Berkeley and Jefferson intelligencer. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va.) 1802-1810, 1806-08-22

UeE0Cu e4Cku0CO IEOtk5s ynG ECtICtC5 va oCls
ences, and declared an outlaw from the
realms oflearning. She was not, howe
yer, doomed to eternal silence. With
the progress Of freedom and of liberal
science in various parts Of modern Eu-
rope, she obtained access 70 rnihgle ia
the deliberafions Of their parliarnents.-
With labour and difficulty she learned
their languages, and lent her aid in giv-
ing them form and polish. But she has
never recovered the graces Of performer
beauty, nor the energies Of her ancient
vigour. The immeasurable superiority
of ancient over modern oratory is one
Of the most remarkable circumstances,
which offer themselves 70 the scrutiny of
rejecting minds, and it IS in the Language
e, the Institutions, and the manners Of
modern Europe, thar the solution Of .
phenomenon, so extraordinary, must
Be sought. The assemblies Of the PEG.
pie, of the select councils, or OF the Sc.
nate in Athens and Rome we're held for
the purpose Of real deiiberation. The
fate of measures was not decided before
they were proposed. Eloquenee pro-
duced d powerful effect, not only upon
the minds Of the hearers, but upon the
issue Of the deliberation. In the only
countries Of modern Europe, where the
semblance Of deliberative assemblies
has been preserved, corruption, here in
/ tie form Of executive influence, there in
The guise Of party spirit, by introducing
4 more eornpendioas mode of securing
detisions, has crippled the sublimestef-
forts oforatory, and the votes upon ques.
lions Of magnitude 70 the interest Of ma
tions are all told, long before the ques-
lions themselves are submitted to dis.
Enssion. Hence those nations, which
for ages have gloried 10 the devotion TO
literature, science, and the arts, have
never been able 70 exhibit . specimen of
ldeliberatNe oratory, that can bear q
comparison with those, transmitted
down 70 Us from antiquity. tsx.|.$ ,.s..
Religion indeed has opened one new
avenue TO the career Of ele9aenee,
Amidst the sacrifices of paganisrt TO her
three hundred thousand gods, amidst
her sagacioas and solemn consultations
inihe intrails of slaughtered hrutes, in
the fight Of birds, and the feeding Of
fowls, il had never entered her imaginar
tion tocan upon the ,pontiff, the harasI,
pex, or the augur, Tor discourses to the
people, upon the nature of,hsir duties u
their maker, their fellow. mortAl., and
themselves. Thiswas an idea too au-
gust to be mingled with the absurd and
ridiculous. or proAigate and barbafous'
rites Of her deplorahle superstition. IL
I Is an Institution for which mankind are
indebted 70 Christiaaity introduced BY,
the Founder himself Of this divine rrll.
gion, and 10 every point OF view worthy
ofits high original. Itselests have been
70 soften the tempers and purify the mo-
rails Of mankind; notiR sahigh a degree
~ bensvolence could wish, but. enough
70 call forth our strains Of warmest graft
tnde 10 that good being. who provides
rs with the means Of promoting our own
felicity, and gives 10 power 70 stand,
though leaving ~ free 10 fall. Here
then Is an unbounded and insxhausiib ls
field Of cloquence, never explored by
the ancient orators, and here alone have.
the modern Europeans cultivated the
arr with much success. In vain should
We enter the halls Of justice, in vain
should We issen 70 the debates Of senates
for strains Of oratory worthy Of remem-
bfancs, beyond the duration Of the ceca-