Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-10-27

~ We are always delighted to see any
Of our State papers say any thing in behalf
Of Temperance. The following exec lent ar
ticle is from the Washington Dispatch.
Intemperance.
Ours, it is true, is not a Temperance
Journal" but at the same time it is designed
to be, in its proper place, a social renovator.
This will account for the above caption, and
the appearance of this article.
We consider the vice of intemperance as
one of the most ruinOus, and yetmore gener-
al, than any one evil Of the many with which
our country is cursed. Many a promising
youth, the hope of aged and devoted parents
declining years, have been caught in its
meshes. Blinded by its magic spell, they
have gone on in "dram-drinking," until their
genius has been palsied, sensibilities blunted,
and their moral appetites debased, have drag
ged out a lingering and wretched existence,
If spared for a while, no account to them
selves or any body else, until, finally, they
have died bankrupts in character and means,
their sun having set in a blackened storm
cloud Of despair, without a solitary ray of
hope to shed its light and beauty Ger their
eternal waste Young men, we say to you
there Is poison in the bowl. "Touch not,
taste not" the %unclean thing. You may nO0
be far from being a Grunkard, and not for a
moment even realize the bare idea of ever
becoming one. Alas this as one of the ma
ny deceptives Of inebriacy. Many who, once
like you, stood erect in the pride of conscious
security, have fallen and are lost! As with
them, so it aoiU be with you. Better never
have reached that point, where, feeling the
necessity of stopping, you find too late that
you can't do it. Engage once in the habit
Of drinking, and it will steal upon you un-
awares, until having grown with your
growth" and increasing powerfully in it's
strength, you will find yourself, Sampson
like-shorn Of your moral locks, and lost
forever!
1t is related of the Boa Constructor, that
when about to destroy its victim, it first deals
a stunning blow, and while in an unconscious
state, it throws its coil around it, and then
brushes it to death. So drunkenness will do
with you. Ere it strikes its final blow, it
will first stun By its fascination, and rob you
of consciousness, and then destroy
Young man, we say to you with emphatic
earnestness, stop before its too late-before
you are ruined finally and forever. If now
you are reading these lines, resolpe neuer to
let one drop Of the " liquid fire. 90 dozen
yonr throat. You will then enjoy all the
pleasures of s~obriety, and when you go down
to your grave you will enjoy the inspiring
consciousness that you are not one to be ad.
ded to the many millions already destroyed
by the monster intemperance, and whose des.
tiny is an eternal horror and despair. The
path Of success and usefulness is before you.
f 1t is your privilege to cultivate the graces Of
" Temperance, Fortitude and Virtue" /
you do so, it shall be "well with thee and
the decline of thy life shall bring to thee the
! bright and glowing tints of a joyous and
eternal future! The records Of the grave
yard will exemplify these views on either
side. Choose which shall be thine