Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1868-01-18
ASHTABULA OHIO, SATURDAY, JANUARY 49, 1863

tention had become fixed on the eye o
the speaker with an interest had never
before seen him exhibit. l can but brief
ly remember the substance of what the
old man said, though the scene is as vivid
before ms as any | ever witnessed.
my friends, | am stranger in youl
village, and trnst l may call you my
friends. A new star has arisen, and there
is hope in the dark night that hangs like
pail OF gloom over our country"
With thrilling depth of voice, the
speaker continued so, God, thou who
looketh with compassion upon the most
erring of earth's frail children, l thank
Thee that brazen serpen: has been lift
cd upon which a drunkard may look and
be healed. That beacon hast burst out
upon the darkness that surrounds him,
which shall guide him back to honor and
heaven-the bruised and weary wander
er."i
1t is strange what power there is in
some voices. The speakers voice was
low and measured, but tear trembled in
every tone, and before knew why, a
tear dropped OH my hand followed by
others like rain drops The old man
brushed one from his eye and continued /:
Men and Christians. you have just
heard that l am fanatic. | am not. As
God knows my own heart, | came here
Just to do good. Hear me and be just,
am an old man, standing alone at the
end of life's journey. There is deep
sorrow in my heart and tears in my eyes.
| have iourneyed over dark, beaconless
ocean and all of life's brightest hopes
have been wrecked. l am without friends,
kindred or home! 1t was not so once.
No one could withstand the touching
pothos of the old man. | noticed tear
on the lid of my fathers eye, and no Ion
ger felt ashamed Of my own.
no, my friends, it was not once so.-
Away over the dark waves which have
wrecked my hopes :hcre is blessed light
of happiness and home. I reach again
convulsivcly for the shrines of household
idols that once were mine, now mine nc
more
The old man seemed looking away
through vacancy upon some bright vision,
his lips apart, and his finger extended. ]
involuntarily turned i'll the directions
where it pointed, dreading to see some
shadow invoked by its magic moving.
4 once had mother With her old
heart crushed with sorrsw she went down
to the grave. l once had wife-a fair,
angel l-heartel creature as ever smiled III
an earthly home. Her eye was as mild
as a summers sky, and her heart as faith
fnl and true as ever guarded and cherish
ed husbands love. Her blue eye grew
dim as the floods Of sorrow washed away
its BRIGHTNESS, and the living heart wrung
till every fiber was broken. | once had
a noble, 4 bright and beautiful boy, but
he was driven out from the ruins of his
home, and my old heart yearns to know
if he is vet living | once had babe,
sweet, tender blossom bnt these hands
destroyed it, and it livcth with One who
lovcth children.
Do not b. startled, f. .ielGs-I am meta
murderer in the common acceptance OF
the term. Yet there is light in my eve
ming sky. \ spirit mother rejoices over
the return of herproaigai son. The wife
smiles on him who turns back to virtue
and honor. The angel child visits me at
nightf;,ll, and feel the halowed touch
of tiny palm upon my cheek. My brave
boy, if he yet lives, would forgive the
sorrowing old man for the treatment
which sent him out into the world, and
the blow which MANNED him for life. God
t,rg,ye me the ruin which 10 brught upon
me and mine
lie again wiped tear from his eye
Nv father watched him with strange
intensity, and oountcnance unusually
pale, and excited by some strange emo
ton.
4 was once fanatic, and madly fol-
lowed the maligh hight which led me to
ruin. I was fanatic when l sacrificed
my wife, children, happiness and home,
to the accurscd demon Of the bowl, |
once adored the gentle being whom I
wronged so deeply.
was drunkard. From respectable
ty and influence, plunged into degrade
tion and poverty. l dragged my family
down with me. For years l saw her
cheek grow pale and her step weary. l
left her alone amid the wreck OF her
home idols, and rioted at the tavern. She
never complained, yet she and the child
ren often went hungry.
One New Years night returned late
to the hut where charity had given us q
roof. She was still up, shivering over
the Goals. l demanded food, but she
burst into tears and told me there was
none. fiercely ordered her to go and
get some She turned her eyes upon me,
the tears fast rolling down her pale face.
At this moment the child in the cradle
awoke and set mp famished wall, start
ing the despairing mother like serpent's
sting.
1--WE have no food, James-I have had
none for two days l have nothing for
the babe. My once kind husband, must
acc Stdrce
That sad pleading face, and those
streaming eyes, and the feeble wall OF the
babe maddened me, and I-yes, l struck
her fierce blow in the face, and she fell
forward upon the hearth. The furies OF
hell boiled in my bosom, and with deep
intensity as l felt had committed a
wrong. had never struck Mary before,
but now some terrible impulse bore me
on, and stopped down as well as could
in NV drunken state and clinchel both