Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1816-05-28
From, the Conraat.
THE BRIEF REMARXER.

lnc authority VI dHClCHt 1850" 49,
lsage, has in a great many instances beenI
GU nd to be paramount to the authority
flaw. The Doors of Russia readily al
owed Peter the Great to be Sole master
Of their lives; but his meddling with
heir boards and with the manner OF their
dress, threw them into furious rebel
ion.
/. The excessive veneration the Chinese
nave for the customs and usages of their
ancestors. utterly prevents improvement !;
ror all Improvement is change, and the
least change in regard to ancient nsages,
startles them, as if it were an act OF Gar
ING impiety.
:. What could l do ? 1t is the Gus
tom:'' was the answer Of "a Hindoo young
man to a christian missionary, who re-
proved him for setting Ere to the pile on
which his mother Was placed, to be burnt
i've. Neither could a learned Bramin
have given any better reason. 1t was
the custom Of the country 10 burn wo-
nen, along with the corpses OF their nus
lands; a custom handed down from re-
note progenitor. and that was enough.
lot ouIy 10 satisfy an immense popula-
ion, Gifts prcpiety, but to inflame them
it'll furious zeal in It's behalf.
The Oldest race upon the face of the
EARTH, has retained its customs, usagea &
manners, unaltered to the present day.
The Arab now has the same customs. q
usages, and the same distinct features OF
character, that the Arab had four thOus-
and years ago.
" Ia Chiha, blows are felt in SO tar
as they are painful, and no other. Fifty
slows of the bamboo, inflicted to the ma
ked body, is no disgrace; because there
it has been time out of mind standing
custom to fog, not only the common sort
but even magistrates and the highest Of
fcers of the realm stripping them tor
that Purpose, of oil but natures robe
Accordingly the Chinese are nation
without honour they have not par
tcle of what Europeans, anc their a.
merican descendants, call honour.
And what makes the difference Gus
tom. The Europeans. aud we their de-
scendants, are OF Gothic ancestry. The
Cloths, who overturn and conquered wes-
tern Europe, and Incorporated IN ITS
whole system ,heir own feelings, usases
aad manners, was one of the most fero-
cioas races Of savage men that was ever
known. They had rather die the
crueIlest of deaths, than receive an un'
revenged blew, :,
TIE chronicle of the Cid, translated
from the Spanish by Robert southey, gives
a strong instance. In the eleventh cen,
tury-st period when the feelings and
The customs OF the spaniards were al
together Gothic Diego Lanez, Chief OF
noble hoese, received blow from the
count Don Gomez the consequences
ire described in the Cid, as follows: !
sNow Diego was man i'll years, and
US strength had passed from him, sol
hat he, could not take vengeance, aild ne
etired TO his home to dwell there and
ament over his dishonour. And ne toekI
10 pleasure in bis food. neither could mel
sleep by the night, nor would he hit III
lis eyes from the ground, nor STIR out o'I
us house, nor commune with his trends
,ut turned from them in silence as III
he breath of his shame would TAM
hem. Diego continued, year after year!
n this sullen melancholy mood, till hlsI
'on Rodrigo coming OF age, went out andi
1efed Don Gomez, and slew, hin, and
,mote off his head, and carried II TO hiSI
'ather. /" The old man was sitting at tai
lie, the food lying before hin. antasted
when Rodrigo returned, and pointing IT,
he head which hung from the horse
,ollar, dropping blood, he babe him loci
Up, for there was the herb that shouid|
'estore him to appetite: The tobgLe,
9uoth ne, which insultel you, is no lon
ger tongne, and the hand which wronS !
ID you, is no longer hand. And the|
I'D man arose and embraced his son andE
placed him above him at the table, saying,|
hat he who had brought home that hes
should be head OF the house of Laynt
caIve.''
From the period of the general con
quest OF Western Europe by the Gothesl
0 tire pe,led Of the Reformation, that por
ION of the world was in condition OF
lor ibie barbarism for though incl
laticns inbahiting it we're called by 1heF
,hristian name. their christianity was a
mere munmery of ritual and ceremony,
hat scarcely at all affected the heart on
he lite. The Reformation, aided by the
iewiy inverted art of printing, spread
apidIy abroad tic know ledge of the doc
,iues and precepts Of the Divine Re