Spirit of the age., 1860-11-07

Reason being dethroned, the Judgment
weakened. and the social feelings debased,
conscience loses the strong pillars of its sup
port The baser feelings of nature are at
the same time in1amed, and the blast of the
sirocco sweeps over the soul. What shall be
thought of practice, that not only injures
the body and weakens the intellect, but also
brings blight over all that is good and
heavenly in our moral nature. 1t obliterates
the fear Of God from the heart, effaces his
iuias from the 1Iui, blasts Tie present emt
tons of the bosom, and brings darkness DER
al the prospects Of futurity
Let us look also at the social evils Of this
vice. 1t is sometimes said that the drunkard
does more harm to himself than to any body
clse Be this as it may, it is certain that |
others share in his wretchedness. If man
had even a right to injure himself he has no
right to bring ruin upon others. But the /
TIppler brings desolation to his fireside, and |
anguish to the heart of his wife, mother, and |
child. You can readily tell the dwelling of |
the inebriate. In passing through the coun-
try, you will sometimes meet with a miser-
able house. The roof has openings, the win
dows are broken, the house dilapidated, the
fencing demolished the grounds uncu.tivated
and overrun with weeds and briars, the chill
dren in rags and the whole scene wearing |
an aspect of desolation and extreme misery.
You at once conclude that drunkard is the
occupant. If you inquire into his history,
! you will probably learn that he was the son
of respectable parents and set out in life with
golden prospects. Social, generous and fond
of society, he was the favorte of every circle
in youth. Among his acquaintances he found
one to whom he gave his hearts best early
love, and she returned love no less intense.
! When he led her to the marriage altar, the
blessings of the wise and good rested on the
happy pair. He had wealth, friends, charm
ing home, and a wife who adored him. But
after few years hao passed, change came
over the scene. His property is tending to
ruin, his wealth is being squandered, the in
roads of intemperance are visible upon his
person, the redness of his eyes, his boated
countenance, and his unsteady STEP Look
at his wife! There-are traces of sorrow in
her countenance. Her detected look, her
swollen eye, tell that woes have swept over
her heart. Her fondest hopes have been
blighted, her tenderest affections have been
wounded. She has awoke to the awful con-
sciousness that her husband is a drunkara
She resolves, however, that she will attempt
to win him back to virtue, sobriety and love-
For this purpose she showers upon him a
thousand nameless fascinations. All that her
treasured love can devise, is employed to lure
! him once more to honor and happiness. She
entreats him by all that is desirable in the
3 comforts of fortune not yet entirely spent
and social position not yet altogether for
feited; she appeals to the purity and bliss of
: their first love- and points to their children,
: the pledges of it. With tears and burning
| eloquence, she entreatS him to break the
: chains that are fast forming around him.
0 She paints the dark and fearful future in
: vivid colors-themselves in poverty, their
= children in rags and bearing the curse of
knowing that their father is a drunkard; her
= own heart broken, and looking for no rest
v but in the grave; all of which must come to
Y pass, if he continues in his evil ways On
: the other hand she beckons him on by ap.
Q pealing to his hopes. He may yet retrieve
G his losses and regain his position, if he will
l. only abandon his cups and unite with the
l. great Temperance reformation. He is moved
n by her tears and eloquence. He feels thai
he can rend asunder the chords which fettel
l. him-he will be once more a man. For
IF time he keeps his vow But companions
d urge him to accompany them to their haunts
e lie goes with them to the scenes of tempta
10 ton, and his resolutions vanish like drops O
h snow before the breath of spring. The frs
= draught intlamcs his appetite, and the ole
S. taste for drink returns upon him with ten
r. fold power. Soon his remaining propert,
c. and friends are gone and you find him tn,
Is inmate of that wretched hovel. Step by step
is in rapid strides, he is marching down ward
4 to the most sorrowful of all endS-G drunk
N ard'S death
:. This, my friends is the history of thou
l. sands. The broad road to endless misery j
l. thronged by multitude of such travellers
h Who can estimate the sufferings endured b.
if his wife ? The midnight tears witnessed b.
le no human eye; the long hours of alternat
of hopes and fears, and the bitter despair of he
e. soul, when al her efforts proved unavailing
N What name will you give to vice, whic
le brings such lingering murder to many of tn
er fondest hearts that beat in our world? Ever
IN young man who drinks moderately, is in dar
as ger OF reaching that melancholy goal. Their
e- is nothing to shield the habitual moderat
drinker; nothing in the responsibility of you
ci parentagc; nothing in wealth, learning, c
Is. professional eminence; nothing in selfrespcc
IT. or love of wife or home; nothing in all thes
is influences combined, can give you assuranC
mt that yoa will not become drunkard in you
Id youth, if you habitually, or even OCCASIONAL,
IS taste the intoxicating bowl
se Drinking in small quantities has made tt
20 two hundred thousand drunkards with whiC
ng our land is curse. Indeed it is the only a
ng enue opening to the broad roed of Intempe
IL ance. While others have fallen, you una
fall. Come not within the outer circles
~, this vortex of destruction. If we could cor
tai mand the elements, we would cause the blac
be ness of darkness to gather over the whirlpool
he we would bid the thunders echo their voice
Ito and the lurid lightnings blaze, and to evel
he needless mariner we would say-'sTAND OFF
ess come not within reach of the outer eddies
nd for death is in the awful whirlpool
les The Temperance reformation has partial
ut arrested the evil of which we speak. Sou
ig- years ago it was estimated that thirty tho
at- sand died annually of intemperance. VIII
lrit many have come under the influence of t
ed, principle of sobriety, there remains gre
ith work yet to be done. Supposing that or
the half of the population of this country is nC
aeached by this reformation, there would y
lch remain as large number of men exposed
the the danger as when the great movement co
'ect menced, for the population has doubled
,lly the last semi-century. The inmates of pr
eel ons, alms-houses and insane asylums still t
the a fearful tale. More than half the crimn
bri- and victims of misfortune owe their prese
y, situation to the use of alcoholic drinks.
the has been estimated that the cost of these
\ OF quors to the community in fifty years,
,ed been equal to the valuation of all the lanC
tuai property fifty years ago. In view of th
inal facts no one will deny that the evils rest
ure ing from intemperance have become SO ext
lion sivc and desolatng as to call for the most v