Fayetteville Gazette

              v a y e t t e v i l l e gazette vol m o n d a y settember 14 i7§j no 4 dr price p?.:tes over in ulcnce a pcint i ccncel r e effentialto the future profperky of theie ftates ; that is the i'upport of the public worihip cf die deity ; i mean not the eftablifhment of any one i eel or denomination accompanied eidier with an excluiion or toleration of others uniformity in mode of fenttment is not to be expected : aimoit all the dhferent feels in^o which chriilendorn is divided arc icaitered throughout this continent no cne ilate is uniform either in creeds or modes of worship and therefore no one clenomina 1 tion can be eflabiilhed on the principles of equal li berty the inagiftrate flertsci'tof the line cf his duty the mcmcr.t he efriibiiilies nis ppinion as the ilandard of orthodoxy ; becau.e in j^ligicus nation everv man is his own judge and his ipecuiative opinions fall not under the cognizance of human lav in this refpeel die conftftutiens of die american rates have fliewn a . noble freedom from the fhackles of human inventions in religious matters unparalleled by ether nations : but if to fhun the dangers which religious eaabliih rmnts have brought upon mankind wecaftoff all re i ligious worfhip or leave it to the option of individuals j at large whether public worfhip or religious iniun-fli : en lliail be iujrpcrted at all i conceive it is making j mch an offering at the fnrme of liberty as is incon fiftcnt with national esiileuce cr at leait with public order and happinefs all nations heathen as vrcll as chrifrian have ever maintained the wcrihp of the deity the grecians and romans hr.d their public i'aci d days devr.ted to the worfhip of their deities and to the inftruclions of morality they had their priefts haruipices and prophets who taught the knowledge cf the deity enforced the practice cf virtue i;nd pointed out the dangers of vice by ccnflderaticns drawn from a future ilate of vj:r;bu.i.:n their fables of tartarus and ely.ium r;nd the fcnterice palled by their judges on de parted pints according to their good or evil conduct in this world were mighty incentives to a virtuous life and ncceitary aids to civil government lycurgus and solon romulus and jerebcam thofe founders of nations fc.w ihe rteceffity of calling in the nd of relieioii to r ; v ifciviity and dunt.vm t their ncvly-ercftcd empires ; and without it their pc litical plans would have proved abortive human nature is gil much the fame ; and the aids of religion are as ricceflkry in forming empires in modern as in an cient limes jto he continued th confeffton of the freethinker johnjamesrotjsseau citiztii of geneva i acknowledge to you that the majefty of thf fcriptures aiimnhes me and the fcanclity of the goipel fills me with rapture look into the writ ings of the philosophers with all their pemp and pa rade ; how trivial they appear when compared to this facred volume is it-poflible that a bookfo fim ple and yet fo fublime hould be the work of man ? is it poiuble that he whole hillory it contains ihould himfelf be a mere man is the fiylethatof an enthu fiait or of a fecrary inflated with ambition ? what fvreetneis what purity in his morals ! what force what perfuaficn in his inflruclicns ! liis maxims how fublime ! his dilcourfes how wife and profound ! fuch prefence of mind fuch beauty and prccificn in his ! anfwers ! fuch empire over his paffions ! wliere is the man or the philoibpher that know how to acl to fuifcr and to die without v:eaknefs or orientation ? plato in his pi&ure of the imaginary juft man cover ed with all the opprobi ioufnefs of guiit and worthy of every reward of virtue gives us an exacl renrefen ta'aon of chrift ; fo fliiking is the reiemblance that all the fathers faw it and indeed there is no poflibiiity of miflaking it what prejudice what blindncfs to compare the citspring of sophronifca to the fon of mary ! how immense the difference between thofe two ! socrates dying without pain and without igno •; miny found it eafy to fuppcrt his character to the very : lafc ; and if his life had not been honoured by i'o ' gentle a jeath we might have doubted whether so crate c , with all his underrnnding was any thing mcrz than afbphiii you vvili fay he invented a fyiiv-m of moral philofophy cihers had prafliied " it before his time ; he only related what they had performed and drew lectures from their example ariilijes had been •* jui ? befors socrates told vs what joftice v;as j lco:;iir i ; i had facrlficcd lis life fcr his country vfi r cre sccmttfs had made the love of our coohtly a duty ; sparta ra iober befcre socrates cc rrmanded fcbrkty ; before he had given a definition of virtue greece abounded • in virtuous men but of whom did chrift bcrrovr that fub!ur..e and pure morality which he and he only taught both by word and example ?* from the centre of the moft extravagant tar.at'ciim the higheit vifuc.m made itfelf heard and the vilcfi cf na tions v/as hencured with the fmpiiclty cf the moft he rcic virtues thr death of socrates philoforhifmg cooly with his friend is the ealieft that can hz dehred j that cfchriit expiring in themidft cftoi-mentsnwed fecmed dcteftedby a whole people is the mofi dread ful that can be apprehended socrates t^r mg the pcifenous draught returns thanks to the peribn who with tears in his eyes prefents it to him ; cimi in the mcil exquifite tcrture prays for his bloody execu tioners yes if socrates lived and died like a philo foplier thrift lived and died like a god shall we fay that the evangelical hiftory was invented at plea fure ? my friend inventions 2re riot mde lifter this manner and gocrateb's hiilcry of which no hodv en tertains any doubr is not fo well attefted as that of chri-1 upon the whclr it is removing the difficulty farther back without folving it ; for it would be much harder to conceive that a number cf men mould rr?vs joined together to fabricate this book than a fincrle perfon fnould fruvifh out thefuhject to its authors jewifli wrirers would never have fallen into tnat ftvl or that y&eta of morality ; atid the gcdpel hr-h fuch ftrong and fnch ir-imitable m^rks of tmth that the iqfr vcntor-wc^ldbe more furcriimg thar the hero note i 5 * karthex chap 5 ver 21 c political > ; rvtkarfo cv the amsridments to the federal conftitu^^pra _ j>ofedby the conventions cfmajpzcl^tts&c^fwnfflir&p nevj-tork kirgjnin soutb-carciina t and north~ca rd'mafxilk the minorities of ' pennjjhania and maryland by ihs rev nicholas cdlin d d y m a >. s of philadelphia from qurlafi in 1 treating a momentous and difficult fubjcct xttf reafoning may fcm^limes jar with the principles of many enlightened perfons j but my pen fiiall be guided by a ilnceie zeal for the liberty and happinsfs of th ur.icn and by a facred regard to what i believe to ba the truth without even the lead tib&ure of avell-meant diflimulation this is odious to a candid mind and jmifiable only by extreme neceffity happily the fe deral caufe does not want fuch a paltry reibufce : the better we underitand our true fituaticn the more una nimous pleafing and effectual will be the purfuit of our common intereft with a peculiar fatisfa&icn i can alib execute my defign without refledling en men cr parties i difcufs with modefl freedom the aclioas of public bodies without any criiicifm of their mo tives or diilinction of the individuals who compofe them : only obferving that the minority of maryland was but eleven ; th:it the amendments were mere or lefs approved of in the feve~al ftates ; and that thofe prcpofed by maflachufeots and south-carolina are but few ; from which we may conclude that there is much mere apparent than real dlffention about the conllhu tion our attention is naturally srii attrrcied by this ex tensive amendment — " that it be explicitly declared that all powers net exprefely delegated by the confti tudon are refcrved to thsieveral ftates to be by them exercifed — ratification by mailachufetts firft am ditto by ncv-hcimp-oiire north-carolira virginia ; fecrnd bv south-carciina ; firft in the addrefs cf ths minority of maryland and eleventh in that o the mi nority cf pennfylvania — all in words nearly the fame i the convention of new york probably fuppofed that fo many other pointed amendments mace this needlcfs the minority of penniylvania enforce it by this additi on " tlrct the fovcrcignty and independency of the fe vcrnl flutes fliall be retained virginia and north carolina ftrerigthentt by this farther amendment te venteenth ar.d eighteenth refpeclivel ) " that thofb chufes uich dtchrs that corersis ihau net cr-erci : j miscellany h fines cf letters on tie eflaihjhzner.t of th vorfiip cfths jddty as ejfcnlial to national bappinefs — bj an ante ■ rkan plupnie botii morrty qudmltonae leget vala:u tacitus " re!i s icn ! without thec vrhat were unenlighteii'd man \; a lavage reaming throng the woods and wilds la qaeit of prey } and with finunfailiion'd fur rough clad : de/oid of ev'ry liner art elegance of life nor happmefs l'omoitic mixt of tendemeis and care nor moral excellence ncr iociai bins kor guardian law were his llothhig fa ve rat ine indolence and guile anvi woes on woes aitiil revolving train whole hor id circle had made human life than ncn-exiilence worle ; but taught by thetj on-s arc he plans of policy and peace to live iike brothers and cenjuncnve all ea&eiiiih li w komsql letter t dsar el 7"ou are plwfed to afe n:y opinion on the fentirrtert jl expreftcd in dr price's observations refpecling the arti^e ci religious liberty ; and whether there may not be an eftablifhment of religion confidently with the civil and religious rights of ail denominati ons : and oq die expediency of fuch an eitabllihment ittiisfe ftntts i fuhznit the fubrcquent thought to your candour doctor price by his generous and diiin^erefted la lours in the ca'iie of human nature merits the applauic . r»f all the friends of civil and religious liberty in me _ tvf i^'d and especially cf every american i efleem it a fpecial favour ths.the and other foreigners of cn l.irged minds have given us their enlightened thoughts on the momentous iubjeclcf government and the per manent foundation cf fuch a fy&em of regulation as fhall tend to make wife and happy present and future american generations may we profit by their la bours ! k we need th affihance of the wife and as we3l s thefmiles of an omnipotent providence to lay firm andlaitingrhe lifis of the nxil glorious empire en which the fun ever fhone happy land cf universal liberty ! thrice happy thy future fons if wifdom direcl and eftabliffi the coun cils of their fathers ! while the fubjefts cf european hierarchies pine in ignominious vaifalagc and look up from an humble diii:ance to their haughty lords and oppreflbrs die frce-bcrn american finhes with con fcious dignity and independence in pcfleffion of the rights and privileges of man and i eligible to the of fice of honor and influence in the road of merit de fending not on the capricious whim of a defpotic prince or his favourite but on the uncorrupted voice cf his fellow-citizens may americans by their wifdohi and virtite for ever merit thofe high encomiuins which the enlighten ed irnong foreign nations have be lowed upon them europe ha for ages groaned under civil and ecclen afti-al ppreflicn and ilill feels the finart of tyranny in church and ftate the nations have in time pail re volted from opprefficn and roufed to feize the prize f freedom but have generally fallen on two evils anarchy in the ilni inftaa'ce and the power of feme alpirmg deipot as the confequence who has mere firm ly riveted their chain 1 ;. incid't in seyllaniy dam vult vitare clarlbdhn happily v.e have flint the gulf with out feeling the reck of tyranny or the whirpool of anarchy "; and cur v.-ar-wcrn bark has reached the fair haven of peace the heat and burden is pail but , . the work of the day is yet to be finjihedi we have il'o feize the advantages which providence hath put into ■ r hands and to turn them to the public good b su«:h is the ftate of human nature that tie fanctions i f religion are ncceifary to give energy to law iv'an i ki:i arc held back from wrong by the commanding uk of a power infinitely fupcrif r to the power cf their creating ; and are excited to the practice cf the i ' rj 1 cial virtues by the animating hope and af