Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-12-02
Enr tha. Shirt nf the. Ace


DEAR BIO. GoRMAN: I have read nothing
that has so mortified and discouraged me, as
a Son of Temperance, as the confirmation In
your paper of the fall Of P. M. w. p. Philip
S. White, as you truly style him-"The Pc
nowned Temperance Lecturer / had In
deed heard insinuations and. reports, even
when travelling through eur State, but | gave
them no credence, and attributed them to
our opponents eager desire to inlure the
cause by throwing suspicion around hename
of our greatest champion. For the boldness
of his propositions, his thorough acquain-
lance with the subject in all its phases, and
his eloquent, persuasive manner, | have
thought him unsurpassed by any men l ever
heard on the subject, except perhaps one
He certainly did more to advance the Order
of the Sons of Temperance in North Carolina
than any other one man. He was the pio-
neer lecturer he went into regions and la
bored successfully, where men of less SAN
guine and more timid t~emperaments, would
have feared to venture. He made friends to
the cause wherever he went, and made an
impression On the minds of many that will
never be erased. He made no compromise
with the liquor traffic he literally bearded
the lion in his den ; it was war to the knife
and the knife to the hilt ; and have reason
to know that he made himself personal enc
mics among liquor dealers, by his scathing
satire on their business.
But he has fallen The information comes
too straight and authentic to longer admit of
a doubt. Will it not injure and greatly OBJ
struct the progress of the temperance cause ?
The liquor sellers are chuckling over it
Already have | heard one say always
thought him a humbug." Another-"I ex-
pect he carried his bottle with him when he
was lecturing in n. c." Another-"I pre-
dicted he would go to drinking again"
But ought it not to stimulate true friends
to greater exertions in support of the princi-
pies of the Order Yes; we are sure we
are right and we ought to. !" go ahead" des-
pite the detection of the great Apostle of tenn
perance. Indeed to my mind it affords a
strong argument in favor of our principles !;
an illustration of the great danger to which
all are exposed who tamper with alcoholic
liquors. / have heard it gravely argued bv
some, who profess not to be opposed, but to
lack confidence in our ultimate triumph,
that no we'll authenticated case can be pro-
duced of a reformed drunkard dying a sober
man, unless, perhaps, he was carried off pre-
maturely by some other disease. | am not
sufficiently informed whether or not this car
be proven by facts; but the frequent back
slidings among those who have held out fol-
years, and asin this case, gained a very prom
inent position in the temperance ranks, gives
strength to the idea. Let all thus circum
stanced take warning and renew their pledge
and determinations to stand to the flag of to
tai abstinence. A.
Our Correspondent but expresses the feel
ing Of modification which every true man
as well as Son of Temperance, experience
on hearing of the fall of Philip S. White
man whom we once delighted to honor, an
who as an orator was second to but few me
in this country. But we think his fears ar
unnecessarily excited, as to the injury to tn
cause which the jibes and jeers of our enC
mics, concerning the unfortunate affair, ma
produce. We had much to do with Phil
S. White while in our State, and were wit
him in many places, but we never saw an
thing which, in the slightest degreee, cause
us to suspect his fidelity to the pledge of t.
tai abstinence. We know not what othel
may have seen or known concerning him, bl
zoe never saw any thing to induce US to b
lieve him a hypocrite. This much we fe
due to him.
AS to the remark which our Correspol
dent quotes" that no well-authenticatc
case can be produced, of a reformed drum
ard dying q sober man, unless, perhaps,
was carried off prematurely by some 9th
, disease"-wE KNOW that FACTS will not ST
= tain this broad and uncharitable assertion
e In our own city, within the last fifteen yeal
e we have known several men, who had lol
been very dissipated, who, after long years
: reform, quietly died, not only as faithful a
e herents to total abstinence, but as true a
Il humble christians. We could call the nam
{ of some half dozen, if it were proper for
to do so, who have thus lived and died-a
we doubt not almost every other cOmmu
ty could furnish similar instances. We
sorry to have to admit that so many who
form and run so we'll for a season, do go ba
to their cups-but there are hundreds a
thousands of men in heaven, and many mt
n son earth who will, by the grace of God,
Us there, who were and are reformed inebriat
e We beg our friend "a" not to believe
. readily the croakings of those who have
l taken the trouble to examine carefully il
the facts. -EDITOR.
u - ~-