The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1888-12-14
A DROP roo UGH.

He had a wife and three children; and, be-
ing a good hand and in constant work was
able to keep his family in great. comfort.
He bore an excellent character. He was a
kind husband and father, his master spoke
well of him, and all the men in the yard
gave him a good name Ias a quiet and
peaceable workmate. But he had one
great fault-he sometimes took a drop too
much, 1t did not often happen, forhe was
far from being what is called a drinking
ma But when he did, be was mo longer
like the same person.
One evening he came home later than
usual. He had been to the public-house
with a ''friend," and had had a drop too
much. He came home in a quarrelsome
temper, quite unlike himself, and soon
began to speak roughly to his wife. She
in return, not very wisely, scolded him
harshly for coming home in such a state.
One angry word led to another; till at
length, in his blind rage. he snatched up a
eandlestiek from the table, and struck her
with all his force. The blow came on her
forehead, she fell to the ground, and never
spoke again.
The man was sobered in moment He
rushed from the house, crying out that he
had killed his wife. It was too true. She
was taken up dead.
Richard Ellis was tried, found guilty of
manslaughter, and sentenced to be rams
ported for life. The household was broken
Up, and the children, deprived in one day
of both their parents, were dispersed
among various relatives.
Eight years passed. The children grew
up, and went out toto the world, never
having seen their father in all that time.
Meanwhile he was not sent out of the
country, but was employed as a convict
at his old trade Of ship-building in one of
the government dockyards, where his con-
duct was SO good as to gain him the ap-
probation of all who were set over him.
But deep sorrow and constant sadness
o fheart told in time upon his health. He
lost his strength by degrees, and at the
end of eight years was no longer equal to
work. Word was sent to his family that,
if they made application. he would prob
ably be discharged. The application was
made, and was successful. Richard Ellis
was discharged, and went back to live with
a married daughter In the same town in
which he had lived before.
wac ~ Fha+ +,-,a A. oIanx,,,o, 1c H.
parish; and ON his arrival he came TO thank
me for the part l had taken in getting his
discharge. He did not look very i'll; but
if there ever was a face that told of sor-
70 V, it was his.
1t was not much that l had done for him,
yet he seemed hardly able to find words to
speak his gratitude. ''God bless you,
sir, :" he said, again and again, s'for what
you have done; I'll pray for you as long
as l live" Tears rolled down his cheeks
as / gently spoke to him of the past; and
when l warned him against drink, he said
earnestly, mo, sir, no; I'll never touch
that again, it has cost me too much"
He did not live long. 1 saw him for a
few Sundays at church, and once or twice
at other times; and then I was sent for to
see him IN a sick-bed. 1t proved to be his
death-bed. He was very humble, and
showed every sign of true repentance; and
| think he was able to look to the Lord
The brain was affected by all he had gone
through. He sank into a sleepy, senseless
state; and in less than two months after
his release he died.
Poor Richard Ellis! How sad an end,
even though there was hope in his death,
How different a life from what it might
have been, but for that ''drop too much!''
Think what it cost him.
One day he was a steady, respectable
workman, with a happy home and a loving
family; the next day where was he? Shut
up in prison, awaiting his trial. His wife
lay dead, killed by his Owl hand; his
children were dispersed; his home was a
home no longer. How bitter must his
thoughts have been. And what had done
it all? ga drop too much But for that,
those angry words would never have been
spoken, that fatal blow would never have
been struck.
His thought must have been the worst
part of the punishment. Working in the
dockyard at his own trade, and kindly
treated in consequence of his good con-
duct, his outward circumstances were bet
ter thar those of most eonvicts. But he
could not forget; he could not flee from his
thoughts-his sad, sad thoughts. Per-
haps one of the saddest was that it was all
through "a drop too much"
And yet people think lightly of "a drop
too much" They see a man come Keeling
down the street, and all they do is just to
move ont of his way, and perhaps to say
with a laugh, Hes had a drop too much"
And very often a drinking nan is spoken
of by his friends in some such way as this:
There's nothing wrong about the man,
only he takes "a drop too much To- and
then;''as if that were but a trifie. Poor
Richard Ellis, it was no trife to him,
And it never is a triie, whatever people
may think. Yoa know not what you may
do if you drink too much. You are no
longer your W master. Did Richard