, so divne! Why did he not,
to crown the climax of absurdity, in
the next breath bid the lightning de
scend to earth and the thunders to say
" here we are !" The transcendent tal
ents of a Pitt will shine in spite of the
malignant shafts of party, spleen, or
envy.
In jhe biography of splendid genius
es we are struck with the number of
corresponding examples ; of men who
had to combat innumerable obstacles
to rising merit, who have beaten them
down by the force of their minds, and
laid claim to the palm of honest fame.
Yet how many do we find, who es
teem themselves examples of genius,
of all former republics and the most
powerful empires, and of the causes
which produced tke dege^racy of their
manners and language. Aided by anal
ogical deduction, we may look forward
in imagination to the far distant period,
when future generations, the degener
ate offspring of more virtuous ances
tors, may become enfeebled and ener
vated by luxury, when the chains of
monarchy may be rivetted upon them,
and when genius, learning and the
graces of diction may repose in the
tomb with departed liberty. The mu
tability and fluctuation of manners,
and of all living tongues, and the vari
ous causes which contribute to their
corruption, the tendency of the arts
and sciences t,dec|ine from the mo
ment they come to perfection in any
State, and analogy, are the basis of
this hypothesis. But while virtue
shall be the spring which shall direct
every movement in onr grand political
machine, and science and literature
shall find their votaries, the American
nation will continue to prosper and
flourish, and the purity of her language
will be preserved, till the wheels of
time shall cease to move.
PHILO ARETE.
" What if the foot ordain'd the dust to tread,
Or hand to toil, aspir'd to be the head ?"
No complaint is more common than,
that talents do not meet their merited
reward. Some have alleged, that men
of genius must sicken and repine in
poverty and dishonour, during their
lives, and that it is not until another
more candid generation arises, that
their works emerge from their obscur
ity and receive the plaudits of man
kind. A Milton must struggle with
indigence and an opposing throng ; a
Johnson, whose merits would gild an
Augustan age, must be secluded in a
back room " instructing boys." The
wit must feed on husks under his
thatched roof and "inherit his estate
after death."
For the Constitutionalist.
The chop-fallen gambler also, think
ing that while he is waiting for anoth
er vacancy in the sheriff's office, he may
well enough be serving the public and
himself in the same capacity, modest!)
Let us now, for a moment, turn
our attention to another quarter and
contemplate the present honourable
leader of the Republican party in the
Legislature. This man, many years
since, arid soon after he cairie upon
the stage, appeared in a coat of a very
handsome cloth and made by a first
rate workman. As his under-dress
was rather shabby and by no means
comporting with the richness and ele
gance of his outer garment, which was
evidently " a world too big" for his
lank body, many of his neighbours
could not help entertaining a shrewd
suspicion that he did not come honest
ly by it. But as, notwithstanding his
grotesque appearance in it, he pretty
constantly wore it on Sundays arid Holi
days, and whenever he went into gen
teel company, they began, at length,
from being accustomed to the sight of
it, to think it suited him tolerably well,
and charitably to hope he had fairly
made it his own. The cut o' this coat
having lately become obsolete among
tippees of which he affects to be one,
though still the ton among genteel peo
ple, he has thought proper to turn and
modernize it. And now, forsooth, he
comes forward and demands a seat in
the highest branch of the National Leg
islature, to enable him to discharge his
taylor's bill—and perhaps to pay for
the wear and tear of conscience from
having sb long worn a garment evi
dently cut for and belonging to anoth
er. It must, however, be acknow
ledged that he has some claim on his
present party. This coat being of ex
cellent cloth and elegantly put togeth
er and trimmed, was doubtless made
for a gentleman and gave such an ap
pearance of respectability to its wear
pr that, notwithstanding all suspicions,
it procured him admission into good
company, by which he considerably
improved his manners, if not his morals.
Being now a TURNCOAT, he
must in future associate with turncoats,
and with those who having compassed
Heaven and Earth to make a prose
lyte, hale as usual, made him ten fold
more the child of the Devil than he
was before. It is proper enough,
therefore, that they should indemnify
him for the sacrifice—and be is not a
man to lose his right by too much
modesty.
Another gentleman, having ruined a
fair reputation, by some iniquitous
conduct relative to a country Bank,
ashamed to exhibit his blushing face
among those by whom, notwithstand
ing his political principles he was form
erly respected, puts in his pretensions
in writing to a seat in the same branch
of the National Legislature. A fair
reputation was once thought necessa
ry to entitle a man to that distinction.
Perhaps he has reason to think it may
now be dispensed with.
underrated and oppressed. They com
plain of the ignorance, the envy, and
the ingratitude of mankind, palming
their misfortunes upon every thing ex
cept the true cause, their wint of ster
ling merit. Offen in the pangs of dis
appointed ambition, they turn "a
scowling eye upon the world, blanche
at superior worth, and sink again into
their own insignificance. Among these
are they, whose geniuses have bloomed
and faded within the walls of an Alma
Mater. Perhaps, by a few scintilla
tions of thought, they excited the hopes
of their friends that they were fast ap
aproaching a beauteous blaze. But
their day has never yetdawned ! These
are the " butterflies of science, the
swallows of literature" who flutter for
their season, and then vanish.
The man who comes into public
action has nothing to fear, if he pos
sesses genuine talents. Although he
may remain unobserved for a season,
a discerning public in the end will do
him justice. Ills genius, like an at
tending divinity, will protect him. Let
then then the tempests of malice howl
around him ; any atttempt to extin
guish n spark of this celestial fire,
would be as unavailing as a human ef
fort to " quench the stars !"
M.
TRUE AND FALSE PATRIOTISM DE
FINED AND ILLUSTRATED.
Gilmanton, June 25, 1810.
For the Constitutionalist.
[continued.]
This, my respected fellow-citizens, is
a faithful portrait of modern republic
can patriotism. If the picture is &
disgusting one, the fault is not in the
painter. Whatever may be thought of
the colouring, every candid man in the
State, whether Federalist, Republican,
or Quid, must acknowledge the accu
racy of the lineaments.
There is no more sacred truth in tha
manuel of political maxims than that
men of real merit, except when com
pelled by cruel necessity, never seek
offices or appointments. They always
make offices and appointments seek:
them. In sound and healthy societies
they have no occasion to proclaim their
own merits and advance their own
claims. It is only in a depraved and pu
trid state of public morals, that this cam
be tolerated—and it is in such a state a
lone that it is ever practised with suc
cess. A modest and worthy man may
without impropriety, seek an employ
ment in a public office, as a clerkship
in the Senate or the House of Repre
sentatives, because he is obliged to»
Submit his qualifications to the scrutiny
of his employers. But the man who
boldly goes to the Chief Magistrate of
the State and says, " I want a certain
office, which you have to bestow—l
am well qualified for it—aud have a
well founded claim to it," deserves to
meet from him a frown of indignation
and to be shewn the door. Such &
procedure is equally dishonourable to
the applicant and insulting to the Chief
Magistrate, whose business it is to
know those among his fellow-citizens
who are best qualified for arid entitled
to the places he has to fill and his duty
to appoint them.
Let me now, fellow-citizens, in so
ber sadness, enquire whether this bo
the kind of patriotism which you aro
disposed to encourage by high rewards
—and whether this be the description
of men, from which it is consistent
with decency and propriety and with
the public honour rind safety, to select)
men to fill offices and places, which,
in times more pure and less distracted by
public disentions, were thought, in ad
dition to adequate accomplishments, tea
require somd disinterestedness and some!
little respectability of character? If
SO, then should you, for reasons equals
ly cogent, encourage the propagatiorg
of foxes, and vultures in your groves
and of wolves in your forests. If YOU
from wrong views or a criminal indiff
erence to the public good, are satisfi
ed with this state of things, and with
our prospects under it, so am not
I.
For the Constitutionalist.
TO
Elijah Hall os Richard Dame, Esq'rt
THE bill of rights upon which our
excellent constitution is founded, de
clares " The liberty of the press is es
sential to the security of freedom in a
State—lt ou^ht therefore to be inviola
bly preserv ed." Under the protection
of this most excellent provision, and
the natural right which every individu
al in the community has of investigat
ing the political acts of his rulers, I
take the liberty to address you. It is
a principle well settled and universally
acknowledged, that all power is deriv
ed from the sovereign people. That:
in republican governments, and par
ticularly our own, all the power
which our officers possess, is either
mediately or immediately derived front
the people—and to them alone are
they responsible for all their public
acts.—You, Sirs, compose a part of
the Executive branch of our govern
ment —and those who do not know
you, suppose you to be men of talents,
information and independence. To
your constituents then you are, and of
right ought to be, accountable for your
public conduct; and the, have# natur?
intimates that he shall be much gratifi
ed by the appointment; arid if his ef
frontery avails him as much in this as
t has done in several former instances,
he will be more successful than in his
last application. As there are three
or four more candidates for this eleva
ted place, one man, a turncoat also,
who has been unaccountably allowed
to gormandize and fatten on two teats
of the political old sow, is now, it is
said, to be forced off from her flab
by duggs to make room for anoth
er. This every man (except the ond
so displaced) will acknowledge, in
a State fortunately containing so
many men qualified for the highest.em
ployments in political life, is well e
nough.
[No. 8.