The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-02-25 00:00:00, page 2

I 1!E JUNKET.
.llv Riciiasd Rummaghr, Esq.
No. xi.
il ere man to live coeval 7uith the sun,
7 he pat riarch pupilxvould be learn ing still,
And, dying, leave his lesson half un lea rn'dl
Young.
v Tir.N I look back on the ignorance
o} ancient times, 1 cannot but rejoice
that n has been my good fortune to be
horn at the close of the enlightened eigh
teenth century. Ibis is .emphatic ally the
age of ease and idleness ; the “ otium
cum dig nit ate, ’ so much sought for by
the ancients. I his is the time when the
atti ntion oi 1 \ er\ individual, is directed
to the invention of some expedient, as a
suusj cute for industry and labour; when
ev< ty nerve is strained, both in private
..ml public life, to effect by art and cun
' i’.g, s\ It at has he retofore been effected
on1;V h.y great deprivations, great toil,
till greater expense.
It has heretofore been a maxim, that
the pri ciples and pursuits ol rulers,
gave a tone to public sentiment: but in
Antci it a this maxim is reversed : the
fcop.e give the tone to the conduct of
their rulers. A foreigner would be a
ttonished, to find a government like
ours, destroying the navigation of iheii
poiis and harbours ha a means of de
ience. He would scarcely believe, that
a commercial and enterprising people
■would rely upon gun-boats and torpe
does lor the destruction of a naval ene
my; or commence a war with the gre-at
es: maritime power upon earth, by re du
cing themselves to beggarv in hopes to
'v dieir enemies. All this would at
lu siii pi isc him ; but when he became
acquainted with the gen.us of the people,
Ins surprize w ould ee;.sc.
Among the many inventions of mo
dern days, to economize both time and
ia our, the writing of circular letters
holds a conspicuous station. It savt s a
.oa-- -t deal both of mental and bodily la
bour; v, lii( h is of great ach.mtagc to all
rmpci hcial and flippant writers, and with
no assistance cf the press, it husbands
burn- to a miracle. It ought therefore to
be lu Id in high estimation,and extended
to ever) possible case.
i he disadvantages under which the
ancients laboured in this particular, mav
he pointed out iu a very familiar in
s. ince. It in the* days of St. Paul this
useful nvf nlion had been known, what
u vast ol labour might he have avoided.
Instead ol writing different epistles to
the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, E
pnesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thes
sa.oniuns, 1 imothy, I itus, Philemon,
and the Hebrews, he might have written
a circular, and sent a copy to each, pro
vided blanks had been Ieit lor their re
spective names. It is true that upon i
this plan, a great portion of very inter
esting and very valuable matter would
have been lost to the world ; but in these
days ol wisdom and philosophy* this
" ould have occasioned no great regret.
Ii we were now compelled to pursue
the slow, plodding plan, ol addressing
every individual, in a language appro
priate, and calculated lor the meridian
ol his understanding, how deplorable
would be the condition of our warlike
and electioneering committees, our Ge
nerals, our members ol Congress, nay
even our President? Happily this is
not the case. I he le gislatures of dif
ferent states present addresses to our j
President: he writes an answer to one, j
" •rich he transcribes, and sends a copy 1
to me others. A member ol Congress
; writes to his friend : he gets the letter
I printed, and crowds the mail' with cir- |
: culars. He addresses the judge, the j
j lawyer, the parson, the larmer, the mer- I
i chant, and the shoeblack, in precisely
I same language. A General,Major
j General Preston for instance, issues or
! tiers to his division : lie sends a circular
! hj h'13 Brigadiers, with instructions to
have it printed in the newspapers, for
the direction of inferior officers. Mr.
Bradley is about to convene a caucus to
nominate a President and Vice-Presi
dent : he prepares a circular, and com
mands Sloan and invites John Quincy
Adams in the very same terms.— Whe
ther we would alarm, irritate, provoke,
| conciliate, or soothe, a circular letter
w iil answ er the purpose . the whole can
be Mended in one composition t'
I have long admired the convenience
ol these circulars for the management of
political concerns ; but I did not until
lately find out, that they could lie ap
plied to other valuable purposes. It w as
reserved for the genius of a citizen of
this western hemisphere, to discover
that this plan might he adopted in wri
ting to his friends. Subjoined is the
first experiment which has come within
my observation ; and I hasten to lav
this very us- fill improvement before the
public. The reader will observe, that
this circular "-letter of friendship” wall
addressed to a young lady. To what
| other friends it was sent, I know not.
I T hose who wish to avail themselves of
this plan of writing to their friends,
must take notice, that those parts print* cl
in Italics, were blanks in the original
printed letter, and are filled up In com
mon writing.
I am aware that some fastidious peo
ple may object, that it is ridiculous to
address all our inends in the same terms;
that it is absurd to talk to a friend about
his “apparent reluctance of communica
tion,” or about “exertions to blow a
coldness in his breast,” when no such
circumstances in fact exist ; but I reply,
that this is not more absurd, than it was
of Mr. Bradley to talk to Sloan and o
thers, about their “influence, information
(aid talentsIt may also be objected,
that in. writing to our friends, we ought
always to speak the sentiments we feel;
and as our feelings must be different to
wards different grades of friends, we
cannot, without being guilty of falser
hood, make the same professions to
" ards them all. T his objection can only
be urged by the enemies of Philosophy^,
When we remember that these degrees
in friendship, which originate in parti
ality for our immediate connections, are
scions of ancient superstition, which are
cxjjiutjeu ny me illumination ol modern
improvements, we will directly see that
this objection is unfounded. Upon the
whole, I am of opinion that the epistle,
herewith published, ought to be esteem
ed an excellent precedent of a circular
“letter of friendship,” and forthwith a
doptedbyali who write to their friends*
Indeed, with a few trifling alterations,
it would serve as a circular love letter;
for if I am not much mistaken, it was
'•'■compiled"1 from some very sublime love
letters new in the possession of a young
lady at Brownsville. XT
of the Letter.] I
Brownsville, ninth November 1807.
Respected Friend,
Inclosed you will find the concerns
of a desirous friend, and that your well- I
wisher takes the liberty of informing you
his health has been tolerable for this
some lime past, except bad colds prevail
ing-and dries certainly express great
pleasure in imagining himself shortly to
solieit you personally; which will no
doubt be a pleasure to us both, far ex
ceeding letter communications. I have
been wonderfully well satisfied ever
sinci I hit your parts, meeting with ve
ry few and almost imperceptible obsta?
vies to render worldly enjoyments bur*