Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-02-12

4
having the stamp and sanction of opiniuuS 4
and is such, exaaiinc, and II can, expose ANA !
refuie them.
shall preparatory TO going M medias res.
bestow some uotice on the Constituents mUito, !
" that part OF our authors book which contains
the essence of his opinions and on Which, IN
the present ease, much reliance seems 10 be
placed. Ii is tn be regretted. that ia selecting
this motto Tor an essay pufpurtlng IL have iur
its object the defence OF popular rights, he
| should have been 80 unfortunate as 10 stumble
upon paragraph, the principal sentence IN
winch has no meaning, AMI has been tue cOui-
mon place defamation OF every eremN to hii-
man liberty from the earliest dawn ct civiii1a.
ton down To the prescut time, and which is
used by the very author from whom II is taken
| IN book written for the express purpose OF
ca!unnatin;s the authors Oi tIe French revo,n
| tion and those patriotic retUr;nerS in England
who were seeking by moderate and co;l>ii.u
uonat measures 10 relieve their unfortunate
cou"'r,inen from the oppression OF borough
Iiongers aud tNEtulS.a The author is the no.
| torIuus Uiitorj the Coiyphr,is OF that courtlv
Tribe lie Editors of the Quarterly Review the
solitary example oil cOntedeiaied v,naiity
which the history Of literary men can furnish
| the ievi.er OF Paine and Prie>Iiy and rriCa
| and The writer ~ the most infamous libel OIL
1 the United states, ever composed hy unplin.
cipled corruptiuu-A work IN whlcl, is con.
cehtra;ed al t,e scurril,tv OF the h;rei.ng ira.
| veiiciS who lave viiihed nur county, yarnish.
| eel with the tithy SecreiiOds of his own ins,.i.
nation winch appears Ia belong TO some hoSpi
| tai sc1vcnger and conveyed in the vernact,iar
| idiom of BilingSsa,e t>h wOman.t Ihai
| the Constituent should have drawn his motto
from so corrupt Il source, cannot certainly ct
| feci Ms trutli, which must alwaNS be iudeueu
| deni ot the character of the person who utters
| II, nor would Il have been thought worthy of
| animadversiOn, bat ihat il eNemplhcS strong
! ~, iis own mode of reasoning, which makes
use OF the peculiar circumstances of Mr.. JEFF
| ieison situat,oH tn invaiate HIS opinion and
| because II seems 10 ceniain d concise eaume-
| 'atioH Of The grounds ON which his speculaliuns
| are mainly founded for as far as We have
been able 10 discover. he derives the PRINCIPAL
force OF las arguments from the incompatible
| " OF theory with practice, and the assnnIItiOu
4 THAI " The proposed system OF education" has
only the former Tor IL, support. That this
kihd of defamation has been used la all ages
4 by the eutulieS OF reform, i'll matters of s;ite
| polucs religion and philosophy, would COAST
| tnte no argument against lis validity ii IL mad
| either truth or inteiiigibihty in itself Ban
! we should like to hear the Constituent explain
! an Thdt manner theoretical perfection can pro
! Gnce OF DC allied TO grJ.!ic0i OH rtSSioR That
| perfect theory can lead 10 a bad prarEice
| involves an absurdity which we could hardly
| suppose dat any one who understands the
meaning at The word theory could he enil,v
| OF tor 1t j. equivalent To the adniSsi that /.
| good practice must be founded on an iuIsPrI,Ci
theory, unless II is cOntended that theury ard
| practice have nothing to do with each other
| aud canaot suosist together but accordin. to
my ideas, theory is nothing more than the gen
|
Is founded, and its value depends solely on
| whether IL is true or false, perfect CT iuiper-
\ feet, as the value OF practice ieueniS on WLe-
| Their tits good or bad-A true theory must lead
| 10 good, anu false TO bad practice; for there
| can he no practice without some thcorv-the-
DRY is 10 practice what all art is 10 science ard
II Is just as reaSona bic to talk ahont a perfect
system OF mathematics, being allied 10 Il bad
| system OF surveying, of mechanics navigation
or any other art which is founded Oh that sci
ence, as 10 talk OF fheoretHal perfection in the
science of government being allied to practical
| oppression, when the very perfection of all the
DRY, on all subjects, consists chiefly in its an
picability to practice. There is at least as
| much theory Iii the speculatiOns of the ConSti-
| tuent on the proposed system Of education, as
IN lie system itself : the only difference is that
| the theory of his speculatlons, is founded on
assumed principles, and gratuitous suppose
| ton, and tue theory of the system on the well
| established principles of human nature and
The results OF long and diversified experience,
| that The one is philosophical and the other en-,
{ pirical. 1t is really desirable for those who
! pretend 10 write for the ediiicaiou of man
| kind, IN analyze with candor, to eNDannd
with sincerity, and TO discard this nuneaning
cant about theory which is only calculated 10
deceive these who understand nothing of Ian.
| guagc, and whe associate with words sensa-
tons, rather than ideas. II w0uid have been
particularly consistent in the Constituent, at
ter his feeling lamentaii0n over the imperfec-
ton OF the English language, to have s!,ewn in
his own writings, a disposition to use il cor
rectly, II he could not use il viii! elegance
ana would recommend to him, as the defen-
der OF this language from his uijustitia bic as
PERSONS, before he pr0nOUnces another male
dlciion upon it, 10 give it, at least trial and
10 test its capacity to convey ideas by constru-
log and using its words according to their le-
SiiInate meaning, rather Than the arbitrary
rules OF his own fancy, or dictates of precuIl-
ceiYed theory. He viii then find perhaps iliat
lie word NeOTy, though it has incurred The
9clnm t'ec!2gicH. OF the English episcopacy,
been consigned by papal anathema to the iadtr
e2PnTgdtoTIOES OF catholicism, aud universally
placed by legitimacy under The bans OF re-
Guldted empire" is really all innocent word
converted into a bug bear TO frghten old wu-
men and children that like certain modern
poitlcaI nOmenCldtUTts, it has q re al az well as
Gala Isle Specification, and ike most other
thing IS not the tcGrSe tor beieg more ysi(,cs
Having Promised these observations, / ap.
preach the charges md specifictii3itS Of the Con
SuLuert, against the proposed system of edu-
cation, and shall tNanine with truth andinsice
only tor my object, bow they correspond with
the facts and with each other. The COnstitu.
ent seems wiling To deprive himself OF all the
triumph % victory, should he be so fortunate
as 10 convince tbe General Assembly of their
errors by SuppoSiug them to be IA parcel OF
good natuTed easy SiDplctOTs, who have no o
pinions of their own and have suffered theui-
selves to be led astray hy the influence of 4
few individuals for whom they had too high a
respect, and whom lie has undertak en- to par
tcnlarlze. regret that have to otter
most essentially it'll tlc CONSTITUENCIES to the
yeneraiion supposed Is DC attached 10 The OPT |
mons oiat least one Of the ! persons whose in |
Guence he has deprecated, and regret it, be- |
cause consider II as one of the most me
qulvocal symptoms % the dereliCtion of our
c0untrymen from the pure aud sound doctrines |
OF rcpnbiicaiiism / mean Mr. Jefferson, a pc.
liticlaD, who is The glory Ofhs country aud The |
ornament Oithe age in which lie lives who
has drawn his political doctrines from deep.
est sources of human wisdom and found |
Gh HON .frl. al.
principles al human nature and man who |
whether we regard The Iibers.ity Of his pohti- !