PUBLISHKD WRI >\' I- Si>A Y \ \ ' [No. T 04, of VoJ. lI.J Discourses on Davila—No. 52. BUT amidst all these scenes of anarchy, car nage and defolatiori, aiul aniidit so many pretentions to reformation, were there no pro jects to change the form of government?— Yes, there were ; and lonie persons appeared as zea lous to deltroy the monarchy and nobility at that time, as any of the national allembly, any of the men of letters, or public creditors of the present day in Fiance. One of these has left an ellaylo ■very curious that it is worth preserving : It con tains all that can be said or thought, as far as I know, against monarchy and nobility, and (liows that the dodtrines which now prevail in France are no new discoveries or inventions : They are nearly two hundred and fifty years old. Neither Turgot, Rochefoucaulr, or Condorcet, have the merit of these invention?. Stephen Boetius, as we learn from his friend Montaigne, died in 1563. His vehement Philippic against monarchy and ariltocracy, mult have been written therefore more than 230 years ago—it mult have been writ ten an hundred years before Marchement Ned ham's Right Constitution of a Commonwealth. Inllead of taking praise to themselves, the men of letters in France, if their present systems fuc ceecLand prosper, ought to eredl statues and llrike medals to Boetius and Nedham, whose political dilciples they certainly are. If by divine power a man flioukl be miracu loufly formed of mature reason and full informa tion of every thing, but men, nations and go vernments : and you Ihould aik hiin, what he thought of tWenty-five millions of men, compo fmg the whole of a great nation, furrenderii.g the whole sovereign legislative and executive power over themselves to one individual, and or daining that all that power should descend to his male pofteriry forever ; he would probably think it the moll irrational, and ridiculous idea ima ginable. If you were to tell him that alrriofl: all the nations of the earth had done it, he mull be aftonilhed and very inquisitive to be informed of the causes, physical, moral or political, ■which could have prevailed upon reasonable creatures to consent to such an inllitution. Is there any other answer that could be given to him than this ? Mankind found by experience, government necellary to the preservation of their lives, liberties and properties, from the iujuftice of one another. That they had tried all poffi ble'experiments of elections of Governors and Senates: But that they had found so much di ■verfity of opinion and sentiment among them. So much emulation in every heart, so many ri valries among the principal men, such divisions, confufions and miseries, that they had almoll unanimously been convinced that hereditary fuc cefiion was attended with fewer evils than fre quent elections. This is the true answer, and the only one, as 1 believe. It is to be regretted that Boetius, who disco vered so much ingenuity in reasoning against the one, and the few, had not told the many, how they (hould govern themselves. He is for pujl ingdown, but (hows not how to build up. That lie who abates a writ ihould give a better, is as reasonable a rule in legislation as in law. If Boetius, or the National Mlembly had proposed a sovereignty in three branches forming a mutual balance, whi?h would have prevenred the one, the few and many from running into the fins that molt easily beset them ; they would have teen justly applauded : but to throw the whole power into the hands of a majority of that mul titude against which Boeiius raves with more in temperance, if poflible, he does against Kings, is an experiment which must be fully tri ed and found beneficial before it can be appro ved. But as the reader will be more entertained and inftrurted by the discourse of Boetius, than w ith the discourse on Davila, he shall be no long er detained from it. LONDON, March 3. Extra!} <sj a litter jrom Paris, January 7. T[Tranflated from ilu- Lt sden Gazette.] HE oath to be taken by the Ecclesiastics, is the cause of much dillurbance, and it is, as Jet, difficult to determine, what turn this affair take, or what may be the final consequences. To form a jnil idea of what iyay be the effe<fts, on e must go back to the original cause of this piocedure. When the clergy werefirftdeprived A W. No. b.j HI&H-STREF.T, BETWEEN SICOS'D AND THIRD STREETS. PHI! AIiFI.PHIA Wednesday, April 27, 1791. of their properly, that is to fay before their civil government was determined on, several Bifliops b'gan to thunder foith their Anathemas againii the proceedings of the National Aflembly, under cover of" certain writings called Mandates, or P ditoral letters. The refufal of the National As fembly to eltablifti the Roman C atholic religion, furniihed them with an occasion for writing and circularing their inflammatory productions, the whole view and design of which was to alarm weak understandings and by universally spread ing discontent throughout the Nation, to obligt the Aflembly to defiit from their determination of granting freeclorji of conscience. In the large cities, and even in the Provinces, where the pen pie were not wholly unenlightened, the poison of. those Holy mj n could do no harm •; but in the cantons where ignorance and superstition (till maintain their influence over the minds of men (places, fortunately, at this day no more than in fignificant fpotsin thevaft extent of France) there it was that disquiet took pofleflion of every bo som, and the interested cauf'e of theJ'e gowned hypocrites was made the cause of the God of peace and purify ! —lf the disturbances at Nitnes and Montauban had not been extinguished at their firft appearance, again should we have witnefled those horrid scenes which dif'graced Prance in the fifteenth century ; but thanks be to God, the vigilance and zeal of some neighboring towns, more enlightened by the benevolent philosophy of the present age, and principally Bourdc-aux, had the ability to prevent those cruel excefies. No sooner where these tumults allayed than the Civil Constitution of the Clergy afforded another pre text for infurrecftion. The National Aflembly having divided the Kingdom into departments, to destroy, root and branch, those former di visions called Provinces, had thought proper al so to direcft a new division of Dioceses. I hey had remarked that the Bifliops had always ex ercised over the Clergy of the second older a de gree of authority littie ffoort of defpotifin, and which appertained neither to the ipirit of reli gion nor the Constitution ; In consequence of which they decreed that the Bifliops fliould ef tablifli permanent and regular courts, but (hould pais, no aifis of authority till the second order had been admitted into a fliare of their deliber ations. It was to no purpose that the Bilhops ftrennuoufly opposed those innovations (as they termed them) and complained of an invasion of the spiritual jurifdidiiun and that the Aflembly encroached upon the authority of the Church. They were deaf to their complaints and remon strances ; and referred them for an answer to the authority of Charlemagne and the ancient discipline—Upon this the Episcopal Mandates and Pastoral letters suddenly made their appear ance again, (luffed with complaints more violent, and refiecftions more bitter than ever ; but the difcentented Clergy perceiving their letters dil regarded and not answering the purpose intend ed, fell upon other means of blowing up the flames of discord. They flattered themselves that a Proteflation, worded equivocally, and with a plain title, and signed by some of the more ftt'ict Clergy would have both a surer and readier ef fect. And hence originated the famous Decla ration, which at firft was only signed by those refractory Bishops, who were deputed to the Na tional Aflembly. This piece proposed a coalition, and by that means gained some attention ; but altho' it was publiflied throughout the Kingdom to a degree of l'atiety, it made few converts, and only received in general terms the approbation of those whose opinions were already fixed 011 the fide of the Bilhops—So much clamour, secret machination, felf-interefted opposition, and the apprehension of flill greater evils, have at length determined the Aflembly to take efFet r tual men fures humble the High Clergy. Kor this pur pose they have decreed, that all Ecclefiaflics ant! public officers of the Church should be compelled to take an oath " to support not only the gene ral government of the Kingdom, but also their own particular constitution 011 penalty of being deprived of theirplacesandlivings." 1 h:s seems to be the last remedy in a desperate cafe, the on ly probable means of accelerating and confoli datino- the re-establishment of order in the King dom.—However (to speak the truth) there is no EXTREME REMEDY without danger ; and it is poflible that some recent proceedings in the As sembly may be followed by a violent concussion All the Bishops (excepting only the Bifhopof An tun) have perfilted in refufing the oath—The As 829 [Whole Mo. 2o£.] fembly refufes to give them any longer time : and thus all the High Cletoy, and not a few of the second order also, are upon the point of fee ing themselves deprived of all thei, places and of all their revenues." \From Vol. 3, of " Memoirs of the Manchester Lit " ' »» * " • / / n /-t tsrary Society," just fubhjhcd.] I REMEMBER it was fomc yeais since, men tioned in this Society, that a method had bee. recommended, but where 01 by whom I do not ecolletft, of preventing the neceifiry of using fpec r tacles in advanced age. Ii cot) lifted in the practice of reading a very fmalJ punt by the ■ght ot a filial I candle. By this means the hu mours of rhe eye being protruded, the cryftaline 'ens was supposed to be hindered from loiino; its convex form, and ailuming that flainefs which it acquires in old peifons. I lately met with a gentleman, who, contrary to what generally happens to men as they advance in life/ was, at the age of fifty, become (ho: r-fight ed ; whereas, when younger, his eyes hail not that fault ; and w ho, instead of being obliged to use convex glailes, had found it necelfary to employ concave ones, and to procure them (till more the older he grew. This change in his light, he in formed in e, hefiilt obierved after having for some time accufioined hinilelf to read a book printed in a small character, and that frequent ly in the close of the evening, when the li"hc was not fav n-able for the pu pose. As this is an uncommon fa iff, and may serve ro confirm the prop-iety of the doiftrine I have"al luded to, 1 thought it might be proper to com municate it to the Society. The sermon preached by the Bilhop of LandafF, before the Humane Socie.y, at St. Martin's it! the. Fields, on Sunday last, was one of the fine It and moll impressive examples of Pulpit Oratqry we have ever heard. His Lordthip's discourse v .is a m )It happy compolition of theological learning, pliilofophical difquifitiol), Clii illian inflrucftion, and philanthropic exhortation, aided by the pow erful influence of the molt graceful delivery. The Queen has jtill: eftablHhed a Botanic Gar den, with forcing houffes at Krogmore, where lier Majesty and the Princefles frequently.pay vilirs. HOUSE of COMMONS, Monday, February 8. AMERICAN Loyalists • Sir Henry Clinton presented a petition from the American Loyalilts, praying for farther relief. Mr. Pitt said he had no objection that this pe tition should be granted ; but he was much a fraid it would not avail them. The time for re ceiving such petitions had already been three times enlarged. He did not know after all, but that there might be cases which would deserve the attention of the house. Sir Henry Clinton said a few words upon this petition ; after which it was received, and order ed to lie on the table. UNCLAIMED DIVIDEND BILL The bill for appropriating to the public ser vice 500,000/. of the unclaimed dividends was read a firlt time, and was ordered to be printed. Wednesday, March 2 AMERICAN INTERCOURSE BILL Mr. Pitt brought in a bill for continuing the laws regulating the trade between his Majesty's fubjetfts of this country, and the inhabitants of the United States of America. This bill was read a sis It, and was ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. Alnioft all the clergy in Brittany, (France,) whose influence on the people is vevy great, are resolved not to conform to the decrees ofthe Na tional Aflembly, refpec ( ting the civic oath, and the civil confUtution of the church. Between the people and the National who vainly attempt to conquer this refratftory f'pirit, desperate battles have already been fought attended with bloodlhed. In A 1 face, the Cardinal de Rohan, the clergy, and vast numbersofthepeople are entirely ofthe fame disposition as the Bretons, and resolved not to submit to the decrees ofthe Rational Aflembly. From the bey den Gazette, of February I. Mr. Luzac, the Editor, after giving extracts from the British papers on the fubjedb of the WAR IN INDIA, Inch as have been publiflied, adds, With ihefe accounts, taken from English papers, it may be S
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