Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-03-07

could possibly present. A few years Of hap
piness glided swiftly away. The fascina-
tons of DIR. G., as a social companion, and
the beauty and accomplishments ofhis bride,
opened before them every door Of festive en-
joyment. In those days. old Coguiac,' 'Hol
land and strong West India, stood upon
every sidcboard, and wine sparkled in every
entertainment. Tho popular physician, at
every call, was invited to drink. L would
not do to decline the invitation, either from
the poor or the rich. Dr.. @ became a drunk
ard. We need not go through tho painful
recital, with which all are familiar, of this
dreadful career, from opulence to penury and
woe.
Drunkenness has been peculiarly the vice
Of the noble. Of the generous. of the mag
unanimous. The man Of warm heart, of so
eial affections. and Of attractive manners, was
just the one to be lured by those destinations
social and intellectual, which gathered around
the wine-cup. where there was ever found
the feast of reason and the flow of soul
Prone to yield to the persuasious Of others,
and to selfsurreuder to promote the enjoy
ment of friends. be was led along. by insen-
sible steps, to thralldom to the most dread
full appetite which even cursed the children
Of mon. DR.. G.. fell from a commanding
height and he sunk to corresponding depths.
His ruin was utter and irretFievable. He
became abloated inebriate, lost to all sense
of humanity, and was often seen staggering
through the streets. surrounded-by a group
Of derieive s~choolboys, ofwhom he would be
begging pennies to purchase rum-now ma
king speeches in prose, and again in verse,
for the reward Of a penny. He at length
wandered away. and was. one cold winter
morning, found frozen stiff as block of ice,
upon a bleak plain. over which tho windi
and the snowsof a January night had been
fercely driving.
Leonora was left, the drsnkard's peuni
{ less widow, with three little children looking
to her for bread. She had friends who werl
ready to take care of her, and do what they
could to alleviate the woes of heart thu
! hopelessly broken. Different friends woult
! afford a home for each Of the children, and
brother would gladly have received her unde
his " roof. For some timc before th
death Of the ruined inebriate, the family 0
Leouora had been entirely supported by he
friends. She, however, with characteristic
energy, now resolved that she would no Ion
ger be dependent, but that she would hay
her own homo, and keep her own loved chile
rem with her.
I She opened a school. Her highly cult
waited mind was her ample capital for the Ell
terprise. She was eminently successful :
Time passed its alternating influences ovt
,e her wounded heart. Her home again b,
st came a happy one, as her noble sons gre
'e up. her pride and her joy. Her daughte
intellectual and accomplished, and endowe
with as much beauty as it is well for a ",
man to have, in process of time. was ma
ID RED to one who was all a mothers hea
could desire. Her sons became s~uccessf
in life, accumulated that ample comreteni
e which is better than enormous wealth, ar
were anxious for their honored mother,
y the energies of whose mind and heart the
: wero indebted for all their prosperity, to a
cept ahome with them. She, however, f
nd several years after it ceased to be neee
sary to support herself, preferred her ON
independent establishment and her labo
o. Of usefulness At length, however, as 81
to began to feel the influence Of years up
~ her frame, she retired to spend the ey
ming Of her useful life at the freside of b
IL sons. receiving the love and the homa
which her virtues so richly merited.
When we see how liable all are to su
nts ~reverses as the one above described, il dot
indeed, seem important that young lndi
should be educated, not merely to fascins
By a few external accomplishments, for
few months before marriage, but to encou
ter life, with all its real responsibilities a
its serious hazards. There is no possible sa
guard against the >vicissitudes of fortur
nd and the faithful parent viii ever bear tht
ty, in mind.