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: JBIS(D(DIS T EMPERANCE, AND JUDOEM E N,T TO1 COM E iiMl: Jbo 1 .. : : ' T E U M S, l ' Recorder ' is published every 1 Wpdnfcsday, at . 5U per annum, it paid withm monthSv or $3 if paid subsequently to that neriou 1, . Any persdnlwDo wiiiDecomf ?esponsiDie wr six ' .I,a will Snrvvanl tho nnmp nf c!t rhK "111 ' h 1 copies,- rr.v' ".:r.i ' j:r-: r.rrrr" r rr tcfibcrs, shall oe eauueu io, vevenin copy graiitt. . t No subscripbott ,wUl .be received for less than V one year, unless paid in advance j and no discon tinuance will be allowed until arrearages are paid. Person .wishing to discontinue will be expected to nve notice (to that effect prior to the commence ment of a new year ; otherwise they yll be con sidered as' inispohsibl,e for the ensuing twelve . -x months. ' ri '- ; ,vf,-i" -') i v All comnuiuicuiiw" Atcpi iiwsc pj Higenis wuo act gratuitously, to secure httehtion, bust be post paid. I i MI. ADAM S ORATION The followinc: forms the conclusion of Mr. ' Adam's oration on the death qf La tv; will' be found interesting on several acioUnta , r . i , 1.. - ' ('! I Such, Lcgitlalors of the Noth Ami rican 07i- Sithralc Union, was the life of Gilbert Motier de Lafayette, and the record of hiVlife is the deline atioh of his character; Consider h?m ks one hu man beinjr of lone thousand millions; ms coteni .porajrieS on the surface of the terraqueous-globe. -Amonir that; tnousana millions, . seeK lor an obirct of tomnarisonwith him assuihe for the standard of comparison, all the hit the character of man above virtues which ex- that of the brute creation : takd the ideal man, little lower than the angels; mark the qualities of the-mmd and heart which entitle him to this station of bre-ieminence ;in the scale. of i created beings,and. inquire .who that lived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centu ries of tlie Christian era, combined i.ri jiiraself so many of those qualities, so little alloyed with those which belong to that earthly vesture of de cay in whit hj the, immortal spirit is pnclosed as Lafavette. 1 ' " ' Pronounce him orie of the fi rst men hi h us age, and you have hot yet done him justice. Try him by that test tovhict he thought in vain to : ulate the vulgar oritl selfish spirit of Napol stml- apoiean : class him among the men who to co tnpare and scat themselves, must take in the compass of all affes; turn back your eyes upon the records 01 " li l ' i time: summon from the Creation of the world to the present day, the. miglity dead' -ol and every' clime-r and where . among merely mortal men, shall be found one benefactor of his. kind shall cldim to dunce of Lafayette.,'' ' .' . 1 I every age the race of who.asthe ake prece- There have doubtless been, in all ages, men whose discoveries or inventions, in the world of inatter or of mind, have opened new avenues to Ult: UUUtllllUil UJLLUHt- V CI IIIUILUUI Lll dUUU , have increased jhis.' means .or his faculties of en joyment ; havfd assisted him in njearer Approxima tion to that ,hjgncr'and happier Condition, the ob--ject of his hopes' and aspirations in iis present, trtte of existence. . ' ' . . . ' ' . Lafayette discovered no new principle of poli lics or bf morals. lie" invented nqtlnng in sci- nice. : tie aiscioseu no jicw pnenomenon m tne laws of naturej r Born ami educated in the high est order of feudal nobility under the i most-absolute Monarchy of Europe, in possession of an affluent fortune, and master ofj himself and all his capabilities at the moment of attaining man hood, the principle of republican iustice and of 'social equality took possession of his jheart and .wind, as if by inspiration from above."! He devo ted himself, his life, his fortune, his hereditary honors, his towering ambition, his splendid hopes all to the cause of liberty. He! came lo another hemisphere to defend hen He became oneiof ,uiu iwm fjicciivc ciiuiiipions 01 our iinuepen dence, but, that once achieved, he turned, to his O'kn country, and thenceforward took': rio part in the controversies which nave divided us. In the events of our Revolution, and in the forms 'of policy whic ji we have adopted for the establish nitnt and perpetuation of our freedom, Lafayette found the most perfect form of government, lie .wished' 1(0 add nothing to it,, -lie wo ild gladly have ahstracttd. Hothinff from it. Indead of tho imiqinary Republic of Plato, or of the! Utcma of !' Sir Thomas Moore, he, took a practical existing -umri, ni actual operation nere, ana never at tempted or wished more than to apply ii faithfully Joins own country, .' 'i . - . :.-' .r y J .".' - ' f k was not givent to Moses to enter tiieipromis land,, bu he saw it from the; 'stiinriiVfof Pisr ?a!; - jt was not given to- Lafayette ;b Witness the Cpnsummatidn of his wishes in trie estkblish ir.ent of .a republic, and the extinction of all he reditary rule in France. His principles were in navqnee- of the age and hemisphere in which he hyed. A Bourbon still reigns on trie throne! of ; ranee, and if is not fpr us to, scrutinize the" title ih!h reiSnsV j The principled of elective and ueredrtary powenblended in reluctant union ih hisnerson. lil - Dfk and Lancaster mnv nnstnnrif. M nfrortimp the last c ultimately come, ' The life of the Patriarch Was riot lorig e- nouh 2br :the, development of his whole '?sU' ' W fn 'iccomplishmentis iAlf political the womb Theianticipation of this event is the n more cer- 4 I UUlll ri, from thfi'i rnnsirWntion thnt nil e Trinei- 4'Jtf ior whicnlljalavette contenaea were nracti- ded w cl. 1 He nnvinihilo-i fl himself ci.ful speculations. The principles of bereditarv m wriiQ ana lan lowcr was in his opiriion the bane of all republi can liberty in Europe. Unable ' to extinguish it the Revolution jf 1830, so far as Concerned te chief mfesiracf of the nationLafayette had hc Si1sfaction of seeine-it abolished "with fefer- ;s ence fo the peerage. . A heriditary crown, strint ?the support which it may derive front a hered jary peerage, however compatible W'itli Asiatic espotiSrfli is an anomaly in the history of the arjstian world, and '. in the theory of 1 free gov iment. There is' no argument pro( ucible a mst the existence of hereditary .peerage, but FP1 with aggravated weight againstthe trans k Th ?U -0m- sret0 son of a hereditary crown ejected, the principle of inheriteds powbr V" n'TriT ionof public trust, excepting the first rtWt . H 1. -I-.L .'.111'.' . to if, as did the Israelites ofoldtothb-savoWdof. ctisofEgypi:;! r. ' . " :' ;l- 1 This is rtthatrm? or the place for disquisi tion upoathcMcampaTative merits, as !a" system of government f i Kepublic.and a Mcnurchy, sur rounded hy 'republican' institutions, j Upon this subject there is ojrnong us no diversity 'of opinion and if it should take the people of France .nWh!' ev, half century lof inunal and r ejtternaUWa of uazzung auu ueiusiye giones; ot unparalled tri umphs, humiliating- reverses, and hitter, tliaap pointments to settle it to their satisfaction,, the ul timate result can phly bring them;tL the point where we havp stood from the day bf the Decla ration of Independence to the pointiyhere La fayette would have Brought therrCai to vhich he looked as a J consummation devoutly to be wished. r- " . . Thent tocy, and then only, j will .bo the time, ted at its' true 1 ralue throughout the civilized world. When he principle of hereditary do minion sall be extinguished in all the -Institutions of France when government shall no lon ger beconsidered as property transmissible from sire to son, but US a trust committed f6r a limited time, and then tc return to the people whence it came j as a burdensome duty to be disci argeel, and not as a reward to he abused i when a'claim, any claim, sto political power by inheritance; shall in the estimation of the vholc French people be held as it now is by the whole people oi'tho North American Uniori- then will be the time for con templating he character of Lafayetie, not mere- ty jn tne events oi ins lite, but in..the lull tlevel operhent of his intel lectual conceptions of his fer vent aspirations, tot the labors and penis and sac rifices of his Ions and eventual career Upon earth. and thenceforward, tilt the hour when the trump of the Archange shall sound to announce that - I ime. shall be nd more, the name of LAFAY LI 1 L shall stand enrolled upon the annals of our race, High oh the list of the pure and disin terested benefactors of mankind. ' THE GREAT Earthquake AT LISBON i .. . ,. i IN 1755.! As I thought it would be the height of rash ness to venture back .through the sanie narrow street I had so providentially escaped from, I juagea ii saiesi 10 return over trie rui-ns ot &t. Paul's to the river side, as the water now seem ed little agitated. From hence I proceeded with some hazard, to the large, space before the Irish convent of Corpo; Santo, which, had been -throwm down,and hurried a great number of p ?ople who were hearing mass, besides some of the. ; friars ; the rest of the community were standing in. the area, looking, with dejected countenances to wards the ruins: ifom this place I look, rhy way to the hack street leading to the Palace, having the-ship yard on pne side, but fomA thej further passage, opehinglnto the principal st;-eet, stop ped up, by the ruins of the Opera hou $e one of the solidest and nlost magnificent bui dings of .the kind in Europe, and just finished at a prodi- gious expense ; a vast neap ot stones, each 01 sev- aai lura :iih, iauf uuuiu) uiutKcu U! ironioi iir, linsiQw-s nouse, wnicn was oppor i site to it, arid Mr. Ward, his partner, tpld me the next day, that he was just that ; instant going out at the door, and had actually set one foot over the threshold, w hen the end of the Opera house fell down, and had he not in a moment siarted back he should have been crushed into a thousand pieces.''" . .:.'.' J-.' '' .;, Ji' '.., : From hence I turned back, and attempted get ting by the other way into the great Square of the Palace,, twic&asllarge as Lincoin's-na Fields, one side of which had been taken up by j the no ble quay I spoke of, now no more ; but this pps sag was likewise! obstructed by the jstones fal len from the grtiat arched gateway.-: t could net help taking particila!r notice, that all apartments wherein the royal' farnily used to reside, were thrown doWn andfihcnselves; withoui some ex traordinary mirace must La.e unavoidably perished, had they been there at tne time of the shock. Fmdmg this passage impracticable, I turned to the arched way which led to the - new; Square of the Palace", riot the eighth part so spa cious as the other, one side of which was taken up by the Patriarchal Church, which also serv ed for the Chapel Royal, and the other by a mpst rnagnificient building off modern larchitect ure, probably indeed by -far the most so, not yet I, completely finished ; as to' the i former, j the roof and part of the front walls were thrown down, and the latter, notwithstanding their solidityV had s been so shaken, that, several large stones fell frorh the top, and every-part seemed disjoined. The Square was full of coaches, charriots, chaises, horses, anu mules, oesenea oy tneir arivers ana attendants, as well as. their owners. ; The nobility gentry, and clergy, who were as sisting at divine service when the earthquake be gan, fled away with the utmost precipitation, ev e y one where his fears carried him, leaving the splendid apparatus of the numerous alters, to. the mercy ot the hrst comer : out tnis am not so much affect me, as that the distress of the poor anir mals, who seemed sensible of their hard - fate,; some few were killed and others wounded, but the greater part, which had f received rio hurt, were left there to starve. .' l ; From this Square, the wiay led to my frierid's lodgings, through along, steep and "narrow street, the new scenes of horror X met with here exceed all descriptions ; nothing could be heard but signs anu groans. liaiu not meet wiui a soui in the passage w'ho was not bewailing the death of his nearest relations and dearest friends, or the loss of all his substance ; I could hardly take a single step without treading on the dead, or the dying : in some places lay coaches, 'with their masters, horses, aud i riders, almost crushed, in pieces ; here, mothers, with infants in their arms there ladies richly dressed, priests", friars, ge.n tlerrien, mechanics, either in the same condition, or just expiring ;.soini had their backs or thighs broken, bthers vast stones on their breasts ; soirie l.iv almost buried in the rubish, and, crymff out in r.hin tn the nassenrers for succor; were left to perish with the re?t. ! : NEWBERN N. C. WEDNESDAY, APUIL 1- -. - . From the New York Observer. , " LOVEST thou me 1 . ; We make a profession of Christianity, and go ialong from day to day, and perhaps, from year o. year, supposing- that we are "Christians, and that all is ycll with us ; that we are equiped jfor the encounter of death, and prepared to meet our Judge,, and tako our place in heaven, when it may be ve arc not able to answ;er till after lopg bonsideration, and then riot with a little doubt jand misgiving, so simple a question in Christian experience, as "Lovest thou Me ?" Peradventure the utmost ye dare say after all our reflection an4 self-research is, " I really do not know; how it is. 1 hope ! love him." This! will never do. Tho question,' "Lovest thou Me?" is one which every person making( pretjensions to Christianity ought to-be able to answer affirmatively at once. Indeed, we ought not to give our Saviour any -occasion to ask the question. It is vry mtlch to our discreditit should -make us blush and be ashamed that our manifestations of love to Him are of so equivocal a character, as to leave the very existence of the affection j doubtnil, and to render it necessary tor Him to interrogate us m reference to it. There are many less lovely oeings man inrist that nave not to ask xts if we love them We. act in such.a manner towards them that they can not for a moment, doubt the fact of their being dear and prescious to us. ' They no not want our words to assure them. ? Th'ev ha ve our uniform conduct and deportment making the silent yet most forcible declaration.! Has your parcel to ask you if you love him, or your child!? Have husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and' friends to ask this.question to each other ? Oh, 007 none but Christ has to ask1 us. if we love him ! Aud He has not only .to ask the question, but to wait, sometimes a long while, for an answer. We have to consider and go into an examination, and call up our conduct to the bar of judgment, and dissect our very hearts, before we can venture an answer. This is strange. It is not so in other cases. If a relative or a friend, more from the gratification of a renewed expression of our love, tjian from any doubt of its existence, ask us if we love him, do we keep him waiting for an: answer ? Do w e say, "Well I must consider, I must examine myself I hope I do." No, indeed. We are ready with our affirmative. Nor is' it a cold Yes we return, but we express'our surprise at the question. " Love you !" 1 Arid we assure the person in the most emphatic and ardent language that we love him, and all our manner -shows . him that Ave speak out of the abundance of the heart. But Ave do not express. surprise that our Saviour should ask us if we. love him. We do not wonder at Ahc question from him. We know too well how- much reason we give him to doubt our af-1 lection. ... 1 . I ; 'Why shoiild there be such a difference in favor of the earthly objects of our love 1 Is not Christ as lovely as those other beings as deserving of affection asattractive ot love ?- He is altogether lovely. Are they ? He possesses infinite love liness. Nor does that express all. He inessen tial Love. .Nor love at rest, but in motion ; nor Liar ell, buthne'ar ; exerting in nmte energy in 4-ti6n exerisii ising1 infinite energy in suilenng ; earth the scene, and 'man the object. It is lit. who asks. " Lovcst thou rac'?" And le whom he asks it is the man, the intelligent spectator of all his love, aye, its ,choseh and cherished object. If Christ was not nearly related to us; as those other beings are, that might be the difference in their iavor.t But who is so closely related, so intimately joined to us as Christ? 'He formed us, and in him we live, move and have our being. Does that not imply nearness ? Is He divine, while we are human?. He is miman, as: well as' divine one of the brotherhood of flesh and Wood. He came down to earth to take our ni ture on him, nor went up to heaven again without ii There it is Kur humanity allied to divinity,, divinity radiant through it, on the throne. Is lie not related to j us ? He says of every one who does the will o" his Father, "the same is my bro ther, andsister, and mother." That alone relates to him more than all human ties. : But that is not all. Christ is the husband of the churchr He is one with it. If we are h is disciples, He is the vine and we the'hranches He the head and" we thejnembers. Yea, " we arc the mem bers of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Does not this express a near and intimate relation? Now it is one so near to us, who asks, "Lovest thou Me?" I I Have our: friends whom we are so conscious of. loving, ddne more for us than Christ, or made greater sacrifices for us? Are we under greater personal obligations to them f "Which of all our friends to save us, . Couhlor would haveshed his blood . 4 . But this Saviour, died-to have us j , Reconciled in him to God." 4 And yet we known we Jove those friends, but this friend we kriow not whether wtc love him or hot we only hope we do ! t I Do other beings find such difficulty in loving Christ ? and aTe they at; such a loss to jknow When they do love him ? Oh, no. His Father testifies. " This is mv beloved Son. m whom I am well pleased." . And he is called also his faell-belovedy his dear Son. All the angels of 0od love and worship him, and delight to ascribe infinite worthiness to him. It is only men who find any difficulty in loving Christ. It ;is only the human heart that hesitates and hangs back, is there any reason for this any reason why men should be the last to, love Christ, and why they should love him least of all who behold;his loveliness? . I see none; but I think I see rea sons many,and strong-, and tender.why we should be first, and most forward, and warmest in our affection to him. How many worlds he passed tri nlifrbt nn tbial Hnw manv created natures he reiected: when from all of them he. chose the human to be united to the divinity ! Others have sinned, vet riot their sins, bear he, but ours. It may be said of other creatures, "He loved them," but of faren onlv can it be added, "and .gave him self for Ihem." a And yet who is. so backward to lovft hrni. as redeemed man ? Nor tardy merely Ph, how parsimonious of his love loving him 8, l&W so little,! that often he'eanriot ascertain if heloves at all! Shame where is thy blush, and sorrow, where thy tear. ij'rom Abbott's Religious Magazine. WHERE DID HE GET j THAT LAW 1 In a )ieat and beautiful city, in one off the nor thern States, lived; a . lawyer of eminence and talents. I do not kriow many particulars of his moral character ; but he was notoriously profane. II. 1 1 - ' '.-it ' iiu aim, u uegru uuy, at wnom, nis neignDors used to hear him swear with, awful violence. One day, this gentleman met an elder of the Presbyterian church, who was also a lawyer, and said to him : M I wish. Sir, to examine into the Christian religion! What books would you advise rrie to read on the evidence of ' Christiani ty?". ! - ' I The edder, surprised at the inquiry replied : " That jis a question. Sir, which you ought to have settled long -ago. You ! ought not to hayc put ofTa subject so important 6 this late period of life.", i ; I - 1 "It is too late," said the inquirer "I never knew much about it ; but I always supposed, that Christianity was rejected by the great majority of learned men. I intend now, however, to ex amine the subject thoroughly, myself I have upon me, as my physician says, a mortal disease, under which I may live a year nd a half or two years, but not probably longer. What books, Sir, would you advise me to read?" The Bible' said the other .1 i i : 1. .. f . x oeueye you uo not unaerstana me. re- sumed the unbeliever, surprised in his turn I wish to, in7C5tii:atc the truth of the Bible." 44 1 wlould advise you, Sir," repeated the elder 44 to read the Bible. And," he continued, 44 1 will give you my reasons : Most infidels are very ig norant of the Scriptures. Now to reason on any subject with correctness, we must understand what it is, about which we reasen. In the next place, I consider the internal evidence of the truth of the Scriptures strongerthan the exter nal." ! ' 44 And where shall I begin ?" inquired the un believer.; 44 At the New Testarncnt ?" ( 44 No " said hc elder ; 44 at the beginning at Genesis" . The infidel bought a Commentary, and went home, arid sat down to the serious study of the Scriptures. He applied all his strong and Well disciplined powers of mind to the Bible, to try rigidly but impartially its truth. As he went on in the perusal, he received occasional calls irom tne eiaer. i ne mnaei ireeiy remarKea upon what he had read, and stated his object tions. He liked this passage, he thought tha touching! and beautiful, but hc could not credit a thirtl. . . - i '1' One evening, the elder called and found the unbelicvpr'at his house or office, walking the room, with a dejected look, his mind apparently absorbed in thought. He continued, not noticr ihg that jany one had come in, busily to trace and retrace ljis steps. The ejder at length spoke! 44 You seem, Sir," said he;?44 to be in a brown study. Of what are you thinking?" J j 44 1 have been readmcr," replied the infidel, ; I !;..' -1 the! UlUiilJ 44 Wei , what do yoiUhink of it?" asked the el-i cer. f - j j 44 Twill tell you what I used to think," answer ed the infidel. 44 1 supposed that Moses was the leader of 'a horde of banditti '; that having a strong ; jnind he acquired great" influence over a super-' stitious people; and that on Mount Sinai, he played off some sort of fire-works to the amaze ment of h!is ignorant followers, who imagined, in their mingled fear and superstition, that the ex-j hibition was supernatural." ! ; : j j 44 But what do you think now Y- interposed the elder. j ' I 44 1 have been looking," said theinfidel, "intoj the nature of that law. I have been trying to see whether I can add any thing to if. or take any thing frorri it, so as to make it better. Sir, I cannot. It is perfect." ! i 44 The first corrimandment," continued he, 44 di rects us to make the Creator the object of our supreme loveand reverence. TJrat is right. If he be our Creator, Preserver, and supreme Bene factor, we ought to treat him, and, none other,' a3 such. The second forbids idolatry. That cer tainly is right. " The third forbids prolUneness. The fourth fixes a time for religious worship. If there be a God, he ought surely to be worship ped. It is suitable that there should be. an out-' ward homage, significant of our fh ward regard. Tf God be worshipped, it is proper that some time should be set apart for that purpose, when all may worship him, harmoniously and without ! interruption. Une. aay in seven certainly is not too much; and I do not know that it is too little. The fifth defines the peculiar duties arising frorh. family relations. -Injuries to our! neighbor arc then classified by the moral law. They are di vided into offences against life, chastity, property arid character. . AnaV' said he, applying a legal idea, with legal acuteness, 44 1 notice that the greatest offence in each class is expressly forbid den. Thus the greatest injury to life is murder ; to chastity, adultery : to property, 'theft : to.char- acter, perjury, Now the greater offence i must include the less of the same kind. ! Murder must include every injury to life; adultery every mju rv tn rmritv. and so of the rest.. And the moral rod isr.losed and perfected, by a, command for bidding every improper desire in regard to our neighbor. ' , . . " I have been thinking' he proceededwhere did Moses fret that law ? i I have read history : the Egyptians and the adjacent! nations were idolaters ; so were the Greeks and Romans ; and xxr'uunA and best Greeks and Romans never gave a code of morals like this.- Where did Moses get this law, which surpasses the wisdom and philosophy ! of the most enlightened ages ? He lived at a period comparatively barbarous, but he has given a lawv in which the learning and satracity of all subsequent time can detect n flaitf-:' Wrhere did he eet it? He couia not have soared so lar obove his age,; as to nave ue IS Be, d W iiaic v isfielwhere he ob- vised it himself. I am sa : - " vol. 1, no. u: tamed it. tf came dow n from heaven. VI am conymcedof the truth of the religion of the n.vt Q m The infidel, infidel rio longer, remained to his death a firrn believer in the truth ' of Cris tianiry. lie lived several years after this con versation; about three I believe. He continued l? Pfi evstudy of the Bihle, his views of the Christian religion' expanding and growing correct j Profaneness was abandoned. An oath was now as offensive to him as it was familiar be fore, j When his former mv rnmrMninn nc1 one, he habitually, reproved them. He remon strated with them upon . its folly and want of meaning, and said hc could never imagine before, how painful profane language must be to a Christian. But did be become a "sincere disci ple of Christ? He always expressed great doubt upon that point. , He . could hope for nothing from the world, and he was afraid that he?migLt choose ether pleasures from thar circumstance, without a radical change of feeling. , . ' ' . I learried these particulars, a few years since, frotn one f the parties. The lapse of time rnay . have cause'd some immaterial variation, but "i believe no other. I have endeavored tobei'morc than substantially correct, and have therefore left many important ideas unexpanded," as I un derstood thern to occur in the actual ' conversa- t tion. ' ' . I ' , - Let the. reader meditate on this history for it 15 believed to be rich in practical instruction. The main thought is this, that the moral law is a monument, a sublime tooniame'nt, -of the great inoral'trarisaction at Sinai,, at the delivery of the. ten commandments. But let him mark also the -species of unbelief the practical temper inspired by disease, the lingering nature of the complaint, the judicious advice and ' kind attention of the Christian elder, the beautiful arrangement of Providence by which these concurred, the excel lence of the tnoral law as explained and felt, and' the glorious reforming power of the Bible. ; a -s. From the Christian Watchman. URSULINE, CONVENT. We have already remarked upon the report of the Select Committee, to whom was referred th petition of Benqdict Fenwick and others, for ah indemnity for their loss W property in the destruc tion tf the Ursnline Convent at Charlestons . The resolutions proposed by the committee came before the Hpuscfor discussion on Wednesday the 1 ith.and wcrccontinued until I hursaay evening, when the debate was terminated by yeas and. nays, as will be seen in another column. ' 1 The debate arose upon the resolution of tlie 1 committee to give to the petitioner? as a gratuitv SM 0,000 ! Those in fovor of the gratuity pleal variously ; some thought that th& appropriation might be mide to the Ursuline Content, as being an Institution of Learning; others as the dictate of sympathy 'and common justice; and others as a test of their Catholicism. Those' oppose to the resolution aTgued, that they could see no just reason why the gratuity should be granted. The petitioners ask for an indemnity as a matter of right; but both branches of the committee concur iri the opinion that they were not entitled - 10 me inucmnuy as a question 01 ngnt. J ney - uurr,lue ?l Py grwjy; cause from vhat they knew of the Institution they did not especially need a gratuity ; and be cause the proposed act would constitute a dange- . ,1 . mi. t 1 . runs preceuem. me petitioners naa sougnt redress jn the ordinary way ; the courts of justice were as open to them as to others, and they had availed themselves of their privilcQ-es. Thev had indeed failed of obtaining satisfactory redress, either for want of evidence or for want of ability on the part of the prosecuted, and they had there fore appealed to this House; but if the Legisla- turp should grant the petition, they would con stitute themselves into a high Court of Appeals, and there would be 110 end to these petitions, for whoever loses KIs case in a court of justice always considers himself injured. , . . -. , ': ' I he decision of the House upon this question was a correct onet a3 we believe, but the debate should have been spared. The report of the committee (should have been recommitted, with instructions to confine themselves strictly to the question before them.' The petitioners, very properly, knowing as they aid, that there was no other ground on which they could with propriety, come before the legislature, ask for the jndem-. nity as a matter of right ; ' and it was the duty' of the committee to inquire, whether an indemnity upon this ground could be granted ; they did so, but they did more. They would have the Legis lature look a little into these matters of religion. and they did so. . The Legislature of Massachusetts have been so long tinkering upon "religion, that they seem to have acquired a strange propensity ior tnis kind of tinkering. It therefore only needed the suggestion of a committee to induce them to go into a debate of two dap, upon the. comparative riicrita of the Catholic and Protestant forms of religion, j , . The destruction of the Convent hid no con nection with any form of religious faith, or with any denomination of Christians. It were just as fair, should a mob assail a Medical lnstitution, because they supposed that it had been instru mental in occasioning a violation of the sacrcdness of the (grave, io say thai the medical profession were persecuted, as to say, that the Catholics were persecuted because a Tnob Lad assailed a Convent, iri cousequenee of their1 supposing .that it had! been instrumental in restraining the per sonal liberty of a female. , In the minds of disinterested persons who know the facts, there is not the shadow of a doubt , that the elopement pfMissTIarrison; who for several years had been secluded as a Nun in the Convent, and her subsequent return through the influence of the Lady Superior and the Bishop, without any explanation to the public, was the immediate cause of this outrage. .The men Who committed rtio art were jnen of no religion, . they had not even any correct moral principle.' They acted rather under an excited but mistaken feeling or v ... Irepublicnism r .V . . . ;
The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 8, 1835, edition 1
1
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