No.'XII.
TH E TABLE T. No. XII.
r n,k,n once a man is inured to the service of
"Mm 'be will erpe/l to be paid as we// for att.ug
fir, (JJ for "(iing thi diftaUs °f hl C 0"-
t'Tmay seem paradoxical to reproach a man for
I « contentious spirit, while it is acknowledged,
,w focietv cannot be held together, without the
Sos tattion. I will make two remarks, as a <o
tionof this difficulty.—One is, that the chain
„f providential events is so connected, that op
oofite evils mitigate or deflroy the tendency oi
Lh other; while many persons who take :m
agency in them, maybe actuated bj the molt
nialitrnanr motives. The other is, that though
a certain portion of party spirit is eflential yet
it fcotdd b'«? fubjedl to foine bounds and reftne
t;ons • and as there is more probability that it
will be carried to excess, than that it will be an
nihilated, our blaming it as a vtce, or delcribing
it as an inconvenience, may be a circumstance
that will restrain some of its excelles.
In the natural world, we often denominate
phenomina as evil, because their immediate and
visible effects are fo.—lf we could view the whole
scene, those parts that are represented as dark
and horrid, would be found to contribute to the
perfection of the whole. Tempests, tornadoes
and earthquakes, are usually ranked among the
most formidable natural evils. Suchjarrs and
concussions of the elements, however, are cal
culated to redtify disorders, which, by being let
alone, would become more pernicious than their
counteracting causes. Those who are within the
verge of the disaster fuffer an evil, which it was
requisite ftiould take place, to render the gene
ral blessing more complete.
It is my intention to present to the view of my
voung friend a character, which may serve a* A
specimen of one, on whom faction has wrought
its full effedts.—This will be more likely to make
strong impressions, and to put him on his g:ird
agalnft undue exercises of party spirit, than
merely to lay the f'ubjeft before hiin, in remarks
that are general and unapplied. There is a dif
ficulty in accoinplifhing this talk, resulting from
the want of a complete original, by which a
portrait can be formed To remedy this defect,
I have had pa $ve to several of the most dit
tinguilhed parry wranglers, that had fallen with
in my knowledge. By seleCting different quali
fications from different persons, and combining
them into an aggregate, it delineates an image,
not materially incomplete. No individual has
furnifhed a fufiicient lhare in the features of this
character, to claim the right of naming it. Such
a colledtion of qualities, however, fhouid be per
fonified, and for want of a b;tter name, may be
called Hactotius.
It can be of no importance to tell from what
parents he descended. His parentage and educa
tion were such as entitled hiin to the notice and
esteem of his acquaintance. As his natural abi
lities rather exceeded mediocrity, and as his ac
quirements were handfonie, his friends hoped
that he would have been distinguished in alinoft
anyftation of life. He had no vices, but what
proceeded from a warmth and vivacity of spirit,
and which did not indicate a bad heart. There
was reason to believe that age and experience
would correct the few irregularities he had dil
covered. *
Factotius entered into public life with a re
putation sb fair and unblemilhed, that to fay he
wore the image of his Maker, would not impi-
Mifly derogate from the divine attributes. His
degeneracy was solely occasioned by the acciden
tal circumstance of his falling into bad hands.
As he had taken a residence in a different part of
the country from that in which he had been born
and educated, he malt of course form new con
nections. A inifiake in this refpedt laid the
foundation of his future faults and misfortunes.
He unintentionally connected hiinfelf with men,
were warmly engaged in partv animosities.
rrom a temper naturally unguarded and aspiring,
fie was inadvertently allured into a chace, the
courses of which, his fagaciry could neither fore
ee or elude. Though he had given the inoft
attenng iymptoms of a virtuous mind, yet his
principles had never been confirmed by experi
and habit. There : s a critical point of
'nnein the lite of a man, from which the cha
• acter takes its tone. Factotius was exactly
ln period. Had he at that instant formed
£°c • connections, he had never become a bad
""f 11 *1 13^ e ft' n y was unfortunate, and he made
3 atal pitch. In a very little time, he became a
•!| lr "!i 3,1 parnzan in all the difputcs of
", e ?•. i s incredible how lieedlefsly he
cord" '™t° t ' le depth of party rage and dif
or ' e uot proceed through the regular
From WEDNESDAY, May 20, to SATURDAY, May 23, 1789.
gradations from a good to a bad man: his change n
was almost instantaneous. His happiness at once ft
deserted him, and IBs ideas of right and wrong a:
suddenly diflipated.—This may happen, without f<
any original ill intention in those who fall a vie- w
tim to the fury of faction. h
Thrown into a situation, where he was often ai
called upon to oppose what is right and encou- vv
rage what is wrong, Factotius had some con- hi
flict of emotions between former principles, and p
new temptations.—He was however wretked with c
such an inceflant ardour of temper and tumult of t(
paflions, as to put calm reflexion out of his pow- ti
er, and soon became familiarized to the charac- f
ter he had aflinned. The love of. triumph, the h
hatred of opposition, and the enchanting hopes t
of being a diftinguilhed partizan, led him a ca- a
rcer that was no less tormenting to hinil'elf, thau !i
mifchiveous to society. ISO soon were all dif- v
tincftions of virtue and vice broken down and c
levelled, that his old friends and connections, ;i
who did not coincide with his new objeifts and I
party views, fuffered «very thing that could re- I
fult from violated confidence, or from a vindic- r
tive overbearing conduct. His enmities and at- 1
tachments were all converted to party purposes. f
Nor is this all—Factotius not only loft his t
redlitude, but his consistency : He became the f
most capricious, as well as the most abandoned ot 1
men.—ln some cases, he would applaud and imi- a
tate what in others he would avoid and condemn ; t
one while he would reprobate and persecute a v
character, whom afterwards he would take by '
the hand and patronize. Atftions in no material f
refpecft different from what he himfelf prafcfHfed, 1
he would ridicule and detest in his antagoniils. i
In short, there is no vice that can be lashed, and 1
no folly that can be laughed at, which he would t
not represent as praise-worthy and decent in )
those who adhered to his cause.—On the other <
hand, the most worthy actions of his opponents
were stigmatized with opprobious epithets.
But all human affairs have their limits—Fac
totius could not always run such a race. His
enormities were, from the nature of things, re
strained to certain bounds : There was no new
man for him to deceive, no new abl'urdiry for
him to commit.—His fall From the glare and po
pularity of gilded caprice and iniquity, into a
state of infamy and negledt, was so rapid and
unprogreflive, as to form one of the moil extra
ordinary events of his life. He was instantly for
faken. His name, which for a while was only
mentioned with scorn and detestation, was in a
few years so generally forgot, as never to be in
troduced but as a comparison for something ex
tremely odious and deftruiflive. So strong a con
trail between his present and former fortune seems
to have fafisfied all feelings of revenge in his ene
mies. The natural di&ates of humanity strove
to silence further reproaches, and to allow his
name the privilege of oblivion. ,
Such a character, and such a situation, a wife
man will avoid for his own fake ; and a. good man,
for the fake of other people.
EXTRACT FROM " AMERICAN ESSAYS."
STORY o/HONESTUS and CONSTANTIA.
HONESTUS and CONSTANTIA were a
happy pair, a virtuous sympathy allied their
hearts; the facredunion was cemented, by con
stant, kind, reciprocal attentions : Conftantia
• \yas fair and beautiful, as she was good : Her ex -
; ter null charms captivated the rich Corrumpus.—
- Honeftus had embarked in an undertaking that
* required a loan—Corrumpus instantly stepped
forth, and in the pressing moment, offered him
. his purse—the artless Honeftus gratefully accept -
f ed, and most cordially embraced the insidious
i friend :—But here the traitor milled his aim.
Conftantia's virtues bore the stamp of Heaven,
l' and kept pollution at an awful diftance.—Rag
in~ alternately with difappoininent and desire,
, atTength Corrumpus sullenly withdrew ; butftill
;! resolved if potfible, to gratify his mean revenge,
and hellish lull.—The commercial enterprises of
e Honeftus,' terminated unfortunately—Corrum
- pus saw and seized the flattering occasion, to
1: screen his name, and hide the blackness of his
s hellish purpose :He artfully transferred the debt
due from Honeftus, to his petifogging and pan
s der, one of that execrable tribe of canabals in
i London, who live on human prey : This faithful,
v callous tormentor, stripped the poor Honeftus
d bqre ; consigned him to that vile terreftial hell
d a <:aol, there left him naked on a bed of thorns,
e —Who can unfold thy complicated woes, ye
a <r\<: om v tenants of that dark abode ! Who can grasp
>f the wide'fpread miseries ifl'uing from that cruel
e fource—Conftantia, large was thy portion of the
("- bitter cup. In a dark corner of a naked hovel,
ir exnofed to all the rigors of inclemeut winter.
now behold, die lute liappy wife of the once as- .
fluent Honeftus ! Poor, cold, comf. jrtlefs, lick,
and forfuken ! horror and fpeeclilefs agony de
formed that fair face, where all the graces once
where wont to finile ! Two infant daughters hang
ing on herknees, with piercing cries for bread,
and their lolt father, probing inceilantly her
wounded foul; close by her lide in dumb diftrefe,
herhoary fire,fat looking resignation.—ln this de
plorable, defencelefs Hate—the Villain's pre
cious hour!—thefalfeCorruinpus enters, affevfts
to curse the unfeeling monster, who could dis
turb the fair Conftantia's peace ; and with mock
sympathy pretends that he was jult informed of
her distress, and had hastened with all the impa
tient ardor of a friend to offer her piotetfiion
and relief: Still ihe fat dumb, motionless, tranf
fixed ! her eager eyes intent upon her children ;
with well diflembled grief, he next communi
cates the cruel fate of his dear friend Honeftus ;
and said he intended to go immediately to him :
Here Conftantia looked up—and to offer him his
fervice.s—a gleam of hope appeared once more to
rouse her torpid foul, and with a feeble ray re
lumed her eye—a faint fuffufion of an lie&ic hue
slushed on her lifelefs cheek—Sliefeemedto wilh
to finile : Rank with detire, the gloating lecher
saw returning life, and eagerly approached to
seize her hand ; by chaste antipathy, she took the
alarm ; flirunk from the hateful and forbidden
touch, and shook with horror; then ftafed at Hea
ven, and menaced fierce : Her children
screeched in wild affright, not knowing what they
feared, and trembling clung for fafety to their
helpless mother.--The pious father felt the unfeel
ing wound, but now his palsied arms liungnerve
leis, a cumberous useless load; he could no more
than weep,and look again to Heaven.—Struck,but
not foftened at the melting scene', with consci
ous guilt, the sneaking friend retired.
After a long and awful pause, returning reason
seemed again to dawn—the storm that rudely
snook Conftantia's gentle frame, gradually lub
fided intoapenlive, calm, and fettled melancholy;
when with the fofteft voice of melting grief, ihe
thus articulated ; still persecuted by that cruel
spoiler!! thought I had nothing left! Yes,ftill Virtue
thou art mine ! for thee am 1 once more pursu
ed ! if stripped of tliee, Ifliouldbe poor indeed*
Lovely Virtue! with thee, and with my dear Ho
neftus, how happy fliould I ueein the humfcleft
lot! thus blest, rich in content, I yet could tread
some humble vale in sweet security, and bless
all bounteous Heaven, unenvying andunenvied ;
but doomed to live bereft of either ; how bitter
even is my scanty bread ! The keen reflection
ltung her to her foul, andchoaked her utterance.
In a few days, death mercifully closed this
dreadful scene, ami happily released the poor
Conftantia : This stroke i f mercy, so far relieved
the injured, wounded, and world sick Honef
tus, that he was soon removed from his prison
to a mad-house, where in sweet oblivion on
his bed of straw, he dreams himself a King.
Revenge fould ask no more—There yet remain
ed, to satiate luft,with an inceftuons feaft ; —mark
how the monster deliberately prepares the hellilh
banquet!
Corrumpus took the friendlefs orphans, and with
t a more than parent's fondnefs cherished them ;
till with the unripe fruit, his rank, salacious, ap
petite was gorged ; then with a cloyed indifference,
l cold!y cast them to the common herd ; and e'er
they reached their teens, they joined the iftale,
forlorn patrolers of the Strand, who in nodturnal
l orgies seek relief, and know no other joys.
I Such was the fate, of a worthy, virtuous family,
, all for no crime, who had they not been Britons,
. might probably have lived, to have been an orira
s ment to their species, and an honor to their
country.
Blush Britons ! blush ! and boast no more, of
SUBJECTS SACRED RIGHTS
t O ! 'twas an impious theft, to rob decrepit age
1 of it's sole prop !to snatch with sacrilegious hand,
the only cordial that remained to qualify the
f bitter dregs of life ! —To strip the virtuous, fond,
. and faithful wife, of liufband, hope, protection,
0 and support !—lt was A DAMNING DEED, to
s pluck the harmless infants from the brooding
lt wings of their fond, loitering parents ;to blot
_ fair, white-robed innocence, their only boon,
„ with foul, indelible pollution ; then rlirow the
1 violated in the street, there to wander,
1S houlelefs, helpless, hopeless, hungry, diseased,
U abandoned, naked, loft !
S. ■■- ■ " Quis talia fando
" Temperet a lachrymis I**
!p This eclipses all the glory, and annihilates the
el most eflential benefits of the British Constitution,
ie by thus involving misfortunes with crimes, and
1, giving the wealthy villain absolute power over
r, the nrffortunate, and authorizing him, unuer the
PRICE SIX PEN'CC.