Happily, whatever system a man embraces, it is in no way hurtful to
morality; for what imports it whether matter is made or arranged? God is
still an absolute master. Whether chaos was created out of nothing, or
only reduced to order, it is still our duty to be virtuous; scarcely any
of these metaphysical questions affect the conduct of life. It is with
disputes as with table talk; each one forgets after dinner what he has
said, and goes whithersoever his interest or his inclination calls him.
MEETINGS (PUBLIC).
Meeting, "_assemblée,_" is a general term applicable to any collection
of people for secular, sacred, political, conversational, festive, or
corporate purposes; in short, to all occasions on which numbers meet
together.
It is a term which prevents all verbal disputes, and all abusive and
injurious implications by which men are in the habit of stigmatizing
societies to which they do not themselves belong.
The legal meeting or assembly of the Athenians was called the "church".
This word "church", being peculiarly appropriated among us to express a
convocation of Catholics in one place, we did not in the first instance
apply it to the public assembly of Protestants; but used indeed the
expression--"a flock of Huguenots." Politeness however, which in time
explodes all noxious terms, at length employed for the purpose the term
"assembly" or "meeting", which offends no one. In England the dominant
Church applies the name of "meeting" to the churches of all the
non-conformists.
The word "assembly" is particularly suitable to a collection of persons
invited to go and pass their evening at a house where the host receives
them with courtesy and kindness, and where play, conversation, supper,
and dancing, constitute their amusements. If the number invited be
small, it is not called an "assembly", but a "rendezvous of friends";
and friends are never very numerous.
Assemblies are called, in Italian, "_conversazione,_" "_ridotto_". The
word "_ridotto_" is properly what we once signified by the word
"_reduit,_" intrenchment; but "_reduit_" having sunk into a term of
contempt among us, our editors translated "_ridout_" by "_redoubt._" The
papers informed us, among the important intelligence contained in them
relating to Europe, that many noblemen of the highest consideration went
to take chocolate at the house of the princess Borghese; and that there
was a "_redoubt_" there. It was announced to Europe, in another
paragraph, that there would be a "_redoubt_" on the following Tuesday at
the house of her excellency the marchioness of Santafior.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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