T 11 E
FOUNDED OX FACT.
BY
Jl SUmlur 0f $w<jia &ituUxtMt.
Hasfjbille, Cntn.:
PUBLISHED FOB THE AUTHOR BY J. B.. M'FERRIN, AG'T.
1860.
THE
MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
FOUNDED ON FACT.
BY
gl lUmlur 0f <$*0rjjia (tefmnn.
Nasptlle, €emt.:
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY J. B. M'FERRIN, Ag't.
1860.
THE
MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
•Among the mountain spurs which jut out from the Blue Ridge in
county, there is a pleasant vale, which we will call Bee Gum
Valley, through which a stream, called Moccasin Creek, gently flows.
This stream is formed by the junction of two others, known as Possum
Creek and Mud Creek. These names are likewise appropriated to the
two valleys, respectively, through which those streams meander. At the
confluence, and situated between the two rivulets, there was, some years
ago, a small log-cabin, having no floor but the naked terra jirma. This
was the Justice's Court-house of the Bee Gum District, where a couple
of smart magistrates presided, monthly, to dispense their legal lore from
the "Georgia Justice."
As this place was also an election precinct, the "sovereigns" of the
district were assembled at an early hour on the first Monday in January,
1844, for the purpose of electing county officers. At that time there
were no less than seventeen distilleries in the county, as may be seen
from the report of the American Tract Society for that year. Whether
this district was considered the " dark corner" of county or not,
it is certain that it enjoyed the reputation of having more drunkards,
more quarrelling and fighting, than any other Justice's district in the
county. Jim Rick's still-house was emphatically an "institution" of the
district, and was situated on Possum Creek, about a half mile above its
junction with Mud. A hundred, or more, of the TiabitvCes of the dis-
trict (including several females, for the women of Bee Gum District
sometimes attended the election, doubtless to see and be seen) were
gathered together from the three valleys, and their adjacent glens and
(3)
4
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
hillsides. The most distingu6 characters among them are those whom
we will mention as constituting chiefly our corps de ballet.
There was Squire Porter, a atout, red-faced man, who seemed to be a
leading personage among the people, and one of the presiding magis-
trates and superintendents of the election. He always delivered his
legal decisions with an air of great authority; and when he wished to
convey them more impressively than at other times, he would add an
emphatic " Now then!" There was Emanuel, his brother, who was
always called Manny, for short. Manny Porter had brought up a barrel
of Jim Rick's corn whiskey, and "tapped" it under a large oak tree in
front of the Court-house. He had killed a poor drunken wretch at the
election two years before, and, though he had been tried and acquitted,
his neighbors generally did not regard him as guiltless.
There was old Bob Pool, a long, gaunt-looking man, and his son Lige,
a tallow-faced lad of fifteen. Bob had brought a five-gallon jug full of
whiskey, from which the managers of the election occasionally "wet the
eye." Netty Mulligen, a spinster, born in the year of grace 1800, was
there.
Guy Bonner, a deacon of Mud Creek "meetin' house," and old Father
Spavin, as he was called, the pastor of that "institution," with several of
the breethren, were in attendance.
Jim Rick, accompanied by a dirty-faced urchin, whom he called
Hempy, was also in the crowd. Now Hempy had a pet fox which he
led about with a string, and, while he attended his father at the still-
house, commonly kept the animal fastened to a young poplar tree hard
by. Hempy and his fox were therefore well-known characters in the
neighborhood.
Patrick O'More, a newly imported son of Erin, Ben Tucker, old Mose
Azant, and others, too numerous to mention by name, were all present.
Jake Smith, another conspicuous character, was thought to be "as
good a man as ever trod shoe-leather," by which was undoubtedly meant
that he was "as hard to handle as the next man." Who this "next
man" was, we never were able to find out exactly, but suppose it was
G-eneral (they all called him Gineral) Jehoshaphat Sprawler. He had
for many years been elected to the senatorial branch of the State Legisla-
ture, and had just returned from Milledgeville, in time to be at the
election.
His wife, Mrs. Tabitha Sprawler, (whom the General always called
Tabby,) was with him. Tabby loved Jim Rick's corn whiskey about as
well as the General and Jake Smith. A few paces from the big oak
tree a one-horse wagon was standing, with the "hind gate" ofi", and a fat,
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
5
rosy-cheeked woman sat within, offering " cakes and beer" for sale. This
was Mrs. Polly Smith, Jake's wife. It was generally believed that Tabby
was ''as hard to beat" as any woman "in creation." Whether this was
true of her in regard to matters and things in general, it is certain that
Polly found it true in one particular at least. Whether the two or three
drams that Tabby had taken constituted the only causa belli, or whether
she indulged some hatred toward the rosy-cheeked vender of cakes and
beer, because Jake had always voted against the General, we never could
learn precisely; but so it was, Tabby had a "piece of her mind" to
deliver to Madam Polly. Accordingly, she stepped out in front of the
wagon, and said:
" Well, Madam!"
"What did you say, Miss Sprawler?" asked Polly.
"I say, Madam, that you isn't no lady; that's what /say."
" What am I, then ?"
"You're a good-for-nothin no-count woman; that's what you are."
" What have I done to you, Miss Sprawler ?"
" You've been talkin about the Gineral; that's what you've done."
"I hav'n't!"
" You have!"
" I hav' n't!"
" You have, you sneakin', lyin', low-lifed, good-for-nothin' heifer!"
" I declare, Miss Sprawler, I never said any thing agin Gineral
Sprawler in my life."
" I know better; you said that he was n't any more fittin' to go to
Sinate than your old dog Towser.'.'
" Lawsy massy ! I never said sich a thing in my born days."
"You did, you sassy hussy, and I'll make you take it back, or I'll
scratch the rosebuds out'n them cheeks."
" Miss Sprawler, you's drinky now; go away and let me alone. Mind,
don't you turn over my cakes there."
"You lyin' wretch—you impudent hag—I'm no more drinky than you
are this minute, and I'll make you see sights; that's what I'll do."
" 0 lawsy ! Jake, come here
"Do you threaten me with that stinkin', drunken old husband of
yourn ? I '11 let you know that I do n't ax him any odds." So saying,
she dragged poor Polly out of the wagon, and commenced pulling her hair
at a dreadful rate.,
" 0 lawsy massy I Jake, do run here !"
Jake happened just then to be in the Court-house, making himself
jolly with a few of his friends over the contents of the big jug. As soon
6
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
as he heard the last earnest call of Polly, he looked round, and, seeing
the posture of affairs, dashed the glass which he held upon the table,
and in an instant was at her side. Now Jake was "too much of a man"
to strike a woman, so he set to work in order to release Tabby's hold
upon the long, dark tresses of his plump spouse. He had not more than
laid hold of her, when a terrible blow on the sid'e of the head, directed
by General Sprawler, felled him to the earth. Active as a cat, he sprung
to his feet in an instant, and faced his antagonist, who stood armed with
a light-wood-knot, and was now about to rush upon him with the ferocity
of a tiger. Jake foiled the blow with one hand, and with the other fist
laid the General flat upon his back. In an instant he planted himself
upon the prostrate senator, and commenced dealing the most telling blows
into his sides.
* The scene that followed "beggared description." The crowd rushed
up, and gathered in a circle round the combatants. Even Squire Porter
left his seat at the table in the Court-house, and, followed by the rest of
the managers, rushed to the scene of conflict. " Iloo-ra for Jake Smith!"
" Give it to him, Jake !" " Hoo-ra for Gineral Sprawler !" " Rise with
him, Gineral!" " Pull him off!" " Part 'em !" " Hands off!" said a
man of gigantic form, who, dealing a heavy blow just above the eye of
one of the General's friends, put him hors du combat, and, rushing for-
ward, said, "Let me come; I'll see fair play. Lay it on to him,
Jake!"
Jake did "give it to him," for he continued to thump the prostrate
legislator with his heavy fists.
By this time a score of men had their coats off, their shirt-sleeves
rolled up, and, with horrid oaths and yells, "pitched in" to the fight in
good earnest. Fists, sticks, stones, finger-nails, teeth, were now freely
and very promiscuously employed. Some had aching sides, some black-
ened eyes, some broken pates, and others long hideous scratches on their
faces, or eyes terribly gouged. One had his ear bit off, another a thumb
badly disabled, and another a finger-joint dislocated.
In the meantime, the unpleasant position of the General induced him
seriously to devise some method of asking for quarter. At length he
spoke thus:
" Plague on my skin, Jake, if you a'n't the best man that ever I felt of
Now you jist git up, and go part them women before they hurt one an-
other."
Jake rose immediately, but the women had been parted before. The
General's words were taken as a signal for a general armistice, and the
fighting soon ceased.
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
7
"Hang me, boys/' said the General, "if I don't buy every cake in
Poll's wagon, and treat."
" Good ! Hoo-oo-ra for Gineral Sprawler! Hoo-ra-a-a for Jake
Smith!" shouted the crowd, and immediately gathered around the
wagon, every man filling his pockets with gingerbread at the General's
expense. The General and Jake made friends, and a general shaking of
* hands succeeded. Jake hitched up his old gray mare, and giving the
reins to Polly, whose rosy cheeks, fortunately, had not been "scratched,"
she drove home.
The dust and smoke of the battle (the "batter-ryal," as it has ever
since been called) having cleared away, a tall, thin-faced, pale-featured,
well-dressed youth was seen entering the Court-house. The general
staring at the youthful visitor showed that he was a stranger in those
parts. He stepped forward to Squire Porter, who had resumed his seat
at the table, and, bending over, said something in an under-tone.
" Certainly!" said the Squire; and the youth, taking a thick, heavy
plank, ran the ends in between the logs in each side of the wall, at the
corner, mounted on it, and began to speak as follows:
"1 Come now, and let us reason together.' Thus spake the voice
Divine through the mouth of an inspired prophet. This message comes
to you this day by one who is neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet.
Hear ye my words, and give ear to the message which I bring. My
friends, there is a monster in your midst, that combines more elements
of mischief than any other beneath the sun. There is an evil among
you, which is more destructive in its effects than earthquakes, famines,
pestilence, and war. Would you have me represent in a figure the evil
of which I speak ? There is a spirit in the atmosphere which stirs it into
a terrible commotion. It sweeps through the land with impetuous velo-
city. With increasing momentum it rushes on tempestuous wing; with
hideous roar, and appalling darkness, it spreads over quiet homes and
fruitful fields. It leaves desolation and ruin behind it. Houses are
thrown down, people are buried in the ruins, the fields are laid waste,
and the forest is prostrated on the ground. The sturdy oak, that long
resisted its fury, is compelled to yield, and kiss the earth with its majestic
boughs. All nature lies in ghastly devastation !
" The spirit of the tempest is Alcohol! The thundering roar of its
furious tread, the horrid blasphemy of human lips! The lightning,
flashing and scathing in its course, the keen darting forth of malignant
passions! The ruin produced, human beings murdered, wives deserted,
children in rags, plantations overgrown with weeds, or passing under the
sheriff's hammer! and, worse than all, a poor bloated wretch, in the form
8
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
of man, in rags and filth, going down to a grave of infamy, and a hell
of endless torture! These are thy doings, 0 Alcohol !"
Here the speaker pointed at Boh Pool's five-gallon jug. The crowd
now gathered within and around the house, and stood gazing upon the
pale, thin features of the youthful visitor, in mute astonishment. " He's
a temperance man," spoke out a voice, when the youth pointed at the
jug. "He's an 'abbilishunist,'" said another. "He's a Bible S'iety <
man," said Father Spavin, the oracle of Bee Gum Valley. "Silence!
let the man talk," said Squire Porter.
" My friends," continued the speaker, not in the least disconcerted, " I
will not attempt to convince you that intemperance is a great evil. The
poor unfortunate drunkard knows it is an evil; he has felt it 'bite like a
serpent, and sting like an adder.' He thinks of his ineffectual attempts
to reform, of a wasted fortune, of lost respectability, of a heart-broken
wife, of ragged children, and the desertion of friends—he feels it to he a
dreadful evil I He looks upon his repeated falls into the ditch, his tat-
tered garments, his decaying health, his agonized soul, and knows that it
is an evil. No, you can never persuade that drunkard that intemperance
is not an evil, until you convince him that vice is virtue, that poverty is
wealth, that rags are royal vestments, that disgrace is respectability, that
misery is bliss, and that hell is heaven.
" His wretched wife knows it is an evil. She remembers the hymeneal
altar and the plighted faith; the early days of wedded love, and the hal-
lowed communion of kindred spirits; the happy days of peaceful enjoy-
ment. But these are fled: coldness, cruelty, neglect, and abuse, have
come in their stead, and she knows that drunkenness is an evil.
" His injured children know that it is an evil. How anxiously did
they once listen to hear the footstep of papa upon the threshold ! What
fire of love kindled and glowed in their eyes as they flew to meet him!
But he comes now, and they flee to the woods for shelter. They know
that drunkenness is an evil.
" The retailer knows that it is an evil. When the poor drunkard has
paid him his last dime for that accursed drink, which has ruined his
family, and blasted all the hopes of life; when he reels from the bar,
where he has swallowed his last destructive draught, and falls prostrate
on the floor, the inhuman wretch that has filched his last farthing, rolls
him out at the door, and says, ' Begone, you drunken, miserable sot!'
" The distiller knows it is an evil. When he takes the precious corn
that bountiful Heaven bestows for human sustenance, and converts it into
the whisky in his infernal alembic, he can listen unmoved to the orphan's
piteous cry for bread !"
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
9
" It's an infernal lie !" shouted a stentorian voice from the crowd.
"Say .that agin, Jim Rick," said Jake Smith, "and I'll fill your
bread-basket with my fist."
Jim rather quailed before this unexpected menace from the champion
of the day, and, in a tone much moderated, said:
" Well now, Jake, I never heard a olphin cry for bread in my life; if
I had, I'd a give him some."
" I b'lieve you would, Jim ; but it was mighty imperlite for you to be
givin' of the lie to that nice young man."
" Hush your talkin' there, Jim Rick; be quiet, Jake," said Squire
Porter, "and let the man perceed with his speech."
The youthful speaker remained, during this interruption, perfectly
calm, and, without the slightest visible agitation, continued:
"Nor can I depict the extent of the mischief produced by this evil.
It has spread through all lands; it has ravaged every coast; it has in-
fested every sea. It has filled every prison, and every hospital, and
every infirmary, and every poor-house, and every abode of infamy
throughout Christendom. It has prepared a subject for many a gallows,
a deadly weapon for many a heart, a midnight incendiary for many a
town. Gro search the records of crime; go count the convicts of State
prisons; go number the inmates of county jails; go ask the miserable
outcasts from society, from kindred, from home; go among the makers
and venders of this deadly fluid, and tell the number of barrels that are
daily emptied into human stomachs, if you would form even a vague idea
of its extent.
"Well may we ask, Cui hono f"
"Now, if you want to ax me any thing, Mister," said Guy Bonner,
" jist ax on; if I can't answer you, I know who can. Brother Spavin is
the greatest scriptorian we ever had in Bee Gium."
" Hold, Gruy!" said a man whose legs were bent inward, and whose
eyes were of non-coincident axes—in other words, knock-kneed, squint-
eyed, little Dick Thompson. Seizing a glass of spirits, and approaching
the speaker, he continued : " I '11 let him throw himself outside of a dram
of as good corn whisky as ever was made in Jim Rick's still-house, if
he'll tell my name."
He had scarcely uttered these words, when Squire Porter grasped the
extended arm, and hurling him back against the wall, said:
" Stand there, Dick, and hold your tongue; I told the man he mout
speak, and you sha' n't meddle with him; now then /"
With the most perfect nonchalance, and seemingly unconscious of the
interruption, the speaker continued :
10
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
" I ask, What good can result from the use of intoxicating drink as a
beverage ?
" Does it benefit the body ?
" Does it brace the natural constitution against the attack of disease ?
Has it ever prevented epidemics, or any of the maladies that afflict the
human family ? Has it ever effectually removed from the human body
any distemper that might not have been removed by milder means ? Has
it ever benefited the mind ? Has the intellect been strengthened, the
judgment matured, the understanding enlarged, the memory improved
by its use ? Has it rendered the mind more peaceful, serene, and happy ?
Has it ever made-any man more fit for social enjoyment, or enabled him
the better to cultivate the virtues of friendship and social life ? The
inebriate, it is true, does imagine himself happy while he is intoxicated;
but all his happiness is only a delusion. When he wallows in the mud,
like the filthy swine, he imagines himself a prince. When he is clothed
in rags, he imagines himself arrayed in gorgeous apparel. While he is
suffering for the necessaries of life, he fancies that he is in the greatest
affluence. Do you envy that man his happiness ? It consists in dethron-
ing reason, drowning reflection, and stifling the voice of his conscience.
He quarrels with his best friends, insults the virtuous, and abuses the
innocent.
" What good does it do the soul, the immortal, the spiritual man ? It
destroys every noble sentiment, it fills the mind with remorse, and hor-
rifles the man with the most terrible forebodings. But the moderate
drinker, the man who either drinks occasionally or habitually, but not to
excess, is better off, I admit, than the miserable drunkard; and yet, he
derives no benefit, but a positive injury, from alcoholic drink. Let facts
speak. In every place where cholera and yellow fever rage, those who
use ardent spirits as a beverage are among the first to fall."
"That's as arrant a lie as ever was told upon the face of the livin'
yearth; I had yaller fever last fall," said Bob Pool,."and drunk Jim
Rick's corn whiskey every day."
"No, it wa'n't yaller fever, Daddy; Doctor Walkdown called it yaller
ganders."
So said tallow-faced Lige, as he sat by the big jug, with one hand rest-
ing upon the corn-cob stopper.
"Hold your tongue, Lige; I say it was yaller fever. You're a leetle
too smart; I'll take you a button-hole lower."
"I'll give the nose off my face," said Lige, "if Doctor Walkdown
did n't call it yaller janders."
" Silence there!" roared the Magistrate.
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
11
" I said, let facts speak. In everyplace where cholera and yellow fever
rage, those who are addicted to the use of ardent spirits are among the
first to fall. I give you not my own opinion merely, hut the opinions of
the most eminent physicians. I will refer you to one who, for the
extent of his scientific knowledge, his skill as a physician, and the essen-
tial service which he has rendered mankind by his medical works, is
justly styled the immortal Rush. He shows how erroneous is the popu-
lar belief that ardent spirits are beneficial when a person is hot or when
he is cold, when he is wet or when he is dry, when he is at rest or when
he is laboring, when he is sick or when he is well. He says there is no
nourishment in ardent spirits) the strength they produce in labor is of a
transient nature, and is always followed by a sense of weakness and
fatigue. Dr. Sewall, late a Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in
Columbian College, spent many years in tracing the effects of spirituous
liquors upon the human constitution. He prepared a number of plates
to represent the injurious-consequences of alcohol upon the inner mem-
brane of the stomach. These plates exhibit a faithful picture of its
ravages at different stages of its use—not upon the inebriate only, but
also the moderate drinker. He has demonstrated the fact, which the
distinguished Rush had proved before, that the habitual use of ardent
spirits has a direct and progressive tendency to debilitate the moral, intel-
lectual, and physical powers of man.
" Dr. Glridley says: ' When alcohol is taken in a certain quantity,
diluted with water, as it must be before common use, its effect is to arouse
the energies of the system, and for a while the individual feels stronger,
but the excitement is always followed by depression, and loss of animal
and mental vigor. It contains nothing that can afford any nourishment
to the body, and consequently can impart no strength. Again, alcohol is
not only innutritious, but is poisonous. Taken into the stomach in an
undiluted and concentrated state, in quantities of two or three teaspoon-
fuls, it destroys life, as clearly shown in Accum's experiments.' He con-
eludes thus: 'Our fourth reason for the disuse of alcoholic liquors is,
that any thing short of abstinence exposes to all the dread consequences
just mentioned. Here is the grand hope of our cause. Total Absti-
nence defies all danger and mocks at consequences. With it we are
safe, without it in peril.'
"I have seen a tract in which the names of nearly all the physicians
in Boston are appended to a declaration that ardent spirits tahen, in any
quantity, into the human stomach are injurious. Let this be our confes-
sion of faith, as it is of the savants of Boston.
" When you get sick, you send for a doctor-: "
12
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
"No, I don't," spoke out a voice from the crowd; "when 7 git sick, I
sends for Sal Hunnicut, for she can beat all creation a givin' of lobeely.
Can't she, Ben Tucker?"
"Well now, Hal," said Ben, "I can't say she beats all creation, for
Doctor Walkdown is hard to beat givin' lobeely; but I do say that Sal
Hunnicut can physic 'bout as well as any of them Bostin save-alls."
At this point the oracle of Bee Gum Yalley, looking round upon the
group of men assembled in the cabin, and with grave aspect, and rather
self-important and consequential air, said :
" It is my opinion that this business is a speckilation. Them Bostin
folks is alvays sendin' out some new idees about temperance, track and
Bible S'ieties. They're for evermore sendin' some of their fine edicated
men out here to git our money; they ought every one to be driv out'n
the country. It a'n't nothin' in the .world but a speckilation."
"That's it; it a'n't nothin' else," responded Bob Pool.
" Be quiet, men, he quiet," said Squire Porter.
The young man stood, at each interruption, calm, silent, motionless as
a statue, which his pale, thin features, wearing an expression of deep
solemnity and imperturbable equanimity, caused him to resemble. But,
as he spoke, his features were slightly radiated, his voice was clear and
well modulated, his manner animating but natural. As soon as Squire
Porter's commanding voice had produced silence, the youth con-
tinued:
" When you are sick, I repeat, you send for a physician. Why ?
Because you believe that he is acquainted with the structure and laws of
the human constitution, the different kinds of diseases, and the remedies
proper to be used. You admit that he is able to trace the effects of any
particular substance, when taken into the stomach. Even in cases of
disease of rare occurrence, you bow respectfully to his authority. How
much more should you respect his opinions on a subject which he can in-
vestigate everywhere, as in the use of ardent spirits ! I have not referred
you to the little, deceitful empiric."
" You scoundrel!" said Jim Rick, in great wrath; "who told you that
little Hempy Rick was deceitful?"
"Hush, Jim," said Jake Smith. " I wouldn't a said that for—for—
well I don't know what. It's awful, Jim, it's awful! But I can tell
you that Hempy does sometimes go round the truth. Do n't you remem-
ber what he said t' other day about the fox climbin' that poplar tree ?
Now, Jim, foxes don't climb trees, especially when they are as straight
and slick as that poplar. I think little Hempy is a leetle deceitful."
Jim, not disposed to engage with Jake, remained silent, and, as nobody
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
13
else came forward to defend Hempy's reputation for veracity, the speaker
was allowed to continue.
"I say/1 have not referred you to the little-minded, deceitful pre-
tender to medical skill, but to a Rush, a Sewall, a Grridley, and an Arm-
strong—men of intellect, men of learning, men of widespread, immortal
fame.
" I will now call your attention more particularly to the nature of alco-
holic liquors, and their tendency to destroy the digestive powers of the
system. Alcohol is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, in the
proportion of about fourteen, fifty-two, and thirty-four. Now, every dis-
tiller knows that ardent spirit, which is composed of alcohol and water,
in nearly equal proportions, is obtained by direct chemical process. The
elements of the substance used must he separated by vinous fermentation,
and reunited in different proportions to form it. That the fruit, or grain,
from which the liquor is distilled, does not contain a particle of the
intoxicating property, is known to every one who is acquainted with the
process of distillation. To assert the contrary would be to declare an
opinion founded on no scientific basis, hut obviously contrary to the
demonstrations of chemical analysis. By fermentation, gases, which do
not naturally belong to the fruit, are absorbed, and, uniting with the
separated elements of the substance, form alcohol, and by distillation it
is extracted with a considerable amount of water, and forms what we call
ardent spirit. Alcohol is therefore the intoxicating principle of all fer-
mented liquors, which have different names, and contain various proper-
ties, according to the nature of the substances yielding them. Brandy,
for example, is obtained from the fermented and distilled juice of the
grape, and whisky from maize. Now, I will prove by etymology, that the
fluid which the distiller obtains by the vinous fermentation and distilla-
tion is a deadly poison."
Here Jim Rick, looking first at the stout, red-faced magistrate, and
then at Jake Smith, said :
" Squire Porter, Jake, just let me say one word: that feller's a hintin'
at me; I know he is. Now, Squire Porter, I've been a stillin' of peach
brandy and corn whisky for ever so many year, and you've been
a drinkin' of it all that time. Well, that viny fulmination is as pison as
ratsvane, [ratsbane, the vulgar name for arsenic.] I never put a hit of
it in my sperits in my life. Nor I don't put any maize in my whisky,
neither. I stills my whisky out of as good Injun corn as can he made on
Possum Crick, or in Bee Grum Valley. Talk about my putt in' of maize
and viny fulmination in my com whisky, and provin' of it by Netty
Mulligen /"
14
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
At this moment a pair of bright eyes flashed indignantly through a
crack from the outside of the cabin on the right hand of the speaker, and
a shrill female voice cried out:
" Daddy Spavin ! Daddy Spavin! 0 Daddy Spavin ! tell that man if
he says he can prove any thing by me, Tie's got the wrong sow by the
ear !"
" Netty Mulligen never was in my still-house in her born days 3 was
you, Netty ?"
"No, hoss, that I wasn't."
The imperturbable speaker continued :
" I say, I will prove by the origin of the word itself, that alcohol is
poisonous. Take first the word intoxicate; it is from in and toxicum.
This is the Latin origin. Pliny informs us that it is from taxa, a species
of tree, and which is in Greek called a\iika%, (smilax.) Toxicum is from
the Greek ro^ov, (toxon,) a bow or an arrow; the barbarians used tc
poison their arrows, and hence toxicum, in Latin, came to signify poison.
"Take, in the next place, the word inebriate; it is from in and ebrio.
As this word signifies to make drunk, to intoxicate, it bears a striking
affinity to the other term. The primary idea of the Latin word is per-
haps to drench; and since to inebriate is to intoxicate, and toxicum
means poison, the literal idea seems to be, to drench with a poisonous
drug.
"We now come to the word alcohol; it is derived from the Arabic
kahala, or the Hebrew kahal, which, that learned lexicographer Gese-
nius informs us, originally signified to paint the eyes black with stibium,
or antimony. This was its oriental signification, which, however, they
subsequently applied to highly rectified spirits. Now stibium, according
to one M. Furetiere, poisoned a certain moine, or monk, and hence in the
French language it is called antimoine, and this is whence we get
our word antimony. I admit that the light of modern science has dis-
pelled the delusion which for a long time grew out of M. Fur£tiere's
report that stibium, or antimony, is poisonous. It is now understood to
be harmless to the human constitution, in its crude state. But still our
derivation proves that it was once considered poisonous; and while it was
so considered, the term was applied by the Orientals to highly rectified
spirits. It is very clear that they understood alcohol to contain poison.
We judge, then, both from its component parts and its name, that it is
poisonous. When we come to trace its effects, we shall see that they are
most destructive. Its deadly character has been fully proven again and
again by the most skilful physicians. They tell us that the great agent
of digestion, the gastric juice, which is produced by the secretories of
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
15
the mucous membrane of the stomach, has no influence whatever upon
alcohol. Whenever it is introduced into the stomach, it is left to be
taken up by the intestines, to scatter unnatural fire through the system,
to inflame the blood, to heat the brain, and produce the most disastrous
effects. Ardent spirits in their pure, unadulterated state have been dis-
covered in the brain of persons dying from their effects. From the
nature of this dangerous fluid, and its ascertained effects upon the human
system, even in small quantities, we conclude that it is a deadly poison.
I now ask you most solemnly, Did it not poison the man that was killed
by mania a potu ?"
" Gracious heavens ! Manny Porter, do you hear that ?"
This exclamation and interrogatory proceeded from Jake Smith. He
stood the picture of amazement, while Manny stood up against the wall,
trembling, and pale as death. The wretched culprit looked, while Jake
addressed him, as if he would sink into the earth. Jake went on :
"Yes, you killed him, Manny; you killed poor Joe Turner. I'll tell
you what it is, feller-citterzens, I'm afraid that somethin' awful is a gwine
to happen!"
The silence of death now pervaded the multitude, and the speaker,
doubtless perceiving the effect of his words, proceeded—his pale, marble-
like brow so dazzlingly white, remaining unmoved by any of the interrup-
tions with which he had met:
" I say, Did not alcohol poison the man that was killed by madness
from drinking ?
" When we consider that this fiery fluid is so deleterious to all the
powers of digestion, we need not wonder that a man in a spree of drunk-
enness seldom has an appetite to eat, and that, for a considerable* time
after, he is unable to retain the most wholesome food upon his stomach.
This is not because he derives any nourishment from the liquor, for we
have shown that it contains nothing nourishing to the system, but because
it has disabled the powbrs of healthful digestion. This remark applies
not only to the drunkard, but to the habitual moderate drinker. True,
the effect is not so visible, nor the immediate danger so great, as in the
case of the confirmed inebriate; but there is, nevertheless, a tendency,
progressive, almost imperceptible, to lay the foundation of chronic dis-
orders, and, what is infinitely more to be dreaded, an appetite for the
most destructive beverage that ever entered into the stomach of a man.
"As it is a poison, let us treat it as a poison "
" That any man should talk that way about one of the good creturs of
God, does appear to me perfickly blasphemious. Why, didn't I tell the
breethren yisterday, at Mud Crick Meetin'-house, that ardent sperits is
16
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
one of God's good creturs; and didn't I show, from the 'postle Timithy
to his son Paul, that he advised him to take a leetle for his stomach's
sake? Now, who can believe that the 'postle Timithy would advise Ms
son Paul, his own dear child, to take a rank pison ?"
So spake the oracle of Mud Creek " Meetin'-house," to whom Jake
Smith thus replied : ,
" Father Spavin ! Father Spavin ! I do think it is perfickly awful that
you should talk to an—to thalr—that stranger in that way. I feel awful,
Father Spavin, I feel awfid."
These words of the hero of the day seemed to fall with great weight
upon the minds of the people, and the youthful speaker proceeded :
" In some extreme cases poisonous substances are employed medically,
and in cases equally rare it may be needful to use ardent spirits as a medi-
cine. For this reason, no doubt, the Apostle Paul thought it was neces-
sary for Timothy to take 'a little wine for his stomach's sake,' But
mind you, it was only in a case of bodily debility, and to be used in a
small quantity at that. Under all other circumstances we ought to
abstain entirely from the use of alcoholic drinks. As you would not
willingly partake of any thing that you know contains a deadly poison,
treat alcohol in the same way. I admit that alcohol is a creature of God,
and that it was created, as were all other poisons, for some useful end.
"VYe may, therefore, with propriety, point out some of the beneficial uses
of it.
" It is capable of dissolving the resins, and many similar bodies, upon
which water has no action; hence it is useful in making varnish. It is
capable of dissolving the essential oils, hence its use in pharmacy and per-
fumery. Some substances which are soluble in water, are precipitated by
alcohol—gum, for example; while, on the other hand, water precipitates
resins from solution in alcohol. It combines with sulphur and phos-
phorus, but not with earths and their carbonates. It dissolves sugar,
soap, oxalic, tartaric, benzoic, and some other acids. Alcohol is exten-
sively used in the preparation of various kinds of ether. The results of
its action with sulphuric acid differ according to circumstances. By
varying the properties, we may procure sulpho-vinic acid, ether, oil
of wine, or olefiant gas. As it remains fluid at the lowest temperature, it
is advantageously employed in filling thermometer tubes, in experiments
in artificial cold. It possesses great antiseptic properties, and hence is
used for preserving anatomical preparations. On account of its ready
inflammability, the purity and intense heat of its flame, it is conveni-
ently, but not very economically, employed in chemical lamps, usually
called spirit lamps. It readily dissolves ammoniacal gas; and as the
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
17
caustic alkalies, potash and soda, are taken up in large quantities by
alcohol, and as it does not dissolve their usual impurities, the solution, by
distillation, yields these alkalies in a state of great purity. It is some-
times used in chemical investigations to separate two salts, both of which
are soluble by water, but only one by alcohol; for example, sea-water
contains both sulphate and muriate of magnesia, and the latter only being
soluble in alcohol, it affords a ready method of separation.
"These are only a few of the good and useful purposes for which
alcohol was created. Let no man say, then, that we are for refusing a
good creature of God. Let us use properly, but not abuse, a thing so
useful in its proper place. As God has placed the elements of this dan-
gerous fluid in nature, and permitted man to combine them in their
proper proportions, so as to produce it, so he has placed various metals
in the mineral kingdom, and permitted man to discover and use thorn.
We have no more right, therefore, to destroy our own lives, or to injure
our health or morals, or those of our fellow-man, by the use of alcohol as
a beverage, than we have to use iron or steel, in the form of deadly wea-
pons, to cut our own or our neighbors' throats. Let us, therefore, treat
alcohol as we treat other poisons—never take it into the stomach except
as a medicine, and that under medical advice. This is simply our doc-
trine of total abstinence—nothing less, nothing more. On this founda-
tion rests the hope of the inebriate—the hope of the moderate drinker—
the hope of the rising generation—the hope of the world! What will
you do, then ? Will you sign the total abstinence pledge ?"
"No," said Old Mose Azant, the most inveterate toper on the hill.
"No; it would be signin' away our liberty. Our forefathers fout, bled,
and died for liberty, and we won't sign it away."
"No, says the poor drunkard; it would be signing away our liberty!
Our liberty I And what liberty has that poor, besotted, forsaken, down-
trodden, despicable creature ? Why, he has liberty to stagger from one
side of the road to the other; he has liberty to fall down and wallow in
the mire like a brute; he has liberty to array himself in dirty rags, and
to starve his wife and children; he has liberty to be poor, miserable, de-
spised, and spurned all his days; he has liberty to get a broken head, a
bruised eye, battered limbs, a bloody face, and a very bad n^me; he has
liberty to rush down the hill of life, heedless, mad, infatuated, to land in
perdition itself; he has liberty to be kicked out of doors by the man who
sold him the stuff that made him so gloriously independent, and pocketed
his last dime for the same. Really, it is ludicrous to think of. A
drunkard have liberty I He who is the slave of appetite have freedom !
He who has struggled often to break the chains of a destructive habit—
18 THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
who has promised himself, promised his wife, promised his God, pro-
mised his friends that he would never touch another drop, and then
rushed with the impetuosity of relentless craving into the vortex of
drunkenness—such a one enjoy independence ! It is worse than ludi-
crous, it is a folly of the most stupendous magnitude, Is this the liberty
which your revolutionary fathers fought, bled, and died to secure ?
Heaven deliver us from the galling yoke of such freedom I Give us
king, emperor, autocrat, sultan, pope—any thing short of the despotism
of hell itself, rather than the sway of alcohol. 0 ye enslaved minions of
whisky, turn, and to-day assert your nobler freedom. Declare your inde-
pendence of that vile monster who flatters, but to betray and blast you
for ever.
" You will not sign away your liberty I And have you not done it?
Have you not signed away your liberty to rob, and steal, and murder ?
to commit perjury, and treason, and arson ? Look at the constitution
and the laws ! do you not stand pledged to support them ? Do you not
stand pledged to pay your taxes, and to perform your military, road, and
patrol duties ? Did you never pledge yourself in a bond as principal or
security, in a promissory note or other civil obligation ? Did you never
pledge yourself at Hymen's altar, or make a vow, or form, in the secret
chambers of your souls, a high and noble resolve to be just and good and
true to God and man ? Well, what were all these but signing away your
liberty to do evil, and pledging yourselves to do what is right ?
"What says amor patriae ?"
" Och, ant is it me that you would be afther askin' that ? Thin, plase
your honor, put the cart before the horse. Me name in truth is Patrick
CP More."
Up to this time Tabby had been sitting down against the wall, with the
General's head resting on her lap. The combined effects of Jim Rick's
whisky, and Jake Smith's blows, had put him into a deep sleep. Tabby,
herself, seemed suddenly aroused from a state of partial stupor by the
brogue of the Celt, and she broke out thus:
"He's an Irishman, Pat, and I'll bet he's akin to you."
"'Pon me sowl," said Pat, "if he is, he's a born gintleman ivery bit
of him. Ant is it for this that I've come all the way to Ameriky, and
cut wood, these two years past, for Jim Rick's still-house, and all to hear
you talk so swately, like Pather Matthew ? Ant truth did n't I sign the
plidge, and bring the midal with me? But, your honor, Jim Rick's
cowrn whisky was all too strong for Patrick O'More."
" What, I repeat, says patriotism ? What says love of country ? Why,
that'we ought to be peaceable and law-abiding citizens. But look at the
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
19
crime that flows from the improper use of spirituous liquors. Look at all
the mischievous elements in society that are engendered and aggravated
by alcohol. Look at the criminal courts, the jails, the penitentiaries, the
alms-houses, and other institutions, which must be supported at an enor-
mous public expense. Can any true patriot look at these things, and fail
to be convinced that it is his duty to sign the total abstinence pledge for
his country's good ? But says one man, 11 am neither a drunkard, nor
am I in any danger of becoming one. Let them take the pledge who
need it; I do not.' And will you do nothing for the good of others ?
Will you take care to keep out of trouble yourself, and use no means to
keep others out ? How selfish !
"Pro bono publico "
"Squire," said Guy Bonner, "that's a leetle more than I ought to
take. To call me poor Bonner the publican is what I can't and won't
stand."
With this, Guy pulled off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and declared
that although "a deacon of Mud Crick Meetin'-house," he was compelled
to resent this open implication of his character.
"Why, Squire Porter, I've heard Brother Spavin tell what oudacious
creturs them publicans was, and to be put down as one of them is too
much."
"That's a hard sayin', Guy, I admit," says Squire Porter.
" Pitch into him, Guy !" " Pull him down !" " Throw him out o'
doors!" " Give him J esse!" shouted a number of voices within and
without the house. Thus encouraged, Guy bristled up to the young man,
rubbing his fists together, and grating his teeth as if he was about to
chew him to pieces. Just then Pat stepped in between the parties, while
the youth still stood like a marble statue, immovable, pale, but dauntless.
" Back ! Guy Bonner; not a hair of his head shall you touch at all, at
all. He's a born gintleman all the way from me own swate gem of the
sae, and by St. Patrick, and Father Matthew, and all the saints, ye shall
not hurt him."
"I reckon, Brother Bonner, you'd better not do any fightin', but it
appears to me that these track and temperance and Bible S'iety doin's is
a gwine to ruin this country."
Thus advised the oracle.
"He's called—the oudacious cretur has said I was "
" Feller-citterzens!" said Jake Smith, "ef you please, don't say any
thing agin that—that—that—stranger. I feel like somethin' awful is a
comin' upon us."
"I repeat," continued the youth, "every lover of his country should
20
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.-
sign the total abstinence pledge for the public good. It is our duty to
rectify the state "
"Yes/' said General Sprawler, who just at this moment awoke, "Yes,
and the State will ratify it. I told them so; I told the honorable
sinators that very thing. In fact, I made the longest speech on ratifica-
tion that I ever made since I've been a member of the Sinate. Col.
Talkwell, the Piney Woods Sinator, told me it was the best speech on
ratification that he ever heard in his born days. I'm glad, sir, to see
that you're a friend to ratification. Hoo-ra for ratification !"
" I say that we must purify the state of public morals, We must cast
the weight of our influence and example on the side of total abstinence.
"What, then, I ask, in conclusion, is our immediate and paramount
duty ? Cast out all mauvaise honte "
" Yis, yis, your honor, I will mount him and cast him out immadiately.
Come along, old Mose Azant, the gintleman says you must be cast out
immadiately."
And Pat laid hold of the old toper, who had sunk down to the ground
in a state of glorious (?) unconsciousness. He dragged him along through
the crowd, and deposited him safely at the root of the big oak, and, return-
ing, took his station by the young speaker, who continued his peroration :
" I say, we must cast out all bashfulness, all false modesty, and go to
work like men. There should be a general speaking out among the
people. The inroads of alcohol must be checked, the distiller must be
persuaded to abandon his infamous art, the retailer must be won from his
unholy traffic, the drunkard must be retrieved from ruin. To this end, I
repeat, the people must be aroused. The pulpit, with its deep-toned sen-
timent of morality, must speak. The Legislature with its penal sanctions,
the magistracy of the land with its authority, the Church with all its
mighty moral and conservative power, all must speak out upon this vital
question. Teachers, parents, pupils, young and old, must speak. 'The
voice of the people,' says the great Carolinian—'uttered under the neces-
sity of avoiding the greatest of calamities—may, without impiety, be called
the voice of God.'
" Let this voice, then, utter itself from land to land, and from sea to
sea. Let it sound out from the mountains, and among the valleys, and
along the plains—yea, let it be echoed from the vasty empyrean itself—
Voxpopuli, vox Dei!"
Here the speaker descended from the board on which he had stood
during the time that he addressed the people; the crowd parted; he
walked out, passed off, and the assemblage remained for several minutes
motionless, as if under a spell, and in breathless silence. At length the
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
21
stillness was broken by a low, half-suppressed murmur. " Who is he ?"
"Where did he come from?" "What's he up to?" Then they in-
quired of those whose names he had called out—" Did you know him,
Guy Bonner?" "No." "You, Netty Mulligen?" "Never seed him
before in my born days." "You, Pat O'More?" "Niver a bit; but
he's a born gintleman, 'pon my sowl he is." At length Jake Smith
arose, and, with the most awful demeanor, commenced speaking in a slow
and solemn tone, as follows :
"Feller-citterzens, I don't believe that's a man. He's not flesh and
blood. Did you ever see sich a white face in your born days ? I
wouldn't a said what Jim Rick, and Guy Bonner, and Father Spavin
said, for the best farm on Possum Crick. I tell you he's not a man;
he's an aimgel from heaven ! " He knows too much to be a man. Didn't
he know little Hempy, and Guy Bonner, and Netty Mulligen, and Manny
Porter, and Pat O'More, and old Mose Azant? He just knows every
thing that's in our hearts, and all that we ever done in our lives. Didn't
he tell about Manny Porter killin' of Joe Turner ? And yit, none of you
never knowd him nor seed him before in your born days. And then, he
told all about what alkerhol is made of. Didn't he say that it's got .the
hydrophoby, and the cowhorn, and the oxvomic in it ? Did n't he show
as plain as any thing that it's got the viny fulmination, and the stibium,
and the antimony, and a heap of pison stuffs, in it ? Did n't he tell us
that it blacks'the eyes of the Oriental Injuns? Didn't he tell us all
about the Greek and the Latin, and the French and the Hebrew, and the
Rorabac languages ? And then, did n't he prove pint blank that the
alkerhol has the toxicum in it and the embryo? Yes, feller-citterzens,
as sure as we're here to-day, it's got the toxicum in it. But the most
awful thing, to my mind, is, that it's got the smilax in it. No doubt in
the world this word, in the language of the Oriental Injuns, means the
small-pox. I believe it; for he's an aungel from heaven, and has come
to warn us. Feller-citterzens, jist as sure as Jim Rick's still-house stays
where it is, we will all ketch the small-pox. I mean to hitch up old gray,
and take Poll, and move away. This is not all: as sure as my name's
Jake Smith, I mean to sign that total abstination pledge. 0 Jim Rick!
didn't them last words make you feel awful? Didn't he say that nasty
Hempy, and the fox and the poplar, would die? Feller-citterzens, I
feel awful."
The last time we heard from those parts, Jim Rick had signed the
pledge, and pulled down the still-house. Little Hempy had become a
smart young man, and is never accused nowadays of going round the
truth. The fox lived to a good old age, and was then gathered to the
22
THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER.
place where all the good foxes go. The poplar was still green and flour-
ishing. Manny Porter had died of mania a potu, and Pat O'More had
the good fortune to get the right sow by the ear when he made Netty
Mulligen, spinster, Mrs. O'More. Father Spavin was dead, and General
Sprawler had become the pastor of Mud Creek " Meetin'-house." Guy
Bonner found out at last that corn whisky was oudacious stuff, and he
and most of the hreethren had signed the pledge. Jake Smith had be-
come a class-leader in the Methodist Church, and to this day, whenever
he speaks in "love-feast," he feels awful as he tells about the tmngel that
came from heaven to warn the people of Bee Gum Yalley to fly from the
small-pox. Squire Porter had become a clever local preacher, and always
closes his sermons with " Now then !"
I may as well say, for the satisfaction" of the reader—though Jake
Smith will probably never believe it till the Bay of Judgment—that the
Mysterious Messenger was only a colporteur of the American Tract
Society, who, passing through the neighborhood, stopped at the Court-
house, and delivered a temperance speech which he had written and com-
mitted to memory. Gentle reader, if you have read the story through,
and now say to yourself, Mihi fait ridiculo, just turn back, and read the
serious part by itself, and exclaim, 0 tempora ! 0 mores !
THE END
M Y S T E R10 U 8 M E S S E N G E R.
I *
FOUNDED ON FACT. ,
BY A JIEMBEK OP THE GEORGIA CONFERENCE.
A TEMPERANCE STORY.
published for THE AUTHOR BY J. B. Jl'FERRIN, AGENT, NASHVILLE, TENS.
Of this story the Southern Literary Companion says:
"It is skilfully pimpared, and its plans are well laid. We think it one of the
best Temperance tracts we have ever read."
This is from the "Blucher" of the Temperance cause in the South:
"I wish every Temperance man, every drunkard, and every child that can read,
in Georgia, had your ' Mysterious Messenger.' The pictures drawn are true to
life, the mirror complete, into which the very red-faced, bloated drunkard can
look and see his true picture. They should sell by thousands; and any thing I
can do to promote its circulation will be cheerfully done. Every lodge of Knights
of Jericho, every Division of Sons throughout the land should order them by
hundreds. Dabney P. Jones."
The ltev. J. B. M'Ferrin, D. D., says: "This production is highly com-
mended by competent judges."
this story is now for sale at the following depositories :
Macon, Ga., Rev. J. W. Burke, Agent. New Orleans, La., Keener & Parker.
Charleston, S. C., Rev. S. B. Jones, Agent. Vicksburg, Miss., H.II. Montgomery.
.Mobile, Ala., J. P. Early. -Galveston, Texas, J. W. Shipman,
Richmond, Va., G. L. Bidgood.
At Nashville; and by Rev. Dabney P. Jones, Palmetto, Georgia.
Price Fifteen Cents per single copy. Sent per mail at the same, free of
postage.
Knights of Jericho, Sons of Temperance, and any individual or society desirous
of procuring a number for distribution, by sending the money to Rev. Dabney P.
Jones, Palmetto, Georgia, can be supplied at the following rates:
30 copies for $3 00
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