Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1870-11-10
THE TWO PATHS.

ings. Heaven only knows when "
may meet again. You are to settI
amoug the hills of Berkshire in tn,
! West, aud amid the wales of Middle
9 sex, in the East Just glass to ouI
success.
NO, Malcolm; if [ would accept 4
true pledge Of success must not find i
in the wine cup. hold the cup as {
, signal of failure.
They were young men, both OF them
just admitted to the bar, aud ready lc
enter upon the practice Of their pro
fcSsiou.
And on this bright. crisp auumna
afternoon George and Malcolm were
to separate They had selected their
fields of labor, and we're prepared to
enter upon the work,
Pooh cried MaIcolm, in response to
his friends last remark, there's promise
in bright wine if one kaows how to use
it. Come and take parting glass with
me.
No, Malcolm-you must not ask me.
Were | to take the cup to my lips, |
should fear it as | might fear viper
taken to my bosom.
DO you mean to say that you are 60
ing to be tetotaIcr 2:
Upon that course am resolved, and
let the future decide between u.s..
And shortly after this they parted.
Malcolm CARING removed to Middle
sex county, where he very soon gained
for himself host of friends and an eX-
tensive practice, HIS intellect was brill
liant his wit was ready aud caustic
his humor was rich and cxuberant, and
his flow of language was from q fount
of thought and imagery that never
failed. His path seemed pleasant
one ind ed. Only flowers of rarcst col
ors and most exquisite fragrance hedged
it, while sweet music kept time to the
dropping Of the glitteriug sands in the
glass. 1t was the path he had chosen
from the first. lis goal was the highest
possible plane of the social life, aud the
presiding genius was the Spirit of the
wine cup.
He reached the goal ere he knew it.
All the joys Of life he had chosen had
been tasted ere he reached his prime. A
brief space, and the flowers began WIN
ter; the thorns protruded, bare aud
sharp; the sweet music grew fainter as
discordant notes crept in to mar and
break the harmony; and the sands of
the glass-dropping, dropping, drop
ping-had lost their glitter. and now
fell darkly and solemnly into the back
flowing tide of the time that was lost.
George Nixon Briggs established
himself in Berkshire, and pursued his
way in the path he had chosen. All
that he was he owed to his cndcavors
and that he could hope for in the future
must come through the same channel.
AT the age of thirteen he had appren-
ticed to Il halter, at White Greek, New
York, where he remained two years.
At the age of fifteen his brother had
taken him from the hatter's shop and
sent him to an academy. In one year
thereafter, his brother had died, from
which time he had been left to steer his .
own bark, and select his own chart.
True to the loftier instincts of his ma
ture, he had selected the path Of honor
and moral duty, feeling assured that if
he sought first the kingdom OF God and
dis righteousness, all other things would
be given unto him He was II social
so--and a more
genial companion never blessed the So
cial circle but he did not prostitute the
higher nature to the allurcmentS of the
festive board nor did he allow himself
to''be deceived by the false glitter of the
bacchanalian tinsel. He lived true to
the pledge which he had 'aken in his
early manhood-the pledge of total alb
stinence from Intoxicating liquors. and
the longer he lived the more reason had
he TO bless God for the choice he had
made
AT the age of thirty he was elected
to Congress from the Berkshire district,
and in that capacity he was retained
during six successive terms, declining
further service in that direction upon
being nominated to the office Of Cover.
nor. AT the age of Iforty-seven he was
elected Governor of Massachusetts,, to
which Office he was annually re elected
rom 1843 to 1851.
1t was cold, bleak day in March, {
Governor Briggs had just descended from
his room in the State House, and was ,
Gaming against the railing which
guards the statute of Washington, il
with a friend, when page
approached and handed him a note. He {
broke the seal and read. 1t was from 7
he Mayor of the city, Informing him c
hat man had been picked mp in the f
,utter during the night by the watch, |
md was now pronounced to be dying Of I
lelrium tremeus, He says, wrote the c
Mayor, that he knew you once--that t