The Belmont chronicle, and farmers, mechanics and manufacturers advocate. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1848-1855, 1853-08-05

"The liquor meeting at Hendrysburgh." A lie
TO begin With. And what might not be expect. |
ed from auch beginning, and that lie told wilful
", %nowing il TO be such. ] speak plain, ! al.
ways try to do so. There was no meeting with
in three miles Of Hendrys5urgh on that day, un.
less the Sons Of Temperance met. / believe
they did meet that evening. | am really glad
the author had so much sense of shame left IS to
hide his real name, and to skulk behind fcti.
tious cognomon; but like the Ass in the fable,
who dressed himself in the Lion s skin, still the
ears would stick out. What Mares nest be
found, and how he cackled over the eggs. This
is phrase we old backwoods folks used when
men laugh at their own conceits, or when they
have nothing to laugh att Now il Mr.. A. o. u.
had cast his eye over the proceedings of our NEE.
ting, as published in the Gazette e. Citizen, he
there would have made the discovery that what
tickled his fun SO much was nothing more nor
less than an error or omission of the ty posettcrs
OF the Chronicle, that would not only have dissi.
pated all his joys, but II would have saved him
Of making that foolish egotistical and ungentle.
manly remark; 1--WE are not guilty of the folly
Of expecting entire accuracy Of expression from
the advocates Of the liquor traffic" Now, fellow
citizens, this "same said A. o. z, (as Squire
Johnson would express it) is, l am informed,
citizen OF Hendrysburgh and merchant whom
many OF us patronize, who las not only set him
self up as a critic but stigmatizer Of all those
who attended the meeting here on the 18th Of
last month, as fighting for the privilege Of get
| ting drunk. And then what crticism--what
garbling-what misconstruction, and what false
issues he makes. But when the beginning is de-
liberate ialsehood we could expect no less. He
says what you resolve is more important, well,
! perhaps it is We have resolved that we will
support ho man for office who is in favor of the
Maine law; now il so happens that A. o. z. is a
Son Of Temperance, and in favor of said law, and
perhaps asprcs to the Office Of Grogmaster gen.
eral, as he is an old hand at the retail business
1t is not my intention to obey the old proverb of:
"Answera fool according to his folly," but will
say that when A. o. z, penncd his article he
must have been one of two things: either drunk
or insane, Tor can hardly believe any man who
was sane and sober, could or would have pennec
1t. Hear what he says, and then Judge. W
"Worthy sons Of revolutionary sires how discern
ing is your perception Of parallel cases. your faith
ers rebelled against foreign legislation, you rebe
against the legislation of your Township, ant
State, who in all this age Of wonders ever hear,
OF townships legislatng Well, Mr.. A. o. z, We
are indebted to you for new wrinkle. Again h,
says, you fight for the privilege of getting drunk
What gentlemanly what sublime language [,
come from such refined Son of Temperance
Could Pope have the counterpart of A. o. u, be
fore him when he wrote his Duncisd Hea
what he says of such critics:
"Nonsense precipitate like running lead
Then slipped through crags and zigzags througI
his head,
Or if, to vita coxcomb makes pretence,
Guard the sure barrier between that and com
mon sense,
Or quite unravel all the reasoning thread
!, And hang some curious cobwebs in its stead"
Pope then describes the goddess duness ad
dressing the critics, her children at place calle
: feet ditch, where all the filth from the sewers o
, London were carried off:
i "Herc strip my children, here at once leap in,
| Here from who best can dash through thick ant
thin,
3 Here prove who most in love Of dirt excel
{ OR dark dexterity of groping well,
who hings more filth and wide polntes around,
. The stream'bc his, the weekly journals bound.
: 1t would seem from the quotation taken from
our school books as though A. o. u. had rcu,
Q some account Of the French revolution. Canno
/. his beclouded understanding take lesson there
= from, what did the French dot They behcad
= cd u King and crowned an Emperor Canno
those bgotted reformers there behold their ow,
= face as in glass? But A. y. u. finds a terribl
Y bugbear in that resolution where we resolve {
7 oppose ut the ballot box all laws and ordinance
; whether gotten up by bigots, demagogucs, ia
natics or iools, having for their object tn
: abridgement Of our personal liberties. ado yo
t mean gentlemen that you will have no abridge
Q ment of your personal lberties2 Yes friend, W
most earnestly meant all that, do you on u II oc
customs utter such nonsense as that, or is il on
r when advocating the liquor traffic you lose you
senses? DO you respect the rights Of property
r DO you happen TO know Of such a relation as hus
!. band and wife, and does that relation impos
: any abridgment of your personal libertios7"-
ioor fellow, how pity him, yet as am an oil
0 Bachelor il cannot bc expected that could n
+ fully sympathze with him as one who is place
, in similar circumstances, for can still sing
Funny ard free are a bachelors reveries,
Cherrily, merrily passes his life,
Nothing knows he Of cohnubial devries,
Troublesome children or clamorous wife.
Now II may bo that A. o. z. has lost his pant
and that the grey marc is the better horse
0 which is the occasion Of that idea of abridgmcn
of personal liberty entering into his mind, an,
would here bospeak for him tho sympathics o
this audience. Now would say to this Learned
! critic that We were sane mon when we passo,
that resolution, and that he may rest easy OF
! that score, ard when mon of sense Judge us W.
will at least bear conparision with A. o. u. o
tho learned Squire. Arc his percoptive faculties
= so small or is his understanding SO much pervcrt
> cd, that he canno, discriminate between thos,
rights wo have surrendered and those etained -
Well then let me say to him & all who are likel,
to bo led astray by his sophistry all those rights
? IL privileges which we the people ofthe State o
Ohio have delegated to tho State government fol
the express purpose Of having those retained
protected, are ours personally, no longer, but be
long TO the body polite to the public collective
ly. But those retained are ours personally ,ant
aganst any abrdgnent of these we war, ant
will defend, personally and collectively defend
and neither bgots, demagoguos, fanatics ol
fools, shall filch them from us; no matter what
the preteSt is made to hide the usurpasion, ne
. matter what garb its authors see fit to cloth,
the banding in. But he says we have regula
: tions and still the ruin runs, yes and so il viii
drv N he nr tha Mia