a j
PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN- FEK.\'O, No. 41, BROAD-STREET, NEAR THE JEA'CH^JVGf.NEW-YORK
[No. 38, (/Vol. ll.j
FOR THE GAZETTE OF THE UNITE!) STATES.
DISCOURSES ON No.XVlll.
CONTINUSD.
, I/uu et I'autre parti cruel egaicmeut,
Auift que dafrU Id crime, eft- tLfti Vavcuglement.'
IT was fo'refeen, however, that the success
would not be happy. The King of Navarre,
intimidated by.the difficulty of lie enterprize,
,i<!ted with a delicacy, ir<-efolution and complai
sance, dictated by tliat foftnefs and moderation
whicji formed the eilence ofhis character. The
GuLfes, ou the contrary, full of that confidence,
which profpsrity inspires, prepared to repell
with vigor the attempt that was made against
them. In conceft with the Queen, they repeat
ed incefl'antly Jo the young Monarch, that his
predecefl'ors had always mortified the Princes of
the bloody as ertemies' to the reigning branch,
against which never ceased to operate,
foinetimesby secret cabals, and sometimes by
open force That in the prelent circumstances,
the King of Navarre and the Prince de Cond=,
feeing ttiemfelves To near the throne, under a
King of a ten<lef complexion, who had 110 chil
dren, and whose brothers were underage, fought
ojily to deprive liini of the support ofhis mother,-
and his nearcft fflatior.s, thatt'-py might govern
him at pleafur , and hold him 1.1 dependance, as
the Maires of the Palace had formerly held the
Clovis's, the Chilperics, and other Princes inca
pable of reigning. That perhaps there was no
crime at which they would heiitate, even to em
ploying poison, or the sword, to open a paflage
for themselves to the throne. The King, natu
rally timid and suspicious, pre occupied by these
artificial accusations, wbirh were coloured with
some appearance of probability, saw with an evil
eye, the King of Navarre, andrcceived him cold
ly. In the audiences which he granted him, al
ways in the presence of the Duke and the Cardi
nal, who never quitted him a m&iiient, he gave
luri no ir but dry answer" ; that lie
was of age ; that he was not refponlible to any
man for his actions ; that he was fatisfied with
the good services of thofc who governed under
him ; and rejected conltantly all the requells
and demands of the Princes of the blood, as irre
gular, unreasonable, and made with ill dcligns.
The efforts of the King of Navarre had no bet
ter success with the Queen -piother. • She knew
that she could not depend upon the attachment
which the Princes of the blood profeffed to her ;
lhat as soon as they (hiuld obtain what they so
licited, they would exclude her from the govern
ment, and foi'ce her perhaps to quit the Court.
She judged moreover, thacit would be imprudent
to abandon the party the molt powerful and the
best eftabllflied, to attach herfelf to the Pvinces
of the blood, who had 110 certain support. She
determined therefore to pursue her firft, plan :
but as (he wiihed to prevent the horrors of a civil
war, (he proposed to herfelf, not entirely to take
away all hopes from tbe Princes, but to make
use of artifice and dillimulation, to divert the
King of Navarre, whose docility (he knew, from
thedefigns which he had formed, and to wait,
from time and conjunctures, some expedient, ad
vantageous to the welfare of the (late. In con
sequence, Ihe received him with great demon
ibrations of friendfhip, and amused him with the
faired hopes. li> the course of conversations
which they had together, (he insinuated, that the
pailions of the King were easily irritable i that
hemuftnotbe vexed with demands and com
plaints out of season ; that it was neceftary to
wait for opportunities more favorable ; that the
Xing having palled his fourteenth year, might
govern by hinifelf, and without taking counsel
•of any one ; that when he (hould find an oppor
tunity to 111 anifell his benevolence for the Princes
of Bourbon, lis would fulfil all that was required
of him, by the relations of blood, and would
prove to all the world the esteem and consider
ation, which he entertained of their merit and
fidelity : that to change, all at once, in the be
ginning ofa reign, the older established in the
government, would be to gi v e ilie King among
his own fubjec r ts,' the reputation of an incon
stant .Prince, without prudence and without
ftrnincfs : that if atiy employment worthy of
them ihould be vacant, he would have a regard
to the judice of their pretensions : that in her
own particular, (he offered lierfelf voluntarily
to manage their interests with lief (on, to engage
him to grant them, as soon as (hould be po'lible,
SATURDAY, AUGUST, 21, 1790
the fatisfaiflion they desired : that it was not de
cent that the King of Navarre, who had always
evinced his wifdoniand moderation, Ihould now
fuffer himfelf to be guided by counsels, and
drawn into rash meafqres which were neither
consistent with- his age nor chara<fter ; bnt by
waiting with patience, for what depended whbl
ly 011 the benevolence and affection of the King,
he ought to teach other's, liO'V 50 merit in their
due seasons, the favor andbt: 'senceof his Ma
jesty. The Queen having sou ndrd at seve
ral times, by such general discourses, and per
ceiving that he began to waver, compleatly gain
ed him at length, bv faying that they mufl im
mediately fend into Spam, Elizabeth, the fitter of
the King, who must bft attended by some Prince,
distinguished by his reputation and by his rank ;
that (he had cdft Tier eyes on him, as the p'erfon
age the inoft proper to lupport the honor of the
nation, by the fpiendor of his virtues, and of the
Majesty Royal, with which he was adorned ; that
beltdes the fatisfadtion Which the King her son
would have in it, he would find a great advantage
for his private pretensions, by the facility which
he would have, of conciliating the affections of
the Catholic King, and at the fame time of treat
ingin person of the refticution,or of the change
of Navarre. Finally, lhe proniifed him to em
ploy all her credit, and all the power of the King
her son, to insure the success of this negotiation.
.(To bt continuei.)
PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS
ON T Hl. LATE
REVOLUTION IN F R AN C E, ire.
CGKTIKUATION,
LORD STANHOPE., has thought proper to
pals an eulogy on the National Allenibly,
for making no dimndlion between Catholics and
Proteflains, but impartially admitting both to
all offices of tryit and profit ; and invidiously con
tra fits our conduct with their's, in refpetft to the
DifTirnters, Bnt if their true u.L ive be coDfider
ed, they will be found by 110 means entitled to
panegyric. By this affected moderation, this
specious candor, this cbinpreheniive indulgence,
they evidently exhibit a contemptuous indiffer
ehce foV the Catholic established church, and the
solemn decisions of councils and theologifts.—
This is a dangerous unequivocal fyinptom of their
malady—a prognostic and a diagtioftic of Athe
ism.
On the fame consistency of principle, Mr. Mi
rabeau moved this senate of democrat/ to address
the king to appoint an envoy foi- thefpecial pur
pose of jointly consulting with our adminiftra
tio'n on the most effectual means of abolilhing the
slave trade. Did this spring from the generous
suggestions of humanity ? Certainly not.
Treachery marks their proceedings ; and the
ruin of revealed religion is the invariable aim of
all their adiions. For has it not been incontefti
bly proved, by writers equally distinguished by
genius, learning, and profound researches into
antiquitv, that the eldest born of Ham, who was
accnrfedby his father, was called Cufh, " which,
in the Hebrew language, fignifies black. Ethi
opia, under which name Africa is included, is
called in scripture the land of Cufh, and the in
habitants, Cnfhims, or Cufhites. The negroes
therefore are descended from Ham, by his eldest
Ton, Cufh ; which accounts for the degraded si
tuation these people have ever continued in."—
This reafoningis conclusive.—The Cufhites were
certainly devoted to perpetual llavery, for the
wickedness of their great progenitor, Ham.—
Cufh himfelf was probably born black, both as a
prophetic designation of his future fate, and to
transmit this degenerate color to his posterity.
The only specious objection to this very ra
tional liypothefis, is obviated by the author of
Obfirvations, &c. in anfvver to Mr. Clarkfon's re
probated Eflay. " It may be objected," fays he,
" that Cufh was born prior to the time of Ham's
committing the offence against his father, for
which he sentenced him and his posterity to so
severe a punifhment —and therefore rhe complex
ion of Cufh cauld not have any relation to the
crime to be committed afterwards by his father.
In answer to this, I obfer*e, there is no impro
priety, nor improbability, in supposing that the
blackness of Cufh was the mark fct upon him and
his posterity, from the forknowledge of the Dei
ty, of the crime, and consequent punishment,
which Ham would commit, and be sentenced to ;
and as a seal of thaf: perpetual servitude to which
565
his defcendents were to be doomed by that feii
tence.
Be this as it may, it is inconteftibly proved by
the celebrated author of ylndent ftlythoiogy, and
universally admitted, that the Europeans are the
foils of Japlieth : It is therefore our indispensa
ble duty to accomplish the divine prediiftions of
Noah, and to hold Ham's defendants in chains
foicver. Butitisthe avowed intention of the
National Afleinbly to weaken the credibility of
the sacred hiltory, by emancipaiing the negroes;
However, I trull we fliall not be made the dupes
of this profane policy : On the contrary, I sin
cerely wifli, that the corporations of Briltol and
Liverpool would fend out the reverend author of
the Scriptural Refmrchetto the Well-Indies, witk
a cargo of bibles ; which may be conveniently
(lowed in the llave-ftiips, as they are not now f»
much crowdcd as formerly. Let him teach tha
unfortunate Africans to read and study the book
of Genesis ; let their genealogy becondcnfed into
a short catechifin, suited to their untutored capa
cities, and taught them every Sunday by one of
the negro-drivers.—lt is impoflible to lay what
a sudden and salutary effetft it may have on their
unenlightened minds, to k'r.ovj that their fnfler
ings are solely owing to the wickedness of their
ancellor, Ham.
It will conciliate their afFecftions, andendeartlie
sons of Japhetli to their hearts, if they are once
persuaded that we hold them- in bondage, and
inflict (tripes on them, neither to obtain any b:vf#
and fordid profit from their burning toils, nor to
gratify the sudden iuipulfe of vindictive pallion,
but merely in obedience to the decrees of Heaven,
to accomplish the word of prophecy, as faithful
executors to the lad will and teltament os- Noah,
our common progenitor, the second father of
mankind.
Monf. Volney, indeed, would fain persuade us,
on the authority of" Herodotus, that the Egyp
tians, celebrated both in profane and sacred his
tory, were blacks—and thence artfully insinuates
that we do not absolutely derive our intellectual
superiority over them from" the whiteness of our
fkius. But, even on this hypothelis, though the
Egyptians mighc have been of a dark color, yet
they were not of fodeep a dye as the defendants
of Cufh, nor was their hair so foft and woolly ;
which makes an eflential difference between tliem.
Besides, it has been conjectured by the AbbeSpa
lanzani, and demonltrated by a late di(fe<ftion at
Jamaica, that the cellular membrane, on which
the color of the epidermis or outer cuticle depends
is wondroufly extended overthe brain of the ne
groes, and completely wraps up the cerebrum and
cerebellum in its curious net-work. Gonfequent
ly, the impreflion made by external "objects on
the fenforium is rendered less distinct by palling
through this reticular envelope, the nervous sen
sibility thereby blunted, and the rational facul
ties weakened. By this aftoniihing contexture
of the reasoning organ, the polterity of Ham, and
the sons of Japhetli, are fpecifically diltinguilhed
from each other. The former cannot feel foex
quilitely as the latter, either intellectually or sen
sitively ; and yet, by this admirable contrivance f
they are graciously fitted for that Hate of degra
dation and slavery, to which they are perpetually
devoted.
It will give me great pleasure if this Angular
discovery fliould afford the least iatisfadtion to
those whose generous, but mis-applied sympathy
has carried them beyond all bounds of prudence
and discretion on the fnbje<3; of the slave-trade.-—
They may now reft allured that the negroes do
not iuffer more than they can bear. The dulliiefs
of their understandings, and the bluntnefs of
their sensations, (originating from the fame
cause) alleviate their transient miseries, and pro
tionably shield and protedl them from that pun
gency of mental and corporeal pain they would
otherwise feel from incidental acfts of severity,
to which a state of slavery must sometimes expose
them. This anatomical description of the prolon
fation and extension of the subcutaneous meni
rane over tlie brain, Ihould be explained to the
blacks, in familiar untechnical language by the
surgeon of the plantation, who always charitably
visits and attends them after every punishment—
as they are always humanely indulged with some
hours reft and relaxation,to repair their exhauit
ed strength and spirits. When they have once
attained a clear (cientific conception of this phe
nomenon from the furgeon,the clergyman fliould
theji explain the final cause of it to his catecbttn
[Whole No. 142.]