PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FEN NO, No. 69, AIARKE T.STREET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STREETS, PHILADELPHIA [No. 59, of Vol. ll.] Discourses on Davila. No. XXIJI. — CONTINUED Utiumque regcm, fua mulcitudo conlalutaverat, THE Queen informed of this union, thought hejfelf deprived of herfirmeft fuuport, and dreaded, that the Princes of Lorrain, fupporred by the credit of the Constable, and difcoutented with her, might attempt to take from her the re gency. She thought it necefl'ary therefore, to connecft herfelf more ftricftly with the King of Navarre, to counter balance this new party. She directed all her cares to maintain that equilibri um, which affined her power and that of her foil. She entered into all the views of the King of Na varre, in favor of the Hugonots. Under the pre text of maintaining peace (luring the minority of the King, and of conciliating the hearts of the people, by a reputation of clemency, (he publish ed new declarations, which enjoined upon all the parliaments and all the other magistrates of each province, to molest 110 man on account of religion ; toreftore the goods, lioufes and poflef fionsto all thole, who, in times pafled, had been deprived of them, on suspicion of Heresy. The parliament of Paris, and some other magistrates refufed to comply : but the Hugonots, thinking themselves authorized by the will and orders of the King, ofthe regent, and the difpolitions of the council,aflumed to themselves, as they had a better right to do from God and nature, a liberty of conscience, and their numbers and forces aug mented from day to day. This was to fulfil the views of the Queen, if these religionists had known how to restrain themselves, within the bounds of moderation and reason. But as it commonly happens to people, who fuffer them selves to be transported by their paflions, and will not conform to the restraints of authority : asfoon as they fdt themselves tolerated, protect ed, and delivered from the fear of puniftimenr, their resentments of former ill usage arose, they loft the relpeft due to the magiltrates, and some times by public aflemblies, and sometimes by in jurious discourses, or other violent proceedings, they drew upon themselves the hatred and indig nation of the Catholicks. Hence arose obstinate disputes, which throwing the two parties into quarrels, spread tumult and infurrecftions thro all the provinces of the kingdom. Thus, con trary to the intentions of government, and the expectations of rhe public, the remedy employed to save the state and maintain peace, became, at least as our Historian rcprefenK, contagious and prejudicial: and occasioned precisely those trou bles and dangers, Which they fought so carcfully to prevent. The Guises, we may be sure were not at all mortified at this turn of affairs. It was precisely what they wiflied. Encouraged; and fortified by their union with the Constable, they seized this occasion to oppose the Queen and the King of Navarre. The Cardinal of Lorrain, finding the moment favorable to explain himfelf in council, without regard to the Queen or the King of Na varre, who were present : began to speak on the state of religion, and to represent, with all the vehemence of his character, that it was to betray religion, and to dilhonor themselves in the eyes of the whole earth, to grant, in a most christian kingdom, liberty of conscience, to innovators al ready condemned by councils and the voice of the church. That not fatisfied with difleminat ing monstrous opinions, with corrupting the ris ing generation, and imposing on the simplicity ofthe weak, they blew up the fire of rebellion in all the provinces of the kingdom. That already the insolence and outrages of these Heretics, hin dered the niinifters of the church from celebrat ing mass, and from appearing in their pulpits, and left to the magistrates scarce afhadow of au thority ; thatevery thing was aprey to the sword and flames, by the imprudence and obstinacy of those who arrogated to themselves the licence of believing and teaching at their pleafute ; that the firft kingdom of Christendom was upon the point of making a fchifin, of fhakingofFthe yoke of obedience due to the holy fee, and of aban doning the Catholic faith, to fatisfy the caprice of an handful of seditious men. The Cardinal, enforced these arguments with so much energy, with that confidence and natural eloquence which wave liim such an ascendancy, even in the most problematical opinions, that the protectors of the Hugonots opposed nothing to him but silence. The Kingof Navarre and the Queen replied not Saturday, November 20, 1790. 1 a word, and even the Chancellor appeared amaz ed and confounded. The counsellors of Itate, irritated againlt the Hugonots, were of opinion to aflemble immediately all the Princes and of ficers of the crown, to the parliament of Paris, there to treat on this fubjetii, in the presence of the King, and determine the means of curing these dilbrders. This aflembly was accordingly held on the 13th of July, 1561, in parliament. The King of Navarre dared not alone to make opposition openly ; this would have been to de clare himfelf a Calvinift. The Queen indeed, de sired that the Catholic party Ihould not prevail ; but she was not the less apprehensive that they would impute to her the establishment and pro gress of Heresy. The Cornells in parliament were however, animated: the partizans of the Hugonots, forgot motliing to procure them liber ty of conscience, as the only means proper to ap pease all troubles, and heal all divisions. Their efforts were useless. There was some reason for faying, that liberty of conscience was evidently opposed to the spirit and authority of the Catho lic church ; but none at all for pretending that it was contrary to the fundamental laws of the kingdom. It was decided that the Calviniftical preachers and ministers should fee chafed out ot the king dom : and that they fliould conform in the pub lic worship, only to the customs and ceremonies Authorized by the Roman church. All aflemblies, of every kind and in everyplace, with arms or without, except in the Catholic churches, there to hear divine service, according to their usages, were forbidden. To grant, however, some miti gation to the Hugonots, they added in the fame Edict, that the cognizance of the crime of Here sy, should be reserved to Bilhops and their grand Vicars: and if they had recourse to the secular arm, they could not condemn the guilty, but to banifament : finally, they gave a general amnes ty for all disorders committed in times pafled, on account of religion. A declaration was drawn, signed by the King, the Queen, and all the Princ es and lords of parties. (To be continued.) From WEBSTER'S DISSERTATIONS en the ENGLISH LAN- Of MODERN CORRUPTIONS in the ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. (CONTINUED.) BUT it will be replied, Custom is the legijlator 0/ language, and custom authorizes the practice I am reprobating. A man can hardly offer a reason, drawn from the principles of analogy and harmony in a language, but he is instantly lilenced with the dccifive, jus et norma loquendi * What then is Custom ? Some writer has already answered this question ; Custom is the plague of wife men and tne idol of lools." This was probably said of those quftoms and falhions which are capricious and varying ; for there are many cuiloms, founded on propriety, which are perman' nt and conftitu'e laws. But what kind of custom did Horace delien to lay down as the standard of speaking ? Was it a local cuft'iin ? Then the neoio of New-England ; the oncet and twicet of Penniylvania and Mary land ; and the keind and Jkey of the London theatres, form rules of speaking. Is it the practice of a court, or a few eminent schol ars and orators, that he designed to conftitulc a standard ? But who ffiall determine what body of men forms this uncontrolahle legiflaturc ? Or who fball reconcile the differences at court ? For these eminent orators often disagree. There arc numbers of words in which the moll eminent men differ: Can all be right ? Or what, in this cafe, is thccuflom which is to be our guide ? Befidestjiefe difficulties, what right have a few men, however elevated their station, to change a national pra&ice ? They may fay, that they consult their own ears, and endeavor to pleale" them selves. This is their only apology, unless they can prove that the changes they make are real improvements. But what im provement is there in changing the founds of three or four letters into others, and thus multiplying anomalies, and encreaGng the difficulty of learning a language ? Will not the great body of the people claim the privilege of adhering to their ancient usages, and believing their prafticeto be most correct ? They most undoubt edly will. If Horace's maxim is ever just, it is only when custom is na tional ; when the practice of a nation is uniform or general. In this cafe it becomes the common law of the land, and no one will dispute its propriety. But has any man a right to deviate from this pra&ice, and attempt to eftablifb a fingutar mode of his own 2 Have two or three eminent stage players authority to make chang es at pleafurc, and palm their novelties upon a nation under the idea of custom? The reader will pardon me for tranferibing here the opinion of the celebrated Michaelis, one of the most learned philologers of the present century. "It is not," favs he, " lor a scholar (o give laws nor prolcribe established expressions : If he takes so much on himfelf he is ridiculed, and deftrvedlv; it is no more than a just martificatior. to his ambition, and the penally of his usurping on the rights of the people. Language is a demo cratical state, where all the learning in the world docs not war rant a citizen to supersede a received custom, till he convinced the whole nation that this custom is a miftike. Scholars are not so infallible that every thing is to be referred to them. Were they allowed a dectfory power, the errors of language, I am sure, instead of diminishing, would be continually increasing. Learned heads teem with them no ltfs than the vulgar; and thj former are much more imperious, that we (hould be compelled to defer to their innovations and implicitly to receive every falfe opinian 1 of theirs."f 645 GUAGE [Whole No. 165.] Yrc this right is often assumed by individuals, who dittate to a nation the rules of Ipeaking, with the fame impcrioulnefs as a ty rant gives laws to his vaiTals : And, flrange as it may appear, cveu well bred people and scholars, often surrender their right of pri vate judgment to these literary governors. The ipfc dixit of u JohnJon, a Garrick, or a Sheridan, has the force of law ; and to contraditt it, is rebellion. A(k the moll of our learned men, how they would pronouncc a word or compose a sentence, and thev will immediately appeal to some favorite author whose decifiort is final. Thus distinguished eminence in a writer often becomes a pafTportfor innumerable errors. The whole evil originates in a fallacy. It is often supposed that certain great men are infallible, or that their pradtice confli- I tutes custom and the rule of propriety. But on the contrary, any man, however learned, is liable to mistake ; the most learned, as Michaelis obferves,often teem with errors, and not unfrecpiently become attached to particular fyflems, and imperious in forcing them upon the world.| It is not the particular whim of such men, that constitutes cujlom ; but the common pra&ice of a nation, which is conformed to their general ideas of propriety. The pro nunciation of keoiVj keind, drap, juty, natjhur, &c. are neither right nor wrong, because they are approved or cenfurcd by par ticular men ; nor because one is local in New-England, another in the middle States, and the others are supported by »he couit and stage in London. They are wrong, because they are opposed to national prattice ; they are wrong, because they are arbitrary or careless changes of the true founds of our letters ; they are wrong, because they break in upon the regular conftru£lion of the language ; they are wrong, because they render the pronunci ation difficult both for natives and foreigners ; they are wrong, because they make an invidious diftin£lion between the polite and common pronunciation, or else oblige a nation to change their ge neral cultoins, without presenting to their view one national ad vantage. These arc important, they are permanentconfiderations; they are superior to the caprices of courts and theatres ; they are ieafons that are interwoven in the very ftru&ure of the language, or founded on the common law of the nation ; and they are a liv ing satire upon the licent : oufnefs of modern fpcakers, who dare to flight their authority. But let us examine whether the pra&ice I am censuring is ge neral or not; for if not, it cannot come within Horace's rule. If we may believe well informed gentlemen, it is not general even in Great-Britain. I have been personally informed, and by gen tlemen of education and abilities, one of whom was particular in his observation, that it is not general, even among the most eminent literary charatters in London. It is less frequent in the interior counties, where the inhabitants still speak as the common people do in this country. And Kenikk fpcaks of it as an atTc6f ation in the metropolis which ought to be difcounienanced, (To be continued.) * " Quern penes arbitrium ejl, et jus et norma loquendiHorace. " Nothing" fays Kenrick, " has contributed more to the adul 'ration of Living languages, Man the two extenjive acceptation oj tier ce's rule in favor oj cujlom. Cujlom is undoubtedly the rule of present iraflice ; but the r e would be no end in following the variations daily ntroduced by caprice. Alterations may sometimes be vfejul—maybe ne ejfary ; but they Jhould be made in a manner conform me to the genius ind conjirutlion of the language. Modus ejl in rebus. Extremes in 'his, as in all other cases, are hurtful. We ought byno means to shut Ihe dm ogainfl the improvements of our language ; bat it were well that fame criterion were efiablifhed to diflinguifh between improvement and innovation." Rket. Gram, page 6, Ditl. t See a learned " Dijjertation on the influence of opinions on lan guage and of language on opinions, which gained the prize of the Pruj [urn Royal Academy in 1758. By Mr. Michaelis, court counfeJlor i his Britanic MajeJly, and direßor of the Royal Society ofGouingen J The vulvar thus by imitation err, As oft the learn 1 d by beingfngular. So much they scorn the cioud, that if the throng y By chance go right, they purpofcly go wrong. LITERATURE FLOURISHES in the United States. As one instance we mention the patronage given to the American press. Thenew publications multiply fact. Besides original productions, many tranl atliintic works have been reprinted. The Bible in 121110. has lately been published in Philadel phia by Mr. Young—in which city, and in New- York, two or three other editions of this valuable book, are now in|the press—and Mr. Thomas— (whom an ingenious southern writer has called the American Bafkcrville, and from whose press have iflued many large and valuable books) —is now engaged in printing two editions of the Bible ; one the large Royal Quarto BIBLE ; the other a large Folio, with 50 copperplates—A patriotic, laudable and heavy undertaking, deserving the patronage and encouragement of every friend to his country, the sciences, and religion. Mr. Dobson, of Philadelphia, is also publishing an " American Edition of the ENCYCLOPEDIA or Ditfionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscella neous Literature."—Two volumes of this work are already finifhed— it will comprise 16 volumes. (Columbian Centintl.) HUMANE SOCIETY. At a wetting of the Truflees of the Humane society, held at Boston, November ifl, 179 0 ' VOTED, THAT the thanks of the Truflees of the Hu mane Society, be returned to Mr. Goffe, for hts humane and generous cojiduift in receiving the body of Mr. Z>afM,lately'drowned, v/hen thisadt of kindness was denied him at his own lodgings ; and that Mr. Gokfb be presented with the highest premium which the Conitituuon of the laid Society will permit them to give. Jtteft, JOHN AVERY, J«»r t Record Setr'y. tit&o Po? E
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