Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1854-10-18
OCTOBER IS, 1854.

down our sign, and flung 1t In the kennel.-I,
When | showed her the dripping taps and
the broken bottles, she called me, and be-
leved me, mad; she never understood me,
but less than ever then. | had, of course,
more than one scene with her and when I
told her that, instead of ale, should sell
coffee, and. substitute tea for brandy, she. like
too many others, attaching an idea of feeble
ness, and duplicity, and want of respectable
ity to Temperance, resolved to find another
home. We passed a stormy hour together,
and amongst many things she claimed the
Drunkard's Bible but that would not part
with.
sI lest no tinaefin Eltsd; dwelling of
I Peter Croft. foor Emma /! Ii ] had met I
her in the broad sunshine Of June day, II
should net have known her; if had heard
her speak, I should have recognized her
voice among thousand Misery for her had
done its worst. She upbraided me as l de-
served. You,' she said, and such as you,
content with your own safety, never think of
the safety of others. You take care to avoid
the tarnish and wretehedness of drunken
ness yourselves, while you entice others to
sin. Moderation is your safeguard; but
when did you think it virtue in your GUS
toners? p
Il told her what I had done, that in future
mine would De strictly Temperance House
that would by every means in my power un-
do the evil had done.
Will that she answered in low, deep tones
of fanguish-' will that restore what have lost?
will it restore my husbands character? will it
save him, even if converted, from self-re-
proach will it open the grave, and give me
back the child, my first-born who, delicate
from its cradle, could not endure the want of
heat and food, which the others have still to
bear will it give US back the means squan-
dered in your house? will it efface the memo
ry of the drUnkard's songs, and the impurity
of the drunkard's acts? 0 Mathew that you
should thrive and live, and grow rich and re-
spectacle, by what debased and debauched
your fellow creatures. Look she added, and
her words pierced my heart look had |
nv young days over again, | would rather
supposing love had nothing to do with my
choice-I would rather appear with my poor
degraded husband, bad as he has been, and is,
at the bar or God, than kneel there as your
wife! You, cool-headed and moderate by
nature, knowing right from wrong, well edu-
Gated, yet tempting, tempting others to the de,
struction which gave you food and plenishing,
yourfine GIN PALACE your comfortable rooms
your intoxicating drinks, the pleasant company
all, all wiling the tradesman from his home
from his wife, from his children, and sending
him back when the stars are fading in the day
light Oh! to what home !. Oh in what {
statei
Il do think, as you stand there, Mathew
! Hown!ey, well dressed, well fed, and respec
J table-yes, that is the word 'respectablele--
that you are, at this moment. in the eyes OF Tbs
husband, who is lying upon ~ ~ Win mad
ness in his brain, trembling in Every limb, with
out even Bible to tell him of the mercy
which ChrisPs death procured for the peniten
sinner at the eleventh hOurp
Il laid her own Bible before her. did no
ask her to spare me every word was true
l deserved it all. went forth sent Goa
and food, and clothing into that wretchet
room I sent physician !; prayed by the bed
side of Peter Croft, as if he had been dea
brother. l found him truly penitent anC
with all the resolves for amendment which st
often fade in the sunshine of health anC
strength, he walled over his lost time, his los
means, his lost character-all lost; all Goo
hath gven-heath, strength, happiness, al
gone-aIl but the love of his ill-used and neg
lected wife that had never died! And re
member she said to me, there are hundreds
thousands of cases as sad as his in England
in the Christian land we live in Strong drinl
fills our jails and hospitals with sin, with crime
with disease, with death its mission is sill
and sorrow to man, woman and child unde
the cloak of good fellowship it draws men to
gether, and the good d-felowship' poisons hear
and mind Men become mad under its infiu
ence Would any man not mad, squander hi
money. his character, and bring himself an
all he is bound to cherish to the verge of tn
pauper's grave, nay, into it? Of five familie
in this wretched house, the mothers of three
: and the fathers Of four, never go to thci
ragged bed sober; yet they tell me good mer
great men refuse to promote temperance. Oh
they have never seen how the half pint grow
to the pint-the pint to the quart-the qual
:. to the gallon! They have never watched fc
the drunkard's return, or experienced his nes
> lect or ill-usage-never had the last penny fC
their chiIdren's bread turned into spirits-nevt
: woke to the knowledge, that though the snow
:, of December be foot on the ground, thel
! is neither food nor fire to strengthen for Il
. days toilP
d Poor Emma she spoke like one inspire
d and though her spirit was sustained neither
# flesh nor blood, she seemed TO find relief
= words.
q When spoke to her of the future wi
s, hope, she would not listen. No. she sal
n my hope for him, and for myself is beyol
ID drinks have branded his vitals, burnt into the
J. Life is not for either of US. | wish his fa
N and mine, could warn those around US; b
N the drunkarG day after day sees the drunka
le laid in his grave, and before the last earth
?. thrown upon the coffin, the quick is followi
OF the example set by the dead-of another a
l; another glass!
" She was right. Peters days were numb
eet ed; and when she knelt beside his coffin,
- prayer that she might be spared little Ion!
re for her chidren's sake. That prayer gave
er hope, she had not spoken then of hope exc
ng beyond the grave.
cd My friends jested at my attention to
az young widow, and perhaps | urged her
u soon to become my wife. She turned aW
ed with feeling which would not, if cou
express Her heart was still with her b
band, and she found no rest until she v
ny placed beside him in the crowded church-ya
ng The children live on--the son, with the
nd reasoning craving for strong drink which is
IN frequently the inheritance of the drunkar
IN child; the daughters poor weakly creatur
ne one, that little deformed girl who sits beh
no the tea-counter, and whose voice is so
use her mothers; the other, suffering Great
he unable to leave her bed, and who occupie
SIN little room at the top of what was n
'ut Grapes Her window looks out upon a nj
M Der of flower pots, whose green leaves
ice at-,c,,,,in, hloIeoms ave coated with blac
ice I,,t e. ,S;rLs thom tho frosbast and the m
en- beautiful in the world!