Fkom ruE Farmer's Weekly Museum. ■ The COUNTRY CRITIC, > yV GR REVIEW 01 rscent PUBLICATIONS. ■ No. I. S . ITO BE CONTINUED OCCASIONALLY.] . " Ep 'tjtles, domejlic, confidential and official frbm General Washington, &c." THE title page of this volume informs ns that these epistles were written about the commencement of the revolution; that they were addressed to feve ral'military and diplomatic characters of rank, and that t\o part of this correspondence has bee# prin ted in the two volumes, recently published. Of these letters there is no reafou to doubt the authenticity. The Editor, in his preface remarks judiciously that the firft collection is incomplete, ,_J; wirhonr thr ftfpp?emrnr;rry~one. It appears that he, who arranged the letters firft published is hot. the fame person by whom the present collection is edited. But both evidently derive their authority from principals, and therefore we may penife this volume without any of those fteptical doubts, ge rerallyVttached to pofthurnous or other letters, Sp 'pearing in a " shape." Among the few, the very few enemies of Wash ington, it has long been a fafhionable remark, that the soldier is more conspicuous in his character, lUan the scholar and the ftatafnaan. Merf are com monly so envious of superior excelleaae, that tKey /brink from praitfng lany but themMves, and when obliged to the task of eulogy, they do it by halves. He who is an eloquent orator is infiduoufly rcprtr ferfted as a weak and flimzjr logician. He who eminently excels iri any one art, in others is fuppo v fed to be a fniatterer. But, it should be remem-, fcered that, however we may doti'jt universality of genius, there are fotne minds of such admirable ver fgtility, and pliancy so ozier like, that they can piomptly bend in any direction. They can compre hend the va(t, and detail the minute, they can " sweep tjie long tra'ft of day," and mark the grub of the ground. The Roman annalills con vince us that the StJ Ceftr nm learnea jtia brave, a courtier and a gallant. , In the city he could " charm the mistress and fix the friend." In Gaul the reign of foftnefs expired and defeated hordes felt the airri of a warrior. To thisclafs of intellect the mind of Wafliing ton seems to pertain. He ispo less at home in his study than in his tent. Fasts refute the insinuati ons of fail ion. In domellick life he has proved himfelf an easy and amiable man. In military af fairs he is unrivalled, and in eouncii fagacionj. The letters before us will demonltrate his literature. We will not hesitate to place them in a high rank of epistolary composition. Though net dilated in a eloifter, or p college, yet had they been elaborated by a monk br " ail Grefham" they had been iufe nor writings. Among the firft pages of this correspondence we find a letter to John Parke Cuftis Efq ; which marks the liberal and dignified mind of the writer, rlis youthful correfptsndelit it appears is a candi date for martial honors, and his Excellency points out to him the course of study aqd action, prepara tory to the camp. Tlie young gentleman is his son in law, and his anxious and militarVparpjit ex hibits thcr solicitude of a soldier for the htnor of his frjend. 6t Coflfidering, fays he. your rank, for tune and education, whenever it is proper for you to come forward on the theatre, it must no.t be anv under part that you alft. You are therefore cer tainly in the right to decline any part, till you are -fit for'the firft and leading character.'' By Jnfif- , ting on the capricious influence of fortune in war, , the experienced Washington endeavors to deter his relative from a course of life, which may expose , himto the chance of censure. Yet, fays he I love ; arms. I nm married to my sword, as wefl as to' , your amiable mother and heaven is my vritnefs that lam in earned when I fay death alone (hall divorce j me from either. lam not so blindly devoted how- ; e»er, to my profeffioH, as not to fee by how frail a i tenure I hold the little reputation I have gained in ' ' it—With a soldier faccefs alone is merit ; afid the J world is aworfe judge of'military matters, than » any other. Have I not reason *o wish that your ! eh'sice had fal!e« on the quieter, but not less impor tant calling of a private.gentleman, in which is a senator you might have given proof of your abili- ; ties in a tvay, in which fortune would not have had sof o great a /hare ? The Genet al then adds that if his . resolution be fixed, and his correspondent *btain the \ consent of his mother and wife, i»e (hall not want j ii.r fanftiou. After enjoining the study of tafticks, cautioning againS too itrong reliance upon theory] | and adding that the best commentators upon the ar{ of war, next to experience, arc the Greek and ' Roman historians, he concludes in a lofty to'ne wot- ! thy of a great man, worthy the conqueror at Tren- j ton. «' But the main and most dfential qualificati- , on is an high fetife of honor, an elevation of fenti , ment, and a certain dignified ftilc of behavior, that , s distinguishes, or foouid distinguish a foidier from every ot her man. It is a fname indeed, if he, who ' undertakes to command others, has not firft learn. , ed to command fcimfelf. I will not endure any thing mean or fordid either in your principles or your maimers ; having determined, if it were left with-me, to be as drift and rigorous in tliefe parti culars, as were the knights of old, ivhen a candidate was to be inverted with the orders us chivalry. 1 cannot diffociatc the ideas between a soldier and a gentleman : And however common it may be to z "rrnli'ii™ to r>rrf{ir.« of evej*v cha- { latter, if yet conveys to me an idea of ivorth, I want words tr> express, if I had not known you to be a gentleman, you never {hould have had my con- , sent to yotir becoming a foldiet." • (To be continued.J Frert the Delaware & Eojlern Shore jiaveriifer. ' Me£Ys. Abams, f cafe, important in its nature and ' consequence, was decided at Dover, by the Regi- 1 Act of Kent County, on the J jthof August, 1796. 1 The tnfcrCiou of il in your Ailvertifci, Will apprise the public of its pi inciples, and majerialiy oblige a r Augufi. 8, 1796. SUBSCRIBEif. * Redman and IVijt i- Stent. For the'plaintiffs, tkis csffc w.is argued by Mi. Ridgcly, and by ifleffrk. Viili«g and Fifiier, tor the defendant. CASE. The defendant was chosen guardian Dy the wife of the plaintiff, Mr. Redman, fn the month of November, 1789, and uontinucd in that capacity, until her arrival to the age of twenty-one y*ars, in , September 1795. Within the fix pre scribed by law, an annual estimate of the minor's real prbperty, was made by thtee freehoKiers, who "valued it at the sum of £. 100. r l'heque!tion was, • whether the defendant ihould account for the valu ation of the minor's land, as returned by the free holders, or the rents and profits as they annually aecrned ? On the part of the plaintiff it was contended, that at the guardian was appointed solely for the , bepefit of the ward, and in his appointment, the law did not contemplate any profit* to arise to him felf, more than his reasonable expencefc and cotn -1 miflians for his trouble and care, he in the present instance ought to account for. what he has'really re i ceived : That the valuation required by the a& of Assembly, was never intended ds a rtile, by Wliich • the guardian fllould account to the ward, but as evidence to enable the ward to recover double da mages for any waste, falcor deSrudion sis hrsland, which might, have been committed by the guardian during his trust : That the guardian was cpnlifler ■ ed by the law as a truttee or receiver of the ward's ' pioperty, and as fueh, he could never dTfd.arge hi« trust as he ought to do, but by accoutring for the rents and profits, and that practice i« in force in this country, there being no ether principle efta -1 blifhed by any a'fi of assembly, by which the guar dian rs to account, and that the orphan's oourt, on an appeal t» them, ia a lale cafe of Nock 4; ro«nfend, had adapted the above principles. For the defendant it was contended that-the va luation made in conformity to the aft of Assembly was intended by the legiflatvre, as the criterion, by which the guardian was to account to the (W: : nor : That this cenftru&ion was fan&soned by iht uniform prafticc-of boftl bc fore and finee the revolution : Tlrat the best possi ble method of arriving at the real value, was that dire&ed by the law in question, because on the one hand, it secures the minor against any fraud, which a guardian ir.ighttje disposed to commit, bj taking afalfe oath in rendering his account, and sn the other, the value i 6 fixed by men, emanating fr*m the orpSans' c»urt, and who difmtereftedjy and oil their oaths, return- the real value of the premises, and, that admitting the law not to be trade for the express purpnfe for which they contended, yet"that as the valuation had been adopted by the orphans' court as the best evidence for the guardian to ac count by, ever since the passage of the law requir ing it to be made, it ought *ot now to be departed from *. a he Reg'tfler delivered his opinion as follows^— Lhe question submitted to my determination, important as it is, in itfelf, derives great additioaai consequence, from the circumftanee of its bearing an intimate relation to the fntereft, and most irtefti mable privileges of my fellow-citizens at large, *ut moreefpecially to that portion of them, which from of Ii iTmaiihy, hofior aricT policy, we are bound to regard with a,fuftaining hand. When the extensive operation, the endless effects the decision to be given may have upon oui(elves and posterity, is conteaiplated—-involving as it does the settlement of an important principle in ourju (Jcial proceedings—l am ready to thrink from my own confcioufnefj of propriety, and resolve forever to doubt upon a queflion of right' and ' wrong !— But- tis not •ptional— to aft in 'conformity to the dictates of my own judgment, is in this instance, ao mdifpenfable duty—no alternative remains, but to execute or abandon. Tha point in dispute between the oarties, I's fi<nply, whether i* this state, and under the exist ing form of its constitution, and the laws now in force, a-guardian is justly chargeable, ss such, for the amount of the rentsand profits of the real es tate ef his ward, and tio snore 5 or £or that sum or price, which the freehclders-apjiointea accaiding to an aft of the affanbly of this state, paffrd in the yeai 1766, may estimate and certify the value to be. 1 have reftrifted the enquiry to this state, because in Englandjjfrom whcnce our common law is chiefly derived, it is no question. TkreM* »nceded by all, that the guardian :s to account for the utmoS farthing of his ward's estate, saving his right to rcafotiable allowance for his trouble and expence. In this narrowed view of the fubjeft, 1 (hall of fer no comment upon, or recapitulation of the many cases adduced by the counsel rdpeftivtly, tfte ne cessity therefor being entirely fuperceded byMhe acknowledgment before mentioned—an acknow ledgment forced, by the number and great autho rity'of the cases produced and read on the occasion, to wit, that by the common law, the guardiarf is ac tually accountable so. all the profit., which may come to his hands. ; The great distinguishing circumstance, between the law 0f,h 15 country and that of England upon this luhjeft ,s, the circumstance of our havin C 8 valuation of minor's property to the guardian, un der the authoruy of an aft „( assembly of this state * In Engla ,d therj l 8 no fnch valuation—Herce it is, that any doubt which may have been certain ed, w.th refpeft to a guardian being accountable for the rents and profits of the real cftate of his v, ard upon and arise f ro m xhc aft of as' {embly pr»for,bm a T^ r^pgforat4w _ tMere the r gtlier read the 7th feftion of the aft t« For amp ing the laws relating to testamentary affairs, ami for better fettling inteflate.' estates.] h ig t , ° vrc ucrc find an intimation <as the yearly retr« • a profits to he ralfid, but does not fay to be for, ,f not raised. The latter p.rtVf t s e S d paragiaph, which is explanatory, as to »he use of aw guardedly Clent upon th«'point. I, tatt the of the cvtdcnccof this certi tUr " of ttlg valuation, to enable the ward on his Ir / * " ad r ™' n ol f e ™> -'W the above is hul * arsument3 If ihe *>uzjel e „ albtr rlfal at age, to rctovtr-double damages m aft s tic . ofvuaftc, fee. « Thus then the lawhcre, seems rather coturpcal, not deciding by express terms, nor by ftrwj, impli cation even, what the guardian is to account for whether rents and pioflts or valuatJoii. Let it be remembered, that the right of proper iy and its increase, is among the dearest and .most inestimable privileges of a freeman—a right molt jealously prote&cd by the just spirit of our laws— most fefiurely guaranteed by the conttitutioii itlelf. Shall"it then be pretended, that from mere intima tion, or by the force of implication merely, one citizen ill all be deprived of the juit increase of his estate, to the emolument of another ? To prohibit the minor from the profits—the surplusage profits over the valuation, I deem the u(e of negative words indispensable in the ad of aflembly, and that he should in the taoft direst terms, be precluded from all claim over the eilimated value. This not having been done, I,take it, the ques tion is left «t large detei mi liable by the comrttori law of England. Neverthelefe, I vi<?;v the certificate of valuation legally returned, to be prima fade, good evidence of the guardian being.Co far eharge able, and nofanher, except upon dffcuffion, it (hall be in proof, that fnarcor less was rccfivtd, in which cafe, the valuation, 1 hold as incoiiclufive upon ei ther guardian or ward. In reply to the idea, that the authority of long continued practice originating with the law itfell— fanftioned by the acquiescence of the people, tffefts the eflablifhment of the principle, it tnay be urged, that the prevalence of a doctrine sub jilentio, is ne rer to be pled in precedent—'Tis the asthority of adjudged cases, upon full investigation only, that weigh in the balance against reafen and justice. In addition to What has already been said, I will, a 9 on a recent occasion, fugged, \hat as the con stitution of this Hate imposes a positive obligation upon the register, to regard the equity of the cafe,f and that too in the most emphatical words, t "fliould not think myfelf warranted in any degree, that should infringe in the least upon the immutable principles of j m 11 ' ~ 1 rfri-T-pfi a TTzen, cxcept such inflation was enjoined by the express and positive terms of the law. In this oafe, as it cannot be pietefided that the aft of assembly is express ai positive, against the profits being accounted lor, or that it unequivocally makes the valuation conclusive and paramount ; and as the common law is beyond all contradiction in favour of the ward's claim to the whole of the pro fits, and against the valuation, I, ii\conformity to the constituted obligation before-mentioned, in re gard to the principles of common juftige and the equity of the cafe» am contained to fay, that Ja cob Stout, late guardian to Rebecca Allen, now Redman, is justly chargeable with the wholeamount of the rents and profits of her real estate, faying his right to his. expenditures and reasonable com miffiens. f Fid: . I bth fctlion tf (stb article of the conflituiidn. Fram a Lond*h Patek. RESPECT FOR THE DEAp. The qneftien treated ill the following article, has already occupied the attention of the French legislature, as being iatiraately connected with public iuuiuls. The fofejed is popular, and has lately at different times been the fubjfcft of dif cuilion in this eountry. AFTFR a revolution iu wlch the palfions of the human mind have displayed all their energy, in which falle and misguided zeal, the ardar of novel ty, the delirium us innovation, have too often usurped the rights of rcafon fcrtd the language of philosophy, in which by disdaining and by rejeft jag every thing allied to periods marked with the impression of fcrvitude, by a wiih to refcmble in nothing the customs of other nations, the bonds of foclety Were broken, and the empire overthrown of truths the most refpeftable, or of errors the most dear to feebie humanity : it is the duty of the man whoin the lefTotis.of experience have enlightened, to examine, amidst this mafsof ruins, what are the ufagce, the ii.ilitetions, which ought to be buiied :n eternal oblivion, arid What ate thofr which, founded on human nature, upon unalieralv'e afTec tior.s, should be cherillted so long it fubfifti. The legislator ought not to resemble the mac who ap. plies the pruning-kr.ife to the tree, retrenches and lops the plants in his garden, without confultim; ttrc prcp, retyof rr nc, nor the fitfioerice ol f«,f o[l £ ' He ought to-treat man as a feeble being, who re quires to be treated with salutary caution, v.hom ! ' too bright si ray t.-rves to dazzle, not to enlighten, i 1 He w.ll pnrfne, wuh indefatigable zeal, errors of ' ata. comrqiienee, and prtjudiceo favourable to tv- 1 ninny; bui he will „«r attempt to triumph over < the invincible power of imagination', and to teat < from the heatt, illusions end cobfalalory, ne. ! ver pernicious. ' ] A sacred refpeft f sr the dead has prevailed at « every period, and m,every couiyry. "Does it ori- 1 ginate m our pride, or in that natural defne of fur- c viv.ng, after we are no more, ,f occupying a « place in the of me „, when our Li • duTtT'rh ° mi? •rV h "P of cold lifelefs ' duit ?1 he principle, of our passions, the fourees of > our weakness and our errors, almost always elude otir penetration, We only behold the effedt Suoe" ■ aH ' C ,S , COn , te ' akd f, '° m our observation. . Supenor gen.uses have difc.vered the laws of " enlv bod'r W9 C ° Urr,: of ,llc hes " i t, ; "'Tf 3 P a " veil with which fn Jj' covered her operations; but none lias zll irr i fratrt'h.mfd'l d ' P "' k " ° 0 ' 1" P'<- » fr«N s ,h t riStrvrGS s and Romans considered funeral ce'remonjfg a , a, i; | «lebrate £ara ee «po, the tombs of bis 'father, Au ' 13 g- ; y- .imi-UjlTH^^M j'fjibe'i - r H
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