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Title: The Enquirer Issue 04 of 12 (August 1821)
Date of first publication: 1821
Author: Robert-Anne d’Estimauville (editor)
Date first posted: Dec. 3, 2020
Date last updated: Dec. 28, 2020
Faded Page eBook #20201207
This eBook was produced by: Marcia Brooks, David T. Jones, John Routh & the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net
No. 4
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Do I need to say here that which is already too presumable from my long preface, that I have the misfortune to be born in that cast, which derived its lustre from the loyal services of ancestors, who had sacrificed their lives and fortunes to secure to their posterity the honourable reward of nobility. The word misfortune will probably appear extraordinary on the present occasion. But recollection justifies it. Do I not remember that my birth having traced the path I was bound to follow thro’ life, my name was almost from my cradle registered in the muster roll of the Regt. in which my father then served? Was I not taught, that loyalty or, that which is the same, devotion to my king and country, and a strict adherence to the principles of honor, whereby my rank in life had been purchased by my ancestors, would forever entitle myself and my posterity to the respect of my fellow citizens? Do I not recollect, that when yet a child parading the streets of my village with frizzed and powdered hair, my hat adorned with a white plume, a little sword hanging on my side, and a small gold headed cane in my hand, I was gazed at and I received from every one those marks of respect, to which, as I had been told, I was entitled? Can I forget that it is to my birth that I owe that expensive, I may say splendid, education which the slender fortune of my father could not have afforded to give to a numerous family of children?
Can I help recalling to my mind, that in my youth, decorated with an uniform, and an honourable jewel hanging at my button hole, I drew upon me the gaze and smiles of the fair sex; that there were no weddings without the honor of my company; how proudly the bride walked to the church arm in arm with the young cavalier; how he enjoyed the hearty and respectful welcome of the numerous assembly partaking with him of a plentiful convivial board; how sweet were the innocent kisses, half given and half stolen impressed on the rosy lips of the young virgins, but atoned for by the charitable ones lightly applied on the parched skin of the mothers and grandmothers? Shall I pass over in silence the modest blush, animating the countenance of the girl on whom the choice fell of being led on the floor to exhibit gayety, grace and agility, in the mazy dance as the partner of a young spark, with an epaulette on his shoulder: well understood that his choice did not fall on the ugliest of all, and, therefore, excited certain degree of jealousy in the breasts of many? And all this was in my quality of Locum tenens or representative of the Seigneur. And when arrived at more mature years, did I not find all the doors, even those of palaces, open to me, altho’ not emerging out of an elegant equipage, altho’ not surrounded, or even attended by idle followers in rich trappings. My name was a sufficient introduction, my decoration a master key. Such are the recollections of the first half of my life; such were the prospects held out to me from my cradle, on account of my inherited nobility.
The French revolution has at once blasted those prospects. Literary and scientific pedants have been led to support the new principles, by adopting the idea suggested to them, that Nobility by birth, had hitherto robbed talents and erudition from that pre-eminence in society to which they laid claim, and that the time was come for them to be reinstated in their legitimate rights. Too much absorbed in their favorite pursuits to bestow a great deal of their time to the study of the ways of the world, they leagued themselves with ambitious knaves and intriguers, and became the steps by which these ascended from obscurity to power, and after all found themselves at farthest in the same situation in which the revolution had found them. The claim of nobility had been superseded it is true, but not by that of literary or scientific talents; not even by that of true merit. What has then gained the ascendancy? Money, and money alone is become the sole substitute to worth of all kind, and that for a very plain reason. A rich man commands a needy multitude of dependants, gratifies the sensuality of gormandizers, fills the tiresome hours of the idle, dazzles the mob by the splendor of his equipages and the sumptuousness of his liveries; his vanity feeds and encourages industry; his money purchases the praises of indigent poets and pamphleteers, by whom his ostentatious beneficence is exalted to the skies, and his fame spread far and wide. Nevertheless, the whole of his merit consists only in his riches; for let him be deprived of them and he will soon sink to the level suitable to his real worth.
Are not all these recollections sufficient to apply the word “misfortune” to the circumstance of my being born in that class? Is it not a misfortune to have been reared up, nursed in and entered upon life with such expectations and enjoyments, and at once to fall from eminence to nullity? Is it not a misfortune for one who has had access to monarchs on the throne; who has fared at the table of sovereigns; who has kept company with princes, and been a welcome visitor in the routs of great men, to see himself now hardly noticed by upstarts who a few years back would not have been looked upon as fit companions for him, according to the then prevailing notions.
Thank God, however, the French Revolution and its awful consequences, without obliterating recollection, have blunted these feelings, so that now the pretensions of many far from offending, excite no other sensation than that of pity for their nothingness under the mask of pride. When in the crowd of these planets that borrow their lustre only from the glittering trappings of vanity, I enjoy quietly the amusing sight of fluttering butterflies, of the affectation of the belles, of the indolence of the beaux, of the condescension with which some of these great personages deign to know me in the crowd, and to honor me with a gracious nod, and then I—— smile. But enough of this.
It is customary for biographers to preface the birth of their heroes by some account of their progenitors, it would be, therefore, unbecoming in me not to follow their example: But benevolent reader, do not be alarmed. Altho’ I shall go back to a tolerably long period of time, the family records are so scanty that their recital will not tire out your patience. Know ye then that some one of my ancestors either for the love of glory or for the necessity of easing his conscience by his participations in the tendered indulgences plenières, enlisted among those religious warriors under Louis IX, otherwise St. Louis, and followed this Prince on the plaguy shore of Africa. Most probably he had the good luck to attract the notice of his Sovereign, perhaps by cutting off the heads of half a dozen of those miscreant copper-faced saracens, however this may be, he was ennobled. Having not in hand the original diploma, nay never having seen it, I should not have given implicit credit to a mere scrap of paper, purporting to be the copy of a letter of one of my ancestors, then attending his Sovereign in the field, in my possession; and wherein I find these words, “you owe to our pious King St. Louis the honor of being noble,” &c. I should not have, I say, accepted this scrap as a very authentic document, was it not supported by a much more substantial proof of the truth of its contents. I allude to the circumstance of one of my sisters being admitted in a Royal establishment, for the education of young ladies in Paris, called l’Enfant Jesus, wherein no one had access but those whose nobility dated from that Reign.
Those destroyers of parchment and paper, rats, mice, and worms have most probably fed on every document transmitted from generation to generation, for I find none until the very beginning of the sixteenth century. But even from that era I find little worth mentioning besides the circumstance that my family has never branched until this present generation of mine; and there are not in existence others of my name beyond a childless brother and an old maiden sister, both in France, which are entitled to it but those now here. For want of chivalresque achievements and deeds of vaillance I beg leave to fill up chasm of six centuries by remarking, that none of my name have ever followed any other profession but that of arms; that females have been so rare a commodity in my family that I find no one changing her name for that of a husband for more than 150 years; that my good ancestors, more proud of transmitting their name, than covetous of leaving vile pelf behind them, gave up to their Sovereign Francis the first, who wished to make a port at the mouth of the river Seine, and to fortify it, part of the present site of Havre de Grace for no other consideration, than giving their name to the second street of that town, the first being dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and to have their armorial bearings ornamenting the top of the principal entry of the Town Hall, on the right hand of the King’s Arms, whilst those of the Duke’s of Longueville occupied the same place on the left. I hear that the revolution has not erased the aristocratic name at the corners of the street; what has been the fate of the armorial bearings, I do not know.
Notwithstanding the impatience which I imagine expressed on the countenance of certain of my readers, I cannot refrain mentioning here two more circumstances relative to my family. The first is that it is the only one in all France that can boast of having had seven brothers and sisters, the whole receiving their education from Royal munificence. My elder brother was Page in the Royal family; one of my sisters, as said above, was educated in l’Enfant Jesus; the other in the Royal institution of St. Cyr; and myself and three other brothers in the King’s military school at Paris. In those days children derived some benefit from the services of their parents, without any regard to their wealth.
To be continued.
In the Gentleman’s Magazine for June 1794, was inserted a most insidious attack on the excellent institution of Free-Masonry. To the operations of which, the anonymous writer very candidly attributed the French Revolution, it was contained in a letter of which the following is a Copy.
Winchester, May 19.
Mr. Urban,
As every thing that relates to the French Revolution, especially whatever tends to investigate the causes of it, is extremely curious and interesting at the present period, I embrace the opportunity which your widely circulated Magazine affords of making known amongst my countrymen, an opinion on this subject, which, whether well or ill founded, is very prevalent on the Continent, hoping that some of your intelligent correspondents will be enabled to throw a greater light upon it. The opinion in question is, that the mysteries of Freemasonry have, in a great measure, contributed to those changes in sentiment and in reality, no less than in Government, amongst a neighbouring people, which the surrounding nations view with such surprize. I cannot better make known these ideas than by giving a short account of a work, in which they are contained, now lying before me, written in the French language, and much esteemed by the honest part of the French nation, though little known amongst our countrymen. The author of this was a M. Le Franc, the late superior of the seminary of Eudists at Caen, who was butchered at Paris on the famous 2nd of September. He is said, by his friends, one of whose letters on this subject I have seen, to have derived his knowledge of freemasonry from a voluminous collection of papers which a master of that Order, in his last sickness put into his hands. It is farther stated, that the author, having thoroughly examined these papers, conceived it to be his duty to lay the substance of them before the Arch-bishop of Paris some years previous to the commencement of the Revolution; at the same time undertaking to demonstrate, that the system contained in them, menaced approaching ruin both to Church and State. The work I have mentioned is entitled “The veil withdrawn; or, the secrets of the French Revolution explained by the help of Freemasonry.” The second edition, which I make use of, was printed at Paris in 1792.
In the aforesaid work the author ridicules the several pretensions to a high antiquity and to an honourable origin, to which many Freemasons lay claim. It seems, that some of these say they were founded by those fraternities of masons who rebuilt several cities in Palestine during the Crusades, and who were the fabricators of our beautiful Gothic Churches: others ascribe their institution to our King Athelstan, the Grandson of the great Alfred; who, having sent over to the Continent for the most able builders that could be engaged, gave them a charter and a code of laws peculiar to themselves; whilst many more claim a descent from the builders of Solomon’s famous Temple. To all these, M. Le Franc replies, that it is clear, from their own confession, as well as from every other circumstance, that their building is of a mere emblematical nature; their profession being to erect temples for the protection of virtue, and prisons for the reception of vice. It appears, that of late years, many members of this society, and amongst the rest the celebrated Count Cagliostro, maintained that the strictest conformity is to be found between the mysteries of Freemasonry and those practised in the worship of Isis, and that, therefore, the former were to be traced up to a very remote period of antiquity, and to the country of Egypt. For whatever learning there is in this account, Le Franc says, that Cagliostro is indebted to the publication on this subject of Monsieur Guillement, a learned Mason. He is as far, however, from admitting this as the other genealogies of the society in question. On the contrary, he says it cannot be traced higher than the famous irreligious meeting of Trevisan, Ochin, Gentilis, Lelius, Darius, Socinus and others, at Vicenza, in 1546: but it is to Faustus Socinus, he asserts, that the proper foundation of Freemasonry, as a hidden and emblematical system of equality and deism properly belongs. This artful and indefatigable sectary, having seen Servetus burnt by Calvin at Geneva, for maintaining only a part of his system, and finding that the Protestant and Catholic states were equally hostile to its reception, is said to have concealed it under emblems and mysterious ceremonies, together with certain dreadful oaths of secrecy, in order that, whilst it was publicly preached amongst the people in those Provinces in which it was tolerated, it might silently steal, especially by means of the learned and the opulent, into other countries, in which an open profession of it would then have conducted to the stake. The propagation of this system is stated to have been veiled under the enigmatical term of building a temple, “the length of which,” in the terms of Freemasonry, “was to extend from the east to the west, and the breadth of it from the north to the south.” Hence the professors of it are furnished with the several instruments of building; the trowel, the mallet, the square, the level, the plummet, &c. This accounts for the name of Masons, which they have adopted. As to the epithet of Free, which they prefix to the same, our author says it is derived from Frey, which in Poland, whence this socinian confraternity passed about the middle of the last century into England, denotes a brother.
With respect to the influence which this writer supposes Freemasonry to have had on the French Revolution, he remarks that the monster Égalité, who was the mainspring of the latter, was also the Grand Master, in France, of the former; that Condorcet, Rochefoucault, and other chief officers of the Masonic Order, were the chief architects of the new constitution; that the new division of France into departments districts, cantons, and circumferences, (arondisements,) is confessedly the self same, in all its parts, with that of Masonry throughout Europe; that the National Assembly, when they went in a body to the Cathedral of Paris to celebrate the Revolution, soon after it had taken place, were pleased to accept of the highest honour of Masonry, that of passing under the arch of steel (formed by a double row of Brethren who held the points of their swords so as to touch each other). In short he says that the municipal scarf, which is the distinctive mark of the lowest order of French Magistrates; is the self same with that of apprentice Masons; that the President of the Assembly’s hat resembles that of a venerable Master in Masonry; and that the obligation of laying aside all marks of distinction, such as stars, garters, ribbands, crosses, &c. before a Brother is permitted to enter into a Lodge, was not only a prelude, but also was intended as a preparation for that destruction of all ranks in society which has taken place in the country we have been speaking of. I must not forget the marked protection which, our author says; the new Legislature has afforded Freemasonry, at the same time that it has destroyed all other corporations and societies.
I must now briefly detail some of this writer’s remarks on the effects which he supposes Freemasonry has produced on moral sentiment and religion throughout France. He contends, that the horrible and sanguinary baths which are taken in the several degrees of Masonry, and which he lays before his readers, the daggers, cross, bones, death’s heads, imaginary combats with the murderers of Hiram, and other horrid ceremonies they make use of, have a natural effect to steel the hearts, and have in fact, paved the way for those revolting barbarities, which have indeed been transacted by the enthusiastic multitude, but not until they had been coolly planned by their philosophic leaders; he, moreover, enters upon an exposition of the rabbinical tales concerning the death and burial of Adoniram, and of the meaning of the master’s watch word, together with an analysis of the catechism repeated by the Masonic knights of the sun at their initiation; all which, he undertakes to shew, are calculated to undermine christianity, and to establish a Socinian and Deistical system of religion, and a code of morality very different from that of the Gospel.
It is necessary that I should here remark, in favour of many Masons of this country of approved morality and sentiment, and conspicuous for their loyalty at the present season, that our author maintains that, whilst the lower Orders of this Society, viz. the apprentices, companions, and ordinary masters, are amused with their emblematical insignia and ceremonies, only the perfect, or Scotch masters, and the grand architects, whose introduction into France he dates so low as the year 1784, through the means of Ernest Frederic Walterstorff, Chamberlain to the king of Denmark, are in the real secret of Freemasonry. On this head he points out the oaths which are taken in the different degrees, not only to conceal their respective secrets from the profanum vulgus, but also from their own brethren who are in a lower class than themselves.
Having given this imperfect analysis of the above mentioned author’s celebrated work, the substance of which is also adopted by our writers of character, I wish to ascertain, if it be possible, after making very great allowances for the author’s enthusiasm for his system in ascribing to one cause an event which is evidently the result of many. 1st, whether there is any thing in the original constitution of Freemasonry which is calculated or has a tendency, to produce those changes in civil and religious affairs which have lately taken place in France? 2nd, admitting that this first question is determined in the negative, may not a considerable number of the lodges in France have organized themselves of late years upon principles of irreligion and republicanism? 3rd, was Freemasonry instituted by Socinus and his immediate disciples, and introduced into England about the time of the great rebellion, and thence carried into France at the time of the Revolution.
S. M.
To be continued.
The state of Society in remote Colonies, must be and is in reality very different from that of their stock. The infancy of the former consists in a collection of human beings of various denominations and various pursuits. A few incited by a spirit of speculation, engage their lives and fortunes in the hazardous enterprize of colonizing distant countries: armed with the authority of their Sovereign, they bribe as many needy adventurers as they can, by the flattering hope of exchanging an ungrateful soil for a land of milk and honey, and to these deluded people are added the skum of Society, the refuse of the gaols and the dregs of mankind. Such an association must of course necessitate the exertion of the strong arm of absolute power to keep it together. This must naturally sow the seeds of disaffection in the breasts of the governed, a disaffection which increases in proportion to the disappointment of those hopes by which they were allured. To guard against the dangers that encompass them, the leaders must secure to themselves the assistance of those whose influence they fear, by making them sharers in their authority, and by tolerating the abuses of such a delegated power which they can no longer control, even if they had the will to do it. The national character is no longer discernible, public spirit is out of the question, and every one directs his exertions to the attainment of his own gratification.
Emerged, however, out of this infancy and grown to a certain degree of comfort by individual industry, it would not be difficult to restore that public spirit and national character, and to root out of the minds of the Colonists that disaffection resulting from inevitable causes, by setting forth to them the prospect of enjoying the fruit of their laborious exertions. Unluckily it is not often the case. Instead of being promoted to the offices of honor or profit, they have the mortification of seeing the greatest and best part of these offices occupied by new comers, and strangers harvesting where they did not sow. How can the Colonists, thus disregarded and left in the back ground recover that energy, without which no public spirit can exist? How can they feel like children for a country that acts like a step mother towards them?
Another cause of that dissimilarity in the respective social states of the Parent country and its colonies is, that in the former, the distance between the sovereign and the subject is so great that it is only given to very few to come near the foot of the throne. There it is extremely difficult even to get access to those who have a share in the distribution of favors. In Colonies, on the contrary, that distance between the representative of Royal majesty and the subject, is almost imperceptible, and those who surround him are on a level with those who have not that immediate advantage. Every one finding himself so near the fountain of favors, exerts himself to become a participant in their distribution, but for one successful there are a hundred disappointed, and jealousy and envy springing from that disappointment, rend asunder the already too weak social ties, add fuel to the too prevalent selfishness, and smother and extinguish more and more every spark of public spirit.
The last general cause of that dissimilarity, which appears to me very obvious, is the consequence of the frequent change of the heads of Colonial administration. Indeed what is the situation of the high character whom the sovereign sends over to represent him in one of his distant dominions? Often a perfect stranger to the country, and unacquainted with its locals circumstances, he finds himself on his arrival immediately surrounded by a few of the principal public officers, in whom he is in a manner bound to place his implicit confidence. They guide his first steps, and it would be almost a miracle if they did not impart to his mind some portion of that partiality, I will not say prejudice that operates on theirs. He must, at least for a while, see thro’ their eyes and hear thro’ their ears, and his acts are in fact but theirs. By degrees, however, he acquires sufficient personal information to render farther assistance unnecessary; but then when he is arrived to that point where he can promote public and individual welfare, when he is acquainted with the wants of the community and with the respective merits of its members, when he is disposing himself to relieve the one, and to employ individual talents in such manner that the public good may be benefited by their encouragement and reward, his time is expired and he is superseded by another, who is necessitated to go over the same round again.
But besides these general and principal causes of the disparity between the social state of old established countries and that of their distant colonies, there exist some peculiar to this very Province of Lower Canada, and which militate still more powerfully against its welfare.
The first is its being a conquered Colony. Human pride seems to oppose the intimate amalgamation of conquerors and conquered: every idea of subjection is revolting to it. Thence springs up a kind of ill will, which adds to the pre-existing national prejudices, and of course splits the Community in two distinct parties. This ill will is constantly fed and stimulated by the but too natural partiality which is shown in the distribution of favors. The best and most lucrative ones, are bestowed on strangers to the soil; the owners of that soil complain of their being neglected; and their discouragement destroys every principle of public spirit in the far greater and more important portion of population. Splashed by the luxury of these strangers, humbled by their inability to vie with those new comers, they shrink from the contest, and withdraw themselves from the theatre whereupon it is displayed: not however without expressing their natural feelings.
The second cause which apparently ought to have counterbalanced the effect of the former one, is that the inhabitants of this conquered colony have been allowed to preserve their own language, their own religion, their own civil laws, and of course their former usages and manners. The result proves to be the very reverse of that which was expected from those concessions. Their effect has been to keep up the line of demarcation between the conquerors and the conquered still more distinct and clear, and they seem to have erected an effective fence between both, so as to mar their reunion. Had the Canadians understood their true interests, their first step would have been to show their ready and willing acquiescence in their new political situation by at least applying themselves to the language of their new mother country, and by assimilating themselves as far as was in their power to their new co-subjects. It would be nevertheless unjust, to lay the whole blame of their remissness in that respect on the Canadians alone. The generality of the population of this province was involved in the grossest ignorance. They therefore ought to have been, if not led, at least guided and assisted. By whom? will it be said: whose duty was it to do it? The question becomes a delicate one. I am sensible that it can hardly be answered without touching the arch of the Lord. I hope, however, that whatever I may say here on this subject, being dictated by the purest of motives and expressed in most respectful words, will preclude the possibility of being attributed to the spirit of disaffection or of censure.
There was at the time of the conquest two sorts of men, who enjoyed a great degree of influence over the mind of the inhabitants of this Province: namely the priests and monks and the nobles and seigneurs. They ought to have been those guides and helpers. They alone could have gradually and successively produced the alterations necessary to lead to a more complete amalgamation. Let us see whether they are censurable for not having done it.
To be continued.
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At the desire of some subscribers to this work, we insert the following extract of the Edinburgh Evening Courant, of the 11th December last. We hope our Ale Brewers have not yet reached the climax of the mysteries of their craft. Should they at any time attempt to use the croculus indicus, and we have been credibly informed that a large quantity has actually been imported into the country, we trust the proper authorities will not fail to do their duty.
This was an information filed by the Attorney-General against the defendant, who is an extensive ale brewer in Portpool Lane, for having used croculus indicus and other deleterious drugs in his brewhouse. In addition to the penalty for the use of the drugs, the information also sought the condemnation of the copper boiler in which those drugs had been infused.
The discovery of the illegal practice upon which this information was founded took place under circumstances of a singular nature. It appears that one of the excise-officers, whose duty it was to attend the brewery, suspected that drugs were used; and, in order to ascertain the fact, he contrived to place himself at the top of the brewhouse, and, having removed a tile from the roof, he was thus enabled to command a view of all that was going forward below. Having remained in this situation for some time, he perceived the younger Mr. Wyatt approach. At this moment a small orifice was opened in the dome of the boiler, and Mr. Wyatt proceeded to cut open a brown paper parcel which he held in his hand, and the contents of which he threw into the liquor in the copper, which had not yet begun to boil.—The vigilant officer instantly exclaimed from his peep-hole, to the utter alarm and confusion of the parties below, that, if they stirred, he would fire upon them. He then descended, and rushing towards the copper, took off his hat, and, dipping it into the fluid, succeeded in bringing forth a portion of the illegal drugs, which yet remained floating on the surface. This he secured and conveyed to the surveyor, with whom he afterwards returned to the brewhouse, and seized the copper, which was valued at £1000.
The Attorney-General was this day prepared to open the circumstances of the case to the Jury, having in his possession a model of the brewhouse and of the dome copper which had been seized, when the defendant submitted to a verdict being entered for the Crown—for a penalty of £500 for the use of the drugs, and of £1000 for the value of the copper.
Sir,
The beautiful eastern images of the following piece, induce me to think it worthy of preservation; and as the Enquirer is destined, to exist at least—Five hundred years hence—if the anticipation of a piece which appeared in the last number, is to be relied on; there cannot be a better repository in which to lay it up.
I am yours respectfully,
G. S.
God alone is immortal!—Ibrahim and Solomon have slept with their fathers; Cadijiah the first born of faith, Ayesha the beloved, Omar the meek, Omri the benevolent, the companions of the apostle, and sent of God himself, all died; but God, most high, most holy, liveth for ever and ever!—Infinities to him are as the numerals of Arithmetic to the sons of Adam; the earth shall vanish before the decrees of his eternal destiny, but he liveth and reigneth for ever.
God alone is omniscient!—Michael, whose wings are full of eyes, is blind before him, the dark night is unto him as the rays of the morning. He noticeth the creeping of the small pismire in the dark night, upon the black stone, and apprehendeth the motion of an atom in the open air.
God alone is omnipresent!—He toucheth the immensity of space, as a point: He moveth in the depths of ocean, and Mount Atlas is hidden by the sole of his foot; he breatheth fragrant odours to cheer the blessed in Paradise, and enliveneth the pallid flame of the profoundest Hell!
God alone is omnipotent!—He thought, and worlds were created; he frowneth and they dissolve into thin smoke—he smileth, and the torment of the damned are suspended; the thunderings of Hermon are the whisperings of his voice, the rustling of his attire causeth lightning and an earthquake, and with the shadow of his garment he blotteth out sin.
God alone is merciful!—When he forged, his immutable decrees on the anvil of eternal wisdom; he tempered the miseries of the race of Ismael, in the fountains of pity; when he laid the foundations of the world, he cast a look of benevolence into the abysses of futurity, and the adamantine pillars of eternal justice were softened by the beaming of his eye; he droppeth a tear on the embryo miseries of unborn man, and that tear falling through the immeasurable lapses of time, shall quench the glowing flames of the bottomless pit.—He sent his Prophet into the world to enlighten the darkness of the tribes, and hath prepared the pavilions of the Houri for the repose of true believers.
God alone is just!—He chains the latent cause to the distant effect, and binds them both immutably fast to the fitness of things.—He decreed the unbeliever to wander amidst the whirlwinds of error, and suited his soul to future torments, he promulgated the ineffable creed—and the terms of countless millions of souls of believers which existed in the contemplation of Deity, expanded at the sound; his justice refresheth the faithful while the damned confess in despair.
God alone is one!—Ibrahim the faithful knew it,—Moses declared it amidst the thunders of Sinai, Jesus pronounced it—and the messenger of God, the sword of his vengeance, filled the world with immutable truth.
Surely there is one God, Immortal, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, most merciful and just, and Mahomet is his apostle!—— Lift up your hands to the Eternal, and pronounce the ineffable and adorable creed—“There is one God, and Mahomet is his prophet!”
On the 5th of February, 1663, about half an hour past four in the evening, a great noise was heard, nearly at the same time, throughout the whole extent of Canada. That noise seems to have been the effect of sudden vibration of the air, agitated in all directions. It appeared as if the houses were on fire, and the inhabitants, in order to avoid its effects, immediately ran out of doors. But this astonishment was increased when they saw the buildings shaken with the greatest violence, and the roofs disposed to fall, sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other. The doors opened of themselves, and shut again, with a great crash. All the bells were sounding. The pallisades of the fences seemed to bound out of their places, the walls were rent, the planks of the floors separated, and again sprung together. The dogs answered these previous tokens of a general disorder of nature by lamentable howlings; the other animals sent forth the most terrific groans and cries, and, by at natural instinct, extended their legs to prevent themselves from falling. The surface of the earth was moved like an agitated sea; the trees were thrown against each other, and many, torn up by the roots, were tossed to a considerable distance.
Sounds of every description were then heard, at one time, like the fury of a sea which had overflown its barriers; at another, like a multitude of carriages rolling over a pavement; and, again, like the mountains of rock or marble opening their bowels, and breaking into pieces with a tremendous roar. Thick clouds of dust, which at the same time arose, were taken for smoke, and for the symptoms of an universal conflagration.
The consternation became so general, that not only men, but the animals, appeared as if struck with thunder; they ran in every quarter without a knowledge of their course, and where ever they went they encountered the danger which they wished to avoid. The cries of children, the lamentations of women, the alternate successions of fire and darkness in the atmosphere, all combined to aggravate the evils of a dire calamity.
The ice which covered the St. Lawrence, and the other rivers, broke into pieces, which crashed against each other; large bodies of ice were thrown into the air, and from the place they had quitted, a quantity of sand, and slime, and water spouted up. The sources of several springs and little rivers became dry: the waters of other rivers were impregnated with sulphur. At times, the waters appeared red, at others of a yellowish cast; those of the St. Lawrence became white from Quebec to Tadoussac, a space of thirty leagues. The quantity of matter necessary to impregnate so vast a body of water must have been prodigious. In the mean time the atmosphere continued to exhibit the most awful phenomena: an incessant rushing noise was heard, and the fires assumed every species of form. Porpoises and sea-cows were heard howling in the water at Three Rivers, where none of these fishes had ever before been found, and the noise which they sent forth resembled not that of any known animal.
Over the whole extent of three hundred leagues from east to west, and a hundred and fifty from north to south, the earth, the rivers, and the coasts of the ocean, experienced for a considerable time, although at intervals, the most dreadful agitation.
The first shock continued without intermission for half an hour; about eight in the evening there came a second, no less violent than the first; and in the spare of half an hour were two others. During the night was reckoned thirty shocks.
Washington, October 1, 2318—This large city, which was called after the name, and in honour of a warrior, who lived more than six centuries ago, is now in the most flourishing state. We need scarcely mention more than the size of it. It, at this time, covers forty square miles, and being built on its original plan, of a garden to every house, it affords the best possible convenience to the inhabitants. There are three monuments here, to the memory of General Washington, and his contemporary, that eminent philosopher and statesman, Benjamin Franklin. These are erected, to remind the citizens of the means they used for freedom and independence.
To be continued.
In the play-house one night as I stood very quiet,
And no way inclined for disturbance or riot,
A puffed-up young coxcomb, with uplifted glass—
Cries, “Demme take care! stand away! let me pass!”
But observe that near me no room was to spare,
I quietly said, “Pray, sir, stay where you are;
For ’tis strange if a seat you can get by command,
When all those around you scarce find room to stand.”
My answer displeased the gay votary of fashion,
And put the young gentleman quite in a passion:
Then blustering with rage, and a voice over loud,
He cursed such an ill-bred, and beggarly croud:
Called me a d——d scoundrel, just let loose from toil,
And swore I had set all his blood in a boil.
I calmly replied, “I suppose all this din
Comes from bubbles which rise from your boilings within;
Therefore prithee stand off,—not, young spark that I fear you—
But as your blood boils, you may scald these who’re near you,
The door is hard by, and to ’scape ridicule,
You had better walk out till your passion is cool.”
So turning my back on his frowning displeasure,
I left him behind to get cool at his leisure.
HENRIQUE.
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To write, or not to write? that is the question!
Whether ’tis better with a pen to scribble
The flights and fancies of outrageous nonsense,
Or to lay down the quill and cease to trouble
The patience of the world? To write, to scrawl;
And by that scrawl to say we utter all
The horrid stuff! The thousand foolish whimsies
That labour in the brain! ’tis a deliverance
Devoutly to be wish’d. To write, to scrawl—
To scrawl—perchance to blot! ah! There’s the rub
For, on a stricter view, what blots may come
When we have scribbled all the paper o’er,
Must give us pause! pause there’s the respect
That stops the weak presumptuous hands of fools.
For who would bear the sneers and scorns of wit,
The critic’s laugh, the learned pedant’s railing,
The spurns and insolence of common sense,
The jokes of humour, and the repartee,
When he himself might his quietus make
With mere blank paper? Who would hisses hear,
Or groan and sweat at sound of Catcall’s squeak,
But that the itch of writing for the stage
Puzzles the will, the judgment leads astray,
And makes us rather risque all ridicule,
Than shun the muses and forbear to rhyme.
Ambition thus makes asses of us all!
And thus each empty fellow, void of genius,
is tempted to imagine he’s poet;
And Petit Maitres, of great skill in dressing,
Even from the favorite mirror turn away,
To gain the name of author.
SANGRADO.
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QUEBEC, PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY W. H SHADGETT,
AT THE NATIONAL AND BRITISH PRINTING OFFICE.
Furnished, Consisting of two Sitting Rooms, two Bed Rooms and a Kitchen; all on the same floor.
The situation is Central and in the Upper Town. Suitable for a genteel small family.
Stabling if Required. Enquire at the National Printing Office, Hope Street.
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The Register Established last year for Emigrants will be continued at the Store adjoining the National Printing Office, Hope Street. Persons in want of Servants, Mechanics, Labourers &c. can be supplied.—
Charge for every separate Registry, 1s. 3d.
To be Paid at the time of Entry.
All possible attention will be given to the Character of Individuals; though the proprietor cannot be answerable for such.
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| For 1st insertion six lines and under, | 2s. 6 d. | |
| each subsequent insertion, | 7½d. | |
| First insertion, ten lines and under, | 3s. 6 d. | |
| each subsequent, | 10 d. | |
| First insertion, above ten lines, per line, | 4 d. | |
| each subsequent, | 1 d. | |
In both Languages, Double the above rates.
N.B. Every 1st insertion must be paid in Advance.
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The “thoughts on Imagination” and the article of Hope are much too important to find admittance in the Enquirer—Our kind and useful correspondent G. S. we trust, will produce something more novel or has orders for the next number. Our Work having already been complained of by numerous readers as entering rather too much dry detail, and as not presenting sufficient of interesting matter so requisite and essential to the advancement of a rising Colony—The Editor’s inclination disposing him to accede to the wishes of so respectable a portion of his readers, he must for the future request, that all communications forwarded to him for insertion partake more of the Title and nature of the Work.
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No. 2, HOPE STREET,
NEAR THE UPPER TOWN MARKET,
FOR THE
Sons of Merchants, Tradesmen and others.
BY
Mr. SHADGETT,
From London,
MR. SHADGETT purposes opening after the Midsummer Vacation a School, on his own account, for the Sons of Merchants, Tradesmen and others.
Reading, Writing, English-Grammar, Arithmetic, Principles of Book-keeping, Elocution, Geography and General History.
In order to give perfect satisfaction to Parents and ensure the comfort and advancement of the youth confided to his care, the number to be admitted will be limited. Those Parents who are desirous of having their Children instructed by Mr. S. are therefore requested to make early application.
Quebec, 17th July, 1821.
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The Proprietor having from 200 to 300 pounds at his command would be happy to engage with any experienced of Grazier possessing a like Capital, to undertake the purchasing and rearing of Live Stock for the Quebec Markets, and superintend and direct the management of a Grazing Farm.
Enquire at the Office.
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ORDERED That the Rule established bye the House on the third day of February, one thousand eight hundred and ten, concerning the notices for Petition for private Bills, be printed once monthly in the public newspapers of this Province, during three years.
Attested by Wm. LINDSAY,
Clk. Assy.
RESOLVED, That after the close of the present session, before any Petition is presented to this House for leave to bring a private Bill, another for the erection of a Bridge or Bridges, for the regulation of the Common, for the making of any Turnpike Road, or for granting of any individual, or individuals, any exclusive right or privilege whatsoever, or for the alteration or renewing of any Act of the Provincial Parliament for the purpose of notice of such application shall be given the Quebec Gazette, and in one of the newspapers of the district, if any is published therein, and also by a notice affixed on the Church Doors of the Parishes that such application may affect; or in the most public place, where there is no Church during two months, at least, before such Petition is presented.
Attested by Wm. LINDSAY,
Clk. Assy.
The Printers of the Newspapers of this Province are requested to insert the above Resolution in the manner directed by the first. Their accounts will be paid at the end of the year at the Clerk’s Office, House of Assembly.
Resolved, that after the present Session, before any petition paying leave to bring in a Private Bill for the erection of a Toll Bridge be presented to the House, the person or persons purposing to petition for such Bill, shall, upon giving the Notice prescribed by the Rule of the 2rd day of February, 1810, also at same time and in the same manner, give a Notice stating the rules which they intend to ask, the extent of the privilege, the Right of the action, the interval between the abutments or piers for the passage of rafts and vessels, and mentioning whether they purpose to erect a Draw-Bridge or not, and the dimension of such Draw-Bridge.
Ordered, that the said Rule be printed and published at the same time and in the same manner the Rule of the 3rd February, 1810.
Attested Wm. LINDSAY, Jr, Clk. Assy.
ORDONNE, Que la Règle établie le trois Février, Mil huit-cent-dix, concernant les notices pour les requêtes pour des Bills privés, soit imprimée une fois par nous dans les papiers publics de cette Province, pendant trois années.
Attesté WM. LINDSAY,
Gref. Assée
RESOLU, Qu’après la fin de la présente session, avant qu’il soit présenté à cette Chambre aucune Pétition pour obtenir permission d’introduire un Bill privé pour ériger un Pont ou des Ponts, pour régler quelque Commun, pour ouvrir quelque Chemin de Barrière, ou pour accorder à quelqu’individu ou à des individus quelque droit ou privilège exclusif quelconque, ou pour altérer ou renouveller quelque Acte du Parlement Provincial pour de semblables objets, il sera donné notice de telle application qu’on se proposera de faire, dans la Gazette du Québec, et dans un des papiers Publiés du District, s’il y en a, et par une affiche posée à la porte des Églises des Paroisses qui pourront être intéressées à telle application, ou à l’endroit le plus publié, s’il n’y a point d’Église, pendant deux mois, au moins, avant que telle pétition soit présentée.
Attesté, WM. LINDSAY.
Gref. Assée.
Les Imprimeurs de Papiers-nouvelles en cette Province sont priés d’insérer les Résolutions ci-dessus, en la manière ordonnée par la première. Leurs comptes seront payés à la fin de l’année, en par eux s’adressant au Bureau du Greffier de la Chambre d’Assemblée.
RESOLU, Qu’après la présente Session, avant qu’il soit présenté à cette Chambre aucune Pétition pour obtenir permission d’introduire un Bill privé pour ériger un Pont de Péage, la personne ou les Personnes qui se proposeront de pétitionner pour tel Bill en donnant la Notice ordonnée par la Règle du 3e. Février 1810, donnera aussi en même tems et de la même manière un Avis notifiant les taux qu’elle se proposeront de demander, l’étendue du privilège, l’élévation des Arches, l’espace entre les Butées ou Piliers, pour le passage des Cageux, Cages et Bâtiments, et mentionnant si elles se proposent de bastion Pont Levis ou non et les dimensions de tel Pont Levis. Ordonné, Que ladite Règle soit imprimée et publiée en même tems et de la même manière que la Règle du trois Février, 1810.
Attesté, WM. LINDSAY.
Gref. Assée.
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Several Lots of excellent land directly on the line of the road called Craig’s Road, in the Township of Ireland, the situation most eligible for the erection of Stores, Taverns &c. Purchase Money 20l for each lot of 100 Acres. Apply to
COL. BOUCHETTE,
Land Surveyor General.
Or the Printer.
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FOR SALE—One hundred acres and more of Land, seven acres of which is cleared and in a state of Cultivation—With a good Log House, Barn &c. Price, 100 Dollars ready money. Apply to
Mr. THOMAS SHEPHERD
Y. Marks, near William Henry
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A Handsome second hand Portable WRITING DESK. To prevent trouble, Price 8l.
Apply at the Store adjoining the National and British Printing Office.
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A Good old Work—“The Institution of the Christian Religion by John Calvin”—Date 1611—Price 4 dollars. Apply to
Mr. R. C. FLEMING,
Or the Printer.
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Wanted to purchase a Cleared Farm of, from 50 to 100 Acres within nine miles of Quebec.
Inquire at this Office.
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The Undersigned, having one thousand acres of as fine LAND as any in the Province, in the Township of Ireland, (where there are several Settlers) within one mile of the Main Road called Craig’s Road, is ready to treat with one person or more, to join in clearing the said Land, and raising a farm for the benefit of all concerned.—No Purchase Money Required.
LIEUT. HORSELEY, R.N.
Additional Reference may be had of the Printer.
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For sale, a Lot of Land, 45 miles to the south of Three Rivers, being No. 2 in the Township of Grantham, consisting of 100 acres five of which is cleared, with a Log House—For 10l. ready money.
PATRICK SMITH,
Drummondville
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Respectfully requests the Ladies and Gentlemen of this city and its vicinity, that he continues to perform every operation in the line of his profession. He extracts, files, plugs, cleans and transplants teeth; restores the loss of teeth with artificial ones, that shall be useful, ornamental and durable and give little or no pain to the patient.
Mr. H. attends Ladies and Gentlemen at their places of residence when required.
N.B. Mr. H. lives in the house of Mr. Wm. Hamilton, forming the corner of Lewis and Haldemand Street, which he is to the Cape, nearly opposite the Court House—Poor gratis.
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Mr. Lindon having the support and recommendation of the Gentlemen at the head of the faculty of this City, begs to inform the Public that he continues to receive all Patients labouring under the following diseases:
Apoplectic, and Paralytic afflictions;
Gout, Epilepsy, and Convulsions of every Kind;
Deafness, Dropsy, and Consumption.
There is scarce a distemper in which it will fail to effect a Cure if assisted by proper Regimen and Medicine; and where the latter are necessary the family Physician is invariably referred to.
Ladies and Gentlemen desirous of experiencing the exhilirating, Bracing, and Strengthening powers of the
or of witnessing its extraordinary effects upon others, can attend any hour of the day.
Charge 2s. 6d. for every operation and for every separate person attending. Patients will be attended at their own residence if required.
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For Sale 1000 Acres of Land on the eleventh range of the Township of Stoneham, near the flourishing settlement of Vale Cartier. The land is of a very superior quality, and situated in as delightful and romantic a spot as any within the Canadas. It would suit a sporting Gentleman the country abounding with Game and the lakes with wild Fowl and Fish.
The whole will be sold for ready money at 5 shillings the acre, or will be disposed of in lots of 200 acres at 9 shillings the acre.
For further particulars and a full description from the map apply at this Office.
Or of MISS BRYDON.
Quebec.
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D. Reader from London, late foreman to R. Gain, House, Sign and Ornamental Painter, Glazier, &c. Respectfully informs the public, that he has removed to 25, St. Ann street, near the Gaol. D. R. is enabled by a process (which has been approved of by the Royal Society at London) to render Fish Oil superior to Linseed Oil for all kinds of work exposed to the weather, as being far more durable, and at 25 per cent lower than the usual prices.
Chairs and all other furniture painted to any pattern, Maps and Prints varnished, Gilding, &c. &c.
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Mis-spelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple spellings occur, majority use has been employed.
Punctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors occur.
When nested quoting was encountered, nested double quotes were changed to single quotes.
Advertising copy has been consolidated at the end of the magazine.
[The end of The Enquirer Issue 04 of 12 (August 1821) edited by Robert-Anne d’Estimauville]