Newspaper Page Text
THE WASHINGTONIAN:
** , ■ i.rS'i .fj: ' ' - •- ——•: —'• -- •
AUGUSTA, AUGUST 12, 1843.
WunhlitgUm Total MtUneiue Vledge.
We, xelwse names are hereunto annexed, desirous
of forming a Society for our mutual benefit,
and to guard against a pernicious practice,
which is injurious to our health, standing and
families, do pledge ourselves as Gentlemen,
not to dr ink any
Spiritons or Malt I.iquors, Wine or Chler.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE.
Rev. "VV. T. Brantly, Dr. F. M. Robertson,
“ W. J. Hard, Dr. D. Hook,
“ C. S. Don, S. T. Chapman, Esq.
“ Geo. F. Pierce, James Harper, Esq.
Col. John Milleoce,
** Keep it before the People.”
The Secretary of the Washingtoni
an Society, Wm. Ilaines, Jr. keeps the
PLEDGE ready for signatures, at his
Drug Store. Call every day (except
Sunday,) and all applicants will be kindly
received, from 0 A. M. until 9 P. M.—
Do not wait for regular meetings.
“ The Grippe.”
This epidemic has made, its appearance
in our State, and we heard it rumored that
it is now among us. This however is
rumor only. VVe may expect it however,
and, as it is well enough to he prepared,
we present the following prescription, ;
contained in the Richmond Star, endorsed t
by a physician :—On retiring at night, i
place the feet in a warm mustard hath, '
lake ten grains of Dover powder, and I
drink freely of hoarhound tea, and the i
enemy will (with the blessings of Provi- '
dcnce,) he routed from the field speedily. <
Ground mustard, a spoonful! to, say two I
gallons of water—is the sort. The rem- I
edy is simple enough.
I
Advertisements. I
Wo call the attention of the business
community to the merits of our little sheet
as an advertising medium. We have al
ready a considerable patronoge in the
eity, and it is extending. Our country 1
subscribers are scattered all over the
Northern, Middle and Western parts of (
our State and the adjoining States, and
their numbers are increasing. The pat- t
ronage of our paper is yet nothing what,
it ought to be and what we still hope it ,
will be, —for the temperance men of,
Georgia are to lie numbered by thous- (
ands, —but it is already so extensive that ,
we think we tan oiler a fair inducement .
for the selection of our paper to any who ,
desire to advertise. Our modest sheet |
gains a hearty admission to many a re- (
spoctahle family in town and country, ,
where the more ambitious “daily” and
political papers never come.
Southern Paper.
The following extract from the “Farm
er’s Gazette,” of Choraw, S. €., furnishes
us a good opportunity of again referring
to the paper store of Messrs. Dunham A
Bleaklky, in this city, Broad-set., oppo
site the U. S. Hotel. These gentlemen
deserve to be encouraged :—The quality
of their paper may be seen from this
sheet—wc think it not at all overrated by
the editor of the Gazette, —the price, we
assure, such of our readers as may he in
terested ill the matter, is quite as reasona
ble as they would Jind it at the North.
It deserves to be considered, that the
Greenville paper-mill pays for and con
sumes a considerable quantity ol 'material
annually, which otherwise would bo utter
ly wasted and lost. We wish such estab
lishments were so multiplied at the South
that wc should no longer he dependent on
the North for an article so important as
paper. ;
“'South Carolina Paper.—The An- I
gusfa Washingtonian, one of the best
printed and most useful papers in Georgia,
has received a year s supply of printing
paper from Messrs. Dunham & Bleak
ley, of Greenville, S. C. It is of very
fine texture, beautiful color, and well
adapted to receive a fine impression.—
These gentlemen should lie patronized
and encouraged by Southern publishers.”
Temperance Convention.
j The suggestion has been thrown out in
! previous numbers of this paper that we!
need a Temperance Convention just at;
thisjuncture of our enterprise. Milledge
ville has been designated as the place, and!
the second week of the next session of the!
legislature as the time of all others most
suitable for the holding of such Conven
tion. Will the friends of temperance in
the different counties interest themselves
to secure delegates to that meeting ? Very
often the members elect of legislature,
are also members of the temperance soci
, cty, and would very gladly sen e as dele
gates from one or more societies in the
county. Indeed, we trust that our princi
ples have by this time made such progress,
that you would rarely find a whole dele
gation from a county to contain no tem
perance man. It would be necessary in
very few counties to send a temperance
delegate expressly—undergoing a fiitigue
ing and expensive journey, for the sole
purpose of representing the temperance
interests of his county. If we are not
exceedingly in error in our calculation of
the extent to which our principles prevail
in Georgia, there is nothing impracticable
in the scheme—a large and influential
meeting of intelligent men from all parts
of the State could he gathered at Milledge
ville, to concert measures for tho estab
lishment and the spread of the reform
throughout all our wide-spread borders.
An impetus, we may hope, would there he
given to our advancing cause— -for it is
still on the advance —which it would feel
lor many a day. Fresh ardor would he
infused into our ranks, when it should be
ascertained, from reports brought from
the North, South, East and West, “how
much land remains to he possessed.”—
There is no temperance society and no
temperance man in the State, that would
not feel the influence of a spirited general
Temperance Convention at Milledgevillc
during the approaching sitting of Legis
lature. What say the county societies?
Is it not feasible? Will it not do good?
Then do not lose sight of the proposal;—
he forehanded in the matter—let not the
interests of the cause that you love suffer
by your neglect.
Political Morality*
We have promised neutrality in politics,
and we intend to keep our promise. But
what di<l wc mean by it! Simply this,
we abjure partyism. We may comment
upon our subject therefore, without com
promitting our position. Is there any such
thing as political morality? So tar as
we can judge from partisan presses, from
the tactics of leading men, and from the
means used in elections, we answer, in
the apprehension of the public, we fear
there is no such thing. A political press
deems its duty discharged if it publishes
only that, which will subserve a present
purpose, and which will advance the in
terests of its party. Is the suppression of
a portion of the truth immoral ? The ma
jority of partisan presses think not. An
honorable opponent is to be broken down
—his political portrait must be drawn, and
we have such a caricature, that the most
intimate friend would not know for whom
it is intended, but for the name attached
to it. Is this moral ? For securing cer
tain votes, swaggering oft-casts are se
lected to brow-beat, to cajole, to bribe, to
do any filthy work. Is this moral ? Des
peradoes are placed around the ballot-box
to intimidate the weak, under the pre
tence of preserving the purity of elec
tions ! But why enumerate matters of like
character, which arc perpetually done,
and which meet the implied approbation
of the party for whom such services may
be rendered. If similar scenes were
witnessed in ecclesiastical or in temper
ance movements, the actors would be vis
ited with severe and merited denuncia
tion" But in politics—here comes our
question again—is there any morality in
polities? Wc answer, yes. lie who is
politically dishonest, sins against heaven
and against his country. Let it be es
tablished that “ over-reaching ” may be
resorted to without loss of character, and
the destinies of the nation are placed in
the hands of unprincipled tacticians, mo
ral worth will be trampled in the dust,
and knavish cunning will be in the ascen
dant. If we should consult expediency,
and throw ourselves upon the Utilitarian
system, we could show that political im
morality is far more dangerous than prt
vate and personal fraud. Becaase, the
former violates 2. greater interest and the
happiness of the greatest number. If we
; consult the perfect rule of right, we are
• taught “not to do evil that good may
I come,” in other words, that the end never
' sanctifies the means.
t The public mind is now calm, and we
■ have seized the present moment for hint-
I ing at the importance of adhering to mo- j
5 rality in our political strife.
“Be Jest, and fear not,
Let all the eti thou aima’t at be thy Country’s.”
» : ;
Is the moderate drinker safe!
It was remarked by the venerated
, President Dwight, of Yale College—and
there was no more accurate observer of;
men than he—that “the man who drinks
spirits regularly, ought to consider him
self as having already entered the path
, which leads to habitual intemperance.”
, The growth of the vice of drunkenness
is so insidious, that in most cases it has ta
, ken rocs, and attained a permanent hold
, among the fired habits of the individual,
( before the danger is suspected to exist,
j- It is this thaj renders the habitual use of
II intoxicating drinks so hazardous. All
men think tjemselves firm, and they may
Ibe really so,but no man can “take fire
. into his boiom and his clothes not be
burned;” —io man’s firmness can achieve
impossibility, and a long experience
| teaches us tlkt it is a practical impossibil
ity, to use intoxicating drinks 'habitually
without findhg the habit grow. The oc
, casional exceptions are generally only j
apparent sucj—and at most they are very 1
few. No mn is safe in assuming that he j
shall surely escape, where so many, as
firm and as confident as he, have fallen.
Beware o) the daily glass! Tamper
not with the sparkling wine! “At the
last it biteth like a serpent and stingethj
like an addoj.”
Itcnmbcr the Sick I’oor.
The soasiti is at hand when our city is
usually mostsickly—and at such times the
poor are the heaviest sufferers. Our com-1
munity has fever been found wanting in
sympathy fir the distressed. Contribu
tions are rail’d by the Benevolent Society
without diiluully—but it is not so easy to
secure the personal sendees ofindividuals
to dispense tlecharities of the community.
Few of those vho have the leisure to ren
der such servile remain in town durinir
the summer, aid the labor falls heavily
upon a very snull number ofindividuals.
The visitingconiinitteos would, therefore,
be under obigation to persons who would
convey infoimation of any poor family
wherein theje is known or supposed to lie
sickness and want. Cannot the Physi
cians give information of such ? The
■ names and residences of persons requiring
relief from tic funds of the society, would
1 secure a pronpt visit, and all requisite aid,
from a meirner of the visiting committee.
Please addr«<s communications to
Mr. Wigstman, for Division 1., from!
the lower narket downwards.
Dr. Fori, for Division 11., from the
lower mark* up to Campbe 11-st.
I Mr. Doujbr Division 111., from Camp
hell-st. upwtrds.
Work to be done.
It is said, we are informed, that those
who know, (grog-sellers,) say, there is
some black, as well as irtrArsliding in our
' ranks. Nojtrue Washingtonian can hear
this withoutsorrow. Come brethren, to
the work of mercy. The stray ones must
lie sought aid led back to the temperance
told. Delay not. Go at once to the den
of the destipycr, and rescue your fallen
1 brethren—Do more; commence again
the good work of reforming those, who
have not yet come under our banner.
Our Uar.
Thirty years ago, gin and whiskey
were drank by Judge, Lawyers and Jury,'
in Court, and out of it. Judge Scrivcn
was the first man who attempted a refor
i (nation. He called a meeting of the Bar,
and placed before it the impropriety of
drinking spirits in Court. The lawyers
1 acknowledged their error, and a resoht-
I tion was passed, pledging themselves to
1 abstain from drinking in the Courthouse.
The next day, one of the lawyers, H ,
, a clever and kind-hearted man, who
. made all his speeches ardent by the use
, of the ardent, had a case called—feeliim
1 the want of the usual stimulant, he arose
- and asked for a short delay, as he felt a
. little faint and wished a little water.—
;j Then raising his voice, he called to the
? bailiff, “ Mr. Bailiff, bring me a glass ofj
; water,” and in an undertone, but equally
‘audible, added, “ and be sure it’s half gin,
do you hear.” Look at our Bar now !
r what has not Temperance done ?
I ’
,! OCT There is often felt in families the!
want of a magazine calculated to interest
children—to entice them to habits of
reading and at the same time to impart]
j useful knowledge and make a good mor-j
al impression. This want is exactly met j
by “Robert Merry’s Museum” published!
I monthly in Boston by Bradbury A Soden
I under the editorial management of S.
IjGr. Goodrich, author of “Peter Parley’s
< Tales.” This magazine is handsomely
• g°t up in a large, clear type, and on ex
pedient paper, making a handsome and at
tractive page. The matter is excellent
5 and is greatly set off'by the addition of
- numerous cuts; —there are ten in the
I August number. Each number contains
, 32 pages —making at the end of the year,
. a handsome volume of the size of a com
: mon octavo extending to 381 pages, and
I embracing over 100 engravings. The
- subscription price is but one dollar per
> annum.
■ Subscriptions left at this office any
■ time in the course of the next week, will
■ secure a prompt remittance and the early
• receipt of the work. We think it a mat
ter of great importance to furnish the ju
venile part of the community with enter
taining and instructive reading. Let j>a
! rents provide such lnj taking the excellent
Museum of cheerful Robert Merry .
' This is a favorable time to doso,fora new
volume has just commenced.
(£r* The report of the New Hamp
shire Asylum for the Insane has the fol
j lowing items:
“The large number of patients admit
ted within the seven months during
which the institution has been opened,
being seventy six, proves its necessity and
!importance. Within this short period, it
lias removed from the hands and feet of
i the insane, many a manacle and chain; it
ihas furnished for many who were previ
ously suffering all that it was possible for
, human lieings to suffer, a pleasant retreat,
. where they have enjoyed all the lilierty
and comfort which their condition would
admit; and last, though not least, it has
restored husbands to wives, and wives to
; husbands, children to parents, and pa
rents to children, who might otherwise
have dragged out a miserable existence
in incurable insanity—been a source of
| misery to their friends and relations, and
a burthen to their connections, or the
counties and towns which might be li
able for their support.”
We learn from this report that the
, price of board now charged is two dol
r lars and fifty cents per week for patients
’ out of the State, and two dollars and
twenty-five cents for those in the State.
1 For this sum they arc furnished with
, hoard, washing, mending of their clothes,
fuel and lights, medicine for the sick, the
( services of experienced and faithful nur
ses and attendants, the constant atten
tion and watchfulness of the phvsician,
' means of riding and other exercises and
amusement, together with the use of the
. spacious buildings and halls and walks,
so well adapted to their restoration.—
The male patients, as soon as they be
come sufficiently calmed, arc employed
> about the farm and in the shops, Ac.
. The females are pleasantly and usefully
engaged in knitting and different kinds of
needle work.
The report of the Superintendent
' states that since October 28,39 males and
137 females have been admitted. There
■ were 47 remaining on the 31st of May.
, The number of patients discharged is 29,
j of whom 12 have recovered, 10 improv
ed, 6 not improved, and 1 death only,
1 that of a female aged 63 years.
1 What is done with the insane in Geor
gia ? By the last census they number:
WHITES,
at public charge, at private charge,
61 213 294 Whites, j
» BLACKS,
1 108 20 134 Blacks.
169 269
’ There is no asylum in the State.
J History of the Influenza.
In 1580, it prevailed in Europe, and is
spoken of as a pestilential and epidemic
' cough. In 1743, (just a century since) it
• prevailed the world over, and received
■, its present cognomen. In many Districts
0j in Europe, scarcely a family escaped. It
e ,appeared in April and went off in June.
T It was never fatal except to aged persons,
3 lor those affected with pulmonary disease.
e The French call it La Grippe—hoarse
-51 j ness. It appeared again in Europe and
-j America, as we learn from the Troy Whig.!
jin 1762. Also 1775, when dogs and hor
•jses were also affected. In 1782, it was
equally universal, and followed severe at
mospheric changes. It met its victims on
land and sea. In St. Petersburg, 40,000
were affected by it in one day. In 1830,
it appeared again, and was foliowed by
| the cholera. In 1833, it succeeded that
fearful disease. Its progress is like the
progress of most epidemics, from east to
■ west, and is preceded by great atmospheric
j changes.—[iV. Y. Sun.
EDITORIAL COMMUNICATIONS.
! Korman, in his Rambles, Bays, ;t In Merida,
the Capitol of Yucatan, there arc 11 churches,
Uome of which are remarkable for the power and'
■ influence of their particular Saints, in[>opular es
timation :—fur instance that of St. Ann, which
t he ladies frequent to pray for good husbands ?'
“ Whether the gentlemen go there,” the face
tious traveller continues, ‘‘to ask for similar fa
vors, I know not; but 1 was informed through a
source it would be impolite to doubt, that the pe
tition of the lonely spinster has often been most
favorably received.”
Far be it, Messrs. Editors, from the
; writer of this communication, to intimate
that your fair readers find it necessary to
indulge in orisons for such “small iavors”
—or that they do not enjoy an ordinary
degree of good fortune and happiness in
their matrimonial arrangements ; but he
; must confess that there is somethin" in
■the similitude between the Church of St.
Ann and the Temperance movement,
which has struck him with no ordinarv
force. Both have for their object the good
of our species: Though varient in their
means, both are in the end asylums for
the helpless and dependent—the protec
tors of the innocent against the snares of
.the wily and unprincipled. Though tem
|[MJ ranee is not the only virtue, nor will it
j atone for the absence of other or more
jirn|K>rtant ones in the human character,
j yet it is so intimately associated with do-
| nicstic peace and quiet, with the personal
| respectability of the aged and Ihe enliven
ing promise of the young—it points sir
I unequivocally to competence, comfort and
| ultimate prosperity, that your corrcspond
jent cannot but commend it to the especial
consideration of every fair reader of the
Washingtonian.
'1 hough they may not frequent our meet •
jingsto solicit such favors as the patron
saint of set. Ann confers upon the dark-eyed
daughters of Merida j still they may well
remember that blessings, when once se
cured, are often not the less prized and
cherished, because they come unbidden,
or are found, unsought. Coelkhs.
Messrs. Editors —Happily in this coun
try, we may question the policy of the
regulations under which we live, without
encroaching upon any prerogatives except
such as, through the mercy of God, br
| long to ourselves. Thanks to our Fathers
and a kind superintending Providence, to
us have been bequeathed the legislative,
executive and judicial powers of the gov
ernment of this land ; and we may make,
j amend and repeal laws, as necessity re
quires, or judgment and experience dictate.
To a wise exercise, however, of these
exalted and exalting privileges, a careful
! observation of the condition of society,
and the operation of existing laws, is in
dispensably necessary; and now, with the
| frankness authorized by our freedom, and
! with the care demanded by our interests,
I propose to inquire whether the laws
‘ licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors
should remain undisturbed. It is a sub
ject which merits the most profound atten-
Ition of the whole community,
i The injustice of creating monopolies
where all are equal in civil anil political
rights, and where all are consequently
alike entitled to equal privileges and pro
jtection, however obvious, we will not at
present urge, but pass directly into an
investigation of the moral bearings of the
subject before us. It will be universally
j admitted, that the supreme power of every
community is responsible for the necessary
. and unavoidable consequences of the laws
enacted and enforced by it; and as the
people here possess this power, they are
answerable for she effects of the license
laws of the country. If they are good, to
' them belongs the eredit—if evil, theirs is
! the blame. There is no escape from this
1 conclusion, so long as the power of legis
i lation remains. For example: Can Au
-1 gusta, as long as she remains uncontrolled
’ in the regulation of the traffic in liquor.
’ avoid blame for the intemperance which
results from the operation of her own
| laws ? We think not.
J The fruits ofthis traffic arc poverty and