The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-10-31

well as know how to advance the best
interests of the farm. ..f
VICES OF, GENIUS. Coieridge was
such il slave to liquor, that he had to be
kept an unwilling prisoner by Christie
pher North on an occasion when some
literary performance had to be COM
pleted by u certain time; and on that
very day, without even taking leave of
any member of bis family, " he ran off
at full speed down to the avenue at FL
larry, and was soon hidden, not in the
groves of the valley, ibutin some obscene
den, where drinking among low COM
| panions, his magnificent mind was soon
| brought to n level with the vilest of the
vile!" When his spree was over, he
would return to the society of descent
men. tt 8"
De Quincy was such slave to the use
of opium that his daily allowance was
of more Importance than eating. "An
ounce of laudanum a dayprostrated ami
NAL life during the forenoon. 1T was no
unfrequent sight to find him asleep OH
| the rug before the fire in his own room,
| his head on book his arms crossed on
his breast. When his torpor from the
opium had passed away, he was ready
for company about daylight. In order
to show him off, his friends had to ar
range their supper partiesso that, sitting
until three or four in the morning, he
might be brought to that point at which,
in charm and power of conversation he
was so truly wonderful
Burns was no less a drunkard than
| Coleridge. 1t was the weakness of
| Charles Lamb And who can remem-
Der the last days of Poe without an ire
pressible regret? He was on his way to
marry confiding woman, stopped in
Baltimore and was found by a gentle
man who knew him, in state of beastly
| intoXication, unconscious as q log, and
died that night in the rawlings of detiriuna
| t'eDlens. .f' 30 -t.t.i.-
| Douglas Jerrold was a devotee of gin.
| Byron was tippler, ard his vile Don
Juan was the inspiration of rum, as
| might well be supposed, for its in
| decencies make it unfit for any woman
to read. Steele, the brilliant author
of the Christian Hero" was q
beastly drunkard. Men wrote of him
that "he would dress himself, kiss his
wife and children, tell them lie about
his pressing engagements, heel it over
to the groggery called THE Store and
have arevel with his bottle compan--
IONS" Rollin says of Alexander the
Great, that the true poison that brought
him to his end was wine. The Empress
| Elizabeth of Russia was completely bru-
titled by strong liquors. She was often
in such a state of bacchic ecstacy dur
ing the day, that she could not be dressed
in the morning.; and her attendants
would loosely attach some robes, which
few clips OF the scissors would olsen
gage in the evening". Is. ..s. .
| Let every man, especially those in
public life, who desire to avoid drunk
ards death, remember that he is on the
crumbling verge of such an infamy
when he begins to feel that in order to
prepare himself, the doctor for consulta-
ton, the lawyer for a cause, the clergy
man for sermon, the politician for a
speech, he must take pint of coffee, a
| cup of strong tea, glass of brandy and
water, or plug of opium and the self
same moment of that discovery let him
put his foot down, raise his hand, and
swear, that by the help of God he will
never taste another grain or drop as long
as life remains. This is the only safety.
- ....
THE ROBBERS CAvEUNDER THE CRY
| or NASHVILLE following local
item in the Nashville Times seems to
have been the basis for the extraordinary
romance telegraphed from Nashville on
saturday BIO 'i'
"As the cave mystery has gotten into
| print, and as Il vast amount Of curiosity
Is evinced regarding it, we will state, so