54 CONVERSATIONS ON 



" Know him ! Why, Uncle Philip, every- 

 body in this part of the country knows him ; 

 he is such a shocking drunkard, and swears 

 so horribly, that nobody can forget him ; and 

 what makes it worse, he is an old man, too. 

 His hair is almost as white as yours, Uncle 

 Philip." 



" Yes ; he is just about my age. We were 

 both born here, and I have known him ever 

 since we were boys ; and when we played to- 

 gether as children, over this very field which 

 we are now crossing, or caught fish in the 

 river down yonder by the rocks, there was not 

 a more decent, well-behaved, handsome boy 

 among us than was Tom Smith. Poor Tom 

 lost his father when he was about twelve years 

 old, and his mother, having no other child, 

 indulged him, until he was sent to the city to 

 go into a store. But Tom then, boys, had 

 good principles ; he neither swore nor got 

 drunk. In a little time he fell into bad com^ 

 pany, and they led him astray by degrees, 

 He was so good-natured (as they call it), boys, 

 that he had never the firmness to say no to 

 the proposals of his companions. He went 

 with them to places of amusement ; and in- 

 stead of spending his evenings in his own 



