The Yazoo Democrat. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1844-11-19

activity 0t mind TO inc tallen r0ncor OF sll@
perslitlon, and the destroying fury. Of fanat-
icism. Religious enthusiasm, bigory, and
superstition, conjoined with the strong arm
Of political despolism, have rendered man.
ia the past ages Of the world, the degraded
instrument Of their own pernicious and de-
structive purposes; it is here we must seek
for the source Of many human misiorluneg,
and the perpetuation Of those preiudices by
which the body and mind are both enslaved.
Il is true that the natural imbecllity and
! imperfection OF our faculties, and the ex-
tensive nature and variety Of those moral
and physical combinations, from which sci
ence is 10 be deduced, evince the strong
probability that man may frequently be err
rOneous in the conclusions which he draws
from certain premises, because the force Of
his faculties is not adequaie.to full and
complete investigation Of The compounded
and diversified relations Of existence; bot
these natural obstacles to The clear deduc-
tons ofscience, are neither Of discourse
ging nor an insurmountable ma ure.
There is no system either Of education,
politics, or reIig on, which ought to be OK
cepted from the severest scrutiny Of tho
human mind, or the closest examination
which The human faculties can bestow upon
it; yet habit and custom of long duration
have SO strongly attached man to his Ell.
rors, that he reluctantly reinqnishcs these
lenes which serve only to disturb his peace
and destroy his happiness; while the privs
LEGGED imposters Of the world, or those who
feast upon the continuation Of error and
prejudice, unite their strongest exertions to
persuade man that his most important in
terests, in time and eternity, depend upon
the preservation of ancient and unnatural
establishments, which in fact Ore as de-
slructiVe to human felicity, as they e.de-
rogatory to thu divine purity Of supreme
Intelligence.
That happiness is 10 be preferred 10 mis-
cry, pleasure to pain, virtue TO vice, truth
to faIsehood, science TO ignorance, order to
confusion, universal good to universal evil,
are positions which no rational being can
possibly controvert. They arc positions 10
which mankind, in ell ages and countries,
must yield assent. They are positions, the
u
/ Of which is never controverted; it is the
form and application only, which has been
the cause of social contention, and not the
reality or excellence OF the axioms them
selves.
The universally Of the princip' g Of sen
sation generates universal capacity Of en-
ioying pleasure and suffering pain; this
circumstance modifes the character Of hui
man actions, and renders it necessary that
every man should regard every other man
with an eye Of strict justice, with tender
and delicate sensibIity, with a constant
reference 10 the preservation Of his feelings,
and the extension Of his happiness; in q
word, that the exercise Of eternal justice
should be constantly reciprocated by all the
individuals of the same species. If ! as.
sumo to myself the pretended right Of IN
turing the sensations, the moral sentiments,
or general happiness Of my neighbor, he has
undoubtedly, an equal right TO commit the
same violence upon me; this would 60 to
the destruction Of all right, TO the total SUBJ
version Of all justices; it would reduce soci,
ETY. instantly 10 a state Of warfare, and IN
troduce the reign Of terror and misery.
Its contradiction in terms to assert
that any man has right to do wrong; the
exercise of such pretended right is the
absolute destruction Of all right, and tho
first human being who commits violence,
has already prepared for himself hell Of
retaliation, the justice Of which his own
mind can never deny. II is, therefore, IN
consistent with the truIh to say, that there
/ is no such thing as a general standard Of
moral principle; this standard has q real
existence in the construction OF our nature
ii is ascerlained and regulated by the rule
Of reciprocal juslice.-[Elihu Palmer.
/ SENTIMENTAL STORIES, OR NovAL READ
INC. with respect 10 sentimental stories