Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-02-23
aThe Widow of Tekoah."

some friend has sent US. The title is based
upon the following portion of scripture:
And when the woman ofTekoah spako to the King,
she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance,
and said, Helpl o King. And the King said unto
her, what aileth thee2 And she answered, am in
deed n widow woman, and my husband Is dead
And thine handmade had two sons, and they two
strove together in the field, and there was none TO
part them but the one smote the other and slew
him. And behold. the whole family is risen against
thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him thatsmote
bis brother, that We may xiii him, for the life Of his
brother whom he slew aud VIC viii destroy the heir
also and so they shall quench my coal which IS lett,
and shall not leave to mine husband neither name
nor remainder upon the earth.-2 Sahaues xiv. !, .,
Q.
The Bible reader win remember that the
grief Of the widow Of Tekoah was feigned,
and her suffering fiction; yet her tale of sor-
row reached the heart Of the King, and he
swore that mot one hair Of her son should
fall to the earth" The Tract is an appeal
in behalf Of the thousands Of the sons Of the
daughters Of our land. Theirs is no fcti-
tious suffering. 1t is one ofdeep, heartpierc-
ing anguish. The nation is in tears. From
the day that Cain slew his brother, making
himselfa vagabond and sending terror into
tho little circle which was just beginning to
possess the earth, the fair opening prospects
Of thousands Of beautiful families, have, at
most unexpected moments, been invaded and
blasted and the cry has gone from many a
desolatc widow, Alas Alas! Ny hus-
band is dead, and my sons are falling before
violence or before the violated laws o~fnaturc
or society, and.thcre is no deliverance."
We need not say what form Of sin is the
greatest and most cruel invader Of family
peace and family prosperity who or what
it is that has made more wives widows, and
children fatherlcss, and caused more conten-
tion mt murders among brethren than all
beside who or what it is that has COMPEL
cd public justice most of all to say, " Deliver
him that smotc his brother, that we may kill
him for the life Of his brother whom he slew"
You all know. 1t has its dwelling among
you. 1t is licensed by your authorities. 1t
stalks through your streets. 1t invades the
pulpit, the bar, the Senate Chamber. 1t
goes into the fashionable party, the gay sa-
loon, the beautiful assembly; and, in the
dark hours Of midnight, it prowls around all
the low dcns Of vice and infamy and whcr-
ever there are hearts to bleed and souls to
perish, there it riots and ~fattens. So cxtcn-
sivc and hoartronding are its ravages in all
our cities, towns, and villages so does it cut
down husbands and fathers, sons and broth
ers-wasting property invading family peace,
filling jails and poor-houscs and insane asy-
lums with its wrctched victims; yea, b%lotting
out the life Of God in the soul Of and fit
ting it for the blackness of darkness for ever,
that VIC seem to sec our State, rich in all that
q bountcous heaven can pour upon man, ap.
preaching her rulers, as a widow clothed in
mourning, and crying "IIELP, HELP, O.
king -
That the claims of the State, asking for re
relief from the rayages Of incompetence art
reas enable, and that help can and should b.
afforded, are the topics before us, in this Tract
/. Tho widow Of Tokoah, or the State, il
her petitions, is repulsed on the ground tina
hor sulfcrings are imaginary, not real an,
that her story is got up in a wild fanaticism
or to thrust herself upon the notice Of th
public. The extent and evils Of incompetence
wo arc told, are exaggerated. ave have II
drunkards in our families or connection :.w
see few if any in our streets the land is
land Of sobriety, Of the wise and moderat
use Of all the good things Of providence."-
Would to God it were so. And thanks be
kind ovcrruling providence 50 far as it i
so. But once it was otherwise when ever
v.a, .,v,,, 81 Hill =. IL. III -
freely, and without any sense Of wrong dc
ing, the Intoxicating cup and when, in on
rural population, every lorticth man, and, !
our crowded marts, every twentieth, was
common drunkard when, among lively
millions Of people, $4,000 went annually. an
often by the most horrid deaths, to the drur
kard's grave. The temperance r~eformatio
has wrought an amazing change among us
one of whose magnitude and Importance II
mind can conceive. Nearly half our nativ
population are not barely sober, but are pu
by u voluntary and prinoipled aLstincnc
from oil that intoxicates, utterly beyond til
power of the destroyer. But have we II
i~ntcmperance? Is the cry of tho woman
Tokoah without cause? Look at the machil
cry in motion, and see what are the probabi
tiles. In the city Of New York, there al
G,000 licensed and unlicensed dramshops, q
III full blast and as Cowpcr once said
England, so W. may say ofour own State,
Pass whore we may, through city ortlrough tow
Village or hamlet Ut this merry land
twentieth rsoa
Conducts the unguarded noso to such a Whit
or stale dtbaueh, forth issuing from the sites
That law has licensed, Gsmakes temperance reel
As we'll say that the manufactures Of Low,
should produce no cloth, or the mills Of r
chester NJ meal, asthltt the drinking cstablis
ments should produce no ~drunkarls. Look
the Police Reports, made under oath, aud 5
what arc the facts. Is there no intcmpcran
there? Look intot the public gazcttes laid c,
ry morning upon our tables. Here are Ii,
aldcd, almost without omission of y sins
day, some horrid murder, or dreadful casut