Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-06-25

ny hlu0 bnCH 3 duu nOM IL IL III OAAh w III
point out in all earnest truth the impro- OF
if not positive danger, which lies al
the pathway Of the moderate drink G,
er." ri
"What has SO changed your views, Il
Lima ?" d
"Perhaps, as a wife, my husband, can
really see more clearly the line of demarka-
ton between right and wrong, than before
my girlhood was merged into this more re- {
sponsible character. Be that as it may, it {
is generally conceded that it is the prov
ince of time to bring experience, and ez- I
p~erience in its turn wisdom"
" And you think this the voice of expe-
rience and wisdom 2"
" Indeed l know it, Charles; and 1t
takes so little to excite you that L never
feel safe when you touch it at ALL"
Then / will be very careful tonight"
"But 1 hoped you would promise me
TO abstain from wine entirely"
"Why you would persuade me, Lima,
that I am quite a drunkard."
ooh Charlie, how can you say that,
when YOU once acknowledged your dread,
almost fear. of the wine cup. made light
Of it44hn--FiF0 Is scarcely an innocent act
for one to partake of it at all"
"But | have changed my views. Time,
experience and wisdom has taught me
mine were boyhood's idle fears, and ma
turity has developed a strength | could
not recognize then"
"And you are liable to be mistaken as
to the extent of that strength now. Oh |!
let me beg of ou,sCharles, as a wife who
has no interest SO deeply at heart as your
good, to forsake now and forever this use
less habit. You cannot tell-no one can
tell where it will end, nor the stupendous
loss which may be its life time result in
elevated influences and moral benefits"
"Phoo ! Lima, you speak Of drunken
ness. We all hate that"
The moisture which had been gathering
in the eye of the young wife, formed itself
for an instant into a trembling crystal DROP
upon her quivering lashes, stole softly o'el
her varying cheek, then g~littered like
gem from the Orient amid the soft folds O
lace that lay upon her bosom ere she re
piled "The very words l once used
but indeed, dear Charles, this will never
never do-there is an actual point at which
inebriety begins-who shall dare decide
and least Of all how can the partaker, a
reason wanes and judgment recedes, decid
where that point is. Or if you take but
few glasses, and suffer from the effects
whilst others may quaff many more in safe
ty, who has the right to arraign you am
) let the rest go free. Believe me, safety t
society, as we'll as to yourself, is only to b
: found in total abstinence"
owe will argue the point tomorrow
: dear. | cannot perjure myself tonight /;
and he wrapped her cloak carefully abol
her.
e Not as before was the ride a silent on
y for Lima urged her views upon him tin
and again. She spoke regretfully of Il
'e utter folly and thoughtlessness of her gil
lie ish objections-urged earnestly the clair
his fellow men possessed upon him, a cha
- of sacred obligations which forbade him,
s an educated and responsible man, fro
following out the bent Of his own self
" inclination. She spoke lastly of her duti
g and affections as wife, pleading the or;
err i~ication such a course would be to her oy
d heart, believing firmly as she did in t
+ purity of the truths she uttered.
Charles Grey was a devoted husban
If one who would make any honorable sac
Is fee for the woman he loved but this e1
10 ming a spirit Of retaliation or mischief h
as taken possession of him, SO he was OIL
Dis amused at the earnestness of his fair you
C. wife, and continued to parry with liz
t jest the request she had made.
he "Just let me take my parting glass
no night, Lima, and tomorrow | will prom
les all you WISH" he whispered, as they
MS tered the festival hall he one Of the prol
ow est aud happiest men that trod its floor, a
ort she in recalling his promise felt a bliss
security in her heart which was manif
"a; in her brilliant and buoyant air. Sepa
i'm ted as they were during much of the e
md ming, and lulled into security by the pre-
Use her husband had made, Mrs. Grey
is, got in the social delight arising from a
OF union with her old friend, the load of {
on, which had so lately pressed on her he
] to 1t did indeed startle her then, in the
do ter par. of the evening, to observe
him unusually flushed and excited, in con
h a sation with a group Of ge~ntlemen-nor
to it require her perceptions quickeneC
their present intense acuteness, to disco
rom the sly chances exchanged between til
tin or their connection with the fact tina
ions had taken a glass too much. Her frs
de- sire was to get home-away-any WI
'and But before she could resolve upon any
per- finite course Of conduct, she was dest
5 on to the humiliation Of seeing and hea
our him address her old fastidious friend
k in tone and manner entirely different
ying the deferential air which always ma
bear his intercourse with ladies.
ira In a moment she was by his side,
sent her friend turning away to answer a /,
was ton from another gentleman, she b;
was whispered" do come out a momel
rang the piazza, dear Charles; it is so
INTO here :" and linking her hand in his
wltn drew him almost forcibly away.
you that short stroll in the free frosty air
Lima. returned to make their adieus, and a
/, ma passed near Mary Crofton to the
K so, ing room, she heard her remark in a
ehng der tone toher husband Oh, horl
), un- if the dear girl has married a drum
ID Ut after ALL"
a. A drunkard how those words b
o into her brain and glowed upon he
Do ion, look where she would. And no
Ill trembled and shrank from the un
On manifestation of feeling with which
, :" Crofton kissed her and babe her