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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