Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1816-10-29
From the Connecticut Conra'st.
THE BRIEF REMARKER. ),

HI BRIEF RkMARhCIe,
AMONGST the short but admirable
sketches Of nature which the historic 9
part Of the Sacred Volume FURNISHES
there is oue that has been very little no
ticed.: though, had it been found IN any
other book of so early date, IT would nave
been quoted, again and again. with peas
af applause. II is recorded in the Sist
chapter of the Cd book OF Samuei, ano
consists Of a simple unyarnished tale Q,
tenderness taken from real HE
In the beginning Of barley harvest Sc
ven sons Of Saul were hanged up, ali to-
gether. ard it was ordered that thelf
dead bodies should remain upon The gal
lows or tree, exposed to the birds D the
beasts Of prey. Two of those young men
were .tie sons of Rizpah, saul's concu
|bine. whoSe conduct on that tlistressIngs
occasion is described as follows:- An'
Rizpah the daughter Of Alah took sack,
cloth, and spread it for her upon the
rock. from the beginning OF harvest ltn-
It'll water dropped upon them out OF hea
ven, and suffered neither the birds o.
the air to rest on them by day, nor the
beasts of the field by right"
The sacred hist0rlaa records this stor,
| as worthy of notice aud remembrance
land, according t, the usual manner o
the penmen ofthe Holy Bible, ne merely
| ecords it adding not word OF Gem
|ment or single reflection OF his own
Indeed il is of itself Aperture which need,
mo coloring, aud which no art could i'm,
lpreye.
1 What was the moral or religious cha.
racter OF Rizpah, we are not told. Her
being called Saul's concubine is no eyl-
Idence that she was OF an abandoned cha.
jracter; for concubine probably means
there nothing more or worse than wife
,,;of the sec ondary or subordinate rank, a.
Igreeably to the casten, tolerated, tho
not sanctioned, under the MosaIcal dis
lpensation. Nor do we know if the two
unhappy sons had treated their mother al
Ian with filiai Kindness. Considering
/ that they were branches OF Saui's ungra
lcious house, the greater likelihood is that
1.-THE mother had suffered many pane
from the churIishness of their behavior
And be il it even so, she but acted the
lgenuine character of Mother when she
forgot the undutifulness OF her sous IN
| the warnings Of her compassion.
If we except the few, in whose hearts
natural affection has given place to the
ambition Of making figure in the eyes
| of the public, maternal tenderness IS OF
universal extent, unless in those benight.
! ed regions where it has been blishted by
a horrible superstition. This species Of
laffection is one of the primary qaalitie:
Iof human nature, and no talents or &C
accomplishments can counterNail It's defec
Inverness. 1t is one eff the main pillars oil
luur race, which, without It, would quick
lIy tumble to ruin.
The child that has the mother with it,
Though born in the most abJect condition
Iof lie, has one friend at least: a friend
|xho loves it as naturally as she loves her
kelfnand guards and fosters il from the
same powerful feelings of nature that she
lguards and fosters her own life, And
what though, as to the greater part o.
lmotbers. the maternal tenderness par.
takes more Of animal instinct than of any
rational exercise Of the mind What
Though it is SO apt to run into blind
axcess;ye and uernicious indulgence
What though their misguided fondnes:
for their infant progeny is aPtly repre-,
sented in the fable Of the ape that shHed
| her younsIing with the violence of hel
Iembrace :, All this only shows that the
Igifts of nature are perSertible, and thai
I'LL may be deduced from good The al:
Election itself peculiar to the maternal
lbosom, is implanted by the hand OF COD
lit is a precious part of female nature.
| and Of immeasurabie Importance in its
consequences.
Asa celebrated writer remarks, !" The
authority of a father, SO useful 70 Cur
| we'll being, and so justly venerable Oh
lall accounts. binders us from having that
entire love fsr him that W. have fer our
|mothers, where the paternal authority
lis melted down into the mothers sosd-
ness and indulgence
Experience fully testides to the truth
| OF the above remark, and at the same
time evinces the wisdom Of the divine
|conomy in this important particular. Fl
lial affection, which is one of the most
useful affections OF our general nature.
obtains It's root and earliest growth from
Imaterpal tenderness. The fond u dot
ling mother has our first love, which, by
degrees, extends itself TO the other pa I
rent, whereas but for the indulgent soft