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VOL. I.]
THE WASHINGTONIAN.
PUBLISHED BY JAMES McCAFFERTY,
TWICE EVEHY MONTH.
Office on Macintosh street—opposite the Post Office.
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Richmond Couuty Washington Total Ab
stinence Society.
OFFICERS.
Dr. Joseph A. Eve, President.
Col. John Milledge, '
Hawkins Hupp,
Dr. F. M. Robertson, Vice Presidents.
Dr. 1. P. Garvin,
J. W. Meredith, 1
Wm. Haines, Jr. Secretary if* Treasurer.
MANAGERS.
James Harper, Wm. F. Pemberton,
John G. Dunlap, Wm. O. Eve,
Jesse Walton, A. Phillips,
E. E. Scofield, Dr. Benjamin Douglass, i
James Godbv, J. L. Mimms. ,
phrenology versus intemperance.
A LECTURE ON TEMPERANCE,
Considered Physiologically and Phrenologically,
or the Laws of Life and the principles of Ike
human constitution, as developed by the
sciences of Phrenology aild Phy
siology, if-c. if ‘c.
BY O. S. FOWLER, A. 8.,
PRACTICAL phrenologist.
[Continued.]
Dr. Vanoerburgri, of New l'ork, relates the
following fact. 'A patient of his by mistake took,
a preparation of potash, which gradually and in
about eighteen mouths, terminated his life. It
first neutralized his love of wife and child, before
very strong; next his anger, before ungovernable,
fell a pray to its ravages, and his ambition next,
whilst his still sound intellect, saw this gradual
destruction of his animal nature. He retained
his reason to the last. Volumes of analagous
facts might be adduced incontrovertibly establish -
ing, as a law of our nature, the proposition under
discussion, namely, that whatever stimulates the
body, thereby proportionally excites the merely
animal nature of man, and that in a vicious di
rection, whilst whatever weakens the body, there
by weakens the memory in general, ami also the
animal feelings. Beyond all dispute and contro
versy, this is a law of our nature, and a law, too,
from which there isrno appeal, and in the action
of which, no variation. Whoever violates it, !
must abide the consequences.
The inference then becomes obvious and pow-1
erful and inevitable, that alcoholic admixtures of
every kind and degree, by stimulating the body,
thereby powerfully excite merely the animal na
ture of man, and weaken his moral and intellcc-;
tual powers, the very conditions which constitute 1
a brute. And tbc fact that his animal organs
are several times larger and more active than
those of the brute creation, renders him when
stimulated, so much the more of a brute than they
are. No more can any human being take alco
holic liquors in any form or degree, without pro
portionally inducing this result, without thereby
brutalizing his nature, without degrading his i
manhood below his bcasthood, and subjugating
the former to the latter, thus reversing the order!
of his nature, than he can “ carry coals of fire in
his bosom and not be burned. 1 ’ As soon will any
other law of our nature fail to do ample justice as
this. As soon will the deadly poisons become
harmless, or the water slide up the inclined plane
<ff itself, as alcoholic stimu'ants fail to produce ani
mality, and to weaken the moral feelings. Nor is
there any middle, any moderate ground. Every
identical drop of alcohol has its legitimate, its stim
ulating effect upon the nerves, and thro’them upon
the organs of tne amimal propensities. As far as
it goes at all, just so far it goes towards making a
man a brute, aye, and even worse than a brute;
for as it requires a fallen angel to become a demon
—a tall, arch- angel to become the prince of devils
. —so the higher man ranges in the scale of being,
the lower alcohol sinks him. As the greater any
gift or blessing is, the worse it become when per
verted ; as connubial love and faithfulness are
among the highest of virtues, and productive of
the purest enjoyment, and as licentiousness is the
vice of vices, and attended with consequences the
most painful; as reason, God’s crowning gift to
man, when perverted, becomes a proportional in- i
strument of evil and misery, so man, brutalized,
becomes vastly lower, vastly worse than a brute,
and proportion ably more miserable.
TOTAL ABSTINENCE ADVOCATE.
AUGUSTA, GA. SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 1843.
Let it here lie distinctly understood and remem
bered, that whatever contains alcohol, be it the al
coholic drinks as such, namely, rum, gin. brandy,
cider brandy, whiskey, &c., &c., or be it any of
the wines, foreign or domestic, he it malt liquors,
strong beer, porter, ale, hard cider, vinegar, one
and all, everything containing alcohof in any
form or degree, is productive of this result in just
that proportion in which it contains this powerful
stimulant, this deadly poison. It is the stimula
ting property that does the mischief. By ta
king pure alcohol as our basis, and apply
ing the rule of three to the amount contained in
the several kinds ofstrong drinks, we can decy
pher the amoumt of bestiality produced by each.
A single glass will stimulate a little, two glasses
will double this result, and so on to beastly drun
kenness. Iften glasses of rum or brandy per day
will make a man a brute, then will one glass a
day make him one-tenth of a brute. And if wine,
or beer, or malt liquor, or hard cider contain one
fourth, or one-sixth, orone-tenth, as much alco
hol, in that proportion will ihey severally induce
this same result, and four, or six, or ten times as
much of these liquors produce this result in the
same degree, because, mark well the ground of
this inference, every glass, every identical drop,
stimulates, and every minute degree of stimu
lant proportionably kindles the animal passions.
W HOEVER, THEREFORE, TAKES ALCOHOLIC STIMU-
I LANTS IN AN/ OF THESE FORMS, OR IN ANY OTHER
FORM OR DEGREE, THEREBY AROUSES HIS ANIMAL ,
PASSIONS, AND WEAKENS HIS MORAL ANDINTELLEC- |
tual powers, just in pmopoht.on to the amount j
| TAKEN.
This principle harmonizes with and fully ex !
plains the phenomena of drunkenness. Beyond
all question, and in all instances, drunkenness
certainly destroys the moral feelings, and weak
ens the intellect, whilst moderate drinking low
ers them in proportion to the stimulus taken, as
| surely as cold sinks the thermometer.
That alcoholic drinks powerfully excite Ama
tiveness, which is located in the very base of the
brain, is a universal fact. The vulgarity, and
obscenity, and licentiousness occasioned by them,
are proverbial. Who ever saw a drinking party
that were not indecent in their allusions, given
to the relation of obscene anecdotes, and to the
singing of lewd songs, if not to the company of
harlots 1 Hence, in England, when the wine is
introduced after dinner, modest women always
retires, because she knows that by remaining, her j
delicacy will be shocked. Wine or ardent spirits
of some kind is ‘indispensable to any and every j
debauch. Why are harlots universally drunk- \
ardsf Let this principle answer. These drinks
drown the voice of conscience, blunt modesty, !
stifle the claims of morality, of intellect, and of!
virtue, whilst they whirl its guilty victim on in
her sensual career ot merely animal indulgence. !
A man or woman, be they ever so moral or virtu- j
cus, when under the influence of intoxicating
drinks, is of easy virtue. Before the first advan- j
tage can be taken of a virtuous woman, she must
be partly intoxicated, and the advantage can be j
taken of almost any woman when thus stimulated.
And if this is the fact of virtuous, modest woman,
what is the fact of less virtuous man ?
The drinker’s (not drunkard’s) combative or
contending propensity, is also .unduly excited.
So combustible is his anger, that he takes fire at
every little thing, and more hard feelings, broils,
fights and duels are engendered by ardent spirit,
than by all other causes united. Who ever saw
men fight unless they were excited by liquor 1 or
who ever saw men in liquor, who were not easily
angered, and “ all fit for a fight 1” Byron says
that stimulants always rendered him “ savage !
and suspicious.”
Alcoholic drinks also stimulate Destructive
ness, or the bitter, hating, revengeful feeling;
and hence drinkers will caress their wives and
children one minute, and beat them the next.
More murders are caused by the stimulating in
fluences of ardent spirit, than by all other causes
combined. Let the calenders of crime testify on
this point. Hence, also, intoxicated men not
only rail, curse, break, destroy, vociferate, and
threaten vengeance more than when they are not
intoxicated, but it is then that any old grudge,
otherwise long since buried, is raked up, and dire I
vengeance sought and obtained; and generally a
human being can screw up his Destructiveness
to the sticking point of murder, and screw down
his Benevolence and Conscientiousness below
the remonstrating point, only, or at least most ef
fectually, by ardent spirit.
It is the excessive exercise of the animal pro
pensities which subjects criminals to the penal
ties of violated civil law. It is mainly by drink
ers that our courts are supported. Let our intel
ligent lawyers, let our judges, sheriffs, justices,
&c. &c. answer the question, “ Does not most, if
not nearly all of your criminal business have its
origin in drinking'?” But in case alcoholic drinks
did not excite the merely animal passions, or in
case they equally stimulated the inoral faculties,
OR,
or especially if they stimulated the moral senti
ments only, this slate of things would be revers
ed, and drinking would render mankind more
virtuous instead of most vicious.
This principle explains the fact that alcohol
often renders a good man areal demon incarnate.
So long as the moral and intellectual organs pre
dominate, no matter if the animal propensities
are vigorous. If duly governed, the more the
better, for they impart force. When the two
are about equal, with the moral in ascendancy,
and the animal not stimulated, all goes right; but
a little stimulant will turn the scales, and thus
render a really good man a vcry bad one, But
mark well the converse: it never renders a bad
man a good citizen, nor an immoral man virtuous,
because it never stimulates the moral and intel
lectual faculties more than the animal feelings.
This general principle explains the reason of
the custom of drinking grog with a friend, in
stead of drinking, or doing, any thing else. As
Adhesiveness, or the organ of friendship, is loca
ted in the base of the brain, ardent spirit warms
it up to vigorous action, thus augmenting the
flow and intensity of friendly feeling, and hence
you will often see those who are halt-slued, hug
ging and caressing each other. In case it exci
ted friendship alone, it would do little injury, per
haps good, but as it inflames the other animal
passions also, drinkers will be the warmest of
friends one minute and the bitterest of enemies
the next, producing that irregularity which we
have already shown to constitute vice.
Philoprogenitiveness, or parental attachment,
is also located in the lower portion of the hind
head, and hence the half-intoxicated father, will
foolishly fondle his hoy, talking to him all sorts of
nonsense, to be followed up by a cruel beating,
thus destroying even-handed government, and
spoiling the lad. Liquor excites conversation,
because Language is in the lowest part of the
forehead; but as the reasoning organs, which
manufacture ideas, are in the upper portion of the
forehead, and therefore not only not stimulated
but actually weakened by it, the drinker talks,
talks, talks, all the time, but says nothing. He
talks words only, not ideas. How foolish, how
destitute of sense and reason, of thought and re
finement, is the conversation not only of drunk
ards, but of those who stimulate only moderately!
Witness bar-room conversation. A Byron, half
intoxicated, may indeed write his Don Juan, and
like productions, may compose poetry mostly ad
dressed to the passions of men; but no one in
this stale ever wrote a Paradise Lost, a Thom
son’s Seasons, a Locke on the Human Under
standing, Brown’s Mental Philosophy, or Ed
wards on the Will. A Pitt, a Fox, a Sheridan,
not to name cases in our own country, may be
eloquent when partially intoxicated, yet their
eloquence will be characterized by sarcasm, se
vere invective, denunciation, declamation, hyper
bole, narration, and a remarkable flow of words,
&c. ; rather than by argument, or profundity, or
clear deductions, from first principles, nor will it
be freighted with rich ideas. But before alcohol
can produce eloquence, a quality far inferior to j
reasoning power, the individual requires a pecu
liarity oftemperainent and phrenological develope
ments not found in one man in millions; while it
will destroy that ofall the balance.
Again: over-excitement produces that confu
sion which prevents the advantageous exercise of
one’s powers; and alcoholic drinks by surcharg
ing both the muscles and- hfain with excitement,
prevent the even, equable;'harmonious and ad
vantageous expenditure of that strength, both
mental and physical, which is t.hu3 unnaturally
called forth.
In passing, we will add that the fall of our first
parents was caused by their eating what they
should not. This indulgence of Alimentiveness
led the way for the ingress of every other vice.
Virtue, vice and intellect depend more upon what
we eat and drink, than upon almost any other |
cause. A depraved appetite inflames and diseases j
the stomach; this corrupts and inflames the
blood, which, by fevering and exciting the body,'
thereby stimulates the animal propensities and
weakens the moral and reasoning powers. This
is particularly true of alcoholic drinks.
These drinks are sometimes taken to drown
trouble, but we see that they are particularly cal- j
culated to augment it, except that of a guilty con- j
science, which they do indeed drown.
Having clearly shown that alcoholic drinks
produce vice by stimulating our merely animal,
and weakening our higher, nobler powers, we
reverse the principle, and observe that they cause
vice and misery, secondly, by paralizing these
organs. These drinks produce vice, first, by in
flaming Amativeness and producing licentious
ness, and secondly, bj* deadening connubial and
parental love, thus unfitting him for discharging
his obligations to his family, and leaving them a I
prey to the ungoverned fury of his Combativeness j
and Destructiveness, besides destroying all the j
enjoyments growing out of the healthful exercise ;
of the domestic feelings. Accordingly, tho mod
erate drinker forsakes the virtuous and delightful
fire-side for the bar-room, while the drunkard in
humanly beats or murders his wife and children.
The moderate drinker's Combativeness and
Destructiveness are stimulated to fighting and
revenge, while those ofthe drunkard are so dead
ened that he will not af)4 cannot lake the part of
his family, nor even of himself, so that a little
boy may impose on him with impunity. He has
no moral courage, and is so irresolute that he can
overcome no obstacle, and effect no difficult ob
ject. The moderate drinker’s Acquisitiveness is
over-stimulated, and he is for driving a bargain,
yet his intellectual organs being weakened, he
gets cheated, or else a few glasses make him as
rich as Croesus, whilst the drunkard’s love of
property is gone. Hence he has no industry, no
economy, no forethought to lay up for to-morrow’s
wants, and thus squanders his all for liquor, even
to the bread out of his children’s mouths, and the
clothes from his wife’s back. This principle ex
plains how it is thai alcoholic drinks always scat
er their devotees’ property to the winds.
Whilst they inflame the moderate drinker’s
self-esteem and love of approbation, producing
boasting, bragging, haughtiness, swaggering, a
self-conceited egotism, &e., they eventually an
nual all sense ofcharacter, all self-respect, and all
regard for his repetition, which constitute the
strongest incentives to virtuous and praiseworthy
actions, as well as restraints upon vice and self
degradation. At first, he is mortified beyond
description if seen intoxicated, afterwards he
cares not a farthing for his credit nor his word,
for his honor nor anything said for or against him
or his family, is dead to shame, destitute of digni
ty and manly feeling, and associates with those
to whom he would before have scorned even to
speak.
these organs of ambition always com
bine with the other organs that are most active.
Combined with Conscientiousness, they give the
highest regard for -'oral character, and tor cor
rect motives; with intellect, a desire for reputa
tion, for learning and talents; with Ideality, for
good taste, good manners, &c.;. but combined
with Combativeness, for being the best wrestler,
the best fighter, &c.; with the other animal pro
pensities, for being first in their indulgence.
Hence, as already seen, since alcohol weakens
the higher organs but stimulates the animal pro
pensities, and also the ambition, the two combin
ing render him emulous of being the most licen
tious, the greatest fighter, or wrestler, or drinker,
or swearer, the most vulgar, &c.; but never of
bcinggoodor great.
In Easton, Md., in Jan. 1840, the author saw
two young men vie with each other, as to who
could drink the most grog, no very uncommon
thing among drinkers. The next day one of
them was a lifeless corpse. Now why does the
ambition of the drinker (not of the drunkard, for
he has none,) descend to the animal passions, in
stead of ascending to the moral and intellectual!
This principle contains the answer. Thus alco
hol first over-excites the moderate drinker’s am
bition, only to direct it to animal objects, and then
deadens it, rendering him doubly wicked both
ways, and of course proportionably miserable, as
seen in proposition 111. .
It equally destroys his firmness and powers of
will. He/Smotcs the right, intellect being less
deadened, and yet pursues the wrong, having lost
all self-government. Conscientiousness may re
monstrate, but to no effect, because located too
far from the body to be proportionably stimulated.
Religious feeling may lift up her warning and
persuasive voice, and firmness say no, but with
out effect, because they are in the same predica
ment. Alcoholic drinks destroy the balance of
power, first by stimulating them to excess, and
then by deadening them, thus being a two edged
sword, cutting the cords of virtue and happiness
both ways.
It may be objected thatif alcohol stimulates the
animal propensities when they are weak, it is
good. I answer, better have them too weak than ,
too strong. When too weak, it is because the
body is feeble and must be strengthened, not by
merely stimulating the body, but by invigorating
the health.
It may also be added, it is the character of the
stimulant that does the main mischief! Thus
fresh air and exercise are stimulants, and al
though they brace the body, and thereby give tone
and vigor to the animal organs, they excite them
in a healthy manner, and not in a morbid direc
tion; whereas there is something in the kind of
stimulus which impels these faculties onward in a
morbid, illegitimate, unnatural and vicious direc
tion. In regard to the different kinds of stimu
lants, one broad line of demarkation should be
drawn between natural and artificial excitement.
The reader has now before him one of the main
thoughts of this lecture. Would to heaven I
had the combined eloquence of a Clay, a Web
ter. and a Brougham, together with a thousand
No. 20.