Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-04-14
From the Richmond Christian Advocate.
THE FIRST GLASS OF WINE.
BY THOMAS F. RAGLAN


Look not on wine although the cup
Be crimsoned with its ruby stain
Look not, it's filled with wormwood up.
And blood, and burning tears of pain"
With how many has. the first glass Of
VINE been the stepping-sA me to ruin-the
the coJtARNattJf JtRNat fred aast the tsms of the squI
almost irrefragible cable that bound them
in base vassalage to depraved appetite.
How many families are there who could
justly attribute their descent from rank and
atiuence to state of abject poverty and
misery, to the first glass of wine, taken by
the thoughtless husband or father. How
many ragged, degraded inebriates, totter-
ing on the brink Of pauper graves, attri-
butte their present wretchedness to the first
glass OF wine taken in the bloom of youth,
when their hearts were beating high with
the hopes of the future. All! truly, swine
is a mocker."
Some few years since young man
might have been seen standing, silent and
motionless at the window of a fashionable
hotel IN one ofour Southern cities. He was
IN deep meditation the unknown future
engrossed his thoughts; hitherto his path
through life had been rugged, bordered
with thorns, with an occasional fowret
opening here and there. His sky, from his
infancy, had been overcast with dark, mur-
ky clouds, which sunbeam would now
and then light up, but soon disappear, and
leave HIM In darkness again. His parents
were dead he never received mothers
smile nor a fathers blessing; they died
ere he had learned to lisp their names.
An orphan, he had met an orphans fate;
thrown out upon the cold and unsympa-
thizing world, he had experienced its
wrongs and its cruelties, but against the
cold, freezing breath Of adversely he had
battled mantnlly, and was almost VICTOR
Virtue has its reward" thought he; "my
life has indeed been mantled with the folds
OF thick, black darkness oh with what
rapture will greet the first beams that
shall burst the gloom" A voice from with
IN him whispered mo cross, no crown !;
keep in virtues path, and you will reach
the goal the door of the temple stands
open; the garland made of bright, fade
less flowers, is IN wasssg to wreathe your
brow, and the harps are ready strung to
charm your soul with strains Of sweetest
melody" )" flush of Joy mantled his cheek,
as Hope led his mind along her embroi-
E dered pathway to green fields, over which
no gloomy cloud of sorrow rested; and in
the contemplation of happiness in reserve
, for him, he forgot the dark, gloomy past.
"Be done with your reveries, julius, %
said gay young man, entering the room
"defer your musings to the silent midnight
hour; tell you the time will be more ap-
) Propiate wake up, my good fellow, and
) let US take stroll before tea the evening
is glorious the god Of day has Just now
: immured himself in the western wave: the
western horizon is arrayed in a gorgeous
! drapery, and the stellar host are peeping
one by one, from out the soft, blue sky: /
t tell you, scene like this, with the bland
i evening breeze, is worth months musing.''
| Il dare say am as ardent lover OF
| natural scenery as yourself" said Julius,
extending his hand.
+ Arm in arm, the young men wandered
/ forth, conversing rapturously upon the glo.
rious scenery. The last appearance Of day.
light had faded away in the West, and the
E silvery faced moon had arisen above tho
5 Eastern hills before they stopped to retrace
E their steps.
:. When just opposite to large fashion
e able saloon, julius was invited by his frienc
to join him in bottle of wine. mo, no, ;
0 said he; Il cannot join you; please excus,
: me: I never drink wine.n
It @Come, come," said his companion; "