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THE WASHINGTONIAN:
AUGUSTA, JANUARY 21, 1843.
Washington Total JlbsUnence Pledge.
Wt, whole names are hereunto annexed, desirous
vs forming a Society for our mutual benefit,
and to guard against a pernicious practice,
■which is injurious to our health, standincr and
families, do pledge ourselvis as Gentlemen,
not to drink any
Spiritous or Malt Liquors, Wine or Cider.
Proceedings of the Washington Total Ab
stinence Society of Augusta.
Methodist Church, Jan. 10th 18-13.
The Society met at this lime, according to pre
vious notice. The meeting being organized the
minutes of the previous meeting was then read
and approved.
Mr. R. Watkins Lovett arose and addressed
the audience in a highly interesting and edifying
manner. He was followed by Gilbert Long
street, Esq. who related several of his soul stirring
anecdotes, which were received by the meeting
with great applause.
Invitations were then extended to those desir
ous of signing the Pledge, whereupon Twenty
gentlemen and Five ladies enrolled their names.
On motion, the meeting then adjourned to the
caH of the Secretary.
WM. HAINES, Jr. Sec’ry.
|-y A meeting of the Society will be held on
{Monday evening next, of which due notice will
I* given at the different churches.
J3r The Notice of the Temperance Conven
tion to be held at Clarkcsville, on the third Sat
urday in the present month, was received too late
fbr publication m our last No.
Keep things In their proper places.
In an adjoining county, a young man, who
was not a professor of religion, took the pledge
last year. During the Christinas holidays he
visited some of his friends who were professors;
at night they had prayers, but in the morning
they had a dram, and offered the poison to oui
WaAingtonian, who refused; alter‘the dram,
they had morning prayers, with the bottle and
glasses on the tabio with the Bible and hymn
book. “ Come," said our Washingtonian broth
er, “ take the bottle and glasses off the table, for
I do not think they ought to be on the same tabic
with the Bible."
Married, on or about the night of the 20th Dec.
by Wm. Doyle, Esq. Mr. Sion Elkins, aged 60
years, to Miss Rachael Davis, aged 14 years.
This novel and rather singular marriage took
place near Woodstock, about 11 miles from Au
gusta, the parties bound for Hymen were hasten
ing for an officer'o tye the conjugal knot, for
tunately met him on the road—the necessary at
tendants being present, the ceremony was per
formed—the difference in their ages was only 46!
For the Washingtonian.
remarks
On the relation between Intemperance and Crime,
BY I). L. R.
Mr. Editor—l have again taken up this sub
ject, (of which I gave a short sketch some time
ago,) and I shall endeavor, by giving proofs as 1
progress, to present the matter in a plainer light
to your readers than it has been heietotore done
through your paper. I shall reserve any com
ments until I get through with the evidence.
“ From the 24th Nov. to the 25th Dec., 1833,
114 persons were, for various crimes, committed
to the Albany (N. Y.) jail, 82 of whom were in
temperate, and 14 of the remaining 32 were
known to be free drinkers of ardent spirit.”—
Perm. Temp. Doc., vol. 1, Hep. 7, p. 60.
Os 643, who were committed to the House of
Correction in Boston, in one year, 453 were
drunka«]«. And the keeper states, that intem
perance is almost the sole cause of commitments,
and that he does not believe, there were ten
among the whole who were not intemperate !”
lb. p. 61.
*« In regard to the Criminal jail. I am induced
to believe that more than half of the prisoners
Ma*e been in the habit of indulging irt the exces-
sive use of ardent spirits, and probably more than
half the commitments’were caused by intemper
ance. - STEPEN BADLAM.
Boston, April 10,1834.”
Mr. Badlam was jailor for thirteen years.
“ HorsE op Correction, )
South Boston, April 7, 1834. J
(Extract.)
“•**** Os those committed by the
Police Court, which are as 3083 to 228, nineteen
out of twenty have delirium tremens.
CHARLES ROBBINS, Master.”
“Os 119 commitments, in 183-1, to the State
Prison in Charlestown, Mass., 100 at least were
occasioned by intemperance.”
“Ot 120 in the State Prison at Wethersfield,
Conn., more than 90 were intemperate.”
“0f647 in the St: te Prison at Auburn, N.Y.,
4G7 were decidedly intemperate; and of 134 in
the State Prison at Columbus, 0., only 36 even
pretended to be temperate men."— Perm. Temp.
Doc., vol. 1, Rep. 7, p. 64, and Ap. D. p. 449.
This is all the evidence I have before me at the
present time; bat is not that enough?—ls not
that sufficient to show that more than one half
(at the eery least) of the crimes committed in the
United States are committed by persons under
the influence of spirituous liquors? Isnotlhat
sufficient to show that if the use of intoxicating
liquors was abolished, half ot'the crimes commit
ted would tie prevented ? Ccr ainly it is; and it
becomes every mar in our country to use his ut
most endeavors to have the use of the poison
abolished. The eviJence given above is taken
from statements made in the years 1833-4, before
the temperance cause had fairly begun the giant
strides which it has since been making over every
portion of the United States. Suw, how is it?
have wc not cause for congratulation, that the
commission ofcridic is as much lessened in pro
portion as the converts to temperance have in
creased ?
The first person who, as a physician, recorn
mewled Alcohol as a medicine was Arnnldusde
Villa, in 130(J. It was called aqua vitae, water of
life, because they, judging from its immediate
conscqu ences, thought it a preserver of life.
Another old writer, in speaking of its peculiar
excellence, says, “ It will lurn, being kindled!"
Strange praise!
Alcohol is composed of o-rwun, carbon and hy
drogen, in the proportion of 11, 52, 34 parts to a
hundred, and which every Chemist knows is a
destructive poison. It works gradually, under
lain.ng the constitution, and going on, step by
step, until its vict mis brought to the grave. Out
of 204 cases of cholera in the Park Hospital,
(1832,) only fix were temperate, and they recov
ered, while 122 of the others djed. M. Huber,
who saw 2,100 jiersons perish in 25 days in a
town in Russia, says, “It is a most remarkable
circumstance, that persons given to drinking
have been swept away likejlies. In Tiflis, con
taining IXI,OOO inhabitants, every drunkard has
fallen —all arc dead--no< one remains!”
Since the above was written, in looking over
the last No. of “ The Washingtonian,”jny atten
tion was arrested by the remark? of the Editor
upon the cases of backsliding which have occur
red within a few weeks in Augusta. Itistothose
persons who have been unable to resist the temp
tation, that I would particularly address the fol
lowing questions:
Do you not know that by persisting in this evil,
your peace of mind will be forever destroyed, your
families brought to beggary, and yourselves to an
untimelv end.
Have you not seen evidence enough to con
vince you that by persisting in this vile course,
you will be degraded from the good opinion of
you in the minds of men, and be held by all
peaceably disposed persons as an outcast from
society 7
Do you not know that ardent spirit, as a drink,
isinjurious both to the body and the soul—that it
frustrates healthy action, deranges the mind,
promotes disease in its most malignant forms, as
cholera, makes the heart callous, blights the un
derstanding, and brings you to a premature
grave 7
With these facts before you, (for these are
facts,) how can you continue on in that course
which will inevitably cause all this misery and
disgrace 7 Are any of you so ignorant as not to
know the incalculable amount of injury you are
doing to yourselves, to your families, and to that
cais£ which you pledged your honor as Genllt
mcn to support 1 Can you cite an instance where
spirituous liquors, in any manner whatever, have
been of service to you 1 Do you often find an
old experienced physician who is a drunkard 7
Aip not spirituous liquors the chief causes of
crime, pauperism, and vice of every description ?
And finally, can you answer these questions so
as to lead one to believe that you are sincere in
thus maintaining, by your example, the necessity
of ardent spirits'?
I have been diverted from my original inten
tion to devote this article solely to the. subject with
Wffieh it is headed, from the wish to say a few
words to those persons who have been unable to
conquer their vicious apatites for the fell destroy- ;
er. But I hope in a short time to give to the 1
readers of “ The Washingtonian” some further
remarks on a subject which should be everyone’s
business to inquire into.
Augusta.
For the Washingtonian.
To the Medical Students:
Genti.f.mkn—ln assuming to myself the prero
gative of apjiealing to you, as members of one of
the most interesting pro essions in the world, —
and as individuals who are prompted by motives !
of the highest and (oiliest character, —I trust that ;
you will not attribute to me any other feeling j
than that which should every lover of
his species, a desire to p-omotectheir happiness.
We live in an age of improvement and moral re
form ; and as tile tide, which bears upon its broad j
bosom the harbinger of good, and pointing in the 1
future to a jubilee of from the thraldom of
sin and intemperance, it becomes etery man, who
loves his country—whose heart ever bums within
him when the songs of freedom burst upon his
ear, and whose arm is nerved to action, ami
whose eyes glisten with resentment at the suffer
ings of the oppressed and innocent—to stand forth,
fearless and undaunted, and throw himself as an
immoveable barrier against the sweeping tide of
devastation and death which has will nigh ruin
ed our country by intemperance. Genlcmen, 1
appeal to you, liecause of the influence you will
exert over communities among whom your lots
may be cast. The profession which you have
chosen, is one which will command respect for
the “ profession’s sake;” and you will be called
to commingle with all sects and conditions of
men—your council will he sought—your advice
asked—and your example imitated. Think not
that when you have visited the scenes of distress
where the fever burns and the pulse beats in ra- j
pid succession, and you administer tothe afflicted :
victim the healing balm, that then you have ful- ’
filled the duties of your profession. No, another j
picture may soon present itself for your aid, more !
appalling, and yet more distressing still: the poor
deluded inebriate, with eyes frantic with rage,
with brain frenzied by the po.soningdraught.and
a tongue belching out oaths against the God of
his existence, may seek your aid! But, is this
all! Would that it were the only scene which
might greet you, as you approached the weather
beaten and storm-iocked shelter, through which
pass the moaning winds, telling in sad and dis
tressful words the sorrows which dwell within
I sec you, in my imagination, as you approach
cautiously, and with a heart pregnant with sym
pathy, you enter the cell of the wild maniac, and
view his writhings and contortions of body, bis
prostration of mental and bodily faculties, his dis
regard for his friends, and hatred ot his own ex
istence —you pause, and in honesty of heart you
ask—" What hath done this? Why this great
loss to society and country—this destruction of
talents and ruin of the soul? Intemperance—
thou who Jiast blasted the star which once shone
brightly, but now lias set in night—thou who hast
caused this mourning, long will 1 hate. But,
you turn from the couch of him over whom per
haps you have wept in secret, —and another cur
' tain is drawn aside, and the dejected face ot her
who was once beautiful, hut now forlorn and
hopeless, meets your view--hope lias forever fled,
and the star of promise which once shone bright
upon her day, has withdrawn its rays, and
gloom and darkness hovers over the pathway of
life, with none to sympathize and none to pity,—
; no ear to witness her sighs in secret, but her
wretched destitute offspring, who in rags and
hunger look to her (but look in vain) for bread to
sustain sinking life. The worst is not yet told :
as you Withdraw to contemplate u|>on tliis un
comely picture, she follows you to the threshold,
and in broken and faultering accents, turns ano
i ther leaf in the sad history, and whispers in your
: ear, that the last crumb lias been consumed—
, that, he who should afford them necessaries of
life, has ceased to act a father’s part, and starva
: tion and death will soon lie their fate. Then,
: you will not only have to act as physician, but
often as provider .li d friend.
Gentlemen, I asshre you this is but one in
■ stance'of thousands resulting from the use of
intoxicating lquors—this ha> been drawn up as a
feint sketch of many which you, no doubt, in the
course of your practice, will have to meet. lam
confident your refinement and moral worth, ac
companied with your love of country, will urge
you to an investigation of this all important sub
: ject; and then, your better judgment will readily
dictate the proper course. Is it not a fact, well
established and defined, that no man is free from
danger if he once yields to the use of, even modcr
' ately, the intoxicating fluids Does not Chemis
try, as well as common sense, pronounce it a poi
son in no small degree 1 Does not the experience
iof every intelligent physician, who cares for
! the good of his fellow creatures, loudly proclaim
j its use as fraught with danger, and utterly unne
| eessary 1 Does not your criminal codes, your
I prison houses, your |'cnitentiarie« and gallows',
! tell a tale of sorrow in reference to it, which ages
could not unfold 1 None are free from its effects.
The sanctuary, where anthems are daily arising
to the Throne of God, is often clothed in the ha
biliments of mourning, and its worshipers made
i to weep tears of anguish, over some lamented
I member who lias perchance fallen hy the way
' side! Judges u|»n the bench, as well as gentle
men of the bar, have all alike, more or lefc, parta
ken ofthe same polluted fountain, and shared
! alike the attendant disgrace. The councils of
!y..ur country, where “Wisdom, Justice and
Moderation,” should reign predominant, has felt
the shock, ard confused |nd jumbled fates havo
I l>een sent forth upon the people, partaking largc
jlv ofthe spirit in which they were framed. And,
! alas, ton! our profession is not free from the
stigma— lnlcmpcrmct has ruined many who
promisor] much in the profession—the world I ok
ed up to them with delight, and hailed them as
messengers of peace to aching bosoms; but, in an
evil hour, the “ tempter came”—they received the
bowl—nature yielded to the charmer, and ruin
and death closed the scene. These facts, gen
tlemen, demand your attention. The sanctuary
may he polluted by it—judges and atturnic* ca
ress it— legis ators may clasp il as the richest
lioon, and l.fe may be prolonged; but, the physi
cian, under \\s effects, from derangement ofthe
j brain, may give the fatal dose, and hurry into the
| presence of Deity a soul unprepared, over which
he may, in after life, spend momenta of sorrow.
In conclusion, gentlemen, I leave these rcflec- '
tions with you; hut, in honor of the Institution
of which you are members, 1 would say, let itg»
forth to the world, as an ever memorable fact ,
that the Students of the present course, are the
'determined advocates of the Washingtonian
principles. A STUDENT.
I Agusta, Jan. 1843.
Mr. Iticliard P. Taylor’s Travels, con
taining a iull account of he progress of
Temperance, wherever he has lectured.
From Monticello, I went to Lawrence, Gwin
nette county.—This was one of the cruizes on
which 1 was accompanied by Capt. Shrrmon.
Lawrcncevdle, for the size of it, was a place of
considerable dissipation; I think it contained
four rum mills that were well sustained. The
opposition to the cause of total abstinence was
very rank here in consequence of the Fournoy
petition. We were several days i* Lawrence
ville before we could raise a breeze; but when
they did start they went witn a perfect rush—
nearly the whole town signed the pledge, and
amongst them there were two or three grog sel
lers. I believe the rum mills in that place are all
closed up. There was one of the biggest kind of
drunkards who signed, and his whole family fol
: lowed suit—he had a wife and seven or eight
children. This man w.rnld get drunk, neglect
and abuse Ins family in every way; sometimes he
: would undertake to whip his wife, but fortunate
! ly she was too much for him, and would thrash
him out; hut they do not fight any more now
since he has signed ihe pledge: besides, he is &
j mechanic, gets plenty ofwork todo, and of course
they are getting along well.
Another case, who signed the pledge in that
place, used to drink from 30 to 40 drinks a Jay—
it made him very sick to give up his cups,%nt he
is now well. During his dissipation he run
through about 10,000 dollars; he is a business
! man, and if he keeps his pledge, which I hope ho
will, he will soon gather up his crumbs again.
Another one, who a few years since was sent
to the Penitentiary, at Milledgeville. for an as
sault with the attempt to murder: he was pardon
ed after a few mon’hs. Os course, he got in this
difficulty when intoxicated; his liquor bill used
to average three or four dollars per week; ho
signed the pledge, and is now an active laborer in
the field