The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-07-26
Il MP E r A N C E
From tho American. Temperance Magazine
s q, Esss stDrusaikact;'s Warming.
isYa Ron. JOHN RELToN o'NEALL.

That TRUTHS stranger than fiction,
D has beensoften said, and is often fully
8 proveelin the incidents brought to
hight by the temperance reform
Z The result Of intemperancc are the
tender mercies Of cruelty, and when
they come be presented to sober,
Intelligent, reformed minds, they
sstartle5 us with their st''angeness!
Isradsgy depicts imaginary hor-
3 rors Love- jealousy, madness are
isHthoir eau sest:@but OF all these, as
shadoWedS forth by the pens Of
Shaks speare, Dryden, and kotzebue,
Slre as nothing when compared with
the5 seal tragedies produced by intoxi-
Sating drink. On altars burn the
offerings of every diabolical passion,
s5s5oaded Into tenfold madness The
pflest 8isSlnadness himself, and with
mana ia q potts floating above his head,
tgcYery5 thing which is horrible may be
sonceiyed, and get the reality IS
aUorse D. D. /.
I$haYe nov before me the poetical
sseffusions OF Husband and father in
South Carolina, whose hands had
sbeen aimbrued in the life. blood Of a
wife ard children, and who had vainly
attempted to take his own life!
ssIfSitswerc practicable to stand by
his side, in the dark midnight hour
Spf!1is solitary condcRaed cell, between
*stAe hours ofcondemnation and cxecu-
Zion, and witness the awfal throes Of
~ guilty conscience, then, indeed, we
should fully realize the sad fate of
the 2drunkard, and know why truth
as strang gersthan, fiction! Then we
xiniss Z participate in the yuke NUM-
8shers OF prison solitude, as fettered
3:lie sWe.pt oyer the slain
49, y lie ignstIl he idol Of ms heart,
sas,sioll ,tnly sl,e M,sdnar:
e sslItcatlse, as the vile my htSph, She was
q q AS n Hietller shewas nuabe and kind,
81 thought her match could not be met
hsirsSite TO please her husband was her mind, i,
4 SoSWel did she know how she was cumplet
nj schit,lfenwere The ornament of my heart,
v 'IheysSrere in Snunber one and daughter
! fair,
~ Ihese We're The prize ofmy pride and heart,
Nlure thailall, they We're n con, plctc pair;
But alas! where is this blessed family gone,
sNNhoms the husband and father So much cs-
q To heaven l3hppe, their everlasting home,
q There to restn hapl mess with the redeemed. :"
In StFob5art's Reports, AT, is to
4 bezfOund the case OF sTHe ,SIot, ye
Iieu6eat5 ,Scdlar Stalk Lawyers,
read dsand understand the awful story
Sof blood which it discloses.
The prisoner is described in the
< case as "a man under the ordinary
SIZE, about thirty years old, Of swar
4 thy mPlexion, black hair, and black
eyes
He was charged says the re-
port, sswith having murdered his
wife. JnliasB. Stark, on the 3Oth day
of .s January 1847, BY striking her on
the head With an axe, and cutting
her throat with razor, that he killed
his wifc{and two children in the most
shocking manner, was made mani
ffest.'' q
This was an awful array Of guilt !!
Who was the prisoner Once a
highly respectable man. Blessed
with abundance and well informed.
8he had the promise of usefulness and
ppiness. Lis wife, too, was Young
and beautiful girl, the daurnter Of
good parents, with every quality to
make q husband and family blessed.
1--we children az son and daughter,
#smiledeupon their love. But drink,
strong drink, Intoxicating drink, like
stheSthieff in the night, stole and de-
5is5t.ro,yedF all that was blissful and use.
Sful in their home. Property went,
character followed, and drunkenness
$reyellea in the ruin which it had
wrought?
The poor criminal, in his prison
house tells US!
.9ss was man of a quiet mind,
5s&33zsf w iien sober, harmless towards ma nkind;
~. islit dipping in the bitter Gu, of sriic,
ms 70 De OF quite different life
True most true "The bitter
cup ofstrifc'was indccd drained by
Athep miserable husband and father to
sItss5yery dreggs..f" Home, sweet home"
ceased tolbe soto him. In the fiery
s'1llIraughts of the poisoned bowl he
tsrgot3tliettoiing wife, the weeping
q lhlntiiiissrydchildren! g "Drunk as usual.5
Was |, 4! the "a running commentary on his
me. 9}!ft,. Sne morning he came with an
ll;1listed VI fla, aNcs creeping towards his
VIE as she was preparing breakfast
ffof the family and With one fell blow
sssfltslns her E tothe ground, and then,
8 WITH s4s blow after blow stretching his
ilel4pless tl4s! lissle ones at feet, after
ward 3 ssitigaf cutsing the throats
.lte = u /.