The Federal mirror — Concord, N.H., 1795-06-05 00:00:00, page 1

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[VOLUME 111.-
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[Don't mind this ]
FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS SPY.
the NEIGHBOR.—" To the Neighbor.
SIR,
SINCE you seem to be a good
neighborly fore of a man, aod
Sometimes flbow yourfelf pleated with
the profpetity of your neighbors and
of your country, la little wonder that
you have not before now poirce+out
some further particulars in which our
advantages are so much greater than
they were formerly ; aod especially
with regard to taxet. We Jarmen
and mechanics used to be often grum
bling, and, we thought we had rea
son, because we had so much ratet to
pay, and that so much went to the
fapport of ministers, and that minis
tert were never rated.
The produce of our farms was often
low, and the taxes always high ; and we
bad to work bard, and pay rates, and
maintain others without labor. But
now I findtbe tables are agreeably turn
ed. It is true, we give our ministers
from 60 to 1001. a year ——But then,
where they paid us t&ofoillings, or at
most, two piflareens a bufoel for Indian
corn, three and fix pence for rye, and
five /billings for wheat, we now make
them pa, four or five /billings for corn,
fa or seven for rye, and nine or ten for
wheat. Our meats in the Jame propor
tion, and our butter twice as much as
it was formerly. Our labor too is clev
erly up. So that in this, as well as in
' other re/pe^^ a good Bitch
upon them ; for if they want us, or any
of otte boys and girls, to work they must
pa, us pretty well for it. The, are clev
erly wiped up too, by the traders and
mechanics : for now, if they will drink
their wine and brand,, and eat their fu
gar and molasses, the, must give fetch a
sweet price for it, as to make fometbing
of a bole in their salaries, large as they
are. It is t' u ^ 'be carpenter;the ma-
Jon, the blackfmitb, the taylor, and the
fo^maker, and every body else that buys
theft luxuries, as they call them, must
pay for them as dear as the minister,
(or the printer): But then they can
make one thing answer another ; but
ministers (nor printers) can't for the
foul of them; for we will not give
them more now for their labors, nor
more bread and cheese to eat, than
when they could live as cheap again.
The Baptist, you know, never liked
the flatting ministers, and used tocall
them hirelings, because the, wanted high
salaries to pa, them for preaching the
gafpel. Iremember, when I was a boy,
I heard my father tell of a famous bap
tift preacher, who used to fay, " When
you travel through a town, the fineft
boufe that you onill fee, is the minijier's,
and when you go into their meeting
boufes, the fineft dreft woman is the
minified wife'" It tarns to me that
in this refca too, the tables are turned
—7 was riding a year ago with a bro
-1 ther fa'^r through a certain town,
where there were a good many fae bouf
^ : ^es ; none of them though belonged to
ministers but all of them to traders and
sradejmenjo tavernkeepers and farmed
&r. One of them that looked the moss
< .rand with fine gardens, and bar,,
$ and flbeds, and ben boufa, and bog flies,
and privies, and the d—l knows wbat,
fflr^ed #r ^ a ^^ m
Ifflb *, comptm* broke ou; J«
NEWHAMPSHIRE-—PRINTFD AND PUBLISHED BY RUSSELL AND DAVIS, AT CONCORD.,..
CONCORD, FRIDA Y, June 5 , 1795.
. ' ~ %< • • —&''!" ,1——. ——— —— =- —' "'
what a lawyer can do !" But the
cream of it all is, ministers, who never
used to pay any rates, are now taxed
higher than the farmers. It is because
the, eat and drink, and wear, more of
those articles that pay a duty, than the!
farmers do. If this is the case, if they
minister and the minifler's wife, will be
so proud and grand, and always be the;
firfl to follow every new fajbiou that
comes to sown, why fbould they ffipay
for it ? —Methinks I Jhall always like
a republican government the better for
its being jo free and equal as to tax the :
clergy. Libert, and equality forever!
I hope they will always fend jueb wife
and just men to Congress, as will make
no exceptions, in favor of ministers,
more than other men. If miniflers, and
their families, and their company, can
not do without feafling and flaunting on
dutied articles, let them pa, for them :,
If they mu# have their cbaije to ride•
about in, let them know bow good it is 1
to pay two dollars a year for the privi- |
lege. How nicely the tables are turn-|
ed! In the place where I live, I look
around once in a while, to fee bow my j
neighbors get along, and who thrives\
fafleft ; and I take notice that several!
farmers, and two or three mechanics,\
particularly ajoiner, a saddler, and a
Jhoemaker, who began the world among
us about the time we fettled our minis ;
ter, are now, ever, one of them,fa,, l
and severally, worth as much again as\
be is. I know'that some of us, at the I
tone, were uneasy. because the town vot-\
cd to give him so 3igafefy% te^L
all the money we give him, and with ;
all bis prudence and economy that be|
tells of, the farmers and mechanics have l
beat him out and out, in point of pop- 1
erty. But no matter, ministers have no
bufaefs with much of the world. If
they themfelaes muff eat- and drink, like
other mn 5 let their families fairk for
themlelves. If ministers were to live
easy, they would grow as fat and as la
zy as some otbep folks that I know of.
But keep them frat/ened, and they will\
feel their dependance ; and it will make'
them live fnufc and perhaps they will
be industrious dnd saving and set agood
example. And if they were to work a
days, and read their books and ffudy
their sermons a nights, I don't know as
they or their hearers would be the worse
for it. I have beard that some parifo
es are so foolish or so laVtfb, as to con•
sider their ministers, as some did in pa
per money times ; at lead that they
make a business of fending them pork,
and beef, and butter, and cheese &c.
But they bad better do as I do, fend all
they have to spare to market, now ever,
thing fetches a good price^tyfe^.
But if our town would wake up,
arid make an additional grant to out
parson to be paid fa money, 1 know
there it one remedy ; I can jgin the
biptiih, or the univerfalert, and then
1 d'ye feelgte fafe, and save my mo
ney
Yours, Antiparsons.
~,/ .■;^
1 tfOLYMAN AND ALMENA.|
1 AN EASTER N STORY.
IN a pleasant valley of Mefopotomia, on the
banks ofithe Irwin, lived SoLYMAN,fon
' of Ardavan, the sage. He was early inftrua
-1 ed in all the oriental languages ; but, as his
h underftandiug opened; like the flower in the
,rooming, when Aurora dawns in the east, he
thirsted only for the knowledge of mankind.
He prevailed on his father, with much impor
tunity, io permit him to travel. The morn
ing wasfpread upon the mountains, and So
lyman prepared to depart; but firft prostrat
ing himself towards the fun,, he addressed
that glorious luminary in devotion, and then
; palfet ioiler the Tigris, into the kingdom of
Persia.)
There is some secret attraction in the place
wh^re wi have passed the cheerful innocence
of |hitdhcod. No sooner had Solyman af
ce^elftn eminence which gave him a retro- 1
fp&r^ view of the valley hi Irwin, than he
turned his eyes on his native fields, and gaz
ed on them with a kind of pensive compla
cency, till the declining day called him to
proceed.
When he had reached the foot of Mount
Taurus, he fought to repose himfelf in the
valley of Abdat, but he was stopped by an
exclamation of sorrow which proceeded from
an adjacent wood. As he was in hopes ofre
lieving some distress, he drew near, and dis
covering two lovers, who had stolen a secret
l interview before their final reparation. Be
;ing made acquainted with the cause of their
;forrow, and finding it proceeded from the
;avariciouinefs of the lady's father, who had
;fold his daughter to a Khan of Buckharia, he
;offered them his assistance, which being ac
icepted, he conducted them back to the banks
lof the Tigris ; and, recommending them to
his fa her, continued his travels, till he ar
rived at Ifpaban.
IThe beauty and magnificence of that city
engaged his attention for many days; but
§his greatest pleafare derived from the conver
{fation of an English merchant, from whom ;
' Jie learnt many things relating to the man-j
ners and pursuits of men in different coun-I
tries, particularly in Greatbrirain. With;
I this merchant, he afterwards fat out for the
I court of Baffora ; but, being driven by the
j heatcfthe fun to seek for Shelter on the de
!clivity of a neighboring mountain, they by
I accident were led to the cave of a hermit. —
| The go&d old father at firft retreated from
• tte^_ .ferful of the effects of human feroci
trctrrgrtron cort-iocce they were an
-liy i^ffenfive travellers, he afterwards ac-
I quailed them with the hiftgry of his life,
j The hermit told them that he was born
tof competent fortune ; but, being left an or
phan, was deprived of it, partly by the chi
canery of a court of equity, and of the rift
through the treachery of a friend. This ob
liges him to enter as a common soldier in
the ymy of the Sophy, where he fell in love
withthe daughter cf the commanding offi
cer, which plunged him again ipto new mis
fortanes, and at last ended in his betaking
himfelf to those solitary mountains for a re
treat.
After having finished his tale, the travel
! lers took their leave, and, about the close of
the day, arritfed at the village of Arden? At
their entrance, they were met by a person in
a plfin dress, who invited them to partake of
his ioufe and table that night. The hofpi
talify they received from him, gave Solyman
ver[ different ideas of the dispositions of
mankind, from what his own partial obferva
tiol, aided by the adventures of the &wo lov
ers/ and the tale of the hermit, had enabled
hili to form. When the dawn of the morn
ing broke, Solyman and the merchant left
thi village of Arden, and after a few days
travel, arrived on the plain, on which flood
theonce glorious Perfepolis.* The contem
plation of its ruins filled their minds with
proper reflections on the instability of hu
num grandeur, and from thence they pro
ceeded to the court of Baffora.
The merchant here finding the vessel he
expected, told Solyman he could accommo
date him, if he pl^fed, with a passage to
Europe, which the defife the latter had for
feeing foreign countries induced him to ac
cept : But as the (hip was to remain some
timein the gulph, he took that opportunity
to make the tour of India, and, in his way,
* PfffQclis ruins, in Pirfia, in theprroa<, of
E„ac Agrm, 50 milfi N. E. of Sebirras, and 200
3, E. of Ifpaban. Here are the most mugmfeent
remains of a palace or temple, that are nra in be
ingox the face of the earth ; the, been the N.E.
tad of that j,actons plain where Perfyolis once
flood, and are generally conj&ped to he,art of
the palace &ftbat Danas, who was conquered oy
Alexander. Iris recorded, that after the brutal
dltfawr bad taken this city, bewatferfuaded,
when in liquor, by Thais tee toertfan,refit it^
in fire. Thus fell thefeat of the Prfan monarchs
who bad long given laws, tofeveraj nations, srad
been the terq, of Greece, it tfe
' (number '37-]
visited the isle cf Ormns. There be met with
an exile from Ifpaban, who lid been doom
ed to spend his life in that dreary foot, so? no
other crime, than that he bad hid at court,
he thought the Sulana Moratte extremely
beautiful. The unmerited severity of his sen
tence moved the tender heart cf Solyman.—
He promised him his liberty, at his return
from the excursion he was making, and con
tinued his route for India. -
Being come to Delhi, the capital of the
Mogul's empire, his heart, which had hith
erto been a stranger to love, fell a victim to
the charms of the Rccomphfhed A/mer,^.—:-
He thought no more of performing his voy
age to Europe ; but the unhappy late of the
exile at Ormus recurring to his mind, he de
termined to fulfil the promises he had made
him, and, quitting Almena, returned to
Baffora. Having fettled every thing relative
to the departure of the exile, he took the op
portunity of the Ihip's delay in setting our,
to visit his father, from whom he learned the
sequel of the adventures of the two lovers
who had been recommended by him to his
care. Almena, however, still continuing
uppermost in his mind, and the time for the
departure of the vessel drawing near, he again
left Arden, and, having seen the exile fcfely
embarked at Baffora, proceeded to Delhi.
Solyman and Almena, being now a second
time together, mutual proftfliens of love
and friendfhip enfuod, in consequence of
which they agreed urquit Delhi, and to re
tire for the remainder of their days to the
valley cf Irwin, "But a war at that time rag
ing in India, and the lovers unhappily faking
their passage in a vessel belonging to one of
the contending parties, they had tcarcely got
fiye leagues out to sea, before they were par
fued by the foe, and after an obstinate en
gagement, made prisoners. The eri my
stripped the vessel of every thing valu ble,
then dismissed it ; but they carried eff Al
mena.
What pen can describe the grief of Soly
man ! his fair one carried he knew not
whither, and the ship, unable to proceed on
her intended voyage, obliged to return to
the co^ft of India: Here he was told, that
the vessel, which had taken them, belonged
to the King of Sundah; and having inform
ed himfelf of the situation of that country,
he went in quest of Almena. For a long
time he continued his miserable search in
vain ; but at length discovered by accident,
that the was confined in the castle ofSevafor.
This difeovery only served to in'creafe his
misery. The Governor, who was in love
with Almena, finding him to be the person
whom the had long languished after, and
considering him, of course, as the principal
obstacle to his wishes, ordered him to be con
fined. He found means to break from this
confinement just in time to refeue Almena
from the brutality of the tyrant, whom he
killed ; but the guards coming upon him in
that instant, they were both made prisoners,
and shut up in the castle, till it was taken by
a party of the King of the Kanarians.
This incident, from which the two lovers
might have hoped for deliverance, only add
ed to their Woes. They were again separat
ed, and Almena felefted for the pleasures of
the King of Kanaria. Solyman, however,
having found means to introduce himfelf in
to the King's service, repaired to the palace,
and acquainted him with the whole story of
their paffian. A violent struggle at firft a
rose in the King's breast, between love and
virtue ; but the latter triumphed, and Al
mena was restored to Solyman.,
The two lovers being thus, once more,
miraculously brought together, and unwil
ling to rifque their happiness again upon the
sea, determined to travel by land for the val
ley of Irwin.
After many days tedious jo^rney^ they ar
rived at Delhi, from whence they continued
their route to Ifpaban, where Solyman
found his old friend the merchant. The
customary congratulations over, and the
. merchant being informed of the particulars
of their adventures, Solyman then gave him
an invitation to accompany him to the val
ley of Irwin, which was accordingly accept
ed. In their way, they visited the two lov
ers mentioned in the preceding part of the
story, whom they found completely happy.
Having been witnesses of their felicity, they
proceeded to the valley of Irwin, where Ar
davap received them with the greatest ten
deri^fs ; and Solyman and Almena, happ,>
in thtmfelves, and in each other, closed the:
returning day with prayer and praise to that
Providence, which had preferred them in all
th@r dangers. [Let others do fikrarfft.}/„