Louisville messenger. (Louisville, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-06-17
LITERARY.
raouoALs
CAREER AND END.


volloi cutters Long Island Sound, h,
may bo tempted TO enquire tho nam,
Of Inc owner Of n fine house aud spa
clous grounds, that attract the eye, &
by their elegance md neatnoss ap
pear to be IN tho hands of u man OIL
wealth aud taste. Ills name is moi
known 10 me, but The spot, now the
abode Of strangers, is full of deep and
painful interest as The curly home ol
one whose story ] am about TO tell.
Charlie - was the son of n
wealthy man Of business in the city
lof New York. His parents were mel.
ther Of them Christians. but their
associations were chiefly among reli-
|gious frields, and their social and
domestic relations were governed by
Ia rigid regard to sound morals.
Charles was an only son. Nursed
on the lap of luxury, and in infancy
and childhood freely INDUCED by the
,fondneSs Of tender mother, and a
father who doated on his boy, 49,
There were some traits of his cherac-
ter that endeared him to his parents
and friends. Grown up to youth,
full of spirits and fond Of pleasure,
ICharles was the life Of the circle of
|young companions that gathered a.
round him. Generous TO fault, and
Supplied TOO freely by his father with
spending money, he had the DISPOSE.
ton and the means to indulge himself
and others in those amuscments that
lay the foundation for future vice, &
spread flowers in the pathway to eter-
|nal ruin.
Long before he left college, he
had distinguished himself in the ball
room far more than his class; and he
was more ambitious to obtain con-
quests in the halls of fashionable folly
than in the fields of learning, or the
world of fame. Passionately fond of
dancing, he pursued it with enthusi-
asm, at the risk of health and reputa-
ton, and regardless Of she kind ad-
vice which rejecting fiiends wasted
upon him,
While Charles was in college, his
father purchased the beautiful place
on the East River TO which l have
referred, for summer resi-
dence. His winters were passed in|
the city, and when Charles came
home, with no taste for the drudgeryI
Of professional life, and no fitness lor|
business, he was installed in his fa-
theirs counting-room as IA clerk, spen-|
ding his days in the forms of business
and his evenings in the pursuit OF
pleasure.
The theatre was his tavorite resort
Its glare and glitter, its thrilling ex-
and wild amusementsI
caught his heart, and night after
night he revealed in ideal scenes of
passionate interest, till he learned to
look with cold indifference upon the
everyday realities about him.
He found his way to the gamblnngI
table, and with reckless impetuosityI
plunged into the vortex which there
opens for the souls of the young
Not far from the theatre and the bill-I
lard.room, was the house of her
whose steps take hold on hell. With
madness that defied all restraint, and|
shut out hope of his recovery, heI
abandoned himself to sensual indul- /
gences without shame, and resisted as
The counsels of an enemy, the efforts
Of friends who, at each step of his
downward course, had interfered to-
save him from ruin.
How often in these days Of dissipa-
ton had mother wept over him,
with tears that none but heart broken
mothers shed over ruined sons! How
often had a fond father sought him
out in the dark and hidden haunts of
vice TO which he nightly resoIted, &
a parrnt's love with the
strong authority of an injured father,
led him home, and watched by his
bedside till the morning lsght, that
with the first return of consciousness
he might extort a promise of reform.
Such influences, stronger than any
restraining power but the grace OF
God, might have saved him but for
he grasp of an enemy, that was drag
,ing him downward to death & hell.
L was scarcely possible that he should
rave run his course thus far withoutX
having drunk often and deeply Of they