Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1863-01-26
@istsuaneous


The drunkard has no home. | do not
mean to say that he is always SO destitute
rs to have no place to lay his head. de
nay have a habitation which shelters him
from the chilling wind and rain. He may
know Of some place where of right he can
60 when welcome nowhere else, and where,
free from the sueers and harsh .reproots oil
unfeeling men, he may hide in miserable
solitude the sad evidence of his degradation
aud shame. But do you call this Home p
Does such a place deserve so sacred a name!
Who that has a home, and loves it, does not
feel that more than the mere bricks and
boards which shelter him, is signifed in this
little, but expressive word? Would 1t be
Home if q mothers tender love, a. fathers .
watchful care, were not there? Is 1t not
because, consecrated by these, and by the
warm attachment Of sisters and brothers, or
by the gentle, contiding affection OF wife and
children, that we feel, be it ever so humble,
there is no place like home 2 Would we
experience the joyous emotions which thrill
our bosoms, when, alter an absence, we re-
turn once more to the old paternal mansion
where was spent the happy season OF our
boyhood days, if there were wanting that
fond maternal embrace that cordial grasp,
warm from a fathers heart that sisters
smile Of welcome and the fraternal greeting
of affection which welcomes us home p
Home-because all things there e~loquently
sneak Of kindness and Of love. This is Home.
And this is the haliowed place of which the
intoxicating bow robS the lnebriate. 1t ex-
tinguishes the pureSt scnsihTlities, and the
best affections of his heart, and incapacitates
him for those ~virtuouS and exalted enjoy
ments which flow from the tender and en-
dearinp relations Of kindred and Affection
One of the first Indications of intemperance
is q disrelish for the society of those who
live at home. 1t is an early symptom of the
approach Of this fearful malady, that the
family circle loses its attractiveness that
evening after evening must be spent abroad,
or the time passea IN l~istless weariness.-
The things which o:re gave delight no lon
ger possess their loner TO please the once.
loved society of wife and parents, the inno-
cont prattle Of childhood, the fond caresses
of artless infancy, the ilcSide discourse of
brothers and si,trIs-a all are tedious and
dull {; already 10 be rtllnquisbed for the so
ciety and obscene nielriuent of the diSSo-
lutte and the vile, or Tor the hoisterous revel.
ings found in some polluted haunt Of impi'
ETY. and shame. How many, once blessed
with a happy home, have sacrificed all that
made it home, to the delusive pleasures found
IN these base receptacieS OF lHIaHly anu Sill
See that wIetched nan returning from his
midnight orgies. lie approaches the place
of his abode-his tnce happy home-witt
threats and imprecations on his tongue
with deeds of vioiel,ce in his heart. See hi:
fear-stricken vile, ~clasping her little one tC
her bosom, and trembl ny for it's safety anc
her own. Listen to that agonizing prayer
which her woman's heart sends up to HEAVIER
for protection, as SIC hears her husband
coming, maddened by his Incorporate revel
Witness the t~hrobbines of her distracted
heart, as his footsteps sound upon the thresh
hold of her chamber. See him enter, anC
despite his sick child,s tears his poor wifeI
prayers needing not her fond, conidins
eyes, still fixed upon him hearing not he
piteous tones, as she asks, 'Who have | blu
thee to protect me, and where shall | find he'll
when thine is the assailant's arm ?-se
him, trampling on her love, abusing her an
gel confidence, hurl her from him to grasl
the deadly steel with which to wreak hi
demoniac rage-and ell me, tell me, wher,
was his home ?-where, short of the cold
narrow tenement, beside toe one his muir
derous hand provided for lis wife and child
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