The New Hampshire Gazette Newspaper, December 10, 1756, Page 1

) % A ’ . - Friday, Decemb. 1o. 756 - Ne® Hampfbire RgEe BEOaSeneanneIee1ey With the Frefbeft Advices EERGYOSENR VERE T 265659 The Conclufion of ahat aas bigun in our laft. As to the Puniiment of Cowardice, T bas been aflerted by fome, that Nature forms the Brave 4 and the Coward ; that Bravery is not in the Power of thofe whom fhe has made Cowards,and confcquently that it would be unjuft to infli¢t any Punifhment upon Cowardice. Bat this isa grofs Miftake, and a moft pernicious Doc- trine. Cowardice proceeds, as all other bad Paflions do, from a falfe Notion of Things, a Difpofition of Mind which is in our own Power, and increafes by Indulgence. The Faul, I fay, is not in the Blood, but in the Mind. . If Bravery or Cowardice were implanted by Nature into the Conftitation of Man, it wculd neceiiarily be unalterable in ~the fame Perfon, wouold not at all depend upon the Altera- tip%;‘q(.j,pe Mind, nor he wrought upon by Exhogation _t or Example xample ; but ‘what a great Influence thefe may have, ‘every one, I dare fay, has experienced in himfelf, A Man who has been formerly brave, may work himfelf up to entertain fuch a Regard for Life, Health, or Riches, as will make him tremble at any Accident which may, in the Jeaft Degree affe@ them,and will occafion his deferting his "Daty both with Regard to God and his Country. On the other Hand, many a Man who has been in the firlt Part of his Life a Coward, by duly confidering his Duty to God and his Country, the Value of Fame, the Tracfitorinefs of Life, &c, has become.a Martyr or a Hero, has learnt to defpife Danger, and face Death with the greateft Intre- , pedity. A Thief, whofe Crime proceeds from his too great Love of Money, may as reafonably pretend that it is con- ftitutional, and pray an Exemption from Punifhment upon that Account, as the Coward, whole Crime proceeds from his too great Love of Life, &c. Every Man by entering into a ftri@ Examiration of his own Mind muft know whether he is a Coward or not, he muft know how his Mind is difpofed, what Value he {ets upon Life, and whe- ther he thinks it right and worth his While to hszard it for the Good of his Country, or to acquire Honour to him- felf ;. if he does not thisk fo, he is criminal in accepting a Commiflion. | But if a Soldier’s natural Conftitution is fo framed, that his Fear of Wounds or Death muft neceflarily get the bet- -ter of all Confiderations of Duty, we muft draw_what Ad- vantage we can from this fearful Difpofition, and fet before him greater Objedts of T'error ; the fame Conftitution muft as neceflarily incline him to prefer the leffer Evil to the greater. If he will not for the fake of his Country face ~ Nums. 107 GAZET'TE, 'é@fi@afigfi@aafifiaaaaaw Foreign and Domeftick. ol da St Bl pa o Dez h in the Field, let him be made fenfible that 2 more terrible and an ignominious Death unavoidably attends him wpon the Scaffold. ) The Punifhment in thefe Cafes muft be certain and un- avoidable ; for if the Paltroon has the leat Room to think that he may efcape it, he wil flatter himfelf with the Hope, and avoid the prefent Danger in the Field by a daftardly Flight. Thus the fparing one Coward makes a thoufand o- thers. It is therefore clearly the indifpenfible Duty of eve- ry Prioce to infli& upon Cowardice, conftantly, in every Inflance, and without refpe&t of Perfons, the fevereft Punithments in his Power. He be fo far from being - guilty of Cruelty in this, that on th® contrary, by neglect~ ing it, he would be guiity of the greateft Cruelty to his Country, and even Cowards themfelves. For fuppofing thagthe Cowardice of ten Perfonsin an Army is dete@t= ed, if the Prince punithes them all, and declares that he will likewife punifh all others who fhall behave ill, fach an Example of Severity and Declaration will keep the reft of the Army in their Duty, and the Coantry will be glorioufly: ferved ; but if he fuffers only one of the ten to efcape Pu- nifbment, a hundred other Soldiers will fly from the Ene- my, each of them hoping that he fhall'be favoured in the fame Manner, and then the Fxecution of Ninety out of the Hundred will not remedy the Evil. ' Brifiol, Jept. 14. On the Arrival of the Virginia Mer- chant, Capt. Wright, in the Road, the Tender lying there to imprefs, endeavour'd to take her Hands, who refiking, the T'ender’s Men fir'd at them, kill'd the Cook, and, ’tis faid, wounded orbers. And Yefterday about Three o’Clock in the Afternoon, the Virginia Merchant was ob(erved to fire fcveral Guns in Diftrefs, and foon a‘ter to fink : fome imagine fhe received a fhot between Wind and Water from the Tender ; but others, that {he anchor’d in too fhallow Water, and iruck on the Fluke of an Anchor, which it is thought was the Occafion of this unforefeen Accident. Her Cargo is very large, confiting of near soo Hofheads of "Tobacco, about 50Tons of Iron, and {everal other Things. L0 NI © N, Segeds, Extrall of a Letter from Portfmouth, dated Sept. 18. Certain it is that Sir Edward Hawke has taken 12 Vef- fels laden with Provifions for the Ifland of Minorca, there being Letters in Town from on board his Fleet declaring it ; they further take Notice, that the Diftrefs among the Inbabitants of Minorca, is fo great that they frequently come off in Boats, defiring him ecither_to deftroy thex‘n,s or fufigg