Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1818-06-20

of the most penetrating observers and
profound investigators Of the human heart,
that the growing Ias'idiousnsss and over
str aimed dclicacy Of the age vas an
unerring diagnostic Of its advancement
in real impu'ii, and unbecomins know.
ledge. lie insisted that the farther. We
advance in debauchery, the more scru-
palaus and morbidIy nice we become in
our taste aud apprehension !; that to con.
ceal the conscious RIGHTEOUSNESS OF our
private cogitations we draw over II thin,
aimsy veil of preposferous affectation--
plastering and daubing over faces har'
Jened by the bronze Of occu!ted guilt,
with neretricious glow Of artificial mo-
,iestv, the Intellectual semblance, or ra.
Their the moekery Of innocence and sensi.
biiity Halt century ago one OF lie
.first satiric and comic writer's 10 the Ian
guage which we all speak. had sneer in
one Of his irimitab!e novels at this pre-
posterous folly in the person OF an anti
quated maiden lady, who travelling in a
stage coach in England, was so highly
incensed with a fellow traveller for un.
warily utteriDg the word "LINEN," that
she insisted either he or she must quit the
coach, If he was once more guilty OF any
similar act Of indecorum. This pruri-
ence Of Imagination, we on this side Of
the Atlantic carry 10 an excess that would
be truly laughable, if our mifth were not
che. ked by the alarming conviction that
it arises from a too great famiiiarit, 10
secret thought with objects, upon which
mind perfectly pureo Il never to have
dwe!,. When the CHI words which in
times nast were h. we'd from our die
tiouar;es to wra rbscen,ty in the er-
tcrnal Cab q .cOrum, and were per-
vertetl to the rpose Of conveying fsu-
ratircLy o!rtns ideas, cannot be uttered
in their real igirai sense, without being
associated with. the foul idea to which
they have been On few bad occasions
most wrOnsfuily appropriated, without
sending al! tn. blood III the veins OF every
Female present, gailOpins pell-meil TO their
cheeks, and when Cor that reason the ut
tering of them is thought necessary 10 be
ayoided-it is an iniaIl.ble proc OF the
familiarity Of the mind with sr"ss and
lent images. We are DOT are to
what derision, and what is worsr, ,uspl.
cion. this afec alton subjects US. How
comes 'aANrIcLsER, ",se trumpet TO
the NORA" that valiant champion OF the
farm yard, Tho doth With his lofty and
shrill sounding throat awake the god OF
da," 10 be driven gu, o! u,e, las a word)
Il out Of compliment to the smul:y tastl'
dicusness Of hot imaginations? How
comes the word RoosTER (Which never
bal existence till it was snatched from
the st.thy IF some modern Vulcan toiling
to CRAFTY the volaptuuus fancy Of some
Tenas padibundus-and is not at this mo-
ment to be found in ans dictionary or
book Of authority TO be brought into use,
and to shoulder gu; the tune iumemorial
inmate Of our larguages These are the
abpninable excrcscences OF tainted ina.
g,4ations and exactly verify Mr. She
Iidsn's elegant sarcasm on the painting
Of certain description Of females; "ihey
increase the blush in their cheeks, in pro-
portion to the, diminutiOn Of their mo-
des,y." 1t is not many months since |
frightened yourg lady out Of her ia.
TIERS drawing room by innocently say.
ing that I liked the curve in the BoTToA
Of the chairs-upoa which, as il a wasp
had stung Der. she bounced up. and with
her face the colsr Of crimson, and swell.
led with a suGusion Of blood, she fed out
Of the rostn. 1 was g eatIy concerned
and could not help exclaiming in the
-Words Of the doctor to lady Macbeth,
when sac is telling naughty tales Of her
SELL in her sleep-"go to, 60 to; you
have known Whist you should not"
was expressing my disapprobation,
some tine ago, Of young girls aud boys
beans taught at the same school, when a
matron, WHO IT is probable was better &C.
qsalnted with the subj, c, than wa, as.