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“ CpItimtCa, (EolUtUfcta, to CKlprg D R. = a - V o l . l ~ n o . 19 . HUDSON, SE P T E M B E R % 1843. PR IC E 3 C E N ^ S . The Columbia Washingtonian. 'Devoted exclusively to the Temperance cause. 'Is published every Thursday morning, J>y the Ex ecutive Committee of the Columbia County'Washing ton Temperance Society, under the immediate super vision of a Sub-committee, composed of the following named gentlemen: J a m e s M ’G i f f e r t , J o h n S . G o u l d , W a r r e n R o c k w e l l , C a r l o G r e e n , and J . R . S. V a n F l e e t . T e r m s . —One dollar per annum payable in advance. A limited number of Advertisements, of an appro- «rd character,,will be inserted at the usual rates. Address J . R. S. V a n V l e e t , Hudson, Cplumbia •County, N. Y.,ppstage paid. From the N. Y. Temperance Journal. SEQUEL TO TH E RUM MANIAC* BY JOSEPH ALLISON. -■ The ingrmug.dawned, and there haljyt. Upon his couch, calm and peaceful! Now,no frightful visions lidunt his Troubled bruin to drive him mad. No fancied furies lash him with Their scorpion whip, nor demons Hold their fearful revela, round His peaceful bed. They gathered In that silent room, one by ono, His wronged,yet uncomplaining Family; witn fairy step they Trod the darkened chamber, lest Perchance, they might wake him from Ids Calm, sweet sleep, and rouse once more the Ravingsof histroubled bruin. The sun had slowly crept to bis Meridian height, ahd shone With peerless splendor on the world beneath:. One golden my, darting across The sleeper's lace awoke him from His calm repose, to-conseiousaess And reason. There stood his anxious Wife, gazing in sorrow on the Wreck ofbim her heart once loved, Yes loved him still, though lie had Fallen from his high estate, Had blasted ail her early hopes, And oft had .caused the blush o f shame , To mantle.on her pallid cheek. Supporting that pale mother, with ’ Her fond circling arms, was there HisOnlydaughter: health,beauty Play upon her rosy cheek,and On her high and noble forehead Part the flaxen ringlets, curling Astheyfall:' Her dark blue eyes Turned meekly up to heaven, Look such ufand look,of holy , . . -.TcaderneriaAtMiove,'aii-.thm>gfa >bcr’d>>?reerA- , Pierce the very throne of God. His Mother too was there: aged and Feeble, yet she had watched with Sleepless eye, nor once would leave his Couch, but through the silent vigils Of the night, and wakeful hours of Day,a faithful sentinel; she Had never left her post,but there Had watched while others slept, and There had prayed while others wept. There, he lay,and yet how altered; Yon who had known him in his youth Would scarce have known him now, , \ As fiercely he gazed aronnd him. Wild and tumultuous thoughts came Rushing o’erhitn. The memory O f the past, of what he once was, And what he was now. That deathless Passion, that not e’en the struggles Of the previous night cottldconquer, Awoke again and kindled once More, the fire of hell within him; Again he cried aloud for rum; Again he shrieked from very Agonv; “ Wliv am I thuacast. Off o f God 1 Why does not heaven In mercy spare trie ofthis pain ? Why muck at my dread sufferings f And can there be another hell ?” He paused and with a mighty Effort curbed the rising passion t Quick “ Bring to me the Pledge,’’ he cried— ’’1’was brought—with frantic eagerness He grasped the pen, as though his life Depended on the net—he wrote With trembling hand his name—-then fell Exhaust d on his pillow. They Who gathered round him spoke n o t; Words could not tell of linff they felt; The scalding tenr, the deep sigh, the Heaving of the. anxious.bosom , Tell ol their warm, heartfelt rupture. At length Iiis mother’s voice broke on The. stillness of tiie scene,’1 He’s saved. He’s saved,” with tlirjbbing joy she cried; Then round iiis bed they knelt and prayed, *As such fond hearts alone can pray. Oh if there is a scene on earth, On Which angel purity can look, Nqrblush, nor turn away in loathing From the sight, surely it is this. L I V I N G S T O N . T h e first Society formed in this town upon the Washingtonian plan, was organized on Thursday last, in. James Richmond’s Dis trict. The following are the officers for the ensuirig y e a r : JA M E S RICH M O N D , President. Dr. T R IM B L E , Vice President. R e n s . L iv i n g s t o n , Rec. Secretary. S t e p h e n P o t t s , Cor. Secretary. Upon assuming the - C hair, Esq. R ic h m o n d made the following remarks: In meeting the call with which you honor me, it is with very agreeable emotions o f re trospection I remark that the fate Gen. Sam uel Ten Broeck, was. 1 believe, the first P re sident o f a Temperance Society ever formed in tbis town, who like’Satnuel of old was a “ a good, rnan” and a patriot!—An active patriot, who in the vigor o f manhood led his patriotic band to the field of victory in the day of his country’s danger —he, iri honored old age deemed it expedient to sign the temper ance pledge and serve as President of a T e m perance Society in the town of Livingston. At the first meeting, among other tilings lie said: I think the signers of the declaration of independence acted very efficiently in sub scribing tbeir names to it—it was an act of exemplary decision which subsequently had a very beneficial effect throughout the Union and during the period of our revolutionary struggle. - The-remoie consequences of experimental measures are seldom clearly foreseen by man. In conformity to custom* I have long witnes sed in silence the general effecls of the use of spirituous liquors, even for many years af ter I became satisfied that the custom was dangerously and importantly wrong, I silent ly complied to the then feeble custom of the times. Iu my younger days it was made by Af rican slaves and administeied to them care fully; and lo ihe natives it was sold without any restrictions by^trjtders who werq _c,o„ve^ loiis ’hretiT'an^^ho iia’d more regatd for theit own dividends or profits, than for the wel fare or lives ofthe Indians to whom they sold ihe liquors. I have seen enough of the effects of liquor during tny long life to convince me that spir ituous liquors ate generally very injurious in their effects upon the constitutions of those who use them to any perceptible, extent. I am now far advanced in years and cannot expect to be with you long, or to say much * The above is not all a 11 fancy sketch,” the material facts as detailed came under the writer’s persouul observation. S E E H E R E . D R U N K A R D S ! There is belonging to the Jeffersonian Tem perance Sociely of Wilmington, an old man who was a diunknrd till be signed the pledge about five months ago. He formerly suffered much with rheumatism, hut is much relieved since he left off alcoholic medicine, though he -continues considerably disabled. This man met us in the street the.other day, and said, “* When I signed the pledge, I put away my •grog money in-silver five and ten cent pieces, ‘and continued to do so until winter came on •and I could nol work. Then I began to take it for market money. Il has. lasted me all winter, qnd Iqst market day I look the last of the deposit. I have enjoyed more happiness ip the last few months, than I ever did befote I wouldn’t for any thing go back to my old •habits.” Come on, drunkards, you that are .left,go and do likew ise.-- Temp. S tandard or do much in the cause, but I believe it will be successful, and that the friends of it need not be discouraged; il must be success ful, because in whatever light its merits ore impartially viewed, it is seen to be inherent ly, a just and righteous cause; and though the number of the professed friends of the cause seem but small at present,, yet'when ample means for diffusing correct sentiments through the community on this subject shall be extensively employed, I have no doubt • he custom of using spiritous liquor will soon become unpopular, so far as to be generally discontinued throughout the. State. In thus citing the opinionsof the old General, I think the substance of this citation is nearly cor rect : though it is now impossible to do justice tothe e.xact terms in which he exptessed them, or to remember all he said upon the subject. The meeling was held at ihe 2d dis trict school Ijouse of the town as. much,as ten or twelve years ago; and though for a vari ety of reasons not much has since been done in the town for the cause; yet (I believe) about 400(000 inhabitants of this state have subsequently signed the pledge, similar in substance and in language to the pledge which he and a few others signed at that meeling. Perhaps one of tha causes of our past inactivity may be that some of our towns men seriously apprehend that in signing the •pledge they might fatally abridge the limits of their oion liberty oj action. Now if it is evident that by signing the pledge a man does abridge.his own liberty of action to do mischief to himself and others by the use of intoxicating liquor, is it not e qualiy evident that ip so doing he extends the limits of Itis own liberty and power to benefit himself and others by the practice and by the influences ofthe example of strict and scientific temperance? And by the abridge ment of his own liberty and power to do evil, does he not thereby co-extensively increase his own liberty and power to do good ? Hence if a man by signing the pledge extends his .own dominion of desirable liberty -and power on the one side a s far .as he diminishes it on th® other, does it not of course follow that he does not thereby ultimately diminish or de preciate bisdominiori bf liberty, either in Value or .extern? and visa versa. If the Uuth ofthis positionds pptdispuied, tlte q u es tion arising frorti it is, what is the character of the claimed portion of liberty which the signer Wpuld resign hy the proposed ex change? And again, is (Iiis claimed portion ofliberty sustained by evidence of legal title alone? Or can the claimant show any good title to-this portion of local liberty clearly sanctioned by the law of natural and rea sonable justice, between man and m a n ? — T h e la^r of natural justice, however d im - , ly impressed upon the human conscience, is, perhaps, a far mote valuable and influ ential,guide to man than the written statutes of all civilized nations are, which have been so often carefully corrected and revised by the united wisdom of learned and judicious legislate!*, ' Legislative enactments that sanction wrongs which cahnol be prevented hy law, often be come causes of injustice and crime; and sometimes mislead many who regard statute law as a valuable standard of right. B u t these evils must be expected, and in maov cases are unavoidable, legislative wis dom and power cannot ptevent men, in some cases lf.o(rt overrating, and in other cases from underrating the utility, wisdom and ef ficacy of natural laws. Now it is not pre tended thSt the nominal liberty of using in toxicating liquors to excess is unauthorized by law ; for one, I fully admit that the exer cise of this, nominal liberty of using intoxica ting liquorto excess Is fully authorized by tlte laws oi’the State,.and that we have tt legal a'nd nominal liberty to thus use intoxicating liquor; aod it may be further admitted that we hove a nominal and legal liberty in the Slate of New-York to entice, nnd artfully and wilfully influence the confiding, free and intelligent citizens or inhabitants of litis Slate to use'Intoxicating liquor, to watch its effects from time to time, and on perceiving thiist for liquor to increase, we have this lib erty to persuade them to use more, to assure them it will do them good and no harm ; we have the nominal and legal liberty to contin ue such peisuasions until we wilfully bring them to anearly and an untimely grave. 1 admit all tbis because I deem it true. I, as ^oAwJiatiMKL (lo—njlow.lhal we-aU-breve a nominal and' legal liberty to do any act or series of acts which the law does not either directly or indirectly forbid. Now as I un derstand our Stare Laws, they leave the nominal liberty of using intoxicating liquor (or o f not using it) to be exercised according to the discretion ofihe people of the Slate, re spectively. and our laws do not decide for us whether we ought or ought not to provide or use intoxicating liquor as a beverage; and the legal right to do good or'evil being thus left on our hands, what shall we do with this portion of assumed liberty? Our legislators will not take it into their charge, though at Albany Iasi winter about three fourths of the legislative members of both houses signed the temperance pledge as citizens, but as L e gislators they would have nothing to do with the nominal liberty of using intoxicating li quor. But had they deemed it very pre cious to themselves, likely so many of them would nol have signed I lie pledge. Be that as it may, it is evident that that portion of liberty is still left in our charge. How should vve, the inhabitants of old Columbia, regard the practical influence of using intoxicating liquors? At the capitol it is shunned as a mortal pestilence that moveth in darkness! and which cannot be arrested by the combi ned powets of legislative action! And how is it disposed of by our very numerous, social, political, religious, moral, commercial, lite rary, or beneyolent societies throughout the Slate. I believe a 11 these societies, in major- ly, have signed the. pledge and thus relin quished the liberty of doing extensive and ir- retrieveable injiretice.throughout the commu nity by the use of intoxicating liquor; gothou and do likewise. O f'm a n y liberties which we as a people enjoy, that class of liberties which allow us to do extensive mischief, and injustice, with legal impunity, seem highly prized by some who are nevertheless quite economical of any justice which they imag ine due tolliernselves. They can tell us, it is quite contrary lo jostiqe for men to spend theit own lime and money in frying to reform cenain individuals who wiWonly return evil for good intentions. That it is contrary to justice for temperance lecturers, and otljers, to induce poor laborers lo spend time which they cannot afioid to loose in hearing argu ments, on temperance. That it is unjust to wilfully tedttce the gains of industrious and honest retailers who desire to make an hon est livelihood in business—that iiis unjust to interrupt smaii employers who seek to smart en hited men by giving them a little liquor. Now as these ready reckoners have not as yet given their estimate, in sum total, ofthe injustice which temperance lecturers and theit associates have done or caused to be done either here or elsewhere by their labors ip the temperance cause, we admit the sum may be something; whenever the sum is made out it must be something or somewhere thereabout. 1 would here remark that in the tedious labor of duly assigning causes to their .appro priate effects, man m ay be liable to err, through lack of ability to fully comprehend the relative influences o f the remote and .ap proximate causes which unitedly protjuce.ef- fects. As every event is produced bv a p e ries of causes, it is in many cases difficult to select the chief cause frotn its associates, and we sometimes mistake the disguised aid-de- camp forlhe cotntnander-in-chiefof the host. And it is thus with our affairs, of crimination and recrimination, on the use intoxicating li quor. Though I believe the people are well agreed in opinion that much injustice, mise ry and crime is evidently produced in the State by intoxicating liquor, and yet in com paring opinions on tbe associate causes there of we find a great diversity of sentiments fr- mongus. For one says it is the Clergy who ate .the cause, by giving winc io their church mem bers. Another says the Clergy admin ister wine as a sacrament and npt.as a bever age ; but. our Legislators are the cause-r-they allow intoxicating liquot to be made and sold in the State. Another says pur Legislators in this,leave the citizens free to decide wheth er it is good to use it or not. But our distil lers, merchants, and retailers are the cause, for they sell this liquor to their customers.— Another says some of these compel custom ers to buy or use it, Bui freeholders and employers are the cause they buy and giye it to persons in their employment and thus effectually cultivate a fatal thirst for the use of intoxicating liquor. Another says thesa employers only provide the liquor for their men because ibey expect and require it.— But temperate drinkers are the cause; tern- perte drinkers guide the wholeband ofdrunk- ards on the road to misery, mischief and crime. Temperate drinkers, who by exam ple, of all others have the most influence over the feelings and actions of the intemperate in the work of encouraging them in their ca- lec^of trsirrg-TTrttJX'icating liquor until all con trol over them is utterly lost. Another says temperate drinkers, so long as they continqe so, set the example not to use liquorto ex cess, but drunkards do no follow it. It is drunkards who are the cause. It is drunk ards who are the real perpetrators of nearly all the actual crimes committed throughout the State. It is tbeir feloneous act? which overflow our stales prisons—it is their mis deeds which fill our poor-houses with in mates and the eyes of afflicted innocence with tears. Another says, jn all this, drunkards act only in obedience to the inherent and con trolling influences of liquor by the powers of which they ate absolutely governed. Theie- fore, intoxicating liquor is the active and effi-* cient cause of a large portion ofthe iniquity, injustice, crime, suffering and misfortune which of late years have occurred in the re forming State of New York. The fact is in- controvertibly sustained by the authority o f an abundance of the mosl credible and a u thentic evidences and official reportson coun ty and stale prison affairs, from which it a p pears in proof, that at least nine-tenths o fthe felonious and other crimes which of late years have been committed in the State have been perpetrated through tho influence of intoxicating liquor. On comparing the diversities of opinions entertained on the subject, we may feel a t a loss, in seeking to duly conjecture whioh o f them are the most correct. Y e tis il not clear ly evident thal if alcohol is indeed the com manding general of the inleroperele host, gettetal alcohol ought to be arrested forthwith fot manifest ingratitude in allowing so-many' obedient followers, to take op with little else than hard usage, bad rations and imprison ment, in pay for strict obedience rendered, hardships endured, and time, money and health expended strictly according to the a b solute orders of tbe Geoeral—Alcohol? .O f else ought to be arrested for the innumer able wrong acts into which veiy many ot tlja children of men have been unfortunately misled by the fatal influences of Alcohol.— My own opinion is in the affirmative, and is so expressed by m-y signature on the pledge, and I believe the most effectual and .eqsy known means to remove the custom of using intoxicating liquors as a beverage is for us to extensively give the example of signingithe pledge! It was chiefly through the.progres sive influences of example that the (u.se pf such liquors, in process of time, became ,/ex tensively mischievous throughout the Staie; and it is through the powerful argum e p tof counterexample that the custpm of So using it can be most effectually subdued. Tlie.qr,- gument of signing the pledge Las.Wen very successful in many parts of the county add ofthe State, and 1 know of no -g'ofid reason why it may not also be .successful in the town of Livingston, now or ,at,a mpre conve nient season.
