their punishment. Indeed if exemplary punishment immcdiately succeeded the perpe. tration of crime, the most virtuous part of society would be involved in deep and complicated distress.. Society is a complicated machine, in which almost every member sustains a necessary, although perhaps a humble of fice. If you withdraw any one, even of the subordinate parts, its effect is in a greater or less degree experienced in other parts of the system. Suppose then that the moral government of the world were such that the punishment of the wicked was not delayed for a moment-suppose you were constituted a minister of divine justice, and that, in the warmth of your indignation, you were actually to call down fire from heaven on those bold, transgressors, whom you esteem worthy of instant destruction; are you certain that no one else would feel the weight of your powerful displeasure? Is the person whom you deprive of existence wholly removed from all the tender and necessary connexions of life? Are you sure you have not broken the most important link in that chain from which was suspended the fondest wishes and fairest expectations of many who are more conspicuous for their virtues, than the offender for his sins? Is it not possible the strongest hopes the most flourishing prospects and the dearest interests of an unoffending family, have been buried in the ruins of an individual? Instead then of murmuring at the prosperity of the wicked, or questioning the rectitude of that system which permits the vicious to exist in the present state, we ought rather to admire that wonderful forbearance which is exercised in order to produce the happiness and security, the ease and enjoyment of the virtuous and the just. But there are other important reasons for the divine forbear ance. If punishment immediately. succeeded the offence, life would not be a state of probation. Man could hardly advance his claims to the honour of being a free agent. Acting under the influence of immediate and tremendous punishment, his actions would be more the effect of constraint than of choice. His mind would be so agitated as topreclude the possibility of deliberation. He would have no opportunity of displaying the sincerity of attachment, or the purity of his motives by a voluntary and cheerful obedience. He could not walk by faith in the perfections of Jehovah, but by a slavish fear of of his displeasure. Instead of a tender and indulgent Benefactor, God would rather appear to him a stern and implacable Judge and Executioner. The heart would not be attuned to the tender feelings of religion, because fear would usurp the place of love. Should the Divine indignation instantly crush the wretch who disobeys, our real character would not display itself. The disposition of a man is not to be determined by a few individual acts. Good men have sometimes obscured the dignity of their real characters by a few unworthy compliances; and the most abandoned have by a few splendid deeds disguised themselves in the robes of angels of light. But God who reads the secret thoughts of the heart will judge us by our prevailing dispositions. He may discover reasons which are wholly removed from our observation, that induce him to spare those whom we should promptly destroy. They may possess correct principles which we have not been able to recognize. Possibly he who waits to be gracious perceives that by longer forbearance, by gentle and timely discipline, some latent sparks of goodness may be kindled to a flame. He who is not willing that any should perish, may prolong their existence, because, while life continues, there is a possibility of reformation. The propriety of permitting the wicked to live and prosper will further appear, if we consider that the present life is designed to be a state of discipline and improvement, to fit us for more perfect happiness hereafter. The mixed state of society is peculiarly calculated to answer this purpose. The crimes of the wicked call into exercise some of the noblest virtues that adorn the hearts of the righteous. Were it not for this, men would possess little more than a mere negative goodness. They would have no opportunity of displaying their sincerity, their magnanimity, patience, fortitude and forgiveness. They would lose one of the most powerful stimulants to vigilance and exertion. They could not exhibit the majesty of virtue by standing forth in the worst of times to resist the torrent of vice and immorality-to allure by their example-to reform by their instructions and reproof. Nay the very vices of the wicked may afford useful instruction to the righteous. They are enabled to avoid the dangers to which they are most posed, by observing the small beginnings and gradual progress of those vices which have ex ruined many around them :-By seeing this man overwhelmed with poverty and disgrace by habitual intemperance, which originated in an unguarded indulgence of social feelings and merriment ;-another abandoned to the grossest profligacy and impiety, which may be traced to a neglect of public worship and the established duties of religion; a third sentenced to make public reparation to the laws for acts of fraud and theft, proceeding from an avaricious spirit, that was probably indulged at first in trifling deceptions and petty theftsand so of almost every other crime. They stand as beacons to point out the rocks on which others have split. Not only this, they frequently render the virtuous resolutions of the righteous more strong, by ex hibiting sin in its most odious and disgusting forms-by presenting to our observation men whose intellectual powers might have assimilated them to angels, but whose corrupt passions have actually degraded them below the brutes; spectacles such as these can→ not fail to impress and instruct. These are some of the reasons, which are obvious to us; and without doubt in so vast a system as that of the universe, there are many reasons which we cannot comprehend, why bad men should be continued in society. But even from those consider ations which have been advanced, we think no man can regard it as a subject of disquietude or complaint that the virtuous are not indulged with uninterrupted prosperity, or that speedy and summary justice is not inflicted on the workers of iniquity. If, however, it shall be affirmed that there are occurrences which cannot be accounted for on any of the principles which have been advanced, yet the scriptures refer us to an event that will completely vindicate the moral government of God. Let not the righteous repine under the parental chastisements of God, nor distress themselves on account of the prosperity of evil doers ;-and let the wicked also remember that their triumphing is short; for behold the day of the Lord will come when the apparent inequalities of the present life will be adjusted, and men shall receive according to their deeds. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that every one, may receive according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. A. D. M. MANNI. We frequently find in the annals of literature instances of longevity. Whoever wishWhoever wishes to display his erudition may name a considerable number. We however shall at present confine ourselves to the Tuscan Macrobius of our own day, viz. Sig. Domenico Moria Manni, a Florentine Scholar, incomparable and excellent on account of his study, manners and religion. He was born at Florence April 8th, 1690. His parents were Joseph Manni and Calerina daughter of Gio. Bootispa Patriarchi, some particular friends admirers of his talents, assisted to instruct him in the Belles Lettres. However he was wont to call Casotti his master. Being the son of a Printer, he was obliged early to employ himself in that profession. His cultivation and assiduity perhaps, would have made him respectable in this art, equal to the Guinti, the Torrentini or the Gioliti; but the rigorous treatment of his father, in exacting from him labour and gain superior to his age, checked him. was therefore imperceptibly led into the way of the literati He and by force of genius particularly devoted to the study of antiquity, history and his mother tongue. By the want of patrimonial inheritance, he had much difficulty to support his studies: and so much the more, being inclined to settle; he married, at the age of 39, Calerina, daughter of Baccio Cappelli, by whom he had 18 children. Notwithstanding partly by frugality and partly, industry, he was enabled not only to live reputably and educate his family, but even to purchase some lands, amongst which was a little villa with an estate near Impruneta in which he took great delight. His chief dependence was printing and some employments. An Author who prints on his own account in Italy supports the printer and bookseller, but generally does not promote his own interest. In Manni, however this circumstance was not verified; because being thoroughly acquainted from education, with the typographic economy, he was able to make considerable profit, further augmented by a skilful choice of generous patrons. His principal occupation was a place among the officers of the General Archive at Florence which he held from 1750 to 1784. The putting in order of the writings of the Archive of the Mortė Comune, intrusted to him and punctually executed in 1744, led him to this office. An employment of this nature did not divert him from his favourite studies, but rather confirmed them. Moreover the Vol. VI. No. 8. 30 was Professorship of the Tuscan tongue in the seminary at Florence and the direction of the celebrated library strozziana, lately purchased by his Royal Highness, placed him more immediately in the class of the literati. He had these two posts given him in the same year, 1736; the first by the Archbishop Martelli the second by Carlo Tommaso Strozzi; whose choice fully justified by the publication of his Lectures and putting in order and illustrating the library. It would be now time to speak of his writings, the editions he procured for the Republic of Letters, and in short, of all the acquisitions he made for it, but who would wish to undertake the task of writing his culogium? His works were SO many, that whoever would wish to comprehend them all, would scarcely be able to mention their titles. It is sufficient to say, he employed the whole time of his long life, excepting the engagements of the necessary charge and care of his family, in composing, copying and making annotations. He laid aside the pen, when the chill of constitution warned him of its approaching dissolution. There is a necessary death, which Bacon calls aridity; this was his case on the 30th Nov. 1788, when inexorable fate envied him near 17 months to compleat a century. He left six children, 4 sons and 2 daughters to survive him; but the works he has published will much longer survive. We pass over the honours he acquired in his her death; lastly the charge country, in the different mag-of a numerous family. At the istracies, delegations and mayoralties he served; the patents he received from the most eminent Academies of Italy; a work dedicated to him by Bali Tommaso Farsetti, a noble Venetian and a Brief of Clemente, 14 addressed to him, in confirmation of his friendship whenhe was a monk. That which more immediate ly concerns us at present, is his character. We often look for practical philosophy where. it ought to be, rather than where it really is. Here we find it in a man of learning who never received the principles of science in the University. Manni united to a eopious erudition and knowledge of the Tuscan language, the humblest opinion of himself, great moderation, and a consummate delicacy in point of honour. He was affable with every one, whether in prosperous or adverse circumstances, sincere, respectful, ready to forgive, cheerful, scarcely ever dejected. He reckoned amongst his domestic troubles, the severities of his father; his sister who was confined to her bed from seven years old to the age of seventy-seven; his eldest son became foolish from a fright; his wife from the like accident, was rendered infirm and incapable of the affairs of the family for many years before. age of 90, he used to say that he seemed then to enjoy life. The article of Divine Providence was so evident to him that he could not by any means bear the least distrust of it in others; as he used to say, he had seen the clearest proofs of it in his own house. He thanked God for having given him genius for application and study, by which he had found great relief in his afflictions. He only feared he had not directed his labours to the glory of God; therefore he often rectified his intentions, that they might be approved. He felt with regret, the commendations bestowed on him by others, saying, he was not worthy of it. Thus to a correspondent, a nobleman of the Venetian state, who sought his acquaintance, in order to compile his life, he answered with great energy, that the seed of ambition is too much cherished in the breast of men of learning, which he had always endeavoured to stifle, therefore it appeared to him an indiscretion, when he was near the end of his days to foment it. One might with truth affix to his tomb this epitaph: He lived many days for the benefit of learning, his family and country-Abridged from the Italian Mercury, June, 1789. |