Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-04-09
Confessions of a Drunkard.

Where are there, in the whole range of liter
ature, more graphic pictures of the evils of the
Drink system, or of the crying necessity of
Total Abstinence and Legislative Prohibition,
than are to be found in the Essays of Ella,
under the head of Confessions ofa DI1tnkard.
from which we make the following extract:-
" The waters have gone over me. But out
Of the black depths, could be heard, Iwould
cry out to all those who have but set foot
in the perilous flood Could the youth, to
whom the flavor of his first wine is delicious
as The opening scenes of life, or the entering
upon some newly discovered paradise, look
into my desolation, and be made to under
stdl.1 what dreary thing it is when a mar
shall feel himself going down prccipice with
open eyes and passive will, to see his des-
truction and have no power to stop it, and
yet to feel it all the way emanating from him
self; to see all goodness emptied out of him,
and yet not be able to forget time when it
was otherwise; to bear about the piteous spec
tacle Of his own self ruin could he see my
fevered eye, feyerish with last nights drink
ing, and feverishly looking for the nights rep
etition of the folly could he feel the body Of
the death out of which | cry hourly, with
feebler and feebler outcry, to be delivered, -
it were enough to make him dash the spark
ling beverage to the earth, in all the pride
of its mantling temptation.
Oh, if a wish could transport ne, back to
those days Of youth, when a draught from the
next clear spring could slake any heats which
summer suns and youthful exercise had pow
er to stir up in the blood, how gladly would
| return to the pure element the drink Of
children, and Of childike, holy hermit.
Twelve years ago was possessed of a
healthy frame of mind and body. | was ney-
er strong, but I think my constitution (for a
weak one) was as happily exempt from a
tendency to any malady, as it was possible
to be. | scarcely knew what it was to all
anything. Now, except when am losing g
myself in sea of drink am never free from
those uneasy sensations in the head and stom-
ach, which are so much worse to bear than
any definite pains and aches. AT that time
| was seldom in bed after six in the morning,
summer and winter. awoke refreshed, and
seldom without some merry thoughts in my
head, or some piece ofa song to welcome the
newborn day. Now, the first feeling that
besets me, after stretching out the hours OF
remembrance to their last possible extent, is
a forecast Of the wearsome day that lies be
fore me, with secret wish that could have
laid on still, or never awaked."
Let drinking scholars give heed to th,
solemn admonitions with which their beloved
Lamb closed his b" Confessions p
: perpetually catch myself in tears, 70
any cause or none. 1t is inexpressible hoy
m4ch this infirmity adds to a sense of sham
agd ;sgericl al TaelinEs' !
A'Shall lift up the veil of my weakness an
farther? or is this disclosure sufficient
4" have no vanity to consult by these cor
fessions. | know not whether [ shall /
laughed at, or heard seriously. Such 4
they are | commend them to the readers a
tention, if he finds his own case any wa
touched. have told him what am come t
Let him stop in time"