The Russellville Democrat., 1875-07-15

of our country. The first drinl
 has led many young men of mos
 promising ability, from a caree
 of usefulness and honor, and Ina
 borne them with sad dishonor t
 untimely graves, in other land
 than those of their youth.
 The incorporate course of al
 idolized father, or the much be loved husband, or the dear son, fa' not unfrequently thrown @ gloom of inexpressiblc sorrow, for { dreary life time over loving hearts, or else stilled forever the throbs of life beneath the icy touches of the finger ofdeath.
 How hazardous! how foolish Oh, how sinful then to sport for [ moment with weapon so destruc- tive to the happiness and comfort of those you should cherish. We have no reliable statistics at hand to compute the exact number an. nually destroyed by the folly of intemperanee, and yet we know that their names are Legion.
 Let us for moment glance at the home of the confirmed inebri- ate-Let us If possible portray the utter want and wretchedness of the unhappy victims and the heartrcnding appeals of the un- fortunate sufferers: The. loving father and once affectionate hus- band, has been transformed, by the power of the cup, into a con lirmed and perpetual drunkald ; and home, that fond old resting place-whose worried lattices kiss in playful dalliance, the whisper ed breezes of early rectitude,- where his innocent prattling chil- dren were wont to play upon the green sward, and to lisp their eve ming prayer, has become cheerless and desolate,
 The loved hearth made lonely,
 The bright fires quenched and gone;
 Entreaties have long since be- come of no avail, and he is post ing rapidly the waywardness of demoniac ruin. The lovely yer dancy of beautiful home with all it's tender associations and happy remembrances, must pass forever away into the ruthless hands of the heartless strangers.
 Well may the sorrowing wife heave an aching sigh, while tears from their chrystalfountains gush, beholding the hopeful progeny of prosperous days, now bleeding as q premature wreck in the mael- strom of relentless poverty, and disgusting rags, as she turns witha last lingering. look, to the scenes her eyes may never vlew again and exclaims Tn the sentiments of Eve: 70, unexpected stroke, worse than the flats of Deaths dread de- cree; must l thus leave the para disc? thus leave thee, native soil; these happy walks and shades; fit haunts of Gods; where I had hoped to spend the respite of that day, which must be mortal to us both; o, flowers, that never will in other climates grow--my early visitation and my last, at even, which I bred up with tender hand from the first opening bud, and gave ye names; who now shall rear ye to the sun, or rank your tribes?" No language can depict the woeful misery of the house less wanderers, as they turn away to be henceforth the bereaved, dIs- consulate objects of the drunk ards care. An! the wife in tears and the children in rags, must seek some hovel where they must weep and await his coming, long after night has invested the earth with the balmy habiliments of re- pose, the kleiades in their storm rocked cradle sleep, and the watch-towers of Heaven are light ed up with sentinel stars. But alas! scenes like these have long since ceased to touch the heart of the inebriate-the finer feelings of his nature destroyed-ho with out one remorse of conscience turns a deaf car to the plaintive wooings and saddening walls of aflliction, and haston on to pawn the sustenanee of life for another drink more.
 But when at length death knocks at the door of his heart, when staggering and worn out, his courage gone, his hopes blasted, the last dollar expended, purity departed and last but not least, his peace of mind destroyed, to whom then shall he turn for an office of kind ness? for comfort in the last ago. nizing moments of life?-To whom but the beings he has insulted and God who can forgive.
 Then brothers and sisters! in view of the manifold evils with which Intemperance letters suf- fering humanity and immortality which threatens the firmer foun- dation of an elevated society, re- finement and all the social virtue, let us toll patiently, advance bravcly, and work indefatigably to bopiub fhic hara1l of vna fnpayar