Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-08-03
Origiua pQpRrs.
EXTRACT FIOM AN ADDRESS.

Delivered before "IIabb'S Greek" Dirision,
Grangilte county, NJ O., July 2,ad, 1883
By r. w. HANDS.
lntemperance il the greatest of evils, the
bane of the social circle, and of domestic
peace and happinBs Look at the feeble
mother as she sitS by her fresido toiling in
extreme poverty T procure scanty meal
for herself and her children, who are looking
wistfulIy into her pale, detected face, in ig-
norance, in poverf, and in rags, curse to
society Look ather as she sits in melan-
choly anxiety, dredaing the approach ofthat
husband, that vowed in all the pride and ar
dor of youthful love, that he would . love
cherish and protect ber Doubtless the
honey moe Of her life*swas Joyous and
bright, withloNisible cloud-speck to shade
her bright ara pleasing antcipations Of fu-
ture bliss. Doubtless she spent many a
happy day with him around the family altar,
and in the house of worship, ere the sacred
fres Of devotion, that burned brightly upon
the altar of his heart, were quenched by the
deadening influence of alcohol. And, doubt
less, she watched with fearful and prayer
ful anxiety, the blossoms Of his daily beve-
rage opening on his visage, long before he
imagined that the swelling buds of pollution
had told the sad tale Of his ruin, his poverty,
and his hopeless destiny But, alas for
the sad story of her poverty, her woes, and
her grief! The light and the joy that
brightly beamed from her radiant eye in
happier, brighter days, are quenched in the
briny tears Of disconsolate sorrow and of
grief The beauty and the bloom Of
health and happiness that adorned her rosy
cheeks, in the honeymoon of her sun
ny days, have disappeared in the melancholy
gloom O. sorrow aid aid aliseeRtent that sits up
on her brow
Brethren, we are engaged in great and
noble cause indeed a cause affecting ev-
cry grade of society, from the plebian in
his unthatched cottage, to the king in bis
gorgeous and stately palace. And the time
will come when, if we are true to the trusts
reposed in u.s. as pioneers of the destiny Of
this great nation, we shall have monument
as imperishable as time itself, in the afec-
tions and grateful remembrance Of redeem
ed, virtuous and intelligent community /;
!, when the mouldering monuments erected
to the memory of those who have deluged
the earth in blood, shall crumble and decay
t by the noiseless tooth of time But we
| have great work to perform, before the
: wilderness shall bloom and blossom as the
, rose, and the solitary places thereof be glad
| And, strange to tell, we hear Sons of Tenn
4 perancea sometimes say, that :" the time fol
action has not yet come, that we are NO
Y strong enough yet" Such, nv brethren
t was not the doctrine of St. Paul, when ht
e saw the city of Athens given up to idola
L try, with her thirty thousand Gods. Nay
verify standing out upon Mars Hill, arm
g ed with the invincible panoply of truth, in ;
h noble cause, in all the boldness and mag
d nanimiy of his noble and generous nature
J. he cried out ye men of Athens, [ per
n ceive in all things you are too superstitiOus
o. Such vas not the doctrine of the Boston pa
n triots, as they hurled the obnoxious tea over
st board. in Boston harbor, in proud dedanc
1T of British aggression, and thereby publish
ed to an astonished world, that the unfinch
to ing zeal of the Puritan blood was as un
I'd comparable as the sun in its meridian gle
* ry ant brightness. And, brethren, does
- becoue US, while one drop of the Purita
d bloodeoursos an American vein, or warns a
ch Amersan heart, when the arts and the scier
;ar ces are Gaasning almostin their meridian pc
If fection, to tremble and hesitate as to tt
I'D course we should pursue Shall we Sc
the honest yeomnry Of our country music
81 ed into the service Of King Alcohol fl
IN I the purpose of driving their wives from the
.Ia once cheerful fcesides, to buffet the 5le;
nat 'A winds and pelting SHOWS, at the lone
~ ~ hour of midnight with no shelter save &
90 dismal darkness Of the midnight hour, sh;
/; we see all this, say, and not feel called u
Nv M on, by all thatis noble or generous in 0
I natures, to do all we can to hush the cri
o.a Of untimely orphanage, and to dry up t
~s tears of the widow in her sad state of
"P reavement, aud to restore to the pale,
s. iected counteaance Of the sorroW-stricke
~ wife the bloom of health and happiness, S
~ once enjoyed in the kind embrace of an
~ fec;ionate, agreeable companion! Brethr
a- n' shall we hear the tongues Of our once sprig
ny G ly and dutiful children, singing the songs
.u0 the grand enemy of our race, Gas it wei
,s9 .s'9 in strange land with their hearts estra
c. eU IIom Cue HoueS vi CutII JoutuI anu
''' land of their birth and hear the shouts
the grand adversary, over the ruin and
INK degradation of the blue-eyed boy, wb
the sprightly eye, and trusting SMILES gladde
e 10 our hearts, in his Juvenile years, and '
Du, craven hearted timidity endeavor to q
soeo the emotions of our souls and our con
'nIly ences, with the thought that the time
into action has not come ? Brethren, the t
at for action has come, and we should TAX
bold and decided stand, as deep rooted
',eu our principles, as the monarch oak of
a:elS .: forest, ard as immovably fixed in our
= j'inl' poses as the surge-lashed-rocks of Gibra
ID a. We should tell our candidates for pu
: 20 patronage. with frmness and bold
that would send deeprooted. lasting
e0'"- : viction to their hearts. that what We sa
'ipce intend to act out That we Will vote 70
ase's eH,s man whose craven-hearted fear or N
Il ,,iseil ness, would deter him from doing his 4
huhS as Christian, and a true American cit
'na' That NE will vote for no man, who, b
u Tue vote, would perpetuate system Of v
'niinS ing, lamentation and woe, to secure
oi Tue mentary, Pickering blaze of popular f