1803.] 
opinion. It is right the caufes fhould be 
grave and weighty, which lead men into 
actions. fo perilous. It is right that the 
odium attached by public feeling to the 
difturbers of the public peace, fhould be 
fufficient to balance the natural love of 
change, and the turbulent working of 
thofe {tirring fpirits, who are ever watch- 
ing, through change, to obtain perfonal 
diftin&tion. The man who fets his will 
againft the will of the public, as prefumed 
from its exifting inftitutions, takes upon 
himfelf an awful refponfibility ; he ought 
to have obftacles to overcome, and his firft 
movements fhould be attended with fears 
and feruples, almoft like the mifgivings of 
a guilty confcience. Thus Shakefpeare 
has reprefented the confpirator Brutus, 
though actuated by the pureft motives, as 
difturbed and anxious, and obferving that 
the ugly face of treafon requires the veil 
of night to hide its deformity. The wri- 
ter obferves, thatthe American revolution, 
if unfuccefsful, would ~have been branded 
with the name of rebellion; this is moft 
true; but perhaps, in that cafe, the pre- 
fumption would have been, that it had 
not deferved to fucceed. Succefs is one 
criterion, though an imperfeét one of a 
good caufe. If unfuccefsful, we might 
have prefumed, that the grievances were 
not fufficiently weighty, or that they had 
not preffed upon the mafs of the people, 
or that the infurgents had not energy and 
firmnefs enough to fuftain the conflict they 
had provoked ; we fhould fufpe& they had 
not the fpirit of generous facrifice, or the 
bond of virtwous union ; or, at leaft, that 
prudence, without which, no enterprife 
can fucceed, was wanting ; we fhould, at 
Jeaft, have inferred, that they were defi- 
cient in that difcernment and fagacity, 
which looks into the feeds of time, and 
fees which grain will grow, and which 
will not; and that, without confidering 
whether circumftances were fufficiently 
ripe, or the feafon favourable, they had 
fruitlefsly interrupted the peace and har- 
mony of fociety. Many of thefe caufes 
will apply to that Jate rebellion, which, 
the writer obferves, has retained its name. 
With regard to the firuggles of inde- 
pendent power, overcome, rather than 
fubdued, by a powerful neighbour, I en- 
tirely agree, that both the term and the 
odium would be mifapplied, and therefore 
I believe no power but their opprefiors 
would call by the name of rebels the un- 
fortunate Swifs, a generous fympathy 
with whom feems to be at the bottom of 
the writer’s ftri€tures on this head. 
Opprobrious Appellations reprobated. 
48} 
Infidel, Unbeliever, ave terms apparent- 
ly of more laxity, yet in faét they convey, 
though elliptically, a meaning fufficiently 
precife. An Infidel does not believe— 
What? It will be readily anfwered, by 
every reflecting mind, thofe religious /opi- 
nions which are generally held in the age 
and country in which he lives; a Muffu!- 
man, therefore, in Turkey, {peaks accu- 
rately and properly, when he calls a 
Chriftian an Infidel, and the only harm is 
when he calls him Infidel-dog, which, I 
confefs, is a cognomen not to be juftified. 
To every thing that exifts there muft bea 
name, and, if we had not an appellatior, 
fignifying a man who fo differs from his 
countrymen, it would be neceffary to in- 
vent one. But, here again, the odium re- 
fults not from the terms, but from the 
feelings of human nature. To the idea 
of difbelief muft neceffarily be joined tha¢ 
of error, that of defpifing and pouring 
contempt upon what others hold facred, 
of rejecting what they embrace as the molt 
falutary and important truth, and thefe 
circumftances muft generate an alienation 
of mind, more or le{s, from thofe who, in 
opinion, ftand thus aloof from the mafs of 
their fellow-citizens. Nor will thefe feel- 
ings be entirely repreffed by the confide- 
ration, which, however, the common peo- 
ple are hardly capable of making, that the 
terms areconvertible. I well know, that 
the man who is an alien here may be ana- 
tive in Turkey, where I, in my turn, 
fhould be an alien. Reflections of this 
nature will prevent my ufing him iil, be- 
caufe he is an alien, but they will not 
make me feel towards him as towards one 
of my own country. If Infidel is offen- 
five, would thefe gentlemen prefer the 
terms, Dei, Atkeif?, or Sceptic, as more 
fpecific? I apprehend not. [Indeed the 
term Dez? may ferve to thew that a foft 
name will not prevent an odium attaching 
to the thing, for it exprefles only that in 
which the Deit agrees with the Chrifitan, 
and only by implication fuggefts that in 
which he differs, yet Deift is become, with 
moft, an offenfive appellation. But, it 
may be faid, thefe feelings are natural ; 
but how far are they right? When they 
lead to any degree of perfecution, they are 
certainly wrong. When they prejudice 
us againft the moral chara&ter of {uch a 
man, or make us blind to excellence of 
any kind, they are alfo wrong; and, in 
general, it muft be allowed, that no feel- 
ings require a ftronger curb to keep them 
within the bounds of moderation; but, 
that feme grounds of preference, aod oo 
| ines 
