The New Hampshire Gazette Newspaper, October 21, 1757, Page 1

"I’?RIDAY, Oc_:'éossk 21, 174% .. The New-Hampthire Co}itaining the Frefbeft Advices Plilofephical Reafons, why the mofi Ignorant Men are gene- rally mofl conceited. ! HE vanity of the human heart is the moft in- curable of all moral diftempers. The reafon is, becaufe every man muft be his own phyfi- cian, and felf tendernefs will not permit the ufe of CausTics, which are as neceflary togthe cure of fuch deep rooted ulcers of the mind, as of the bofiy s 1o both cafes much pain muft be endured ; but that of the mind is mott intenfe, becaufe of its greater fenfibility. Be- fides, {elf examination is a naufeous draught, that the fquea- mith fomach of felf conceit will not digeft ; and yet it is the only preparative which can pyrge off the.ill hamours of the foul, and quaiify it for the reception of healing applications ; or, to change the allufion, felf conceit is the dropfy of the mind, generated by ignorance, and bloated by lazinefs. Af- ter the purgation before hinted, nothing can cure it radically, but conitant exercife in the MinEs of knowledge, which, like the moit precious ore, lies deepett in the recefles of nature. - Moreover, felf complaifance is delighted with the contem- plation ofwour real or imaginary perfcctions, rather than to {carch for blemifhes ; and, as it is more apt to turn the mag- nifying; lens to others faults ; {0, it views our own, with the other end of the perfpe&ive, which diminifhes, andfets them at a valt diftance. -Yet it muft be confeffed, that {felf com- piaifance is a natural infti<d. It is the gift of God, beftow- ed upon man, to render his paffage thro’ life, the more de- leftable : It is therelore like all our paflions and affetions, of admirable ufe, while under the guidance of right reafon ; but like other things of the moft delicate nature, grows moft naufeons by being corrupted. From that inftin&t however, men are better fatisfied with their fbare of underflanding, than with any other of thé bounties of heaven ; the reafon is, be- ~caufe the fhort line of a little genius, cannot fathom the depths of more profound underftandings ; and therefore is not able to draw them inta comparifon : but the meaneft ca- pacity can compare the external gifis of nature, or fortune, (as mechanicks do their wares, by weight or meafure) and determine the exa® difference. Whence arife envyings, firife, and 2l the aéls of malevolence which agitate a dege- nerate world. To be humbly contented with thofe mental talents, which God has given us, is a felf- complaifance right, and good, but to fancy them incapable of improvementby culture, is a grofs error ; and to over rate them without a comparifon to thofe ©f other men, is a blunder i computation ; a criminal wa- stity, and the-noint now under confideration, ‘It is a common remark founded upon univerfal experience, / @nd agreed by all men, that the moft ignorant are generally h L A4 L reach. moft conceited. The fa& is {o noterious, that none of our moralifts, fo far as I can recolle®, have thought it worth their pains to enquire into the caufes of fo common an ab- furdity : And yet perhaps fuch an enquiry, may conduce more to reform the conceited, than all the farcafms of wicor fatyr ; or atlealt it may prove that the conceited deferve more of our pity ; or lefs of that contempt and hatred, which is over paid to that fe&t of microfcopic Philofophers, by*the ill-natured world. Bat it is neceffary o premile, that in all metaphyfical {ub- je&ts like this, we are forced to the ufe of figurative exprefii- ons, taken from the body, or its altions, in order to defcribe the fasulties, or operations of the mind, for want of other words to convey our meaning. Thus ffrength is afcribed to fbejua’gmz nt, quickiefs t0 awil OF perception, capacioufnefs tothe ‘memory, &c. Indeed it is the greater or lefs vigour of thofe faculties, thatdetermines the different degrees of genius a- mong Men ; particularly with refpelt to the perceptive fa- silty 6fthe mind ; that being (if I may be allowed the ex- prefiion) the predominant power of a bright genius; before which the map of nature lies open, as it were in one wiew, in its full extent, maghificence, and harmony. Thence pes- ' eeption draws a valt fund of ideas in their natural arrange- merts : and then jodgment eafily diftinguifhes all their rela- tions, and can fet ajuft eftimate upon every thing in the way of comparifon ; from whence the greateft part of hu- inan knowledge refult:. Or to exprefs my meaning more concifely ; perception, or apprehenfion is the parveyor of all our ideas, and, after making the colle€ion, difpofes them in their natural arrangement, beforethe feat of juZzment. That compares, claffes, and depofits them in the fiore houfe of ‘swemory ; from thence to draw them forth, as fit occafions require ; and then applies them praperly, to all the ufes of life, whether fenfative or moral. Thefe conjun&ive alls of # quick apprehenfion and jadgment, we call properly good ‘nfe, as a conformity of atien to their determinationsis pra- 'dence, or morality. ; . The weaknefs thereof of this perceptive faculty, is the ptimary caufe of ignorance : for how can thejudgmcpt cofm- pare or eftimate things, or a%ftions, of which the mind has rot any apprehenfion ? As their perception is the eye of the underftanding, whenever it is weak, dim, or fhort fighted, it is incapable of diftinguifhing any other obje@s, but fuch as are very near it ; and thofe, being within the fphere. of its fbort focus are magnified beyond their natural dimenfions, as is the cafe of the parblind bodily eyes. Hence it is, that the mind which difcerns only the few objef?s within its narrow fphere, muft neceflarily be ignorant of that immenfity of things, in the vaft circnit of creation, which are beyond its What is thi), but an exa& defcription of real igno- rance ? But then, ad the purblind faculty of perception is amed, like the bg eyes of that (B to yroc .',"‘M‘?'Jilogb' on mountains, which is the caufe ot waniry. Bat as contrarieties are beft illyltrated by each other, let us now confider the man of genils, whofe perceptive faculty, like the beft organized eyes of human body, difcerns all ob- jelts diftiné2ly, whether near or far off, in their nataral colours, magnitudes, and arrangements. T'he mind thus franght with innumerable ideas, has a large fund of the materials of know ledge ; which is itill capable of farther extenfion into the vaft fields of fcience, by the help of the perfpeciive gials of ANALOGY, in the hand of jodgment. But after all the excarfions of the brighteflt genius into the interminable ex- panfe of knowledge, he will be convinced by the profpeéz, that the many sxzions he has travelled over, are but a jpaz in comparifen of what lie beyond ysem ; and be asready to utter this humbling confeffion, as the wife Socrates was, that all he knows is, that comparatively fpeaking, he knows no- thing. Thefe are the natural caulss, why the moft ignoraat men are generally moft conceited, ard confequently, obfiinate ; as, on the contrary, the moft knowing are the moft humble, and therefore leaft pofitive. ) VPP PPPPRYRYP R PP PYP YV _Paris, Fuly 1. Orders are fent to Breft to fit out four Men of War and two Frigates as foon as poffibe. 8ix new Ships of the Line are likewife going to be built there, viz, one of 116 Guns, which is to be called the Royal Louis; one of go Guns, three of 74, and one of 64, befides two new Frigates. The Minotau, of 8o Guns, was launch’'d a few Days ago. : L. 0 N D 0 'N. Extra& of a Letter from St. Colomb, in Cornwall, July 22, “ On Friday lafi, a few Minute: after 6 in the Evening, wvas felt at this Place, and all the Niighbourhad, a Shock of an Earthquake, which thro’ the Prowidence of God, did no other Damage than frightning the Jeverd! Perfons who felt it. 1t awas preceeded by an horrible rumbiing Noife, louder than Thun- der, and the Shock continued for about half @ Minute, in Jome Places longer. By certain Accounts from Redruth, we fi*d, that the waft - Pieceof Machinery, the Fire Engine, at North- Dozun, awas inflantanconfly flapped by the Piolence of the Shock : We bear alfo, that it was felt at Grampound, Truro, Tregony, Re- druth, Helffone, Penzance, and almgff in every Part of the Country, but the farther Wef? the tore wiolent, many Perfons being unable to fland on their Feet thro’ the Violence of the Mo- tion 3 but moft terrible was its Shack 12 the Miners under Ground, many of them being in Danger of being buried alive in the Mines avhere they awrought. = A Perfon jufl now informs me, that the Noife be beardin the Bowwels of the Barth wsay Pengance, wias more lowd than that of 1060 Coaches drowve at once over the Plain.~~~The Hand of the Lord feems to be lifted up againft us, to firike the fatal Bloww ; but may a national Repentance, and an univerfal turning to God, awvert the impending Stroke. L. T NV B R PO O b Jupe 13 E#tract of a Letter from Leshorn, dated May 16, t1a Mer- . chant bere. ““'T have the Plealure to acquaint you, that I have juft re- ceived from our Conful at Meflina an Accoont, dared the 26th of April, of Captain Fortunatus Wright being very well, and has taken another Prize fince his Departure from Malta. And as this fo exa@ly taliies with the Account [ had from the Mafter of a Maltefe Veflel arrived here laft Week, we have no Room to doubt of the Truth of his Safa- ty ; which has given inexpreffiible Picafure to me, and a ge- neral Satisfation to all in this Place. ¢ A Danifh Ship juft now arrived here from Tunis in eight Days, was vifited fix Days ago, between Sardinia and Sicily, by the King of Pruffia Privareer, of your Port, Capt. Macaftee, all well, and in high Spirits. - We are in Hipes, that he and other Veflels on the fanie Station will meet with great Succefs, asthe Smyrna French Fleet (confifting of 16 or 18 Ships, only convoyed by a Pclacco, who was difpatch. edfome Time ago in Purfdit of Capt. Fortunatds Wright, and engaged him off of Maita, but was bravely repuifed; is foon expedled to fail for Marfeilles ; for which Place is alfo bound a French Polacco from Alexandria, valued at 25000l KINGSTON, in famaica, July 2. Tuefday evening arrived the Nancy, Capt. M‘Taggart, a letter of marque fhip, who left Briftol the 8th of May laft, we have not as yet received any of the London or Briftol pa- pers, but can affure the public, from undoubted auihority, that the petitions from London, Briffol, Liverpool, Lancafter, and Whitehaven, (as mentioned in one of our former papers) were aétually prefented, and that the conduft of Admiral Knowles, during the time of his adminiitratton in this ifland, has been approved by the king and parliament, and univer- fally fo by all trug lovers of their country. Infine, the Ad- miral is at this tinie in the greateft eRleem that ever any-man was. Laft wednefday night arrived in this town, Mr. Matthew Cox, who on the zift of January laft, was taken in the Duke Packet, Capt. Owen Philips, about fix leagues to windward of Cape Tiberoon, by the American Privateer,Capt. Blanco, after a refolute defence of near 11 glaffes, it fell at laft a calm, and the privateer rowed under her guarter, and boarded her, on which Capt. Philips order’d the colours to be ftruck, and called for quarter; which the privaieer’s people refufed giv- ing, and inflantly cut Capt. Philips’s nofe almoft off, and ove Ear, and gave him upwards of 4o diferent wounds, kill'd the’ mafler, cut the mate in pieces, and gatand wounded moft of the peopic in the joints of their arys and wrifls, by which they loft the entire ufe of them, Jot. Philips’s fon had his {cnll fractured, ard has near left e of his afm, as has O . o Nuwms. . GAZETTE, Foreign and Domeftick, butcherly Frenchmen. = On demanding the reafon of this ex= traordinary piece of barbarity, the officers of the privateer in- folently told them, it was for fo few men’s daring to make defence againlt a French privateer. Next morning they car- ried them into La Cateau bay, where they unanimoufly a- greed to put every man to death, which they certainly would have done, were it not for the merchants living on the bay, who coming on board the Packet, bought the fmall arms of the French failors, inflantly loaded them, and took pofieffion: of the quarter deck, which they kept ail tie packet’s people were fear on fhore. They were that fame night travelled by land to Ocaya, without the {malleft refrefhment, by which means many fainied on the road, and were obliged to be lefe to fuch™ affiitance as the inhabitants would give them. Oun their arrival at Ocaya, Mr. Cox and thofe that had frength to travel thither, were fent to the hofpital, and on the 15th of May Mr. Cox had his difcharge from the furgeon ; and the next night, in company with the chief mate and doélor of the Indian Prince, Capt. Watkins (that was taken laft Ja- nuary) and a frce negro belonging to Briftol, in a fmall boat of about 8 feet keel, without malls or fails, only one oar, and about 6 ounces of bread each man, they got to the Ifle of Vache, where they cut a maft and thauts, made Maho ropes and twine, and with the aflitance ¢f three fhirts made two fails, and putto {+a on the 17th of May, at 2 P. M. at § the fame evening it began to rain and blow very hard at S. E. which obliged them to bear away before the fea; the bad weather continued for 8 days, with a ftrong current to wind« ward, which drove them on the Ifle of Cuba, after being three days without any fuftenance, except gulph weed, on which they fubfited ; on the 8th day they went athore, and travelled to 2 place called Macaaco, about 16 leagues to les- ward, from whence they were fent by the Commander to Byamo, and from whence they were fent back to Ccba, where the governor confined them 4 days without food, or the liberty of going out to purchafe any, when they had the liberty by day to feek provifions, in which time they pur- chafed a boat with fome gold they had faved ; 2nd after o days confinement, the governor obliged them to bring odf what Englith prifoners had efcaped from the French to taak place, making with themfelves 15 ; on thur{day the 23d of June, about 6 in the evening, they left Cuba, and got ont fhore at Manchioneal bay, where they left their boat, and, travelled from thence to this town on foot. _ There wasa young lady paffenger from Brifio] on | the Packet, whom ‘they alfo treated with the 2tmoft croc o and indegency, turning her cloaths gver hox Lond 2o g could fcarce be prevailed on to fpare even vne gown rar hi to come on thore with. The Packet had 8§ carriage puns, {wivels 2nd 26 men ; the privateer had 1o carri { 16 {wivels, and 110 men ; inthe engagement Capt. Iilaic@ was killed, one of his mates, about 15 private men, and up wards of zo0 wounded, befides difmounting 5 of their guns the Packet received no damage during the engagement, but only by the cruel maffacre in cold blood as above related. July 23. We hear that on Sunday the 1oth inftant, at the plantation of Powell, Efq; Above Rocks, a part} of runaway Negroes, confifting of 10, fuddenly rufhed fra the woods, and feized and carried off a fine young woman flave, belonging to faid Eftate ; fiie has never been heard of fince : and that the Gentlemen thereabouts dre obliged to travel armed, to avoid being infulted by thefe atrocious Villains. Augult 30. Saturday laft arrived bis Majefiy's floop Stork. of 14 Guns, avho convoyed the Fleet from Cork, bound to the Windawvard Iflands and Famaica, who informs us be had En gagement off Cape Tibervon, with two French Privateers mount - ing 12 Guns each, four pounders : The Engagement lafied from 4 o’Clock, *till the Evening, awhen a lucky fbot from the Sto-k killing theCommodore, the Monficurs fbeered off, fearing a greater Mortality wonld enjue ; as aljo to repair the Damages they be Juftained during the Action. Si% fpips from 60 to 70 Guns, are immediately ordered to the Windavard }flands and Famaica, to reinforce the Squadrons flati oned there,and go under the Compmand of Commodore Moore. On Thur/day next fails under Convoy of his Maj:fly’s- Humber, Sanmel Scott, Efy; Commander, the Fleet bound t Europe and Novth dmerica, which, at a moderate Computation amount; to 100 Sail. : . Charles-Tonwn, (South Carolina) Aucuft 18 ; On Friday laft the Clinton Frigate, Capt. Hugh Heghes (a very rich Ship from Jamaica for London, which had put in here fome Time ago) having parted her befl Bower the Night before, in Fivé-Fathom Hole, drove afhore upe No Man’s Land Breakers,'where fhe is loft, and fcarce any of her Cargo faved befides fome Indico. This was one off the Veflels the Arandel waited for off the Bar ; the other, the Sukey, Capt. North, got out, but ftruck feveral Tinies upon the Bar, beat off Part of her falle Keel, dnd is fdid ¢ bave bore away for Virginia. : Satarday laft three Spanidrds were taken up and examinedl before His Majefty’s Honourable Council, fufpefied to be: long to fome of the French Privateers cruizZing upen the coaft of Georgia, and to have came here for Intelligence : And we hear, one or two of them have acknowledged being or board a French Privateer, of 2 Guns and 38 Men. Augufi 25. Monfieur Palanqui, in a Snow of 18 fix Poun ders (formerly the Dfuke Packet) with zog Men, we ba certain Advice," {ailed from Hifpaniola about a Mond to croize upon this Continent.—During the laf took Sixiv zine Ernglifh Vellia g ¥