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THE WASHINGTON [AN:i
AUGUSTA, NOVESIBEK 18. 1813.
If 'anhtaglon Total.lbsllntnxe l*tedgr.
We, whose names are hereunto annexed, desirous
of forming a Society for our mutual benefit,
and to guard, against u pernicious practice,
which is l injurious to our health, standing and
families, do pledge ourselves as Gentlemen.
not to drink any
tfpiritous or Malt Liquors, Wine or Cider.
T * EDITORIAL GOMMITTEE.
Rev W. T. Buantev, Dr. F. M. Robertson,,
“ W J.llard, Dr. D. Hook,
C. S. Don, S.T Chapman, K*q.
Geo. F. Pierce, JaMW Harper, Esq.
Col. John Milledoe,
jjj jm Xo Dutast Sc iucri ■»:«».—Post Masters are au
♦homed by law to remit money to the publishers of
newspapers and periodicals, in payment of subscrip
tions. Subscribers to the Washingtonian can therefore
pay for their papers without subjecting themselves or
the publisher to the expense of postage, by handing the
amount to the Post Master, with a request to remit it.
o tr It is with sincere regret wc have
learned that the “ Southern Monitor,” an|
excellent Temperance paper of North
Carolina, lias been discontinued for the
want of patronage. The blush of shame
should indeed tingle, as its able Editor
says, on the cheeks of the friends of the
cause, when it is .known that their inter
est in it does not amount to one dollar
•per annum! The fact makes us sad,
and leads to a train of melancholy re
flections.
Virtue is the conservative principle in
human society. All are sensible of this ,
—all are sensible that society would as
certainly go to destruction without a due
admixture of virtuous men, as flesh to ■
putrefaction without the savor of salt; ■
and yet the labouring friends of virtue, ;
are left to work at their own expense,
and arc rewarded only with a coldly,
heartlessly expressed—“ God speed you.’’ (
This is saying, “be you warmed and fill- ;
ed” without supplying the means, with a ,
vengeance ! This is to give the world
up to the vicious, and of course to de
struction! When “vice prevails and
wicked men bear sway,” and there are
none to check them in their enormities,
nor to encourage and sustain those who |
have the courage to make the effort—
then will this world bo unfit to live in— |
then will come the desolating scourge,
deserved alike by all—by the openly wick- (
cd for their crimes, and by the pretended
friends of virtue, for their failure to pro
tcct themselves by paying the soldiers
who fought their battles as long as they | (
gave them bread. Oh parsimony ! thou
dost terribly punish thy children.
Journals that set neighbours by the
cars, and that, to gain their ends, do not
hesitate at a system of falsehood cxces
sively demoralizing, can bo sustained at .
two, five and ten dollars a year, while, j
those that labour to make men friends (
and brethren—to produce virtuo and; t
peace among men, arc left to perish, al
though they ask only one dollar a year.
Shame, where is thy blush ? v
This subject is peculiarly painful to us, (
for we have apprehensions that the fatei (
of tho “Monitor” awaits the Washing
tonian. No appeal meets with the re- .
spouse which the importance of its ob
jects demands—its nocessities require— .
or the wordy zeal for temperance, war-
ranted it to expect. This apprehension (
too, is strengthened by the mortifying)
fact, that no fund has been raised—not |
even a proposition made to raise one—to
defray the expenses of the delegation to)
the Convention. In this labour as in that
of conducting the paper, the warm of
heart are expected to do all, and that at
their own cost. The lethargy on this)
subject is astonishing—unaccountable.:
Have the temperance labours saved to
our citizens more than thirty thousand
dollars per annum—and they will not
spend one thousand to sustain the labour
ers ? Has it saved the time, health and
life of lathers and sons, masters and ser
vants—dried the tears of weeping wives
and mothers—fed and clothed hungry and
suffering children, and yet all remain
deaf when the instruments by which this
good has been done asks to be sustained 1,
We have often observed the giants of (
intellect, and the elevated in moral worthj
stand aloof from the works of benevo-;
! lence that are in progress :—Why is this ?j
—is it that having tried their fellow-men,;
land having found them unworthy of their:
.services, they have in disgust, folded their
arms and resolved to let selfishness and
ingratitude do their work without further
interference ? This must be the case—
tor it seems such would be the course of
Jail, if they did not labour for rewards be
yond the control of man.
Idolatry , viler and less excusable now
than in ancient times.
According to Vossius, idolatry origin
! ated in men’s paying divine honours
to the two principles of good and evil.
Most authors, however, think the first ob
jects of idolatrous worship were the sun,
moon, and stars. But whatever may
have been its origin, we know when it
|commenced, it increased and descended
in its objects—to fire, —souls of departed)
heroes, —beasts, —reptiles,—vegetables,)
—and lusts of men. The last is the vil
est —God created the sun, Ac., and men:
may have flattered themselves, as Julian
says, that they worshipped him through
his creatures ; but men create their own
lusts, or suffer the devil to do it for them,
land in worshipping and serving them,
they have no excuse whatever, —no flat
tering unction that they can lay to the
soul:—it is unmixed, vile, grovelling idol
atry. And this is the degrading, revolt
ing idolatry of modern times.
Men war, kill, steal, cheat, labour—
that they may have to spend upon their
lusts. On this altar, property, reputa
tion, happiness, mind and soul arc sacri
ficed. At this shrine the high and the
low, the rich and the poor, the wise and
the unwise, alike bow down in abject wor
ship. In its disgusting orgies, beauty,
youth, health, life itself, is wasted. For
its forbidden, mad delights, even heaven
is hazarded and lost. And this too, in
the glare and splendor of Christian light!!!
Ah ! will not ancient idolaters rise up in
the judgment and condemn those of this
generation? Yes! The first among them
will say—wc had not the Bible to instruct
us, nor the experience of ages to teach
us its corrupting and destructive consc
quences, but you had both, and in the
light of both, you began where we end
ed—in the lowest, vilest state of idolatry
—a state to which, it is true, ours tended,
but to which for centuries we did not de
scend, and which it would have shocked
us, to think it possible we could descend.
There is no escape from this awful pic
ture of truth. The Bible declares that
some men make a God of their bellies,
land facts of every days occurrence sus
[tains the charge in its application to men
of this enlightened age. Oh! will we
not pause here and enquire—are we Idol
ators of this brutal class ? Have wo in
deed by it rendered ourselves obnoxious
to the threatened wrath of Heaven ?
1
Would to God that every man beiore do
ing a wrong action would ask himself—
is this not to be done to add to my means
of gratifying my lusts ? Is this not wor
shipping my appetites ? And would that
every man who conveys to his lips the
intoxicating bowl would remember that (
in Gods own definition, he is making a .
God of his belly ! Then might we hope
that a wholesome horror of their iniquity
would seize upon them, and arrest them
in their downward course.
Os all the species of lustful idolatry,
intemperance is the basest and deadliest.
It leads to all the rest. It is a cormorant j
that is never satisfied until it has preyed
jupon all that is in man of divine excel- 1
jlence and likeness—until it has left him
|a hideous carcass ot moral pollution. It
is not strange then that our efforts are
mainly directed to the pulling down of
its “high places,” and to the overthrow
)of the priests who minister at its altars.
If our friends will bear with us, or will
i hear us in the right places now, we will
satisfy them that our moral sense is suffi
ciently acute to take cognizance also of
other iniquitous proceedings.
For the Washingtonian.
The Lord’s Day.
Messrs. Editors —Desirous to see the
Lord’s day respected and observed as the
good of man demands it should be, I so
licit room in the Washingtonian for some
remarks upon the criminality and folly of
desecrating it to the purposes of idleness
i and dissipation. And to give force to
these remarks, I desire to trace the deal
'iings of God with man in relation to this
/matter, from the commencement of time
■ up to our own age of the world.
The earth was given to man for a hab-
Ijitation, and after he had forfeited his
• original title, it was continued to him on
-a lease at will, burdened with conditions
f more onerous than the single one annex
•ed to the first grant. The first made his
residence a paradise; where God was his
!visiter, teacher, friend; where all thingsj
in heaven and earth ministered to his de
light.; and where, so long as he observed
the one condition, there was nothing to
mar his felicity, or to separate him from
the fountain of perfection and bliss. The
second, changed it to a-place of anxiety,
|labour, suffering and death. Yet his Al
! mighty and compassionate friend “tem-
I pored the wind tp the shorn lamb,” by a
I most precious promise, and by mitigating
j institutions. Among the latter was the,
/sanctification of the Sabbath—to the pur-!
poses, of rest from arduous labour, —of!
{contemplation of the glorious works of
I the great Architect of the Universe, —of
meditation upon the precious promise
| which assured him that the evils brought
upon him by sin should be removed, —and
of worship of that Gracious Being who
in the midst of deserved wrath remem
bered merev.
J
To intimate that men would irrational
ly and ungratefully slight an institution
intended to meliorate their condition and
teach them the way back to God and
bliss, entered not into the divine scheme
of government; and hence we do not find
any penality imposed for its violation un
jtil the waywardness of man had shewm
jits necessity. Then, lest they should be
|cutoff from all its benefits, the punish
iment of death was ordered to be inflicted
I upon any who should defile the sabbath.
jNo other view can be entertained on this
subject, since the “Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath;” and
this view of it, shows that men in slight
ing it, slight their own happiness—are
their own worst enemies.
It may be, however, that this suicidal
course, resulted, in older times, from the I
uninterrupted continuance of death until!
hope in the promise of “restitution” was
lost, and consequently no longer excited
men to heaven-taught piety. Let us see!
In the progress of time, the serpents head
was bruised, —death was conquered,— j
life and immortality was brought to light! i ;
Yes, the Lord Jesus rose from the dead 1
on the first day of the week, and thus de
monstrated the certainty of the promised ,
“restitution,” the certainty of a victory ;
over the grave. Now surely the institu- .
tions of God will be understood, appreci
ated, enjoyed. Now, anthems of raptur
ous joy will be sung by every intelligent
human tongue, at the return of that day
which assures them of immortality and
eternal glory. Now, no penal statutes
will bo necessary to enforce the observ
ance of the day that open to the view of
man, “the new heavens and the new
earth,” which are to be his everlasting:
residence —no, the only difficulty will be
to withdraw his attention sufficiently fromj
this heavenly contemplation, to enable'
him to provide for the wants of his pre-!
sent temporary dwelling place. Such
surely ought to be the fact; but alas ! ex
perience here again tells the sad tale of
human frailty and perversity. At the
sacrifice of their own happiness, they will
not be “in the spirit on the Lord’s day,”
but on the contrary, they spend it in idle
gossip, ruinous dissipation, or unauthoris-:
ed occupations.
The criminality of this conduct may
be inferred from two considerations. Ist.
from the fact that defilement of the day
commemorative of God’s rest after the
creation of the world was to be punish
ed with death, it must be concluded that
the day commemorative of the resurrec
tion of the dead—the hope—the salva
tion of man; and demonstrative of the
new creation—the regeneration—the re
stitution of all things promised since the
world began, cannot be defiled and dese
crated with impunity. The offence can
; not be less criminal.—Most unquestion
ably if it be criminal to fail in venera
. tion for the institutions of generation,
; any thing short of entire consecration of
f the “wh ie spirit, and body and soul” to
i the adoration and service of God in the
» institutions of regeneration must be an of
. fence of deeper, darker dye. 2nd, from
i the mortifying fact, that this impiety pro
! ceeds from the grossest, basest idolatry; the
making a God of the belly, and render
ing to it, the time, service and devotion
i which belong alone to the God and Father
i of our spirits.
; If the sins of ancient times demanded
• of holy seers, speaking by inspiration, an
• appeal to heaven and earth for astonish
i ment and horrible fear!—What would be
»itheir agonizing appeal now, when with
all the light and love we enjoy, there are
I those who forsake the fountain of living
i waters , and hew out for themselves bro
i ken cisterns that can hold no water, —
who turn from the droppings of the sanc
tuary, to floods of blasphemies in dram
shops,—who prefer to the waters of life,
the “fire water” of death, and who wor
ship the belly, rather than worship God ?
The criminality of defiling the Lord’s
day is now made apparent, but it is placed
in still stronger light, when we consider
1 the extreme folly as well as guilt of those,
who by intemperance and idleness, actu
ally deprive themselves of that knowledge
and those reverential feelings of devo
tion, which the observance of the day is
calculatad to communicate, and w hich
are absolutely essential to the attainment
of that salvation of which it is the di
vinely appointed index.
Eubulus.
Fur the Washingtonian.
There are those in every community
who are never satisfied with the slow and
gradual improvement of poor human na
ture, but are constantly dreaming of its
perfectability, and so important—so rest
less—so concerned are they to attempt
success by their visionary plans and
schemes to effect their purposes, that ihey
seem to think that power is the only thing
required to bring about the perfectability |
they dream of and thus give to the age
in which they live a hot-house improve-j
ment.
The object and aim of these persons is j
good and praiseworthy, but too often they
lack the most important knowledge of all
! —the. chief adjunct to effect their bene
jVolent purposes—l mean, patience—
with a knowledge of human nature. The
Oracle pronounced Socrates the wisest
of all men living, because he choose hu
man nature for the object of his thoughts.
(Like him then let us study human nature,
land in our designs for the moral improve
ment of the age, let us act our parts se
verally with a zeal unabated, and an en
ergy of purpose unconquerable,eschewing,
at the same time, bigotted intolerance!
and mischievous fanaticism. Let us deal j
with man and treat with him as we find
him and as he is—and not as he should j
be; it is to make him in a great measure i
what he ought to be, that the advocates!
of the Temperance reform have put in ;
active motion the great lever of public:
opinion in modern times—the printing
press—and by it they present for his re
flection and consideration such induce
ments as are based upon principle, inter
jest, duty and the most expansive human
ity, to embrace the reform, and thus en- j
ijoy the blessings of this life in happiness
and contentment, and with a peace of
mind—conscious of having done his du
ty to his God, his country, his wife and
children.
That the advocates of temperance!
might as effectually as possible carry out;
their designs of driving drunkenness out;
lof the land and thus purge society of this;
hateful vice, it was their duty first to de-j
clare against it “war to the knife and the!
knife to the hilt,” that none might be ta
ken with surprise, and in doing so, the
war has raged fiercely upon the front and
in the rear, but in mercy to the infirmities
of the foe. The war still rages fiercely
and the advocates of the cause, under
the prudent councils of wise and able
captains, are still in the field, with hands
clean and unspotted—bearing in them
none of the harness of persecution for
: opinion sake—dragging forth their vie
• tims to be whipped and scourged like the
1 Chinese idols, if they refuse to comply
• with the prayers of those who offered
■ them, nor do they measure upon the bed
, of Procrustes those who are still joined,
f like Ephraim, to his Idols ; they are en
> gaged to fight against Alexander and not
■ rail at him.
’-! In pursuance then of these views, and
1 the more securely to effect their object,
- the first war of the advocates of the tem
-2 perance cause has been like that of Her
- cules , to strangle the serpents which infest
• the cradles of tfie future heroes, philoso
r phers and statesmen of our country, and
their constant “labor” shall be, like
1 first, to destroy the Cleoncean Lion ,
i which still roams through the land in the
- proteus shapes of him who takes his first
■ glass of “gin-cock-tail” at “John O’-
i Groats house ” to him who drinks on to
■ ■Land’s End.
rj The riddance of the vice of drunken
. ness and the consequent improvement of
- the morals of the age is surely glory en
. ough to stimulate every advocate of the
. cause to buckle on his armor for the con
, test against this wily adversary—so in
. discriminate in his slaughters—so wary
in his attacks—so skilful in his defences
s and so unsparing in his demands. To do
i battle against this bloody champion the
• war must be fierce, but conducted with
. prudence and discretion, and with a full
. knowledge of all his strong holds, and a
thorough acquaintance with his weak
nesses. Patience, with a good share of
; the knowledge of human nature, will in
sure the victory and it will be a triumph
ant one; but one fatal and ill-directed
blow may blast, perhaps forever, the
hopes of the philanthropist, the Christian
and the patriot, for success in his much
cherished plans for the reformation of the
age in one of its worst of vices—com
mon drunkenness. N.
[communicated.]
To Miss Louisa, —Whether you ask
advice for yourself or another !—“ I will
speak to you.” The views I entertain
in the case proposed have been already
published, but as the mind is often better
disposed at one time than another to re
iceivethe lessons of wisdom, I respond
‘cheerfully to yourcall. Experience teach
es that the embrace of the icy arms of
death is to be preferred to those of one
who “enjoys and sustains a reputation
for dissipation.” I teach the same. The
reasons arc obvious.
First, female influence is generally more
ipowerful with the lover than the hus
band; and therefore if a lady is favora
bly disposed to a gentleman from the no
ble and generous motive of reforming
him, she should make the effort while he
is only a lover.
Second, marriage is honorable only
when entered into from pure and upright
considerations, which can never be the
case when the object is simply to avoid
the title of old maid—a title odious to
none but fools. I know that I would
greatly prefer any odium that attaches
to the name of old bachelor, to marrying
any of the ladies “Delia” castigates in
|the last Washingtonian ; and therefore I
advise your sex from my very soul, to
prefer_single blissedness to a dishonora
ble marriage.
Third, To love a man characterized
by vice or crime is strong evidence of
impurity of heart and mind—hence the
respect of the good is sacrificed by a mar
riage with a slave of the lowest and most
ijbeastly lust. It absolutely shocks refined
' taste in morals to think of such pollution.
. Ladies must study to show their refine-
I ment in associations and conduct, as well
as in conversation and manners, or they
. will lose cast among the virtuous—the
real “elite of society.”
In conclusion, allow’ me to say to you
• and all the young ladies of Augusta—that
. with me the promotion of temperance,
, as the basis of an improved state of so
. ciety, is a living, moving, and abiding
. principle, and that if they wish me still
| to watch over the habits of young men
5 for their good, they must do all in their
power for this cause. Believing too, that
r the Temperance paper is highly benefici- I
; al to the cause, I request them to do all
? they can to increase its circulation, and
j to have its columns read.
r Yours, &c. Obed.
From the Pentield Temperance Banner.
e
TEMPERANCE CONVENTION.
] Eatonton, Sept. 11, 1843.
j At a meeting of the Eatonton Total
Abstinence Society, held in the Court
’ house on Monday evening the 11th inst.
' it was,
t Resolved , That the Committee ap
pointed by the recent Temperance Con-