The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-10-06

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could believe them they felt necessity of seek
ing aid from supernatural agent, but no salts
faction in praying to an invisible God. They had
never thought OF such being and they could
not bring themselves at 20 the habi, of form
ing conceptions of him with sufficient clearncss
and confidence to make him an object of adora.
ton, to which they could address their supplica-
tons in the day ofgreat affection.
| Forty years OF migration were judged reccssa-
Try to suppress the habit of using idols in their
worship; during which time their continual
marches would render it at once inconvenifnt for
the people to move their heavy gods, and to con-
ceai them in their baggage while the severity
of military discipline mutt expose their tents
& their effects to the frequent inspection of their
officers
Shall apply this principle to tile French ma.
ton i'll her revolution No, my friend, it is too
delicate a task for foreigner who has received
her hospitality II will leave it to YOUR own com
passionate and phanthropic mind. You will re-
collect how often partook of your grief during
that scene of moral degradation. No sooner
did you and the other virtuous leaders in the re-
volutioa begin to speak of august liberty, ho!y
reason and the divixe rights of man, than the ar
tizans took up the hammer, The chissel and the
plaster OF Paris. They must reduce these gods
to form before they could present them to the
people with any chance of their being under
stosd they must create befo: they could adore.
Trace this principle through FIVE years of your
history, and you will find why the cstholic relgi-
on was overturned, morality laid asleep, and the
object OF the revolution rretrievably lost at leas
for Our day.
My dear Gregoirc, am glad you have written
me this letter, though at first it gave me pain.
was sorry to find myself so entirely msconccived
by friend SO highly valued but see your at
tack is easily repealed, thing which / know
Will give you pleasure, and it furnishes me an
occasion at the same time to render piece of
IJustice to myselfn relation to my fellow citizens
You must know have enemies in this country.
Not personal ones / never had a personal enc
my, to my knowledge, in any country. But ley
are political enemies, the enemies of republican
liberty. and few OF their followers who never
read my writings that is my writings that I
wrote, but only those that did not write such
as were forged and published for me in my alb
sence IS; many Of which never have seen, and
some of which did not hear of till ten wears
after they had been printed in the American ga
zattes.
1t has even been said & published by these chris
tian editors, Il never heard of it till ately) that
went to the bar of your convention, when it was
the fashion so TO do, and made solemn recaata-
ton OF my christian faith declaring myself an A.
theisi or Oeist, or some other ant-christian Il
postate l know not what, for never vet have.
seen the piece. Now, as an active member of
mat convention, steady attendant at their sit
ltings, and my most intimate friend, YOU know
that such thing could not be done without your
knowledge you know therefore that it was not
done: you know l never went but once to the
bar OF that convention, which was on the occas-
ON to which you allude in the letter before
me, TO present address from the constitutional
society in London, of which l was member
You know always synpathised in your grief and
partook of all your resentment while such hor-
rors and blasphemcs were passing, of which
these typographical cannbsls of reputation have
made me participant.
These calumnies you could not be refuted
by me while did not know of their existence.
But there is another reason which you will no,
conceive of till inform you. The editors of
newspapers, you know, ought to be considered s
exercising sacred function they are the high
priests of public opinion, which - the high court
OF character, the guardian of public morals
Now am ashamed TO inform you that there are
editors in this country who will! publish the gros.
sest calumny against citizen, and refuse to pub
fish its refutaton. This is immortality UNI
known in France since the death of Marat.
n private letter of mine, written from Paris,
was mutilated in this country, made to say
things that never wrote nor thought, and pub
lished in all our ant-republican papers. saw it
year after the date and Immediately wrote an
Explanatory letter, which re.estabiished my first
intention. This last i then published in Paris
London and Philadetphia. Not one editor who
printed the original mutilatcd letter has, to this
day, printed my answer though il was publish.
Gu III ulOse places ten years ago. ana per-
haps not one person in twenty who read the first
has ever seen the second, or yet knows of its ex-
istence, except these editors who refused to pub
lish il.
You must not suppose from this statement OF
facts that am angry with these people. On the
contrary, pity and forgive them And there is
no great merit in this, for they not my enc
mics. They only d. the work they ere set about
~ their patrons and supporters, the monarch
ISIS of America. Their object is not to injurc
me, but TO destroy NE effect of my republic an
writings
They now publish your letter with great avid
ity, because they think it will tend to decry my
poem. 1t may have this effect in small degree I;
but still thank them for multiplying your pub
LEGATION. There is no work of yours that do not
wish to see universally read IN America; and
hope to find in our language and in the hands
of all our readers your last very curious and in
terestlng treatise de la literature des negres 1t i,
a work of interchangeable research, and brings to
4 light many facts unknown in this country
where the cause ofhumanity is most interested in
propagating that species of knowledge. l hope
the manuscript copy. Of Mr.. Warden's tranlition
is not lost or is, that he will be able to fur
nIsh our booksellers with another
| II l had renowned christianity, as your letter
Il seems TO suppose, that letter and my rehec-
tons your life & conversation would certainly
bring me back. For you Judge me right when
you say am not ashamed to own myself pos ST.
bly, III the wrong or in other words to confess
| myself a man. The gosp has surely done great
| good in the world and IT. as you imagine | am
| Indebted in any measure to that for the many
excellent qualities Of my wife, owe it much in
! deed.