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OR,
TOTAL ABSTINENCE ADVOCATE.
VOL. I.]
THE W ASHIV.VPJNiAN.
PUBLISHED BY JAMES McCAFKERTY,
TWICE EVERY MONTH.
Office on Macintosh street—opposite the Post Office.
„ . . TcRMS.
t or a singlj copy, for oar > ear, One Dollar ; for six .
copies, to one address, Five Dollars ; for ten copies to
f om; address, Eight Dollars—and so in proportion.
JO” Payment iu all cases to lie made in advance. |
f All communications liy mail, must be ros r paid,
to receive attention.
m I
St. Louis Criminal Court.
Sjt.ite I Indictment for passing \
Augustus V. Jones. $ cuuntert>it
| The defendant, in this case, was probably !
i‘ twenty eight years of age, but wore the appear- '
sg Ance of at least thirty-live. He had evidently I
■fence been a line looking man ; in stature he was
Hpomething over six tect, and his strongly marked
Kfeatures and prominent forehead, gave evidence !
IpDf more than ordmSry intellect. But you could j
IPrclearlv discover that he had become a prey to the
monster intemperance—the mark of the beast |
|. was stamped on his countenance, which gave it i
} a vivid and unnatural glare. He was placed in
the box, with others who were to be arraigned
■ upon the indictments preferred against them. I
All the others had plead not guilty, (as is usual,) I
. and a day was set far their trial. The defendant 1
was told to stand up, and the clerk read to him i
the indictment, which charged him with liaving,
on the 16th day of August, passed to one Patrick 1
O’Neil, a counterfeit Bill, purporting to be issu- 1
cd by the dud Mitficipolity of the City of New ;
Orleans, for the sum of three dollart; and upon :
H being asked the question, Guilty, or not guilty ;
he replied,Guilty—guilty!” Then, turriing’tu |
thecourt, he remarked that, as this was the fast
time he cvefexpectcd to appear in court, he would
be glad if he could bo allowed to make a few re- j
marks. The Judge told him to proceed. After i
a pause, in which he was evidently endeavoring
to calm his feelings, he proceeded as follows:
<> May it please the Court—in the remarks 1
shall make, I will not attempt to extenuate my
crime, or ask at your hands any sympathy in
passing sentence upon me. I know that 1 have
violated the laws of my country, and justly de
serve punishment; nor would I recal the past,or !
dwell upon the bitter present, for my own sake.
A wish to do good to others is my only motive.
I shall, with the indulgence of the court, give
a brief narrative of my life, with a hope that those
young men around me may take warning by it,
and avoid the rock upon which I have split. I
was born of respectable parents in the State of
New Jersey, and during my childhood, received
every attention that fond parents could bestow
upon an only son. It was early discovered that
lhad a fondness for books, and my father, al
though in limited circumstauces, determined to
give me a liberal education I was sent to a high
school in the neighborhood, and such was my
progress, that at la years of age my preceptor de- ,
dared me qualified tor college, and I accordingly !
entered one ot the oldest umversit es in the coun-.
try. Here Iso distinguished myselfthat, at six- !
teen, i graduated with the second honors of:
the institution, an 1 returned home flushed with 1
tiio brilliant prospect of success that lay before :
me; I soon after commenced the study of law, !
in i wiien only in my twentieth year, I obtained
license to practice
Acting upon the advice of friends, 1 determin
ed to try my fortune in the west. I accordingly
arranged ray affairs for degiarture carlv in the
fall of M 33. I will not detain you with an ac
count of iny separation from those 1 held most
dear—suffice to say, that l received the blessings:
of my parents, and in return, promised faithfully
and honestly to avoid all bad company, as well as i
their vices. Had I kept my promise I should;
have been saved this shame, and been free rrom I
the load of guilt that hangs aroun 1 me continual
ly, like a fiendish vulture threatening to draw me
to justice, for crimes as yet unrevealed. But, to
return. 1 left my early home, where the sun of
prosperity shone, and where my pathway had
been strewed with flowers, to try my fortune
among strangers, and to try my strength in buf
feting the storms and tempests of the world.
With a light heart I looked forward to the future;
and taking the usual route, I soon Teached
Wheeling, where 1 took passage on a boat for
Louisville. On the boat a game of cards was
proposed for amusement, and although 1 had
promised faithfully to avoid such things, still I
argued to myself, there was no harm in playing
a game for amusement.
Accordingly, I joined the party, and kept up ‘
the amusement most of the way down. After i
we left Cincinnatti, it was proposed to bet a bit a j
game, merely, as it was said, to make it interest- i
ing. My first impression was to leave the table,
AUGUSTA, GA. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 15, 1842.
but I was told that it was only a bit—that I could '
not lose more than one 01 two dollars. This ar
gument prevailed, for I lacked moral courage to
do what was right. I feared my companions
would say i was stingy for a little money. Influ- 1
•■need by these feelings, 1 played; and as the j
taies would have it, 1 won. Before we reached;
Louisville, we had twice doubled the stake, and
1 found my Rick enabled me to pay my passage
out of my winnings. It was the first time ever 11
had bet money, and my success ruined me. A- 1
gain J played and was successful; and, in short,!
I continued to play for amusement, until 1 had
acquired a thirst tor gambling. I settled in a i
thriving village in Tennessee, and commenced
the practice of my profession under battering,
auspices, ami my first appearance in a criminal 1
court was highly complimented, and I soon be-,
came known throughout the circuit. Things!
went on thus for more than a year, and I believed
myself fairly on the road to fame and fortune. I j
occasionally played cards; but 1 consoled myself j
with tho idea that I only played with gentlemen i
for amusement.
One night I accompanied some young men to j
a gaming shop, and for the first time in my life I
saw a Faro Bank. My friends commenced bet- j
ting and I was induced to join them, although I
did not understand the game. Again 1 played
with success; and when weletl the house, I was
more than two hundred dollars winner. None
of my companions had been fortunate, and it was
insisted that I was the lucky man, anil that I
must treat. We accordingly repaired to my
room, where 1 ordered wine, and before we broke 1
up we were deeply intoxicated. With me it was
the first time, and the next day I resolved that I
wrauld never play cards again. I adhered to the
determination for nearly three months, when 1 j
again yielded to the entreaties of my dissipated
associates.
1 now played with varied success, and in all i
cases found an excuse for resorting to the wine
bottle. If I lost, 1 drank to drown sorrow; if I
won, I treated inv good fortune. Thus 1 pro
gressed U|Kin my do.vnward course, until drink
ing and gambling became my chief employments.
All my mends who were worth preserving, aban
doned me, until my only associates were drunk
ards and gamblers. When almost reduced to
want, (for I had left off business,) I received a
letter informing me of the death of my father—
that father who watched over my early years—
who loved me so tenderly. And did I act as an
affectionate child 1 No. Vice had destroyed the
human feelings of my heart, and left only the
animal passions and appetites. As the letter con
tained a check for 8500, a part of my poor father’s
hard earnings, I drowned my grief that night in
a Bachanalian revel, and in a few days I was
again penniless. I will not dwell upon the eve
ry d&y scenes of my life, which were such as may
at all times be witnessed at any of the two hun
dred dram-shops of your city, where wretched
men squander the little pittance that justly be
longs to their suffering wives and children.
But, to pass on. For nearly three years I have
beaa a drunken, wandering outcast. Six months
ag™ I received a letter from my dear mother, en- i
closing 8100, and intormiug me that she was fast
sinking with disease, and entreating me, with all
a mother’s feeling, to come home and see her be
fore she died. For a time I felt the appeal, anil
resolveil tocomply with the request; anil accord
ingly took passage*in a steamboat for that pur
pose. For two days I refrained from liquor; but
my thirst became insupportable—at length I ap
proached the bar, and demanded the liquid fire.
I was soon intoxicated, when I madly sought the
gaming tabic and before : he boat reached Louis
ville, I was stripped of every cent. Thus, all
hopes of seeing my dying mother cut off, I remain
ed at Louisville several weeks; in which time I
learned lhat my mother had died, and that her
last breath was spent in prayer for her
child.
From Louisville I shipped on board the steam
er Brazil, as a deck hand, and came to this place,
where 1 was dischargad for drunkenness. Let
every young man reflect on this picture. I, who
had moved in the first circles of society; had been
the guest of distinguished public men, and a fa
vorite among the literati of our country —was
now turned off unfit for a deck hand on a steam-:
boat! yet intemperance had done this much.
I loitered about this city for several weeks, and
was sometimes engaged in posting up the books
of some dram-shop, for which 1 was paid in the
liquid fire, kept forthe accommodation of custom
ers. One evening I fell in company with a man
who had lately been lodged in jail for passing
counterfeit money. We played cards, and I won
from him the three dollar bill in question. The
next day I learned it was counterfeit, and did not
offer to pass it for some days. But at last I got
out ot all employment.—l had noother money. I
could meet no one who would ask me to drink. r
My appetite was like a raging fire within me. 1
could not endure it. I sought a dram-shop—of
fered the hill—it was accepted; and when found
a few houfs after by the oliiceis of justice, i was
beastly drunk.
The evidence of guilt was conclusive; and be
fore ruy brain was clear of intoxicating fumes, l
was lodged in jail to await my trial, i have not
detained the court with any hope or wish that
clemency would be extended to iny case. But
with a hope that iny example may be a warning
to other young men—that those who hear me may
when asked to nsocial game of cards, or drink a
social glass , think of my fate and refrain. They
may think themselves secure—they may believe
they can stop when they please, but let them re
member that I argued thus until 1 was lost. —
[Here the defendant sunk down and appeared to
be very much affected, and for a tew moments
silence reigDed throughout the court-house.]
At length the Judge, who is as much distin- i
guished for the qualities of his heart, as he is tor j
learning as a Judge, proceeded in a brief but ap- :
propriate manner to pass sentence upon the de- j
fendant, putting his punishment in the Peniten-1
tiary, down to the shortest time allowed bylaw.
Tapering Off.
We were much amused with the experience of j
a Washingtonian, given in at this place some'
time since, and going to show the advantages and
the pleasures of tapering off. We give it to our
readers with the belief that it will be one more
added to the already innumerable arguments,
which establish the fact, that the only possible
way lor the inebriate to reclaim himself is to
“ break right off.”
Our pledge prohibits the use of sweet cider
even, and with reason; for, we believe, that many
ol those who have fallen, have been betrayed by
relying too much upon the harmless nature of i
this beverage. Now we do not believe that there
is any more harm in the juice of the apples newly
pressed, than in the same quantity in the apples :
themselves; but the power of association is such, i
that it is dangerous for a reformed man to drink
even lemonade under such circumstances as to
suggest to him old habits and old appetites.
(Washingtonians beware of loitering about grog
shops!) Besides, how is a Washingtonian to
know in all cases that fermentation has not taken
place except by tasting, and that one taste may
prove his ruin.
The fact is, we are engaged in an “ insurrec
tion against the old King, and seem determined
to expel him our territory, and it will be inhuman
and foolish in us to separate his children from
him, and detain the Royal Youths among us,
vvhare they may grow strong enough in a short
timotorivetthechainsupon usagairi." No. Ban
ish the whole family together, say we, and be hu- I
inane, and prudent at the same time. But the
experience:
“ I could never go out on any public occasion,
or meet with my h on companions, without be
coming intoxicated. I determined to turn over
a new leaf, and resolved, that I would drink no
more ardent spirits, but whenever occasion re
quired, or appetite enticed, that I would substitute
some of the milder drinks. Soon after this reso- i
lution was formed, there was an election in the :
town in which 1 lived, A day of this kind had j
never passed away and left me sober; hut I was 1
determined that this should. The day was warm, j
and I thirsty, and as I had interdicted to myself!
ardent spirits only. I cast about in my mind to i
find which one of the harmless liquors I should
take. Philadelphia beer was offered at the bar
among o'her comforts, and as I had never tasted
it, I called for some. Considering it to be very
weak, and small, I look the worth of my money
and went away to feel better.
Mr. President, / had got sober after many a
hard spree, and thought that I had experienced
all the sufferings that could result from drink, hut
I took a lesson that day that was in advance of
any thing I had ever learned in the school of ar
dent spirits. I soon began to feel very uncomfor
table, and to experience a sensation new and un
accountable. 1 was not drunk. My ideas never
were clearer, and I could walk a mark then better
than I can now, or ever could. My nerves were
not affected, nor my stiength weakened ; but, on
the contrary, I seemed to possess the power often
men, and could, with difficulty, resist the disposi
tion to turn over all the houses within iny reach.
My face burned as if fire were spread over it, my
temples felt as if they had been sewed together
with shoemaker’s thread, and just at the pit of my
stomach, there was a little place, as large as the
end of my thumb, just as sick as it could be. I
went home to my work, but found that I could
not attend to it. I took a walk outinto the fields
but found no relief That same little, round es
sence of sickness stuck immoveable in the same
place. What was Ito do? I had considerable
skill, acquired by frequent practice, in ejecting
evil spirits that were restless within me; but I
exerted my skill in vain. 1 knew not what to do
l, ut ffi remain in that condition was plainlv out of
the question. An idea struck me. I went into
a grocery near my office, and told the dealer to
make n.e a Samson—which was a tea-spoonful of
every kind of liquor he had in his shop. This, I
look down with a determination to make myself
drunk or sober; hut four of these in succession
tailed to affect me any more than Cold water
would. Bv this time, sir, 1 began well nigh to
despair. 1 bought me a bottle of brandy,and locked
myself up in my office, determined to sweat it out,
and for three days and n ghts, sir, that little, ugly
sickness maintained its position, in spite of all the
spirited attacks I could make upon it.
Mr. President. I am thankful that I got off as
well as 1 did, and as long us I live, I shall never
meddle again with Philadelphia beer.”— Pcvticld
'remit. Banner.
It is stated that Mr. Williams, the celebrated
Western temperance iecturer, has obtained since
he joined the Washingtonians, thirty-jive thou
sand eight hundred and Jifiy signatures to the
pledge. Os the number nine were distillers, and
thirteen retailers of ardent spirits, and the bal
ance of all sorts, ranging from the temperate to
the most abandoned order of drunkards. If a
man deserves the title of a benefactor (or making
two spears of grass grow where hut one grew be”
fore, what should be said of one who has snatch
ed so many “brands from the burning”—who
has reclaimed so many of his own species from
the brutal slough of drunkenness. In the days
of the ancients he would have been proclaimed a
god.— Sn. Miscellany.
Krom the New England Fanner.
The White Ash a remedy lor Poisou.
In a communication in the New England far
mer a few months ago, I endeavored to call pub
lic attention to the White Ash. Whether any
person has been induced to try experiments with
it, I am not informed; but I have extended mv
inquiries, and obtained many important facts
1 lately conversed with a Baptist minister who
travels much in Virginia and Noith Carolina,
i He assured me that many people in these States
well knew the ratti'e-snakes and mocasin snakes
have the utmost dread of the White Ash, and
that it will cure those who are bitten by these
snakes He related many facts proving that per
sons had been cured when the effects of the poi
son had rendered them helpless, so that others
hud to apply the remedy, 't he bark or leaves is
chewed, and the juice swallowed, and also appli
ed to the wound; or if there is time, a tea may b«
made of the bqgk or leaves and drank freely, and
also used externally.
1 have obtained other proofs of its efficacy in
curring the bite of serpents, and of its preventing
their biting. lam now confident that many in
all parts of our country have some knowledge of
its virtues; and it seems surprising that they have
not been more regarded by our physicians. In
several medical works the subject is mentioned;
but 1 have found no physician or botanist who
has devoted much attention to it. One in Lowell
and one in Boston have promised to prepare med
icines from the White Ash, and to use them
when they have opportunity.
1 have recently had a case of poison from ivy,
I took a little branch of this valuable tree, and
cut up wood, bark, and leaves into small pieces,
and poured half a pint of hot water upon them,
and soon made a hot tea. I caused the patient to
drink about a wine-glass full of this tea, and to
bathe the poisoned limbs. The cure was nearly
complete; hut the dose ought to have been repeat
ed after an hour or less. I was satisfied that we
can, by this mode, control this species of poison;
but I am not able to say how it would effect cases
of poison from dogwood.
In this and my former communications I have
been careful to avoid expressing more confidence
in the virtues ofthe White Ash, than the facts jk
which have been collected will justify. And, w
even if I have erred in any case, I see not that
any can be injured by such experiments as will
lead to the whole truth. 1 have never heard that
any bad qualities belonged to this tree. I have
often swallowed the juice of its leaves and bark
after chewing them and no unpleasant effects have
resulted.
Afraid to Lem.
It is related that Galileo, who invented the
telescope, with which he observed the satellites of
Jupiter, invited a man who was opposed to him to
look through it, that he might observe Jupiter's
moons. The man positively refused, saying, “If
I should see them, how could I maintain my”opin
ions, which I have advanced against your phil
osophy 1 ?” This is the case with many. They
will not look at the truth; they will not hear it,
for (Jar that the arguments which they have
framed, will be destroyed, and they may be obli
ged to give up their vicious indulgences.
[No. 10.