The RIGHT CONSTITUTION of a COMMON WEALTH EXAMINED, (in continuation.) IN free Hates, the people being fenfibleof " their pait condition in former times under the " power of great ones, and comparing it with the " polhbilities and enjoyments of the present, be " come immediately instructed, that their main interest and concernment consists in liberty ; " and are taught by common sense, that the only " way to secure it from the reach of great ones, " is to place it in the people's hands, adorned " with all the prerogatives and rights of fupre " macy." It is very true that the main interest and concernment of the people is liberty. If their liberties are well secured they may be happy it they will; and they generally, perhaps always, are so. 1 lie way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is, to give them a pow er at all times to defend it in the legislature and in the courts of justice : But to give the people, uncontrolled, all the prerogatives and rights of fupreinacy, meaning the whole executive and ju dicial power, or even the whole undivided legis lative, is not the way to preserve liberty. In such a government it is often as great a crime to oppole or decry a popular demagogue, or any of his principal friends, as in a simple monarchy to oppose a king, or in a simple aristocracy the senators : The people will not bear a contemp tuous look or difrefpectful word ; nay, if the stile of your homage, flattery, and adoration, is not as hyperbolical as the pppular enthusiasm dic tates, it isconftrued into difaffe<stion ; the popu lar cry of envy, jealousy, suspicious temper, vanity, arrogance, pride, ambition, impatience, ofafuperior, is set up against a man, and the rage and fury of an ungovernable rabble, ftimu lated underhand by the demagogic despots, breaks out into every kind of infiilt, obloquy, and outrage, often ending in murders and mas sacres, like those of the De Witts, more horri ble than any that the annals of despotism can pro duce. It is indeed true, that " the interest of free " dom is a virgin that every one seeks to deflower ; " and like a virgin it inuft be kept, or else (so " great is the lult of mankind after dominion) " there follows a rape upon the firft opportuni " ty." From this it follows, that liberty in the legislature is " more secure in the people's hands, " than in any other, because they are most con " cerned in it:"—provided you {keep the ex ecutive power out of their hands entirely, and give the property and liberty of the rich a secu rity in a senate, against the encroachments of the poor in a popular afleinbly. Without this the rich will never enjoy any liberty, property, reputation, or life, in security. The rich have asxlear a right to their liberty and property as the poor : It is eflential to liberty that the rights of the rich be secured ; if they are not, they will soon be robbed and become poor, and in their turn rob their robbers, and thus neither the li berty or property of any will be regarded. " The careful attention to liberty makes the " people both jealous and zealous, keeping a " coliftant guard against the attempts and en " croachments of powerful or crafty undermin " ers." But this is true only while they are made a diftincft body from the executive power, and the most conlpicuous citizens mingle altoge ther, and a scramble instantly commences for the loaves and filhes, abolition of debts, Glutting up courts of justice, divisions of property, &c. Is it not an insult to common sense, for a people with the fame breath to cry liberty an abolition of debts and divifon of goods ? If debts are once abo lished, and goods are divided, there will be the fame reason for af-refli abolition anddivifion eve ry month and every day, and thus the idle, vici ous and abandoned, will live in constant riot 011 the spoils of the industrious, virtuous, and de serving. " Powerful and crafty uiulerminers " have no where such rare sport" as in a simple democracy, or single popular aftembly. No where, not in the complete!!: defpotifins, does human nature fliow itfelffo completely depraved, so nearly approaching to an equal mixture of bru tality and devil ifin, as in the last stages of such a democracy, and in the beginning of defyotifin that always succeeds it " A people having once tasted the sweets of " freedom, are so afifedted with it, that if they " discover or fufpetft tlieleaftdefign to encroach " upon it, they count it a crime never to be for " given," Strange perversion of truth and fadt! This is so far from the truth, that our author him felf is not able to produce a single instance of it as a proof or illuftrafion. Instead of adducing an example of it from simple democracy, he is oblig ed to have recourse to an example that operates strongly against him, because taken from an ari stocracy. In the Roman State, one gave up his children, another his brother, to death, to re venge anattempt against common liberty. Was Brutus a man of the'people ? was Brutus for a government of the people in their sovereign as semblies? Was not Brutus a Patrician ? Did lie not think patricians n different order of beings from plebeians ? Bid he not eretft a simple ari llocracy ? Did lie not facrifice his fgns to pie ferve that ariltocracy ? Is it not equally probable that he would have lacrificed them to preserve his aristocracy from any attempt to set up such a government as our author contends for, or even againlt any attempt to have given the plebeians a share in the government ; nay, againlt any at tempt to erec't the office of tribunes at that time ? —" Divers facrificed their lives to preserve it." Topreferve what? The Handing government of grandees, againlt which our author's whole book is written. " Some lacrificed their belt friends " to vindicate it, upon bare suspicion, asjn the " cafe of Melius and Manlius." To vindicate what? Liberty? popular liberty ? plebeian li berty ? Precisely the contrary. These charac ters were murdered for daring to be friends to popular liberty ; for daring to think of limiting the power of the grandees, by introducing a lliare of popular authority, and a mixed conltim tion ; and the people thenifelves were so far from the zeal, jealouly, and love ofliberty, that our author afciibes to them, that they fuffered their own authority to be pi oftituted before their eyes, to the deftrudion of the only friends they had, and to the eftabliiliment of their enemies, and a form of government by grandees, under which they had 110 liberty, and iu which they had 110 lliare.—Our author cites examples of re venge in Greece. 1656 was a late age in the his tory of philosophy, as well as morality and re ligion, for a writer to preach up revenge as a du ty and a virtue: Reaion and philanthropy, as well as religion, pronounce it a weakness and a vice in all pofiible cales. Examples enough of it, however, may be found in all revolutions : But monarchies and ariltocracies have pratftifed it, and therefore the \irtue of revenge is not pecu liar to our author's plan. In Corcyra itfelf the people were mallacred by the grandees as often as they mallacred the grandees: and ofall kind of spirits that we read of, out of hell, this is the last that an enlightened friend of liberty would pliilofophically inculcate. Let legal liberty vin dicate itfelf by legal punifliments and moral mea sures; but mobs and mallacres are the disgrace of her sacred cause ttill more than that of huma nity. ODE TO POPULARITY. BY R. CUMBERLAND, Esquirf. O POPULARITY, thou giddy thing ! What grace or profit doll thou bring ? Thou -art not honest, thou art not fame ; I cannot call thee by a worthy name To fay I hate thee were not true ; Contempt is properly thy due ; I cannot love thee and despise thee too. Thou art no patriot, but the veriest cheat That ever trafficked in deceit; A slate empiric, bellowing loud Freedom and phrenzy to the mobbing crowd ; And what car'ft thou, if thou can'ft raise Illuminations and huzzas Tho' half the city funk, in one bright blaze! A patriot! no ; for thou dost hold in hate The very peace and welfare of the state; When anarchy alTaultS the Sovereign's throne, Tl»en is thy day, the night thy own ; Then is thy triumph, when the foe Levels some dark insidious blow, Or strong rebellion lays thy country low. Thou canst affe& humility, to hide Some deep device of monftroTis pride ; Conscience and charity pretend, For comparing some private end ; And in a canting conventicle note Long scripture paflages canst quote When persecution rankles in thy throa\ Thou haft no sense of nature at thy heart, No ear for Icience, and no eye for art, Yet confidently dost decide at once This man a wit, and that a dunce; And (strange to tell) how'eruniuft, We take thy -dictates upon trust, For if the world will be deceiv'd, it mull. In truth and justice thou haft uo delight, Virtue thou dost not know by light ; But, as the chymift by fiis skill. From dross and dregs a spirit can diftill, So from the prisons, or the stews, Bullies, blafphcmcrs, chcats, or jews Shall tu»rn to heroes, if they serve thy views. Thou dost but make a ladder of the mob, Whereby to climb into some courtly job ; There fafe reposing, warm and snug, Thou anfwer'ft with a patient ftirug Miscreants, begone ; who cares for you, Ye base born brawling, clamorous crew ? You've fcrv'd my turn, and, vagabonds, adieu. IVEBSTER's CRITICISMS UPON GIBBON's HISTORY, (OOXCLUDED FROM PAGE 152.) IN description, our author often indulges a figurative poetical manner, highly improper. " The figure of the imperial city (Conftanti. noplc) may be represented under that of an un equal triangle. The obtuse point, which ad vances towards the east, and the fliores of Asia, meets and repels the waves of the Thracian Bof phorus." Here the author soars on poetic wings and we behold the obtuse point of a triangle, march ing ealhvard attacking and repulftng its foes, the waves of the Bofpliorus ; in the next line, the author finks from the heights of Parnaflus,' and creeps on the plain of pfnfle narative—" The northern fide of the city ig bounded by the har bor." On theft banks, tradition long prefer*, i the memory of the fylvaa reign of Anivcus J, defied the fori of Leda to the combat or' the f r tus. ihe author takes it for granted that hit reader is acquainted with all the ancient i'abl' of Greece and Rome. Such situ fans to 1' or fables make a wretched figure in J, bey Ihe author, after the manner of the Jets' admits epilodes into liis descriptions WJ, variety and embellishment. He begins adei'Hn non of Coaiftantioiople ; to do jultice to the citv hemuft describe its situation ; he therefore ri',« an account of the Tin acian Bofphorus the p pontus and Hellespont, interfperted with and" ent lables, and adorned with Poetical v" When he arrives at the mouth of the Hellefpo'/ his fancy leads him to the feat of ancient Trov' and he cannot pass it without tellino us Homer, where the Grecian armies were eiieam,, ed; where the flanks of the army were guarded by Agamemnon's bravest chiefs; where Achilles and his myrmidons occupied a promontory where Ajax pitched his tent; and where tomb was erected after his death. After indci ging his fancy on this memorable field of heroic actions, he is qualified to describe Conftantiuo. pie. But it is needless to multiply examples; f or similar faults occur in almost every pac;e. Moll men, who have read this hiltory, perceivea dif ficulty in undei Handing it ; yet few have at tempted to find the reason ; and hardly a nun has dared to censure theftileand manner. To what cause then shall we ascribe the al nioft unanimous content of the English and Ame. ricans, in lavishing praises upon Gibbon's ltilio ry > In some mealure doubtlel's to the greatness of the attempt, and the want of an English liifto ry which iliould unfold a series of events which connects ancient and modern times. The man who lhould light a lamp, to illuminate the dark period of time from the jth to the 15th ten» tury, would deserve immortal honors. The at tempt is great; it is noble; it is meri roriou' Gibbon appears to have been faithful, laboric , and perhaps impartial. It is his stile and manner only I am censuring > for these are exceedingly faulty. For proof of this I appea Ito a single fact, which I have never heard contradicted; thatamatt who would comprehend Gibbon, mult read with painful attention, and after all receive little im provement. The encomiums of his countrymen proceed from falfe caste ; a taste for fujperfluous orm inent. Men are disposed to lefleni the troubleof reading, <uid to (pare the labor of examiningin to the causes and Consequences of events. They clioofe to please their eyes and ears, rather than feed the mind. Hence the rage for abridgementi, and a display of rhetorical embellishments. But a man who would know the minute springs of action ; the remote and collateral, as well as the direct causes and consequences of events ; and the nice shades of character which diflinguifli emi nent men, with a view to draw rules from living examples ; f6ch a man luuft pass by abridge ments as trash ; hemuft have recourse to theori ginal'writers, or to collections of authentic papers. Indeed a collection of all the material, official pa pers, arranged in the order of time, however dry and unentertainingto inoft readers, is really the befl and the only authentic history of a coun try. The philosopher and statesman, 'who wifli to substitute fa>ft for opinion, will generally sus pect human testimony ; but repose full confidence in the evidence of papers, which have beeil the original instruments of public tranfa&ions, ani recorded by public authority. Thefeftrictures are contrary to the opinions of moll men, especially as they regard the stile ot the author mentioned. Yet tliey are written with full conviction of their being well founded. They proceed from an earnest desire of arreting the progress of falfe taste in writing, and oH'ee ing my countrymen called back to nature and truth. * So Gillies, in his History of Greece, chap. 11. talks the death of the friend of Achilles : M but leaves the readerto difcoverthe person— not having once men'ioned the name of troclus. I would observe further, that such appellations as the//"> oj Leda are borrowed irora the Greek; but wholly improper in our lauguage. The Greek? had a diftinft ending of the nan* of the father to fignify son or descendants; as Bcradiia. ■ orm of the noun was known and had a definite meaning in Greece, but in EnglifK the idiom is awkward and embarrafling. ANECDOTE. ABOUT thirty years ago great complaints were made that the Watchmen of London anu Westminster negleifted their duty to a great de gree.—On this a wife Senator made a motion) 11 the House of Commons, for Jeave to bring in Bill to compel Watchmen to sleep in the Daj, that they might the better discharge their dun in the Night.—The late Sir James Creed begge' the Hon. Member would include him in the Bi • for he was so troubled with the Gout, that could neither lleep Night nor Day. Published by JOHN FENNO, No. 9, Maid**' Lane, nearth e Ufwego-Markct, New-York. —[3 d°Lp r ' an '
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