Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1854-03-05
-.s.' : asa.4 No. ass.


le :" Do not be startled friends; am not q muraer- ~
D err, IN the common aecepation Of the term Takk -
e there is a light in my evening slry A su;r;t -.
mother rejoiees over the return Of her prodigsl -
e son. The wife smiles upon him who. again turns
back to virtue and honor. The child angel vista
me at Dightfall aud feel the hallowing touch Of
atny palm upon my feserish cheek. My brave
boy, if he vet lives would forgive the sorrowiBg old
man for the treatment which drove him into The =.
world, and the blow that maimed him for life
God forgive me for the ruin Ihave brought upoa
He again wiped tear from his eye My father
watched him with strange interest and couEte-
nance unusually pale aud excited by some strsns'e
emotion ',. q = E, cas-. - .a--f.y .'f y .i......s
was once a fanatic, and madIy followed the sE
maign light which led me to ruin. q fanatic ~
wheh SACRIFICED my wife, children. happiness and
hoihe' 10 the aceursesl demon OF the bowl once -
adored the gentle being whom / injured 80 deeply.
80" was dr,nkanL From respeetabli,y and Il
atfiuence, plunged into degradation and posertvt
dragged my family down with me. For Yeas L.
saw her cheek pale and her step grow weary. Ias-e
| left her alone amid the wreck Of her home idols, 80
and roted at the tavern She never Complained g
yet she aud the children went hungry for bread So e
| "One New Years night. i returned late 10 the al
hut where charity had given roof She was yetysz
! up, and shiyerng the Goals. demanded fooj az
but she burst into tears and told there noae.ss
fercely ordered her TO get some. She turned her ana
eyes sadly upon the failing fast her IA
| pale cheek. At this moment the child in the "a
cradle aWcke and sentup iamishing wall. siart-,3
ng the desparing mother, like serpent IS sting. ,s
:" we have no food James--have had none for r.u,s
several days. have nothing for the babe. Ny,
once kind husband, must We sarve 0E&Nae
That sad pleading face, and those streaming (.
eyes. and the feeble wall Of tho child maddened me-
| and I-yes, struck her fierce blow in the iace,g
aud she Tell forward upon the hearth. The furies.
of hell boiled in my BOSOM and with deeper intea-
sity as felt / had committed wrong. i had
never struck Mary before, but now some terrible
impulse bore on. aud stopped as well as -,
could in my drnnken state, and clenched bosA i
hands in her hair =, "A. l.. -.
God of mercy James exclaimed my wife as
she looked up into my ferdish eountenanee, .-you
viii not kill us-you viii not harm Wllie' and she
sprang to the cradle, and graspel him in her EN-
brace caught her again by the hair and drag,
gedher to the door. and as l lifted the LATCH the
wind burst in with cloud OF snow. With the -.
yell of fend, l still dragged her on and hurled =
her out in the darkness and storm, With wild :,
ha ha closed the door aud turned the button. -
her pleading means mingled with the wal of the
blast and the sharp cry Of her babe But my work
was not complete. . ...,. .t ..,l,
i turned to the little bed where lay my elder
son, and snatehed him from his slumbers; and
against his halfawaked struggles opened the door
and thrust him out. In the agony Of fear, he cali
ed to me by a name was no longer fit TO bear,
and locked his fingers into my side-pOeket. could
not wrench that frenized grasp away, and with the
GOODNESS of devil as ] was, shut the door upon
his and with kniie severed it at the wrist.
The speaker ceased moment and buried his face
in bis hands, as il 10 shut out some fearful dream
and his deep chest heayed like a stOrm-swept sea
My father had risen from his seat and was leaning
forward, lis countenanee bloodess, and the large
drops standing out upon his brow. Chills crept
back to my young heart and wished was al
home. The Old man looked up. and I never have
since beheld such mortal agony pictured upca'
human face as there was on his a7'- # A74ss
cit was morning when awoke and the storm
had ceased, but the cold intense. l FIRST Sc
cured drink of water, and then locked in the ac-.
customed place for Mary. As missed her, for
the first time, shadowy Of some horrible
nightmare began to dawn upon my wandering
mind. thought had had fearful dream but
involuntarily opened the outside door with shud-
dering dread. As the door opened. the snow burst
in, followed by the fall Of something across the
threshold, scattering the and striking the
floor with sharp bad sound. Ny blood shot Ike
rel-hot arrows through my VEINS and l rubbed my
ewes to shut ont the sight. 1t was-0 God, how
horrible 1T my own injured Mary and her
babe forzen to ice! The true mother had
bowed herself over the child to shield il, her own
yta L.e4
placed her hair over the face of the child and the
sIeet had frozen it TO the white check The frost
was white in its haifopened eyes and upon its tiny
fnpers I know not what became Of my. brave
boy
And again the old man bowed his head and wept,
and all that were in the house wept with him Ny
father sobbed Ike child In TOMS Of low and
heartbroken pathos, the old man concluded:
"I was arrested, and for long months raved in
derium. awoke, was sentenced to prison for
ten years, but no tortures could have been Ike
those endured within my own bosom. o God.
no | am not a fanatic. wish to injure one--
But while / live. let me strive to others aot
to enter the path which has been dark and fear
full 10 me-"
The old man sat down, but spell as deep cad
as strong that wrought by some wizards breath,
rested upon the audience. Hearts could have been
heard in their beating and tears to fall The old
man then asked the people to sign the pledge. Ny
father leaped from his seat, and snatehed az IL
eagerly. had followed him, aud as be hesisatsd
a moment with the pen in the ink, tear fell from
the old mans eye on the paper
Sign it, sign it, young man. Angels would
sion II 7 would write my name there ten thousand
times in blood if it would bring back my loved
and lost ones"
Nv father wrote Mortimer Hudson" The cid
| nod ~
again his countenance alternately flushed with a
red and death-like paleness.
alt isEno, it cannot be--yet how, strange
nuttered the old man. Pardon sir but that
was the Of my own brave boy"
My father trembled, and held up the left arm.
from which the hand had been severed