Selections from the Works of the Late Sylvester Genin, Esq; In Poetry, Prose, and Historical Design with a Biographical Sketch (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: a steeple hat, or south sea speculation, or the study of dead languages; in short, their efficacy, in managing poor human nature, and moulding the action of masses for the advantage of one, or a few, or many, is unquestionable. To rail against Cliques seems useless. A Clique of thieves could effect the passage of laws for robbing one man for the benefit of another, on the finest pretences;. such as, advancing religion, learning, or improving the channels of commerce; and the only efficient counteraction of such a combination, would be found in the union of men of honest purposes; for Cliques are most successfully combatted by Cliques. OBSERVATIONS. Loitering in a town I got into conversation with some of the people: A merchant informed me his neighbor's goods were low, because they were inferior in quality; but that his were lower in proportion to their real value than those of his neighbor; while the latter claimed that his goods were equal in quality to the higher priced articles of his rival. I heard a man addressing, in an emphatic tone, a small group, on avarice; denouncing parsimony, and assuming to be among the liberal. On enquiry, I found that his generosity was more conspicuous and wordy, than expensive; that he never gave in the night; but at noonday. Another, who sat beside him, was equally loud; yet I was informed, that he never gave, except from experiment, already tried by others, he was certain of profiting by the gift, or rather the investment; resembling, in this, some politicians, who affect generosity, when they are advancing but a low price for the loaves and fishes of office. Thus effecting a double object; making a good bargain for place, and setting an example of liberality to the disinterested and unsuspecting observer. A benevolent looking...