Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1861-02-06

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i thank you for the compliment. So ven
think me in danger of becoming such mis-
erable sot; but hope have too much pride,
If nothing else, to keep me from degrading
myself thus
AT your age did he not think the same9
A few years ago did be not look as fair as
you; did he not think himself as strong p
And what = - now. where is his manliness
end beasty of Wick he was then so proud
His miserable fae6 haunted me all night, and
| dreamed of~1is broken-hearted wife, and
his poor children, blighted in their youth by
their own parsnts. Oh, James, the Bible
says truly wine is mocker, and he that is
deceived thereby is not wise, and SO long as
we tamper with the poison, we have no right
to say we are safe. Those only are secure
who obey the exhortation to touch not,
taste not handle not, and have resolved,
after prayerfuI deliberation, never to be gull
ty of Offering that insidious foe to my friends,
much less to that dearest of all friends, him
in whom all my life is bound up"
You don't mean to say that you mean to
exclude wine frem our dinner-table and from
cur social parties p
Believing it to be dangerous. / do
Then you would force your husband to
visit the drinking saloon or the tavern, for
the refreshments which you deny him at
home?
Does my husband mean to insinuate that
he is already such slave to the excitement
Of liquors, that he cannot do without them |?
Angrily he strode to and fro, muttering
fanatic and some other words which we
would not repeat, because we fancy he after
wards wished he could recall them.
The wife retired to her chamber weeping
but not disheartened. She felt that she was
right, and while she realized her own weak
ness, she trusted in him who said, My grace
is sufficient for thee
The month she had spent in the home of
her husband had opened her eyes tearfully
to the danger of sleeping on the exhilarating
wine cup. She had often heard, in her girl
hood, Of the evils of intemperance, but she
fancied they existed only among the lower
classes, the dregs of society Until she be-
came an inmate of that family she dreamed
not that the wealthy, the highly educated,
the refined, degraded themselves to level
with the brutes, by first slipping rosy wine
from shining liquor cups or sparkling crystal
goblets.
Free, generous livers they were called, ex-
ercising whole-souled hospitality to all,
while none who came within their circle could
fail to be fascinated with her charming man
ners Alas the young wife soon saw that
they were only genial when under the infiu-
ence of excitement, and even those lovely
isters--sought the stimulus
! fascinating. When she saw their beautiful
/ eyes sparkle with unwonted brilliancy, the
/ bloom grow deeper, and heard the flashes of
! their wit, she turned away in sadness, say
ing, alas, alas, what lovely victimsp The
father could dispose Of bottle after bottle,
without losing his self control, but not so his
children Persons occasionally wondered
that their animal spirits should lead them tc
such excesses, but there were times when
none could help knowing what allied those po
lite, refined young men.
On festival occasions the wife began tt
watch her husband anxiously.
Sometime he poured out and drank with {
sort of reckless air, and then the unsteadines:
of his hand, or the CLEAN of his eye woulC
startle her, and once, but only once, sht
shranll from his ardent kiss, feeling that ht
was inflated with wine rather than pure af
fection. She tried to forget that horribl
time, or to fancy it dream, but she coul(
not.
The name of the eldest son, Frederick, wa
seldom mentioned by any Of the family, an
the day preyious to the commencement 0
this sketch, she had understood the reason
, why Then ne came reeling into her hom
i more beast thannan. She shuddered as sh
looked upon tha. bloated, besotted face. Sh
, , could not pollute her hand by placing it with
in his, much less in addressing the degrade
being, could her lips frame the holy wor
brother"
> No wonder the spectacle haunted her dream
9 that night, or that she should fancy herse
4 at the death bed of that once lovely woma
whose heart he had broken, and hear he
whisper, .Yobr husband is following in tt
footsteps of mi1e--oh! stop bim!
;. Not long after the wife's resolution vi
: formed. the Young couple wished to give
dinner party to all their relatives, and as
was the first in their own home, they wishe
it to convey very pleasant ideas of their no
pitaltv. Then came the contention whlC
= the lady had foreseen, and the bitter oppos
4 tion of her husband to carrying out the res
). luton she had formed to Danish liquor fro
! their board. In vain she told him of the d
licious coffee which should supply its place
- he persisted that she should not thus brir
= upon him the name ~ef nig5ard And thous
&c she told that upon her rather than upon hi
should all such imputationS rest though S
i pleaded in the gentlest manner, she had ne
"a of all the courage and of all the streng
= which she had so earnestly implored from
a high to enable her to persevere amid her ht
i bands anger and reproaches.
it For time therewas serious estrangeme
,e between them, all his family taking sides wi
# him telling him that she wished to usu
,p too much authority over him as head
n the house, " hile they sneered openly st
is fanatacism, her meanness, her want of b
id pitalty. But she prayed without ceasir
D. and God at length opened her husban
" eyes to the danger of tampering with Il
le which had caused his brothers ruin. w
his consent liquors were regarded only
nd medicines" and while the wife exer
sh herself to have always supply fgood thir
n in the house, both united in giving so coro
k a welcome to their guests, that those v
IL enjoyed their hospitality soon ceased to not
the absence of wine.
ne By degrees others followed the example
= Us the Young wife, and gradually such refo
ie- alton took place in the town, that IN
ne years all the first families had banlshed
knocking" beverage from their side-boa
M and dinner tables.
aa Her husband is now the only survive
10 ~ all the fa.her's family. While he feels
he each one fills drunkards grave, he tn
" to his wife, now no longer young, but b
nm tiful in his eyes, and says, "Such would
IN been my fate but for you.
en-
an A rich officer of revenue the other
asked a man of wit what sort of thing
ulence is. g It is thing" replied
ded philosopher, (which can give rascal
advantage over an honest man."