notions of the Deity, if they can fup pofe that a Power all-wife, all-merciful, and all juft, will require, at the hands of fuch ignorant nations, a knowledge which he has not thought proper to bestow: a fuppofition of such a nature is highly derogatory to the Divine Effence; it is a tacit implication that the great Father of the univerfe exercifes a feverity which would be cruel in his creatures but to think of; and a palpable infinuation, that the Being of beings is capable of a tyranny which would utterly degrade the meaneft, in the human race, among the wonders of his hand. No; from fuch only as have received much, much is expected; and perhaps, at the laft day, myriads of our nominal Chriftians, who look upon the American Savage with pity or contempt, would give a hecatomb of worlds, had they power to change fituations, to have fo little to answer for as him. Conformable to what he knows, he invariably regulates the tenor of his condu&, maintains an unaltérable reverence for fome great object which he looks upon as his God, and pays an implicit obedience to his laws; whatever his fyftem of belief may be, he endeavours to do it all the honour in his power, and fhudders at nothing so much as the thought of bringing it into difgrace. Who amongst us can honeftly fay the fame? Enlightened with the lamp of science, and the fun of true religion, our actions are a perpetual ftigma on our belief: we acknowledge the wonderful mercies of a fuffering Redeemer, yet are continually uttering blafphemies against his name; we own the infinite merits of his Gospel, and yet act in manifeft contradiction to every precept it contains. The Deity, we are fenfible, can think us into afhes for the enormity of our crimes, and yet we continue to behave in open difobedience to his will: in fhort, both hoping and fearing the exiftence of another world, we facrifice every valuable opportunity in this; and, conftantly boasting the advantages accruing from our religion, we are always acting as if we had no religion at all. Let us, therefore, instead of condemning the errors of our neighbours, begin with correcting whatever is amifs in ourselves; and, instead of finding fault with the religion of other people, be fa tisfied that real Christianity is the bafis of our own. The whole mystery, both of religion and government, will be found in thefe admirable lines of Mr. Pope For forms of government let fools conteft; N° XIX. SATURDAY, JUNE 18. ORASMIN AND ALMIRA: AN ORIENTAL TALE.. of man, learn refignation to S the appointments of Providence, nor dare to drop a murmur at the difpenfations of the Moft Juft. Think not of difputing with the wifdom of Infinity; nor dream of wrefting the vindictive thunderbolt from the dread righthand of God. In the city of Bagdad, fo celebrated by the fages of antiquity, lived Orafmin, the fon of Ibrahim, whofe name was an Aromatic that perfumed the remoteft corners of the Eaft. His perfon was as noble as the rifing oak in the foreft, and his mind as unfullied as a meridian beam from the fun; his boun ty wiped away the tear from the eye of the fatherlefs, nor did the mourning of the widow ever país unregarded at his gate. To fum up his character at once, complacency and benevolence were always feated on his brow; and humanity was a virtue fo natural to his heart, that it formed the very core, and twisted round the ftrings. Thus amiable, it was no wonder, that by all who faw him he fhould be inftantly admired; and thus deferving, no way ftrange, that by all who knew him he should be cordially respected and beloved. Among a variety of virgins who languifhed for Orafmin, Almira, a damfel of Balfora, newly arrived at Bagdad, was the only perfon bleffed with a reci procal efteem. The blush of the morning was lefs rofy than her cheek, and the diamond of Golconda not so brilliant as her eye; her bofom was as white as the the fwan upon the waters, and gentle as the midfummer murmur of the ftream. How oft, O ye groves of Balfora, have ye echoed with the fame of her beauty! How oft, O ye vallies of Bagdad, have ye refounded with her praife! You know that her voice would chain the tiger of the defart, and unnerve the wild tag as he darted from the hill; you know that the fpices of Ormus could not equal her in breath, nor the daughters of Paradife excel her in dignity and grace. Orafmin and Almira were not more diftinguished for their merit, than remarkable for their loves; and as neither had any parent living to oppofe their wishes, a day was appointed for the celebration of their nuptials, to the univerfal fatisfaction of their friends. Orafmin, all impatient for poflefling the only object that had ever engrossed his heart, longed for the happy hour with the utmolt anxiety, and feafted his imagination continually with the raptures he was to experience in the arms of Almira. She, not lefs impatient, though more copfined in her expreffions of the approaching felicity, painted equally warm to her fancy the uninterrupted enjoyment of all the held dear, and counted over the weeks, the months, and the years, he had a probable expectation of paffing in the tendereft intercourfe with her adored Orafimmin. But, alas! while our lovers were thus enhancing the prefent, by reflecting on the future, an order arrived for Almira to attend the Caliph, who had for fome time been entertained with various reports of her unparalleled beauty, and wanted to fee if the encomiums lavished fo frequently upon her were juít. Neither her religion nor her allegiance could allow her to form any excufe for not attending the Commander of the Faithful, much lefs admit of a refolution to difobey; he was worshipped with an implicit reverence, as a fucceffor of the holy Mahomet, by all his people, and his word was ever looked upon as the irrevocable voice of Fame. Almira, therefore, was immediately carried, with a bleeding heart, to the palace; and the moment the was beheld by the Caliph, declared the most favourite of his queens. It is not in language to tell the difraction of the two lovers, at being thus unexpectedly torn for ever from each other's arms, Themanent Oralimin heard that his Almira had captivated the Caliph, he looked upon the bufinefs of life to be entirely over; and, unable to fupport the inexpreffible agonies of his own mind, confidered the angel of death as the only minister of repole: for two whole days and nights he wandered through the various rooms of his houfe in an abfolute itate of phrenzy, calling out at every interval, in the most paflionate tone, on the name of his ravifhed Almira. On the third day, growing fomewhat calmer, he began to reflect on all the circumstances of his past life, in order to find out in what particular he had given Mahomet fuch unpardonable offence, as to meet with fo fevere a chaftifement at his hands. After revolving a long time, and finding nothing but fome youthful indifcretions to anfwer for, which were infi. nitely overbalanced by a number of meritorious actions, he infenfibly dropped upon one knee, and began to expoftulate, in the following manner, with his God Thou great Creator of the universe, who fittest enthroned above the feven heavens, where even the conception of no prophet but the holy Mahomet can dare to foar; look down in mercy on a wretch, who numbers himself with the most unhappy of human be'ings, though he has constantly maintained the deepest reverence for thy laws; tell him, O thou infinitely High! inform him, O thou inexpreffibly Juft! why he, who has ever made it his unalterable ftudy to deferve thy ' awful fan&tion on his deeds, is deemed to fuffer what the most impious prophaner of thy divine will would look upon as a feverity, and confidently exclaim, was too great a punishment for the most enormous of his crimes!" Orafinin had fcarcely ended, when a clap of thunder shook the house, and an unusual brightnefs lightened the room, where he ftill continued on his knee, astonished at this apparent message from the Deity. When he recovered himself a little, a voice, as awful as the trumpet of heaven, defired him carefully to attend, and thus went on- Ceafe, O ⚫ mistaken man, to doubt the mercy and justice of the Supreme Being, who, though he acts by unknown springs and feeming feverities, is ever watchful for the happinefs of the vir tuous, and perfectly confitent in all his his laws. Confider, Orasmin, that this world is a tranfitory bubble, which muft fhortly burft upon the ocean of time; that it is at beft but a fhort voyage, in which every paflenger muft ⚫ meet with fome difagreeable gales, in order to prove his dependence on the • hand of Infinite Goodness, and shew that he is worthy of entering into an Beverlasting port. Without fome adverfe ftorms to ruffle the fea of life, the tide of profperity would frequently fwell the creature into a forgetfulness ⚫ of the Creator, and reduce him to a ⚫ more dangerous fituation than the bit• tereft blait he can experience will ever bring him to a total indifference of his God. Out of mercy, therefore, a variety of shoals and quickfands are thrown in his way, which keeping the fense of his dependence on the Divine • Being constantly alive in this world, puts him in a capacity of steering his bark in the proper channel, and enables him to arrive at endless happinefs in the next. But, abftracted ⚫ from this general order in the state of things, know, Orafinin, that because SIR, ⚫thou wert a peculiar favourite of Heaven, it was decreed to fnatch Almira from thy arms: the was, Omán, thy fifter. Ibrahim, thy father, journeying to Balfora, was admitted to the Cady's wife, and the product of their guilty commerce was Almira. "Here again obferve the kindness of Hea⚫ven in it's very feverities, which, in or⚫der to deter the parent from the commiffion of enormities, denounces a judg ment against what he values more highly than worlds, his race. Orafmin, be comforted; I have vifited Almira, and informed her of these things; the is at eafe, remain thou fo too, and remember never again to doubt the goodness of Providence, which in it's own time will reward those who place their confidence in it's hands.' Örafmin after this lived many years in happiness, and left many children, who fucceeded to his virtues and fortune; the eldest of whom was grand vizier to the Caliph Haroun Alrafchid, and ordered these matters to be recorded in the hiftories of Bagdad. N° XX. SATURDAY, JUNE 25, TO THE BABLER. 'ORTITUDE and conftancy of Find are qualities to which every nation, in proportion as it is civilized, lays a formidable claim; and to which, however, very few, were we to examine the matter thoroughly, can have any tolerable pretenfion, befides the compliment which on thofe occafions each is fo extremely liberal in paving to itfelf. In fact, it might not be difficult to prove, from every day's experience, that the propagation of the fciences, while they improve, generally erervate the mind; and that true fortitude and conftancy of foul, are more the refult of a felf-approving confcience than the effect of an excellent understanding. A number of philofophers, who have aftonished the world with the greatness of their genius, and the extent of their reading, might talk very prettily on this fubject; but when they came once to put any of their own leffons into practice, this boafted refolution of which they imagined themfelves poffeffed, dif appeared in an inftant; and from deferving the univerfal admiration of mankind, they became entitled to nothing but an abfolute contempt. Cicero, in his orations, might exprefs the greatett difregard of death he pleafed, and tell us that a man should not hefitate a moment in facrificing his life for the good of his country; but the orator found the practice infinitely harder than the precept, and lengued himself with the enemies of the public, after all, in hope of faving the life which he affected fo highly to defpilè. Who could talk better upon the virtues, or give more excellent leflons of morality, than our own countryman my Lord St. Albans; yet who, when he fell from the pinnacle of honour and preferment, ever thewed a greater ferv luty of mind, or took more infamous methods to repair his fhartered fortune? The moft fcandalous adulation that could be paid at court, he was constantly paying; and notwithstanding, after his difgrace, he was writing a book which confers an honour on human nature, yet his in tervals were taken up in defending every pernicious meature of the crown, and employed in deftroying the liberty of his country. Need the cause of his difgrace be mentioned here, to prove that, notwithtlanding his wonderful abilities, he wanted fortitude to refift the force of a trifling sum of money, and honefty to discharge the important duties of his truft? Or what hall we fay of a man, who, while he was establishing the highest teftimony of human genius, for two or three hundred pounds erected an everlafting monument of human bafenefs too? In reality, fcience and understanding can do nothing more than teach our conftancy and fortitude a nobler way of appearing; the qualities them felves muft proceed from a firmer foundation than both. The wifdom of Socrates gave a manner to his fortitude, which left an irrefiftible charm in his death; but the fortitude itfelf proceeded not from the excellence of his understanding, but the goodnefs of his heart. But to prove, beyond a poffibility of difpute, that a knowledge of the fciences has nothing to do in the qualities under confideration, let us only refer to the behaviour of a poor Indian, as related by Lafitaw, taken in battle by his enemies, and condemned as a facrifice to the manes of fuch as either he himself or his countrymen destroyed in the field. -The moment he is condeinned, he opens his death-fong, and is fastened to a itake, the chiefs of the nation which has taken him fitting round a fire, and fmoaking all the time. Such as chufe to be concerned in the execution, begin with torturing at the extremities of his body, till by degrees they approach the trunk; one pulls off all his nails from the roots; another takes a finger and tears off the flesh with his teeth; a third takes the finger, thus mangled, and thrufts it into the bowl of a pipe made red-hot, and fmokes it like tobacco; others cut and flash the fly parts of his body, and fear the wounds immediately up with burning irons; fome ftrip the skin off his head, and pour boiling lead upon it; others tear the flesh entirely from his aims, and twift the bare tendrils and finews round red-hot irons, twifting and fnapping at the fame time; fome pound his fingers and toes to picces between two ftones; others all the while diftending and stretching every limb and joint, to encrease the inconceivable horror of his pains. During this, the miferable fufferer, fometimes rendered infenfible by the torture, falls into fo profound a fleep, that they are obliged to apply the fire to recover him, and untie him, to give a breathing to the fury of their own revenge. Again he is tied, and his teeth drawn one by one, his eyes beat out, and no one trace of humanity left in his vifage. In this fituation, all over one continued mummy, one inexpreffible wound, they beat him from one to another with clubs; the wretch now up, now down, falling in their fires at every ftep; till at laft, wearied out with cruelty, fome of their chiefs put an end with a dagger to his fufferings, and terminates the execution, which often lafts five or fix hours, by ordering on the kettle, and making a feaft as horrid and barbarous as their revenge. Butwhat renders this more furprifing, is a contest which fubfifts all the time between the fufferer and them, whether he has moft fortitude in bearing, or they ingenuity in aggravating, his pangs. At every interval they give him, he imokes unconcerned with the reft, without one murmur or fhadow of a groan; recounts what exploits he has done, and tells them how many of their countrymen he has killed, in order to encrease their fury; nay, he reproaches them with an ignorance of torturing, and points out fuch parts of his body himself as are more exquifitely fenfible of pain. The women have this part of courage with the men; and, incredible foever as fuch an astonishing conftancy of mind may appear, it would be as odd to fee one of thefe people fuffer in another manner, as it would be to find an European who could fuffer with any thing like their fortitude. An inflexible uniformity to the principles in which they are bred is the occafion of this fortitude; and, without one ipark of learning, occafions a behaviour which diftances the most celebrated ftories of antiquity, and baffles the profoundest leffons of all the philofophers. T. B. No |