The Columbian fountain., 1846-02-05
For the Columbian Fountain
MY UNCLE'S CIDER.

made, while boy, al lne houso ~ an uh-
Gle who was a farmer in the +" land of stea-
DIV habits,o and withal deacon in the
church. sincerely beg his pardon for in
Producing him here, and yet ] consider him
but fair specimen of those who attempt
to justify the use Of intoxicating drinks.
My uncle, after showing me many things
connected with farming, which then re-
garded with much interest, as they were
new to me, finally took me into his cellar,
which saw was lined with cider barrels,
which he said were all full upon counting
them found that they numbered seventy
six aa
Why! uncle, what do you do with 50
much cider?''
"Well, John, | keep about twenty bar
rels for house consumption Twenty bar
rels sell every year to my customers in
the village, and the rest take TO the dis
tillery."
"To the distillery, uncle land what
do they make out of cider at the distillery'"
They make whiskey out of it, John;
and they give me half Of the whiskey
which the cider makes for the cider.'
" And what do you do with the whis-
key3"
IL take it to the village and sell it,"
DO you think it is right to sell whis-
key" All
''Certainly, do; can't do what !
choose with my own'
Certainly you may, if you do not in
jure any one else in doing what you choose;
but if you iDjure another by SO doing, you
have no right to do what you choose.
But am not responsible for the ac
tons Of another do not force any one
to drink the whiskey, and if there are any
who are fools enough to drink it, DO not
see how am to blame for selling it."
DWELL uncle, suppose you are met by
crazy man who you know has already tried
to kill himself several times, and he offers
you large price for gun which you
have to sell you sell him the gun, and in
few days you hear that the poor fellow
is dead, and that he shot himself with the
gun which he bought of you. Could you
then quiet your conscience for selling him
the gun, by saying, as you now say OF
your whiskey, " that if you did not sell it
to him some one else would'" No, you
could not. The ghost Of that crazy man
would haunt you through life, and it would
haunt you on your dying bed. And yet,
if view the subject right, uncle, your
guilt in selling your whiskey is of the same
kind that it would be in case you sold
the gun to the crazy man for when you
sell your whiskey, you sell that which you
know to be a poison, so deadly in It's ma
ture as to destroy both mind and body
And you will sell it, too, knowing that
there are many in our community who
are so insane that they will purchase this
poison and drink it, and purchase and drink
again, until, with their minds destroyed,
and their bodies wasted away, they sink
down into drunkard's grave"
"Well, John, | have never considered
tie subject before, but@ believe you are
right AT all events, my cider shall never
again be made into whiskey. Oh! how
could have been so blind as 10 have thus
aided in the ruin of my fellow men!"
]. H.
CHEERIEG.-In less than FIVE years, the
present Washington Total Abstinence Soci-
ety of Boston has obtained more than thir-
ty-nine thousand signatures to the pledge.
The falling of has been less than len per
cent. leaving over thirly-fve thousand
staunch advocates of Total Abstinence.
THE LADIES ON LICENSE. The ladies
of Chautauque county are preparing a hand.
some banner TO be presented to that town
which gives the largest majority next spring
for no license. We hope this excellent ex-
\