Newspaper Page Text
the Washingtonian.
AUGUSTA, JUNE 21, 1845.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE.
Rev. W. T. Braktlv, Dr. D. Hook,
“ W. J. Hard, James Harper, Esq,
" C.S. Doi>, A. W. Noel, Esq.
To Distant Subacribers.—Post Masters are au
thorizvd by law to remit money to the publishers of
newspapeis and periodicals, hi payment of subscrip
tions. Subscribers to the Washingtonian can therefore
pay for their papurs without subjecting themselves 01
the publisher to the expense of postage,by banding the
amount to the Post Master, w ith a request to remit it. |
.—■.. . - - i
Recommendation.
Although our humhle sheet will soon
cease to speak in behalf of the great j
reformation, yet we are desirous that our
subscribers should continue to patronize
some Temperance Publication. We
would bog leave to recommend to their
notice the Temperance Banner. It is
issued semi-monthly, at Penfield, .and the
price is one dollar per annum.
Night-blowing Cereus.
Our townsman, Mr. Metcalf, was kind
enough to invite our citizens to look at
this splendid flower in bloom, at his resi
dence on Tuesday evening last. From
some cause the flower was but partially
developed—but sufficiently so to enable
the curious to understand somethin': of
its beauty and magnificence when fully
blown. But if the flower was but par
tially expanded, there was no contrac
tion about the ice lemonade which Mr.
M. provided for his visiters. It was most
grateful to our thirsty throat.
Death of Gen. Jackson.
It has been announced in the papers of
this week that the “Hero of New Or
leans,” “the man who has filled the
moasuro of his country’s glory,” is no
more. No man since Washington hits
attained such popularity as belonged to
Gen. Jackson. His life during the eight
years of his administration is identified
with the history of his country, in away
not common to the incumbent of the
Presidential Chair.
To whom It may concern.
Wc read somewhere in Homan histo
ry, that a distinguished citizen was once
deputed by the Senate to address a par
ty who were disposed to create a great
disturbance in the State. He succeed
ed in quelling the intestine faction by the
simple recital of the table of the “belly
and the members.”
Wo would commend this same fable to
those who are so clamorous about their
own opinion, that they would see a great
public improvement abandoned if it can
not be done in their way. What an as
tonishing pertinacity some men, old e
nough to know better, have for holding
on to their own opinions, even when their
absurdity has been demonstrated.
We subjoin from the Temperance Ban
ner of the 16th inst., a brief notice of
the State Temperance Convention,
which was recently assembled in Macon.
Wo take the present occasion to express
our hearty approbation of such Conven
tions. For though they may devise no
new and wonderful schemes, for the over
throw of the enemy against whom they
wage war, yet they exert a reviving influ.
cnce upou the cause generally. They
preserve in visibility if not efficiency,
Temperance organizations throughout
the State. It will be perceived that the
next meeting of the Convention is to be
held at Milledgeville, where we hope may
be found representatives from all of our
Societies.
State Temperance Convention.
Agreeably to appointment, the State
Temperance Convention of Georgia as
sembled at Macon, on Wednesday, the
4th inst. at 10 o’clock, A. M. at the
Methodist church. After prayer, it was
organized by the election of the Rev.
Seneca G. Bragg, of the Episcopal
church, as President, and E. G. Cabaniss,
Esq., of Forsyth, Secretary.
The names of about one hundred Dele
gates were enrolled; among whom were
several distinguished political gentlemen,
as well as some of the most eminent
divines of our State :—and for numbers
and talents, perhaps no previous Temper-
I ance Convention in the State has equal
j led it.
The business of the Convention was
immediately entered upon with much
spirit, and was conducted throughout quite
| harmoniously. Our state of health pre
\ vented our taking many notes, and now
■ forbids an extended account of the pro
| ceedings. We anticipate, however, be
j fore next publication, to be in possession
of the entire Minutes, and will then be
able to spread the whole before our
readers.
Among other items of business, how
ever, the Convention adopted the Tem
perance Banner as its organ, and resolv
ed that each member would become an
Agent to procure new subscribers, and to
add to its usefulness.
In compliance with a request from the j
South Carolina Temperance Society,
through Judge O’Neal, its President, a
delegation of distinguished gentlemen j
was appointed to attend a meeting ofthat I
Society, in Pendleton, in August next.
A resolution was passed requesting the
ministers of the different denominations
in the State, to deliver a discourse on
temperance to their respective congrega
tions, on the first Sabbath in September.
A committee was appointed to seek to
secure a visit from Mr. John B. Gough,
to Georgia, next autumn.
At 9 o’clock, on Thursday, the Con
vention assembled at the Methodist
church, and was then joined by between
fifty and ti hundred Ladies, and by about
one hundred Gentlemen, friends to the
cause, each with a badge on the left
breast, who formed two deep, and led by
music, marched to the Presbyterian
church, where the Annual Address was
delivered by Col. Junius A. Wingfield
of Eatonton, to a large and highly grati
fied audience. Near thirty minutes were
occupied in its delivery ; and as to the
matter of the Address and manner of its
delivery, wc have never been more grati
fied. But as the Convention resolved to
ask the author for a copy to accompany
the Minutes in print, wo forbear further
remark.
It is altogether proper to say, that the
music upon the occasion of the Address,
and at the evening meetings, which were
occupied in speeches from various gentle
men, added much to the interest of the
exorcises. The choirs of the different
religious denominations of the city, had
united and practiced for several weeks
previous to the sitting of the Convention,
and were assisted by the excellent Organ
of the Presbyterian church, where the
evening meetings were held on account
ofthe size of the house. We have sel
dom heard performances of the kiud ex
celled.
We cannot forbear remarking, that the
Christian dignity with which the Presi
dent presided over the deliberations ofthe
Convention, and his courteous manners
to the members, won entire approbation.
The citizens of Macon entertained the
convention very handsomely; and the
whole meeting was pleasant and very en
couraging to the friends of reform.
Upwards of one hundred and forty
names were added to the pledge, during
the session ; and at 11 o’clock, on Thurs
day evening, the Convention adjourned,
to meet again at 10 o’clock, in Milledge
ville, on the last Wednesday in November
next; when and where, should life and
health be preserved, we trust to meet, in
stead of one hundred, at least one thou
sand cold Water men, good and true in
the Temperance Reform.
For the Washingtonian.
Tlic up-country of Georgia—Rev. Nathan
Hoyt—Yaukeedoodledoin, &e.
Messrs. Editors. —A day or two since
my attention was directed to a long, but
“hastily written” communication from
Rev. Mr. Iloyt, of Athens. I was pleas- i
cd with the skill which the writer exhib
ited in grouping together in an imposing
picture, the attractions of the up-coun
try in general, and the “pleasure of
spending a Sabbath in Athens,” in par
ticular. I did not suppose that any one
would attempt to throw ridicule upon
what 1 doubt not the Rev. gentleman
published from real motives. But the
following article which I found in the
Savannah Republican, will show that
the effort has been made :
Messrs. Editors: —l have read with
peculiar pleasure, the article of the Rev.
Nathan Hoyt, to the people of the mid
dle and lower sections of Georgia, Flor
ida and South Carolina, and seriously
trust, that, not only the ‘ Charleston,’
the ‘ Columbia,’the ‘Savannah,’ * Mil
ledgeville,’ ‘Macon,’ ‘Columbus,’ ‘Au
gusta,’ ‘ Madison,’ ‘Albany,’ ‘Athens,’
and ‘Tallahasse’ papers will copy, but
that the ‘Chinese Reporter’ and ‘Owv
hee Expositor,’ will make extensive ex
tracts and send copies of their paper to
Huydensville Post Office, Feejee Islands,
for the benefit of the mermaids there
abouts inhabiting. As the Reverend
Gentleman seems to have a peculiar fac
ulty for discovering the kindly spots in
the centre of the female heart, I have
not a doubt that it would afford him par
ticular pleasure to help the fair mer
maids, not only to a choice “glass of ice
cream,” but that he would facilitate all
their “shopping operations” and furnish
them with “airy departments,” merely
for the pleasure of gazing upon the “ro
sy hue upon their cheeks,” &c. &c.
Yaxkkedoodledom.
P. S. Papers copying Mr. Hoyt’s
“ hastily written article,” will please in
sert the above.
Now I must protest against this treat
ment of a letter, which a gentleman
writes for the benefit of his “numerous
friends in the low country.” “ Yankec
doodledom” thinks it smacks of vanity,
and is evidently offended that Mr. Hoyt
should have requested the newspapers in
so many different places to copy his ar
ticle. But has not the Rev. gentleman
a perfect right to make such a request ?
Are not all the communications of great
men matters of common interest, and
should they not be extensively circula-:
ted? What! is it come to this—that a !
citizen of high standing must be carica
tured when he calls the attention of the
public to matters in which they are
mainly interested !
But one of my objects, Messrs. Edit
ors, at this time, is to supply an omission
of the Athens letter-writer. He has
said but little about Augusta. I would
just remind our friends in the low coun
try that there is a little villago of that
name in this meridian, and that the best
route which they can possibly take to
the mountains lies through Augusta. It
is true we have no hotels here, compara
ble in all respects to those found in Ath
ens. Our hotel-keepers have not yet
learned the secret of preserving in their
sleeping apartments, those beautiful little
animals that excite such agreeable sen
sations upon the cuticle of the weary
traveller, and which, surrounding him in
social crowds, dispel those disagreeable
emotions sometimes produced by entire
solitude. But as a compensation for
this, the tables arc excellent and the food
is clean. And though our hotels may
not be equal to all in the up-country, we
have other attractions which our friends
will do well to consider, both in going
and in returning. We nre excavating a
canal, which w hen completed, will be j
decidedly the most magnificent work of
the kind in the State. In addition to this!
we have dry goods stores, grocery stores,
blacksmith-shops, drug stores, &c. To i
crown the whole, the view from Shultz's i
hill is well worth a trip across —the Au- j
gusta Bridge. Should our friends wishj
to pass the Sabbath, they can be accomo
dated without difficulty at any ! of ourj
churches. My low-countrymen consider
these things before you give me the go
by. Augusta.
From the White .Mountain Torrent.
The Contrast.
There is a vast difference between the
treatment which a little rogue receives
and that, which is meted out to a great
one. And why is it? Are we blind—
or indifferent—or dishonest?
Look yonder at that poor fellow'. He j
is on his way to the State Prison. He is
bidding adieu, for a season, to his friends
and the world, and going to the lonely
cell of the culprit. What has he done?
—w hat is his crime ? Ah ! he had made
and passed off what he calls a quarter
of a dollar! “ Good enough for him,”
says a portly bystander. “Let him be
honest, then, and go to work.”
But look again. That portly, fresh
faced man who echoes so pertly the doom
of the law, and kicks aside the friendless
counterfeiter, is the village Rumsellek.
That splendid palace yonder is bis dwel
ling. That gorgeous carriage that has
just passed us, is taking his daughter to
a morning ride. Only one thousand
dollars dashed by us there. That beau
tiful farm as we enter the village was
once the property of that trembling
wretch now sitting in the grog-shop door
opposite to us. It is now the village
rumseller’s. How he obtained it, we let
it pass. Every body knows—or can
guess. We continue our observation.—
The bowed and weary being, approach
ing us is a poor washer-woman. She
passes on to the Rumseller’s abode. A
delicate hand meets her at the door and
receives the returned linen. It is that
portly man’s. Time was when she was
under no necessity for washing for him.
But she is now a widow—homeless and
destitute, except the little hut she rents—
I with a family of children to feed and
| care for. Toil, weariness, poverty are
her daily doom. She struggles on from
hour to hour, with every bitter thought
of the past, gnawing at her heart. But
her destity is sealed —and she toils on
:in hopeless sorrow and servitude. The
mighty Public which has talked so boast
ingly of protecting the feeble and weak
—which has prated of its laws from ev
■ ery house top —has stood coldly by and
seen her and her children’s last farthing
plundered.
i But where is that husband and father?
Alas his is a brief but sad story. In his
' Get ter days he was a sober but industri
ous man—enjoying a quiet home and
seeming competence. He became inti
j mate with the rumseller—was lured a
way to his house of death and its fatal
j cup. He drank—and drank—and di
ied ! But not until his little all had been
mortgaged to satisfy the claims of that
insatiate bar , to which he had bowed his
nature and surrendered his life. It was
all gone. The husband—the father—
went too, to the grave —the dark, dishon
ored grave of the drunkard. That sad
scene was over. A pitiless hand was
laid upon that sacrificed home —and its
j bereaved and penniless ones departed
I from it forever. In that miserable hov
: el the little group of sufferers are gath
ered again, prepared to meet the ills and
storms of life, come as they may.
The picture is but partly sketched
Deserted homes and wretched wander
ers—poverty and despair—wasted for
tunes and blasted hopes—smitten youth
and palsied manhood, gather around on
every side, as the sad memorials of the
plunderer’s hand. These are the desolate
wrecks from which he has wrung the
gold that glitters on his own palace walls.
Ruin has come down to brood over half
a village, that one being may revel in
luxury and reign in power. And no one
dares dispute his claims or charge him
with guilt. He accepts the homage of
the fawning world, and points to his
treasures as claims for respect and rever
ence. lie gets both—from too many.
The stain on his gold is forgotten. The
widow’s wail is unheard in the halls of
his rejoicing—and the imploring orphan
who prays for only a tithe of his father’s j
plundered heritage, is thrust aside in his
eager worship of the princely Robber!
Are we then too severe in our conclu
sions? The poor counterfeiter of a pal
try coin is doomed with hasty vengeance
to his prison cell! but this wholesale
robber of the poor—the wretch who
gathers his greatness by remorseless pil
lage, and his treasures from the burning
devastation around him, becomes an
idol to whom the foolish and wicked
world are earnest to “crook the pliant
hinges of the knee.” Is not this a
strange contrast ? And strange though
it bo, it is not uncommon—while we go
stooping on our way in trembling servil-1
ity, afraid to assume the attitude and |
manhood of the man. Away with such
grovelling, such mockery of justice, from
the world. Henceforward and forever,
“ Lrt us call tyrants, tyrants.”
Drunkard's Wife.
None but those who have passed
through the sad ordeal, know the suffer
ings of one who is fastened by indissolu
ble bonds to the miserable drunkard;
one’s wrongs, whose patient sufferings,
continually ascend on every breeze to the
throne of God ; whose active and inex
tinguishable affection is ever watching
over one who requites it all by hard
hearted abuse and neglect. Faith and
hope are the jewels that glisten in her
soul; and they shine, in the midst ofsor-j
row and gloom, as stars in a dark and j
stormy night. Once joy and brightness
filled her lot, but now, lonely vigils, heart
struggles, broken hopes, the wreck of all
that is lovely, have made her path dark
and her life a cloudy vision. A trusting
heart has been broken, and the conviction
comes, that that heart, once the home of
bliss, must be the grave of sorrow, where
lies buried the wreck of her dearest
hopes. Too often the heart that loves
must bleed, but whose heart suffers as does
the drunkard’s wife’s?— Crystal. Fount.
My Father takes Wine.
Miss Williams is one of the few young
ladies our city can claim as a temperance
advocate; her parents are poor but re
spected by all who know them, and to
their poverty, perhaps, may be attributed
her pious and praiseworthy exertions in
the temperance cause.
Miss Williams being an active teacher
in the Sunday school attached to
church, has solicited the superintendent,
who was a favorite temperance man, to
allow her to get the signatures of her
class to the temperance pledge. He
gladly consented, and she proceeded to
secure the names until she came to the
fourth young girl in the class, when she
was surprised by the little girl exclaiming,
“Mv father takes wine and why should
not I ?” •
Miss Williams stood amazed, and re
plied, “Surely not, mv dear, your father
is a clergyman.”
“Yes, Miss Williams, I can assure you
he does,” said the artless child.
“But that is no objection why you
should not sign, and therefore taste none.”
“I cannot sign. Pa says the temper
ance pledge is only for the poor, who
drinks nasty poison, and not the gentle
men who take wine.”
The faithful teacher felt grieved and
! pained to be thus foiled by a child, and
besought the object of her love to put her
name to the pledge, and take it home to
her father. *
“Oh. no! I love you, Miss Williams,
but I dare not disobey my father; and
besides, what would I drink when I visit
Mrs. C., and Mrs. S., and Mrs. P., •
how they would laugh at me because I
would not taste a little wine.”
“Ah! my dear,” said Miss 'Williams,
“these are the supporters ofyour father’s
church, and he, poor man, dare not ex
pose the horrid vice, for fear of his situa
tion ;” and with a tear in her eye, and a
heavy heart, she left the child of the min
ister of Cod, and turning to a little pale,
half clad orphan, asked her to put her
name to it.
The child’s eye sparkled at the en
couraging voice of her teacher, and with
trembling heart and hand, gladly put her
name to the paper, and felt but too happy
that she could oblige her faithful friend.
The cause of temperance fags for want
of faithful tnen in high places.
The same high-minded teacher of the
rudiments of Christianity, has to weep
over her superiors’ faults. Superiors,
however, in nothing save a better home
and a richer table, hut ns far inferior in
nobleness of spirit, hightoned morallitv,
and a love of God and neighbor as a cor
poration light is to the great orb of day.
[iV. F. Crystal Fount/
From the Indiana Washingtonian,
.lust Taxation.
Mk. Editok. —lt has long been the
custom of those in authority to sell li
cences to a class of men in our commu
nity to vend Alcohol, which now is
well known to be a poison. Although
this business is quite disreputable, and
attended with divers misgivings and un
pleasant thoughts by day, and terrific
dreams by night, yet not a few are wil
ling to embark in the trade—they persist
with a spirit of deluded infatuation to
sow fire-brands, arrows and death among
the human race. We talk kindly to
them—espostulate with them—but all to
no purpose. They seem resolved on the
risk of destruction. Now in respect to
such persons I have one thought to sug
gest, that is, let a computation of the
costs of criminal prosecutions—of sus
taining the poor and an ample susten
ance of the wives and children of drunk
ards, and due provision for the education
thus affected be made. I say let all
these expenses occasioned directly or in
directly by ardent spirits be computed,
and then let the whole tax be levied upon
those who traffic in this poison. Why
not put things where they belong?—
Why tax the rest of community, who
enjoy none of the profits, for the sakeof
favoring tins drunkard-making company?
A sense of justice would lead us to make
these bear the expenses who receive the
profits. For whose pecuniary advan
tage are all the above evils, if not for the
vender? Wake up!—Oh! wake, and
you can but see how honest men contin
ually pay an enormous tax, brought on
by the use of ardent spirits. If.
Covington, la., May 13th, 1845.
Sandy Welsh.
Among the delegates to our late Con
vention, was the celebrated Sandy
Welsh, so well known in days gone by,
as the proprietor and conductor of the
famous Terrapin Lunch, corner of
Ann st. and Broadway, New York, hut
so much better known at the present
time and for some years back as a faith
ful zealous Washingtonian. The mere
sight of Mr. Welsh, without hearing
him say one word, is sufficient evidence
of the purifying effects of Washingtoni
anism. When he sold the death-draught
he was enabled to live in luxury and
ease; money in always at
command, no want was formed, which
means could not satisfy, but could be
gratified on the instant. But the pledge
signed, and the intoxicating cup banish
, ed from his lips, and from his bar, his
customers fell ofl‘ rapidly, his means
were curtailed, disease placed its hands
upon him, and crippled his limbs and
bowed his body, and yet he stands amid
his troubles and his cares, a laborer in
the moral field gathering into virtues
store house. Did he look to self, as the
world calls it, he would again deal forth
destruction and misery to man, and —-
ride in his carriage : but, regarding sell
as God commands, he warns the unwa
ry of their danger, wins his fellow man
! from ruin, and—in poverty, yet with a
! conscience void of offence, with totter
j ing steps, in strong hope of future hap
piness and ease, pursues the Christian’s
j path of life. May his days of good e>
1 ample and faithful deeds be lengthen