Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1852-10-20

hours once were spent with me, staggered If
there, overthrew the stand with its lann onc
oil, and laughed at what he had done. / reprov.
ed him for his habits and warned him Of III,
danger. He called upon God to witber me
with,a dreadful curse-he cursed me Oh
how the words panied me! Il was the first
unhlnd word he had ever given met came
IKE storm, for it was whitening curse! His
habits became the subject of common remark
and he lost the confidence of those who knew
him. A iquor-seler was aware Of the state Of
affairs in our family, and he continued to press
his gifts and sales of the demon that had rob-
6ed me ofhappincss upon my husband. and he
9rank and praised the liquor seller. Tilne.roil-
:, - ,l WAS q S[g1AazG I!T: al4 ~
wretch he came on a winters chilling day and
threw Us in the street and locked our door a.
gainst us. My husband cursed him'
Here Allan Wingfeld hid his face on the
table, which the Frenchman pretended not to
observe, and continued:
We were furnished, after several days beg
/ ging, miserable shanty, where we built fire
/ to warm us and to cook a morsel of meal a
good woman, almost as poor as ourselves, had
given US. We were now entirely dependent
Oh our exertions for means of subsistence
feelings were sold to Rum, and he cursed me
for not providing better meal for him while
be was away at the reyel of his cups. All! it
was hard trial for me, and had [ not been
blest with an unusual strong constitution. nv
bodily powers would surely have sunk beneath
the load that was imposed on me. labored
hard to please my husband when he would
come home, and many bitter hour, when he
was snoring in drunken sleep on our wretch
ed pallet, have | bent close to 4 little sckv
looking lamp we had, and worked, worked, when
others were peacefully sleeping, for meal to
feed us next day. 1t was Il sore trial. Our
only child had looked forward to as help and
prop, but alas ere he was half grown. he
too had learned the love of the bottle from his
father; he had seen him pour the Water of
Death down his throat and he initiated his eX
ample; he drank Rum and kept company with
wicked boys. One night he came to. our mis-
erable home and staggered over the same foot
steps his father had marked-he staggered in
TO our home and stood mocking me us | sat
sewing coarse garment for him-he mocked
me-stood over me and cursed me-cursed the
mother lcho gdve him birth! He WAS DRUNK !
All wretched life, 10 be the mother or wife of
of q drunkard! | was both.
" Scenes like this were daily enacted in our
miserable abode and thus year passed.
" 1t was cold, wet day my husband and
son were away and | was alone in our cheer
less home. All day long had worked hard and
earnestly prayed and wrestled with God for
Eestb4ftatiqq4 gb 4lqpf qff lpfRPeg geeP9 ard ftss
was more melancholy and desponding than
usual, ard whether it was owing TO gloominess
/ of the weather with its solemn rain peltings
on our eaky roof or to some other cause, |
never shall know. Evening came, and with it
hurried and many footsteps on the stairway
that led to our abode of misery. started and
met them at the door, felt choked and
smothered in my bosom. A strange and
horrible presentiment of evil seemed to over
power me as heard their footsteps coming
YES bearing sad news to me- | knew it.
Some rough uncouth looking men entered the
room, bearing burden--it was my son, the
only child OF my bosom They laid him on
the floor and the CHASTITY spectacle was spread
before me- There he lay, muttering snatcheS
of wild delirium He was covered witt
mud, dark lines were marked on his face as i
done with pencil dipped in blood, and | saw
one of his eyebalis torn from lis deep socke
. and hanging by shred down on his cheek
II was a cold, CLASSY looking orb--lifeless ant
Iunmeaning, audit rolled and stared as it sWun!
! by its stringy attachment! 1t was ghastl
. siuht, and | shrank from it while a cold, sick
-, eninr sensation ran over me like damp chill
: and | PRAYED and hoped that it was DEATH
q All became dim and dark; knew no more
4 II was not death that had overpoWered me, fC
- | awoke from a sWoon, and the same ghasti
# sioht was before me. A surgeon came an
,e looked at my son and felt Of the cold ball tn;
hunu on his cheek. He motioned to an after
NIT,
;, he cut il from where it hung and dressed Il
orbless socket that looked so hollow, so ga
to inr. so bloody ! The student carried the co
er ball away with him ,and ne and his mastercan
j. daily to visit nv son. Poor child, he was
as ways delirious the Inflammation had eXte
,D ded to his brain and he was continually ravir
He did not know his own mother, and VIII
no | bent over him to cool his burning forehe;
of how strange he looked at me-how Wild w
,is that single eve, red and sWollen--how it roll
=, and sparkled when | would ask him if he {
,pr not know me- to which he would reply
- calling me a atrighJM hog -
Ids "The manner in which he received
ian wound was this He was in the Tavern and
lu- a drunken rabble, he fell into u dispute wit
Ids larger boy, who thrust the sharp point o
oN walking cane at him, and striking him in
eve 1t tore IL from lIS Sochel' Ih0y iou9
in the Tavern and continued to fight into
ne street where the assaiEnt struck my son
ar the ground and beat him in the filthy muc
and the street!
of "My husband came home during the nj
and in fit of beastly intoxcaton, and upon les
ofino the cause of our child's injury ne cur
lind him for letting the burly boy whip him-c'
lble d him. and would have kicked the insane
eful suffering child down stairs, if he had not
wo- restrained from it by these kind ones
5ely came to sit by my son during the night |
for boy. he suffered on for some days in ra
un- deiirum, and then died miserable death, v
d out ever knowing his own mother agar
ltes May the curse resting on his soul rest on
lrge forever wither the blackened soul of tn
and quor seller!'
is Here Allan groaned, and the French
so wiped a tear from his eyes sandcontinuedto !
ould "Our son was laid in a rough box and
pen ried away to the grave of the humble
hap poor The death Of the boy seemed to ar
lmu- for time the remaining feelings of my
for band, and hoped for reformation. HI
ound off his cups for a few months and we
for work, and again felt the returning ray
that his love beaming upon me again, warn1in!
q