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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