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On The Influence Of Government On The Mental Faculties.
The natural disposition to security and life , and that fondness for a « rood name , which the most abandoned cannot in their hearts despise , have been assisted by decent hypocrisy , to cast a lustre on the dark side of a throne . For this the feet , that have walked in blood , have stepped to the" threshold of Genius , and'the . hands which have been lifted to the blackest purposes , have been stretched out for the palm of applause . The nine Muses have ( not vainly ) been solicited to a
mercenary sacrifice at the shrine of Usurpation ; and the unaltered record has in after-ages given the lie to truth . It is not a cobweb covering that will conceal crimes of a glaring aspect , and despotism is the source of all . Pretensions to virtue gather strength as its influence on the soul is weak . Plow had the character of Augustus suffered , if flattering abilities had not warped the attention of posterity from his public guilt to his private munificence ! The patron of learning immortalized the enslaver of his country . Such too the fate of a modern Augustus , who possessed notoiie-gooclquality of the former . Louis
XIV . fostered the arts and sciences . The gratitude ofthe literati crowned him , in return , with laurels he never reaped in the field ; tore the chaplet of wisdom from the heads of his Ministers , to place it on his own ; and pillaged his Generals of the honour of victory over troops-from whose courage he had retired . Abilities have been aliedged to slumber under arbitrary government . The evidence is more recently brought from the Turkish
and Russian establishments . The former , notwithstanding their unexhausted myriads of people , have been by no means advanced in the exertions of the mind proportionally with other states . The very Alcoran has been a laudanum to their faculties , entranced in the paradise of indolence and enjoyment , as if the soul were resolutely blind to the wretchedness of the body it inhabited , or national prejudices were posted to confront and subdue reason .
The Russians , within ! later periods , have made large strides to more perfect civilization ; the industry of a sensible and polished Sovereign burst the bands of his native frosts . Commerce has courte'd every wind , navies have spread the seas , and their arms have been extended to the remotest regions ; while language , refined at home , presages a future race of orators , philosophers , and historians . The only restraints to the exercise of reflection in the realms of
despotism arise-from the prohibition of political and reli gious freedom . These mysterious delicacies are not to be profaned by vulgar hands ; and as it is in opposition to the ancient oracles which gave / l ying responses to enquirers , these are permitted to give none , * [ TO BE CONCLUDED IN ouii NEXT . ]
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Influence Of Government On The Mental Faculties.
The natural disposition to security and life , and that fondness for a « rood name , which the most abandoned cannot in their hearts despise , have been assisted by decent hypocrisy , to cast a lustre on the dark side of a throne . For this the feet , that have walked in blood , have stepped to the" threshold of Genius , and'the . hands which have been lifted to the blackest purposes , have been stretched out for the palm of applause . The nine Muses have ( not vainly ) been solicited to a
mercenary sacrifice at the shrine of Usurpation ; and the unaltered record has in after-ages given the lie to truth . It is not a cobweb covering that will conceal crimes of a glaring aspect , and despotism is the source of all . Pretensions to virtue gather strength as its influence on the soul is weak . Plow had the character of Augustus suffered , if flattering abilities had not warped the attention of posterity from his public guilt to his private munificence ! The patron of learning immortalized the enslaver of his country . Such too the fate of a modern Augustus , who possessed notoiie-gooclquality of the former . Louis
XIV . fostered the arts and sciences . The gratitude ofthe literati crowned him , in return , with laurels he never reaped in the field ; tore the chaplet of wisdom from the heads of his Ministers , to place it on his own ; and pillaged his Generals of the honour of victory over troops-from whose courage he had retired . Abilities have been aliedged to slumber under arbitrary government . The evidence is more recently brought from the Turkish
and Russian establishments . The former , notwithstanding their unexhausted myriads of people , have been by no means advanced in the exertions of the mind proportionally with other states . The very Alcoran has been a laudanum to their faculties , entranced in the paradise of indolence and enjoyment , as if the soul were resolutely blind to the wretchedness of the body it inhabited , or national prejudices were posted to confront and subdue reason .
The Russians , within ! later periods , have made large strides to more perfect civilization ; the industry of a sensible and polished Sovereign burst the bands of his native frosts . Commerce has courte'd every wind , navies have spread the seas , and their arms have been extended to the remotest regions ; while language , refined at home , presages a future race of orators , philosophers , and historians . The only restraints to the exercise of reflection in the realms of
despotism arise-from the prohibition of political and reli gious freedom . These mysterious delicacies are not to be profaned by vulgar hands ; and as it is in opposition to the ancient oracles which gave / l ying responses to enquirers , these are permitted to give none , * [ TO BE CONCLUDED IN ouii NEXT . ]