TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, K. G.,

A NOBLEMAN WHOSE

WARM HEART AND READY HAND HAVE EVER

BEEN PROMPT TO DEVISE AND AID

IN CARRYING OUT PLANS FOR BENEFITING HUMANITY,

WITH DEEP RESPECT FOR HIS CHARACTER

AS A

CHRISTIAN AND A PHILANTHROPIST,

This Work

IS, BY PERMISSION, GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED,

BY HIS LORDSHIP'S

HUMBLE AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,

THE AUTHORESS.

PREFACE.

SENSE of duty has prompted the writing and

A publication of this Tale. Many of the cir

cumstances are real facts, that have come to the

writer's personal knowledge. It is not, properly speaking, a work of fiction; although, for the sake of unity of effect, characters and occurrences are brought into more intimate connection with each other than that in which they at first existed.

The authoress deeply feels her inability to portray in colours sufficiently dark the misery and ruin caused in our beloved country by the degrading practice of Intemperance. It is her object to show, in the following pages, the perils to which the family, the circumstances, and the happiness of even the moderate indulger in strong drinks are liable; since, from many of our most respectable and honoured families, and many of our brightest, happiest firesides, have passed forth those who have become the outcasts of society-who have brought disgrace and ruin upon themselves, and dishonour upon their connections, by an undue indulgence in