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THE ivashinhtonian.
AUGUSTA, MARCH l«>th, 1845.
1 ~ COMMITTEE. -
Rpy. W. T. RhavtlV, Dr. D. Hook,
•« W.J. Haro, Jambs Harvbh,|Es<|.
" C. S. Don, A. W. Noei., Esq.
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Proceedings
Os the late meeting of .the Total Absti
nence Society in this city.
A meeting of the Society was held at
the City Hall room, according to previ
ous notice, and although tho attendance
was not very numerous, much interest
in the present state and future opera
tions of the society were manifested.—
Interesting addresses were delivered by
Dr. A. Means, Harris, J. 11. Dow,
and Mr. Dod, and 5 additional signa
tures to the pledge obtained.
On motion of James Harper, Esq.,
Resolved, unanimously, That the la
dies of Augusta, who have had ex
perience in making arrangements for
Fairs, to raise funds for benevolent ob
jects, be respectfully requested to hold a
fair for tho purpose of raising funds to free
this society from debt, and afford the
means of increasing its usefulness.
Resolved further, That a committee of
five be appointed by the President, to
make the above resolution known to the
ladies whose generous services are so
licited, and aid them in making suitable
preparations for the contemplated fair.
The President then Appointed,
JAMES HARPER, 'j
VVM. HAINES, Jr., i
WM. F. PEMBERTON, \ Com.
J. VV. WHITLOCK, |
Dr. L. D. FORD. J
On motion the meeting ndjourned, to
meet on Monday evening, 17th March
next. Wm. HAINES, Jr., Sec.
The Committee appointed by tho Pres
ident of the Total Abstinence Society, to
aid the ladies in their arrangements for
the contemplated fair for the benefit of
the Society, will please meet on Monday,
17th inst. at 5 o’clock, at tho store of
Mr. Wm. Haines.
By order of the Chairman.
Mauulactorlcs la Augusta.
We desiro to congratulate our follow
citizens upon tho prospect of returning
prosperity to our once flourishing Augus
ta. We flatter ourself that we can per
ceive the dawing of a new era, and that
the spirit which was manifested by our
citizens at the large and respectable
meeting at the City Hall on Saturday
night last, is but the precursor of events
which will bring uncounted blessings to
our population. We were extremely
gratified with the proceedings of that
meeting—not less with the energetic de
termination manifested by those who
have moved in tho matter, than with the
very equitable, and to our thinking, only
feasible plan by which they propose to
accomplish the desired object—the re
suscitation of our city.
It is not our intention to enter into an
enumeration of the advantages which
must inevitably result from tho success
ful establishment of manufactories in
our midst. We question if there is an
intelligent citizen in our corporate limits
who doubts of those advantages, in a
greater or less degree. It is too plain a
principle of economy, that, without indus
try there can be no prosperity. But many
have doubted, —and so did we, until very
recently,—that our citizens had suffi
cient energy of character to open up? new
channels for the employment of their
capital and industry. We had heard
them talk before, and though the city was
falling into ruins, and property daily de
preciating in value, we were apprehen
sive that the recent movement would end
in smoke—that from theorising they
would get to caveling about ways and
mean?; and exhaust their- energies in dis-
cussing how, and where, and when the j
thing should be done. But thanks to the!.
I public spirited men who have taken the j
| load in this matter—we have been disap- <
pointed for once, and measures have^
; been adopted which we doubt not will 1
' secure the consummation of the contem
plated enterprise. We are not the less
‘gratified by the fact that there seems
to exist an uncommon unanimity of sen
\ timent among the people on the subject.;
: All look to the great enterprise as the
means by which new life is to be infused
j among all classes of our citizens— -all
seem desirous at least of seeinrj it tested.
Wc sincerely hope that it may be found
to answer the most sanguine expectations
of its projectors, and that the day is not
j far distant when the hum of industry
j shall awaken our citizens into new life,
and when honest labor, economy and
temperance, will be found, hand in hand,
dispensing their rich blessings upon all.
OCT We feel that we could not better
; appropriate our editorial space this week,
than in giving place to the following re
marks of the editor of the Temperance
| Standard, on “the Universality and
j Grandeur of Temperance.” We most j
willing adopt the sentiments so eloquent
ly expressed.
“In looking over our exchanges,” says
the writer, “ we find much to encourage
us in our labors, from the fact that near
-1 ly every State in the Union is actively
engaged in the promotion of the cause of
total abstinence. Look which way we
will, North, East, South or West, wo be
hold the triumphs of temperance. And,
what is highly pleasing to every sincere
• friend of our enterprise, is the favor with
which rpen, high in office—Judges, Gov
ernors, and other Magistrates ; private in
dividuals, of great influence and acknowl
edged talents—regard this majestic and
most glorious moral movement, so full of
promise, so exuberant in blessing to our
race. There are other causes, worthy
the attention of universal man; there
are other moral movements, full of phi
lanthropy and benevolence, nnd in which
i it is honorable and Christian to engage;
but we challenge the world to produce
another enterprise (always excepting
j Christianity itself) that presents half the
claims upon our charity, our benevolence,
our patriotism, our religious sympathies
and our self denying labors, as that of
temperance. It is, emphatically, the
cause of causes. Emancipate the hu
man body and the human soul from its
tyrannical and debasing power, and man
rises to the dignity of his nature—stands
forth redeemed, as it were, from every
low and grovelling propensity—talks of
time, eternity, God, and the soul—crush
es beneath his heel the Serpent’s head—.
fixes his eye upon the sun, and lifts his
head ,above the stars.
“Do you doubt it! Look at John Haw
kins, that once miserable inebriate, im.
bruted and demoniac, now the very Apos
tle of Temperance ; going from city
to city, from State to State, proclaiming
liberty to the captive and the opening of
prisons to those that are bound, making
the insane inebriate sing the song of re
demption, and causing his heart-broken
wife and children to shout: Allelujah,
Allelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent i
reigneth.
“Look at John B. Gough, a mere strip
ling, who, a few years since, was a house
less, homeless man, with but one friend
in the wide universe, and she a feeble ;
sister. Without character ; without '
God ; without hope ; his mother, dead ; (
tho wife of his bosom, gone to her home j
in heaven, with a bruised and bro
ken heart; existence, without a single !
charm to him! Look at this John B. i
Gough, standing up in our Hails of Leg- 1
islation; aye, ir. the very Capitol of the 1
nation, before Representatives and Sena- :
tors, melting their very heart with his j
thrilling eloquence! See this young I
man, redeemed from the deep degrada- 1
tion into which he had fallen, leaving '
his fetters behind him, go forward in'the
cause of human redemption, lifting up |
tho dark pall that shrouds the drunkard’s i
hopes; and, taking him by the hand, J
point him to the bright and glorious pros- '
pects that will yet greet his vision! See '
him paint, with an angel’s hand, the aw- !
ful situation of the confirm/^
till he has carried you into the very midst
of the “ Inferno” of Dante, and then, of
a sudden, sketch such a glowing picture
of the happiness of the reformed man,
that you seem to be carried up to the
I Heaven of Heavens, so graphically des
cribed by St. John in Apocalyptic vision!
“Look at these two specimens of re
| kerned humanity, “ O ye of little faith !”
in temperance, and if you do not feel
that there is a moral grandeur in the
temperance reformation, we will put vou
down for bigots or fools. The man who
| can upon the glorious results that
follow from our efforts, and not exclaim,
in wonder and amazement, “ What hath
God wrought!” should make his home
with the bears of the Arctic regions, amid
eternal ice.
e rejoice to know that this cause has
j so few opponents; that it is, almost eve
ry where, in favor with the people; and
that so many of our fellow countrymen
have pledged themselves to sustain it.—
The Angel of Reform has spread her
wings, all radiant with feathers of gold,
over more than three quarters of the
groanftig globe. In our own country, al
most ail our state and national holidays
I are celebrated upon temperance princi
ples; and, as in this case, “the voice of
the people is the voice of God,” wc an
ticipate the day when but few drunkards
shall be found within her borders, and
| when there shall be inscribed upon every
i banner that floats upon the breeze the
motto that we have placed upon our own:
‘Health, Peace and Plenty !’”
The Tempeiauce Reformation.
The temperance reformation is grad
| ually but steadily, and we trust irresisti
bly, extending its influence into every
class of society, and every pursuit and
relation in life. And well it may, for no
practice or custom can be mentioned
which had ever gained such universal
| prevalence in a civilized community, pro
ducing so much evil without any counter
vailing good, as the use of intoxicating
drinks. Our fervent prayer is, that the
friends of this cause may never cease
their efforts until the only remedy and
the only preventive, total abstinence from
all that can xnloxxc ciic, oholl t>o o. xxtuvcr/ttil
motto. '1 his great reformation differs
from all others that have ever been under
taken by human instrumentality alone,
in several particulars. It addresses man
as a moral and intellectual, as well as a
social and physical being. It has a bear
ing both on his temporal and eternal in
terests. All other great attempts at re
formation have had some one specific
; object in view, and have been based upon
| such principles, or have united such ele
ments as have entirely precluded their
universal adoption. Hut this addresses
itself equally to the king on his throne
and the beggar in his rags—to all denom
inations in religion, and to men of no re
ligion—to all parties in politics—to the
patriot, to the political economist, to men
in every profession—to the poor and to
the rich—to the farmer, the planter, the
merchant, the mechanic and the laborer
—to parents and children—to husbands
and wives—and in short, to man in all
conditions, circumstances and relations,
it moreover offers no compromise. It
proposes the entire abandonment of a
habit once almost universal, and the sub
stitution of one directly opposite, under a
full and unequivocal assurance that
nothing but good shall result from the
change.
The unmixed, uncompensated evils re
sulting from the use of alcohol, have been
spread before the public, supported by
such an accumulation of evidence as
would appear to be irresistible—evidence
sufficient, it would seem, to arouse the
world, and to enlist every man who loves
his own or his neighbor’s body or soul, in
a war even of extermination against so i
deadly a foe to the human race. This
effect, however, has not been produced—
and although victory after victory has
been achieved, still the enemy is strong,
and marshals among his hosts many of
the rich, the honorable, the talented, the
respectable, and alas, the pious of the
land—indeed, these alone sustain him
these form his van guard—these are his
shield and his only efficient protectors.
As for the drunkards! they are power
less. Their minds and bodies enfeebled,
their property is mostly wasted—they
are captives to Alcohol, not his defenders
—many of them struggle to escape from
his chains, but alas! they are unable, for
which way soever they turn, they are
headed and hemmed in by officers and
soldiers in the army of Alcohol, under the
guise of respectable temperate drinkers
and respectable dealers, who, by their ex
ample, solicitations and temptations, drive
the hapless victim back to heavier chains
and deeper degradation.
But, notwithstanding all this, we
" ■ i l *" „ ,
! would say to the friends of temperance,
take courage ! New allies will soon ap
pear—fresh victories will be achieved—a
wide and promising field for future oper
ations will be opened—you have only to
persevere, and by the help of God, your
| success will be complete. And whilst we
■ encourage our friends, we would also \
: present to t those who are indifferent or'
neutral, and to those who still oppose us.!
I the fruits of our acquisitions, affording, 1
as they do, the highest and strongest pos-1
| sible evidence of the goodness of our
cause, and the truth of our principles—
j and we would earnestly, but kindly and j
affectionately, entreat them to unite with
us, and thus save themselves and those;
perishing around them.— S. C. Temp.
I Advocate.
.Behold the Change.
In the course of his remarks, at the
Legislative Temperance meeting, Gov
ernor Briggs stated that the Hon. Mr.
Winthrop of this city had spoken to him
of the wonderful change that had taken
place in the habits of the people, as
manifested on holidays and occasions of
large, assemblages of our citizens.—
' When I was a hoy, said he, we used to
go down upon the common, at the close
of election day, and the 4th of July, to
see the police carry off to the watch
house, the quarrelsome and noisy drunk
ards who were disturbing the peace by
their revelries. But, now, there are no
such scenes to be witnessed; men, if
they get drunk, do so in secret. They
| are ashamed to he seen in such a con
| dition by the public eye. I have myself,
continued his excellency, seen in this
city, within tho past year, three or four
large assemblies of people, numbering
; from thirty to seventy five thousand, and
I I have not seen one drunken man among
them all. YV hat will the revilers of the
temperance cause say to this? That
; there is as much drunkenness now, as
i there was before the friends of temper
ance commenced their operations? They
: may say so if they please, but who will
believe them ?— Temp. Standard.
Keeping it up.
“ Well, Charles, I have called to see
if we are going to the party to-night.”
“Os course; why should not we, Wil
liam ?”
“ Why you know we have both taken
the pledge.”
“ And mean to keep it. What then?”
“Why you Know whom wc arc to
; meet; all of them choice spirits; who
' never spare the glass; and they will ex
j pect us to do as the rest.”
“We have quite ns much right to ex
! pect them to follow our example. But
let us clearly understand each other.
Did you sign the pledge merely because
I signed it i or was it from conviction ?
Have you the smallest misgiving that you
did any thing wrong or foolish in sign
ing it?”
“ Why, perhaps I would never have
thought of signing it, if you had not
talked to me about it; hut I certainly did
it with a full conviction 6f acting well
and wisely. It was merely rerouncin <r
a paltry animal gratification, injurious to
health, character and property. For my
part, I never indulged in a night of ‘keep
ing it up,’ as they call it, without re
penting it in many a day of headache,
nausea, and lassitude.”
“Then what inducement on earth can
make you break the pledge ? ’
“ YY hy you know they will so torment
and ridicule us.”
“ Merely lor not making ourselves ob
jects of torment and ridicule? Come,
j you might give them good occasion for
| laughter by breaking the pledge, but not
by keeping it.” °
“ YY ell, then, it is settled that we meet
at the party this evening.”
The friends accordingly met at the
party. I hey had not long been seated
at the table, when the wine began to cir- 1
culate. Jhe health of a distinguished
character was proposed, and received
with deafening cheers. Charles drank
it with as much enthusiasm as the rest,
but to the universal astonishment, in a
glass ot water. In the excitement of
the moment it had escaped notice that I
YY’illiam's glass remained untasted. Af
ter the murmur had somewhat subsided. |
the person who had proposed the health, j
inquired if any slight was intended to
the man he had mentioned.
“None in the leas#,” replied Charles.
“I yield to no one in my admiration of j
that eminent man. It seems to be vour*
opinion that drinking his health is doing
him a benefit of some kind. I may have
my doubts on the subject, as I could nev
er perceive that the state of my health
was materially benefitted when, as has
often happened, you paid me a similar
compliment. But if any honor is con
veyed hy this mystic ceremony, I per
fectly agree with you that you have
crowned a man worthy of every honor.
Only I reserve to myself the privilege of
drinking his health in a healthy article.”
Uhen the host fired up in praise of his
wine, which, as far as price could be a
j criterion, he had every reason to pro'
nounce unsurpassed.
“ B may be as good wine as was ever
tasted, from the day that Noah made
himself an object of derision and com
passion to his own children. But I have
arrived at the conviction that no wine
whatever is healthy to body or mind ;
j and I have renounced it forever!”
I Why you don t mean to say vou
; have joined the teetotalers >”
i “But Ido.”
“You a teetotaler ?■ —for shame! I
thought you were more of a man.”
•• As I was on my way here, I saw a
| group of negroes and match-bovs, luxu
riating in gin and tobacco. These are
the men you hold up to my example ?”
Corne, Charles, don’t put a slight on
us. Let us see we are all friends; so
piedge us m a friendly glass, that’s a
good fellow.” ,
“ The ambition to be called ‘good fel
low has made many a bad man. Have
you considered what you ask of me ?
Do you know I have signed the pledge?”
j “Oh a fig for the pledge! One glass
; ci^ n no harm. Come, pledge us ;we
wish it as a favor.”
Hell, perhaps you are going the
right way to work, for I too have a favor
to ask. \V ilson, will you step aside with
me a moment?
This Wilson was one of the forty
thousand “greatest poets of America.”
I o do him justice, his verses always e
\inced good taste and a correct ear,
though wanting in fire and originality;
and he enjoyed considerable magazine
reputation, ot which be was at least as
proud as he ought to be.
“ My dear \\ ilson,” said Charles in his
most insinuating tone,” “youcan’t think
how much it is in your power to oblige
me. There is a particular friendof mine
| vvll ° has written some beautiful verses
which he has sent round to all the pe
riodicals in succession, but not a single
editor would insert them. Os course
this must be entirely owing; to the un
merited obscurity of‘his name. What I
l have to ask is, that you will effect their
publication by lending them tffH&hc
tion ot your own celebrated name as the
author. \ou will, I arn sure, make no
difficulty when you have rend them.”
W ilson cast a rapid glance over the
paper handed him, and flung it frofo him.
“ hat madness possesses you to pro
pose such a thing to me, or to' think that
I would disgrace my name by owning
such a miserable doggrel! The metre is
lame, t-he rbyipe is faulty, the grammar
incorrect; and what there is of ideas,
taken from an old song of Moore’s !”
“ Y°u will not oblige me then ?”
“ See you hanged first!”
“ VI ell, we will say no more about it at
present. I wish to speak with Jones.”
“ f,is request to Jones was for the loan
.of fiftydolllars to a poor man, who, he
added, was not likely ever to he ablet to
; repay if. The answer was, /'
“Strike me dumb! but I*wonder at
your assurance!”
Charles then entering to the fable,
iaid aloud : “I have asked orie to oblige
me at the expense of his priie, and of
another to do me a favor at thc*expense
of his pocket; and they have been ama
zed and indignant at my effrontery.
What then must I think of them when
they ask me to oblige them at the ex
pense of my conscience and my honor ?
Assuredly this is a favor I shall not grant.
But there is a favor I will ask of you all ;
not for myself, but for yourselves. It is
this—that you will do as I have d6ne;
that you will remove from our meetings
the only thing that mars their enjoyment,
by inflaming the blood and angry pas
sions, in short, that you will sign the
pledge I have signed, and have brought
with me for the purpose.”
Here there was a general roar of
1 laughter.
“ This is the coolest thing yet,” said
one. “ How do you expect to persuade
us to sign away our liberty ?”
“ By showing the worth of the liberty
of making yourselves slaves to intem
perance. All I ask is to be heard.”
“Well, fire away; we are not afraid
you can convince us.”
But they were mistaken. Charles xvas
a man of no ordinary abilities, and when
talent is inspired by truth, it is irresisti
ble. The result was that after listening
for an hour so his impressive eloquence,
they cheerfully affixed their names to the
pledge; and at his suggestion, organized
themselves into a temperance society.
Their meetings still continue for the pur
pose of keeping it vp ; and are a great
deal pleasanter than when they used to
be disturbed by the follies of intemper
ance.
Abolition Charity.
We have just had described to us the
condition of a negro family of London
Co., within a few' miles of this place. It
is composed of father and mother, and
eight children. They live in a hut made
of a few boards loosely put together and
shiftlessly covered with hemlock boughs,
w’ith one side open like ashed. There