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“ © o l u m t u a , ffio l u m b t a , to CKlorg d k . VOL. I.— NO. 12. H U D S O N , J U L Y 14, 1842. P R I C E 3 C E N T S . The Columbia Washingtonian. Devoted, exclusively to ihe Temperance cause. Is published every Thursday morning, by the E x ecutive Committee of the Columbia County Washing ton Temperance Society, under the immediate super vision of a Sub-committee, composed of fhe following named gentlemen: J am e s M’G if f k r t , J ohn S. G ould , W a r r k & R o c k w e l l , C a r l o G reen , and .1. R. S. Van V t . e e t . T e r m s .' —One. dollar per nnpnm payable in advance. A limited number of Advertisements, of an appro ved character, will be inserted at the usual r tes. Address J . R . S . V an V l e e t , Hudson, Columbia County, N. Y., postage paid. For the Columbia Washingtonian. T H E FALL OF ALCOHOL. A ir —'“T h e brave old o a k .” A song to the fall of Alcohol, Who hath ruled in this land so long; His throne is down nor sceptre norcrown Can no more to him belong. We fear not his frown in country or town, The fire ’neath the stills are out, ■Nor showeth his might in the deep midnight, Nor drunkard bis glories shout, CH O R U S . Then sing to the fall of alcohol, Who hath ruled iu this land so long; No more stands he like a hale green tree Hispowerund his strength are gone. Nor see we the crimes o f the tyrant’s times, Nor the widow and orphan’s t ars, Nor in festive hall and cottage small The tyrant no more uppears. Then hail the day when in bright array, When happy the’ fovesome swains, With lightsome tread, by virtue led, They swell the temperance struins. CHORUS. Then sing to the fall of Alcohol, Who hath ruled in this land too long; No more stands he like a hale green tree, His power and his strength are gone. IN T E R E S T I N G EX T R A C T S . In the last Report of the Executive Com mittee of the American Temperance Union, we fiud the following very interesting facts. T h e R e s u l t s . In\ one family, whieh has como to the knowledge of your committee, five females,a mother and fout daughters, were all cursed, with drunken husbands. For 26 years this now venerable parent has been without a home, subsisting as she best could on hard labor and. seamy charity. Sometimes she bas had- a temporary shelter, at others she has wandered about with her children by her side, without a place to lay her head. The reform has brought to this wretched muihet and her children relief and joy. O f the hus bands of her four daughters, three havesisned tbe pledge, and sjte hasheardof het husband, long and fat removed from her, and now at tbe age of 65, standing among the reformed ! The probability is that this aged pair may be re-united and go to their graves in happiness and peace. Two reformed men are now mayors of cities. Another, who was a notorious drunk ard, is now a chief marshal in one of our •cities. A physician and surgeon, for the last ten years intemperate, and for the last two years grossly so, signed ihe pledge just before lost ■Christmas, and carripd his certificate as a Christmas ‘ p resent to his mother. He was n lost spn, restored alter hope had expired. A Mr. K. was picked up in the street, in one of our cities, in the night, drunk—head lying on the curb-stone. A four-borse stage passed over the ground immediately alier he was removed. He belonged to a highly res pectable family, and was ruined by fashion able tippling—he was induced to sign the pledge, and now is a blessing to bis family. A wholesale hardware merchant, connected with tbe highest circles in T. went rapid ly from fashionable dtinkiog tothe most aban-] donecl drunkenness—his family was broken up—he had delitium tremens repeatedly and was considered a hopeless ease till a Wash ingtonian got him to sign the pledge. f]e is now very active in the tempera and doing good—is restored to his faurtfiStfod happy. W & l A young man, in Philadelphia, who, but a day a two before was writhing under the bor- lible insanity of mania a p.nu. was induced to attend a meeting.and while the pledge was circulated, he expressed a desire to sign his name in the presence of the congregation, which was granted. It created no little sen sation from the fact that he was well known. The act wa9 sincere, and tlte example noble. He was soon greatly exemised on the subject of religion, and sought an intetview with the. session of a Church. One, who is now a useful and respectable member of the Portland socieiy, had been gtossly inlemperate for at least twenty-five years. He had a wife and large family of children, who occupied the attic of a small one story house. He was one dav found drunk upon one of the wharves, by a leading Washingtonian, who introduced the subject «f temperance to him, when be became furi ous. and wished to fight every one who came near him : but he soon became calm, and was induced to promise to go immediately home and remain there, until the Washing tonian should call for him in the evening to go to a Washington meeting, which he did, when he signed the pledge; bas kept it faith fully evet since, and is now a sober man and a humble Christian. One of the most inter esting and touching scenes ever witnessed, was a crowded Washingtonian meeiing, in which this man, Within two months after he was snatched from the gutter, was leading in a fervent prayer to Him who had saved him from so horrid a fate, a drunkard’s grave. I n s t r u m e n t a l i t y E m p l o y e d . T h i s is too well known to need description; the sim p l e tale and bold appeal of reformed men, who have stood up before their fellow- being9, acknowledging with singular frank ness and honesty their character and lives ; detailing the full effects of intoxicating liquor upon their persons, health, morals, peace, domestic relations and moral slate—all the degradation and misery o f a drunkard’s life, theic wonderful deliverance from the taste and power of the cup, their sym p a t h y for the unfortunate drunkard, and their confidence and earnest desite that he m a y be r e c laimed, ami, like themselves, entirely restored to sobriety and peace. This instrumentality in the providence of God, has been o f a most extraordinary char acter. That men should have been raised from the lowest depths of vice and sensuality —from the entire prostration of all that is virtuous, honorable and influential, to effect such a moral revolution, may well be the astonishment of mankind. The first six who commenced this work were not without respectable standing and j character, but were decidedly intemperate men engaged in gratifying their appetite for strong Think tn a public house. They were Win. K. Mitchell, n tailor; John T. Hoss.a carpenter; David Anderson, a blacksmith ; George Sleets, a wheelwright; JamesM’Cur- ly, a conch-maker, and Archibald Campbell*1 a silver plater. On Friday evening, April 2d, 1840, they were at Chase’s tavern, Liberiv- street, in the city of Baltimore, where they were in the habit of associating together after J the labors of the day. A temperance sermon which was thal evening to be preached by a clergyman of some notoriety, became the subject of conversation. It was resolved that four of their number should go and hear it, and report its character. Or. their return they scanned its merits, when one of their number remarked, that “ after all, temper ance was a good thing.\ “ Oh.” said the landlord, “ they’re all a parcel of hypocrites.\ “ Oo yes,” replied another, “ I’ll be bound it is for your interest to cry them down any how.” From this altercation proceeded the resolution to form among themselves a tem perance society, to be called the Washington Society ; a pledge was written and signed ; and from want of speakers, each one agreed to relate bis own history. Neither of these six became distinguished speakers, but the president, Wm. K. Mitchell, a man of rare genius, vigorous intellect, and commanding influence, threw into the association a power which soon cansed it to be felt through the whole city. The thrilling tales narrated by the reformed as they signed the pledge, were widply spread abroad, and bv the close of 1S40, thousands had flocked to theirsiandard. many of whotn had been miserable slaves to the intoxicating cup. One ofthese, John H. W . Hawkins, a hal ier bv trade, was reduced al the age of 22 to extieme drunkenness. He wondered far off from his friends to the West, where lie suffered every evil from poverty, degradation, and ; vice; lived years in Baltimore without pro viding food or clothing for his family, a living death to them ; his wife would sit up for him until midnight, and watch to see whether he came home drunk or sober; often would he fall prostrate in his hall, and his little daugh ter would cover him with a blanket until morning light. This individual, possessed of a fine person, mellow voice, flowing speech, lender heart, and much Christian humility, soon became a powerful poblie speaker. He visited New York with four others on an em bassy in March, 1841, and was listened to by many thousands with the deepest interest. From thence lie went to Boston, where- the results of bis labors were of an astonishing character. The friends of temperance there took liiti) into their employ, and helms since, traveled overseven thousand oiilcs,dp|ivered four hundred lectures, and witnessed the sig nature to more than 80,000 pledges. Two olhers, Messrs. Pollard and Wright, were plain, uneducated men, but great inebriates. The first had been a reformed man about five years, the last, but a few months. Their victories in New York, New Jersey, Dela ware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, almost surpass belief They have attended over five hundred meetings, and ubtained above 60.000 signatures tothe pledge. A third, Mr. Vick ers, once one of the most abandoned of men, so debased as to leave his wife and five chil dren eighteen months without a dollar to feed or clothe them, and who was so reduced and changed that when be finally came home bis wife did not know him; this man, by his his tory and powerful appeals, kindled u p a flame which has now spread overall the West, and be himself has, witnessed the signatures of 70,000 names to the pledge. One individual in Philadelphia, (Col. John Wallis,) once respeciable in life, but who was reduced to the lowest extremities by drutik- enness-r-who sold every article of available furnitureand of clothing for rum, who left his wife to earn her living over the washlub while his daughter was bound out to hard service, being himself an inhabitant o f the wharf., the almshouse, and the Moyarnensing ptison, drinking daily half a gal Ion o f common rye whiskey, has, since his reform in June, 1841, constantly traveled, delivering one lecture on an average a-day, and has received 7,000 signatures to the pledge. Another, (George Haydock.) an inhabitant ofHudson, N. Y . who seemed to embody in himself all the ravages of alcohol over body, mind and heart; who had been bereft by this destroyer, in blasting rocks, of one leg, arid one eve, and was viewed as perfectly irie- eiaimable, has been a valiant soldier \in the field, and gathered over 8,000 signatures to the pledge—of which at least 1,000 were from common drunkards. ^ In New York city, a young man. Thomas M. Woodruff,’a Sign painter, who was for years deep sunk un the mtre of intemperance, was, at an egrly;p§riod ofthe reform, by rare powers of public ?.peaking, a great instrument of advancing thec,ause. In New Haven, Coon, lived a Mr. Abel Bishop, than whom perhaps, no man ever passed throualta more horrid fever of delirium j tremens and lived. Men were about him, in bis apprehension, to flay him alive. He saw veto begin to cut his flesh with saws and to pull ofl’tus skin in si rings, qpd, bang ib.em on wires. At other times, it seemed to him a cage of wild beasts were let loose upon him. At one. moment he thought his breast was full of animals: he asked a young man to draw them out, which he did, anti every time he drew one out a horrid sensation of faintness , cume over him* At anoihertime he thought liis'comrades were assaulting him will) hooks, which they endeavored tostrike intohisflesh. He would 8tandon the defensive, fighting till , the sweat from his body would stand io p u d dles on the floor. This tnan, reformed by this new instrumentality., became himself a public advocate of the cause, visited some of the counties in the state, and. by his relation of the awful consequences of rum-drinking in his own case bas produced great results. f a Massachusetts, one .Joseph J. Johnson was early rescued from the jaws of, destruc tion. Rum had done all it could do for him, hut put him iu the grave. He was a regular, low drunkard., degraded, debased, having the appearance of a man of seventy, while not yet forty. This man reformed, invigorated aod strengthened we may say, with power front on Irigb, has gone forth to ihe almost entire regeneration of* Mobile, shaking New Orleans, as it bus never been shaken before, and saving perhaps as the ball shall roil on, many thousands from a drunkard’s grave. Another remarkable instrument in this work lias been Joseph Hayes, of Bail), Maine, of whom it was a proverb, “ drunk as old Hayes.” His poverty, destitution and de basement were Ihe most extreme. He had one garment for which no name could be given. The hat which he wore through the cold winter was made of straw. Boots he had none, and his shoes were in very bad order. But with an uncommon vigor of in tellect and powerful frame, he has traversed, as a perfectly reformed man, many parts of the slate, waging an exterminating war with his old enemy ; extensively reclaiming invet erate drunkards, and breaking op tire most profitable liquor establishments. Another unexpected agent in this work of reform was a sou of oue of the wealthiest American merchants, who, like most other riclr men. reared op his children io drink wine and strong drink, and w h o could finally leave to this son, not bis millions, for he was ruined bv the destroyer—all he could give him was a bare subsistence on which Ire might drag' out his wretched and useless days. ; But that son Iras been reclaimed and become a powerful lecturer, warning fathers aguiost placing the wine-eup before their childten, and pointing to the fashionable wine party and the splendid hotel as the way down to death and woe, to madness and damnation. His labors have proved, and it is believed wilt prove, the salvation of many from the circles of which Ire might, from his birth and wealth, have hegn the pride aud honor. Such are but a specimen of the instrumen talities which divine Providence has used to do what men who had no personal experience in the desolating effects of intoxicating liquors could not perforin—open lire eyes of a whole nation, and reclaim thousands o f drunkards from the most, ruinous courses. It isan ano maly in the history of man. A d h e r e n c e t o t h e P l e d g e . Your committee have inquired, with much interest and solicitude, to what extent these once unfortunate, but now happily reclaimed men have kept the pledge and followed the path of entire sobriety; and ihey aie happy to sav, that thus far their adherence to the pledge has been almost as njuch a matter of admiration and thankfulness as their original signature. In answer to the inquiry, Do all who sign tbe pledge hold out? the president nf the Boston Washington society replied.in the autumn, ‘•A very small proportion have proved re fractory; and if, of the 40Q0 reformed men who have signed our total abstinence pledge., 100 have broken it, ate there not 3,900 left? Aod I do not believe anything (ike 100 can tie found who have tasted any thing inloxi- eaiing.” A n d in a recent communication to the pub lic, wilh an enlargement to 13,000 members, he remarks— ‘•We occasionally hear the mortifying in telligence lhat a brother has fallen, bjoken his pledge, and returned to his drink again, like ihe sow to her wallowing in the mire. This sad news throws a gloom over every coun- rence, but then we feel cheered to see the development of sympathy; the (alien brother is hardly down before he is surrounded by his Washingtonian brethren—raised up again, and. in many cases, he falta no more.\ In New Aroik, the first Secretary of lire Washington Society, Mr. T. M. Woodruff, himself a reformed man, said in a report: “ I may here be asked, have a ll remained faithful io lire pledge? We will answerflor ourselves; and in doing this, we opine that we pleasurably speolt. for iiihfrs- It ia.la mentably true that there were some instances in which all honorable considerations were lost and the pledge violated; but these cases have, on examination, originated under pe- culiareircunrsiances: for instance, inebriation when signing— mental incapacity to realize ihe obligation of the pledge—untoward, arid circumscribed circumstances in life—and Ia6t, bin nor least, the absence of all employment after reformation. But. in most ofthese cases it is pleasing to remark with what tenacity they adhere loilreir design >n joining the socieiy, and how reso lutely the most of them return and re-sign the pledge. Jndped, if there in one thing more convincing than another of the superlative beauty, and influence of the pledge, it is to be found in the anxifty these poor creatures exhibit when they find the'mselvea out of the pales of this socieiy. ' * 1 would also state that only three cases out of 2203 persons have come to our knowledge of men who, having signed the Pledge, pos sessed not moral principle enough lo main tain their integrity.” CID E R . Cider is the last alcoholic, drink that many of our New England fa'tners will give up. They love it; they have always drinked it; they do not gel dmnk on i t ; and they intend to hold onto it. What hortsay they, is thete io drinking a little cider/ Let us reason a little. If rum contains 4 limes as much alcohol as cider, t hen one pint of cider will get a man as much i-itoxicated sis a gill of turn; therefore, a pint of cider is just the same thing as a gill of rum put into three gills of watei. Now, what diffeienceis there between a gill of rum clear, and the same quantity mixed with three gills of water 2 None. Then there is no difference bet ween a gill of rum, and as tnueh cideras contains tbe strength or alrohoi of a gill of rum. Therefore, the farmer who gives u p his rum, ought for the saifte reason, to aive up liis cider. There are now many farmeis who drink’ little or \no rum, who are every day guzzling down cider. Their faces show i t ; their breaths tell of it; their hired men and their sous join them in it; and those who have tiiirst for alcohol, thereby keep that appetite alive and thriving. “Trying is the naked truth.\ Those who have abandoned cidet altogether, tell os with one voice ttiat cider did them no good—I Fiat they are better oS without it than they were , with it— that the example and influence jras done good—thal watet tastes better than.ever bpfore; quenches thirst and never produces bad effects. Farmers, will you give up your cider?— Granite Pillar. ■ 5 / ® For John t H, W . Hawkins’ expeii- I eoce, see last page.
