The Newhampshire gazetteer — Exeter, N.H., 1791-12-10 00:00:00, page 4

As this is a proposition which is very
shocking to the feelings of some of the
human species—let us with candour en
quire into the propriety of it. If the
idea be derogatory to the Deity, it is
imprudently asserted, and ought not to
be imposed on the tender confeiences of
men. Had it been only the expression
of a raffi moment, we might term it a
flight of fancy, of a didate of passion ;
but as it has met a favourable reception
from geniuses of etitenfive erudition and
of pr^ound discernment, it feeins wor
thy our attention. Superffitien and pre
judice are enemies of truth, warm advo
cates for falfehood, and prompt people
to pronounce things fallacious, merely
because they are said to be new, or be
cause they seem grating to the delicate
tear. But proportions, whether true or
hlfe, merit, at least, a hearing. The,
must however be esteemed confident or
inconsistent according as they agree or
disagree with reason and revelation.
Since the above affirmation is pro
nounced horrid,and too dreadful tothink
of! it will not, perhaps, meet that can
dour which it deserves. It is likewise
said, that we ought to set bounds to out
capacities, and notr to concern with the
deap things of God;'! But ft is queftion
td, whether people do not often call
truths deep things of God on account of
their narrow comprehension of them?
aad whether imagining things to be too
sit*— ^*
IF it be asked, what expression this is
which intimates an idea of fach hor
ror, it is said to be this—
" GOD is the cause of Siri."
Deep in the silent tom® my fair one lies,
While here I live by her forgot ;
Can the be deaf to all my tender sighs ?
But Celia's dead,and sighs are nought.
Often I've seen Aurora's golden ray,
Ere it Lad ting'd the weftern main,
Doat on a flower that deck'd the vernal
May,
And call its beauties from the plain.
ELEGIACK LINES.
I. ratmor, of a,&ung Lodppho teas killed
by a fall from a horse.
FORBEAR, my friend, since Celia is
no more;
Why will you thus increase my pain ?
Why will you thus rehearse my forrbws
o'er?
Why will youth& console in vain?
MT. RANLET,
Please to infer t the following in jour pa
per, and jdu will oblige one of jour
perusers— alcander^
" Horrid Expreflion !"
The bleated Cdia'e number'd with the
But harkt what groans convulse that
lovely grove,
Where (he so oft the dance has led ?
'Tis Ihe who now forbids my muse to
rove,
For Celia's bleft, al:ho' file's dead.
•GEORGIENSIS.
dead, < .
Her deeds fhail charm the world no more :
With each divioe& godlike grace has fled
What e'er could bless fairG-—a'sihore.
mind,
And spread a luftre o'er her mien, ,
Difplay'd a temper elegantly kind,
A conscience good, a foul serene.
Th' extensive wisdom, that adorn'd het
Oft, as (he heard the widow's plaintive
tale,
Or view'd the helpless orphan's woe,
Within her breast foft pity would prevail
To give to those, (he did not know.
SEAT of the MUSES.
From the Maffacbufate Magazine.
investigation of truth ? Some, in order
to prove every thing b, every thing,
jumble every thing together, producing
a kind of composition called nothing but
nonsense: Others, like wandring bees,
various in their excursions, and lighting
on every flower,without penetrating deep
enough to imbibe the delicious sweet,
(kirn over the fuperficies. of things, and
make no edifying difeoveries. And
others, though geniuses of dhpth and
penetration, throwing aside the sacred
precepts of the gospel, or qualifying
them to their peculiar notions, plunge
into the labyrinths of sophistry & error.
To found their arguments on solid and
invariable truth they pay little regard.
' Plausibility is the height 6f their ambi
tion. But will commonsense pay refpe&
to him, who endeavours to enchant and
bewilder by the fubtilties of tho't, and
by the magic of expression; or to him,
who adheres to truth, and who deduces
inferences from principle ? The arts of
delufion,in my opinion are incompatible
with the dignity of man. He who studies
Ito liberalize &to corrupt, notwithstand
ing the pre Cent rage for liberalism, de
|fcrves to be stigmatized by the severest
animadversions. How often do noxious
;weeds spring up in a beautiful and flou
; riflring garden,embarraffing the thriving
plant. How o ten are shining talents
devoted to bad purpose lead the
credulous mindeven to doubt the being
of a God.
there is a fourth class of people,whofe
reasonings may appear glaring at firft,
but, after mature deliberation, and im
partial inquiry, i: will be found that
they are eltabliffied by revelation and the
propriety of things. As proportions
are not always to be adhered to, because
they are represented in a favourable
light ; they are not to be totally reje&-
ed, because they at Arft, appeared to be
contradi&ory to the truth: neither are
they always falfe, because they convey
an idea the reverse of what we have
dreadful to thick of— is not 1 mean of
keeping them in ignorance ? Discussion,
on polemic divinity, so far from being
detrimental, excite a spirit of enquiry,
and tend to illuminate the mind. Are
we not often deceived by (light views of
things? and is not metaphysical rea
soning, or treating things according to
their nature, essentially necessary for the
an unprincipled heart, deviating from
the path of rectitude, yields to the sway
of fopticifi; and the, only, who are
established on the basis of truth, are able
to weild the sword of reason and to brave
the ravages of time.
The bible is the helm of life, and the
pfaaice of its precepts is ptoduftive of
solid & permanent happiness. Its ethics
are pure, its offers benignant. But let
us not dare to look into it ; for we (ball
" concern with the dee, things of God,"
Now, is it not charaßeriftic of a preju
diced, ignorant, uftphilofophiO mind, to
imagine, that wt have no right to anal
ize on truths in revelation, altho'„there
is a frift adherence to theit sacred im
port ? Is it not reafonabfe, that we
ffiould expound oft what is given for bar
meditation and improvement ? Is it not
an eternal bar to our proficiency in
knowledge, both human and divine, to'
foppofe we have no right to search into
the agreement or difagfeement of ideas ?
Ought we dot to follow the advice and
example of the great.apoftle? he reason
ed and metaphysically penetrated into
the mysteries of theology. By his depth
Os thought, by hisfagaeity and learning,
he fhonc fuperiour to the rest of the
ipoftles, and made many difeoveries in
divinity. We have not only the prece
dent of Paul to enforce the salutary est
fed and propriety of reasoning, but,
likewise, of him who is the Physician of
fouls. He, even in hit youth, reasoned
with the dodors of his time on earth,
•'heard them and asked them quefiigns,
and astonished thootwithhis unaerftand
ing and into?
There is a variety of opinions in the
world, in refpea to religious fen:i
ment; and the difference arises, per
haps, from ignorance and delusion;
from a mifeonception, or pervasion of
scripture ; from a total rejection of it ;
or from a firm adherence to its princi
ples. But ignorance is condemned as
unpardonable ; observation fuggefts,that
a chimerical imagination will prompt
the loose and incautious, to comply with
the thoft abfiird and fantastical notions ;
been habituated to think.
t>LANk$ of various kinds
D for file at this Office.
sooty
What is revealed, I conceive, we have
an incontestable right to canvafs,&;not to
imagine it a mystery and a hidden thing
of God, because frightful Ihapes and
bugbears are presented. Truth will
ever be adopted by the candid and im
partial, let the consequences seem a
thousand horrid and dreadful things in
which there is no reality :—if it be not
coincident with oar crude, undigested no
tions, i is by no means on that account
to be rejeded. But to the point.——
the fame to the fubferiber,
Executor to said estate—and
all persons indebted to laid
estate are requited to fettle the
fame immediately.
Nicholas Clark.
Stratbam, Dec. 3, 1791,
AL L persons having any
claims against the Es
tate of James Marden, late of
Chichefter, (in the county of
Rockingham,) gentleman de
cealed, are desired to exhibit
the fame to the fubferiber,
Adminiftratri± to said estate,
and all persons indebted to said
estate are desired to fettle the
fame with her immediately.
Sarah Marden.
Chichefter, I 8 h, N°v. 1,91.
Dr. Wa r t,' plain and Easy
Catechisms /^Children,
]ufl publjjbed—and rial, far fcle at ibis
Office. Oa.n.
A very general assortment of
DRUGS & MEDICINES,
• of the firft quality,
Juli arrived from London,
ALL persons indebted to
or have demands on
the estate of widow Deliver
ance Gordon, late of Brint
wood, deceased, are desired
to exhibit their accounts to
Capt. Thomas Gordon, of said
Brintwood, Administrator to
said estate, in order for set
tlement.
Brintwood, Nro. 16, X 791.
and are now ready for sale— and,
will be fold as low as can be purchased
in Boston-by
ALL persons having any
claims against the Es
tate of Jofepb Clark, late of
Stratham, in the county of
Rockingham, gentleman,de
cealed, are desired to exhibit
CASH
Will be given for a few
pounds of
Hog's Brules,
At the DuckManufactor y
in Exeter.
[To be Continued.]
Page & Sargeant.
Cheder, 2^tb, Nov. 1791.
Drugs &>Medicines.
WHEREAS Abraham
Lock of Epsom, inthe
county of Rockingham, is ad
judged to be non compos mentis,
and not capable of tranfa&ing
business for himfelf, and the
fubferiber being appointed his
Gurdian, hereby cautions all
persons against trading with
him on any account.;
Ira Sandborn.
Epsom, Ift, Nov. 1791.
OUT of the
flfi?^^ '' ''" of the sub
iwreig^ scriber, on the 25th
I"'' ' large black
I MARE, 12 years
old, —part of one
bind foot white, about 15 hands high—
trots and paces. Whoever will take up
said Mare, and return her to me, shall
be handsomely rewarded for their trou
ble, and all necessary charges paid by
JESSE TUCKE.
Krafagton, Nov. 26, 1791.
STRAYED from the sub
scriber, some time last
spring, a red,linedback, year
ling STEER, with a crop off
his left ear. Whoever will
give information of the fame
so that, he may be recovered
again, ihall be handsomely re
warded, and all necessary
charges paid—by
fuft Pablifeed,
Divine hymns— or,
SPIRITUAL SONGS;
For the use of Religious Assemblies sr,d
Private Christians —being a collection by
Joshua Smith—and others.
The Third Exeter Edition correried—
with an Addition of THIRTY-TWO
HrAlNS—containirg in the whole, 145
Hymns of various metres.
Printed and Sold gt the Printing-Of
fice in Exeter, by wholesale or retail-
Sold a|fo by Mr. Samuel Sleeper, athii
house in Poplin. October 7.
ALL persons indebted to,
or have demands on
the estate of John Rowell,
late of Epping, deceased, are
hereby requested to fettle the
fame immediately, with the
fubferiber, Administrator to
said estate.
Smith's Hymns.
KENSLEY LYFORD.
Exeter, Nov. 10, 1791. 1
IX7 HEREAS sundry per
sons have heretofore
aided in cutting and hauling
Timber, Wood, &;c. from the
land of the fubferiber,, in a^
clandestine manner —This is
to forbid, all such persons
ti efpaffing upon the fame,as
they will thereby avoid the
penalty of the law, /
Charles Rundlet.
Exeter, Nov. 21, 1791.
Stray Steer.
John Rowell.
Eating, Nov. 16, 1791.
^NOTICE.
Strayed or Stolen,