Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1857-10-23

ipon him who again turns bnck TO virtue G
md honor. The child angel visits me at
lightfall, and feel the hallowihg touch of {
. tiny palm upon my feverish cheek. My
brave boy, if he yet lives, would forgive the
,orrowng old man for the treatment which
lrove him into the world, and the blow that F,
MANNED him for life. God forgive me for {
the ruin have brought upon me and mine"
He again wiped tear from his eye. My
father watched him with strange inter
est, and a countenance unusually pale and
excited by strong emotion.
~ was once fanatic and madly follow
cd the malign light which led me 10 ruin.
l was fanatic when l sacrificed my wife,
happiness and home, to the accur-
sed demon of the bowl. ] once adored the !
gentle being whom injured so deeply.
81 was drunkard. From responsibility
and affluence, ] plunged into degradation
and poverty. dragged my family down
with me- For years L saw her cheek pale,
and her step grow weary. / left her alone
amid the wreck of her idols, and rioted at
the tavern. She never complained, yet she
and the children went hungry for bread.
"One New Years night returned to the
hut whore charity had given us roof
She was up yet and shivering over the Goals.
| demanded food, but she burst into tears
and told me there was none. fiercely or
dered her to get me some. She turned her
eyes sadly upon me, the tears falling fast
over her check. AT this moment the child
in the cradle awoko and sent up famish-
ing wall, startling the despairing mother
like a scrpcnts sting.
ave have no food, James; have had
none for several days. l have nothing for
the poor babe. Oh, my once kind husband
must We indeed starve9"
"That sad, pleading face, and those
streaming eyes and the feeble wall of the
child maddencd me, and I--yes I--struck
her fierce blow in the face, aud she fell
. forward upon tho hearth. The fnries of
hell boiled in my bosom, and with deeper
intensity as l felt had committed wrong.
had never struck Mary before, but now
5 some terrible impulse drove mo on, and |
stopped as well as | could in my drunken
, state, and clenched both hands in her hair"
> "God of mercy, Jamcsw exclaimed my
| wife, as she looking up in my iendish coun-
, tenance, "you will not kill us, you will not
t harm Willie" And she sprang to the
cradle, and grasped him in her embrace.
II caught her again by the hair and
: dragged her to the door, and as L lifted
the latch, the wind burst in with cloud Of
/ snow. With the yell of a fiend, still drag
: ged her on and hurried her out into the
J. storm. With wild ha! ha! closed tho
,,,l Ill Tbo h,Ro ros
thrust out after the mother. BY this time
@ my eldest son awakened from his slumbcrs
" and against his half-maddened struggles,
e opened the door and thrust him out Ii
IS the agony of his fear he called to me by {
n name was no longer fit to bear, and lock
n his fingers into my side pocket. / coulc
& not wrench that frenziei grasp away, ant
with the GOODNESS of a devil, rs I was, shu
n the door upon his arm, and with my knife
It severed it at the wrist"
Is The speaker ceased a moment, and buri
ed his face in his hand, as if to shut on
IT some fearful dream, and his deep chest heav
s. cd like storm-swcpt sea. My father hac
n arisen from his scat, and was leaning for
Of ward, his countenance bloodess, and tn
large drops standing out upon his brow
k Chlls crept back to my young heart, and
wished was at home. The old man lool
s. cd up, and have never since beheld sue
d. mortal agony pictured upon a human fac
rs as there was on his.
IN at was morning when awokc and til
st storm had ceased, but the cold was intense
n, | first secured n drink of water, and the
v looked in the accustomed place for Mary
AS missed her for the first time, shaC
ne owy sense Of some horrible nightmare b.
" gan to dawn upon my wandering mind
nd thought ] had fearful dream, but invo
on unfairly opened the outside door with
os. shuddering dread. AS the door opened, Il
cs snow burst in, followed by the falling
something across the floor, scattering Il
rd snow and striking with sharp, bad SCUM
m My blood shot like red-hot arrows throug
l my veins, and rubbed my eyes to keep OF
bo the sight. 1t was-O God, how horrible
it was my own injured Mary and her bal
he frozen to ice The ever true mother ha
Dr. bowed herself over tho child to shield it, h
| own person stark and bare to the storm.
.ss "She had placed her hair over the fa
X of the child, and the slect had frozen it
Gu inc WulIe cncek. lHe lTOSJ WAS WIllCo
he its half opened eyes and upon It's tiny fl
Is, gers. I do not know what ever became
my bravo boy"
of Again the old man bowed his head al
ng wept, and all that were in tho house we
no with him. My father sobbed like chill
In tones of low and heart-broken pathc
. the old man concluded:
vo "I was arrested, aud for long months ra
hit ed in dclirium. | awoke, and was scnten
m ed to prison for ten years, but no tortur
I'D could have been like those endured in u
G." bosom. o God, mol am not fanat
gh | wish to njure no one. But while liz
art let mo strive to warn others not to enter d
rn- path which has boon so dark ono to mC
ID, The old man sal down, but spell
by deep and strong as that wrought by sor
wizards breath, rested upon the audionc
'rt Hearts could have been heard in their be,
he ing, and tears to fall The old man tn
gel asked the people to sign the pledge \
he. father lcaped from his scat, and snatched
nd it eagerly. i had followed him and as
d. hesitatcd n moment with the pen in the in
er a tear fell from tho old mans eye on h
Nv paper.
w. "Sign it. sign it, young man. Angc
as would sign it; would write my namc the
nd ton thonsand times In blood II II ,vou