Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1850-12-13
FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE.
DEATH OF THE INEBRIATE.
By ISAAC N. WALTER.


| once knew young gentleman
whose prospects were fair and bloom
ing as the Aourishing laurel. As for op-
ulence, the stream Of wealth unbidden
lifted him; as for honors, they were
heaped upon him as being superior;
and for accomplishments and sense, the
world was proud of him both as gentle
man and scholar. But alas for youth
full glory and honors proud! That gen.
tleman, the idol of society, the source
and centre of all attraction, and the be-
ing where spirits bowed before him in
alteration to his majesty, was doomed to
exchange the sunshine of gladness and
buoyancy, for the gloom OF miserable
and declining pilgrimage.
IS From his boyhood to the age of twen-.
one, he evinced nothing beyond what
votaries exhibit whosmingle in the fes-
tive scenes of hilarty among the gay
throng. From twenty-one to twenty
five it was evident from his. associates
that his respectability was on the wane,
and that the individuals who once claim
ed his attention and presence, were now
loathsome 10 his sight, as his sensibility
was benumbed by the withering jnfiu-
ence Of his new associates, abandoned and
corrupt. His best friends discovering
the sad changein his condition. eloquent
ly exhorted hin 10 reform, and retrieve
that reputation which once digniied his
nature and his name. But in vain did
they plead for the salvation of such a
man. His mind had insensibly taken
the hue of those around him he persis-
ted in bis course, ,preposterous and strange
as It was, until the groveIling propensi-
ties and desires of his associates were in
unison with his; and he like them, a
prey TO foul corruption and base sensu-
atty. The scene of horror now COM
mences,a dreadful trembling seizes him,
a mournfpl shuddering deepens the an
guish Of his self prostitution and abase-
ment. Thrown into confusion, ruptured
and alarmed, frantic, wild, and horrible
to behold, he rolls and tosses upon his
bed, be groans and mutters in agonizing
shouts and bursting walls, calling upon
the vague and chimerical forms Of his
phrenzied brain, unutterabIe despair and
lamentation. But at length, during an
/ interval Of nationality he thinks of a
1 friend Of his bosom. He sent for him,
as It was his wish to receive counsel al
bis hands.
His friend enters the room with con
tending emotions, all struggling in his
bosom. A scene Of horror aud distnay
/" 0. generation Of vipers, bow can you
escape the damnation OF he'll r. Upon
the. bed is stretched a form once ol
i youthful mould and beauty, divested
now of all its grace and symmetry, will
the mildew of ruinous dissipation anc
loathsome corruption all settled around
him, lips languid and fevered limb:
aching and dying, from physical and in.
tellectual decline; the cheek once flushed
With roses, crimsoned-dyed and fair
now pallid and wrinkled with the mark
of the spoiler; and all the expression o
the man one presentation Of dissolution
Behold him lay upon his dying bed =
Delirium tremens has seized, and cape
7 the jaws Of barbaric death, 10 drown hi
sin stricken. soul. View him as h
} writhes with insufferable anguish, hi
= soul now summoned TO the awful tribd
nal Of God, as he lies trembling upol
the last promoutory of existence. wit
eternity in view-big with the incon
ceivable terrors of tophet, while he onl
says in language faint and low,. befor
e his spirits last hutter, What shall | d
: to be saved
S The curtain of eternity lift, and loo
IS down the dreadful steep below, the thic
e palpable. outer darkness rolls up befor
e my startled eyes. while ten thousand hi:
:, sing fires and deathless groans of ar
2 guish--desperate,, unassuaged, arre'
IS my venturous, and appal my tremblin
u soul, and the awful sound salutes my es
Lost! lost forever lost