44. THE FIRST GLASS OF WINE;

 

either be knocked down, kicked, or cruelly _
beaten, if they attracted his attention. | .
s I’ dare say you are thinking that this ,
man was a perfect monster of wickedness,
and that a case like his is very rarely met
with. ,
‘¢T wish that you were right, but, alas,
my boys, the world is full of just such cases,
- and even worse ones than this. The man I -
am telling you about, was well qualified to
support his family in comfort. He had re-
ceived a good education, had learned a prof-
itable trade, and was naturally kind-hearted ;
but it was the monster ‘Drunkenness,?” |
which had made him what he was. It had
taken possession of him, perverted his tastes, —
—erazed his brain, and dried up all the good ©
there was in hin, till he ‘was more like a
savage beast than a human being, with a

mind and soul.