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srrsfrvgsr r: im :.-rrra.y- tyisr-_r ~ » i cntertauvmc-utij. of ftia guests, displayed j tkgagce wliflltlity rejected ostentation. | li. dU these arrangements, Mrs. Wash- 1 ingloa was a second self. Her Friday ' evening levees at which she was always present, exhibited that perfect etiquette which nmrksthe intercourse of the digni fied and high bred. Commencing at seven, mid closing at ten, they lent no i more sanction to late hours than to levity. The first lady of the nation still preserved j the habits of early life. Indulging in no I indolence, she left her pillow at dawn, and ufler breakfast retired to her cham- j her for an hour, for the study of the j scriptures and devotion. This practice j it is said, during the long period of’halfa century, she never omitted. The duties of the Sabbath were dear to iier. The President and herself attended public worship with regularity, and in the even ing he read to her, in her chamber, the scriptures and a sermon. The spring of 1797 opened for them, the most pleasing anticipations. The • cares of high office were resigned, and j ttley were about to retire, for the remain- J der of their days, to the beloved shades of Mount Vernon. The now turf springing into fresh greenness wherever they trod, the vernal blossoms opening to receive them, the warbled welcome of the birds, worn never more dear, as wearied with the toils of public life, and satiated with its honors, they returned to their rural retreat, hallowed by the recollections of earlier years, and by the consciousness of virtue. But in two years Washington was no more. The shock of his death, after an illness of twenty-four hours, fell like a thunderbolt upon the bereaved widow. The piety which had long been her strength, continued its support, but her heart drooped; and though her cheerful ness did not utterly forsake her, she dis charged her habitual round of duties, as one who felt that tho “glory had de parted.” How beautiful and characteristic was her reply to the solicitations of the high est authority of the nntion, that tho re mains of her illustrious husband might be removed to the scat of government, and a marble monument erected to mark tho spot of their repose. “Taught by the great example I have had so long before me, never to oppose iny private wishes to the will of my coun try, I consent to the request made by Congress; and in doing this, I »-eed not, 1 cannot , say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty.” The intention of the Congress of 1799 has never been executed, nor the propos ed monument erected. The enthusiasm of the time passed away, and the many and conflicting cares of a great nation, turned its thoughts from thus perpetua ating his memory, whose image, it trust ed, would ever be enshrined in the hearts of a great peoplo. Scarcely two years of her lonely wid owhood were accomplished, ere the lady of Mount Vernon found death approach ing. Gathering her family around her, she impressed on thorn the value of that religion which she bad tested from her youth ouward to hoary hairs. Then calmly resigning her sou! into the hands of him who gave it, at the ago of seventy, full of honors, she wns laid in the tomb of Washington. In this outline of the lineaments of Martha Washington, we perceive that it was neither the beauty, with which she was endowed, nor the high station which she has attained, that gave enduring lus fre to her character, but her Christian fidelity in those duties which devolve upon her sex. This fitted her to irradiate her home, to lighten the cares, to cheer the anxieties, to sublimate the enjoy ments of him who, in the expressive lan guage of Chief Justice Marshall, was “so favored of Heaven, as to depart without exhibiting the weakness of humanity.” Tntr& Female Nobility. —Tho wo man, poor and ill-clad as she may be, who balances her income and expendi tures —who toils and sweats in unrepin ing mood among her well-trained chil dren, and presents them morning and evening as offerings ol' love to her hus band, in rosy health and cheerful clean liness, is the most exalted of her sex. Before her shall tho proudest dame bow !ier jeweled head, and the bliss of a happy heart dwells with her forever. If there is one prospect dearer than another to the soul of man—if there is one act more likely to bend the proud and inspire the broken-hearted, it is for the'smiling wife to meet her husband at the door with his host of happy children. How it stirs up the tired blood of an exhausted man, -when he hears the rush of many feet upon the staircase —when the crow and carol of their young voices mix in glad confu sion : a id the smallest mounts or sinks iuia his arms amidst a mirthful shout. God! there was a halo from every couu tca uicc that beamed around the group ! Thera was joy and a blessing there. There aie seven! if-eight old rumsellers in (hr Connecticut State prison. •grtwix.cj TIIE WASHINGTONIAN: AUGUSTA. JUNK 24, 1843. Washington Total Abstinence Pledge. We. whose names are hereunto annexed, desirous of forming a Society for our mutual beneft, and to guard against a pernicious practice, which is injurious to our health, standing and families, do pledge ourselves as Gentlemen, not to drink any Spiritous or Malt Liquors, Wine or Cider. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE. i Rev. W. T. Brantly, “ W J.Hard, “ C. S. Dodd, “ Gfo. F. PIEHCB, i Col. John Miu.kdof., CtJr We desire to say to our readers, on this visit of the Washingtonian, that we have nothing to do, and will have no thing to do, with any of the exciting subjects of the day, not directly connect ed with the known objects of this paper. | The promotion of the cause of Temper- j ance, and the diffusion of useful know- j ladge, at which we aim, are alike bene- j ficial and necessary to all, and the col-, lisions with others, resulting from de- 1 votion to these objects, will be met I cheerfully and fearlessly, in hope of there-1 : by effecting good ; but collisions arising 1 from other causes, we seriously depre cate, and most positively refuse to en- 1 ■ counter. Temperance is an indispensable pre requisite to the virtues which adorn hu- 1 man character and sweeten social life, j' and its prevalence should not be delayed ; by any thing calculated to excite oppo sition in any mind, or any class of eoci- i ety. Even the ranks of tho vicious should not be unnecessarily aroused against us. Their reformation is our earnest desire—our constant aim, butj whether it be a religious or a mere I moral reformation, it must of necessity j be preceded by the reform we plead, and therefore it is so important that the path leading to it should be clear of all ob stacles, and that the door thereof should 1 ever be wide open to welcome all comers. For reasons like these, we are determin ! ed to assume no position, nor engage in any controversy that might justly pro duce in any mind, a spirit of opposition to the Washingtonian enterprize. To the Ladies. —Like the ancient ; Knights of chivalry, the Washingtonians are seeking to relieve distressed damsels,; captivated, imprisoned, oppressed and; abused, by the degraded and unfeeling slaves of alcoholic potations. They have . entered tho lists with these tyrants, and ■ if cheered by your smiles, blessed by your prayers, and aided by your active j exertions, they will never desert them until your captivity is ended, your pris ons opened, and your rights acknowledg-; ed and sacredly regarded. If they suc ceed, and succeed they must, unless you fail them, your captivators shall love their captives with a heart unpolluted by a stronger love for rum, —your husbands’ faces shall not be disfigured with the signs of midnight devotions at the shrine ofßachus, —your sons, brothers, fathers, shall not exchange the divine image fori that of the brute, the human heart for that of tho demon, and the mind that lifts their eyes to heaven, for the instinct j of the swino that only leads, with eyes and heads to the ground, to the swill. \ If they succeed, and succeed they will,; they shall, unless you are recreant to the cause, your daughters shall in future be led to the hymenial altar by, lords of ; themselves and protectors of women, in stead of base slaves of appetite and cow ardly tyrants of the defenceless. Can we then appeal to you in vain ? We want your aid—at this moment we wish you to enter the field of labor as agents for the Washingtonian, to procure as many cash paying subscribers as pos sible. Remember, in laboring for it,, , vou are laboring for your sex—its digni- 1 ! 1 ty, peace and happiness. We would in conclusion call your at ■ | tention to the communication of our fair ! correspondent, “ Amelia,” and beg you, Dr. F. M. Robertson, Dr. D. Hook, S. T Chapman, Eeq. James Harper, Esq. nl*n»«rtfc ■r > —"rl»iir»w | individually, to imitate the magnanimous example she has promised for the sex. A Liquor seller’s eyes opened. — j A Fact. —Business or pleasure carried a merchant in the up-country. In his route, he lodged a night at a beautiful village, where he had one large customer in the articles of brandy, rum, gin, &c. Rising early next morning, he walked forth to enjoy the freshness of a most lovely morning, and to protract the plea sure enjoyed on the occasion, rather than I return into the house after his walk, he seated himself by the Court-house, in the | middle of the public square, from which point he could still keep within the range of his sight, one of the most romantic and interesting prospects ever beheld.— j His enjoyment was complete, until start- i led by the thought, that no one seemed j |o relish the healthful air nor the captiva ting scenery, but himself. He was alone —not another intelligent being was any where to be seen. 1 How is this?’ he said to himself; ‘where are the people? can I they be insensible to the charms of this, earthly paradise ? can they be such slug gards as to sleep to this hour of the day V j Perhaps, at this thought, some fears , crossed his mind, of the ability of his j I customer to pay him for his liquors, if i dependant for the means on such an in- j dolent population. However this may be, he had no fur-1 ther time to give expression to his mu- 1 sings, for suddenly his attention was arrested by wild, discordant and horrible j noises from the direction of the house of! | his liquor customer. Before he could; i form any opinion of its cause or object,; the door of the house flew open, and out i came or tumbled one over another, a j crowd of reeling, screaming, swearing, and fighting wretches. What a sight! What a contrast to the serene beauties of i the place ! One bleeding, wretched look ing demoniac, was particularly conspicu ous, —he was franticly running and stumbling from one to another, calling! | upon each to “sec him a fair fightbut j finding all too much occupied with their j own drunken rage and madness to heed j him, and seeing the merchant at the Court-house, he put ofi' to him with all the speed and directness that drunken- j ness, rage, and partial blindness from the blood over his eyes, would allow—crying out all the way, “ Come, sir, and see me a fair fight!” This was continued until he was immediately over the merchant, spitting blood upon his clothes, and mo mently endangering him with a tumble j upon his person. j This was enough!—the merchant was I thunder struck—appalled. He had fur nished the liquor—he had, for a trifling ; profit, been instrumental in converting J this thriving and happy population into j a horde of drunken demons!—he had ; changed this scene of quiet innocence into a pandemonium—a bedlam—a hell! i It was enough! One rum-seller was ' | cure d forever. Praise and thanks to j j God! He is now profitably employed j in a legitimate, useful and honorable bu- j j sincss. The Reprover effectually repro j ved! —At a meeting of citizens in one i of the towns of the sunnv South, assem bled to discuss the propriety of legislative ! prohibition of the retail of spirituous li-' quors, a wholesale merchant of a neigh j boring city, greatly edified the assembly j by an energetic argument in favor of the ! proposed legislation. His bold and truth | ful picture of the evils of this traffic, and the horrors and miseries resulting j from it, produced an impression so sol jemn as to be marked by a respectful ! pause in the discussion. After which, Dr. addressed the j assembly—acknowledging the justice of ■ the remarks of the last speaker, and sug gesting if legislation was indispensable !to arrest the practice, the propriety of extending it to the very root of the evil, j the whole-sale traffic in liquors. If the ! source was dried up, the streams flowing i from it would of necessity be dried up also. He said, a retailer could only do j mischief on a small scale, as he dealt out ! the poison in gill cups, tumblers, &c. ; whilst the larger merchant, his friend the last speaker, for example, dealt it out by : barrels, pipes and hogsheads—in fact, , : they supplied all the retailers throughout the land ; and to them therefore, should be ascribed, at least in part, the wide ; spread moral desolations his friend had so ably described.” He resumed his seat, amidst an inter- j est so intense as to be felt. But the mer chant was a “ whole-souled fellow,” as | Mr. Taylor would say, and instantly j ! arose and relieved the anxious feelings of j the assembly: i “Mr. Chairman,” he said, “I acknow ledge myself justly rebuked—l am grate- ■ ! ful to my friend for showing me the con nection between my barrels, pipes and i hogsheads, and the vice, poverty and misery that covers our land as with a j pall. As the only assurance I can give 1 of my sincerity, I now pledge myself at ; once and forever, to give up this traffic. j He was as good as his word. We have received the eighth number of “The Planter,” a weekly paper, published in Columbia, So. Carolina, by j Dubose & Johnson, and edited by J. J. ; Dubose. We shall be glad to exchange with its ! conductors, and take much pleasure in ! commending it to the favorable notice |of southern planters, as, both from its matter and neat mechanical execution, we think it will richly merit their patron age. To advance the prosperity of our country, nothing, unless it be the promo- j ! tion of temperance, can be more impor | tant than the improvement of agricul ; hire :—the value therefore, which we at tach to The Planter, from the columns of ; which, we confidently expect often to 'enrich our own with valuable materials j on this subject, may be readily apprccia i ted. From the Chronicle and Sentinel. The last Washingtonian contained a brief report of the first day’s proceedings in the trial of Wm. 11. Platt. In a con versation with some of the counsel for the defendant, the writer of that article has ! learned that strong exceptions have been 1 taken to the following paragraphs : “Our readers will remember the mur- j | der of Wm. U. Harding, by Wm. 11. j j Platt, which occulted in this city in j I March last. It produced deep excite-1 ment at the time, which has however j principally subsided. On Thursday last the prisoner was put upon his trial be fore his honor Judge Schly.” * * * “ It is to be regretted that two Jurors were found to have “formed and express ed opinions,” who nevertheless had an swered differently on their oaths. Can it J be possible that public justice will slum ber on and sutler such outrages to be per petrated within the very thresholds ofi her sanctuary ? We hope not. Every day’s experience serves but to confirm the conviction, that the law ought to be so changed as to transfer the 1 trial of all criminal cases to special Ju- j rors selected from the Grand Jury list— : under proper restrictions. It would be better for the innocent, as well as the ' public—men having a proper defence, j could rely upon the justice of their cause, j i whilst the guilty would not “goumvhipt |of justice” through the instrumentality of the corrupt and venal. To the first paragraph, it is said that the use of the term “ murder ” was calcu j lated to prejudice the defendant before ; the public in advance of a fair trial. The term, it may be remarked, was not used in its technical sense, (meaning the highest crime known to the law,) but j in the popular and general received sense I of killing ; but if it had been used in the former sense, it was the term under which the defendant was arraigned—and was sufficiently qualified by another statement in the article, viz : that the i defendant plead “ Not Guilty .” The 2nd paragraph, it is alledged, ' might be construed iuto a “ reflection j upon the Jurors sworn to try the case.” j This cannot be done in strict justice to the language used. But as this might be mistaken, it may be well to remem : ber that none of the Jurors, sworn to try ’ the case, “ wer e found to have formed | , and expressed opinions.” Two Jurors, ! however, who were sounded, were so ; found —the one by the Court, the other > by “ triers ” selected from the Jurors » sworn in chief—the one objected to on t the part of the State, the other on the ; pari of the prisoner. i Certainly, then, there could have been • no iutention tq prejudice the defendant , ior pre-judge his case—no partiality in t' the matter. The remainder of the paragraphs con tained merely an expression of opinion upon the general question of selecting jurors, and invoked such a change of the I laws upon that subject as would remedy the evils complained of, and prevent the ; recurrence of such circumstances in our courts of justice. This explanation is given merely be cause the Washingtonian is now edited by a committee of gentlemen, and the 1 writer of the article feels unwilling that ! the cause which the paper advocates I should be prejudiced by a popular excite | ment; or that the editorial committee i should be held responsible for the act of ! a single one of its members, who is alone ; responsible for the article, and who pen i ned it without consultation or advice ! from any quarter. It was inserted to give interest to the paper, which is now devoted in part to the communication of general intelli | gence. S. T. C. To the Editors of the Washingtonian : Gentlemen—l find upon inquiry, that the Editorial committee of the ‘Augusta Washingtonian’ is composed of married men, except one—and the public is there fore left to conclude, from good ground ■ of presumption, that all of you, except that “loneone,” have felt, and know something of the influence and power ! of woman. Therefore, I will not consume your time, by pointing out to you, the smile or the frown—the glance of the eye, or the stamp of the foot —the art and the man agement —and the thousand and one lit tle go-ahead principles essential to victory and success, which the gentler sex pos sess by nature. All of you understand very well: a more domesticated com mittee could not have been started—l mean, better behaved men at home. — And yet, notwithstanding your own ex perience, and the light derived from his tory on this subject, you have had the hardihood and temerity to make your j first appearance in a new dress, without ; knowing our tastes, or consulting our 1 opinions on these points on which your j success will depend. Now, if Mr. Jones | or Mr. Guieu had done such a thing, wo i could not have been at all astonished; I because they have no one to control or ! influence their movements. —there is no peg in their offices to hang* 4 Jur hat" or. I love to read Mr. J.’s paper —you dont tsee any of these everlasting duns, tor - : menting delinquent subscribers who wont pay up like honest men. The country is spared this unpleasant goaring, and the Editor, in his arm chair, is allowed to “ live, move, and have his being,” with u , tolerable degree of composure. Well, I then, what has saved Mr. J.—kept him ' from going down, broken-hearted, carc j worn, into an early grave ? Why, the cash system to be sure. And who told j him about the cash system ? Why, it I was a young lady; and it was a long time before this old bachelor would yield to her persuasion. At length he tried it, and has been getting on, as smoothly as my velvet cape ever since.—And she told him something else about the cash sys tern, which he has not said any thing about, but which I will tell to all of my acquaintances—it is this : Dont attempt to marry or to print on credit— cash is the only thing that can or will sustain the marrying or printing business —it is alike essential in either branch of indus try. Let me ask you married Editors, if you dont know that we can read—that we can judge of good reading, and that we hove tongues to tell where we get it. You know, that when you are out in the morning, at business, we can see nearly every lady in town—that we can praise or abuse, talk the same thing over often er, without missing a single word, and do more, in less time, than any of you can : you are well aware of the fact, also, that i when we combine and determine to carry ! out any measure, nothing, from a pistol |to a blunderbuss, can stop us in our object. Who finished the Bunkerhill Monument ?—Who has effected nearly | a complete re-organization m society ? | And in this place, this city of Augusta, our works are thick around you. We j have now on hand a project connected with the trade and commerce of the 1 State, that when carried out will eclinse