Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1859-08-17
Who is INV Friend7

UuO u my GItcuos
Is hat man my friend whose counsels and
advice lead me to avoid everything that the
better ~promptings of my heart teach me IS
and just, and good? Is he my friend,
that would lead me to neglect my family, m
jure my character, degrade my children, and
ruin my soul? Is he that robs my suffering
wife and babes of their rights, that he may
enrich himself, and then asks me to join him
in his curses against those who would save
me from the communicating and destructive
influences of such selfish duplicity? Is he
Or rather, is it not he that, with no designs
of personal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, voluntarily steps
forward and warns me OF the danger of my
course and of the ruinous associations by
which / am surrounded Is he not my friend
who, prompted only by a desire for the vel
fare of myself and family, throws hfmselfbe-
tween me and the impending, inevitable fate
q that awaits me, if | persist in a course OF iol-
ly and error, and struggle to rescue mel he
| pleads, persuades, beseeches-alihi his eloquence
/ and influence is brought into requisitiOn for
my redemption, when, personally, he can
3 have no peculiar interest in the matter-isnot
/ such an one my friend? Surely, he must
S be-he is!
dl Well. poor misguided, infatuated slave Of
d the bottle, this is thy case--aH is policy, it
IS is to the interest of the liquorseller, that he
i !, s assa 2 rswta SHsy ven Is his 1oas7moa, his me
n dimes hat would otherwise go to enhance
the comfort and happiness Of the loved ones
a at home, are dropped into has drawer. He
Ia knows that while you frequent his establish
ment and listen to his invectives against those
he who would befriend you, and anon PHYS the fatal
nd GLASS. he knows that he is but riveting the
nd chains of slavery that tester upon thy man
-, acled limbs, and forging new letters that viii
EN- bind you to still deeper degradation, Hence
:, it is his business to arouse all the prejudlces
Of YOUR nature against those who would in
on ~terfere with you in your ruinous pursuit,
me and vauntingly discourses on the glorions
liberty of an American freeman. Freeman,
sit indeed, Answer for myself, deluded Inc
br;ate-art thou a FREEMAN? Canst thou
zoo spurn from thy lips the tyrant that is grinding
!. i, thee into the earth with the iron heel of his
10 despotism? Cast thou pass the vile lazar-
= or house where thou hast imbibed the fatal dis
Won ease, without entering again and mhahng
anew the foul infection that has Frustrated
every energy, physical, social and moral, with
j. - which you were once possessed, and where
$3.50 thym master stands and hands thee the circean
wife cup of death, and you dare not refuse, but
the drink it to the bitter dregs. You fireman!
-, $780,. y --a- +Aa napna apd We know
soon Thou art a libel upon the name, anu 0A"0"
t find it and feel it; and here comes one that en-
deavors to get you to acknowledge it and re
solve to abandon the cup forever.
He is a Son of Temperance All but yo'
detest him-the very name IS abhorrent I
y, NE your ear. Why SO? Thine enemy, the II
- Dy ouor-seller, has poisoned thy mind with lies
= nhs that he might live upon your earnings. haS
Years thou not tried him long enough to know tina
! : : he speaks evil of all sood-that he Islander
y, and maligns every fundamentally for bene
:. a. client and noble purposes. Hast thou NJ
found him to be a liar, and art thou not full
- convinced he is a bad man? Why COMIC
any longer in his falsehoods, and hug the V
49, per that has stung thee, to thy heart, and il
!, kind iu'eu ~ poi'o ous n' "H0ie
the du- opurh mn anu iiSeeh Y tHe VOICE Vi reaso
,vertv What advantage or interest can that ma
fannn have in thy reformation, other than thy ow
unb;d. good? He is free, his family are comfortab
anu happy -the breath ol destroyer .
. b,s not into his cheerful home-but he looks oY
,o; at his neighbor and sees its influence and
a. fects there. Prompted by the voice of h
manity and benevolence stirred up in his oV
80 ~ heart, he comes and appeals to you by all t
r. His
4lowed,
- is it he that would sink you into a drunkarC
grave, and sharpen the finger Of scOrn to poi
!" @ in derision at the drunkard's widow and oh
0A " dren he had left penniless upon the chariti
of an unfeeling world? Answer the quests
Ie "ae thyself.