Year: 1877

county. was thought the luckiesI
girl in the PARISH, when ct
made me his wife: thought to N.Y.
self. Our weddmg-day-and it was
"A happy one-was but an indiffer-
.ent sample of those days of rational
happiness and uninterrupted harmo
nv, which we were permitted to en-
JOY together. for the space of six
years. Ard although, for the last
three Years of our lives, we have
been as happy as we were at the be-
ginning, it makes my heart sick to
think of those long dark days and
sad nights that came between; for,
two years of our union were years of
misery. | well recollect the first
GLARS of ardent spirit that my hus
band ever drank He had been at
the grocery to purchase little tea
and sugar for the family; there were
three cents coming to him in change;
and, unlurkily, the Deacon, who
keeps the shop, had nothing but sill
yer in the till; and, as it was sharp,
frosty morning, he persuaded my
good man to take his mnney's worth
of rum, for it was just the price of a
glass. He came home IN wonderful
spirits. and told me he meant to
have me and the children better
! dressed, aud, as neigh hor Barton
talked OF selling his horse and chaise,
he thought of buying them both;
and, when | said to him, seGeorge,
we are dressed as well as we can af-
ford, and | hope you will not think
of a horse and chaise, till we have
paid off the Squire's mortgage" he
gave me harsh look and bitter
word. / never shall forget that day,
for they were the first he ever gave
me in his life. When he saw me
shedding tears, and holding nv
apron to my face, he said he was
sorry, and came to kiss me, and l
discovered that he had been drink
ing, and it grieved me to the heart.
In short time after, while | was
washing up the breakfast things, /
heard our little Robert, who was on
ly five years old, crying bitterly;
and, going to learn the cause, | met
him running towards me with his
face covered with blood


He said his father had taken him
on his knee, and was playing with
him, but had gwen him a blow in
the face, only because he had said,
when he kissed him, "dear papa, you
smell like old Isaac, the drunken
fiddler" My husband was very
cross to us all through the whole
of that day; but the next morning,
though he said little, he was evident
ly ashamed and humbled; and he
went about his work very industri-
ously, and was particularly kind to
little Robert. l prayed constantly
for my good man, and that God
would be pleased to guide his heart
Alright; and, more than week hav-
ing gone by, without any similar oc-
currence, l fiattered myself, that he
would never do so again. But, in "a
very little time, either the Deacon
was short of change, as before, or
some tempting occasion presented
itself which my husband could not
resist, and he returned home once
more under the influence of liquor.
| never shall forget the expression
of his countenance, when he came
in, that night. We had waited sup
per full hour, for his return; the
teapot was standing at the fire, and
the bannocks were untouched upon
the hearth; and the smaller children
were beginning to murmur for their
supper. There was an indescribable
expression of defiance on his counte-
nance, as though he were conscious
of having done wrong, and resolved
to brave it out. We sat down sii-
emily to supper, and he scarcely
raised his eyes upon any of us, dur
ing this unhappy repast. He soon
went to bed and fell asleep; and, af-
ter had laid our little ones to rest.
l knelt at the foot of the bed, on
which my poor misguided husband
was sleeping, and poured out my
very soul to God, while my eyes
were scalded with the bitterest tears
l had ever shed. For l then fore
saw, that, unless some remedy could
be employed, my best earthly friend,
the father of my little children,
would become drunkard. The next
morning, after breakfast, | ventured
to speak with him upon the subject,
in a mild way; and, though l could
not restrain my tears, neither my
words nor my weeping appeared To
have any effect, and | saw that he
was becoming hardened, and careless
of us all. How many winter nights
have waited, weeping alone, at my
once happy freside, listening for
the lifting latch, and wishing, yet
dreading, to hear his steps at the
door!


After this state of things had con-
tlnued, or rather grown worse, for
nearly three months, | put on my
bonnet one morning, after my hus-
band had gone to his work, and
went to the Deacon's store; and,
finding hlm alone, stated my hus-
bands case, and begged him earnest
ly to sell him no more. He told me
it would do no good, for, if he did
not sell it, some other person would
sell it; and he doubted if nv hus-
band took more than was good for
him. He quoted Scripture to show,
that it was wife's duty to keep at
home, and submit herself to her hus-
band, aud not meddle with things,
which did not belong to her pro
vince. At this time, two or three
customers called for rum, and the
Deacon civilly. advised me to 90
home, and look after my children.


l went out with heavy heart. 1t
seemed as if the tide of evil was set
ting against me. AS l was passing
farmer Johnson's, on my way home,
they called me in. | sat down and
rested myself for few minutes, in
their neat cottage. Farmer John
son was just returning from the
field; and when | saw the little ones
running to meet him at the stile, and