Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-08-20


Yesterday the breath left his suffering
body; and he is dead. Oh doubly dead
to us. You Amy, have not seen him for
five years. You will remember him as
the lofty, high-minded, noble brother =
the embodiment of all that was good and
manly. i must remember him as the
dying maniac -shrieking in his agony,
and lighting with madman's fury with
legions of devils. Remember him with
glarlng and bloodshot eyes, with foaming
mouth. uttering curses and groans and
| deafening cries.
l must remember him as the murderer
of our boy; for it was his hand, that in q
frenzed moment dealt the blow, that
precipitated him down the long flight of
stairs, which fall, you know, ended his
life. "Spare me Emily, oh spare me-"
[ hear you cry; "why have you told me
all this g? Why, if my brother is gone
will you blight his memory thus In
pity let me remember him as the good
and noble! Have you thought of the
agony that this recital will give his grey
haired mother; of the pangs that will
greve his fathers soul; of his young
brothers and sisters just bursting into
womanhood. Could you not have spared
us this recital and thrown the mantle of
| charity over the errors ofa dead husband.
Gladly would have spared you, oh
my sister, my mother, my father and my
brothers. Gladly would | have hid his
sins in my own heart and locked them in
! the casket of love, as strong as woman's
heart ere knew. But stern duty said
| no. His father still orders the wine to be
placed before the guest: with his own
hand, he fills the tempting glass for his
sons. His mother smiles complacently
and makes no effort, and Amy, my sister
Amy, and her lover, sip the dainty nec-
tar coyly from the same glass. Amy and
her lover-he, pure and good and strong
now; but not purer and stronger than
was William in days agonc. Amy said
to him, Z" Drink it will do you good; nev-
er mind Emily, she belongs to the fanatics
who preach that every man who wants a
glass now and then for eNhiliration, must
become drumkard, because, forsooth,
some low vulgar wretch has fallen in a
pot house. Never leta woman rule you
VIII ~ DOst remember it, Amy.
On, by that distigured corpse, beneath
yon winding sheet, by the agony of the
fearless wife, mo tears have soothed me
since he died y by the tears of orphaned
children, who must now depend on char
ity for bread, let me implore you Amy,
to take your stand against the destroyer.
Save your younger brothers from the
fearful doom: save your lover if it be not
too late; save your father. Twas for
this and this only have penned these
lines for this that have laid open the
deep and incurable wounds of my heart,
in their hideous deformity. Tomorrow
they will lay him by his son in the poor
house churchyard. There [ shall soon
follow him, for poverty, shame and abuse
have done their work. | did not drink
the dark waters of death-but he who
was dearer to me than my own life drank
them, and they have killed me. If our
father cares for the children, oh, say to
him, my sister, that would rather my
babes, my darling boys, should be brought
up in the poer-house, and run their risks
among strangers, than to live in his lordly
halls, and be tempted day by day to sin,
by loving lips and hands.
[ shall never write you again, but let
me plead as one from the grave with you,
give your aid to the work of reform
Stand no more with the tempters stand
no more with the idle; you can do much,
for you have wealth, talent and beauty.
Farewell: can write no more. God
preserve thee, is the dying prayer Of
EMILY."
Thus wrote the dying wife over the
corpse of her husband. And is there but
one such case in this goodly land !-is
there but one father leading his children
to ruin; one easy mother making no ef-
fort for her loved ones: but one sister
Amy, laughing to scorn those who would
save the weak or waverfng from destruc-
ton! We know there are thousands, and
we trust this record of truth may reach
their hearts.