Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-12-07
THE FIRST GLASS.
~ THE ASSOCIATE EDITOR.

cred IN the drawing room OF q rich man
Fairy-lkc ladies were led through the ma
yes Of the dance, merrily, by light hearted
youths and men. Flashing lights in rain
bow tints were reflected in thousand ways
by the glittcring6ewds AID gems adoruing
the gay. All was gladness aud merriment
The ladies in that throEg Leaf a willing ear
to the sCpg of love or aattcry, sang by their
admirers, aEd when ia the lightsome dance
they fell in circles, they called to mind the
images of the fowing,robed spr4es that we
read Of il fairy lands.
1t was the feast of a gCeat man in Glen
dale-Edward Judson, a merchant. Wine
IN glasses ard goblets was carried around,
time after time, by the servants in proud
livery, and the guests were hidden to drink
Of the ruby juice and be merry. The wine
was consumed by man and woman-its ex-
hilarating fires treniblcd along many throb.
bing arteries, anu song and revolry rcigned.
The wine was doing It's work.
A beautiful boy, with the softest locks,
black as night and the darkest eyes, and
only four summers old at that, whose name
was Mortimer J udson, the merchants pride,
bounded from knee to knee of his fathers
guests and astonished all with his brilliant
and prccocious wit. The childgwas the low
od and admired ofall. He Sgas the univer-
sal pet in the throug. From one he receiv-
edia sugar plum, from another acake, from
another a candy stick, AID be was content.
A young lady Of fashion in that brilliant
ciTele offered little Mortimera glass of wine,
sparkling and knowing itself Alright in the
beautiful. goblet. He recOilcd from it as a
dangerous thing-his mother had taught
him to fear it-but Whsn that dark-eyed
yoSng lady urged lam to taste it with her,
he took the glass aDd drank of its deceitful
waves. 1t was the first glass.
lie laughed loudly at the baby face he
saw mirrored in the wavolets Of the ruby
wine!
All laughed at thcwit of little Mortimer
N detecting the baby face in the bevcr-
age, except his mothcr-ske gept.
Her own father was that night rotting
in adrunkard's grave 4!
yhc'party dispersed, and, the next day,
while thc merchant and his wife were speak
ing Il the promise of their boy-how he had
astonished all with his tricks and wit, he
came bounding with wild delight into the
parlor and pointed his chubby hand at the
curiOusly cut dccanter on the sidcboard, and
said the red wine that Miss Alice gave him
last night was good, and begged his father
90 give him more of the sweet grape Juice,
such as his mother could not make. The
merchant arose to give his child wine from
the glass, but his wife begged him not t.
place the tempter to the pure lips of thei
child. But he did; and the mother of tn,
boy upbraidcl her husband for the act, will
tears in her eyes. Edward became cnraget
and spoke crHel words TO his wife, and wen
away, with q frown on 'lisb brow, and a ours
against his wife ringing in her ears.
The first glass brought the first GU. Sc!
The heart of that wife aud mothe. wa
crushed with a load of sorrow beneath whicI
the stoutest would have qaailed and trem
bled. She wept ouly as the troubled il
spirit can weep. She wcpt, and her bo
played with his toys at her feet. WEAR
ness Of spirit oyercame her and her phys
cal energies, at length, slept. She dreame
and this was her dream ::
A culprit, bound in strong irons, sat i
the seat of the guilty in a solemn court
j%2stiee. Crime and dissipation were STAN
cd on his bloated countenance. The wretc
trembled as he cast up in piteous glanc
his bloody eyes to the Judge OBJ the benc
and with horror she heard the dreadful Sc
teRce Of DEATH fall from the lips of hi
who sat in judgment.
A blockened gibbct was before her. II
same culprit, with a strong cord about /
neck, stood upon the creaking scaffold, Il
fires Of mortal agony and hatred gIeam
out in Gtful flashes upon the hideous fe
tuFe of the condemned, as he gazed dov
Rt tho sen Of faces beneath him, and
pointed his boHy finger, trembling with
premature palsy, at the black gibbet abO
him and screamed
Fellow Citizens =
Ills voice failed to utter his struggle
~6eelipgs--he covered his starting eyeba
with bis hauds and wept like a little chi
Nc Gareamed again {:
"Ihc bowl! the BOWL! Let serpents hi
Etcrnally hiss it in the public soul"
The drop fell, so she thought, she scrca
cd aud awoke. The scream frightened
boy, who had clumbered on the back Of
chair to the decanter on the sidcboard,
he fell with the destroyer in his hand. I
glass was shivered aud crushed as he
upon it, cutting his face f~earfully on
sharp fragments, and his blood ran throl
his raven locks, stained his white brow
mingled with the wayelets ofthe ruby v
~ y = X v
Your arm, il you please, reader. i
is . Potter's Field, aud here's desola
for you among the graves. Beneath
feet now, as we tread on the long g
lies the dust and half decayed bones Of
poor, the o%utcast, the disgraced, the III
tuuate, the friendless dcad-all Of pc
tvs cold legion, and there is only a S
here aud tkere to tell us to tread Zig
taore, or rather not at all. But | rec
this little mound with a bluebell on it,
som, and that with the long grass bent d
npon it, among whose greca blades
mooRbeams and star rays simmer in
silent night, is cherished as fondly in
living heart as though a proud monume
martle, with a HatteriRg inscription ca
shadow above the sod where they sleeI
Well, here is a new corner to this
late home for the dead. We will wi
II. There is no gorgeous hearse, dc
with vain trappings, or mOOrners, pro
the richness Of their sable robes; but
Door men with hard hands are bearin