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tai wAßaunrtt?rejffxjjri OR, TOTAL ABSTINENCE ADVOCATE. VOL. I.] THE WASHINGTONIAN. PUBLISHED BY JAMES McCAFFERTY, TWICE EVERY MONTH. Office on Macintosh street—opposite the Post Office. TERMS, For a single copy, for one year, One Dollar ; for six j copies, to one address, Five for ten copies, to ' one address, Eight Dollars—and so in proportion. *'a> meat in all cases to l>e made in advance. ijSJ- All communications by mail, must be cost paid, j to receive attention. WASHINGTON Total Abstiueuce Society of Augusta. OFFICERS: Dr. Joseph A. Ete, President. Rev. Wm. T. Bristly, Y'ice.Prsident. Wm Haires, Jr., Secretary and Treasurer. Managers— James Harper, Dr. F. M. Robertson, E. W Tolman, Jesse Walton, James W. Whitlock, William Shear, C. C. Taliaferro. UNANIMOUS DECLARATION Os the Washington Tcmi»crance Society. When in the course of human events, it be comes necessary for any class of |ieop!e to dissolve the bands in winch they had previously been connected, and to assume among the inhabitants | of a Christian land the independent and manly station to which the laws of nature and nature’s Uod entitle them, a decent respect lor the opin- 1 ions ol mankind, as well as a proper regard for their own character, requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the sepa ration. We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created Iree and equal; they are en <towcd by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, and the pursuit ofjpjtt.u.TO: that to secure these rights, certain imural ami physical laws are established among njeii, >1 signed tor their best good; that whenever ( any habit or appetite becomes destructive ofthesc | <m Is. it is the right of those concerned to alter or abolish it, and to establish habits, laying their' foundation on such principles as shall be most l,\ciy to effect their safety and happiness. Pro dcnce, perhaps, will dictate, that customs long . .laldisaed s.iould not be changed lor light and t. ans.eut causes; and aH experience has shown, t tat mankind are more disposed to sutler while evils arp sufferable, than to right themselves by ■ abandoning habits to which they have been at-> tached. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a tendency to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to t hrow off such a yoke, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been our pa tient sufferance, and such is now the necessity which constrains us to alter our former habits, by shaking off the tyrrany under which we have been hound. The history of that Prince of Wretchedness, Alcohol, is a history of repeated j injuries and usurpations, all having a direct ten dency to establish an absolute tyranny over both mind and body. To prove this, let facts be sub mitted to a candid community. He has utterly overthrown and reversed laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public and individual good He has restrained our faculties from their pro jier exercise, nay, he has absolutely suspended their operation, and when so suspended, he has laid some of us prostrate* in the ditch. He has called together carousing assemblies at places unwholesome, uncomfortable, and distant from the bosom of our families, mainly for the purpose of bringing his victims under his com plete control. He has dissolved the dearest ties of affection repeatedly, and caused the basest and most de grading associations to be formed. The mental powers have been almost annihilated; the body remaining, in the mean time, exposed to the filth and nakedness without, and tremors and convul-; sions from within. He has made our reason and jndgment depen-1 dent on his will for the tenure of his office; almost | for their very existence. He has erected a multitude of offices, under various deceptive titles, such as ‘ House of Re freshment’ ' Refrectory,' 1 Travellers' Home,' i and other kindred appellations, occupied by swarms of harpies, to narrass us, and eat our substance: He has kept among us at all times, standing jugs, bottles, and hogsheads of rank poison. He has affected to render the animal appetites ahd passions independent of, and superior to, the mental faculties. He has, under various combinations, subjected AUGUSTA, GA. SATURDAY, JULY 10,1842. us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions, and subversive of our health and comfort: For cutting oil our intercourse with respectable society. For imposing the heaviest and most exorbitant taxes upon us, without rendering us anv equlva lent. ' tor arraigning us, (for no offence whatever, except unbounded devotion to him,) before the bar of a tavern or groggery, and without the sha dow ot justice, causing liquid fire to be poured down our throats, until someot us were dead— drunk. , t or transporting us, if not beyond the seas, at least in many instances “ half seas over/’ under the mask of pretended friendship. tor taking away our characters, abolishing our most valuable privileges, and deranmno all the functions of nature. He has plundered our houses, ravished our pro perty, hurt our vitals, and destroyed the happiness of our families. lie is, even at this time, coining with large quantities of foreign allies, the “ choice spirits" of other lands, to complete the work of death, desolation, and tyranny, so long carried on, with circumstances ol fraud and perfidy scarcely par alleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the tolerance of a civilized community. He has constrained us, “ taking captive at his wdl, ’ to array ourselves against our best friends and become their worst enemies. He lias excited domestic brawls among us, and has visited our defenceless families with almost unmitigated and unalloyed distress; his known rule ot warfare undistinguished ruin of all ages, sexes and conditions. For all these oppressions we have obtained no redress; but every attempt to free ourselves has been attended only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which should define a tyrant, is totally unfit to bear sway over rational beings. Nor have we been wanting in attention to Rum and its coadjutors. Wo have loved them as our lives—we have, on all occasions, manifested to wards them the most devoted attachment—and even with all the evils we have suffered, the sev erance of the bond was a most severe trial. But having found them utterly deaf to the voice of justice and humanity, we renounce any connection with them, and held them, as we hold other destroyers of our peace, enemies now and forever. We, therefore, the members of the Washing ton Temperance Society, in general meeting assembled, looking to heaven for strength to maintain our integrity, do solemnly publish and declare, that we jire, and of right ought to be, free and independent men. That we are absolv front all connection with intoxicating drinks— and that our attitude towards them is, and ought to be— Total Abstinence.. That as freemen, wc have full powerto act for ourselves, to- follow the things which make for peace, pursue honorable occupations, and do all other things which ra tional and intelligent men may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the help of Divine Providence, wc mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our for tunes, (so far as our misfortunes have left us any,) and our sacred honor. Cicero to his son Marcus— to reclaim him from his loose course of life. Can 1 think, O Marcus, thy vicious course of life could offer to eclipse any glory? 1 would question even the oracles oHruth in this case, for nothing is more difficult than to make a man be lieve what he does not like; yet I am obliged to give credit to my senses. I see thee daily involv ed in all kinds of luxury, and hear thee as often discoursing of nothing but vanity. 11l fortune had no other way to attack me. My country owes its safety to me, and both the senate and the people have styled me their preserver. I have surmounted the meanness of my birth, and baf fled all the attempts of envy, malice, pride and calumny, against me. Nothing but the vagaries of Marcus could render inc unhappy. Poor un fortunate Cicero! reduced to that state by the disobedience of a child, which thy enemies could not bring me to. Thou, Marcus, thou alone robbest me of my honor, obscurest my virtue and cloggest the wings of my fame. Upon what a weak foundation have I founded my hopes!— Upon one, who, instead of striking in with me towards the acquiring of glory, will, if he does not reform, leave to posterity the character of a libertine; and whereas he might inherit the re nown due to my labors, will deprive his father of all content and himself of all esteem. But it is yet time, 0 my son, both to recant thy errors, and return to thy studies. By one thou wilt restore my quiet; and by the other enrich thyself. It is never too late to learn. I have known a man of an hundred years old thirst after instruction; nay, all wise men will hearken to their friends, even when they are dying. Cast off then that yoke which vice hath put on thee, and whereby thy mind is depraved, thy senses stupified, thy reputation lost, and mine obscured. Consider these worldly pleasures as syrens, that decoy thee to thy ruin, which are really nothing but vain, vile, tiail, short lived things, subject to a thous and accidents, and whose end is only torment and repentance. Yet all this while I do not speak against those diversions that unbend the mind. A bow always bent.is soon broken, and the imbecility ot our nature requires some recrea tion. No vice is more abominable than intemperance, from whence all other vices flow; yet to those thou hast raised altarsj to these thou payest thy vows. I wonder thou dost not flv the common society of mankind, to get rid of their continual reproaches. 1 hou art either not a man or not my son. Drunkenness has transformed thee, and, like that ot Alexander the Great, has tar nished all thy glory. The delights of Capua en ervated the prowess of Hannibal. Whilst thou art drunk, C)! Marcus, thy head turns round, thy tongue falters, thy eyes deceive thee, thy feet fail thee, and thy stomach offends thee. Wherefore, it thou art not altogether become stupid, thou must needs be sensible thyself of the inconveniences of this vice. My cheeks burn with shaihe, while I reprove thee for these enormities, and my mind is under appre hensions of contaminating itself by the bare naming them. Believe me, Marcus, vice has got the ascendant over thy reason, and will noj suf fer thee to he sensible of thy folly. It will not permit thee to look through the thick fogs that envelope thy brain, and conceal its own deformi ty from thee. It keeps thee from discerning the splendor of virtue, and the brightness of thy race. It thou couldst but view the beauties of virtue, I am confident thou wouldst soon be in love with her. No heart can be so hardened, but must be affected by her charms. The wide world cannot sjjow any thing more amiable. She is praise to herself; and without her perfection would be no thing. She gains us, bv her authority, even the love of our enemies.* The sun once stopped his course to admire her. Also, death itself, which nothing else ran conquer, and which buries eve ry thing in oblivion, yet yields to her, and submits to that immortality which is only acquired by her. Tell me, I beseech thee, my son, what is become of all the antient Greek magnificence in building 1 It is not devoured by time! Yet the works of virtue live, and will do so to all eternity. Both the names and actions of virtuous persons will endure the utmost test of time, and through all the endless revolution of ages, flourish. He need not fear the horrors of death, O Marcus who can be sure to outlive the bounds of life by his virtue; whilst thou, if thou continuest in this sensuality of thine, as thou hast lived unregarded, will die unlamented, and rot in the grave unre membered; or if thou shouldst leave any name behind thee, it will be devoted to infamy, than which it were far better to have been condemned to oblivion. That is but a foolish opinion which some entertain, and which I daily reflect upon with contempt and disdain, that our happiness ends with our lives, and our glory ceaseth with ourdeaths. Those men know not that true life begins at the grave, and springs from the very bosom ol death. Our souls are Phoenixes, which revive from our own ashes. Then are our names eternized ; then have envy and malice no power to obscure our merits, or to deposit our title with us to fame. The privileges of our souls would be nothing, if they were subject to the coiruption of the body. Now, son Marcus, if thy obstinacy will not give thee leave to lay hold on these in structions; if thou wilt still continue thy converse with brutes, who have no other sense than their lust; if, in a word, thou wilt persist to forfeit both mine and thy own reputation, by thy ill courses, I have no absolute authority over thy will, I can only satisfy myself in that I have thus far oppos ed thy vicious inclinations. Farewell. The Handsome Midshipman. BY HENRY. A. FAY. Sydney Morton was as gallant and beautiful a boy as ever blessed fond parents with smiling look# in the family circle. Profusion of lirrht colored ringlets adorning his brow, heavenly blue eyes, buoyant spirits, and a shape perfect; and every feature sculptured |y the most skilful art ist to win love from women, and admiration from man. H 6 had something to say to every body, and every one delighted in answering his ques tions, and passing a half hour with the lively lit tle prattler. He sang sweetly, was the best dancer in the ball room, and at the age of sixteen, when he en tered the navy as a midshipman, was the idol of his family; the young lasses were pulling caps with each other for his smiles and his presence; and his superior officers doated upon him He sailed to different parts of the world, and many an epistle have-I received from him, written in an elegant hand on gilt edged paper, and dated in the Chinese Sea, the Mediterranean, or on some remote island, where man and heart, tree and flower, climate and all nature seemed totally dif ferent from what I was accustomed to. He had lovely sisters and female cousins whom I fre quently saw, and together we employed ourselves in conversing about him, his hopes and pros pects. • An examination was to take place on board his ship, while in this port of New York, of seven ty middies, preparatory to promotion. He passed through with such credit, and evinced such nau tical improvement, and such good conduct, that he stood No. 2 on the list for advancement, and would have been No. 1, but for the circumstance of the proceeding one being considerably hia senior in the service. tie was made lieutenant. Among the ac quaintances he had of the fair sex, one, Emily Wilson, most attracted his attention. She was a real sylph; more amal than material. Her fairy form would “ trip it on the light, fantastic toe’ with him, througn the mazes of a cotillion or centre dance, in a ball room, on a long winter’s night when the snow storm raged without, and the eddying whirls of the white flakes would be dashed by the fierce winds against the panes of glass, while all within was warm by the well neaped grate, the sparkling chandeliers shedding brilliancy upon the diamonds, rubies, emeralds, 1 and other precious jewels, which gliitcred upon the bosoms and arms of the lovely female forms, who delighted the eye there—amid music, and chatting, and laughing, and making love, and sly glances, and sighs from hearts longing to be made one heart. Sidney pressed the fair and soft hand of Emily, he whispered a few words in her ear, she blush ed and consented—yielding her lovely self to his urgent wishes. In a few weeks they became * wedded ps.il, and bliss, the sweetest that this world can give was theirs. They were scarcely ever apart. Like one mind and one person—they were seat ed together on the same sofa, perused the same book, rode in the same carriage over the hills and across the verdant vales of Westchester county, and shared, in the silent hours of slumber the same pillow. Time passed, and he was called to duty. He made a voyage and returned. Their love seem ed to increase with years. They had two daugh ters and a son, in whom the charms and perfec tions ofthe parents’ minds and persons were most happily blended. oidney began to indulge among his compan ions, more freely than formerly, in wine. His eyes began to be bloodshot, his form bloated; and the exquisite symetry of his shape was lost' to view. When in port he would have convivial companions with him at home, and after some of their evenings of debauchery, he would be harsh to his sweet little wife. At length he progressed so far into intoxication as sometimes, when in fluenced by liquor, even to inflict blows upon that tender bosom, upon whose snowy softness his head had been pillowed night after night. The disconsolate wife wept in secret. Among his brother officers he began to commit the same follies, His fits of inebriety and quarelsome con duct caused him to be frequently reprimanded and warned against future misconduct. He became a sot, an abandoned drunkard, was discarded from the service of his country, his pro perty went to the rumseller, his wife had to seek a living for herself and her children by use of her needle ; he wandered about the streets as adrunk en outcast; and one afternoon fell down in a fit, the consequence of intemperate drinking. He was taken to the hospital, died there, and was buried at the expense of a connexion. Ttic amiable, suffering wife soon followed him to the other world. A broken heart quenched the light of her lovely eye, and stopped the beating of that pulse, which had ever been responsive to every kind emotion. The children are now taken care of, and the eldest daughter promises to attract public atten tion as one of the most beautiful and excellent of her sex. .She looks like her sainted mother, sylph-like in form, angelic in feature, a complex ion pure and fair, a ruby lip, and a springing step, as it she scarcely touched the earth on which she walked. She is determined to take warning from her mother fate, and declares that whoever claims her hand, must commence his attentions to her by singing the pledge of total abstinence, become ing a true Washingtonian, and on her pincush ion she has the motto in gold letters—“ Tee totaler or no Husband.” W illiam, arc you into them sweetmeats again ? No, ina’raa, them sweetmeats is intome.” [No. 4.