Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-09-21

ded, unselfsh, love-inspired man, into whose
arms, and upon whose bosom, were folded
household treasures, more priced than all
worldly wealth or honors. You saw the
vine and hower-wreathed cottage nesting
beneath the old elms, where joyful re-
union took place after brief absence. You
entered gazed upon the happy group with
in, and called the home an earthly para
disc.
Go home with Henry Erskine again
Only ten brief years have passed. Is he
still in the cottage under the elms? No,
no, reader. You will not find him there.
Long, long ago, his wife and children pas
ised Weening from its door. But yonder,
I IN That cd, dingy howell, the windows shat
tered, the little enclosure broken down, and
every sign of vegetation, except rank weeds,
gone-there you will find the wretched
family of Henry Erskine. All no less
changed are they. You will look in vain,
on their countenances, for signs of gentle,
loving affections In the fall of him to
whom they clung, they have also fallen
not in the debasing slough of sensuality,
where he lies PROSTATE and almost power
less; but evil affections have gradually y pre-
vailed, until the very garden of their minds
is overrun with thorns and briars.
You enter the Wretched habitation.-
Surely there must be some mistake In
twice ten years transformation such as
this could hardly have been wrought That
sharp-featured, hollow-eyed woman, who
. sits idle and brooding there, as if all hope
4 in life had faded, cannot be the once glad
hearted Mrs Erskine of Elm Cottage p
These hungry, miserable clad, prematurely
old looking children-are they the same
wcsaw III that pleasant nonlo, SO gay anu
glad with their happy father? 1t is in
credible. This cannot be the home of man.
Alas, no 1t is the home of demon
And see! he enters now, the dwelling ac-
cursed by his presence. Not as man
comes he, with blessings for the beloved in
mates, but as demon scattering curses
The mother starts up, the children shrink
away-all feel the shadow that rests upon
their spirits grow darker
From some cause the wretched being is
| in an unwonted state of excitement. There
is something fearful to look on in his face
| "a real demoniac expression hat'appals.
: He is angry with himself angry with eve.
rything. In his heart is fierce desire tc
commit violence.
8 'Ha what are you doing here ? he
cries, on discovering that his eldest boy il
t in the room. why have you come home!
thing a about s. having hi offended his master
and being turned away from his place
a Really innocent Of any deliberate faults i
S the boy. He is not the wronger; but tn
wronged. He has tried to please a hard
t exacting master, but failed in the earnes
Il effort All this the mother comprehends
But the insane father takes everything 70
J. granted against his son. Seizing him cru
J. ely by the hair, he strikes him with hi
/ clenched fist, and assails him with curses
e Maddened at the sight, the mother seize'
!. a heavy stick, and, with single blow par
n alyzes the arm of her husband.
&c She might have spared that blow. Ev
X en- as it was descending, the hand tina
IL clutched the hair of the boy was unlossin
pr It's grasp, and paralyzing terror seizin
m the heart of the wretched drunkard. Wha
&c has fixed his eyes? Why do they star
ss thsss, almost from their sockets? Is ita lio
x in the door ? Some appalling destructio
O. at hand Now he has sprung to his fee
as an ashy pallor on his dis6gured countC
Of nance-and both hands are raised to kee
e- off some object that he sees approaching
. You see nothing. No-your eyes are nc
it opened; and pray to Heaven they nevt
&C. may be as his are at this fearful momen
lis But, as real to him as the open door itsel
IT. entering through that door, and approach
Id ing him nearer and nearer is the horrib
,ly form Of serpent, bearing upwards the hea
he of man. In the face, all malignant pa
sions are in play. Nearer and nearer
lid comes-nearer and nearer Backward
he the frightened wretch shrinks, almost how
i'm ing in terror, until he crouches in a far &C
nd ner in the room, both hands are raised
he keep off the monster that still approache
Il Now, the serpent is on him Now,
Ike cold, Shiny body is enwreathing neck a
ore limbs Oh, that yell of horror! Will
md ever be done ringing in my ears? 1t "
c-isjT1 -ij1f ftthe cry Of a lost demon
,el- Come come away! It is too horrib
he We cannot endure the sight. There-sh
ill. the door-hide from all eyes but those
in the wretched inmates, the appalling terrC
in of that room.
,ost You breathe more freely-yes-but
ave nough has been seen and heard to make y
es! sad for days; to make you thoughtful
oW. times, for life !!
: # Oh, what work ! The TRANSFORMED
roat Of man into demon! And what,
=! this beautiful earth, has power to effect
nd fearful transformation Is the fatal
tied cret known? Do fathers, husbands, co,
into cilmen, Legislators, statemen, know in W
ndy the terrible power lies ? All! strange,
,eis- true, and sad to tell, the monster VII
nore breath poisons, whose tongue blights ev
L. leaf of virtue, stalks daily abroad, his ma
the emblazoned on his forehead And, stra
san er far than this-council and Legislators
nter nearly every State, take bribes from I
per monster, for the privilege of working tt
pre- fearful transformations. They sell,
' he monaghan it be believed Dyes, t
were sell for money, the right to curse the heal
rug and homes of their fellow men-to sea
into destruction to souls and bodies, over