The Sun.
London, England, 1802-10-09 00:00:00

SURREY SESSIONS.

. . .
THE 'Quarter Sessions for. the County of &I-I'6'
commenced at Guildford on Tueiday last; Arid closed
on Thursday—:' Though there was Much Cotinty-
sineis, the only trials worth publishing were the
folloWing :
. . ,
Bigley. Herniitage. was indiled for ''assaulting
William Cambers, and obstruaing'hitii in his duty
as,Assistarit to Tho Mas Melbourn, who is
.one of
the Assistant Water Bailiffs fOr the City of London.

Mr. MARRICiTTt as COUP;el.for the Preser.:tltion,
stated the Prerogative of the City of London, as
Co4ervators of the River Thames to put in forte
the laws, for..ihe regUlation of which. thev were
necessarily oblized, to have
,a 'Water Bailiff, and
proper Assistants to support him in the execution
of his duty.. , f\Totwitlistandipg. all the. vigil'ancti-
which those Officers, were,lnown to exerts they
could not preserve the, rights and privileges of the
City
.upon the River Thames free from innoVation,l
winch was chiefly to he.ascribed to such daring and
violent persons as the PriSoner would be proved to
be.

111eMourn, Cambeis, and several Others; were
called, who severally deposed; that on. the loth
day of September last, as they were going up the
River in Mr. Melbourn's boat, nearly of Moulsey
they discovered the Prisoner and four other men
and a boy in a Peter-boat, dragging -the, River
with an unlaWful and most destructive' net ; that
from the known violent chara4ers which .the men
generally .burc, they expeaed a desperate reSist,
ance; and accordingly, rowed further tip the River;
to obtain more. assistance, and on getting that, re.
turned again down‘the River. When nearly op,
posite Kingston, they again saw the Prisoner and,
the other men still at work ; on their hailing them,
the boat was immediately run, on shore on the
'Kingston side ; they followed them, and on ,their
attempting to seize the drag, a terrible .fight en-
sued; the Prisoner and his companions were
armed with pistols and blUdgeons, the others had
only their oars, and were in the combat 'most se:..
verely beaten. The Withe:SS JCambers) was run
through the arm, as he supposes, with a clasp-.
knife; another had his head severely cat, and the
whole of the party were much bruised: The Fri,
soner, after wounding Cambers in the arm; umped
into the water, and swam to the boat in the steam
with which he escaped to the opposite shore.
Thecharges being fully proved, he was sentenced
to be imprisoned two years in Guildford. Gaol,
and.to pay afine of six shillings.

DISSERTATION

DI"; THE MOT!-:"ES WHICH MIGHT TO ENCOURAGE

US IN ',HE STUDY OF THE SCIENCES.

DELIvEn J ON ISTH OF NOVEM3FR, 772.5.

(From the Posthumous Works of the President Motrr zs
QCIEU, which, till now, never have appeared in an
Englir:,i Translation.)

THE difference between great Nations and savage
People consists in this, that the former cultivate the
Arts and Sciences, and the latter totally neglea
them. It is perhaps to the informa/tion they afford
that most Nations are indebted for their existence,.
If we had the manners of the Savages of America,
two or three Nations of Europe would soon have
eaten up all the others ; and perhaps some conquer-
ing People of our world might boast, like the fro:.
quois, •of having devoured Seventy Nations.
But without speaking of Savage People, if a
DESCARTES had appeared in Mexico or in Peru a
hundred years before CORTEZ and PIZARRO, and
had taught these People that Men composed as
themselves Could not be immortal; that the springs
of their machines were used in the same manner as
the springs of others ; that the effeas of nature are
only a consequence of the laws and the communica-
tions of motion; CORTEZ with a handful of men
could never have destroyed the Empire of Mexico,
nor PIZARRO that of Peru.

Who will say that:this destruftion, the greatest
which History has ever recorded, was not the sim_
ple died of ignOrance of one. principle of Philoso-
phy ? It is however true, as lam about to prove.
The Mexicans had no fire-arms ; but they had
bows and arrows, that is to say, they had the arms
of the Greeks' and Romans :—they had no iron ;
but they had flint, that cut like steel, which they,
fixed at the edge of their Weapons. What is like-
wise an excellent disposition in the military art,
they formed their ranks very close, and as soon as
one Soldier was killed, his place was instantly filled
up by another : they tad also an intrepid and ge-
nerous Nobility,
,:brought up in the same principles
as that Of Europe, which envied the destiny of those
who die for glory. Besides, the vast extent of the
Empire, gave the Mexicans a thousand means of de-
stroying these Strangers, supposing they Copld not
conquer them. The Peruvians- had the same. ad-
vantages : and even throughout,'wherever they de-
fended themselves, whenever they fought, they.did
it successfully. The Span6rds were even afraid of
being exterminated by these small bodies. How
comes it then, that they were so easily destroyed ?
It was because every thing that appeared new' to
them, bearded men, horses; fire-arms, was to them
the effe& of an invisible Power, against which they
thought themselves
.incapable of resistance,. The
hope of success, not courage, always failed the
Americans. Thus a bad principle .of Philosophy,
the ignorance of a physical principle, stunned in a
moment the force of two great empires.
Amongst us, the invention of gunpowder gave
so little advantage to ...the Nation which first used
it, that it is not yet decided to which that advan-
tage belonged. The invention of spy-glasses was
of service to the Dutch only on one occasion. We
have learned to consider all these effeas as only
pure mechanism, and by that means there is no ar—
tifice which we are not in a condition to elude by
some other.

The. Sciences then are very useful, inasmuch as
they cure people or destruaive prejudices; but as
we have season to hope, that a Nation which has
once cultivated them will cultivate them always, so
as not to sink into rudeness and ignorance, which
might cause ifs ruin, we shall now speak of Other
motives.by.which we should be induced to apply
ourselves to them.

The. first is, the internal' satisfaAion which we
reel in seeing the excellence of our nature improved,
and an intelligent being 'rendered still more intelli-
gent. The second is, a certain cariosity implanted
in all men, and which has taken so reasonable a
turn in the resent century. We are daily told,
that human knowledge has been infinitely extended,
that the Learned are astonished at finding them-
selves so learned, and that the greatness of their
success sometimes makes thei-n doubt Of its re-
ality ; and
.shall we. take no-share in such pleasing
information ! We know that the human mind has
made great progress.: do we see to 'what' ex-
tent it has One, to what extent it has still to • ad-
vance, the knowledge it wishes, and .that Which it
despairs ever to acquire ?
A third motive which should encourage us in the
Sciences, is the well-founded hope of succeeding.
,What renders the discoveries of the present age so
admirable, is not the simple truths found out, but
the methods .by which, it may be done : not the
stone of an edifice, but the instruments and machines
for the entire buildilig.
One man boasts of
.having gold, another boast's
that he knows how to make it.; and he who knows
how to make gold, is certainly the man who is
rich in reality.
A fourth motive is, our own individual happi-
ness. The love of Study is the only eternal passion
we have : all others quit us, in proportion as that
miserable machine which gives them to us, ap-
proaches to its ruin. Ardent and impetuous youth,
which flies from pleasures to pleasures, may some-
times enjoy them pure, because, befOre we have
time to feel the sting of one, it puts us in the en-
joyment of another. In the stage of life which sue.
ceeds to it, the senses may give us' desires, bUt
scarcely ever pleasures. It is then we perceive
that our soul is the principal part of us, and as if
the chain attached to the sense was broken, in that
alone are to be foand_our true, but perfealy inde-
pendent pleasureS.,
Lut, if during that time, we do not habituate
the soul to- those occupations which befit it, and
14r which it has bsen intended, it falls into
,a
terrible vacancy which leads \to annihilation : and
if revolting against nature, we seek for pleasures
incompatible with our state, they seem to fly from
us as fast as we pursue them. A playful juvenility
triumphs in its happiness, and perpetually insults
us ; as' it is sensible of all its advantages, it takes
care to.make, us feel them; in the most sprightly