Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-10-14
Written for the Spirit of the Age.


Written for the Spirit of the Age.
No. i.
When / was but a STRIPPING small,
A drunkard at our gate did call,
One drizzly night, twas freezing cold,
His head was white, and he quite old.
A vulgar swearer, too, was he,
While in a wild and drunken spree,
And oft, while ruled by gin or rum,
He'd drive his aged wife from home.
His children too would squat and hide,
And cling on to their mothers side,
AS II some demon-tIerce, or fiend,
Had come, their short-lived race to end.
Ten years or more have passed away,
The aged matron's grown more gray,
The hardened topper stays at home,
Toe old to hobble after rum.
Suppose, for a moment, we take a peep into
the history of this once happy and agreeable
pair, from the time with buoyant hopes and
bright anticipations, they stood at the bridal
altar, and vowed mutual love and fidelity to
each other, and see if there is nothing interest
ing or instructive in it, to the hopeful youth of
our country.
Suppose some one foreseeing the future Vi
tiated state of his appetite, had told him,
as he stood by the lovely blue-eyed idol of his
heart, at the nuptial altar, in all the pride and
manliness Of youthful affection, that his amia-
bic wife would be driven from her home,
Dy his inhuman brutality while in a drunken
state. That she would oftimes have to flee
his presence and seek shelter elsewhere,
at the dark and dismal hour of midnight when
| all WAS CfSllDoco a0uo bic hrY,4ol o,,rcoa on1
threats, and the hootings of some distant
prowling night hawk. That her pale emacia-
ted vlsage in coming years, would stand out as
a sad touching monument of his unfceling
brutality, and tell to the mind of passers by,
the sad story of the scenes through which she
had passed. That the eye that once sparkled
and frightened with animation when she smil-
ed, had ceased to regard her tears, her prayers,
or her wants. That the heart once delighting
to love, cherish and protect her, had yielded to
a demoniac influence, and left her pennyIess, to
brood in melancholy sadness over the past
Would he not have exclaimed with all the in.
dignation and in~credulity of ar Hazael, 'What
is thy servant Il dog, that he should do this
thingY
Suppose some one had have told him, thai
though much esteemed and respected by his
tellow-men, he would yet become a pest tt
%virtuOus society, pennyless and without credit
That his beloved children, reduced almost tt
beggary, without education and morals, cOrrup
ted, through his influence, would roam like
wild beasts of the forest, prOfaning the Sab
bath, as if afraid to mingle with civilized men
would he not have said God forbid that
should so far forget my dignity as aman, ant
my obligations as a citizen, or a christian ia
ther, as to neglect to train them in the way
they should 90 never will | set an example
before them | would not wish them to imi
tate But, alas! how progressive is vice !
; When young, his hopes were strong ant
bright, of usefulness, of happiness, of heaven
But from his morning bitters, progressing fror
one degree of indulgence to another, we fin
him in extreme old age, sitting in the Gimme
corner solitary and alone, save the presence c
, his care-worn, sorrow-stricken, detected wife
+ Ito whose untiring frugality and industry tn
i, family owe what little responsibility they ma
haye) a tremulous, ardent lover of the accul
sed stuff though too old to hobble afte
rum!
But where do we find his children Ar
! they : bright and shining lights in the churcl
! and in the temperance cause? Nay, verify
Notwithstanding the example of a once happy
prosperous, but now ruined and degraded fail
OI IL DSlOIS LiCuls-JCb bICy CduAOL OCiICN
that the seemingly smooth " stream Of habit
has such dangerous whirlpools after ALL
: That habitual indulgence, is an evil so niue
. to be deprecated as the noble Sons preten
: it is!
Tho strange indeed, It's surely true,
Z That mother, sons, and daughters too,
denounce the noble Sons and hate the ten
d perance cause, with a hatred, only equalled b
r the rancor of an apostate priest? Is it ne
strange, that young men, on a due exercise
!, whose sutfrages the perpetuity of our virtuor
institutions must inevitably depend, with til
e example of a degraded, ruined father befol
their, eyes should not " buckle on the who
e armour" and hate alcohol as they should Be
d zebub, the prince of devils?
d And is it not stranger still, that woman, c
h whose devoted, defenceless head would fall tt
blighting, whitening influence of the curse, l
e temperance, should say aught against the pr
y pagation of the principles of temperance al
brotherly love-? In conclusion, | will say,
If | was much inclined to wed
A blue-eyed lass, if she but said,
She did despise the temperance boys,
y I'd leave her to her single joys.
Wouldn't you? Yes! TYRO.
Granville, n. G.