The Columbian fountain., 1846-02-04

Y Mr.. EDITOR Ii you please, we will pay
our respects to your correspondent Bailey. |
He is quite champion for alcohol. How
would it do to have him appointed Attor-
ney General for the united forces Of the enc
my' He is certainly too important per-
sonage to be overlooked entirely. We shall
no doubt soon hear Of his elevation. He
has acknowledged that he was too passion
ate in his former communication, and in his
last seems to make an effort to be calm, !"
but he has too much " spirit to write with
steady hand. He says g Lewis and Sam
uel and others ofyour correspondents write
as if they were sure that truth was all on
their side Of the question. y He then ar
gues that if queston.is " debateable "that
is proof that the truth is not all on one side.
Well, suppose we admit that-then the ar-
gument is as conclusive against bimself as
it is against us. But Bailey must be taught
that there is more than one question or
subject connected with the cause we plead.
Let us see if they are ali " debataeble. /" Is
the drinking Of intoxicating liquors to
drunkenness, benefit or an injury to the
individual, to his wife, to their children, to
the neighborhooa, to the nation? Who
would undertake to maintain that it is be-
netit Any one in the nation? Would Ba-
ley? No one, certainly, but maniac-not
even the poor observation-disclosures himself,
in his lucid moments. Magnificent logic,
indeed! Now, the single fact, says Bailey,
that a question. is ssdebateable, !" is proof po-
sitive that the truth is not all on one side
of question. This was said to prove that
the truth is not on the. side eofTemperance- Of
therefore, it must be on the side Of intem-
perance! This is the mighty mind that
proposes to teach Temperance men how to
reason! What pity that Wesley, and Rush,
and Fisk, and Beecher, and Edwards, and
F'relinghuysen, and others, of equal minds
and morals, should not nave their shallow
ness filled up by this flood of light now
poured upon the world by this remarkable
genius, who signs himself Bailey The
"Total Abstinence pledge y. is sure and
certain preventive of drunkenness if strictly
adhered to by them who sign it. Is this ode
batable I" Surely every one knows that
it is absolutely certain that 10 man will be-
come drunkard if he never drinks Dtoxi-
eating liquors, and that every drunkard will
become sober man If he never drinks all
coholic liquors again.
Where now is BIS argument drawn
from-his "single fact that question is
debateable?" What has that to do with our
cause? We do write as if we were @absolute-
ly certain'' that the truth is on our side.
What would B have us to do' Write as
if we thought we were in error He must
not expect US to observe his dictalion.-
We kno,o we have the truth, that truth,
TOO, that commends itself to every mans
conscience, or rather TO every man that
has conscience void of offence Con-
science is the testimony and secret judg-
ment of the soul, which gives its approba-
ton to actions that it thinks good, or re-
proaches itself with those which il believes
to be evil. Does BPS conscience approve
of his course' That question is ssdebatea-
ble." If he is an intelligent man, his con-
science must condemn him. If he is in
ignorance, it is possible his conscience may
approve Of his actions Which side of the
question will he take' He may have his
choice "The single fact that it is de-
bateable, is proof positive that we cannot
tell which side has the truth
If he is in ignorance, we advise him to
seek information before he undertakes
to instruct others. If he is well informed
and his conscience condemns him, we ad-
wise him, next time he writes, to send his
confession, and thus make his peace before
he goes hence. Mr.. Editor, we most hear
tily congratulate you, that so promising
temperance paper is issued from your