Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-06-04

articles which ne had hiihorio praeticed on ms
cred,Ious relieves, he is Induced 10 load his
soul with another ac, of infamy, winch. more
than The FIRST pretipitates him rapidly towards
ir, etrieyable ruin "The crisis Of NY fate, says
the unhappy drunkard, arrived. My generous
and noble hearted wife had pe-em'orily resist>
ed all the caution Of her relatives 10 have her
fortune settled on herself No, she always re-
piled, no I trus, him with my haPpin. SIS, and
my fortune shall 60 with it. II rested with me
now either to ,ell her caudidly my situation,
and throw myself Oh her generosity; or 10 make
use Of her fortune secretly TO replace that Of
my sister. That strange pride, which clings
even 10 gull, and degradation, prompted me IN
the latter. To replace the money OF which
had robbed my sister, robbed my wife OF that
en- me with all her heart.
Up 20 this period, / have loved Amelia as
much as il was possible for me to love gene
rous, virtuous woman. Her affection, and the
Complete acYu,escenee to my wishes which she
exhibited on all occ asions, had won all that was
lett OF heart scared in the fires Of mad voup
tuousness. But from the moment ] robbed, l
| hated her. With the injustice which believe
ever accompanies the preparation OF injuries,
| considered my vile spy, pryrng into my
actions, aud at every moment on the eve OF dis
| covering The deception ! had prac,ised, the
robbery had commilted. All confidence was
now d. an enc, on my part; oil pleasure in her
| so iety; began to estrange myself from home
and ny degrees to drink drains, TO keep up the
| courage of dasiardy gull, aud make me suffi>
| GENTLY brute to meet her after my nightly or
| ges without sinking into the earth. Now II
| was tina, that my downhill course 5ecame more
rapid than ever. fell in company with some
Of my ola assoc iates Of The club; rene we'd my
intimacy with Bal,y and the ferret eyed butch
err; got half fuddled, was robbed and cheated
every night, and returned 10 my home every
morning. more of beast than left in the ev-
ening.
To iiquida,e The losses thus incurred, deep
er ard de- per draughts are made on his wite's
for unr, and TO bury the CALLING eonse iousnt IS
Of mis- turpi,ude-slill 6 ling even 10 mis- scar
ed and Inundated heart-he sleeps his senses
in the stup. faction Of bra,;ly. From one ex
cess he proceeds to another, until he al length
! becomes mere bruie--a bloated mass Of dis
ease-and is entirely forsaken even by those
| who were addicted, bur- in less degree, 10 the
/ hateful vice by which he had been proslratsd
| lie becomes at length reduced to absolute pen
ury, and has only mi>-ruhie hovel 10 shell er
himself and ruined family f'om he storms Of
heaven. The catastrophe Of his fate now draws
rapidly on. During all this time his heart
broken wife had bcrne him company, mrGkly
bearing his brutality and I'll treatment, and en-
deavoring 10 force herself into IN appearance
| of cheerfUlness which her wan and wasted con-
dition too plainly denied. Bu', as The au,hor
| observes, there is a certain STATE of endurance
forced elevation Of the spirits which canno,
be sustained beyond stated period, w'hou,
shaking the inlellec!ual fabric lis ,oanda ION
/ III HpT
mind was sometimes evidently not mistress OF
itself, and her vivacty became, at interva ais
| wien she was stro"gly excited, so misplaced
| and ungnvernable, as 10 indicate TOO ev,d-ntly
that thr springs which regula'cl The fine ma
| chine were derangei or worn rut by perpe,u :
al -xertion." The define ZION Of this poor
| and bhgh'ed orea,urts cnndI on is given with
4 a painful strength and accuracy Of touch Iha
ranno' but take deep h I'D Of he readers sen
ib,liiy But we mus, dwell IN it, During
this wrecked and shattered condition of ner in
| tellroi, her husband conceives The diaboical
thought of making her 3 participant in his
exeorable prague S. and rhu, poIlu- her soul
Us he mad already forever destroyed her happl
| ness.
! YET from the bottom of NV soul, (says the
narranv' |eiievr nv poor Amelia, had she
been herself Notwithstanding her mistaken eni
~, aud ischiev"us indulg"nc-s Of ny excuses,
woull never, in her rational momen 5, have de
graded herself by partic; patton in ny orr
s''s. AT la,l, however, and by impcrcrpti5l
degrees, she feil from her high estate, and
s"nk-nor indeed 10 my dead level of measure
less brntahtv-hu but low enough to loose herself,
ard all she once had been will no, describe
the scenes WHICH nv home now pres. nted, al
mos every day. Husband, wife, father, moth.
er. children, al mad; NV singing and lausn-
Ing; now ursi'g aud swearing like tne inmates
OF a mad house." The dreadful issue of tht Sc
c"ur'rs could not long be DELAYED and we shall
copy the account of the catastrophe from the
volume Itself
"Oue day-i was IN ominous day-the an.
| nivers'ry OF our marriage-in u fiji Of savage
| hilariy, swore would celebrate it wi h more
'han usual splendor. | got up at twelve The
preceding night, and intoxicated myself before
| sunrise, when went to bed and slept myself
partly sober again before dinner. At dinner |
drank and rniiced my poor Amelia to follow
my example, I'LL The lille reason LEI, US began
TO stagger on it's throne. l proposed a coast
Our wedding day, and many happy returns of
~ ,al