Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-01-16

For the Spirit of the Age.
Intemperance.
BY ADOLESCENS.

Notwithstanding what has been said and
written against the inyasions, made by this
fell destroyer into every class Of society-not-
wlthstanding the plans adopted by sage de-
lberatlon-purposes employed by the phil
anthropist and philosopher; Notwithstanding
the researches of the student delving into
dusty folios and ageworn tones, seeking new
arguments as we'll as the praise-worthy ex-
amples of noble minds Notwithstanding the
precedents of good resulting from devotion to
the Temperance cause and the soul-piercing
-heart-rendering descriptions of the inebri-
ate's destitution, entailed by following the
follies Of baechanalian mirth, Intemperance
is yet e~ncamped In our midst, making still
further inroads against the peace and use
fulness of the children of God.
1T Is, IT 1t be not improper in me to par
aphrase the expression of the Roman orator,
I" the want of a sound mind and an unbiass-
ed reason )" sad cause of much misery the
precursor of Indebtedness untold, Of woes
unspeakable! In escaping the wreck of the
antediluyian age it stalks along the haunts,
intrudes into the sanctities of life, in hot
pursuit Of thoughtless victims, upon whom
to commit more recent depredations; striv-
ing after fresh laurels to be won in a warfare
waged against moral rights and religious
teachings. Lamentable truth! it continues,
by its wicked and bloody deeds, to ~afrighten
the timid and reserved all tremble and
quake with fear as they witness it's bloated
visage, red with wine and abomination-
stand aghast when they behold its acts of vi
olence wrought in drunken desperation; by
the influence it exefts none can fatter them
selves secure from it's embraces-the dead
ly folds of q willy foe: How oft is it tn
theme of scandal, the remark of surprise tina
the youthful, the grand, the talented even fall
early sacrifices to the god of wine, and offe
up every sense Of true happiness as vain an
pompous oblations at his feet, to appease hin
in the burning UP of their very persons il
the wild excitement after Intoxicating bever
ages! The bacchanals thathaye invited tn
most abandoned to seek repose in the arms G
Somnus at the midnight debauch, have like
wise caused the crowned monarch to arts
from his downy couch, in the morn, to foreg
the burning thirsts of the previous indu
gence, and with their cravings to satisfy, i
his career of dissipation. While those fell
for whom commiseration could not pour fort
her cordlals of relief, the bright lumlnarie
OF the social hearth, and the recipients {
warm and caressing smiles, whom all love
to honor with their e-ncouragements of tone
ness and esteem, could have been seen to los
the confidence of their own strength, anC
alas too often the end of the most promi
ing hopes! ultimately closed their %sojourr
here below amid the boon ~jocundity of tn
long lost debauchee. The success of BacchU
for centuries has equalled if not surpasse
his tabled expeditions to the remote East !;
and were he living who wrote for the ages
succeed him, Liber, doubtless, would not |
; represented as descending Mount Nero
t driving his tigers with reins covered wit
G. tho Iooror &c Alo - - 1-k al --z-z e.
, OF correctness make his cur to suit the occ
sion, and lave a large number OF :" the tw
l legged, unfeathered creatures" who acknoW
, edge his sway, the staggering and ferocio1
t animals who have voluntarily offered to co
duct, in safety, their deity over the mode
s movements of his exploits thus breathil
e into them the more readily, the hidden Fl
i which is to deceive them with it's poison.
When, in this enlightened age of refor
r and with a full knowledge Of the awful co
essions made by others that have chased t