Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1812-04-18

oNieefs Yet &c
ten as | have laughed at this inimi,abls = y
of wit, it by no means follows that NJ,
pher is DINO use at all to q nation r.
1t I; his lapors are essential in the cabiue,
When speak Of a cabinet, Sir, BEG pen,,
men not to suppose | am comparse tb;s -,
to a Cabinet of Curiosities-6lled w;.h .,~
ties from all quarters. No, Sir; | sbor,a -
luctantly insinuate that there was snols J..
sus naturae in this house.
The Art Of War, Mr.. Speaker, is coau,
with the Art Of Fighting, if indeed thu, ..
properly be called an art which is SO coraon;.,
to our own nature. Modern PHILOSOPHY, how
ever has SO stiled it, and to her onri,o....
mandates we must all bow with subm;ssi,o
reverence In fact the appeIlation is ney
fectly consistent; for nothing is mors com.
mon than to speak OF the Art Of Love, altbo.
that passion is absolutely and necessarily the
prescrver of all things. The reason Of ,6s
epithet Art being affixed to War, as well as
Love, is obvious !: it is to distinguish the true
from the false Aamcs; and darts may be couD.
terfeitcd in the one case as we'll as in the ether
We may pretend to be in desperate fury
with a man when we are merely in lest: 80
we may affect to be deeply enamored Of a
young laoy's person, when we are all the time
paying our addresses to her personal proper,
ty, her goods and chattels mean not the
most distant allusion to any member present,
The first battle noticed in history, was be.
tween couple ofgentlemen of the names Of
Cain and Abel. 1t is an immense loss to the
scientific world that the weapons used on that
occasion are not particularly described by the
historian, who i'll many other respects is need.
lessly minute. The general opinion Ct the
literati is, that it must have been stilcuo, by
which Mr.. Abel was slain, as it appears there
were number Of ingenious smiths in Mr..
Gains family. However this may be, the Chi
nese claim the invention of firearms and gun.
powder, which am rather inclined to dis
pute, because when the Dutch East-lndla
Company made them present Of some cam
non, they were obliged to send men to teach
the use of them. At the same time it must be
confessed that the Chinese are most ingenious
people, to conceal the secret use they make
Of ginseng, Of the nature and properties OF
which valuable root shall treat more at large
when I come to discuss the subject OF natural
philosophy. What mean TO urge now u.s.
that as there is standing evidence OF the CAL
nese having lost one most important secret
by too careful cencealnent, 1t is possl0iS
they may have lost others.
For my own part, must acknowledge
MIR. Speaker, that it is no easy task to decioe
what was the engine of war first used Mostpso'
pie seem to allow the priority to the hst' IN
the way called boxing. Others assigning II 10
the foot, in kicking though this is not wei
founded, for the foot is often more useiui IN
avoiding war than in wagns it. A thlFa CLASS
of theorists consider the head as the pIlHeVai
weapon, being of great service in the h0O''
science of buttiBg and indeed this preten'l0n
possesses considerable plausibllity, since It
has been lately discovered that there is a ns'A
closer affinity between human Doing anu .
ram than was formerly believed
But, Sir, after the most mature deiioesa'ioN'
| am compelled to yield the preference 10 LIS
mouth, as composed of teeth and ''nS'''
The latter is the most formidable Instrument
in nature,-rnore dreadful than '"o'e'o
y.rJ A,J toke the present OCCASION w