Newspaper Page Text
AUGUSTA WASHINGTONIAN.
vw - w ' vw\w» vwvwvi\v%>\ W %w\wiwv\wuw\ww»\vw\vw\ w\\v\v' w\\M^^ Mv^MV|> . l^I . wxnuaui
© ®l?si s&mUp swi • t® &smms&uw 9 iJgiri&mlUimi?sl k «
Vol. IL]
- -
£{ir S^.iJhuifjtonttiu
“WILL BS PUBLISHUD EVERY SATURDAY
MOR.YIXO, BY
JAMES MsGAFEERTY,
At the low price of one dollar pf r annum, for
a liin'rie subicriber. f ve dollars for a club of
j B!X, or ten dollars for a club of twelve sub-
I scribera —payment, in advance.
All Oo n nuoicalions, by mail, aililresseil to the
publisher, must be post paid to receive atten
i tion. By the rules of the Post-Offi :e Depart
ment, Post misters may frank subscription
miney for Newspap -rs.
Advertisements) will b ■ inserted at the follow
ing re.iuce.J rates:—For one square, not <tc
ceedino twelve lines. 50 cents for the first
insertion, and twenty-five cents for each enn
tinumce, if published weekly, if semi-monthly
37J ; and if monthly 43| cents, tor each con
tinuance.
Yearly advertisers 10 per ct. discount.
Dec at-r, Ga. July 12th, 1843.
Editors Washingtonian :
We enclose for publication the Oration pro
nounced by \V. H. Dabney, Esq. i n the 4th inst.;
it being the first anniversary of the Decatur To
tal Abstinence Society.
The committee deem it unnecessary to detail
the minor proceedings and arrangements of the
day, all of which are matters of course, and con
sequent accompaniments of ail like celebrations.
The Presbyterian Church was crowded to
overflowing. Two original p'.eces were sung by
1 the Choir.
The insignia of the banner is a huoe pitcher,
wi»h the inscription “ Cold Water," surmounted
with the motto “ Hold fast that which is good."
The committee subjoin the answer of Mr.
Dabney, to their note.
Df.catck, July 7th, 1843.
Gentlemen —ln compliance with the request
contained in your nofp ot the 4t‘i instant, I place
in your hands a copy of the address which 1 de
livered upon that occasion before the Temperance
Society at this place.
W.Vr. H. DABNEY.
Messrs. Wm. Ezzard, John W. Fowler, Levi
Willard, 1.. C. Simpson, R. M. Brown, T. B.
George—Ex. ComimtUe.
AD DUES'*.
Fei.low.Citize.ys
Since wc first cleared our intention
to separate flwin the mother country,
sixty-seven yeftts have gone by, attended
with the various vicissitudes of peace and
war—of prosperity and adversity, through
which every infant community seems
doomed to pass. Like the ship that is
tossed hy the winds and waves, we have
been disturbed by foreign foes and do
mestic discontent. But as the course of
the vessel is smooth and rapid after the
violence of the storm is passed, so is our
history marked by an unexampled degree
of national and individual prosperity.
The dense forest, beneath the deep and
solemn shade of which the Indian was
accustomed to roam, has been felled by
tiie axo of the woodman, and the shrill
war-whoop that affrighted tho inhabit
ants of the wood, has been superseded by
the merry song of the ploughman. Bv
the hand of industry the wilderness has
been made to blossom as tho rose, and
the murmur of the stream as it went dan
cing on it 3 way amid rocks and shoals,
has been hushed in the noise of machine
ry. Upon the bosoms of the many ma
je-itic rivers that adorn and beautify the
country, the sails of commerce have been
unfurled, and are now wafting to distant
climes the products of a highly fertile!
soil. By the spirit of enterprise, hills and
mountains have been levelled, and the
chain almost completed by which nature
seem 3 to have intended to connect the
extremes of the country. Upon the ruins
of the wigwam institutions of learning j
have been erected, and the muses now.
dwell amid the roaring cataracts, sighing
groves and murmuring cascades, where
once the untutored Indian was accustom
ed to commune with the great Spirit.'
By the control which has been acquired
over one of the subtlest agents, distance
has been almost overcome, and the moun
tains brought into familiar intercourse
with the sea-board. The grand and pic
turesque scenery of the country has been
graphically delineated by the pen of ge
nius, and the hidden beauties of nature
brought to light by the marching eye of
philosophy. The rich marble that lay
concealed beneath the surface of the
ground has been extracted, and had im
parted to it an almost living beauty by
the chisel of the artist. The portals of
knowledge having been thrown open alike
to the rich and the poor, the character of
agricultural and mechanical pursuits has
been elevated, and they now receive at
tention as interesting fields for scientific
research and investigation. The absurd
doctrines that fetter tiie energies of the
mass of the people in the old world find
ing no place in our institutions, every
branch of national and individual inter
est has been favored with a success une
qualled in the annals of the past. A
consideration, therefore, of tho causes
from which have resulted such happy ef
fects, and of the means by which they
may be perpetuated, cannot fail to awa
ken emotions suited to the occasion upon
which we have assembled.
To look back through the vista of the
past, and observe the trials and difficul
ties through which the country has pass
ed, its rapid progress seems less indebted
to human effort than to an agency divine.
To escape from an atmosphere poisoned
by the spirit of persecution, our pilgrim
fathers left their ancestral halls, and
braved the dangers of the deep lo find a
home in the forest of the new world.—
Here, in the wild woods, they sought re
fuge from the corruptions of the old world,
and exposed themselves to dangers and
difficulties, in order to enjoy the privi
lege of worshipping God according to the
’ dictates of their own consciences. In
the rights and privilege claimed by the
I first settlers, we discover the germ of the
. free and liberal principles that character
ised at a later period the contest between
the Colonies and the Crown of England.
> The British government becoming jeal
, ous of the increasing prosperity and
growing importance of the Colonies, en
, ileavored by arbitrary legislation topara
-1 lyze the energies of an active and enter
prising people, and to subdue the bold and
. daring spirit that had driven the savage
to his hiding place. But the minds of
the people being pervaded by a spirit of
t liberty, as irrepressible and elastic as the
■ air they breathed, they girded on their
- armor and determined to resist the first j
• approach of tyranny. Being untrained I
to the art of war, and having an enemy
superior in number and discipline to con- j
1 tend with, the success of the Colonies !
• seems more atlributable to the justice of
(heir cause than to physical strength.
Since tho termination of that memora
ble struggle Which resulted in the triumph
of liberal principles, our progress has not
1 been without interruption. Party spirit,
. that bane of all free institutions, has well.
I nigh defeated tho successful operation
I of a political system which is without a
parallel in the annals of the past. But
1 the saving spirit which seems to have
1 attended us as a tutilarv divinity calmed
the raging passions and caused sober re
flection to triumph over blinded zeal.
'Phe tendency of republican institutions
to develope the social, physical and intel
i lectual energies of man, is not onh ex
emplified in the progress of our own
country, hut in tho prosperity ihat has
marked the history of other nations. Far
back in the history of the past, we discov
cr nations rising, under the influence of
liberal principles, to greatness and glory.
As the vegetable kingdom is refreshed
! and enlivened by the evening dew—so
! are the social, physical and intellectual
energies of man quickened by the influ
ence of mild and liberal institutions.
Like an extensive waste, the world,
under the operation of the absurd doc
trine that man was created for govern
ment, and not government for man, of
fers not an object to engage the evo or
cheer the heart. As darkness is conse
| quent upon the going down of tho sun—
i so is slavery, the most abject, the result
; of tho false notion that kings sit upon
their thrones by virtue of rights divine.
On looking into the history of the past, it
is only when a community blessed with
Iree and liberal institutions is observed,
j that man i 3 seen in his true character.
Fettered by the chains of despotism, he
exhibits only such feelings and inclina
tions as belong to the brute ; but being
j excited to enterprise and activity bv the
! influence of liberal principles, he bounds
from earth to heaven, and finds out the
laws that govern in their courses distant
worlds.
More withering, by far, than despotism,
is the influence of alcohol upon the phys
ical and intellectual energies of man.
As the eagle, deprived of its wing-feath
ers, is prevented from an escape into the
atmosphere, so is the mind of man bound
to earth by the influence of alcohol.—lt
disorders the imagination, makes dull the
perception, and weakens the judgment:
indeed, it deranges and enfeebles the ac
tion of that cluster of faculties, the heal
thy exercise of which throws such a halo
around the character of man. By its :
withering influence, the light that shone; 1
from the seven hills upon which rested j 1
the mightiest empire of olden times was
extinguished,and “ darkness covered the 1
land, and gross darkness tho people. 1
For near a thousand succeeding years '
the world slumbered in ignorance and 1
superstition, and not an influence opera- <
AUGUSTA, GA. SATURDAY, JULY 22, 1843.
- »
ted upon the soul of man, save a desire to
gratify immediate wants. This long
night of intellectual darkness in the his
tory of man, resulted from the effeminacy
produced in Roman character by the ex
cessive use of wine. Man’s energies,
during this period, being bound up by the
chains of despotism, industry languished
and knowledge and learning disappeared,
leaving him a fit companion far the beast
of the forest. But as the soul of the
mariner, whose bark has been tossed to
and fro’ by the winds w.. ves on a dark
and stormy night, is cheered by the faint
twilight that precedes the rising of the
sun, so is the heart of the philanthropist
gladdened by the dawning of the doc
trines in the beginning of the sixteenth
century, that were to dissipate the thick
mist of ignorance and error, and to raise
man to his proper place in the scale of
existence. The invention of the art of
printing, and the revival of letters which
had previously taken place, constituted
powerful auxiliaries to the success of doc
trines with which was identified the fu
tore interest and happiness of mankind.
The only weapons used by Luther and
his associates in propagating the doc
trines for which they contended, were
reason and persuasion. But ignorance
having recourse to the sword, as had ever
been its custom, markedhts progress with
ruin and desolation. The reformation
constitutes an interesting period in the
world’s history: It ii the source to
which may be traced at interesting con
test between liberal jmd enlightened
principles on the one hand, and ignorance
and error on the other. An active spirit
of enquiry having becni awakened in the
minds of the people, kings and priests
used their utmost endeavors to suppress
| it, lest it might result in an overthrow of
| established systems, Consequent upon j
which would take place a diminution of
regal and ecclesiastical authority. But i
a perception of the evil tendencies of civil j
and religious despotism, together with a;
proper notion of their unhealthy influ.
enccupon individual happiness and pros
perity, having been aw akened in the j
minds of the oppressed of Europe, they J
braved the dangers of the sword and ter.
rors of the inquisition. Indeed, from the j
clash of swords and tortures of the rack, j
were evolved inanifestfitions of a spirit]
as uncontrolable as the electric fluid.
Though death and sorrow followed in
the wake of the convulsions that were
consequent upon the struggle that theu
commenced between ignorance and error,
and liberal principles, yet the latter in
every contest gained a vantage ground
from which was derived increased
strength and vigor. As the stream that
winds its way beneath the surface of the
ground, occasionally rising to view and
then disappearing, increasing in size and
velocity as onward it flows, until it dis
charges itself into the broad ocean—so
had liheral principles been gradually
gaining ground, until their final triumpn
in the United States. Upon thoerouch
ingof the lion of England at the feetofi
the American eagle, liberal principles as-1
sUmed a position defensive, instead ofj
aggressive. They have now to defend
and protect themselves against the insidi- i
otis attacks of tyranny and despotism, i
Their only comrade is virtue, and their
only weapon intelligence. But their
enemies, tyranny and despotism, call to
' their assistance vice and immorality—
and in order to give courage to their as.
sociates and point to their weapons, they
exhort to intemperance. The use of ar
tificial stimulants is coeval with the exist
ence of civil society, and the evil> to
which they give rise, are coeval with
their use. The art of extracting wine
from the grape in countries where the
vine flourished, ranks among the earliest
discoveries of the human mind ; and in
countries not favorable to the growth of
the vine, such was the fertility of man’s
genius, as to discern means by which
stimulating liquids could be obtained from
other products. Such was the high re
pute of wine among the ancients, and
their fondness for it, that they appropria
ted to it a tutelar divinity, in whose ser
vice drunkenness constituted the chief <
exercise. The baleful effects resulting 1
from the use of wine having been observ- j
ed by Mahomet, he forbade it to his fol
lowers ; and such was the care of the
ancient Carthagenians for the public
morals, and their fear lest they might be
undermined by the influence of wine, i
that they were accustomed to exhibit in
the public streets a drunken slave in i
order to inspire the minds of the youth
with disgust and contempt for the vice.
Indeed, in the better days of the Roman i
empire, such was the contempt with I
which the vice of drunkenness was view,
ed, that the soldiers, as they passed by the
unfortunate individual, who in a fit of
intoxication suspended himself upon a
tree, were accustomed to exclaim, “ there
hung 3 a bottle of wine.” The after de
generacy in Roman character resulted
from the excessive use of wine. Indeed,
wine was the canker that consumed the
very vitals of the Roman empire. That
social and political interest advance in
proportion to the progress of liberal prin.
ciples, is established by a consideration
of the difference that now obtains in the
condition of the several nations upon the
eastern continent. As the eye is an index
to the soul of man—so is the constitution
of a country an index to its condition.
On looking into the nature of the Eng
lish government, we discover a beautiful
admixture of monarchy, aristocracy and
democracy. Instead of receiving privi
leges as a boon from the government,
the people assert their rights in the
House of Commons, and in default of
audience the government is disabled from
performing its functions. Hence,, life
and energy are given to individual indus
try and enterprise, in consequence of
which the interest of the country has ad
vanced, and now it b England’s boast,
that upon her dominions the sun never
sits. But in other countries, where the
absurdities of the dark ages still prevail,
and where the voice of the people is not
heard in the council chamber, poverty j
and distress mark the condition of the j
inhabitants. Nor is the contrast in a
moral and intellectual point of view less
striking. Upon the seagist isle, the sun
of knowledge shines with meridian splen
dor, enlarging the capacities of the soul,
and furnishing means inexhaustible for
their gratification. Science and litera
| ture, adorned with the beauties of the
! gospel, havo elevated and ennobled the
| character of the people, and given to
I England a superiority unrivalled even by
; the golden age of antiquity. In other
countries ignorance and superstition still
hold dominion over the minds of the peo
j pie. The loftiest aspiration ot the soul
is to escape the displeasure of an uufeel
ing despot: and the noblest thought that
j engages tho mind, is the immediate grat
ification of the appetite.
On looking into the constitution cf our
| own country, and considering how near
has been its approach to pcrlection, the
bosom of every citizen must swell wiih
joy and gratitude for the blessing ofhav
ing his lot cast in a land so highly favor
ed.—lt b a beautiful embodiment of
principles, extracted from tho past histo
ry of the world, and well suited to the
government of a free and intelligent peo
ple. In respect to it, it is difficult for the
mind to conceive of a material improve
rnent that can be made. Under its oper
ation, a country of vast extent has rapidly
grown in importance, and enjoys a flat
tering prospect ofshining as a star of the
first magnitude in tho galaxy of nations,
’ere many years shall have gone by. It
i becomes, then, a matter of deep concern
! to the American people to preserve it in
J its essential principles, and to guard and
! protect it against the approach of that
! numbness and decay to which all human
i institutions sec-m to be subject. As the
| shore is wasted by the lashing cf the
waves, so is the temple of liberty under
' mined by the prevalence of vice and im
morality. According to political writers,
there arc three original forms of govern
ment —monarch} 7 , aristocracy and demo- j
cracy—each of which is characterised by ]
a separate and distinct feature. In mon-,
archy, the sovereignty resides in one!
individual, and is more or less despotic,;
according to bis nature and disposition. I
In aid of the monarch’s will, physical
force is not unfrequently employed, and i
the administration of the law is not unu
sually attended with the sword and the j
bayonet,—hence, the necessity of stand*'
ing armies. Aristocracy seeks to sustain j
itself by the wisdom of its councils; but!
democracy depends for its existence, up
on the virtue and intelligence of the peo
ple. It has been our good lortune to be
favored with institutions purely demo
cratical. The people, cn masse, consti
tutes the source from which emanates all
political power—they are the sovereigns
of the land, and the officers of govern
ment ore dependent upon their wills for
the tenures cf their offices. The only
means, then, by which poison can be
communicated to the vitals of the govern
ment, is by first infusing it into the mor
als of the people. If tho constitution is
wounded by an agent proving faithless
to his trust, the elective franchise gives
a remedy by which it may be healtd be
fore serious consequences result. But if
[No. 7.
disease first seizes upon the public mor
als, and prostrates their energies, death
will as surely follow as it does in the tfa
ttiral world upon overcoming the energies
of the vital organs. Need I illustrate by
historical examples ? Go to the plains
of Egypt, and while musing among tho
ruins, permit your mind to run over tho
history of that once mighty and power,
hd people, and observe the causes from
which havo resulted tho melancholy
scenes by which you are surrounded.
The public morals, constituting the chief
, pillars of the government, of which tho
i pyramids that have withstood the rava
ges ot time have been considered by
some as emblematic, having declined, tho
whole fabric tumbled into ruins, and soon
their existence as a people expired.
Pass from the plains of Egypt to the
classic groves of Greece, and holding
converse with the mighty spirits that are
I there entombed, ask the cause of tho
downfall of nations so renowned in histo
ry and in song. You will be informed
that under a pure state of morals the re
; publics of Greece arose to greatness and
glory. But the people having been cor
rupted by the introduction of foreign luxu
!r}’) they fell a prey to Macedonian con-
I quest, and the sun of their existence went
down in eternal night. Passing without
j further notice than has already been taken
j of the cause of the downfall of the Roman
; empire, we are warned by the fate of
modern nations that a pure and healthy
state of inorals is as essential to the well
being of republican institutions, as a pure
atmosphere is to the health of man.—-
Witness the ephemeral existence of tho
Mexican constitution, generally styled
the Constitution of ’24, which was char
acterised by many free and liberal princi
ples. A change of government having
taken placo without a corresponding
change in the moral and intellectual con
dition of the people, the constitution was
«hort lived, and recourse was had to a
system marked by principles as arbitrary
and despotic as the* nature of the present
chief officer. To what other cause can
wo attribute the failure of the attempts to
introduce free principles into the states
of South America, than a disregard of
the moral and intellectual Qiilture of tho
people. Though seed sown by tho hus.
bandman amidst thorns and briars, may
spring up and flourish for a time, yet, if
he neglects to remove the noxious weeds,
they will soon wither and die. So re
publican institutions, however favorablo
they may be to promotion of man's hap
piness and prosperity, cannot long exist
when vice and ignorance prevail. As
the soil needs to bo cultivated in order to
yield the harvest, so must the minds and
morals of tho people bo cukivated and
enlightened in order to perpetuate tho
blessings of free institutions.
Fired with enthusiasm by the triumph
of tho American eagle over the lion of
England, the French entered into tho
contest for liberal principles, and shook
to their centres the despotisms of tho old
world. Like an impetuous torrent they
boro down for a time all opposition, and
filled tho minds of kings and priests with
terror and consternation. To dwell upon
the scenes of that memorable period in
French history, or to consider the 'ten
dency of the absurd religious tenets that
then prevailed, is not my purpose on tho
present occasion—Suffice it to say, that
i the minds of the people having been poi
| soned by the spirit of infidelity, enthusi
; asm in the cause of liberty soon degen -
| crated into licentiousness, and Franco
; seemed to have become “intoxicated with
| crime in order to vomit blood.”
i Considering the nature of our institu
tions, the spirit of the age and our relation
to the times in which we live, as has been
i well remarked by one, it seems impossible
for us to act an obscure part. The eyes
lof the world are upon us. The influence
'ofour institutions is being extended to
j the uttermost parts of the earth. Mil
i lions are rejoicing in the hope cf being
liberated from bondage, ’ere many years
shall have rolled away, by the spread cf
the free and liberal principles that cluer
and animate the boserns of our own citi
zens. Indeed a crisis has arrived in tho
world’s progress. The fate of civil and
religious liberty depends upon the success
of our institutions. And as the govern
ment derives its powers from tire consent
of the governed, it is for the people cf the
United States to tell to coming genera
tions whether or not man is capable of
self-government. In the social and po
litical as well as in the natural world, the.
same causes invariably produce the same
effects. As fierce peals of thunder and
swift flying clouds give warning of tho
coming storm—so is the prevalence of