A Mother’s Influence

A Mother's influence.

Hon. Thomas H. Benton, in a speech in New York, turned to the ladies, and referring to his mother, said, "My mother asked me never to use tobacco, and I have never touched it from that time to the present day. She asked me not to game, and I have never gamed; and I can't tell this day who is winning and who is losing in games that can be played. She admonished me too, against hard drink ; and whatever capacity for endurance I may have at present, and whatever usefulness I may attain in life', I attribute to having complied with her pious and earnest wishes. When seven years of age, she asked me not to drink, and I made then a resolution to total abstinence. I formed an abstinence society at a time when I was the sole constituent member of my own body, and that I have adhered to it through all time, I owe to my mother."