Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1852-01-02

Ao"HuS, WFILGen Dy tne Editor OF TINS Raper lot
the American Temperance Magazine, which if
thought worthy of publication in that Periodi-
cal, will probably appear simultaneously with
this issue of the Ace:
A VISION-SEMI-PROPHETTC.
By A. N. GoRMAN, GRAND SCRIBE OF n. CAROLINA.
had a Dream" and yet it was not all a
dream" had wandered far and high among
tne mountains of my own dear native State,
occupying a somewhat central position, from
whence | could view, as it were, the entire
Continent at one and the same time, catch a
glimpse of the far-off land beyond the great
Gulf on the sunny South, and the green hills
of the frozen North-and looking down from
the lofty eminence which l occupied, | saw is
suing from thousands of valleys and every
gorge in the mountains, dark and dismal COL
umns of smoke, whose awful stencil filled nv
~nostrils with their vile odor, as if proceeding
from the internal caverns of hell. But | was
not left long thus to misjudge of the location
of these fiery furnaces Association had made
me familiar with a smell which forbade my i'm
puGlIS " II 1AICl la 1CSIOuS lit Manufacture
of an article unknown there there is no al
cohol made in heH!-but on earth, made for
mans happiness and enjoyment, and which
God pronounced, as he viewed his vast crea-
ton, /" good-very good"-on earth only is it
made. Nor do Devils and damned spirits
drink the accursed poison of the Still-but
Man, made after Gods own image, and but
a little lower than the Angels he alone con-
verts it into a beverage, and BY it sends his
guilty soul, Keeling into hopeless ruin.
And as | gazed still farther I beheld in eve
ry City, Town and Village at every Cross
Roads and place of public gathering, temples
and palaces, saloons and novels, dedicated to
the worship of the Rum-god-where murder
and broils, blasphemy and all manner of abom-
nations were engendered, fosterel and sus-
tanned as the legitimate offsprings of the sale
of this unnatural beverage.
Looking towards the Halls of Legislation
and the Temples of Justice, erected by man
for the suppression of ~Iniquity, Invoked their
mighty ~mterpositiOn, and imploringly called
upon the Rulers and Lawmakers of the land
to rid the nation of this mighty evil that was
degrading her sons, prostituting her daughters,
and converting this fair heritage into one vast
Aceldama Of blood;-when a loud sound, ac-
companied by a demoniac laugh of defiance
from the Internal crew beneath, proclaimed
: ours is a business built up by the lam Legis.
Iators grant us the privilege, Judges justify, and
men approve our patriotic cork. The LaU is
oar BENEFAcToR !"
Acknowledging the business of the horrible
declaration, l turned with a sick and heavy
heart from the scene the wall of disconsolate
widowhood, and the cries of suffering orphan.
age, rose upon the air and reached ny ears
and lifting my burdened heart and eyes towards
Heaven, | saw, standing on a lofty peak, far
far above me, a tall commanding figure, gazing
with anxious eye upon the mighty panorama
spread out before him. His brow was wrin.
killed. DER with care, and his scant and hoary
locks were wet with the night-dew of lone
watchings. Regarding him as some benevo
lent spirit who was mourning over the desola
tons of earth, and hoping that from his posi-
ton it might be that he could give promise O.
> a better coming morrow, l took up the burden
of Dumah, when he called out of SER upor
the Prophet Isaiah, saying
: "watchman ! what of the Night p"
I Is there any sign of DromisA-nf h"r~-E~
r the future? Does the same dark, impenetra
e bic gloom hang over the moral horizon, for
bidding all confidence in the prospect ofits en-
5 tire removal, and of the sure, PERMANENT arr
), sing of the lfe-giving sun of TEMPERANCE
e that shall shed its glorious rays of light an
joy, disseminating happiness and consolatio
among the sOrrow-stricken sons of men ?
Say, faithful sentinel, does no day-star pee
above the horizon, giving promise of a happ
noon-time of emancipation of our rum-curse
land, from the tyranny of Entempcrance? An
the Waterman said, or seemed to say, sTh
morning cometh.' 10! a blessed star in th
Eastr arises above the snow-clad hills {
Maine, with warmth and healing in its beam.
A shout Of joyous welcome greets its appea
a. ance as its piercing light penetrates the dan
bosom of the cloud beneath. Loud and long
a. the voice of triumph, as it echoes and re-echot
a along the hills and wales of that redeemed pc,
pie, until the sound is heard upon the moul
tain-top of the Granite State, from whenC
comes a responsive cry we, too, will |
: freep
III Connecticut catches the inspiring song
y freedom, and from all quarters of her border
= goes forth a determined declaration of resi-
lance to the tyrant. The Green Mounta
y Boys of Vermont swell the glad chorus, viii
ID from the proud heights Of Bunkcr's Hill, Il
ct, joyous anthem.-as if inspired by the remer
ay brance of that day when resistance to oppre:
ion bathed its summit in the likelihood Of
merica's best men-swelled to a torrent, 8
70 the voice of many waters assuring her s
tiers that the old Bay State will be found 70,