Indiana Palladium, Volume 6, Number 35, Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, 4 September 1830 — Page 1

. mauk-M

W T3V lQJ C DEVOTED TO A'EIVS, POLITICS, INDUSTRY, MORALITY, LITERATURE, AND AMUSEMENT. Volume VL LA WREN CEBURGU, (INDIANA;) SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1830. Number 35.

5

4 I.

TEIVIFERAN CE. t j n4.n i nu.'.

By the Rev. Baxter Dickinson, of N J 1. .Th? business of distilling confers no benefits on your fellow men. Ardent epii u is not needed as an ar ticle of living. In the first ages of the troild, when human life was protracted lo hundreds of year6, it was unknown. By the first settlors of this country it was not used. It was scarcely used for a whole century. And those temperate generations were remarkably robust, cheerful, and enterprising. To this we may add, that at least two hundred thousand persons, accustomed to use it, have given it up entirely within the last four years. And their united testimony is, that they have made no sacrifice either of health, or strength, or any real comfort. Indeed, few, if any, ex cept such as have the intemperate appetite, will now seriously contend, that distilled liquor is necessary or useful. The little that may perhaps be desirable as medicine might be made by the apothecary or the physician. The talent God has given you might be applied to advance the welfare of of your fellow men. It is your duty ymir highest honor thus to apply it And on the bed of death, in near pro6 pert of the Judgment, it will surely bo a melancholy relkchon, that as regards the happiness of mankind, your life has been an utter blank. 2. 3j The business of distilling is not only us lep, hut is the occasion of many and great evils. Recent i Xarhination has developed a number of appalling facts, which few. if any , pretend to question. It is ad initted, that the use of ardent spirit has been a tax on the population of our countrv, of from fifty to a hundred mil Hons of dollars annually. It is admitted, that three-fourths of all the crimes of the land result from the use of intoxi cating liquor. It is admitted, that at least three-fourths of all the pufl rings of poverty arise from the same source. It is admitted, that upwards of thirty thousand of our citizens have annually descended to thf drunkard's grave. It is admitted, (b those who believe the Bible.,) that drunkards shall not inherit eternal life, but must have their part in the lake that burnetii with fire and brimstone. In a word, it 19 admitted, that health, fortune, social happiness, intel lect, conscience, heaven, are all swept away by the tide of intemperance. And now, what are you specially bound to ponder is, that this burning tide, with all its desolations, flows from those ver fountains-yoti have opened the boiling flood can be perpetuated only by those fires which your handu kindle, and which it is your daily ta?k to tend. The position you occupy, then, is one of the most fearful responsibility. You are directly and peculiarly accessary to a degree of guilt and misery which none but the Infinite Mind can comprehend. I hear for you a loud remon strance from every court of justice, from every prison of collected crime, from every chamber of debasement, and from every grave-yard ; as well as from the dark world of despair. I hear the cries of unnumbered motherland widotvs, and orphans, all with one voice imploring you to ex'inguish those fires to dry up those fountains and to abandon an occupation pregnant with infamy, and denth,and perdition. 3. The business of distilling destroys, to a great extent, the bounties oj f-azidence. Many of the substances converted into ardent spirit are indispensible to the comfort of mau some of them the r.ery staff of life. But the work of distillation not only destroys them as articles of food, but actually converts them to poison. An incalculable amount of grain, and tens of thousands of hogsheads of sugar and molasses, besides enormous quantities of other useful articles, are every year thus wickedly perverted in ibis Christain land! YVho does not know the odious fact, that in many places, the distillery has regulated the price of bread ? Who does not know, that the engine ot miqui ty has at time so consumed the pro dacts of industry, as to make it difficult for the poorer classes to get a supply ? "The poor we have always with us, & and cries of the suffering are often beard from other lands. Such facts, h would seem, might reach the con science of all who are wantonly de stroying heaven's gifts.- Can you, for a little selfish gain, persist in conver ting the bread of multitudes into a peg' tilential fire! How utterly unlike the

i example of Him, who, while feeding I ihrtiic!inr!: hi- mirarlp. rotilrf slill tav .

"gather upthe fragments which remain lilrtl IJUUMIJI' UC iun.. 4. By continuing this destructive business, you greatly offend the virtuou and respectable part of the community The temDerance reformation has been commenced and prosecuted by e.nlinhtened men. It is not the enter prise of any political party, or religiou sect. It has the general support of min isters and Christains of different deoom inations, of statesmen, judges, lawyers physicians, and hundreds of thousands in the walks of private hie. i hey re gard the enterprise as one, on the sue cess of which hang tbe liberties of our republic, and the happiness of future millions. You cannot be surprised, then, that they look with pain on operations di rectly adapted to defeat their plans, and perpetuate the dread evil they deplore. You cannot suppose that their eye wil light on the fountains of this mighty evil, but with inexpressible grief, dis gust, and indignation. Aod if you have the common magnanimity of our nature, you will surely cease to outrage the feelings of the virtuous thoughout the nation. 5. You pursue a pernicious calling in opposition to great light. The time was when good men exten sively engaged in the distilling busi ness; and when few seemed to be aware of its fearfully mischievous tendency. The matter had not been a subject of solemn and expensive discussion. I he in was one of comparative ignorance. Bui circumstances have changed. Inquiry has thrown upon the community a fliod of light. The evidence of intemperance has been exhibited in its complicated horrors. Ardent spirit has been found to be not only useless, but fearfully destructive; so that the guilt of manufacturing it is now enormously aggravated. Good men were once engaged in importing slaves. They suspected not the iniquity of the business. And an apol gy can be offered for them on the ground of ignorance. But that trade has now come to be regarded by the civilized world in the same odious light as piracy and murder; The man who engages in it isstamped with everlasting infamy. And the reason is, thatj like the distiller, he now sins amid that ful ness of light which an age of philan thropy has poured around him. 6. Perseverance in the businossof di?lilling must necessarily be at the expense of your own reputation and that of your posterity. You are creating and sending ou the materials of discord, crime, poverty, disease, and intellectual and moral degradation. You are contributing to perpetuate one of the sorest scouiges of our world. A id the scourge can ne ver be removed till those deadly firesyou have kindled are all put out. That public sentiment which is worthy of respect calli upon you to extinguish them. And the note of remonstrance will wax louder and louder, till every moking distillery in the land is demolished. A free and enlightened people cannot quietly look on, while an enemy is working his engines and forging the instruments of national bondage and dt mh. Without,a prophet's vision, I foresee the day when the manufacture -,.f intoxicating liquor fdr common distribution, will be classed with the arts of counterfeiting and forgery and the mainten ance of houses for midnight revelry aod corruption. Like these, the business will become a work only ot uaiKuess, and be prosecuted only by the outlaw. Weigh well, then, the bearing 01 tout destructive employment on person al and family character. The employ ment may secure for yon a little gain, and perhaps wealth. But, in a day of increasing light and purity, you can never rid treasures, thus acquired, of a stigma which will render him miserably poor who holds them. Upon the dwelling you occupy, upon the fields you enclose, upon the spot that entombs your ashes, there will be fixed an indescribable gloom and odious-ness, to offend the eye and sicken the heart of a virtuous community, till your memory 6hall perish. Quit, then, this vile business, and spare your name, spare your family, spare your children's childen, such insupportable 6hame and reproach. 7. By prosecutiog this business in a day of light and reform, you peculiarly of fend God, and jeopard your immortal interests. In "limes of ignorance," God in a leusc, "winked at" error. But let tbe

error be persisted in under a full blaze

of light, and it must be the occasion of a dread retribution from his throne. The circumstances of the distiller are now entirely changed. His sin was once a sin of ignorance; but it is such no longer. Ho knows he is taking bread from the hungry, and perverting the bounties of Providence. He knows he is undermining the very pillars of our Republic. He knows, that by distilling he confers no benefits upon man kind. He knows he is directly accessary to the temporal wretchedness and the endless wailing of multitudes. Aud knowing these thing?, and keeping ou his wavhe accumulates guilt which the H ly One cannot overlook. If endless ex lusions from heaven be the drunk ard's doom, can he be held guiltless, who deliberately prepared for him and perhaps placed in his hand the t up ot death and damnation ! This is not the den?ion either of Sciipluie or of common sense. Wilfully persevering to furnish the sure means of death, you carry to the judgment the murderer's character, as clearly as the midnight aesissin. And now, what is the. apology for prosecuting a business so manliest! offensive to God, and ruinous to your self as well others? Do you say, ft is necessary as a means of support? Bui whence have you deiivetf authority to procure a living at the sacrifice of con science, character, and the dearest in terests of other? And is the mainten ance of a public nuisance really necessa ry to your support? In a country like ihh, the plea of necessity for crime is glaringly impious. Many and varied departments f honest and honorable industry are before you, all promising a generous reward. And, neglecting them for a wicked and mischievous occupation, y ou must bear the odium of a most sordid avarice or implacable malignity. You virtually, too, impeach the char acter of Gi d. You proclaim, that he ias made your comfort and even subsis tence to depend upon the practice ot iniquity. It is an imputation he mu?t repel with abhonence and wrath. Nor is it sustained by the conscience, reason or experience of any man. But possibly you urge in self-jnstifi-ation, Others will manufacture spirit if I do not. Uut remember the innli ot one is no excuse for another. "Every one of as shall give an account of Aim setoGod!" If others pursue a busi ness at the sacrifice of character and ot leaven, it becomes you to avoid their crime, that you may escape their doom. It is net certain, however, that oth ers will prosecute the destructive busi ness, if you abandon it. men of fore thought will not now embark their silver and gold on a pestilential stream, soon to be dried up under that blze ot light and heat which a merciful God has enkindled. They will not deem it either 8afe or wise to kindle unholy and deadly fires, where the pure river of the water of life is so soon tooveiflow. lu the eye of thousands the distillery on your premises adds nothing to their value. Indeed, should they purchase those premises, the filthy estahlishmt nt would be demolished, as the first effort of improvement. And every month and hour is detracting from its value, and blackening the curse that rests upon it. Let tbe thousands now concerned in distilling, at once put out their fires, and the act would cause one general burst of joy through the nation; and any act to rekindle them would excite an equally general burst of indignation and abhorrence. None but a monster of depravity would ever make the attempt. But again, perhaps you say, No one is obliged to use the spirit that is made. But remtmber that you make it only to be used. You make it with the desire, with tbe hope, with the expectation that it will be used. You know it has been used by thousands? by millions and hasstrewed the land with desolation, and peopled hell with its victims: and you cannot but acknowledge, that you would at once cease to make the liquor, did y ou not hope it would continue to be used! Ind ed, y ou must see that, just in proportion to your success, will be the amount of mischief done to your fellow-men. It seems hardly needful to say, that the foregoing considerations are all strict ly applicable o such as furnish the materials for the distiller, W ere these withheld, his degrading occupation would of course cease. By suffering, then, the fruits of your industry to pass into his hands, you perpetuate his work of death. You share ia all bis guiltj

and shame, and curse. And remember, too, that the bushel of grain, the barrel of cider, the hogshead of molasses, for which y ou thus gain a pittance, may be returned from the fiery process only to hasten the infamy and endless ruin of a beloved 6on, or brother, or friend! Nor is the crime of the retailer

of ardent spirits essentially differeut. He takes the poison from the distiller and insidiously deals itout to his fellow men. ll is truly stirring to one's indie nation to notice his variety of artifice 1 . - - itlor rendering u eoncing. rus occupation is one which the civil authorities have, in some places, with a noble con sistency, ceased to tolerate; and one which must soon be put down by the loud voice ot public sentiment. Indeed, the retailer, the distiller, and he who furnishes the materials must be looked on as forming a trifle league. dangerous alike to private and socia happiness, and to tbe very liberties o the nation And an awakened people cannot rest, till the deadly compact is sundered. Why not, then, anticipate a little the verdict and the vengeance of a rising tone of public sentiment, and at once proclaim the unholy alliance dissolved? Why not anticipate th verdict of an infinitely higher tribunal? why not believe God's threatning, and escape the eternal tempest that lowers for him who puitcth the cup to his neighbors lips? Why not co-operate promptly m a public reform, that 13 re garded with intense interest in heaven, on earth, and in hell? O review, as men of reason, and conscience, and immortality, this whol business: and if y ou have no ambition to benefit your fellew men if y ou can consent to ruin many fur both worlds it you can persist in wasting andpervcr ting the bounties of a kind Providence nyou can outrage the feelings of the most enlightened and virtuous if you can pursue a work ot dailiness amia noonday light if you can sacrifice good name, and entail odium on all you love and if y ou can deliheiately opend trod, aud jeopard your immortal interests for paltry gain, then go on ga on a little longer; but, "O my soul, come NOT THOU INTO THEIR SECRET; UNTO THFIR ASSEMBLY, MINE HONOR, BE NOT THOU united!" INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. So much has been said to prove the utter extravagance and folly of Mr. Clay's Prodigal System, that no one who has given the subject his serious atten tion, pretends to support it with earn estness. In addition to the unanswered and unanswerable arguments that have been spread before the public, in illus tration of Mr. Clay's wild scheme of endless taxation, we are pleased with being able to lay before our readers the views of Mr. Senator Holmes, of Maine, now a furious headlong coalitionist. whose late speeches the friends of Mr. Clay devour with a greedy appetite. We are indebted to the Baltimore Republican for these extracts. They abound with facts and arguments, which come to the mind with a force and energy which nothing but downright prejudice can resist. We hope the coalitionists will be edified by them, inasmuch as they come from one w ho after the 'godlike Daniel Webster, of Hartford Convention notoriety, is the great champion of their party. I $ I ? "Extract from a Speech of MR. HOLMES . Of Maine, on the subject of Internal Improvement, delivered in the Senate of the United States, April 21 22, in 1824." i (7-The bill was one for ordering V. I 1 It! llHf- IJ I U .... surveys. lie oegins nomiy : "iur. 1 iesident, I AM OPPOSED both to the bill and the amendment," 07 Again "I should have been better pleased, if the advocates of Internal Improvement would have selected the part of tbe constitution that gives them the power. This they have carefully and prudently avoided. Prudently, indeed for should any one source be selected, my life fori!, not one fourth of either house would concur. Yet this subject presents this singular inconsistency, that a power which must be derived from some one granted in the constitution, can unite but a small majority as to the 6ource from whence it is derived, but yet, will, 1 fear unite a majority in favor of its existence." OCT Again "Implied or incidental powers were once, fashionable doctrines. It was insisted that they were necessary, and that, without them, these granted could cot be executed,

The position has been too willingly y ielded, and, once y ielded, these powers may be claimed to an unlimited extent. Now sir, I deny that any of these are necessary to the execution cfany of the defined and enumerated powers of the constitution." r Again "Were those gentlemea

here, who framed the constitution, I might with confidence appeal to them if it had been believed that it contained the power claimed by this bill, w hethec it could possibly have been adopted. No sir, the truth is, this document carries us much farther than ire ever went before; and one class of politicians, I mean the Federalists, have a right to hold their heads high. If we establish the principles proposed in this bill , that party may congratulate themselves, that, though their power hai been lost, their principles have in this instance triumphed." OCT Again "I am aware, sir, that the bill only proposes a survey aD& this surely, cannot be unconstitutional. But is it intended to stop here? You will send y our corps of engineers into the. states to designate for them, such roads and canals as they may make. If the statesare to make these roads and canals at last, they will not thank you for designating them; this they would do much better than you. No, ir, however disguised the bill may be this is the entering wedge, the commencement of a grand scheme of internal improvement. And I call upon theadvecates of this measure to point out to me the part of the constitution which gives you this power. C-Cr Again "But, if you, by searching,tind this power, what good is to result from its exercise? You now can scarcely fulfil your legiiimaie duties, and are wishing to throw iff some of them on other departments. And whila your business h multiplying, you will introduce into Congress a subject mora perplexing, one which will txi no uure jealousy, provoke more discord, and induce more management, if not in trigue, than all others combined. Will you appropriate equally? To do this, we must first ascertain what states have already received any thing, aud how much, and deduct it from their share. The two millions for the Cumberland road must be put into a common fund and deducted from the shares of those states which have had the benefit of it. Whose turn comes first ? This is a very important inquiry. The first important canal ycu construct will so exhaust your tieasurj and encumber you with ebt, that it will be the last. What is your rule of equality ? Among the states, probdbly according to their repiescntativee, as this ia y our rule of taxation, and if you proceed in this, taxation must cme. Now, would this be right? In tbe canal which is to unite the waters of the Chesapeake and Delaware, the state ol Delaware, would incur most of the expense, and receive least of the prtfi's. Ia Mary land, some expense, and consider able profit, Pennsylvania none of the expense, and most of the pn fits. Del aware would draw one part in 212, Ma ry land 9, and Pennsy lvania, G. Will y ou divide unequally, & at dis cretion. .Let the time ccme w hen Con gress combine and appropriate money for the beneht ol a majority, to the ex clusion of a minority, and your unioa is in the most imminent peril. Will y ou tell New England that, since they have made their roads at their ow n expense, that you will not take their money to make your6? That, altho' roads across the mountains give a direct benefit o some states, y et, es we are re motely benefitted, we have no right to complain? JJ gin a bargaining sys tem of this sort, and see how long it will last. Treat the complaints of ao injured minority as the "capricioui s ,ualls of a child, which does not know whether it is agrieved or not," and see how soon "this child will assume the voice and courage" and strength of a man. Suppose we should succeed io thowing back on you your own principlessuppose we 6hould attempt a system of education and establish a national universityand surely nothing can be more, emphatically "internal improvement" than that which goes to improve the hursan mind. Suppose we should make a donation of a hundred millions to Cambridge, whoso foundation and reputation are so well established. Location is nothing and, if gentlemen, in the South West, would be obliged to send their children some fifteen hundred miles, they are remotelv benefitted, and must not complain