Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1863-03-23
From the Richmond Christian Advocate
THE FIRST GLASS OF WINE.
e BY THOMAS r. RAGLAND.
ssLoek not on wine, although the cup .
Be crimeonea with its ruby stain
Look not, tits filled with wormwood up,
And blood, and burning tears of pa ~

With how many has the first glass of
wine been the stepping stone to ruin-the
match that fired the temple of the soul
the cobweb that eventually grew to the
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
afluence to state of abject poverty and
-..:ss-5-, 80 .ig~~ e--e s,,e-~a - S1ne, taken
by the thoughtless husband or father. How
many ragged, degraded inebriates, totter-
ing on the brink Of pauper graves, attri-
butte their present wretcheoness to the
first glass Of wine taken in the bloom of
youth, when their hearts were beating
high with the hopes of the fature. All!
truly, wine is moeker.' -
| Some few years since, a young man
might have been seen standing, silent and
motionless, at the window of a fashionable
hotel,in one of onr Southern cities. He was
in deep meditation; the unknown future
englossed bis thoughts; hitherto his path
through life had been rugged, bordered
with thorns, with an occasional howret
opening here and there. His sky, from bis
infancy, had been overcast with dark, mur'
ky clouds, which sun beam would now
and then light up, but soon disappear ,anc
leave him in darkness again. His parents
were dead he never received mother
smile nor fathers blessing; they dice
ere he had learn to lisp their names.
An orphan, he had met an orphans fate
thrown ont upon the cold aud unsympa
thizing world, he. had experienced it
wrongs and its cruelties, but against th
cold, freezing breath of adversely he ba'
battled manfuly and was almost VICTOR
'Virtae has its reward thought he m
life has indeed been mantled with the fold
of thick, black darkness; oh with whs
8 rapture will I greet the first beams ths
shall burst the gloom A voice from witt
in him whispered no cross no crown
keep in virtues path, and you will reac
the goal; the door Of the temple stanc
open; the garland made of bright, fad
less flowers, is in waiting to wreathe yol
brow, and the harps are ready strung
charm your soul with strains of sweete
: melody; a flush of JOY mantled his chee
as Hope led his mind along her embro
, dered pathway to green fields, over whi'
9 no gloomy cloud of sorrow rested and
the contemplation ofphappiness in reser
: for him, he forgot the dark, gloomy pa
D "Be done with your reyeries, Julius
r said gay young man, entering the room
: defer your musings to the silent midnig
e hour; ] tell you the time will be more {
{ propriate; wake up, my good fellow, a
e let us take stroll before tea the event
k is glorious; the god of day has just n
Il immured himself in the western wave
j, western horizon is arrayed in gorgec
Is drapery, and the stellar host are peepi
n one by one, from out the soft, blue sky
n tell you, scene like this, With the bls
le evening breeze,is worth months musir
at i dare say / am as ardent lover
ID natural scenery as yourself said Jul
ID extending his hand.
v Arm ia arm, the young men wande
forth, conversing rapturously upon the
he rious scenery. The last appearance
D. daylight had faded in the West and