Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1831-08-25
ULRICK CUION.
4 darino infdel.


'Of all earth's mad men most deserves chain ~
Genius misdirccted, and all the auXil-
iaries of an elegant education, and rank, d,
and character misapplied! What Il
spectacle for the gaze of men and an
gels is this But when the mind, the
sun of the human system, wholly wan
ders from its native sphere, and plays
like the scattered lightning or the flash
ing meteor, with the mysterious elements
Of the universe, until itself is lost amid
the mighty maze, and its existence be-
comes a problem of its own creation
when thus its pristine nobility is sulicd
and degraded, and all the hopes that
hovered around its being, are driven
far away; when, bartcring its heaven,
its immortality, its peace, at the shrine
Of blind philosophy, in the pride of its
own powers, it declares itself perish
able, and Clings to atheism-why is l.:
that the rocks speak not, and the stars
move on in silence, through the regions
Of unbounded spacc'
Ulrick Guyon, in the morning Of life,
basked beneath fortunes sunshine; and
. the bright faculties with which nature
gifted him, were polished into still
greater resplendency as he grew up
amid the counsels of the learned and cX-
plored himself every avenue of science
and philosophy. Nor did his fortunes
become dim at noon. Released from
his minority, he went forth into the world
Of business, with the laurels Of academic
honors OH his brow, and a thousand
brilliant hopes sparkling among them; he
was at once the pride of his companions
and the boast of his relatives; and COM
mencing the practice of the law at the
village of III. the residence OF his father,
he soon rose to distinction.
IN district of country where literature
had made but little progress, and where
pre-eminent talents were rarely found, it
is readily to be supposed that one like
Guyon would find little difficulty in
climbing to the summit of his wishes,
however ambitious might be his spirit,
however high his aspirations. His pop
ularty increased; his character for
strength of mind and depth of knowledge
grew fair, and spread far beyond the
precincts Of his native village; an elo-
quent pleader, an ingenious and power
full rcasoner, possessed of a winning
manner, and divestcd as he seemed of
pride-he became the popular idol the
day.
The first time | heard him speak, !
was captivated with him. He plead for
Il family Of orphan children, whose patri-
mony "A wealthy relative had seized by
virtue of claims he brought against the
deceased father; and when, after expos
ing the cruelty and injustice of the suit,
he painted the consequences in which its
success would involve the helpless inno-
cents whose cause he advocat.d; when
he spoke of them as the tender scions Of
doa,lng parent, once blessed and hap
py in the smiles ofparental iondness, and
the enjoyment of plenty, CLEANED by him
who loved them from years of toll, and
labor and anxlety-and then turned to
the threatened storm, and brought them
into view the victims of its fury, fading in
poverty and sorrow from the world cold
charity, and appealing to heaven for the
righteousness of his cause, with tears in
his eyes and faltering voice, called out
with upraised hands, "Sare them! sore
ihemr' A general burst of sympathy
filled the court and many a heart re-
sponded- They shall be sared!
j say 1 was captivated-but all! how
little do we learn of the human heart by
viewing the exterior, or listening to the
words of man. Guyon, with all his tai
ents, was an INrIDEL; and secure as he
elt himself, in the resources of his own
mind, he strove to make infdels of 9TH
RS. With all his eloquencc and grace,
e was a base dissemblcr; and while he j