Democratic banner., 1848-05-22

approach her that we may know her hidden
wretchedness. daughter Of Eve, why
art thou thus sad?" "Stranger thy voice
hath the melting of sympathy, therefore
will | tell thee the cause Of sadness. | had
a son, the pride of my life the hope of my
age; that son is dead.'' s'But died he not
as the brave die, that thou mayest think
upon his deeds and forget thy wo?" he died
not thus" s'But died he not as a martyr to
the truth that thou mayest have hope of an
eternal meeting?" Alas! alas! he died
not thus eBut he left some dying bless
ing upon thy aged head, that thou mightest
be encouraged in thy burdened pilgrimage
at the evening of thy day?" "He left no
blessing, for his last breath, oh! God! oh!
God! his last breath was blasphemyE"-
"But had lie not genius or goodness which
thou mayest call to thy mind to mitigate
thy dreadful WOO" "Stranger! thou knox
est nol what thou at doing ; thou art har
rowing up the smoulderiLg embers IL a
martyred mothers heart! But now listen
and | will tell it ALL-ALL-and then henig-
nant Heaven, let me die!
had a son, and soon, all ;! very soon that
son and were cast upon the bleak wide
world alone, the widow and the orphan. |
avoided every love and hope of earth but
what | had in him. ] Saw as a mother sees
his expanding form and ripening features.
| saw every bud of mind that gave fair
promise of abundant fruit. l guarded, and
oh! how carefully, his moral habits, to
check the evil and excite the good. toll
ed and denied myself the very bread | need
ed to prepare him for his future life. In
his sickness l was the only watcher by his
bed for many nights. | chafed his feyered
hands and moistened his parched lips. l
knew every auctuation of his pulse and de-
tected the first symptom of returning health.
started at the slightest intimation of his
wants, and anticipated his wishes in a thou
sand things. And he returned my affection
in all its fondness.
At length he was prepared, and went out r
into the world to struggle for subsistence
and a name, and he struggled as those who
triumph. Then was HAPPY as l gazed up
OIL my boy who ranked among the few of
genius. And then l thought my work vas
done, and | should soon die I; and that he
would speak consoling words to me, and
bid me farewell, and close my eyes, and
drop a tear on my coffin, and plant a cypress
over my grave;
But | saw it-tuo soon / saw it in his
bloodshot eye and peevish answeI-h he
drank-he was a drunkard. He neglected
himself, his pursuits and even me, and all
but his bowl. Then was he neglected by all;
and d~espised and triumphed over by those
who had trembled before his genius. But
short was his career of shame. Again I
watched by his bed. But in his wild deli
rum he thought | was a demon come TO
Torment him in the flesh, and then secure
him in his fiery prison in eternity. And he
cursed himself, and he cursed me, and he
cursed his maker and died. And Is TODD by
his grave when they buried him and they
said it was the %drunkard's grave; for they
thought my aged ears were dull, but heard
lit. And the passer by will call it the drunk
ards grave, and the mother will tell her
child of the ~drunkard's grave, and the
preachel will give a solemn warning by
the degradation of the drunkard's grave.
Now is my cup full, tomorrow shall die,
and they will bury me beside him, and the
stranger will be told, "there lies the drunk
ard and his mother"
And these are not things of rare occur
renee: the earth is full Of them. Every
village has its destitute, every city It's poor
house inmates, and every penitentiary its
guilty; and the restitution, and the guilt
are The offspring of intemperance. Tell
me the man that bewails not a ruined friend,
that visits mo-: the grave off d%runkard.
We are startled and shocked at the ravages
of war; the suffering and death that follow
in its bloody train. Within a short period
some thousands of our fellow citizens have
fallen upon the plains of Mexico. The
number has Deen carefully recorded, and
the magnitude of the evil has been fully
before us. The enormity Of the wo appear
ed in propotionate magnitude. But in the
wide arena of these United States what
unseen distress, how many unnoted deaths,
have swelled the ~triumphs of the demon of
intemperance. Drink blood, o! Sword
till thou art fully gloated, thou hast a rival
in the fell work of murder who will number
: his tens of thousands to thy Thousands
:, The ostentatious wo of war may show it.
self more p~alpably for there is a glory in the
. suffering that renders it conspicuous; but
the other is the result of inglorious guilt,