Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-02-03
For the Spirit of the Age.
A Word to Young Men.

AWhat pearls and rubies does the wine dis c
close,
Making the purse poor to enrich the nose! :
How does it nurse disease afIiict the heart,
Drawing some sickness into every partT"
RANDOLPH.
You've MEN In the traffic of ardent spir-
its, it is presumed you have never engaged, :
and the probability is, never will Yet Of
all men, none are more exposed to these en-
sharing dens, than the impetuous, ardent, :,
generous-hearted young man. To you we !
shall call things by their rectus n0men-and 9
would impress indellibly on your minds what '
perhaps you already believe-that to use J
spirits as a beverage, or for social enjoyment, J
IS the very essence of its abuse. 1t is axio- !
matte of most men, and particularly young
men, whenever they become addicted to the
communicating habit and truthful practice of
drinking, to take too much at times ; seem
ingly unconscious of what they are doing, and
the evil result such a course of misconduct
has in debasing and demoralizing mans char
acter. Why, if it were not for the moderate
drinker filling up the thinning ranks of the
army of ~drunkards, they would have all pass
ed away thirty years ago, and you and /
would have been wondering what sort of an
animal a drunkard was. Indeed, ''contra Boz
nus leges contra bonus mores." Besides the
crimson face, the erugiRous eye, the swollen
proboscis, the disheyeled hairs. and decrepit
body, would excite us with asympathy's ce-
~lestial tear" to cry aloud; sOh Temporal
Oh Mores I! oh Mosesi!t What a monstros-
ity!
ely drunkenness, whose vile incontinence
Takes both away the reason and the sense,
Till with circean cups thy mind possest
Leaves to be man, and wholly turns a beast"
The gradual and certain progress of those
who tamper with this temptation, to the level
of the ~drunkard, is an A, B., c, demonstration
of the fact, that we all have witnessed and
stereotyped on our minds from many a tenn
perance speech. Yet there are exceptions
here and there, like the moon among the
myriads of bright stars that deck the azure
vault of heaven, and every moderate drinker
stoutly claims to be this exception. And fire.
quently, under circumstances when his ideas
frightened with the invigorating draught, es
tablishes the fact that he can, and is then ia
king it prudently-by proving, according t.
the laws of chemistry, that a candle shining
thro' the window at night upon the worlC
{ without, is a star of the first magnitude, loca
ted in the constellation Of Bacchus.
"Oh that man should put an enemy in
His mouth, to steal away his brains"
In NEUROLOGICAL history there is a beautifr
e fable of the sirens. These sea nymphs on til
# . coast of Sicily, who charmed so much wit
:. their melodious voices that all those WI
d opened '~arrectis auribus," neglected the
employment and wasted the sweetness of Ii
e upon 'the desert air" Their charms we
If never resisted but once, and that by "Ulyses
er who being forewarned of the danger of the
magic power, when sailing by the islar
e. stopped the ears of all of his crew with wa
is and had himself bound to the mast of his shi
OF with commands not to be obeyed if broug
I'D under their magic spell. Thus he r~esiste
Every cup is a siren, and all who yield to
ps entertainments are dragged into the beat
tn track that leads to wretchedness, crime, m
u Fery and death. 1t behooves you, then, {
nd young man, to hold fast to integrity, and Ii
Use Ulysses, remove the vice from others, by p
$; suading them to visit the perennial fields
re temperance, and drink of her pure and CT.
lrd tai waters, gushing ever fresh from her int
ver haustible font! Beware shun avoid
- facinations of the foaming bowlll It is
ing a gllded mockery-a cheat-false as the
lis, ren's song on oceans wave; false as the lig
our ening's lurid glare and d~eceitful as the he;
m breathing's of the ssoeet Coquette playing W
ten the down upon her lovers cheeks.
Le; Here is the promising youth of a haI
up family-helov andis loved by all hisfrier
go and through the spontaneous feelings 0
not generous heart yields to his companions
ur cial glass. Just one time" can possibly
him no harm, but a breach in the walls of
ner safety has been made-he is pleased with
e is exhilarating effect; and the languor that
out cessarily follows this artificial excitem
are creates a desire for zone glass more - az
the he is tempted, more readily he yields,
a thus is the one glass accomplishing its ho
IAN work-not in a day, or in a week, but stea
lily, and steadily over him from month
art, month, and year to year, all this time abb
use ring the character of the drunkard, and Ii
lin ~suspecting he is becoming one himself
"Oh thou invisible spirit of wine,
If thou hast no name to be known b,
tile Let us call thee DEvLw
him Clay Hill, S. G. B. C.
-. -