The weekly ledger., 1857-06-27
Temperance Story.

For a moment the speaker seemed lost in
thought, and then in low and tremulous
tone commenced There was depth in that
voice, a thrilling pathos and sweetness, which
riveted every heart in the house before the
! first period had been rounded. My fathers
attention had become fixed on the speaker
with an interest which l had never before
seen him exhibit. | can but briefly remember
the substance of what the old man said, tho
the scene is as vivid before me as any that
ever witnessed
"My friends:-I am stranger in your
village, and trust may call you all friends.
A star has arisen, and there is hope in the
dark night which hangs like a pail Of gloom
over our country"
With thrilling depth of voice the speaker
continued:
"Ol God, thou who lookest with compass
sion upon the most erring Of earth's children,
| thank thee that brazen serpent has been
| lifted, upon which the drunkard can look and
be helped; that beacon has burst upon the
darkness that surrounds him, which shall guide
back to honor and Heaven the bruised and
weary wanderer
al am an old man, standing alone at the
end of life's journey; there is deep sorrow
in my heart and tears in my eyes. | have
iourneyed over dark and beaconless ocean,
and life's hopes have been wrecked. | am
without home, friends or kindred upon EARTH
and look with longing to the rest Of the night
of death. Without friends, kindred or homel
TWAS not once so!
"No, my friends; it was not so oncel-
Away over the dark waves which have wreck
ed my hopes, there is a blessed light Of hap
piness and home: | reach again conyu-
syely for the shrines Of the household idols
that once were, but now mine no more"
The old man seemed looking through fancy
upon some bright vision, his lips apart and
finger extended. | involuntarily turned in
the direction where it was pointed, dread
ing to see some shadow enyolyed by its move
ments.
"I once had a mother. With her heart
crushed with sorrow she went down to the
gravel / once had wife-a fair angel crea-
ture as ever smiled in an earthly home. Her
eyes mild as summer sky, and her heart as
faithful and true as ever guarded husbands
love. Her blue eyes grew dim as the floods
of sorrow washed away their brightness and
the living heart was wrung until every fibre
was broken. | once had noble, brave and
beautiful boy but he was driven out from the
ruins Of his home, and my old heart yearns
to know if he yet lives-I once had baby
"a sweet. tender blossom, but my hands
destroyed it, and it lives with One who loves
children:
"Do not be startled, friends; l am not a
murderer in the common acceptance of the
term. Yet there is light in my evening
sky. A spirit mother rejoices over the re-
turn of her prodigal son. The wife smiles
upon him who again turns back to virtue and
honor. The child angel visits me at night
and feel the haowed touch of a tiny palm
upon nv feverish cheek My brave boy, if
he vet lives, would forgive the sorrowing old
man for the treatment which drove him into
the world, and the blow that MANNED him for
life. God forgive me for the ruin have
brought upon me and mine"
He again wiped "a tear from his eye. My
father watched him with a strange interest,
and countenance unusually pale and excited
by some strange emotion.
~ was once fanatic, and madly followed
the malign light which led me to ruin. was
a fanatic when | sacrificed my wife, children,
hanniness and home, to to the accursed demon
of the bowl. | once adored the gentle being
whom injured so deeply.
"I was drunkard. From respectability
and afluence, plunged into poverty and
degradation. | carried my family down with
me. For years saw her cheek pale and her
step grow weary. | left her aione amid the