Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-05-13

NOSES. we'll balanced mind, after passing through
canvass in which must drink at the rate OF
- one And, more than this, if my body could stand
!, me pnrsc cannot; and II you are 10 be represented
l Tie mere mower Of money and OF liquor, you mus.
salec, scn,e other agent 10 serve you IN Congress
.o # chosen TO represent you merely by Inc per
rnn, ms which Nature has bestowed upon me- Such
,s NV reasoning will, my constituents, ana nave ne
vsr l,s, vote 10y it. When they offered me the can
nr IRON my answer has been, 81 will drink with you
m M. of lie ingredients and you shall drink win me
IN the oher-I will take the water and leave the
br,ndv 70 YOU" Applause. And here say mat, u
,bers he member of Congress-come he from N"rin'
Sonib East, or West-who will agree never again 10
,nonce the use Of this poisonous beverage IN ciec-
,,o Thai determination would effect more good ior nun
"a his constituents, than the passage oil any law
inau rs And here, will further say, that when
Ano" c,- old. seasoned stepped, soaked drunkards,
hsa w,rs are zszag through the world, has passed
mar tour Of service thrnug Congressional district
s,eciajy if he has shaken hands, touch To tonch,
;,b every man in it-Q speak OF those parts OF Tue
co,nry where the stump system, and no. the caucus
svs,n ur,yas)-ay the time such an old stager has
.ssed through ls district Tor years, marching oelofc
L,s-,,s and drinking with every one OF them-(lIke
Ia, elderly gentleman whom heard at your last meet
inn declare tina, he has drank nineteen cups without
ciI,,n and never drunk in his hie-a candidate
lever can meet, eat, drink, or sleep together win
my one of hi, constituents without drinking ioSelhe
cav That if he were endowed with the wisdom OF
Scion though he has been an Atlas in the Halls OF
C,n,ress-though he has left his name in bright,
hurn,ng and mperishable letters on the pages OF his
conntrvs history-he has left at home still small
o;ca which will speak against him at the day oil Judg
mont. lie has wronged his wiie-wronged his chlio'
his father his mother, his dearest frends-ond he
has fatally and rrevocably wFonsed himself ana ms
constituents There instances OF tins sort IN The
bs,orv of virginia-men who have enlightened the
forum by their reasoning powers-men TO whom MAR
shall has listened with respect, and even reverence
men who have codified the laws of this Ds'rIct-men
ustrious for intellect and in all other points Tor vr.
inc TOO have by the indulgence of this one fatal
vice wronred and injured mankind more, by their
EXAMPLE than they have benefited them by ali
their intellect and by long life Of great and ilustrous
public services. ,,
pose was simply TO bear my testimony to the moral and
the physical value and necessity OF thus cause he
temperance society, organised, differs material
" from that to which joined myself fourteen years
auo-of that kind was the Old Congressional Tempe
rance Society. | was a member OF what was, IN Ten
nessee called the State Temperance Society, and since
have assisted in forming several oil the KIND IN virginia
i have been called publicly to advocate Tue cause,
and | hope did not pro;ane even The pulpit itself ny
having from that sacred place, addressed my fellow.
men in favor of temperance The old s"cIely ola nncn
pood The reform produced by its influence excited
The admiration Of all the lovers of virtue Yet 1t was
founded oil defective principle. The principle 1t as
suned was that confirmed drunkards could not be re-
formed that they must be given up; and ihe means en-
poyed must be prevented merely, not curative. ne
doctrine was that, if we keep all temperate who
are temperate the drunkards will die oil and then we
shall have sober community. Men looked CT the wee
only in IL, mos, enormous and revolving forms; and the
sight OF these becoming so general ana increasing WIN
so fearful rapiGiiy, alarmed them. But The truth is
that men were considered as temperate men at that
time, who would without hesitation, be set down fol
drunkards now. drunkaId then meant n man who
kept himself most of his time in state OF beastIy IN
toxcaton and those that society abandoned TO theil
fate The doctrine, genera! PRINCIPLE was true then
and is true now that when once man has sunk SO low
as to reel and sagger about the streets; when he has
90, past pnekag has Ups and BREATHING IN has pocket
hanakerchrf conceal the deadly cdor OF his breath
when he has done with all that, and ceases to be
a. hared of his condition, 1t is thousand TO one tina
he will die as be is great dcel worse. But the
cause has now attained the philosophy of the
case: has reached at last the true ground-"touc!
not, taste not, handle not the unc!eun thing. Th:
vii, not only preserve them temperate who So bu
il can reform the staggering drunkard himself. The
ardent spirit pledge went on the snpposition that al
the poor labor;ng man could not afford to drink wine
If he absained from ardent spirits he safe; but
pericnce proved that this not rue-ale beer, cider
cheap wines, all were open to him, ard, as long as h,
tasted any of these, his reformation was impossible
and his security a dream You might as we'll "iette
the flame with haxen band, or sstop the will
the sand rs attempt to hold half reformed nebTia,
from returning 10 his cups, unless his abstinence 10
tai and entire HIS choice is between total abstinence
and being boEd slave to liquor.
The honorable gentleman from Kentucky has toll
us that he was considered abandoned drunkart
by many whose faces he saw but worse than ba
has inen6cr Of the temperance society 70
smr,een wears, have been told that IL was currently
repor,ed in the State of Massachusetts that | was.
very incorporate man, and friend OF mine had to con
tradct formal statement 10 the effect, openly
made at a temperance meeting not long time SINCE
One the lecturers in behalf the Temperance
cause, in large pablo meeting, when pointing TO TIT
examples Of men in public life who were degraded 10y
this vice, and whose example had perncious eec
on society mentioned me by name, and attributed all In
evi! things charged with 10 hard drinking as thei
fruitful sourcc-(a laugh)-yes, TO my drunkenness
Not the drunkenness OF spirit, which born ~
me- bu, drunkenness by ALCOHOLIC My friend who hat
served the same committee with the III Congress 10
eight years. and demurred 10 the statement declar
ing he had never or known any evidence of ii; bu
The lecturer persisted in the assertion he perfectly
certain of il; tor-"the papers said So. Alas, few
us aware of the mighty influence which the pub
lie press exerts in this land few imagine how deeT
a root tie most false and notorious ISLANDERS
be made TO take the public mind at n distance
from the spot where they might at be refu,ed
Il mention this circumstance TO show that even tn,
soberes liable TO be held by their fellow citi
in distant places open drunkards; and that is
therefore, high time that Congress should take steps
vindca.e its character. The Legislators Of the country
ought not only to be free from so debasing vice. bu
free from all suspicion of it. But cannot be free from
81 long as | come into my Congressional mess, ant
there obey the custom so happily exposed to The cen
sure II merits by my friend from Kentucky few even
ings agothe foolish ard pernclnus practice Of drink
ing heaills at table. So long he touches taste
the poison in any form, distilled or fermented, NJ
man can be secure from suspicion. Never will Con
gress be thus Free SO long thus temple of liberty, THU
grand, this august, and beautiful edGce made, an,
properly made like those of ancient Greece and Rome
for it is healihful sign of freedom when the public
buildings so far supass the splendor OF all private dwell
ngs, 80 long the people give 10 liberty and the laws
palace costly as the dwelling place Of kings)-ne
YER cay, shall We be justly free from all suspicion
Ill this temple shall have been purified; til shall
nave driven out from lis basement story the whole
tinue Of casks and botes the money changers
driven on. from temple yet more sacred Never can
il, be called pure long any Of lis precincts in
Tested with The revolving doors ofacoho and The stencil
ofdead mut by the very side Of that beautiful fountain