FROM Till MASSACHUSETTS CUNT IN EL.
Boston, dec. 12.
TWELFTH FEDERAL PILLAR.
NORTH CAROLINA.
It is with a great degree of fatisfartion wean
bounce to the public, the RATIFICATION of
the CONSTITUTION of the UNITED STATES
by the refpetftable State of NORTH-CAROLI
NA; the intelligence of -which agreeable event
we received yesterday morning, by Capt. To si ah
Bacon, mailer of the Peterjburgh Packet, in FIVE
DAYS from North-Carolina. The particulars are :
The Convention of North-Carolina met at Fa v
etteville, the lit November, and after debating the
Confhtution throughout, the 20th November the
question of Ratification was put, and palled in the
affirmative—
YEAS,
NAYS, 75
MAJORITY, 17S
This intelligence was received at Edtnton, by
express, on the eveningof the 30th of November.
The next morning the colours belonging to the
town, and on board the shipping were hoilted.
At 'Twelve o'clock Twelve cannon were discharg
ed, in honor of the several States in Union—and
a collation provided for the fpetftators. Atthree
o'clock, an elegant dinner was provided at the
Merchant's Coffee-Ho uf'e, and after dinner the
following toasts were drank .
1. The United States of America.
2. The President of the United States.
3. The Vice-President, and Officers of the Unit
ed States.
4. The King of France, and French Nation.
5. All the powers of Europe, in alliance with
America.
6. Our late Convention.
7. The Governor and State of North-Caro
lina.
8. May the New Con stitution be a blessing
to the people.
9. Commerce, Agriculture and Manufactures.
10. The Officers, Soldiers and Patriots, who
diitinguifiied themselves in the late army. '
11. The fair Daughters of Columbia.
12. May the State of Rhode-IJland follow the
example of our late Convention.
111 the evening, Twelve large lantliorns were
hoisted on the flag-Half belonging to the town ;
the lanthorn of the Court-House, and several of
the bouses, were beautifully illuminated; and a
very large bonfire made at the back of the town.
The bells of ( this town [Boilon] rung one hour
on this*joyful occalion.
OF NORTH-CAROLINA.
The liiltory of this State, now the more intereft
as h has become a member of the Union, is
lets known than that of any of the other States.
It was fettled in 1710, is 750 miles in length, and
110 in breadth—inhabitants 270,000, of which
60,000 are Negroes. The North-Caroliuians are
inoftly Planters—their exports tar, pitch, turpen
tine, rozin, Indian coin,peltry, lumber, tobacco,
ginleng, snake root, &c. &c.—Agreeably to the
Constitution, North-Carolina will fendfive Repre
sentatives to Couorefs.
O
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CLASSICS.
AN EXTRACT FKOM DR. BLAIR.
XT is in vain also to allcdge, that the reputation of the Ancient
-i. Foets, and Orators, is owing to authority, to pedantry, and
to the prejudices of education, transmitted from age to age.
j n" " trUC 'i art t ' le Aut ' lors P' u ' nto our ha "ds at schools
and colleges, and by that means wc have now an early prepollcf
lion in their favor; but how came they to gain the pofTeffion of
colleges and schools ? Plainly, by the high fame which these Au
thors had among their own cotemporanes. For the Greek and
Latin were not alwavs dead languages. There was a time, when
Homer, V irgil,»nd Horace, were view'ed in the fame light as we
now view Drydcn, Pope, and Addifon. It is not to commenta
tors and universities, that the claflics are indebted for their fame.
, . became dallies and school-books, in confequencc of the
High admiration which was paid them by the bell judges in their
own country and nation. As early as the days of Juvenal, who
wrote under the reign of Domitian, we find Virgil and Horace
Become the llandard books in the education of youth.
Quot Jiabent putri, cum fetus decolor rjfet
Flaccus. etharerct nigro juligo Marom. Sat. 7.*
From this general principle, then, of the reputation of great
a " cient Classics bc 'ng <0 early, so lasting, so universal, among all
themoft polilhed nations, we may justly and boldly infer that
•heir reputation cannot be wholly unjust, but mull have a solid
foundation in the merit of their writings.
Of corre£fc and finifhed writing in some works of taste, the
moderns may afford ufeful patterns ; but for all that belongs to
original genius, to spirited, masterly and high execution* our best
and most happy ideas are, generally speaking, drawn from the
Ancients. In Epic Poetry, for instance, Homer and Virgil, to
this day, stand not within many degrees to any rival. Orators,
uch as Cicero and Dcmofthenes, we have none. In history, not
wit i landing some defers, which I am afterwards to mention in
or ' ca * Plans, it may be fafely asserted, that we have
UC j * or * ca l narration, so clegant, so pi&urefque, so anima
ted, and interesting as that of Herpdotus, Thucydides,Xenophon,
> lv y, Tacitus and Salluft. Although the conduct ot the drama
may be admitted to have received lome improvements, yet for
poetry and sentiment we have nothing to equal Sophocles and
npides ; nor any dialogue in Comedy, that comes up to the
corrett, graceful, and elegant simplicity of Terence. We have
?° UC ve as those of Tibullus ;no such pastorals as
! mC °. , °" ltus ' si and for Lyric Poetry, Horace stands quite
riva er. The name cannot be iVientioned without
J particular encomium. That " Curiofa Felicitas," which Pe
"n.u as remarked in his ex predion ; the sweetness, elegance,
anj fpmr <>t many of Ins Odes, thp thorough knowledge of the
excellent Itfntimtnts,* and natural easy manner which
diitinguilnes his Satyres «ind Epiltles, all contribute to render him
one of thole very few authors who»n one never tires of reading;
and rom whom alone, were every other monument destroyed,
*\e iou!d he Fed to form a very high idea of the taste and genius
of the Anguftan Age. °
To all such, then, as wish to form their taste, and nourish their
genius, let me warmly recommend the afliduous study of the An
cient dallies, both Greek, and Roman.
h'oflurna verjate manu, verjate diurna. +■
Without a considerable Acquaintance -Wuh them, no man can be
reckoned a polite scholar; and he wiil want many <tfliftances for
vvntingand speaking well, which the knowledge of such Authors
would oftord him. Any one has great reafori to fiifped his own
tjfte, who receives little or no pleasure from the perusal of'Wri
tmgs, which so many ages and nations have consented in holding
up as objects of admiration. And I am persuaded, it will be
ound, that in proportion as the Anciertts are generally studied
and admired, or are unknown and disregarded in any country,
good talte and good composition will flourifh, or decline. They
aie commonly none but the ignorant or fuperficial, who Under
value them.
notes.
Then t/,ou art bound to fmcU, on either hand y
u am P y as fchoot-boys Jland,
t Ij* RA C E Ho * rca d in his own fully'd book,
s nd Virgil ' sjacred page was all befmear'd with smoke.
, Dhyden.
t k Read them by day—dndJludy them by night."
From Mr. Loudon's paper ojyejlerday.
rOR THE gazette of the united states.
THE GUEST. \o. VII.
" His greatest action which we find,
(( " Wai, that he walh'd his hand j anddin'd."
> V E aremiftaken," fays the Duke de Roche
foucalt, "if we think that none but the more hot
and violent palfions, such as love and ambition, do
triumph over the reft. Laziness, as weak and
languishing as it is, feJdom fails of subduing them.
It gets the better ot all our defigus, and controuls
all the atTtions of our life ; and both our passions
and our virtues are, together consumed infenfiblv
by It."
h evv men have any idea, how great a proportion
of indolence enters into the composition of our
nature. If men were notnaturally inclined to be
indolent, we should find very few, who really
would be so. It is evident, upon a little furvev,
that no men are so unhappy as those that are idle.
And though man is a being made for adtivitv, vet
a gi'eat many people choose to be busy in doing
nothing. I mean that men ought to be active in
order to be happy. But as many men are avgrfe
to labour, their restless spirit drives them to fucli
methods of getting rid of time as moil properly
may be called idleness. It may seem odd to make
the aflertion, but it is very true, that some per
sons weary themselves exceedingly in finding out
how to be idle. I hose, who go about afkingnews
in the streets to know who has got a wife or a
place, are of this stamp. We may also include
in this decription, those fuperficial visitants who
go to fee folks becaufethey are not at home. There
are several others of this kind who, as it were,
labor to be lazy.
Many men are obliged to stretch their ingen
uity to devise modes of wearing away their time.
This will be the cafe with those who have no fix
ed employment. 11 should therefore be a fettled
maxim with every person, that unless he is em
ployed in J'omething ufefnl, he cannot meet with
contentment.
[Erratum—ln last number of the Guest, line 10th from the
, top, lor " wind" read *|W.]
For Ike GAZETTE of the UNITED STATES.
ON CHARITY SCHOOLS.
/CHARITY Schools owe their rife undoubtedly
V co those innate principles of benevolence
which the Deity hath imprefled upon the human
heart. But charity in these inftances,|may with pro
priety be laid to begin at home ; and coimnonly ends
there too. Indeed, from the nature of these institu
tions, it must always be found, that they are not
coinpeient to the design. Particular denomina
tions and societies, form these plans for the ex
climve advantage of the poor of their own berfua
fioni But with the aid derived from the contri
butions of the charitable of other denominations
was it ever known that all the poor children, -with
out exception, of the society which is designed to
be particularly benefited, were, or could be ac
commodated by them > Whatis the consequence >
A charge of partiality; and this idea cannot be
erased from the mind of a parent, wlu Handing
exartly on the fame ground with his favored
neighbor, cannot his get child admitted. Cha
rity schools, where the object extends to cloathinp
poor children, prove a very expensive mode of
conferring our bounty, without producing thfe
good intended, in any degree commensurate td
the charge. A charity school for 50 or 60 children
upon this plan, will cost probably fevcn or ei'rhc
hundred pounds per annum: ,t I'diii that would
support two fciiools, in which from Ijb to 200
children might be equally well taught. I£s cx
pence of cloathing being the heavielt cliuts V, is
the 1110 ft useless, and might be saved ; as ii ij"i in
material how children are clad, provided tliev
are clean ; for uniformity in cloaths does not faci -
litate theirprogrefs in learning; and " he that
hears the young ravens when they cry," does in
the course of his providence, enable "the poorest
of our citizens to provide futh covering for their
offspring as would be folficient for them to attend
school in. In addition to the incompetency of
the funds to support charity schools, and the ut
ter impoHibiltty of giving general, much less uni
versal S,atisfadtion, there is in the minds of the
free citizens of tliefe States, a principle of con
scious independency, which revolts from the idea
of being under obligations to charity, for th« edu
cation of their children, as fully as it does
to be indebted to it for the bleilings of freedom and
civil society. That charity lchools cannot be com
petent to the obje(ftof making universal provision
for the education of the poor, is exemplified in the
city of Loudon ; where there are the molt extenlive
inllitutio'ns of this kind, that are to be found upon
thefaceof theglobe. Let us advert to facfts. At the
late procession of the King to St. Paul's it is said
there were fix thousand charity fcliolars mustered,
doubtless the -whole that could be collected—for we
well know that absence is not difpenled with on
such occasions—six thousand appears a large num
ber—but how niany times fix thouland mull re
main to be brought up in ignorance among a mil
lion of inhabitants, when only fix thousand are
provided for—and a great proportion of these,
not the pooreit—for English authors will inform
us that the poor, are not always benefited by
tliofe institutions originally designed for the poor.
In the I'm all Hate of Connecticut, there are nt»
charity schools j but there are upwards of five
hu.\dred fre£ public schools. The digni
ty of human nature —the rights of property, and
adue renfe of the bleftings of government and
civil liberty, are 110 where better underltood, or
more extensively enjoyed than in thai; highly fa
vored land of equality and freedom. CIVIS.
NEW-YORK, DECEMBER 23.
Members of Conarefs now in this city : Senate— Pit titn 1 iii
of tjic Senate—Mr. Da lton; Mr. Johnson j Mr.ScHuvm ,
Mr. King ; Mr. Izard; Mr. BvT t i*. Reprefevtatwes—
Mr. Gilman; Mr. Gerry ; Mr. U*«akce; Mr. Benson:
Mr. Scott: Mr. Coi.es; Mr. Brown ; Mr. Griffin; Mr.
Hvjcer; Mr. Smith, of South-CaTrflma.
The public expectation begins to awaken at tlie
approaching felons of Congrrffs; When we re
flecton the various and difficult objedts to be ac
complished by our legislators, we must fuppole
their talk is weighty and critical. The patience
and candor of the people will be equal, we hope,
to every reasonable allowance for any delays or
ei 1 ors that inevitably result from circumstances
so new and embarrafled.
1 he tranquility and contentment that prevails
among the citizens of the United States, under
the operation of the national government, are at
proof of their general deterrtiination to give it
Support. If we may judge from appearance, the;
vaiious branches of the executive
are filled with such characters,as do honor to their
appointments and give general Satisfaction to the
people. When men of abilities and integrity are
at the head of affairs, we may always expect" that
the government will operate," in such a manner,
as to obtain popular Sanction and promote the
important ends of political aflociation.
It is worthy of contemplation how rapidly the
people of this country are extricating themselveS
from the calamities and burdens of the late war.
Many towns that were laid waste by the ravages
of the enemyare restored to their former size and
prosperity. The progress of an industrious fru
gal people, towards wealth and comfort may be
accelerated to such a degree as almost to elude cal
culation. We have many striking examples how
Jooii the disasters of fire, and manj other misfor
tunes may be Surmounted, when once the tjeople
allume resolution, andpraitife industry.
The amendments to the Constitution proposed
by Congrefsto the Several States,appear to receive
that cordial approbation which does honor to the
candor and patriotism of the refpedlive State Le
gillatui es, to whom they have beenfubmitted
If they do not in every refped; meet the ideas of
thole who never liked the Constitution, it ought
to be remembered that they are the result of a
concefnon on the part of the majority, who were
Satisfied with the system in its original form
but from the best motives were induced to ac
quielce in amendments to reconcile, if poifible,
opposition, and to conciliate the doubting.
We are muck favored by the " Sketch on Poetry"— want 0f
room prevents Us infei tion this day ; but it jhall appear in our next.
c, j c , ARRIVALS -—XEfV-YORK.
Saturdiy Schorr Sally, Patterfon, Shelhurne, 5 days.
Sloop Sally, Sampson, Boston. 1 7 days
Monday Sloop Saratoga, Thrathcr, C .pe Fare, 28days.
Sloop Polly, Bartlett, CapeFiue, 28 days.