Middletown transcript., 1869-11-13
MDDEIoWN NEW CASTLE NOVEMBE

home; and sometimes for months his par
ents did not knd Nv where he was living
After one OF these long absences from
home, they received a letter, written from
a foreign port, begging their forgiveness
Gas he had often done before, for all the
heart-ache and unhappiness he had caused
them, saying that he should never return
unless he could master his appetite, and be
a temperate man.
Long years passed, and no word came
from him. His parents and sisters, in
their letters, entreated him to come back
to the hearts and homes that were longing
to welcome him but no reply came. They
knew not where to write or seek for him,
and at last he became to them only sad
memory; and though not absent from
their thoughts, his name was rarely spo-
I ken.
After many years, Lewis Granger re-
turned home, but found that his ther and
mother, after years Of torturing suspense
and anxiety, had found rest in their graves.
His sisters, in bones of their own, gave
him the loving welcome they had ever pro-
missed and to them he spoke freely of his
| sdu, DllButcu lllP.
lie told them that, for one year, he had
not tasted of anything that would intoxi-
cate; butthat he had no confidence in him
sell, he had SO many times risen only to
fall; that life must be to him, henceforth,
weary struggle, haunted ever by the fear
that he might again sink into the misery
the depths of which none but those who
had experienced could know.
| One day, wieh great earnestness, he
SAID, My friends have all thought that it
was the temptations of college life which
led me estray; but great as those were,
they were not the cause of my ruin. /
got tile taste .t0r drink at or mother's ta-
Uc :"
"At our mothers table! You must be
dreaming! eXcla med his sister. "Why
not even wine WIS ever on her table"
"Not as a beverage" replied Lewis ;
but how often was it used to flavor the
dalntles which she prepared 1 can re-
member, when but little boy, my father
passing his plate for the second piece of
mnce,-pie, saying, in sly undertone,
You have some of the real stuff in these ;
and mother would reply, Yes, of course.
in our Thanksgiving pies Then there
was the brandy-aauce for our Christmas
pluml-puddings, md occasionally brandy
peach with lee-cFeam, to say nothing of
the wlne-lelly and wine-custards that were
often made, especially If there was one of
US not very we'll, just to tempt our appe-
tltc. All. many an invalid's appetite has
been tempted to bis ruin
"When | left home, l found that many
OF my classmates like myself had never
drank 6 lass of wine; but they thought
Just little brandy improved the taste of
lemonade, soda-Water, etc. This did not
seem wrong to me; it was but carrying
home practice in another direction But,
unconsclously, these pleasant drinks SEEM
ed fiat--tasteless; and the portion of bran
dy was gradually increased until, before |
knew 1t, | was in the tempter's power
do not say these things to excuse
myself, or to blame my sainted mother.
My sins rest on my own head. Never
would l speak of it if mother were living,
or If 1T were not for the sake of your sons;
mt beg OF you, never let them be able
to admit, even to their own hearts, that
'helr love Tor VINE or brandy was fostered
at their mothers table!
My case is not an isolated one. Iknow
OF what speak. 1t is enough that decan-
ters are banished from table and sideboard.
but there can not be safety for our youth
while there are, up the storerooms, bottles |
labeled Cooking Wine and COOKING
Brandy'H