Elizabeth-Town gazette., 1821-02-13

| is she at this day A land Of less crime
because OF more intelligence, than any
| in the world wherever her name is men
toned, literature balls it; wherever hel
people tread, temperance and industry
attest their presence primeval piety
consecrate her church peace aud plenty
meet upon her plains, aud the, laurel
| which her genius and her heroism has
won, is intertwined with the palm-leaf ol
All immaculate morality. Let Scotland
then, even if she stood alone, prove the
advantage Of an educated peasautry and
should the sceptic awake not al her voice,
may the spirit Of Burns pass across his
siunber, aud burst upon him iu the blaze
of KS rel...alion.
| But I feel am injuring the cause ol
flhis institution when view il either in
The light Of temporal policy, or OF tempo
raj fame. Yes, though | am convinced
that the most permanent foundations Of a
peoples prosperity are only TO be laid IN
the popular ciyiiizatiou--though am
convinced that the crime decreases, and
industry advances in exact proportion to
the progress of knowledge, still Iacknowl-
edge 10 your ambition much nobler OBJ
ieCt, 10 comparison of which the fame and
wealth anil dignities Of this world are but
as the rainbow's gem that sparkles aud
disappears. Oh you are right when
lighting up the torch Of knowledge, to in
yoke 10 fame bui that Of heaven to i!u-
niue il. The lights Of earth are transient
and uucertain--vapours that only dazzle,
to mislead and shine the brightest on the
eve Of their extinction; bnt the beam Of
heaven is steady and eterDal--it enters
the soul--it expands aud rarifies, and
lifts il 10 a region where human vanity
has no voice, and human spiendours are
but darkness. Yon are right in making
the Bible the primer Of the infant-pIace
il in his hand by day--pIace i, on his
pillow by night. Full Of glorious thought
and glowing images, it will inspire the
fancy-full of noble sentiment aud vrtu-
ous precept, it will form the principles
full Of holy zeal and heavenly inspiratioa,
it will guide and cxalt, and purify the
faith and ii is a wise philosophy which
pressions fade not even in natures winter.
When tie daring infdei interposes its
mysteries, in order 10 rob those children
Of its morals, ask him, What is this world
but mystery ? Who can tell how nature
performs her simplest operations Ask
him TO tell you how the flower acquires
its perfume, the eagle his vision, or the
comet its rcsplendence Ask him 10 tell
you how those glorious planets roll around
us in their lucid circle, or how that mi
raculous order is manifested which holds
throughout creation, even from the minu-
tel worm that grovels in the dust, up to
the pinion that plays amid the lightning
These are mysteries, and yet we see them:
and surely we may trust the word Of him
who, in his own good time, will teach us
their solution. Meanwhile, amid the big
OTIS cant, aud the polemick's railing, suf-
fer those little childsen 10 come unto the
Lord. They will bless you with their
lips, in their lives, and in their Deaths
the God to whom you have turned them
will bless yon--the country to which you
have restored them will bless you: and
should your own little ones ever mourn
parent, the Great Spirit will recollect the
deed, and surely save them from the per-
lis Of their orphanage. III the discharge
then 0! this sacred duty which you have
thus voluntarily undertaken, listen not to
the m,putaiion Of any unworthy motive !;
remember that calumny is the shadow Of
merit, and that though it ever foIlws, il
never overtakes it. Were the solitary
charge which hostility has flung on, eveE
tfue, il is, in my mind, under your cir
cumstances, not crime but a virtne.
You use no weapon but the bloodless gos-
pel-you assume no armour but the ma
keduess Of truth and in good cause,
and with an earnest conviction, would
rather court than avoid this accusation Of
proselytism. The foreign and pions po.
tcntate who made the charge should be
the very last TO utter it; for debased, as
admi, and deplore, that the Irish peas
ant politically is, still he and his prede-
cessors, as far as in them lay, have left
him iIliterate, imbruled, and debased--
fallen in his mental dehasement even be-
low the level of his political degradation,
But the accusation is untrue. You have
not borrowed even a rag from the estah.
llishment-thc word ascendency is not
heard within your walls. You have stu
diously excluded every book Of contro.
versy. You have rejected no one on ac'
count ofhis creed, aud you have invited
the scrutiny Of every pastor Of every per-
suation--you have introduced the Bible
unspotted by a single pen Of this world.
You have allowed The saints, the sages
| and the martyrs of Christ;anitv IN ,,nro]