Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1842-03-05
From the Western Morning. Star D..
TIL f.

- 1879 10y - f"@
or 10 you )" a he moved his little stool up by his
mothers side, sand don't let father whip me-,
when he comes home. | am afraid OF him-he
knocks me around 50. Did father always bent
my little brot.cr before he died. as he beats me!
NO my chila," said The mother, 'not always
.'Then, why did my little brother die SO soon
and SO suddenly"
~ cannot tell you now, my chilG-youm mus.
no, ask me such questions. Your father will soon
be here, i. may be-and no will be angry IT he
finds out that we are talking oil your niue broth
err, that is now dead and gone"
An unconscious and sleeping infant lay upon
the lap Of It's moiher--iwo little boys were nest
ling ioge Their in disturbed slumber upon q paiiot
Of straw in one corner Ot the room-covered BY
the remnant of a worn. out carpet. The FIRE was
almost out upon the hearih-and The pale and
sickly mother, with her anxious boy, sat waiting
the approach OF one, whose very foot Tall was q
note Of terror. The room was scantily furnished
with the meanest furniture, which is found in the
meanest hovei-and that hovel-thc howell of the
drunkard.-Th city clock had ioIIed away the
hour Of midnight, and sttlI he did not como.
"WiIl he come soon, mo,her!
sit may bel cannot tell"
al wish he would never come ngain-or l wish
had no fathcr-''
"Why do you say so, my son. lie is your IA
Their, and the Bible says Honor thy father and
mother Why do you wish you had no father.
Do you wish your father dead''
mo mother-but | sometime wish that was
II ~ IA " " yo's o"b 'y $500
es and sisters here, | should not wish TO live. l
nm tired Of life. But when | see the tears steal
ing down your pale cheek and when | think how
lonely you would be on these lonely nights If you
had no little boy 10 Sit up with you-then l wish
TO 1.-Two for your sake, mother"
AT that moment, they heard the heavy tread Of
one who was approaching the door. There was
no mistaking il. Ii was the step OF the reeling
drunkard. The boy Instantly chung moro close
~ TO his mothers side, as his brutal father lIiteo
the atch Of the door.
The man who entered was OF a tall and well
made stature, about middle lie.
He was The son of wealthy parents, and had
been brought up IN the midst Of luxury. He had
been well educated for n man Of business, and at
his fathers death had Inherited 40 ample fortune.
Il was intended that he should take his fathers
place in the business which be had pursued. He
married early a young lady every way his equal;
and no married couple ever began life together
with better prospects.
tarry long at tho wine. He was fond Of social
and cornwall parties. They were often at his
house, and he often in the mids, Of them-gaihey-
ed at the houses Of others. There ne became
tho irequenter Of the evening wine club. lie
sank lower and lower, by constant and regular
gradations, till his property was wasted-nnd ev-
cry thing about him was en.anglcd. Piece after
piece of his property went to satisfy the demands
that crowded ,hickly upon him. The moro his
affairs became embarrassed the more deeply did
be seek to drown his scnsibilities and his con-
science in tho intoxicating bowl. Often would
his fond wife demonstrate with hun, and beg him,
for her sake and his chIIdren's, to quit his cups and
companions once and forever; and often did he,
with many tears, promise that he would never
drink another drop-and never again enter that
den of iniquity, the grog shop. But long since
overy promise of this nature had been broken and
forgotton, and he who was the kind father had be-
come the Infatuated fend. Even tho tears OF
his vito and the tears Of his children maddened
him ,vitb rano Nnthin~ nf hona would D!aa GO
him-but oil went wrong. The moro guilty he
was himself, the more inclined was he 10 be IN
grv with 1very one of his household So 1t was
on the night in question, and such was the mood
in which he entered his miserable dwelling.
The first objects which met his eye were the
tears of his wife and The clingiDg Of his boy 10
the side Of his mother. He was just full enough
Of drink 10 be the demon, without the lmbecIlity
of the drunkard.
"Damu YOU, you sneaking. sinking miscroan','
said he, as he approached as with n lion bound and
seized upon his trembling boy-'Eil teach you to
DO always flying from tho face of ysur father
What are you doing-you internal rascal, TO DC
always hiding behind your moiher-"henl come
There, take that-an' that--and that'-as nc
cuffed him on ono side of tho head. then on the
other, I'LL with the last blow he rellnquished his
hold and sent him reeling against the opposite
wall, whore he fell and lay grieying and moaning
upon the floor.
The poor mother bad raised her inploring eyes
10 her husband to spare her boy, while the big
tears were rolling down her cheek-though sta
could not utter a syllable.
These tears maddened him. "Wife." said he
with the voice Of a fiend-"I'se seen enough o
this everlasting snivllng-and now. damn you
YOU shall 90 after your boyt-and he lev e!lee
at her a blow, which laid her PROSTATE upon The
floor. .And now" said the iend, an have
general clearance and a still house for once" s.
saving. he laid hold of his wife, and dragging he
n the door, he threw her into the deep snow
Then Selling the infant which had fallen TO thu
flor, Nv one arm, he hurled that after her, ihol
his aInos. unconscious boy, after giving him
cuff or two, he dragged by one leg 10 the door
- h.=- I'm, .~.tL Ill b.. trlrhi intn The DAD