Newspaper Page Text
THE WASHINGTONIAN.
AUGUSTA, DECEMBER 2 1, 1844.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE.
Rev. W. T. Brantly, Dr. D. Hook,
•* W. J. Hard, James Harper, Esq,
« C.S. Dod, A. W. Noel, Esq.
" Geo. F. Pierce,
{J* To DiiTAirr Svtscaistsi. —Po«t Masters are au.
tburized by law to remit money to the publishers of
newspapers and periodicals, in payment of subscrip
lions. Subscribers to the Wooing lonian can therefore
pay for their papers %ithout subjecting themselves or
the publisher to the expense of postage, by handing the
amount to the Post Master, with a request to remit it.
03" We have often had occasion to re
flect upon the many causes of intemper
ance, and the likelihood of their contin
uance either for a longer or shorter peri
od of time ; and how and by what means
these impediments, that so thickly beset
the pathway of the friends of the temper
ance reformation are to be removed, if
at all. The door-ways to intemperance,
wo are aware, are many, and many cau
ses of its continuance, so long among us,
difficult to overcome. Besides old hab
its, contracted perhaps in early youth,
deep-rooted prejudices, inflamed by the
enemies of the reform—the custom of
the times, sustained by the gifted and the
fashionable—there is one thing which
we believe alone has made, and will
make, more drunkards than any other;
we allude to what may properly be called,
wherever it is met— False Modesty.
It is this false modesty that betrays
us into nearly all our follies, and many
of our crimes. Than this kind of mod
esty, nothing can be more contemptible
and mean—nothing more undignified—
nothing more debasing to human nature.
It teaches us error and induces crime; it
teaches, not to oppose any thing against
the humor, or baulk the fancy, of the com
pany we are in. In this case it assumes
the specious garb of courtesy or polite
ness, and is laid down as a fundamental
rule in the “ Book on Etiquette ,” and
must be sacredly observed by all that do
not wish to be docketed as clowns, or os
tracised from the society of the “ beau
monde.” It is this kind of modesty that
has sent the fashionable and accomplish
ed gentleman reeling into the gutter, a
mid dirt and filth, “to cool off” at his
leisure, unless lucky enough to catch a
Tartar and find his way to the watch
house. It is this kind of modesty that
has made the “ toast” of her day degen.
erate into the common scold, decorated
with cheeks rubicund from wine—a ter
ror to her neighbors, and a warning to
her sex.
And it was to this kind of modesty
that Brutus refered when he said, that
that person has had but a bad education,
who has not been taught to deny him
self any thing. Zenophon, too, refered
to it when he was charged with being
timid because he refused to bet on a game
of dice, for he is reported to have said—
“ I confess I am exceeding timorous, for
I dare not do any ill thing.”
To correct, then, the evil tendencies of
False modesty, we believe that we should
instil true modesty in its stead, and this
can only be done by a change in the
manner of educating both sexes. For we
believe also, that as true modesty is the
legitimate offspring of a well-directed
education, so is false modesty the true
representative of a vicious one. If this
ba true, it is high time to cease cultiva
ting only the minds of the boys, and the
persons of the girls—it is high time, we
repeat, to abandon this one-sided man
ner of education.
It is high time to begin to think upon
the subject, and be convinced that our
chief care should be directed to adorn
tie mind first, and the body afiervvards.
■What! is that which is our chief distinc
tion from the brute to be of secondary
importance to that which bears a near
resemblance to it ? It cannot—must not
be. But to a lamentable extent it is so
now. Then begin aright. Cultivate the
hearts as well as the heads of the boys—
imbue them with sound principles, mor
al, religious and political—teach them to
love and cherish, as their life-blood, these
principles, and practice them upon prin
ciple and not policy only—do this, and
they will be exempted from the follies
and crimes of false modesty.
With the girls also, begin aright.—
While you are educating their persons,
slight not the inestimable jewel—the
mind. Teach the girls the high and re
sponsible destiny which awaits them—
teach all that ig useful first, and the orna
mental afterwards—elevate them above
a competition for the smiles of moustached
fops and summer-day young gentlemen—
teach them, above all things, that the
graces of the mind are incomparably
brighter, purer and holier than those of
the person. Milton most beautifully al
ludes to this in his Paradise Lost. He
introduces Adam to us as describing Eve,
and the impression she made upon him,
on first seeing her after her creation.
He (Adam we mean) does not, as a mo
dern lover would, break forth in ecstacies
of delight, and describe her as a Grecian
Venus in shape and features; but is en
raptured by the lustre of her mind which
shone through them. Hear him—
“ Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye,
In every gesture, dignity and love.”
Yes, and any bachelor who has cut his
wisdom tooth approves of Adam’s just
views of what constitutes a lovely wo
man.
But we have rambled off the path.
We set out to urge a cultivation of a true,
instead of a false modesty—the former
always pleasing, the latter always con
temptible. The one, the source of many
virtues—the other, the source of many
evils, among which is the baneful habit
of intemperance in drink.
Encouragement for Reform.
Nothing has undergone such a com
plete revolution in the whole history of
man as the pathology, or philosophy, or
whatever we may please to term it, of
drunkenness. All the world said it made
utter shipwreck of man, nnd all the
world supposed that the ruin was irreme
diable for time and eternity; that body
and mind were all broken down, the af
fections utterly wasted, and that upon
the soul rested the blast of the Almighty.
What developements have been made of
a redeeming, saving influence 1 Not on
ly the body rises under the total absti
nence principle to its pristine healthful
ness and vigor, but the silly, idiotic, bru
tish intellect, supposed to be forever inca
pable of attending to the ordinary con
cerns of life, bursts out like the sun be
hind the clouds and travels onward in its
glorious course, diffusing light, life and
joy, till it peacefully and calmly sets in
eternity. We confess we have felt some
thing bordering on vain ostentation as
wo have pointed out to the cold, heart
less unbelievers in our work, some of
the men who have been raised from the
lowest depths and are now the orna
ments of their country. To those who
in past years have been elected by their
friends and fellow-citizens to seats in the
national councils, we can add the
names of a Levin, and a Woodruff; who,
but a short time since, were standing in
our temperance meetings, relating their
experience, and drawing tears from ma
ny eyes as they manfully yet not boast
ingly, went over their miserable and
most degraded lives, showing to what
deep debasement of mind and body rum
had reduced them. Now where are
they ? and not they only, but hundreds
of others, who, like them, have dashed
the cup to the earth, and stamped the hy
dra to powder. We wish to fasten the
attention of every young man who has
become enslaved to the cup these signal
instances, and say to to him, —“ Do not
drink on in despair. Do not feel that all
is lost; that your reputation is gone;
that your constitution is ruined; your
mind paralyzed; and you may as well
drink on and die, for there is no hope.
It is not ..so. There is hope. These
men have been saved, and you may be
saved. These men have been restored
to health and you may be ; to business,
and you may be ; and they are elevated
by the free suffrages of their fellow-citi
zens to places of power and trust, and
you may be. Take courage. Sign the
pledge. Struggle on. Give us your
hand. We will lift you up and good
days will be yours, and great prosperity.
And what encouragement to friends to
labor for the reform of their own loved
ones, whom they have thrown aside as
idiots or maniacs; also to every philan
thropist, and patriot, and Christian to
engage in this work—to bring some
diamond from the mud, yet des
tined perhaps to outshine any now glit
tering in the nation’s coronet. Such as
arc unbelieving on this subject we invite
to go and hear one now in the midst of
us; a bright meteor, fallen upon our
city, delighting all, melting all, subduing
all by the power of his speech and the
sweetness of his song. On this subject
we delight to dwell, accustomed as we
have been in times past to describe scenes
of drunkenness and to portray the hor
rors of the rumshop. How men enga
ged in the trade can look at these rescued
men and compare them with what they
once were, and still pursue their work of
death, we know not. Once their plea
was that the happiness and life of the
miserable man required the continuance
of the trade ; that he must drink or die,
and so in their wonderful benevolence,
they gave him rum and took away his
last peck of corn, his wife’s clothing, his
children’s bread. Let him offer it now.
O what a withering glance would he re
ceive ! What notes of scorn and con
tumely and death.— Jour. Am. Temp.
Union.
Sign for Life 1
We have scarcely ever known an in
temperate person to sign a pledge to ab
stain for a particular period, that did not
drink the harder after its expiration.
Teetotally and forever, is the only guar
antee against drunkenness, and we have
never yet known one to adopt this course
who ever regretted it.
Some eight years ago, a highly respec
table mechanic found himself fast falling
under the influence of the intoxicating
beverage; so much so that he became
alarmed. He entered into a solemn ob
ligation that he would abstain for seven
years. He adhered strictly to his vow,
and notwithstanding that he knew him
self to be vastly benefitted in every way
by a teetotal life, when the seven years
were up, he returned to his cups with in
creased appetite. The change was soon
perceptible in everything around him;
his business was neglected, his health im
paired, and his family unhappy. At
length, a friend, who liked a glass him
self and had drank many a one with him,
determined to intercede, and endeavor to
arrest his downward course by inducing
him to unite with a temperance society.
“But,” reasoned he to himself, “lam
not a member myself, and it would be in
sulting, if not dishonorable, in me, to ask
my friend to do that which I will not do
myself. Should I argue, 4 they that are
whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick,’ lie would say, it did not
apply to me, for I drink and he knows it.
No, no ! I cannot in conscience ask him
to sign the pledge, unless I agree to sign
with him—and that I’ll do!” The pro
position was made and accepted, and the
change was visible in a month after, by
an improved state of health, happiness
and prosperity.
Now, if you have a friend who you
think “ takes a little too much,” and you
desire to savo him, offer to sign the pledge
if he will, and you may succeed; but if
on asking him to sign, he inquires why
you do not, and you tell him there is no
necessity for it—even should it be true,
he is apt to view it as an indignity, and
you stand but little chance of success.
Sign the pledge yourself; then you may
induce others to follow your example—
and be sure that you sign it for life.
[Organ.
Drinking and Fibbing.
“ Well, John, what do you think of tem
perance by this time?” asked a Wash
ingtonian of an old friend who had re
cently reformed.
“O, I always thought it a first rate
thing,” was the answer.
“You did 1” continued the first, “why
when I used to beg you to sign the pledge,
you said temperance was all a humbug.”
“ I know I used to say so, but I didn’t
believe it,” replied John, —and there are
a great many just like John; they are
unable to give any good reason why they
should not sign the pledge, and when
cornered pretty closely, they’ll say “ it’s
all a humbug;” but they don’t believe a
word of it—not they.— lb.
From the Journal of Am. Temp. Uuion.
Temperance in Yale College.
Mr. Editor —To one who maintains
such untiring interest in the great cause
of Temperance, and especially in its pro
gress among the youth of our land, it
will doubtless be interesting to hear of
the impulse which the cause has recently
received within the walls of the venera
ble Yale.
While Temperance has been gradu
ally revolutionizing our country, over
coming in its way prejudice and habit,
it has extended itself within our halls of
science, and has found there a chosen
band, who have been wise enough to re
sist those temptations, which, though
different in some respects from the world
around, have yet proved mighty in the
destruction of many an immortal mind.
Those earnestly desirous of going forth
into the world as Temperance men, and
indulging in the hope that their compan
ions might be persuaded to join their
number, about a year ago formed a Col
lege Temperance Society. Shortly af
ter, a public meeting was held, which
gaye them a fine start, betokening far
more permanence and usefulness than
former Societies had enjoyed under the
old Pledge. On the evening of Novem
ber 11th, the Society celebrated its first
Anniversary in the College Chapel;
where a large audience showed their
deep interests in its welfare. The fol
lowing is an abstract of the Annual Re
port which was read :
“Less than a year has elapsed since
the first general meeting of our Society
under its present organization. The el
oquent presentation of its claims on that
occasion, by such distinguished advo
cates, gave the cause a character and an
impulse which it never had before in this
College. The history of Temperance
in Yale, as presented in the Report then
read, showed the slight importance which
had been attached to it, and the conse
quent wretched existence it was com
pelled to suffer for years.
“ After that meeting, the class socie
cies engaged in immediate and active ef
forts. So untiring were the exertions of
the then senior class, that they presented
the gratifying and unprecedented specta
cle of two-thirds of the largest class that
has ever left the Institution, graduating
total abstinence men.
“ Meetings have been held frequently
during the year, in the different classes,
while individual efforts have not been
wanting, to secure a result so indispensa
ble to the moral as well as intellectual
and physical welfare of our Alma Mater.
“The number at present on our list
is, Seniors, 37 ; Juiors, 40; Sophomores,
82; and Freshmen, 44; making alto
gether, out of 394 undergraduates, 203
members of the Total Abstinence Socie
ty; showing an increase of 14 on last
year’s ratio.
“ The high moral feeling against in
temperance, all around and among us,
aided by these annual meetings, and the
individual efforts of our own members,
will, we trust, increase this ratio at each
Anniversary, until Sons of Yale shall
everywhere be known as 4 Sons of Tem
perance.’ ”
Temperance in the Free Church of Scot
land.
We are glad to see that the temperance
reformation is finding its way to at least
the ears of the Free Church. After
hearing the Report on the State of Re
ligion, l)r. Burns said, though not a
member of Commission, he might be ex
cused for testifying his approval of the
very excellent Report they had just heard
read : he would particularly refer to that
portion of it which referred to intemper
ance, and the approval given to the Tem
perance Societies, which had done so
much to destroy this groat social curse.
The American pulpits had united to put
down the evil, and had all but achieved a
victory, and he was pleased that the mat
ter had been brought before the minis
ters of the Free Church, in connection
with the Report. Twenty years ago the
condition of the United States was well
fitted to excite tears and lamentations.
The vice of intemperance was rampant,
but the Presbyterians united with the
Methodists and other religious bodies to
stop its progress. They adopted first the
pledge of abstinence from ardent spirits,
but finding that other intoxicating liquors
to the amount of fifty in number were in
use—they went a step farther, and total
abstinence became the order of the day;
and now the American churches can bear
witness to the bonefit of it. In the tem
perance agitation in America, the nation
al character had developed itself; there
was a tendency to run into extremes in
this matter, and to make that a test of
church membership which was only a
Christian expediency. This had partial
ly occurred, but the majority of the chur
ches had held the principle in its true
light. In regard to Canada, her most
distinguished ministers were abstainers,
and he believed that those friendly to the
Deputaiion, were so to a man.
Temperance in Scotland. —A Glasgow
paper states that the Temperance Socie
ty of West Scotland is doing nobly, hav
ing wisely secured the sinews of a war
by the contribution of nearly £IOOO to a
year of special effort. Next, they have
secured the services of several men of tal
ent and eloquence to give lectures in all
towns and villages, thecomplement of ad
vocates being made up by the voluntary
and gratuitous labors of a number of well
known and esteemed supporters of the
society in the West of Scotland; and
thirdly, meetings are arranged at nearly
one hundred places for the remainder of
the year.
Temperance in Canada. —We learn,
from the Olive Branch, published at Hal
ifax, Nova Scotia, that through Temper
ance Institutions, upwards of 2000 drun
kards have been reclaimed and that about
150,000 of the people of Canada are
pledged to abstain from all intoxicating
drinks. This success is attributed to the
publication and circulation of temperance
documents, and to the employment of
lecturers. His Excellency Sir Charles
Metcalf recently presented to the Mon
treal Temperance Society, the munifi
cent donation of £IOO towards liquida
ing a debt of 500, which that Society
had contracted.
Subscription lor Father Mathew.
A movement has commenced to re
! lievc Father Mathew from the pecuniary
I embarrassments produced by his sacrifi
| ces in promoting the cause of temper
ance. Lord Cloncurry has forwarded
1 50/. The Cork Examiner contains a
list of subscriptions, including 100/,from
j the Earl of Arundel. Amongst the con
tributions in this light are two English
! Clergymen of the Established Church,
and an Irish Unitarian Clergyman.—
The Temperance Societies in Cork and
i other parts of the south are making ar-
I rangements to co-operate. Before ma
ny weeks a fund amply sufficiemt to res
! cue the Rev. Mr- Mathew from his pecu
! cuniary engagements will have been eb
j tained.
Appropriate Remarks. —The New
York Sun gives some excellent advice in
the following remarks:
“It is useless, and worse than useless
longer to shut our eyes to the fact, that
the love of strong drink, in high places
and in low places, is the grand incubus
upon our nation’s prosperity—the chief
obstacle to our attainment of the very
pinnacle of national glory. The differ
ent questions of government policy,
which have been so freely and fullv dis
cussed during the last six months, involve
principles of great importance, but they
are utterly insignificant in comparison
with the one still remaining to be settled
—whether we are to be a nation of drun
kards or a nation of freemen. Let us,
then, have a great and universal excite
ment upon the subject of temperance—
let the rich and the poor, the high and the
low, the learned and the unlearned, unite
their efforts for the suppression of drunk
enness, and we shall witness an improve
ment in the affairs of our country which
neither high tariffs nor low tariffs, banks
nor sub-treasuries, nor any other party
measure could effect.”
The Ethics of Waterloo.
The Christian world was represented
by the armies that met at the field of Wa
terloo. We doubt whether a single idol
ater carried a gun or drew a sword in that
battle. It would be fair to assumo that
every soldier in those hostile hosts be
lieved in the existence of a God, the
God of the Gospel, the sym and sun of
whose infinite attributes are 4 love.’ Not
a warrior of them all, stained his soul on
that day with a brother’s blood, who had
not heard of the story of calvary, of re
demption and salvation of Jesus Christ
on condition of repentance towards God,
faith in his crucified son, and forgiveness
in our enemies ; without which the blood
of atonement could not wash away a sin
gle sin, or extend to a single human be
ing the remotest hope of heaven.—
No pagan standard was unfurled on the
morning of that dreadful day. Christian
banners alone floated over that horrid
scene of human butchery. Protestants,
English Churchmen, Lutherans, Greek
and Roman Catholics—believers all in
the religion of Jesus Christ—mingled,
the chiefest actors in the bloody mele.—
They were hired and commanded to kill,
and to be content with their wages and
profession. It mattered not what laws
God ever wrote upon stone or upon the
stony heart of man. or what was com
manded and taught by the precepts and
spirit of the Gospel; human govern
ments they conceived, had put the govern
ment of the Almighty under martial law,
and given them a 4 carte blanche’ to tram
pie every commandment of the Deca
logue with impunity. A few imperial
despots made a devil’s religion for every
soldier that fought or fell on that field ;
they proclaimed a new and horrid gospel,
which every fiend that hated God and
man inspired with his malignant breath;
that sainted thoughts and deeds in men
that damned the angels. And with this
infernal religion and gospel they displa
ced the religion and gospel of the meek
and lowly Jesus. They forged his name
to their bloody substitute, and forced his
ministers into the ministration of their
malignant ethics. Y es; ministers of
the gospel were there, and there they
were girded each with a long, silver han
dled butcher knife by his side ; and there,
at the word of command, they— prayed !
Those who had taught —what that Re
deemer of mankind taught—that no hu
man heart could have a hearing at the
Throne of Grace, while it cherished
aught against a brother—they looked not
down, as they ought, but upwards to the
pure and peaceful heavens, and prayed
to the God of battles ! They ascribed
the passions and attributes of the demon
to Him, the sum total of whose charac
ter is love, the sun of his attributes,
whose light is peace—peace, the effusion
of love, the light of heaven. They