The American herald of liberty — Exeter, N.H., 1795-01-31 00:00:00, page 1

From Ibe WESTERNSTAR. !
J ' '''■••■ ■- . -
The Divine Le g a thin of MOSES
made evident.
An Extract.
IT is an argument, that Moses
f^oke and aeted,QD££>f himfelf,
but asking divinely led and in
. ftruded jhat the doftrine he taught '
so far excelled the do&iine of the
wisest of the heathens, It is not
credible, that a man, born and^d
ucatdd in the midst of Egyptian,
fuperftVion, foould'know and
teach those things of himfelf. He
clearly taught those things, which
to the Gentiles, appeared as things
aftehded with the £itateft uncer- |
tain ty and perplex ity, "and whi ch
were most remote from their by'
pdthefis. For he shews, that the
origin Os the world was from one
Goo, she creator of heaven’ and*
■earthy concerning which the Gen
* tilesenquired with great anxiety f
but never could find where to fee
their fodt. .
The things which lie taught
.'concerning Goo, were perfectly a
greeable to r*afon 5 yet exceeding
ly remote from the notions, even
of the most learned- and polite of
other nations, who tiUgnc things
concerning God so mean and vile,
that they were altogether unwor
thy of the Supreme' Being. This
is the* lingular nature of the Jew
ifo do&rine, and a truly divine
chara^ef, that it wholly tends to
Go® > it every where favours of
God* it magnifies and exalts God 5
and, in one word, it wholly, in ev
ery thing that appertains to it, is
fined for, and tends to the glory
of God. . And by this bote, t-^is
doctrine is evidently diftinguifoed
from all human doctrines. For
U all the^ do&rines^of you
may fee them seeking their own
glory. You may lee that they
accommodate the dad fines they
deliver, to the dispositions and*
manors of great men, and men
in,power. Butthis has entirely
rcfptd to God •, Goo is the scope
andendof all things $ Go© is con
cerned in all things, fees all things
dkefts all things, all
things arc directedW. ^ory a
-IQD£.
Who is there that would aflett
him to be an impoftor> who refers
everything, not to himfebi but
to Goo alone I
And,- if Motes did not receive
his doftrine from God, which way
in the world * fhoufo it conieto
pass, that a people, noted for their
rpde and uncultivated state, and
despited very much by other na
tions, as remarkably inferior for
ingenious arts, politeness pf mw
nets, and ignorant of phifofophy
and the kiences, should, neverche
lefs, so vastly exad all nations in
their notions of divine fobjefts,
and alone foould have right fend?-
meats in questions of the most
sublime and exalted nature ? And
withrefpeft to the laws .of Motes,
they were by no means formed in
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Vplutne IX.]
American Herald of Liberty.
Yet Moses alone, though he I
himfelf was educated in idolatry, I
undertakes so great a work, as en- I
tirely to banifo idolatry from a 1
people so exceedingly given to it, I
and encompafled round On every I
fide with idolaters. But who can I
persuade himfelf, that he ever I
had power to do this of himfelf, |
of his own head, and by his own
’ power, without any divine direc
tion, command, or afoftance ? If
he was an impostor, why did not.,
he indulge the beople in that mat
ter,that he might get their favour ?
Or, Why did he not at least con*
cent foimfelf with changing the
idolatry into another form, that be
mighty in some degree graxify the
difpofitioh of ibe Hebrews ? The
other moral precepts of the law#
i of Moses are so formed, that they.
|: every where inculcate the most
fincejre love and fear of Go^, and
most ftridly require everv duty tpr.
wards our neighbour. And not
only fofnicatloa and other fins
of kM, (which were looked
fuch/amannff as was to be ex
pected, if what Mqfes aimed at
was to found a republic by fraud j
and thereby thoroughly to fubjfd
tse Jewifo j^ple
For they that make use of impos
ture, are wont to accommodate
themselves tq ( therdifpofitions of
the people, orlat lea£
taieagafoft those dtfpofiuons of
theirs, that are strongest of all,And
which have poflefled tbW minds
from their yputh, and by long.
custom. So Mahomet, -,vhen he '
founded a new religion, patched
it up‘with such precepts, as were
agreeably to the genius of
ffeapiein histimc’, and was care
ful toindulge evert thecarnal aflfe
tions and pafjons of*mepi that the
effeminate Asiatics might find
such things in the religion he es--
tablUhed, as might fatisty their
lusts. L
But, the people of Israel were
so propenfe to idolatry, as abund
antly appears from the whole Mo
saic hiftory, afid their other ancient
monuments, that it appears to
have been next to impoflible for
him-to-rest rain them from it, by
the ftr idle ft laws, and most severe
puni foments.
upon as mere trifles among the
nations,) were proscribed by the
most severe threatenings j but also
all internal coucupilcence, which
does not so much as attempt xo
| break forth into aft, Is condemn
ed by the most sacred precepts.
And this law requires even the
circumciGon of the heart, or an
entire extirpation ofnvd a ffeft ions
and does not so much as allow any,
gratification, of evd defoes, ,even
in she kali things^And Molests
laws, from thebeginnfog were so
perfect, that they never needed^#-
be changed for the foHM
were contrived with such wisdom,
from the beginning aUWk Was,Jo (
times of the gte^esrQdeiwfci x t^
they were brought ax co the
utmbft height of their perfection.
S A T U R D A Y, 31,
i • -- * ”* 1 ■■ I r a j
which hef^r happens in huinan
idwf. And for tbis season, those
never <: hanged, which
^etl^ ydry ffcrquentl^ wont whap
peh to. all laws'merely human.
{u Ali these thih&s do ab>undantly
show, that Mosts had the charic^
ter; hbFof an hifpbftor, but of a
> F^deffai
’ < i l -.^Tr
HOUSE OF REPREiKNTATiVES. 1
. . ■»
HrtHE House took up the re
' x P° rt W the feleft comfoitee,
relative to4trmirig^ organizing and
difciplihin^the miiMa of th^V’ni^
ed States. The report recom
mended to enforce the law by fuft
able penalties ; and a long debate
ensued whether Congress had a
right toenad such penalties.'
, The Committe went through
the refolutiom The Chairman re
ported it to the Houfe* A Cofn
mittee'wete named co bring ,in a
bill. Adjourned.till Monday at
i i o’clock.
JANUARY 12.
There was read a memorial from
sundry merchants and others, in
the towns of Norfolk and Portf*
mouth, and for the county of Nqr
f^k'
The memorialifts Hated that
they had seen with much fatisfac
tion the Heps adopted in last feßjon
of Congrels, to avenge the injuries
committed upon American naviga
tion,by the British ^ruifers., They
could not bestow the fame degree
Os applause upon the memorial of*
sered by Mr. JaY to theCouH of
London •, for. if the whole rtqueffs
contained in that paperJboiridrhs
fully granted they, would amount
only to aw aggravation of the
wrongs already endured’, ^eir
proper tybad, tbey said^ tenfoiled
by the ruffian bandof violence^ and
the tenor of* the judicial proceed
ings correfpbndCtf .Wth the 'origi
nalpiracy. Q£ coUrfe the memo
rialifts recommended more effec
tual and dtciftve meafure^ -
Mr. Murray then moved that
the meflago from the Prefidenfi
which indofed the letter frWthe
late Secretary at War, On the
means of defence of the frontier
fhoujd be reterfed to the fame Com*
mictee of the Whole House, to
which has been referfed the metho
rial from the inhabitants of the
sOUth Weftern Territory.,
Mr. Nicholas objefted ftroog
, ly to this motion, as (hewing coo
much difference to the heads of
the departments. The pa pite in
queftidh Ought moxtQ have, be^n
fait to the Houte at all.
/ , Mr. Murray defended his
i motion. He alked how the gen
tieman propped co gee informa
। tion&Jwas he to manufafturt it
; himtelf. Or in wSat way cobld Jie
better obtain it than from th®
heads of die, dfepaitmfemßJ -He
had ho^ for his oWn part, that
Tpecies of Jealousy of them which
the gentleman daft up had.
? Mr. Nicholas repeated his ar
gumeius with forfle warmth. He
Lid that the 'letter from the late
Secretary at War riot official
but officious, it had a particular
afpedt which fooufd forbid itsgetr
Vhg ahy such mark of attentions
It was deicher more nor fefs than
a commentary on fomc of the
proceedings of the last session of
Congrels. If this was received,
we might exprd the ’table to be
leaped with .such things,
t M r - HoiiteW imagined that the
gentleman from Maryland (Mn
Mu^KA>)b^d extended his motion
too far. it ought to have com
prehended cply the taking intd
cobfideratioh of the meflage from
the President.
„ c Aft^r fonh^.debate,Mr. Nicho
las moved an amendment, and
which was seconded, for striking
out the latter part of the resolu
tion proposed by Mr. MurraV,
This made merely a reference of
the mefiage froth the Prcfidcnt to
die committee of the whole and
omitted aft notice whatever of ihe
report from the Secretary at War.
This.caufed a lengthy debate^
and Was, finally negatived by A
great majority. The motion of
Mr. Murray vvas put-and carri
ed. Adjourned.
January
. Mr. Dexter preferred a report
from the feleft committee on the
« memorial s Nathaniel Apple
ton. This memonalift had fuf
fered considerably by fire, and his
fofS had been greater by his having
preferred the prefervarion of fdme
papers and books, which were
public property to his own. The
committee lb their report recom
mended-a certain compensation.
On motion of Mr. DeXter,the
‘ report was.referred to a commit
: tee of the whole on Thursday.
Thfc House Went into a confi
I miuee of the whole on the report
‘ reta-ive to the means of promui
| gating the -la Mr. Cobb in tbS
| ChaiH A great variety of plans
| were propored but none that seem
-1 cd to meet the general sense of
» the House.
I Mr. PAgX wifoed hot only that
। the lawS ^ight have been printed
I but that every thing else which
! palled ih that House, and every
; word which was fpoken^ migh
Ibe accurately taken down by a
Lfhort hand writer employed for
I that purpote by the ^ubltej and
the wholeprinted anc/dfftnbuted.
The people 1 would tfleh be able to
judge exaftly of the cbhdpM and
charafter of the Representative
: it was then moved* by Mr/iv/
Smith, that a Committee ebhfift^
ingof a Memb^r fmm eiW State
in’the Union, Ihotnd confer on
this fobjeft. This Was agreed tb.
j Mr. ; W; SMfbw brotigiit in a etg.
port from the cbmthittfee ajwoinc
fed co repoFF^ the means of re?«
I dueing^the* national ; debr> ahd'fo
* report on the fug^t and faufftax-
W . * - b»» fi
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