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Article MOON-LIGHT. ← Page 2 of 2
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Moon-Light.
despair , wretchedness , and death ? If he knew aught of traffic- ; its cares , its frauds , its disappointments , and its frequent dangers ? If he e ' er saw a being , form'd for immortality , toiling from morn till eve , from year to year , from youth to age—to call a little clay , a thousand cares , his own ?—I would ask him , if , in his orb , thousands of its inhabitants are form'd in fierce battalions , each one armed with an instrument of death ; discilin'd in savage manners ; nurs'd in all the
p brutal vices ; led to the field of slaughter ; aiming the deadly weapon , at the vitals of an unknown company of fellow-men , expiring amidst the rage of murd ' rous anger ? and , while they are thus 'forcing a passage to the flames , ' professing themselves the peaceful followers of Jesus Christ ? If he hath ever seen the worshippers of the deityin his worldpursue each other with infernal
rancourlight-, , , ing up fires round the bodies of the conscientious , and pursuing them with anathemas and the terrors of civil justice , for a difference of sentiment on the mode of exercising their religious services ? If he were ever amidst a crowd of imprisoned maniacs ? If his heart were ever torn at the sight of misery , in the distorted frame of an unfortunate lunatic ? If he were ever a visitantin a building
appro-, priated to receive the victims of disease and misfortune ? If he ever saw the dire effects of a burning fever , the chill ague , the wasting consumption , the overwhelming dropsy , or the gnawing cancer , bringing to the grave any of his suffering brethren ? If he ever wiped the dying sweat from the forehead , or eas'd the dying pillow , of the
friend of his bosom ; or attended such a friend to ' that bourne from whence no traveller returns ? ' If he hath ever seen the felon ' s den , the gloomy gibbet , the wretched exit of untutor'd vice ? If he ever saw the savage murderer leap from the thicket , and embrue his hands in the blood of the lonely , unsuspecting , unoffending ' traveller ? the child taking away the life of the father ; the mother butchering her child ? If he ever saw a family driven from their
home , their peaceful slumbers , by the ravages of fire , destitute and distracted ?—If he ever heard the cries of a sinking crew in a wrecked vessel , amidst ' the pelting storm , the rolling thunder , the forked lightning , and the howling winds ? If he e ' er fled the stalking plague , the fierce volcano , grim famine , or the voracious earthquake ? —If he ever walked through a slave ship , a bastille , a tender , or an
inquisition ? If he hath ever seen the sons of riot in their midnight revels—disease and death the waiters ? If he hath ever felt the flames of cruel jealousy , fell ambition , envy , anger , distrust , the fear of death , the . gloom of terror , raging in his bosom i " Or , if his orb be free from all these ills , if peace and plenty , the calm of innocence , the joys of health , the social ties of friendship , the
sacred cords of bliss ancl fond affection , reign in all the circuit of his tranquil world ? " Happy ! Happy inhabitants ! when shall I feel your pleasures , an 4 be released from all the ills , and all the crimes , which stain our mo- > , th . er earth ?" Hull , April 21 . 1796 . V .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Moon-Light.
despair , wretchedness , and death ? If he knew aught of traffic- ; its cares , its frauds , its disappointments , and its frequent dangers ? If he e ' er saw a being , form'd for immortality , toiling from morn till eve , from year to year , from youth to age—to call a little clay , a thousand cares , his own ?—I would ask him , if , in his orb , thousands of its inhabitants are form'd in fierce battalions , each one armed with an instrument of death ; discilin'd in savage manners ; nurs'd in all the
p brutal vices ; led to the field of slaughter ; aiming the deadly weapon , at the vitals of an unknown company of fellow-men , expiring amidst the rage of murd ' rous anger ? and , while they are thus 'forcing a passage to the flames , ' professing themselves the peaceful followers of Jesus Christ ? If he hath ever seen the worshippers of the deityin his worldpursue each other with infernal
rancourlight-, , , ing up fires round the bodies of the conscientious , and pursuing them with anathemas and the terrors of civil justice , for a difference of sentiment on the mode of exercising their religious services ? If he were ever amidst a crowd of imprisoned maniacs ? If his heart were ever torn at the sight of misery , in the distorted frame of an unfortunate lunatic ? If he were ever a visitantin a building
appro-, priated to receive the victims of disease and misfortune ? If he ever saw the dire effects of a burning fever , the chill ague , the wasting consumption , the overwhelming dropsy , or the gnawing cancer , bringing to the grave any of his suffering brethren ? If he ever wiped the dying sweat from the forehead , or eas'd the dying pillow , of the
friend of his bosom ; or attended such a friend to ' that bourne from whence no traveller returns ? ' If he hath ever seen the felon ' s den , the gloomy gibbet , the wretched exit of untutor'd vice ? If he ever saw the savage murderer leap from the thicket , and embrue his hands in the blood of the lonely , unsuspecting , unoffending ' traveller ? the child taking away the life of the father ; the mother butchering her child ? If he ever saw a family driven from their
home , their peaceful slumbers , by the ravages of fire , destitute and distracted ?—If he ever heard the cries of a sinking crew in a wrecked vessel , amidst ' the pelting storm , the rolling thunder , the forked lightning , and the howling winds ? If he e ' er fled the stalking plague , the fierce volcano , grim famine , or the voracious earthquake ? —If he ever walked through a slave ship , a bastille , a tender , or an
inquisition ? If he hath ever seen the sons of riot in their midnight revels—disease and death the waiters ? If he hath ever felt the flames of cruel jealousy , fell ambition , envy , anger , distrust , the fear of death , the . gloom of terror , raging in his bosom i " Or , if his orb be free from all these ills , if peace and plenty , the calm of innocence , the joys of health , the social ties of friendship , the
sacred cords of bliss ancl fond affection , reign in all the circuit of his tranquil world ? " Happy ! Happy inhabitants ! when shall I feel your pleasures , an 4 be released from all the ills , and all the crimes , which stain our mo- > , th . er earth ?" Hull , April 21 . 1796 . V .