Ari t ginat tiymmunitatitoto. THE FATAL DRAUGHT. By Rev. Peter Stryker, D.D. " Sir, will you, come this afternoon, and attend the funeral of my wife Often before had I received such invitations, for alas! a large part ea pastor's duty is to com fort the bereaved, and assist them in paying due respect to the dead they must soon bury out of their sight. But this was a peculiar cue. The first glance at the countenance of the stranger who. stood before me, afforded ample evidence of this, fact. Poor man! he looked the very .pertionifica , ., tion of despair. He was young, probably,u,ot,over, twenty-five years of age. He was sprymptly ;in humble circumstances, yet very respeo Wl.ein his person and demeanor. His answer to a few general questions :whichl , necessarily asked him for information, reycaled a desire on his part to tell me his history. • His heart was overflowing, and it was an actof benevo lence to listen to his tale of sorrow. The ac count he gave of himself is full of painful inter est. I rehearse .it not because it is tragical, but because 1 trust, it may suggest some useful les sons to my readers. Let me give it as ()ming, from his lips, although the words may not . be pre cisely those be used in relating it to me. "1 was married aboitt a year ago to her who now:lies a corpse at my dreary home.. She was kind and affectionate, and very pleasantly we lived ; together,.., I . was brought up in _the Reformed Dutch Church, and attended the ministry of the Rev. Dr. S., of whose church my mother is still ; a member. After !marriage my wife and myself attended the Methodist,Episcopal Church. W often went to the.meetings held on week evenings as well a.s.those held on the Sabbath day, and both of us became deeply interested in the subject of religion. With good health, a prosperous bus iness, industrious habits, and affection for each other, and Ltrust an increasing, regard for God and holy things, life with us passed pleasantly along. "But oh 1 how short the joy ! . Through. the treachery of one who professed friendship, the money w j hieh.for severallyears I had,accumulated by my industry and economy, in one day, was torn from me. I lost my position in business, and was left penniless. This exceedingly, mortified as well as discouraged me. "With a weary heart I left and in the great cOmmereial, metropolis, New• York, sought to,obtain business and establish a home. Having. obtained comfortable and• respectable apartments, I brought hither my wife and furni ture, and, our hope was, with youth / and strength, and earnestness ion our side, we would be prosper ous, and in time be able to regain that which we, had ,lost. "But our 'misfortunes had only commenced: like, landlord with whom I had formed an agree ment, regardless of his word, and 'careful only , to secure his own pecuniary interests, had let our rooms to others, and we were, compelled to. take temporary residence in a tenement house in a wretched part of the city. This greatly depressed us both.. Still we rallied each other,, hoped for better things, and tried to be cheerful. "My first effort now 'was to find work. lam by trade a silver plater`; and although only a journeyman, often do what is called over-work. The poisonOus'sOlatious used in our husinesi almost always had' mimed - at my home; ready to be used as opportunity 'offered. This "gave me no . care, 'as there were no children or servants about who migh'theinjuied 'bythem. My wife knew all about the nature of these solutions, for she often saw me Prepare and-use them. Only a few days ago when I was preparing one of these so lutions, she playful* , asked - if a draught of it would prove fatal. I feilied, I did not know, probably 'it would, but certainly it would produce very serious injury to any one who might taste it. 'The day'after this conversation I went out' again' itr search of employment. Weary and un successful I - Tett:lined in the a . fternoon f and judge of my astonishment and mortification, when I per ceived- from her looks and words and actions that my wife was partially intoxicated. 'This was a new trial, and greater by flu* than all the others. We had iboth always. been temperate, strictly. temperate. , How then •had this occurred•? " When I questioned ler 'she said an English woman had enticed her, and had induced •her to drink a glass of liquor., I reproved her for being so intimate with a stranger, and especially for drinking` Witlf her: My poor wife—she was very quick in' her teniper—l 'cannot think she meant to kill herself. Stimulated by the vile liquor which she' had' taken; She surely could,not have' known what , shO was about. Instantly she be came enraged at my Words ofcensure, end nothing conld-1 say to pacify her. '"With a Sad heart h dropped into a Asir, and leaned trithead upon my hand, thinking what I cOtild:sity to - quiet her temper. While thus mus inkover 'my afflictions, I heard a elickoind tam ing,lntw nit wife hOldingle cup-the' poison cup— the very.odeishe]had'i day'or two before askdd me abouttLana it etas eoin . pty. She had just drained it of its Atftents. 'How do you like that, for a chan;9B7tVida t eh f e. The 'dreadful truth - flashed over -niLt•iil ssir it-in the empty cup. I saw it in the already changing countenance Of the but erring one. She was poisoned, and that by THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1868. her own hand. I laid her upon the bed, and flew for the doctor. In a few moments I returned, but it was too late—the draught had proved fatal —she was dead. 0 sir, lam a wretched man. Pray for me, and come and speak a few kind words at the funeral of my poor wife." This was substantially the story of the bereaved young husband as he related it to me. It filled my heart with sorrow and induced a train of re flections. There would be very little satisfaction, dear reader, for you to accompany ms to thellons6 of mourning. All that we can do there is to try to comfort the few disconsolate friends who weep around the boffin 'of that e.rring one. But there s i re lessons of instructien . which may not be, ex pressed in that circle, but which you and I should dimply lay to heart. let us now glande 1. One step in, life leads to another. Ifuman experience is a chain, and days and deeds fur' nisli the links of which it, is composed: The, man who basely cheated that young mechanic out , of his accumulated saving:s.was guilty of mur-, der. Pprhaps he did not 'intend this. But he forged the - first link in that chain which teftni natea iti . the Tearful death wp haVe notfced. , Nay God have mercy on him. , :and' the thousand of other iron=hearted wretches in' the commercial' community who, like hnugry beasts of .prey, fat ten on the bodies and souls of their weaker fel low .mortals That landlord, who for a trifling consideration, violated his verbal contract. - and deprived' that young couple 'vf their' home, was guilty of mur der. He forgkci the second' great link in that chain which lea I to death. May God have mer cy on • those rapace us capitalists who speculate on: the hearts and hoa of the poor, and'hesitate net to defraud the ,hell aif they can add a farthing to their own unhallo d abundance l • That rumseller . - wh sold the drtigged liquor which:proved so, evil in its consequences,,and the stranger who;, not content with making a brute of herself, - enticed another to swerve from the path of sobriety and safety—they each were , guil-• ty of the crime of murder. It would be 'useless for such persons to say they only sell , or give to those who wish to buy, or are willing to .drink. The terrible effects of the liquors now in market are', well known. They are nothing but poison. May God have mercy on.the thousands'of guilty ven-, der.% and the ten thousauds of giiilty:tempters who decoy the young and unstable •in paths of inebriety arid death • ' ' The. subject. of cause and effect is very, exten sive: LetUs see to it,'When the great day of rev elation appears; and these intricacies are uurav elled, when our treacherous memory is revived, and truth in its various bearings and dates re , vealed--let us see to it we do . not then stand among : the guilty throng who hy temptation and. fraud have brought ruin upon our neighbors.and destroyed them soul and body. 2. That one glass of intoxicating liquor proied fatal, for, its immediate effent led to the draught of poison. It is the first glass that always does the mischief. This makes the drunkard. .This, leads the,drunkard often to the depths of crime as well,.as dissipation. If all would-avoid the one glass, the first glass, what a different 'world this would be! No inebriate woUld then - walk our streets, or roll in our gutters. ' " Fa`milies would not be disgraced, and hearts and homes would not ,be , rendered desolate. The scaffold would then hardly be known. Our prisons and jails might be cloged, and offices of justice would be gentlemen of leisure, and. civil law might hold a long and happy jubilee. Imagina tion can hardly picture the beautiful scene that would then spring to view, Earth would again 'be changed to,Eden, and innocence , and joy again bless our race. And why not pray to G,od i and plead with , man,' and try with 'self to , -secure this blessed idatiltl Why P44OO l OE l * ?, shy not, I ask,.by example and :perguasiorr, and , ' iffarnest, 'holy, untiring influence;' endeavor' dash to the ground that first glass;