Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1852-09-22
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AUDeal to the Ladies Of America.

mother = nearG. Tier OlCc pIouu IVY 10 q l@i
slave to strong drink. How had she dream gr
ed dreams over his cradle-slumbers! How II
had she seen a radiant future mirror in his tn
blight young eye. What a comfort SHOULD dc
il be to her old heart to look out from Athe W
retreat Of age upcnhis high and. honorable y
path. What music to her ear to hear the &C
worlds voices speaking his name with hon p
est praises. What a welcome should she tc
keep for him coming from his elevated n
sphere of duty to sit with his honors like a n
child at his mothers feet. Descending IN S;
to the vale, how should she lean upon his h
heart, his arm, for strength and cheer. lie P
lives, but nothing Of all this is ever to be.
He is vet in his earliest manhood, but all b
life's freshness is gone. In rlotous Nv b
ing the glory and beauty Of his youth are Q
consumed. Flial reverence is dead within |
him. To the c%ounsels Of her who bore him, E
he gives back sullen ooks-blasphemies- |
perhaps a blow. Oh, had he died years {
AGO in his young innocence, before any OF {
his history had passed upon him, leaving
only the memory Of his childhood behind
him, it had been a small grief compared
with this living affection. Those gray hairs
shall be brought with sorrow to the grave.
And not one Of these scenes is a fancy
sketch. Every one has had its original in
fact. You have met them all in real life.
Name and dates you can supply. And they
have not been solitary histories. Many
times over have they been enacted. These
mourning voices of mothers, and wives, and
daughters, and sisters, and betrothed mai
dens have been lifted up, a great chorus,
sounding through the land these many gen
e%rations. oh, you are interested in this
matter; you have a right to speak and act.
The sorrowful wastes in your manifold rela-
Ntions made desert, by the scourge of In
temperance, summon you to link your
hearts together around your household
shrines and keep them pure.
And now will you bear with us a little
longer, while we tell you what zoe wouLd
hare you do.
First of all-NEvER PUT THE GLASS TO
YOUR OWN LIPS. We do not say this be-
cause We fear you will 50 far forget delica-
cy, refinement and womanhood, as to fall
into ebriety. And yet this most loathsome
spectacle of fallen humanity has been ex-
hibited. But apart from this issue; every
lady who takes the wine-glass, lends all
the charm of her manners, all the graces
of her mind, and all the captiyation of hel
social qualities to give currency to wine.
drinking in the circle in which she moves
1t camot be Thought a beastly excess to copy
the example of a refined and cultivated wo
man. What young man can pronounce TIN
habit degrading, or brutalizing when thu
vindicated before his eyes by those whom
he chiefly esteems and admires An as
ISOLATION with the glass is thus created whic
follows it every where-hinging around
a poetryAa romance, which hide all its de
formity and wreath it over with flowers. |
scenes of excess where woman mingles no
her hand still graces the goblet, and endO
ses the revel. .From such afatal influence
keep your example we entreat you forevt
-orM r~uUNu7r1N. You Know not how tie
rible shall be the issue ofthat one though
less act. He has, ere he met you, perhap
felt his danger. He has been compellt
to confess to his heart the growing pow,
of a habit which he traces back to son
such scene as this in which he stands /
your side. On the brink of the abyss |
has started back and sought to untwil
the chords that were dragging him dow
He is struggling like a wrestler with b
appetite. He is yet weak before it's gia
power. Ifhe yield a hair, if he allow
the least vantage, it will r~c-assert it's domi
ion, he is It's slave for life. He enters t
circle where you meet him with his best I
solves. fearful eyes follow him-the a
ony of prayer goes with him-for 9th
hearts are bound up in him. You are
temphcsS -! With pleasant smiles and XII
words you reach him the ruby draught.-
NJ. -. l. -. = v I
old enemy against him. If he hesitat
some alf-reproachfulwor some new char
the whispered spell, "You will drink wi
me" ensures the victory. You turn fire.
him well pleased with your little triumph.
the confession Of your power. All, wi
have you done? Outblazes again the faI
so nearly smothered. The demon of ap1
tite within him takes the mastery again
it will be sated-it cries vehementlv, "gi,
1iUe, GIvE'-it viii have it's qualification,
the face ofbroken vows, ruined hopes, wreC
cd fortunes, blighted household peace, d
honor, dispair, death, it will have what
Graves. From his dying chamber, or
cell of doom, whittier turns his accusi
eye Back to that form of grace and be;
ty that stood by his side on the festal {
and babe him pledge her in the wine
back to you Oh, smiling maiden, Oh, HI
ored matron! Had you dreamed Of t
you would sooner have cut off your rio
hand than offered the fatal lure. And '
cannot kHow that all this may not foil
such t~houghtless act. VIII YOU ventl
such an awful hazard 2 Were it not mu
for you to feel and say, when such histor
are recited, 81 hare not helped this ruiY
Oh, what right have you to be strewing
path to a dishonored grave with roses
gliding it with smiles ? Who have gi,
you leave to introduce the young men v
seek your society into paths, which, if Il
follow them, lead them in such numb
TO a miserable end ? Take the ~resoluti
again We beseech you, nerer, NEVER,
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