Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-01-07
For the Spirit of the Age.
To the Social Circle.

the inexpressible feelings that thrilled his
bosom, when he was young, when Christ
mas, with its festivities and f@rolies, was ap-
preaching?
Ladies, don't you recolIect, when yon
were girls, how you baked your Street
cakes" /" Pound cakes" q %snowballs," &c,
&c All yes the remembrance comes
laden with the joys of bye-gone years.
Gentlemen, we can recall the feelings OF
our boyhood. How We used our every
means and a~rtifce, to obtain some powder
to help US make a noise; how, when We could'n Mt
beg nor borrow an old gun, We would bore
holes in logs and trees, to shoot " Christ
mas gum"
And every time We fred it off
It took a horn of powder,
1t made o noise like daddy's gun,
Only q nation louder"
And we remember too, how, when we
arrived at mans estate, (and often BEFORE
VIC would indulge In that common christ
mas drink :-Egg-Nogg Speaking Of egg
nogg, reminds me of a frolic | once hadl
, and, with your permission Ladies, | vii
! relate some Of its incidents.
Once upon q time, (and [ shall put it
upon the latter part Of my teens) myself
, aud two other kindred spirits, whom
shall call Jim, and Bill, met at the Grand
fathers Of the former for the ostensible
purpose of playing together; but in reality
to make night hideous with our orgies, and
,f for the latter purpose generally chose some
out of the way-place-sometimes on the
river, pretending to be fishing; at others GO
: ing to bed early and then stealing out when
ie all were still. Wherever we were, howey-
10 err, liquor o. some sort and two or three.
darkies were our inseparable companions.
to On the night In question, We held our
er saturralia in an old store house, some dis
H. lance from any other building. We COM
it menced operations by uncorking bottles of
he Porter, Of which there were several, and
10 letting the liquor fly into the faces Of the
- darkies. But we disliked to sec it wasted
in such a manner 50 we changed the "cur-
'"' rent Of its furious fow," downwards, semi
ne occasionally alternating with whiskey.
by About ten o'clock we became the pos
md SCISSORS of some two or three empty bottle:
.ds. each, the contents of which, possessed as
of whilst ace, in turn, took possession of ever,
Of part Of the room. The spirit Of conques
-cle was now fully aroused, and We were pre-
Z is pared for eggnobler deeds.
laa "Let's have some egg-hic-nogg," erie
al Jim, as he was promenading the room in
very circuitous manner. "Aaree-hic-e
where's the eggs" cried Bill and I, starr
as counter, and running somewhat precip
over lately against the ceiling. Crank, brin;
Z. some eggs here qui-hic-ick." "Mas, seen
der Amt none" II know better sa
e. Jim, aunt Lucy or Sarah's go-hic-ot son
here''-and n tumbler full of liquor disa'
peared and 50 did the darkies, yelling
corn-song like Camaaches.
r. In a short time they came back with
dozen of eggs, the contents of which we
, speedily emptied-the white, into two G
earthen basins, and the "yaller," into
old crock of the same material, and the {
,.o,. Grafton of Cheating began. At leng
we succeeded in getting it ready for drir
ing; but q more villainous compound ne,
mars issued from the shop Of any quack. NJ
theless, VS. drank it, intermitting w
kings wrestling, boxing, and ground tumblir
Among the confused ideas that now
gan to fit across my brain, was one Il
= AOO Vi ~ AOLAC llliG AIEuG l. ull4OUD(
my intention to do so and forthwith start
Jim, though very tight himself, thou,
/. that L could not get home; so, he got ]
to come after me and set me to come ba
and stay till morning. BY the time ]
overlook ME [ had rounded to-" unde
large walnut that stood in the old fel
j find. short distance from the store, and was
deavorlng to take the bearings of nv no,
W ward course. Bill could not induce me
60 back; for dru-no, tight as | wa
knew that unless [ was at home 500,
'"N " the morning, a regular dressing was
portion from my father, especially. ii
10 arm had the least s~upicion Of how had pas
the night. l proceeded home; both s.
isle of the road being mine. I was not af
of loosing my way, for
Il The moon was shining silver bright.
The stars with glory crown'd the mig
There was but one place that [ drea
t claim T Ino aa~ ult tIo +G4 tne oIiuse across the II
eiyn wide to hold me, and [ feared that
bridge would not. On reaching it,
ut fair alter some consideration, [ adopted
coonlng principle, and SO, like ano
brute, went over.
{ gold" ~ s"en'y yaioS from tue Or
own ~ - wv, was Que across the
full till race. Scoring to cross 1t in SO able
manner, | reared myself upright. an
that position. essayed its passage.
impetus that [ gave myself on starting.
me some distance further than neces
'n' and, on turning to the proper course, |
upon a stone, which rolling forwards, t
the center Of gravity some distance be
~. ~. me. In my endeavors to regain thi,
Francis portant principle in Philosophy, [
had the trcading backwards, and backwards.
his leg. still backwards, till-splash, and I
,tor, the myself in the bottom of the race. Fo
into an ately, the water nor the race was deem
~; rem [ scrambled out-being only slightly
all Who ted. My only care no#, was, how [
his life get into the house without attractins
ID using notice of my father. Judging from
ich soon latencss of the hour that he and the f
the leg, were all asleep, | pulled open the
ana the (Which, like doors generally are, in 10.
all VINO ins,-hung on the outside SO as to a
I" hang to-" and were never latehed,
entered the house. I CROPPED about
from . dark till | found my bed, and ente
e " VIA 81, from the foot. After crawling a suf
liable Of way up it, as I thought it, I pitche