bill against me.

"I have now come," said he, "to tell you why I left you. It was because
I knew that I should die if I did not leave off drinking, and I saw
distinctly that I could never leave off while I remained in Hartford. My
only hope was, in going where liquor was not to be had."

About two years and a half after this, he applied to me for further
employment, as the business he was following had failed. I told him
there was no man whom I should rather employ, but I could not think of
having him encounter again the temptations which he had so miraculously
escaped. He very pleasantly replied, "I am a man now, and do not believe
I have any thing more to fear from the temptations of the city than you
have."

I told him that I had confidence in the firmness of his purpose, but
feared to see it put to the test. Yet, as he was out of business, I
consented; and no man that I ever employed did better, or was more
deserving of confidence and respect. He continued with me till spring,
when he proposed to take his work into the country, so that he could be
with his family: the arrangement was made, and I employ him still.

On the fourth of July last, (1839,) the Sunday-schools in the town where
he resides made arrangements for a celebration, and I was invited to be
present and address them. As I looked upon the audience, the first
countenance that met my eye was that of this very man, _at the head of
his Sunday-school class_. The sight almost overwhelmed me. Instead of a
loathsome, drunken maniac--a terror to his family and a curse to
society, whose very presence was odious, and his example
pestilential--he was then, in the expressive language of Scripture,
"clothed, and in his right mind;" and was devoted to the heavenly work
of guiding children to Christ and salvation. He had made a public
profession of religion, which he was daily honoring by a life of
Christian meekness and sobriety.

O, who can comprehend the tide of domestic joy, of social happiness, and
of Christian consolation which flows through the heart of this man and
his family, in consequence of this change in his habits?

Now, what was the cause of this surprising change? What wrought this
wonderful transformation in this individual? The whole story is told in
one short line. _He went where intoxicating liquor was not sold._ Had he
remained in this city, he would probably long since have been laid in
the drunkard's grave.

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN