Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-08-04
Letter to Young Ladies'

"PPiVNS vi uatbhiugs WOuAQ never JHluk OF
Intoxicating drinks by himself or
with bis male companions, but he could
refuse a glass OF wine or cordial when =
lady offered it to him." :
All my dear girls, is it possible that 6
any Of you, for whom / write, are so b
t~houghtless as to temptyoung men through il
their ;gallantry, to the formation of habits a
which may prove their ruin, and bring I'M !
told Indebtedness upon yourselves? Do !
you not know the insidioHs nature Of the !
fend that turks in the Intoxicating draught? q
Are you not aware that a few tastes may t
create a fondness that will lead to a rope I
tition Of the draught2 This young friend :
whose remark ] haze Just quoted, is one J
for whose future usefulness | had entertain !.
ed high hopes. How a | bear the
thought Of his going ont into the world,
and meeting with fair tempters at every
turn, who will offer the sparkling wine or
brandy cordial, which his ideas of gallantry
w(9Snot let him refuse, till an appetite is
created for alcoholic stinulants ? Then
his bright prospects will be forever clouded.
Then ruin, Indebtedness and woe, will he
written in legible characters upon his future,
and upon that of her whose destiny shall
be linked with his. | wish he had the
frmness to say, mo, | thank you, Madam,
never taste anything of the kind" But
since he has not, appeal to you to save
him from danger, to which his position ex-
poses him. He thinks he occupies pretty
high ground, bnt fiom that very point there
is a road leading straight to destruction,
and it is down-hill all the way. He is
standing there with hundreds of others,
really to take the direction you shall indi-
cate. If you beckon them downwards,
they are lost, and you may yourselves be
overwhelmed in their downfall. The man
who never touches any preparation con-
tanning alcohol will never die a drunkard,
but this cannot be affirmed with certainty
of any one who does taste those prepare
tons. Thousands of promising Young men
have been ruined, who would have been
blessings to the word, if women had never
tempted them.
A young girl once induced a young man
to drink a glass Of wine, for her sake, who
had promised his mother on her dying bed,
that he would taste no intoxicating drinks,
and had kept his promise to hat hour
lie was more easily tempted next time,
and continued to taste whenever it was Of
fered, till he began to love it, and when il
was not offered by his fair friends as otter
as he wished, he procured it for himself
After a time she married this young man
wholly unconscious of the mischief she haC
done, and without the least suspicion tina
he was becoming incorporate. But St
rapid was his descent, that when her frs
infant was three days old, she sprang from
l her bed, and ran barefoot into the snow, t
escape the brutal fury of her drunken hus
band. She died a few days after in conse
, quence of this exposure.
I OF all human beings, woman is'most II
2 terested to exert the full force of her Unfit
! in favor Of total abstinence, for if intempel
ance comes, its heaviest curse falls upo
D her. Two days ago, a delicate lookin
: woman came into my room to beg food fc
: herself and children. | should think frol
her appearance she had been well raisct
but her face was o! so sad, SO hopeless
a She told me her story. They had bee
a living in Nashville. Her husband was i
r temperate. In a drunken revel he tire
k a rock at another man, cutting a deep gas
: in his head. IIeknew he would be brougl
before the police court; having no none
r to pay his fine, and dreading the workhous
= he fled from the city. His wife heard
C was in McMinnville, and so she started c
, foot, with an infant of seven months in h
arms, and a child of five years by her sid
o to 20 from Nashville to McMinnvilIe,
n distance of seventy miles, in search of h
husband, begging her food by the way.
Her feet were blistered, and had it not be
p for the strong love implanted in a mothe
"a heart, she would gladly have lain down
p release her from her woes.
e, When | was a child of some eleven
IN twelve summers, an Irishman in my fathe
employ, occupied, with his family, a SIN
AT house not very far from our residence,
We On one occasion, he came home a drunE
demoniac. In her terror, his wife fl
OF with her children, to our house for prot
ton from his violence. / stood before
with fearful eyes, as | saw her wiring
her hands and crying in bitter anguish
She turned her swollen eyes upon me,
said with passionate earnestness, "Euger
do you see yourself dashed in pieces aga
the rocks Of the sea, before You trust W
self to any man living" / an not pre-
op- ed to endorse her advice fully, for ind
the | have not followed it myself. have t
tie, ted one man, and have no cause to re;
and it, but by the way, he was, and is, al
mar doubt not ever will be a tetotal tempers
Zen, man. would, however, urge upon
ono to encounter almost any danger or p
1;od sooner than trust yourself to a maj
re- does not, from principle, totally abs
lith. from all intoxicating drinks. You
first not fear that you cannot find such ge1
not men. There are some, and by your i
ence rightly cxerted their number m
star be greatly increased. Yes, there are S,
ger and natures noblemen they are, who W
lot to save Alright hand, give theirinfu
in favor of a practice SO traught with I
err as ry to mankind, and especially to VOL
had kind. Only a day or W since ha'
the pleasure of conyersing with a young ge
I'd to man Of this class, who told me be. ha
was idea of the taste of alcohol, having 1
year tasted it in his life. A young uan
rnsh. firmly adheres to correct principles OF
5 if subject, will be likely to do so on all
Just crs, and to such a one you may safely
auto file the keeping of your happiness. I