The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1810-02-13

| u There are. ne frusr. some exceptions
/ 10 the following harsh Strictures on the
manners ofRichmo,d
| ;, FOR THE ENQUIRER. -
A preference of wealth to virtue, is an
alarming symptom in democracy; and
whenever 1t appears in such a government,
We may safely pronounce the body polite
diseased.
Issuing from the western woods, where we
breathe no other than the air of liberty.
pure and uncontaminatcd, FASTENED to your
metropolis fot the first time, with the glow.
| ing feelings of a youth. naturally warm and
sanguine, who felt the germ of yrtuous
freedom within his bosom. which he anxi.
ousiy hoped, in your city, by the influence
CT example. to have had expanded, rectified
and confirmed. In the metropolis of Virgil
MIA, 1 expected to have seen virtue i'm her
most engaging shape: / expected to have
found her strengthened by the purest prnci-
pies of republcanism, and exalted by a SUI.
periority of wisdom. How my expectati-
ons have been answered, feel my inability
to tell.
On my arrival in town, I embraced eve-
W opportunity of mixing with your citizens :;
l obeycd with alacrity every summons to
lprivate circle. l looked with anxious solicit
tude In every unknown face for the ensigns
lot simplicity and of wisdom: But my search
L
say or to think, that simplicity AID wisdom
dwell not here; but they are seldom found
IN public or in private assemblies. Tired
ct the search, and mortified by the disap-
lpointment of my darling hope, l retired
gloomy and melancholy to my, own apart
ment. All,the social feelings of my soul are
now shrunk within my own breast and my
arms, which, on entering your city, were
extended with the rapturous expectation OF
RI IN e s.,
OF science. are now folded in sullen discon-
tent upon my own bosom.
Methinks that avarice has here smothered
all the feelings which mark the man of
" Cultured SOUL, or patriotic principles
Honor, honesty, patriotism, and virtue,
yield without a struggle to the potent powers
of avarice. The man who has risen from
the mud-hole of iniquity to the temple of
fortune. is here hailed as the guardian of
society, the proper pleasures common
veal" The hoary-headed veteran of vice,
who recognizes a foe in every friend of vir-
tue, is not here suffered to occupy his hall
OF spacious emptiness. The frothy sons of
luxurious ease, those butterflies engentlered
by the vices of society, are here permitted
tn rest their silkcn wings on the maiden Lap
or female delicacy, while the unpublished son
OF honest industry, whose soul perhaps vi
J 5rates with every dignifed, honorable and
valuable feeling of man, is loaded with con-
temptuous sneers. or honored by their disre
gard, and retires frcm company to contemn
and despise in his turn.
Female Influence, when properly direct
ed, is unquestionably the +" sweetener of
lie and solder OF society - but when under
the sole direction of folly and caprice, is to
be deplored as national evil, and should be
thrown Oft by every rational maH. The fe-
male world should see, that though we bow
with pleasure at the shrine of beauty. when
l delieacy and nationality are the inmates of
Its bosom, we disdain to sacrifice at the
shrine of folly The gay coxcomb, who
talks you dead by an elaborate dissertation
on the workmanship of snuff box, and the
pert miss, who PIRATES OF matrimony with all
the unolushng lmpudense or matronal ex
Perience, may be prominent fea lures in the
floor OF dancing room, but weigh no feather
III reasons scale. So much for the fair and
the fop--a future day may bring them again
into notice. -.
, No government requires so much virtue
and wisdom tor its support as democracy.
Inc people OF your CITY are too much at
tached to wealth to profess large portion
CT either. You may draw the inference.
i When see that inconsistent. Incompetent
s'bie animal, your lordly democrat, stalking
over your public square in all the pomp and
majesty OF self-importance when | hear
this same 1ordly animal expressing his at.
tachment. if not to the Office, at least to the
trappings, the splendor, the gewgaws of
kings. and declaring in effect, his utter alb
horrence of republican simplicity, am i'm
PEELED to reflect on the instability of human
establishments n general, and forced to
doubt the Immortality even of the American
government.
CO Our next paper FRIDAY.
MARTus, No. g, in our next