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with loud and prolonged applause, and he was followed to his residence by thousands, who cheered him at every step. Mr. N. deprecates the violence of the mob, in seeking his deliverance, though he maintains that his confinement was unlawful, and attributes the excitement of the populace solely to the arbitrary proceedings of Gen. Cadwallader.There is no doubt that in countermanding the order to fire, Mr. N. acted from the impulse of humane feeling at the moment, and not from any wish to interfere with the duties or authority of others; but it is plain that if the necessity for firing existed, so that Gen. Cadwallader was fairly authorized to give the command, such an interference was an act of presumption which deserved to be severely reprimanded. Neither Gen. Cadwallader nor the sheriff were on the ground when Mr. Naylor was released.

The mob were not satisfied with the deliverance of Mr. Naylor. It did not suit them, that a military force should be stationed in the church to overawe the sovereign people; especially as that force consisted in part of a company of Irish volunteers, the Hibernia Greens. After some parley it was agreed by those having charge of the building, that the Hibernia Greens should be dismissed and should march from the ground with their arms reversed and unprimed. Some collision took place between them and the mob, which resulted in the serious injury of several individuals on both sides. But when will a mob be satisfied? The more they gain, the more will they demand. Not content with the surrender of Mr. Naylor and the withdrawal of the soldiers, they now meditated the destruction of the church which they had solemnly promised to keep inviolate. By the firing of a cannon and the strokes of a heavy piece of timber, they made a slight breach in one of the

walls, through which great numbers entered the building. An attempt was soon made to set it on fire; but through the vigilance of a number of the Native American party, who volunteered to protect it, the property was saved from destruction. Intelligence of this outrage having been conveyed to head quarters, the first brigade of volunteers under Gen. Cadwallader, comprising some fifteen or twenty companies then on parade, was ordered to repair to the scene of tumult. Gen. Cadwallader arrived on the ground about 7 P. M., took possession of the church, and arranged the various artillery companies with their field-pieces so as to command the adjacent streets. As the alarm bells had been sounded, an immense concourse from all parts of the city and districts had been drawn together by curiosity, a much greater number probably than could have been assembled on any day but the Sabbath. Orders were given that Queen street should be cleared from Second to Third street, and military companies were posted at each of those streets to overawe the multitude. So large a mass, however, could not be moved by a word. Resistance was offered to the troops stationed at the corner of Second and Queen streets (the City Guards, Capt. Hill;) their guns were seized by the mob; their officers were severely injured by blows and missiles; their line was about to be broken when they discharged their muskets and killed or wounded seven or eight persons. This unexpected result greatly exasperated the hitherto fearless and triumphant mob. An eye-witness, who himself narrowly escaped a death wound from the first fire, informs us that it was succeeded by the most intense excitement-men running in all directions and calling for guns, and the most respectable citizens of Southwark joining in the cry for revenge. The citizen soldiery who

had been severely censured for not firing upon the mob in Kensington, were now regarded as assassins for having performed their painful duty in the last extremity. The rioters soon procured fire arms in great abundance, among which were two or three cannon taken from vessels lying at the wharves. With these they returned the fire of the soldiery, taking advantage of the increasing darkness, or secreting them selves in the neighboring houses or alleys. What a Sabbath was this, for this land of the Gospel! This civil war raged till after midnight, when it was terminated by the capture of the cannon from the rioters by a troop of cavalry. It was an awful night!-a night long to be remembered in Philadelphia. The first roar of the cannon was responded to by shrieks and groans from a thousand habitations.

None

knew on whom the murderous iron had executed its fatal commission. A husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, drawn thicker to witness the contest, might even now be weltering in his blood. Those residing near the scene fled precipitately from their dwellings, or took refuge in the cellars beneath them;-one man looking from his window was instantly killed! The heavy booming of artillery as it broke upon the stillness of the night, was the knell of death to many a distant household. The streets leading to the hospital were sprinkled with the blood of the wounded and dying. When we consider that this was not a battle with a foreign invader, nor between two classes of citizens, as in Kensington, but between the officers of the law and the population, we shall search in vain for a scene so appalling in the annals of our country.

It is with gratitude that we record the fact, that this terrible conflict resulted in the loss of but few lives. A declivity in the street caused the grape shot from the field pieces of

the artillery companies to range above the heads of the distant crowds, while the cannon of the rioters being poorly mounted, often missed its aim. A most cruel design on the part of the rioters was providentially defeated. Ropes were stretched across the street in front of their cannon to intercept the cavalry. These were not seen in the darkness and several horses were thrown down. The gun was pointed at this confused and helpless mass of men and horses, but "hung fire," and was soon after seized by the troop.

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The events of the night were of course the topic of anxious and excited conversation the next day. The tone of public opinion was at first unfavorable to the military. The proclamation of the sheriff, summoning "every able bodied cit izen to aid in restoring the public peace,' was feebly responded to. It seemed for awhile that anarchy would engulph the entire popula tion. The rioters met in open day as an organized body, and sent a deputation to the sheriff demanding the withdrawal of the troops from Southwark. The demand was not complied with as made by them, but upon the representation of the ma gistracy of the district, that they could preserve order, on that condition, the military were withdrawn. We fear that after all, this was an unfortunate compromise; we fear that the point has been fatally conceded to the inhabitants of Southwark, that riots within their district shall not be quelled by force of arms, however necessary. That district was in a state of rebellion; that rebellion was subdued by compromise, i. e. it was not subdued at all. We fear that Southwark will hereafter be the rendezvous of disorderly and factious spirits, not only from all parts of Philadelphia, but from neighboring cities, and will be the seat of anarchy and fre quent civil war.

But though public sentiment was at first condemnatory of the military, as the circumstances in which they acted came to be better understood, a gradual reaction took place in their favor, and they were sustained by the great body of their fellow-citizens. The tardiness of many in properly appreciating the services of those who hazarded their lives for the support of law and order, is to our minds one of the most unfavorable features of this whole transaction. It is manifest that the soldiers performed their painful duty with extreme reluctance, and only for the public good. Shall they be reproached for that which entitles them to lasting honor? Troops now came pouring in from all parts of the State, till they could be numbered by thousands. The Governor again took up his quarters in the city, which wore the appearance of a garrisoned town. The maneuvering of the troops by day, the relieving of the guard, the passing of the watchword by night, made Philadelphia appear more like Quebec or Montreal, than the staid city of Quakers. Under cover of this imposing force, several important arrests were made and general quiet was restored. In the first excitement, a messenger was even dispatched to the President to obtain the aid of United States troops, but as the request did not emanate from the Governor of the State, it was very properly refused. Had it been necessary however, the whole available force of the United States could have been brought in to suppress the insurrection. This shows us that the resources of government may be adequate to any emergency. The Court of Quarter Sessions began the investigation of the Southwark riot or rebellion on the 2d of September. It remains for that tribunal to vindicate the outraged law by prompt and decided action.

If we seek for the cause of these melancholy disturbances, we find it

proximately in the arming of St. Philip's church. In the inflamed state of the public mind, this act was well fitted to provoke fresh deeds of violence. There was good reason to fear and to complain of the organization of a large number Irish Catholics into a military company well furnished with arms, in view of the belligerent spirit_exhibited by the same class in Kensington. Much indignation was aroused by the deception practiced by the priest during the searching of the church. This deception, it is said, was connived at by the sheriff'; but this accusation rests partly on the testimony of that ubiquitary, John Smith, whom the police have most preposterously attempted to identify as one of the rioters. It is due to the sheriff to say, that he discharged the duties of his office. much more promptly and impartially in Southwark than in Kensington.

Southwark was in a state of entire peacefulness during the Kensington riots. No disposition to molest the Catholics had been evinced in that district prior to the 5th of July. The Catholics brought these evils on themselves and the community.

Several ill-advised movements, or unfortunate occurrences (which could not perhaps have been foreseen) contributed to heighten the turbulence of the mob. For example. An Irish company were appointed to guard the church; the troops generally were summoned from the city proper, and as the political character of Southwark differs widely from that of the city, it was an additional cause of irritation, that the aristocracy of the latter had come to teach the democracy of the former to keep the laws, by sword and cannon. This feeling was heightened by the decided and perhaps arbitrary tone and proceedings of the Brigadier General. Then too, the first fire

of the soldiers unfortunately took effect on some popular leaders of the Native American party, who had rendered essential service in preserving the church from destruction through the day. But who could foresee or provide for these things?

Among the remoter causes of these disturbances we notice first, the recent triumph of the mob in Kensington and in the city proper, their successful resistance to the authorities, and the dilatory progress of justice against the offenders. Had the mob been fired upon in Kensington, had an example been promptly made of the leaders in the riot there, the Southwark rebellion would never have been known.

Still farther back, however, we find the cause of this rebellion-the worst feature of it-in erroneous views of the constitution of society, and the value of law. Law is looked upon by many as being opposed to freedom, instead of being its strength and stay. We must have government in order to be free, for there is no freedom in anarchy. Now the people of Southwark felt themselves aggrieved by the measures adopted by the civil authorities to preserve the peace. They preferred as the "sovereign people" to meet in mass and agree to keep the peace on their own terms. They attempted to dictate to the constituted guardians of the law. Their only duty was submission; their insubordination was rebellion; when persisted in against the supreme authority of the state, it was in every individual case no less a crime than treason. The principle assumed by them tends only to anarchy; it would subvert the foundations of society, and demonstrate to the world the impossibility of sustaining a republican government. Our constitutions, charters, laws, are the bulwarks of freedom against the waves of popular or party tumult. If the "people," i. e. the majority

of to-day, may sweep away these ancient landmarks, bid defiance to the existing government, abolish law at their caprice, and on the ruins of experience, order, truth, justice, faith, erect their own rude and hasty structure, to be overthrown by the majority of to-morrow,-it were better to live under the iron rod of despotism than in such a chaos of conflicting elements. Yet the doctrine has been broached even in New England, not that the people in their sober judgment, expressed through the appropriate channel, may revise their constitution and laws, but that the uncer tain, fluctuating majority, may at any time take the power in their own hands, and regardless of constitution or laws, administer the government to suit themselves. The advocacy of such a doctrine betrays an utter recklessness of moral obligation; a disregard of those solemn and sacred compacts, without which society would be a bedlam, and gov. ernment a nullity. We must check this licentious spirit or it will prove our ruin.

The recent riots have aroused the citizens of Philadelphia to the necessity of strengthening their gov ernment. A thorough reformation has taken place in the police department. A complete civil and military organization exists, adequate it is hoped to the preservation of the peace in any emergency. Yet every such organization must be defective till all the local governments are consolidated in one. This needful reform we fear will always be defeated by sectional jealousies.

Whether there will be a repetition of these disgraceful riots we can not foresee. Now that it is known that a mob will be put down by force of arms, that blood has been seen to flow in the enforcement of the laws, we think that there is less danger of their occurrence than heretofore. The court now sitting in

judgment upon those implicated in the riots, can do much to inspire the populace with a salutary dread. Yet after all, we apprehend at no distant period, perhaps at the next general election, a bloody collision between the Native American party and the Irish Catholics. Meanwhile

we wait for further developments of divine Providence. We doubt not that God has some deep and wise design in these events; a design momentous in its bearings on the welfare of our country, and on the state and prospects of Romanism here and throughout the world.

PLUTARCH ON THE DELAY OF THE DEITY.*

PLUTARCH deserves to be counted among the best moral writers of an tiquity. For this eminence he is indebted partly to his lively moral feelings and his habits of self-inspection, and partly to his learning, which brought him into acquaintance with the ethical writings of earlier philosophers, and supplied him with a vast mass of historical illustrations. He is far from being a very profound philosopher, nor is he a very exact historian. The rhetorical tendency is quite as apparent in his writings as the philosophical one; and if an anecdote can be made to play a good part, its accuracy is not very strictly inquired into. But on the other hand, he is always entertaining and instructive, more practical in the aim of his writings than most of the ancients, and excelled by few or none of them in a certain religiousness of mind. This trait of his character, and the age in which he lived, will explain his relations to philosophy. He was inclined to believe in the gods of his country, purified of course of those gross stains which the fables of the poets had attached to them. He lived before the orientalizing tendency had given birth to the new Platonism, or rather at a time when the germs of the new system were beginning to appear at Alex

* Plutarch on the Delay of the Deity in the Punishment of the Wicked, with notes. By H. B. Hackett, Professor of Biblical Literature in Newton Theological Seminary. Andover, 1844. Vol. II. 80

andria. Hence though, as might be expected from his character, a Platonist substantially, he partakes in some degree of the spirit of the age, and stands between the founder of the academy and the superstitious transcendental philosophers of the second century after Christ.

The short treatise "on the delay of the Deity in punishing the wicked," is one of the most practically useful among the numerous works of Plutarch. It is an attempt to vindicate the ways of God to men-to show the reasons for a system of things under which, according to a Greek proverb, "the millstones of the gods grind slow, but grind fine." It opens as if in the midst of a discussion. An Epicurean had just left the company, after discharging his bolts at divine Providence, and had filled the minds of Plutarch's friends with perplexity and scepticism. The slowness with which divine justice strikes its victim, was the point where the objections against Providence were strongest and most distressing. Such delay, if the sufferer from other men's crimes is considered, only depresses him, and makes him feel that there is no power above, ready to take his part. An immediate vindication of his rights would keep him from being trampled upon in more than a single instance. But of what consolation or use is it to him, if, after a long time, nay, perhaps after his death, his oppressor is overtaken by

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