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‘HHdiiy men cf raauy minds-”
Mr. Editor : —The v niotis un i < m
flicting opinions li< id li/ tln* frfat)ds ol
tempo ranee, relative to the best modus
operandi, for hastening to its cjusuiii,
mation that” great eiiterprfo'', rem.n fas
me of the copy I used to write when u
school hoy, which I have placed at tin
head of this article. Soir/’ure lor tnor
nl suasion alone. ami repudiate ul ut
tempts at legislation upon the subject;
while others w ith equal zutl, contend
lor tiie absolute necessity of l< gislative
enactments, in order to stop the uecoly
traffic in intoxicating liquors as a bev.
orage. Some are in favor of the M *ine
Liquoi Lmv; others, a law, leaving tt
to the voters in each malilia district to
say whether or uot they wish a “devil
t rap,” in the fbrin of a doggery, located
in their midst to manufacture drunk, !
arils, and bring distress and misery up.
on their wives and children ; while oth
ers think it lit.st to submit the matt< i
for the Grand Juries of the Counties to
recommend the grunting or not granting
license as they, in their wisdom, may
deem best for the good of the people.
The t>>ns boast ol the superiority ol
their order ova r all other temperance
societies, and threaten the speedy ex
termination of “old ulchy” any liow,
ami the demolition of all his fortifica
tions; while many reflecting and ar
dent temperance men think their boast
ing vain, and seriously object to all se
cret organizations, no matter fir what
purpose gotten up, ms inoougenial with,
and dangerous in their nature and ten
dency to our free republican insti
tutions, and give the preference to the
old republican total ajistinen e and
Washingtonian associations. Besides,
there are some who think the church
is, not only the Lest, but the only tem
perance society designed by her Great 1
Head to reclaim the sinner from the er
ror of his ways, and object to her mem
hers joining any other organization for
that purpose. I low far these various
views may he right or wrong, is not my
present purpose to particularly invi sti
gate, but simply to “show mine opin
ion,” believing with Kliliu, one of the
friends pf Job, tlmt “great men urn not
always wi|e,” us this diversity ol senti
ment proves.
1 am, sir, a total abstinence man and
both a moral and legal suasionist, and
am fully satisfied that moral suasion j
alone, will in ver Gleet the great object !
in view; umi it is matter of surprise to j
mo tlmt so muny good umi sensible
men should he opposed to legislative in
terference. The object ofull good gov
ernments is to promote the peace, hap
piness and prosperity of its citizens,
and this cun be done only by fostering
virtue and suppressing vice, and thus j
promote the stability of the government.
Experience and observation prove to a i
demonstration, that practices injurious
tp the morals of the people, and conse
quently to tho public weal, must find I
their corrective in sulutury law*, sup- 1
ported by enlightened public opinion.
Hence our laws against profane swear
ing, gambling, houses ol ill-tamo, and
profaning tlio Sabbath day, ito., iVo.
i think it best, and lor the honor of our
State, that we Imvo a.statutory interdic
tion of the iniquitous liquor traffio, ex
cept for medicinal and mechanical pur
posses ; but, if this cannot be had, I
must prefer the grant to the people ol
the districts, to say whether or u t they
want a doggery amongst them, to any
other plan 1 have seen suggested, or
that occurs to my own mind at present.
1 am, however, in favor of any lawful,
and prudent measure that may bode.!
vised for preventing or diminishing the
evils arising from our license retail
system, that standing monument of our i
country’s shame and injury.
Our illustrious Washington declared,
in his farewell uddres, that “the happi
ness and prosperity of a tuition depends
upon the mora/s of the people.” And
what, 1 would ask, is more demorali
zing than our grog-shop system ? li
this maxim of the “lather of his coun
try” be true, as it certainly is, being
deduced from scripture, reason, com-1
mon souse and the history of nations, it!
then becomes the imperitive duty of the ,
free citizens of this highly favored re- j
public, t see to it, that our demorali
zing doggery system be speedily abol-1
ished and prohibitory laws enacted to
relieve us trom the dreadful curse oi
intemperance, injustice, crime un i mis
ery. None but a kuaveor a simpleton
would say, in this enlightened day, ns
has been said in by-gone years, that
tho legislature have “no constitutional
right” to tjieddle with the question. If
she had the right to her present li
cense laws, she certainly has tho right
to repeal them, when she discovers!
their evil nature and tendency, and, its
the conservilors of the rights and inter
eaW of the people, it is her duty to do
so, when it shall he known to ho the
wish of a majority of the constituency.
That individual, of legal age, who does!
not perceive, in this enlightened day,
the enormous evils growing nut of our
license system, morally, physically, so
cially and politically, must liavo a mind !
steeped iu the very drogs of ignorance;
and he who perceives and will not lend
a helping hand, by lawful and prudent
means to remove or stay the evil, is
certainly derilict of duty to bis Cod,
his country, and his kind.
But, Mr. Editor, the friends of-the
good cause should be very careful not
lo adopt hasty and injudicious meas
ures that would probably excite tire
tears or arouse the indignation of a free
people, always, and very properly, so
jealous ol their rights and safety.—
Measures that may bo lawful mnv not
7m!*n okViiic sons or- tkmii:k.-.x<’* aku *tatk tioipkkanck < x\ k.vi hn_
I ho expeoi’ lit. The remedy for the
i evils of intemperance, under which otn
country groans, are in the hands of the
sovereign people them-a Ives, and Will he
applied at the ballot-box, whenever
tin v are convinced that it ’s their best
interest and duty it do so, by elec'ing
representatives who will carry out their
will, hv abolishing the traffic in the
•'Hue ruin.” But, sir, lam not so san
guine ns some, to believe timt the nia
joiity of the people ofGeorgia are ready j
to apply the gn atlv needed remedy at;
present, and indeed I fear they will not
I ba for years to come, unless more efli
cient and acceptable instrumentalities i
are i cd to enlighten the public mind,
; by mornl suasion , than are now in op-;
oration. The subject is not kept before
the public mind as constantly and viv
i idly as it should be. The old repuhli-,
lean total Abstinence and Washingtoni-j
an soci, tic h are mostly defunct, in eon
| !■:< quencc of tho newly invented order
lof the “.Sons,” “Itecliabitcs,” &0.,!
winch are vc ry obj ‘c:finable and un
popular with the people, geu< rally.—
i Secret soci l ties are looked upon byjhe
! mass of the people with jealousy and |
j distrust, consequently they can
; comparatively, hut little good.
Iteneau, our State h cturer, is ct inly i
light iu his belied’ that other societies
than the Sous, Cadets, Daughters, &c.,
should begotten up. in order success-
Gully, to pi sacute the enterprise : but 1
j go further than lie does, in recommend
ing the organizing total Abstinence und
Washingtonian societies ; I advise the
j “Sons, &e,, Ac., to deceive their se
| cret organizations, which are so justly
obnoxious to the people generally, and
form themselves into a inoru republican j
and acceptable associations. Theta’
can bo no reasonable objection raised I
against those old organizations, for they
i violate no republican, social, or moral
principle. AI i, men, women and chil
| dren, capable of understanding the sub
ject, inn invited to come and seo and
lieui’, and il they choose, join in the
holy crusade against the “old prince,”
without initialing fee ahd weekly con-!
Iributioii.or costly, childish ornaments,!
which very many poor persons, like j
your currespodent “Buy Creek,” are :
not able to spare from the comforts of’
their families. Neither have they vain J
| and foolish titles fur their officers; nor
’ do they administer a vow or oath of se
crecy, every thing is done openly be
fore the world, consequently there is no
| danger ul their meddling with other
matters without detection. Not so with
scorel societies. They have ever been
considered ustfangerou.s institutions, and
it history is to be relied upon, they
have generally become corrupt and
criminal, Irani the old Klusiuian und
! Bacchanalian mysteries ot the ancients,
} the “free musonry of that day,” down
i to tho “free masonry” of the present
age, and our own days. And what
guarant; e, I would ask, have we, that
| the Sons, uye, and Daughters 100, who
| bear such a striking family likeness to
those ancient secret fraternities us to
induce the suspicion that they are their
illegitimate offsprings, will not, in time,
become as corrupt uttd criminal as they ?
Impunity from detection and punish
ment often leads to the perpetration of
criminal deeds, und secret societies act
ing under solemn vows or oaths,
i which are sinful in themselves, torkei p
the secrets of the society and of each
| other, certainly u(lords much greuter
facilities for concocting “treason, strat
agems und crimes,” than those republi
can organizations who transact their
business before all who choose to be
present, without closed doors “well
tyh il ’ to ‘keep oflVvisd ropers and cow.
ans.”
.Mr. Uenoau very correctly remarks,
in his reporj, that “numbers constitute
power;’ and if wo add to this “power,”
tile power of an overllowing treasury]
ol sQprtl consolidated societies, which
may be, is some have been, wielded ■
tor evil, may we not be excused lor be- j
ing a little j aloes that this combined
power may bo abused to the injury or 1
subverting of our civil and religious
liberties ? The march of power, we
know, is always onward, and all such
seert t, moneyed organizations, that hold
their meetings m secret conclave,
should ho discountenanced and watched \
with sleepless vigilenoe, by everv re
publican Ireenjan. The organization j
oi secret societies has been tho usual j
plat) adopted to olivet the most diabofi-!
cal purposes, by wicked tyid designing
men, and lias ever been viewed by the
wis'st and best men us dangerous to!
morals and governments. A learned
“iiu r i tlirnis, that all tho nations of;
Europe have interdicted, or passed verv
string’ nt laws to restrain them; and it is l
known iimt several States of this Ameri
can l mob, have deemed it necessary to
prohibit the administering or talking all!
i xtr.( judicial oaths; such us are advutris
tered by that ancient fraternity, Claiming !
to be the “ handmaid of religion,” but]
which has been proven by judicial in- i
vestigations to be the hand maid of tile
devil. \ oltaire, the French Atheist,
farmed a secret society to put down the
j Christian religion, and his secret w atch
word wo* “crush Christ.” Ilr. Wish
luptjone ol the professors at the Uni
versity of lngolstadt, another learned
infidel, formed uuolhersecret society for
alike purpose; and 1 might mention
some others if it were neccessary.
It is considered ay some ol the mys
tic brotherhood as at) unanswerable nr
ga.m* t.t to show that their societies have I
j dene good, and that therefore, they!
must be a good institution ; but this is <
ho proof at all of tiie goodness of the!
j .'Order. It it proves any thing, it
i proves too much. The secret institu- j
; liofi of the Jesuits’ is a religious order j
among the Bo,nan Catholic.-, am ‘ lr( -
is satisfactory evidence of their having
done good ; hut would any irfa ibg’ : 't ■
uti l pious pro'< stunt Christian, or sound
American statesman, say it was a goo. !
iiiGitutibn and should be encouraged ,
oiuJ jpinrd by us? I think not. And |
1 might add that free Masons & Knight
Templars are allowed to have done
i good, particularly to the members m
their orders, far which purpose they
j wore instituted , but it is well known
that they have connived at and commit
ted most (atrocious acts of wickedness,
l contra rv to the laws of God, of the coun
i try, and o! humanity.
I am aware, sir, that you differ with
me in relation to the secret temperance i
| organizations, us do many others of
| your fraternity, perhaps all, and may
j loci some redundance to giving this ar
ticle a place in your paper; but rely
ing upon .your wonted independence
and liberality as the editor of a free
press, 1 s -ud it to you, hoping it may
find a place in vour columns. II I
have advanced any thing errunious, I
should bo glad to be corrected, but if 1
am correct in my opinions, 1 trust its
publicity will do gootL A sentiment
editorially advanced byyju a few years
ago, upon the stibjOf of wo ret societies,
that “any instiiummtk,:l cannot hear the
lest of scrulinizij/nnvcsligatm, ought to
go down,” excited my admiration und
re.sjiect, and Iniiink ougi*to bo steroty
ped upon ll*e mind atm heart of eve
ry free born American.
INVESTIGATOR;
The New Era.
What less can be said of the month of
1 August in relation to two most impor
| utni States in our nation and the world
—two States of vast intelligence, wealth,
agricultural and commercial enterprise
—where tile people are their own Sov
ereigns and do that which is far their
own pleasure—where thousands and
millions of dollars have annually been
j expended for animal gratification, and
fortunes have been accumulated in
| furnishing tho means—but that it com
mences a New Era, like some new cly
j nasty of kings, or some great revolution
of governments, where old things are
done away and all things have become
j new ? It is a mighty fact in the world’s
history, view it in what light we will,
and appreciate it as we may, that
throughout Massachusetts and Rhode
Island, with Maine,
The Traffic in Intoxicating Liq
ors as a beverage i3 abolished by
Law.
Hear it, O ye nations ! Hear it, 0 yc
; dwellers on the contitent, and or. the
isles of the sea! Hear it, ye inhabitants
of the rocks and ye that “drink wine in
bowls und unnoint yourselves with the
chief ointments ;” ye that “go down to
the sea in ships, and do business on the
great waters,” high und low, rich and
poor, bond and free ! Over every dis
tillery, and hotel bar, and splendid sa-
J loon ; in every place of business, and of
j pleasure; i.i the most magnificent edi
lice reared lor the accommodation of
i tho traveller, and in tho lowest don ofi
vice and infamy, where congregate the ;
foulest masst s lor vile indulgences, it!
is writett; The traffic is finished!—
Stern, unrelenting law has laid fas band I
upon it and sui 1 to those streams of poi
son which have permeated every urterv |
and vein, Be ye dried up. Once, and j
that not long since, and we might have I
said, Can it be ? The conception that!
it ever would or could be, had scarce j
found a place in the mind; and vet it!
is. Henceforth, at least forono yeur, i
uot a man in those two enlightened, rich
and prospered States, can thus legally
sell to his neighbor the accursed poison
and make him drunken. Law Ims in
j imposed to protect tho .weak, to guard
! the young, to reclaim tho lost, to restore
: comfort lo unnumbered families, suf
fering all the deprivation and cruelties
of a drunkard’s home. §1,401,600
spent the last year in the 1500 grog,
shops in Boston, and the §8,400,000
spent throughout the Bay Slate, and the !
hundreds of thousands spent in Rhode
Island, is not, in tine coining year, to
be tints basely squandered. Drunkards
are not to be found morning and evening!
in the streets, and jails and poor houses
are not to be tilled with tho miserable
victims of the intoxicating cup. Ue-|
ports of Mayors and Police Otlicers, of
Poor- masters, and Houses of Correction,
of Insane Asylums, and private cliari-1
; tics are lo bo there, ns they have been
in Maine, of greutly diminished commit- j
ments, of quiet streets, of happy homes,
lof increased enterprise and thrift, oil
peaceful Sabbaths, und an advance iu 1
tall that adorns and blesses man. Tru
ly, a New Era ! It will not be viewed ;
with indifference by us that are outsi
ders. The telegraphic wires will be,
held in requisition to tell us all. And
And as we hear of the goo? or the ill of I
the new notion, of the success or de- 1
feat of the system, we shall, in every
State, be excited to the greatest activi
ty to extend the same triumphs over the
whole land, or he driven to seek for j
something yet undiscovered, to make
us frog. For the present, we rest—rest;
in hope—rest in thankfulness—rest in |
the full belief that, with persevering,
manly, and Christian etlbrt, we shall ev
ery u here prevail atul scon re a deliver
ance of tho human family from the in- i
oxicating scourge.— Jour. Amer. Temp
In ion.
Running after happiness is only chas
ing the horizon.
Pride is as loud a beggar ns want,
and a gro.tl >*,.{ more saucy.
The Bloomers-
FROM Till: WILMINGTON (,N. C.) DAILY |
JOURNAL.
Wit a it’s the Bloomer? Empires
rise, and fall, flourish and decay, and
so do styles of dress. The “Bloomer,’’!
however, has had a brief existence;
the election canvass has come on and |
cut short off—although it was reasons- j
bly short before, and behind too, far
that matter. We no longer rend about
the. “Bloomer,” and amidst all the elec- j
tioneering platforms that have been |
gotuip there is no “Bloomer” platform, j
Perhaps, though, the Bloomer shows j
conspicuous enough on a dead level I
without any plutform to stand uton.
But it is gone and faded ! The last
and only Bloomer has paraded our
streets; the reign of tyranny and pro- i
sciiption is again reinstated, and wo
men and men both must submit to pet- j
ticoat rule. So mote it be. It is only
in Mormondom that this Turkish style
could have any real permanence, for j
the Mormons have the substance as;
well as the shadow; they not only adopt j
| Turkish costume, but also adhere to s
; the Turkish manners, and have several j
j wives. Lucky or unlucky fallows,!
; iliose Mormons, as the case may be;
■Solomons in their way—the Solomons
J of the Salt Lake.
But the Bloomer was a real politica l
affair as the world goes. It was not -
troubled with too much modesty; it!
stuck out and commended itself to the j
attention of tiie public, it kicked up, aj
bobbery, sure and thought itself famous; j
it took noise for applause, as many
others have dune. Whar’s the Bloom
er now? Laid up in some several
| trunks; hung upon various pegs; the
I unthinkable-abouts turned into summer
J pants lor some little brother; the skirts,
j A:c. razed into dresses for the smaller
Ry-; or turned to some less honorable
use. All gone, and a dead failure ! j
Dearly beloved hearers, there is a
lesson in tho fate of the Bloomer. Be
ware ol its fate. Beware of exalting
tilings too high, or of thinking too high
ly ot yourself. Innovations must come
gradually. Men and women, though
not peculiarly the slaves of custom, are
not apt to jump into direct opposition to
established customs, or to suppose that
every manor woman who opposes such
must necessarily be benefactors of their
race. Change is not always improve
ment; factionaries, whether politics,
religion, or costume, are not necessari
ly patiiots, saints or such like. There
aie a great many big professions being
made nowadays. It is not often that
sincerity deals in such. Beware !
If we have broken in upon the seri
ousness of political discussions far a
few moments we hope to be excused.
Perhaps even out of this folly some les
sons might be learned—some bints ta
ken. At any rate, we have a right to
indulge ourselves with some relaxation,
and therefore have made, and now re
peat the inquiry, Whar’s the Bloomerl
Society, like shaded silk, must be
viewed m all situations, or its colors
will deceive you.
Virtue concealed within our breast
Is inactivity at best.
/Aft: ?L
V". • -- S’
SONSOT TEMPERANCE.
Pledge of the Sons of Tempe
rance.—l, without reserve, solemnly pledge
my honor as a man that 1 will neither make, buy,
sell nor use, as a beverage, any Spirituous or
Malt Liquors, Wine or Cider.
Officers of the Grand Division,
G. 1.. M’Cleskey, G. VV. P. Monroe.
J. S. PincKAKD, G. W. A. Forsyth.
W. S. Williford, G. Scribe, Macon.
E. O. Guanniss, G. Treasurer, „
J. E. Evans, G. Chaplain, „
1). E. Blount, G. Conductor, Clinton.
J. D. llavis, G. Sen. Houston, Cos.
CADETS OF TEMPERANCE,
PLEDGE.
No member shall make, buy, sell or use
as a beverage,any spirituous or malt liquors
wine or cider.
Office*-* of the Grand Section.
J. W. Benson, G. P. Macon.
15. Burton, G. A. P. Pondtown.
L. C. Simson, G. S. &. T. Atlanta.
Rev. J. S. Wilson, G. C. Decatur.
S. M. 11. Byrd, G. G. Oxford.
k\. P Kino, G. \V. Thomaston.
~* ! ■ “
1. O. of Ueehiihites.
Olficers of Georgia Dist. Tent, No. 28, loca- ■
ted at Washington, Wilkes G0.,G&.:
Washington, liey. G. G. Norman, D. P. C. R.
Washington, John R. Smith, I>. C. R.
Atlanta, C. R. Hanleiter, U. D.R.
Washington, A. M. Sneed, 1) R. S.
E. F. Carrington, D. F. S.
St. John Moore, D. Tres.
Atlanta, R. tl. Lynn, L>, Lerite.
iteelmbite’s Pledge.
I hereby declare, that I will abstain from all
intoxicating liquors, and will not give, nor offer
them to others, except in religious ordinances,
or when prescribed, in gooit faith, by a medi
cal practitioner ; 1 will not engage in the traf
fic ot them, and in all suitable ways will dis
countenance the use, sale and manufacture ol
them ; ami to the utmost of my power, I will :
endeavor to spread the principles of abstinence ■
from all intoxicating liquors.
THEE
PJE FIELD. AUG. 14. 1859.
CK7” NOTICE- —Subscribers recei
ving their papers with a straight black
mark, arc thereby notified that they are
in arrears. One mark indicates one
dollar due; two, that two, &c. Please
remit the amount at once by mail, with
out waiting for other opportunity.
New Subscribers.
Wc are indebted to Mr. J. M. Rowland,
for a list of Seven new Subscribers to the
Banner, at Waynesboro, Burke County.
Old Burke is rising.
On Monday we received another list of
five new Subscribers to tho Banner, from
“Anna Frances,” ji young lady of Houston
county—making a total of eighteen names
added to our list by her, within a few
weeks past. Will not other ladies, and
gentlemen too, in other counties, follow the
praisevv. riliy example of Anna Frances?
Come, friends, go to work for the Banner,
and by the beginning of another year, a
kind Providence sparing us, the Banner
shall put on anew dress, and our noble
cause shall receive an impulse that will be
felt far and wide.
New Cotton.
The first bale of the present crop of Cot
ton was received in New Orleans, on the
2ndinst. Last year, the first bale was re
ceived on the 25th of July—night days ear
lier.
Negro Clotks.
The Stock of Negro Cloths, advertised
by Messrs Snowden & Shear, of Augusta,
is unusually large, and in great variety.
Purchasers, remember them, in visiting Au
gusta.
‘•lnvestigator.”
We have felt no hesitation whatever, in
giving publicity to the well written cotntnu
nication of “Investigator,” to be found in
I another column. On reading the first por
tion of his article, we were delighted, and
J anticipated a rich treat in defence of legisla-
I lion to suppress the liquor traffic. And
j we arc truly gratified that our correspon
dent agrees in the- main with us upon this
I question; but confess our disappointment in
| the turn given to his article, in so uncotn
| promising an attack upon the “Order of the
| Sons.” YVq had hoped, that at this late day,
I the scruples our anti-secret society friends
| enfertained, so far at least as the Sons were
concerned, had vanished; and that the
friends and foes of the Order would be
left in future to operate in the cause of
temperance, by such instrumentalities and
organizations as might be suited to their
| different tastes. But our respected corres
| pondent is still hostile to the Order of the
| Sons, and thinks it ought to be at once
abandoned. To this’ opinion he is perfectly
entitled, and our design by no means is to
condemn him, or combat his views. We
differ with him, but do it in love. And we
j repeat the sentiment, so admired by him,
that “Any institution that cannot bear the
test of scrutinizing investigation, ought to
go down;” and pledge ourselves.that when
ever Tie, or any other individual shews us
that the Order of the S. ofT. cannot abide
such a test, wo will at once and forever
abandon it.
It is well knowui to the readers of the
Banner, and to all others with whom we
have held conversation upon the subject,
that our influence and best exertions have
been brought into requisition from the first,
to sustain out door Societies, and to pre
vent the disbanding of the total abstinence
associations in the Elate. We shall rejoice
I to see them again revived, and new ones es
! tablished at every practicable point. We
] will go as far as ‘-Investigator” himself, in
] reviving, establishing and maintaining these
! associations; and believe the Sons general-
I ly will co-operate heartily in the measure.
With these views, hastily thrown togeth
j er, we invite “Investigator” to the work of
removing “that standing monument of our
country’s shame and injury?”
Our columns are opefi to him. We be
lieve the last State Convention attacked
the “ wolj in the den,” and to this point all
the energies of the friends of temperance is
needed. Carry out the principles declared
by the Convention, and our State is free,
our people redeemed, and the necessity of
Orders and Societies, and temperance pa
pers will be done away.
Georgia. — We learn from the Ban
ner, that tho Grand Division of Georgia
assembled at McMinnville, on the 15th
inst. Avery imposing procession,
composed of both sexes—the ladies all
dressed in white—marched in proces
sion to the Court House, where an elo
quent address was delivered by the Rev.
Mr. Poindexter, to a large and delight
ed audience. It was announced that at
night Bros. D. D. Nelson and Winn,
would address the people on Temper
ance.
Georgia, only a few years since, was
noted for intemperance and dissipation.
; Now, through the genial influence of
, temperance organizations, she lias re-
I deemed her name; and will, ere long,
we hope, take her stand among those
States that have successfully adopted
the “Maine Law.”
\\ e ciip tho above piece of news
from the “Crystal Fount,” of the 30th ult.
published away yonder, in Tuscaloosa. Ala.
Well, we are right glad, npon the whole, to
hear so favorable account ol‘the temperance
cause in Georgia. But it is the first news
we haw had of such a meeting.—Eo. Temp.
Banner.
Then is no principle ot ournaturil
honorable than that of disinterested
j practical benevolence. It springs fr
‘finest sympathies and addresses fa,. „
| delicate sensibilities of the human h onr .
enlarges the compass of moral p ere ‘ . 1
I and heightens the power of the morals lo '’’
As s'risibility is the avenue to the
; faculty, that sense is increased by a virt" 0^1
and generous exercise of tho feelings- Tlf’
|by the perfect union which exists bet -’
them in nature, the understanding an j
taste, as well as the perception ofvirtuo , h
j ‘ice, is improved and chastened by
same means. * le
By a natural impulse we bestow tho ho
age of our approbation H pon benevolent *
acts. We contemplate with pleasing e4 J
tions tho labors of art and the efforts r
genius exerted in the cause of humanity
And whilst the Christian philanthropist bas
his benevolence in tho deep foundations If
obligation and duty, motives exist in th
admiration and respect which it commands
and attracts—in that secret and untold but
self-satisfying gratification which deeds of
virtuous charity impart to the soul, that not
even the purely selfish may wholly disro
gard.
I film principle of natural benevolence
were universal, if the emotions of kindness
’which swell the heart from sympathy, Were •
large enough to meet the varied demands of
want and misery, it might well reject the mo
tivo of obligation and duty, and claim for
itself the honor ot spontaneous action. But
although individuals have always been *
found alive to every generous impulse, who
borne onward by the sweet illusions ofhope’
have not paused to Calculate the cost, ortho
probability of success, but single handed
havu fearlessly struggled in the noble work
of checking the triumphs of vice, and allaying
j the miseries of man, in a world of abound
mg evil; vet it must nevertheless be con-
Tessc-d, that from the powerful operation of
counteracting motives, these happy illustra
j lions of the noble principle we are consid
ering, have been exhibited only at intervals
relieving occasionally tho moral darkness’
which envelopes it, only to make that dark
ness the more gloomy by its habitual ab
sence. The operation of opposing causes
has presented difficulties too great form,
dividual effort to oppose, when philanthro
py lli,s employed in the great work of
redeeming fallen and degraded humanity
by abolishing some vicious and destructive
habit which had entwined itselfaround the
affections, and with magic power charmed
and delighted the victim whilst wreathing
the folds to destroy. In such a work union
and combination are required; union of”
counsel, union of action. Nothing short of
united influence can successfully encounter
the force ol the public sentiment, or over
come and subdue the tyranny of habit.
In an enterprise no less grand and mag
nificent than this, have those associations
formed and established for the advancement
of the Temperance cause embarked. To
rescue degraded man from the grasp of a
most brutal vice—to restore and save tho
lost—to reclaim the v/anderining—to extir
pate a practice at once demoralizing to hu
man nature, and destructive to human life,
this, surely, is an object and an aim which
commends itself to every charity of the hu
man heart. Intemperance! What tongue
can tell its ravages ! What pencil can de
pict and portray its desolation ! What walk
<>f life, what sphere of society has escaped
its withering contagion! llow utter, how
complete, the ruin it entails—how absolute,,
how hopeless its overthrow! It robs the
body ot its health and vigor—the under
standing of its powers—the moral faculty of
its perception—the soul of its piety. Not
satisfied with this total destruction of its
immediate victim, it expands its deleterious
inliUences, and robs families of their peace ‘
and society of its virtue. It throws the
gloom of the grave over the loveliest forms
ot creation. It consigns to worse than
ceaseless widowhood the wife and mother,,
and to penury, distress and want, her more
than fatherless children.
A few reflections based upon these con
siderations, will furnish a slight analysis of
the effects of ardent spirits upon the animal
system—upon the faculties of the mind
and the affections and feelings of the heart
| from which, we may more accurately con
i ceive of the great crime of intemperance.
And Ist: Ii robs the body of its health.
Franklin was the first distinguished in
dividual in this country who raised a warn
ing voice against the fatal effects of ardent
spirits—his penetrating mind soon discov
ered the tendeney to its general use and
the alarming consequences to result from
it—inthe'spirit of that philanthropy and pa
triotism which characterised him, he did not
hesitate to denounce it. Indeed, in its hav
oc of human health, the heart must sicken
at the recital of that long and complicated
catalogue of diseases superinduced, in the
concurrent judgement of medical men, by
the poisonous effects of Alcohol. Let it
suffice to observe, that the entire physical
man is subjected to, and prostrated by, its
injurious influence. Not a blood vessel
however minute—not a fibre of the muscu
lar system—not a thread of nerve in the
whole bodily organization, the whole ani
mal machine, escapes its corrosion. It is
sues in the foetid breath from the lungs.—
It is even detected in the food prepared by
nature for helpless infancy.
Whose observation does not furnish the
testimony to its destructive effects? Who
has not witnessed the pitiable, but revolt
ing spectacle of the wretched and miserablo
inebriate under the immediate excitement of
this unnatural stimulus? What a picture
has that spectacle presented of deformed
nnd abused humanity; the face swollen ami
distorted—the cheeks crimsoned— the cor
ners of the month drawn down nnd contrac
ted—the lip drooping—the eye blood-shot
and glassy. What an object of aversion