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THE WASHINGTONIAN:
" AUGUSTA. FEBRUARY 8, IM4.
tt'tuhinglon Total .Ibaltnmce Pledge•
We, Ohoet name* are hereunto annexed, desirous
Os forming a Society for our mutual benefit,
end to guard against a pernicious-practice,
which, is injurious to our health, standing and
families, do pledge ourstltcs as Gentlemen,
not to drink any
Bpiritous or Malt Liquors, Wine or Cider.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE.
Rev. IV. T. Brant[.y, Dr. F. M. Robert* on
•' W.J. Hard, Dr. D. Hook,
« C. S. Dob, 8, T ChapmanJEsq.
" Geo. F. Pierce, Jame* Harper, E*q.
Col. JoilS MILLEtWE,
err. ■ •
QQ* To Diitakt Suiscxiikxs. —Port Master* are au
thorized by law to remit money to the publisher* of
newspaper* and periodicals, in payment of subscrip
tions. Bubtcribers to the can therefore
pay for their papers without subjecting themselves or
the publisher to the expense of postage, by hau ling the
amount to the Post Master, with a request to remit it.
t _. |
O tT On Friday evening, the 26th ult.
Mr. Hawkins delivered hia third lecture,
in the Baptist Church, to rather a thin
audience, in consequence of the very
sudden change of weather to extreme
cold. There was, however, under all
the circumstances, nothing to complain
of, as the lecturer wns sufficiently inter
esting to warm up the auditors. The
lecturer cut short his discourse that ano
ther gentleman present might have an
opportunity of addressing the assembly
ou the subject of Temperance as he found
it, and as he left it, particularly on Con
tinental Europe. Ho then introduced
the Rev. Mr. Baird , a distinguished
champion of the cause, to the audience,
who gave all the information in his pos
session, as far as time allowed him, upon
this deeply interesting subject.
Our readers are, no doubt, aware that
this gentleman has done wonders for the
cause over continental Europe. Having
been sent on a different mission he nev.
ertheless found, or rather made time to
see most of the Crown Heads personally
upon the subject, and with none did he
meet with any other than the most favor
able and flattering assurances of their
interest in its behalf. In Sweden par
ticularly the peasantry requested Mr.
Baird to return to the people of the Uni
ted States their thanks for the benefits
they have received from the temperance
reform, and to express their interest in
its behalf. In this Kingdom, the book
which this gentleman prepared upon this
subject, was translated and published at
the King’s private expense, and was
widely circulated, and is known there as
“ the King’s Book,” or “ Baird’s Book.”
Besides its circulation in Sweden, this
book has been translated in many differ
ent languages, and is circulated exten
sively all over Europe.
Mr. John W. Hawkins returned to our
city on Thursday morning last from
Athens, and on that, and the following
evening delivered lectures. He leaves us
to-day on his downward trip to Charles
ton, to meet, by appointment, the State
Temperance Convention of South Caro
lina,
Mr. Hawkins carries with him the re
spect and good wishes of our citizens
generally, and particularly of those who
know him best. May his success in the
cause of temperance be commensurate
with his energy and zeal, and may he
yet live long to do more and more.
OCT We shall not make any apology
for the suggestion we are about to make.
As conductors of a public journal it is a
right long since accorded us of the Press,
by immemorial usage, to suggest any
thing which may in our opinion conduce
to the public interests, and incidentally
to those of a private nature also.
Without further preamble then, we
suggest to the Students of the Medical
College of Georgia, the usefulness, the
propriety of establishing among them
selves a Temperance Society upon the
basis of the Washingtonian Pledge, and
that the Society be called, (as good a
name as any) “The Medical College
Temperance Society of Georgia.”
- #
The establishment of such a Society
will unquestionably give a higher moral
character to the institution than that of
many others, and more particularly so
! when this fact shall be kept constantly
before the eyes of the people from its
acts and doings reaching them through
the columns of our paper.
We believe that the larger portion of
its professors are strictly with us, and
should this be known in addition to the
fact already stated that such a Society
exists among the Students, parents will
( feel safer in sending their sons to such an
, institution. The intemperate use of al
j coholic drinks has been the bane—the
, besetting sin almost of many of our litera
ry institutions. Every Student who
leaves his alma-mater must feel his at
tachment for it—must rejoice in its high
character —its final success. Besides all
this the Society would be perpetuated by
the return at each season of some of those
:in their second course. Perhaps we have
’ said enough to induce the step to be ta
. ken, at least we are confident that if it
s should, it will be very gratifying to our
i citizens, and particularly so to the friends
of the College at a distance.
Loafers of the Hindus, or a new way
’ to raise the wind. —There is a low caste
of the Hindus called Dorns, who eat al
' most any thing, even the leavings of oth-
I ers. They are workers in rattan and
bamboo manufactures. One of this caste
1 gave to the Rev. J. 11. Morrison the ideas
’ entertained by the common people con
cerning the cause of eclipses. To this
class the Sun and Moon, by some means,
' but no ono can tell why, or how, become
indebted, and they then begin to hack
and cut away at it with their hatchets,
but in what manner they do not explain,
which produces the darkness of the
eclipse. As soon as this is discovered,
rather than have the Sun or Moon hack
ed to pieces and distributed to its creditors
in payment for the debt, (for it can’t take
the Bankrupt Act,) all the people of
whatever caste run to the houses of the
Dorns with presents, or rather offerings
of whatever they have to give to release
the creditor from the debt contracted, no
doubt, by over-trading in moonshine
with love makers, orover-speculnting by
the Sun in the cotton markets of the
world. Be this, however, as it may, these
Dorns make the Sun and Moon pay up,
whenever and as often as they aro so im
prudent as to “go on tick,” instead ot
resorting, as with us, to cash payments.
The divine above named remonstrated
with this Dom for the imposition practis
ed by his caste upon the people in this
particular: and how did ho answer ? In
the very same language there that the
rum-seller answers here when requested
to cease to deal out death and destruction
to his fellow-citizens. Said this heathen,
if I give up this fraud, this cheat, this
unrighteous demand, upon the credulity of
my fellow-countrymen, “ what can Ido?
I do this for my support, for my stomach’s
sake.” Ask the civilized rum-seller to
give up his traffic in articles which des
troy the peace, the happiness, and the
lives of his fellow-citizens, and what is
this civilized man’s reply ? “ What can
I do,” says the rum-seller, “ I do this for
my support, for my stomach’s sake.”
Extremes sometimes meet, and so they
have in this instance in the heathen and
the enlightened (?) man. But even here
the heathen has the advantage; for by
his imposition he only extorts a little
money from the pockets of his fellow
citizens, while the rum-seller not only
gets the money, but gives something
which he knows is infinitely worse than
nothing for it—he gives in exchange a
liquor which destroys not only life, but
, that which is dearer and more sacred
i than life—he gives that in return which
, he knows, which he sees kills —yet still
gives.
Man at best is disposed to be too selfish
■ to see the evils he often inflicts needless
ly upon suffering humanity—much more
; is he likely to be so when his immediate
I interest is ready to whisper in opposition
; to his better convictions of duty to him
self and others. This, and nothing but
: this, causes the enlightened mind, to ap
-1 proach sometimes so near, indeed up to
i the very point where man is found in his
i native wickedness. We have already
said more than at first intended, and now
leave tbe Loafers of the Hindus in the
hands of the loafers here, and both in the
hands of the rum-seller for the present.
(£rWe have heard it objected by
some of the opposers to our efforts in be
half of the Temperance reform, that even
in the most approved condition of the
great body of the people in this respect,
there would be nevertheless a very large
I proportion of them whose habits are so
! fixed by time—whose tastes and appe
tites are so uncontrolable, and these so
I easily gratified—whose education, moral
1 and intellectual, is of so low a grade,
with little or no inclination or opportuni
; ty to improve, and many similar obsta
• cles opposing us, that our labor will be
’ worth but very little, and in the end, the
■ thing itself being impracticable, a failure
> total and complete awaits us. These.
1 and all such objectors as these, are of
' the old —we of the new philosophy. They
■ believe that the Creator has destined the
i mass to be the “ hewers of wood and
■ drawers of water” for the few—that man
■ is at best but a fighting animal, blind and
passionate, rather than a moral and in
i tellectual being—they see man as an
animal, endowed with instincts, but see
not that to these the Creator has added
' moral sentiments and reflective faculties;
• they see not that these faculties arc the
paramount sources of his enjoyments and
pleasures, and which lead him directly to
! the end of his existence —his well being
1 in this and a future world—his happiness
l in both. Ah! no. These objectors see
nothing in man but the animal—in his
1 destiny, nothing but the edict of the past,
' made perpetual by his past history, which
dooms him to toil, to sweat, to pay taxes,
to consume life in a struggle for exist
ence, with energies stifled—dormant;
with nothing to ennoble; to purity; to
exalt him: his past history being such,
they can see nothing in the future to se
cure him a higher destiny! Alas! if this
be the eternal destiny of man ! If it be
thus, let us close up—let us bar out all
further aspirations for the future; let us
dry up the sources of our benevolence,
and no longer imagino a vain thing;
let us no longer believe in, or hope for
the perfectability of human nature, or
philanthropy and virtue, are but the ra
vings of the visionary, the enthusiast, and
our delusion complete. But how dark,
how gloomy, how aimless, objectless, is
existence in such belief—to these objec
tors. To such, what a woful aspect must
the face of nature wear!—to such, how
dismal the past—how black with despair
is the future I
But if this be the destiny of man, why
all this stir—this bustle; these struggles;
these hopes; these clamors; these threats;
these demands of the mass for reform ?
Why these orators; these speeches; these
printing presses; these moral—these re
ligious teachings; why agitate at all?
Why ransack the philosophy of the past,
if not to expose its errors and build up a
wiser and better nnd truer philosophy
upon its ruins ? Why do this—do more,
if this state of crime, sin, bloodshed—if
prejudice, ignorance and delusion, must
exist forever ? But not so. Man it is
true is an animal, and with his instincts,
he has, also, been endowed with moral
|sentiments and reflecting faculties, and
therefore is, and must be, a progressive
and improving animal. It is then upon
these faculties, and from his adaptation
to improvement, and in the end, to hu
man perfection, that the philanthropist,
builds up these hopes for him, in the pre
sent and in the future. It is upon these
faculties, with which man is endowed,
that the philanthropist dwells with a hope,
and lives in and luxuriates in future time
exulting in a hope, brightening—expand
ing : he revels in a prophecy, illumined
by a distant ray in the surrounding
gloom, and sees in the future doom of
humanity, the triumph of the new philo
sophy—the vice rejected—the virtue re
warded. He sees in future time the
bright star of Bethlehem now on the
: horizon’s verge ascend to the zenith—
i civilization now in infancy, with its giant
i strides overspreading the earth. Man
will, must, then lulfil his destiny ; It is
written of him. To these objectors then,
. and all such, we now appeal. If human
> nature is bad, corrupted—assist us to
s make it better, and to purify it from its
r corruptions. If we do not improve it,
r we cannot make it or ourselves worse.
; If we are the victims of a delusion, it is! l
> a harmless one; if we fail we cannot have!!
done mischief to any; but if we succeed—ji
, how rich the reward ! how consoling the'
reflection that we too have assisted to!
( rear this stupendous work—this mighty!
, moral pyramid to the gaze of future gen-’
erations ! And if the dead are permitted
? to sympathise in the affairs of the living.
j with what intense interest and delight 1
must the blessed spirits of the departed!
5 look down from the azure battlements of
j heaven, upon these efforts of man for the!
good of man, here and hereafter—now
and in time to come! We sav then,
. •
abandon tbe old, and take up with us, the
new philosophy.
5 The following is an extract from
s the Presentment of the Grand Jury, for
• the third week, of Richmond Superior
‘ Court, January term 1844. Robert F.
V Pok, Foreman:
E ‘-The Grand Jury feel it to be an in
i cumbent duty to call the attention of our
j City Police to the constant violation of
j the Sabbath, by many persons trafficking
on that day, especially with negroes—
vending to them spirituous liquors, to the
1 great detriment of health and morals.”
■» -
j The December number of The
. American Phrenological Journal and
, Miscellany , is now before us. The au-
I thor, Mr. O. S. Fowler, in this number,|
, attempts to prove from facts adduced!
, from the history of families known to i
. fame, and many in our own country known
, to us from common reputation, that moral, ji
. intellectual and other qualities, huve beenj
transmitted from the ancestor to the de
, scendents, and that this has been invari-1
ably the case. Os the hereditary predis-j
position to intemperance, he says:
“ The tone, cast, and character of the.,
’ feelings and intellect of children, are al-:
' tered and influenced by drinking habits 1
'in parents. They nre more gross and <
animal in all their actions and associa- <
i tions, and less intellectual and moral. .
* * * * * *
“The superior virtues of the temperate!,
parent may prevent the children from 1
forming intemperate habits, and though ’
they may possibly escape destruction, i
yet, this depraved appetite, this liquor
loving stream, is almost sure to flow on to
.generations yet unborn, widening and I
deepening as it progresses, either break- (
ing out here, and there, and yonder, or (
! else sweeping their name and race from
i the face of the earth. Is not this a most
i powerful motive to young ladies prompt
ly to refuse the addresses of those young 1
men who drink a drop of any kind of (
stimulants? Every young woman who
marries even an occasional stimulator, is ],
in imminent danger, aye, almost sure, of*
losing the affections of her first, her only '
love, past all recovery, and following him s
to an early and most bitter grave; and 1
also of seeing her sons, otherwise her |
| comfort and support, become her broken [
reed, her deepest disgrace, redoubling the
1 indescribable miseries ofhaving a drunk- \
en husband, in the still deeper miseries 1
l of having besotted children. Parents s
cannot be too careful as to what appetites 1
they indulge; for, they are sowing seed f
in susceptible soil, from which those they ,
most love, will reap prolific crops of
health and happiness, or of vice and mis- *
' ery.” >
Fire. —On Tuesday morning last,about '
’ one o’clock, the slumbers of our citizens *
1 were disturbed by the cry of fire, which *
was found to proceed from the store of
Messrs. Clarke & Carswell, on the west (
1 side of Broad-street, and which had pro
-1 gressed so far in its destruction that nei
-1 ther the building itself, or any of the con- !
' tents, could be saved. The dwelling part
’ above the store, was occupied by Mr. j
Carswell’s family, who escaped only with
! their clothing on them. The loss of the
’ firm is between 4 or $5,000, no insur- '
’ ance. Mr. Kent’s loss, (who owned the *
" building,) is said to be about $61,000 in j
I notes and other valuable papers, besides
the balding, which may be valued al
L about S3OOO, no insurance. The loss of (
the firm is particularly afflicting, as these
gentlemen had just started in business,
and in it had embarked their all. Mr.
' Kent’s principal loss will be, that of his
house. How this fire originated is yet a
mystery, and may forever be : it is sup
posed however, that it originated from
some lucifer matches in the store.
5 __
, Fussy People. —ln the estimation ol
i many, there is no class of persons whe
) are more fussy than old maids and ole
5 bachelors. But this is a great mistake.
, There is one other class which is infinite!}
. more so, and so much more so, that they
joften not only render themselves ridicu
lous, but as often disgusting in the eyes
of the more rational and sober people of
any community.
This class is not satisfied in making
themselves disagreeable at home, among
their own neighbors and friends; they
are not satisfied in stirring up a fuss there
and let it live its time out and die there
too; they are not satisfied in settling it
strictly by the rules recognised by all
"honorable gentlemen—in away that a
Raleigh or a Bayard would settle it: No
Indeed—they must needs come into the
j territories of the peaceable; they must
obtrude their private disputes and quar
rels upon the public attention, who care
i little or nothing for them or their quarrels,
or the causes of it; they must squabble
and quarrel in print; they must de
nounce their adversary in the most choice
phrases of Billingsgate; they must ad
dress some half dozen cards — “To the
Public;” they must keep the fuss from
■coming to a crisis, and shift the scene of
it occasionally ; they must diplomatise
and do it skilfully; they must fight all
their battles on paper, with those formi
dable weapons ofdestruction— the pen and
the ink-horn ; they must do all this, and
we assure them they will accomplish
their desires, but not meet the reward
anticipated. The reward of such is rid
icule and disgust— their conduct fussy,
and themselves fussy j)eople. Imported
fusses we do not want, the home article
is good enough for us.
Talking Machine.—-X machine for
this purpose is said to be in New York at
this time, and is described m several of
the papers of that city. It is said to be
the invention of an Austrian, named Fa
ber, who spent near twenty years of un
remitting labor in accomplishing his task.
Col. Webb, of the Courier & Enquirer,
says it is the intention of the inventor to
exhibit it publicly. He further states
that he conversed with it in Latin and
English, and from the nature of the con
versation, we judge the gender of the
machine to be masculine.
03" How sweet, how consoling the re
flection, that we have at anv time made
ourselves useful to others, without even
the slightest inconvenience to ourselves,
and sometimes, too, when we have even I
been unconscious of the good wo have
done. Let us take an instance of but re
cent occurrence:
In our city there is a gentleman, young
and handsome, but of gigantic proper- I
tions, and who has, even for his great I
size, a larger pair of feet than necessary I
for the harmony of his outline of frame.
During the heavy rains which lately de
luged our streets, they became in conse
quence thereof, very muddy, and almost I
impassable in many places. It was during I
such a time as this, that a lady might I
have been seen standing on the “ pace ,” I
anxious to cross the muddy street, and I
with sad countenance contemplating the
plight she would be in on her arrival on
the opposite side. Just at this time there
might have been seen a smile playing
around the rosy lips of this fair creature,
and a flash of the eye that indicated
something of wit and pleasure : for un
derstand reader, that it was just at this
time that the gentleman alluded to came
up to the spot where this lady &>od, j
alone in all her glory, with all her “fil
ings” on, and was about to cross the
street. He did so, and at each step, as
he lifted up his ponderous foot, the spot
was occupied by the foot of this lady in
quick succession until safe, from mud
and mire, she arrived on the opposite
side, murmuring as she “ tread in the
foot-steps of her illustrious predecessor, 1 ' i
Heaven! bless this man, Oh! what bless
ed feet he has!—but his strides are so
long.
For the Washingtonian. \
Messrs. Editors— -I understand that
the Students of Franklin College enacted f
another of those disgraceful scenes, for |
which they have so distinguished them- f
selves, on the occasion of the visit to i
Athens of Mr. John W. Hawkins, the t
listinguished Temperance reformer.-
This gentleman was molested on both |
aights of his lectures, and the conduct of
the students to him, and the disrespect to
the audience, was such as almost exceed*
belief. This is not the first outrage of 1
£ I