Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1830-11-10
TO yonr friend WILTON ~

|
Ihere-bittor, implacable enemies, who
would gladly sacrifice him. | know TOO,
that their tongues have not been idle ,that
defamation in its foulest nature has been
plentilully bestowed upon yirtuous and
high minded gentleman.
/ "Gertrudc,n - said her mother, 81 know
that the world sometimes condemns un-
Justly. | know that defamation has
sometimes hunted down the pure and vlr-
tuous, and blackened the fair fame of the
uprg Int and praiscworhy. But, when so
much is averred respecting Wilton, when
| friends and foes alike acknowledge his
alterations, the one by open attacks upon
his reputation, the other by doubtful whls-
pers, and expressions of regret, and an
| evident withdrawal Of their former warm
and contidng friendship, we may justly
fear that there is indeed some reason Tor
such changc--that our young and IN
genuous friend is yielding to the tasclna-
ton of vice, gliding gradually and almost
imperccptibly down that fearful path
which leads from the perfect light OF VII
tue and holiness"
81 willnot believe it--ncvcr, ,'--rcplled
Gertrude, her clear blue eye lighting up
with unwontcd energy "Molher, you
| are deceived alike by the ayowcd enc
mics and the false and cnvious friends of
| Charles Wilton. Believe me, | have
not rcposcd my confidence in stranger.
| | know Wilton 10 be yirtuous and honor
| able. And who, let me ask, are those
| who traducc his character, Her beau
tiul lip curlcd into expression Of nciia-
be scorn, as she replied to her own in
tcrrogatory -" Falsc-hearted wrctches
creatures of envy and malice, who
would as soon dare the falling thunder
bolt, as confront the indignant glance of
the man they have 50 ioully injured"
"Gcrrudc spoke from the impulse of
her heart. She could not believe that
| such a man as Charles Wilton conld de-
base himself to the sin Of Drunkenness
! that he whose nature was 80 nob!c-so
,clcyated- a passionate lover of the
beauty Of the natural universe, and ofthc
rodllkc manifestations of human virtue,
the out breaking of the immortal spirit
from the darkness ofits prison house, cOald
by any possible temptations, yield to the
balelul cntccmcnts of the Destroyer
and humble the godlikc image of man
| hood lower than that of the "brutes which
perish"
/ And why was it that when all her
friends saw and warned her Of her dan
ger, she clung vet closer to the object of
their fears: Why was it when the bo-
som friends of Charles Wilton avoided
him as if there were contamination in his
very presence, that the beautiful and in
tcllcctual Gertrude welcomed his ap-
proach with smile of deeper fondness? !?
She iorcd him; and the love of heart
like hers changes not with the changes
of the bcloved-t burns brighter and
warmer as the shadows Of evil close IA
round its object.
H And Gertrude became the wife of
Charles Wilton-and his victim also.
She died early but not before every beau
tilul blossom other affection had perishcd
not before death like withcring had
gone over her heart, until it became as
dust, and all its warm and holy feelings
gave place to bitterness and loathing and
adherence. Oh-thcre is nothing in
human suffering like wrong and scorn
from those we love, and would die for
nothing which 80 changes and chllls the
conlidng bosom. And all this Gertrude
felt, and her high spirit sank under the
trial. She perishcd-but the last mo-
ments of her existence were unsoothcd
Iby the voice of affection. AT times, in
deed, bloated and loathsomc form bent
over the pil!ow-the wreck of all which
gives beauty and dignity to manhood
and voice, hideous from drunkenness
murmured in her car the disgusting words
of an idiots fondncss-to be succeeded
by the rude oath-the unlcelng jcst-thc
savage Indifference to mortal suffering,
which characterize the lost, shameless
drunkard.
Il Let woman beware of the Incorporate.
Let her shun their presence as the ac-
cursed of Iicavcn--the smitten with that
moral lcprosy which is alike immedicd-
BILE and uncscapable-i.ct her remem-
Der that in uniting her destiny with that of
the drunkard she is drawing down upon
: her head the heaviest ofcurscs. ltwore
better to embrace the scpulchrc, whose
: cold halls, arc hunted only by the Sccp-
7, ! tre ofDecay. 1t is the wcdlock ofbcau-
! lily and polluton--of purity and pcsti-
= lcnce-thc binding of "A breathing form
i OF life to the loathsomeness of death.
SU DAVID, KING OF FIsRArL.-Dayid was