We'll have Another by John Mackay Wilson
Adam Brown, the mild and studious eldest son of a poor widow near the Teviot, is educated with the help of the Rev. Mr Douglas. He becomes close to Douglas’s gentle daughter, Mary, with whom he reads, studies, and tends her flower-garden. After his unsuccessful attempt to keep a school, Adam goes to London, painfully leaving his mother, brothers, and Mary, who promises never to forget him. In London he is mocked for his country appearance, cheated by a false employment agent, reduced to poverty, and turned from his lodging after pawning his possessions. At last he obtains work as an assistant-porter in a merchant’s office. His industry and education raise him to warehouseman and confidential clerk. Though he adopts fashionable dress and manners, he remains serious until fellow clerks persuade him to attend Covent Garden. Excited by the performance and then by the company in a tavern, he yields when his companions call for another bottle. He becomes drunk, sings a drinking song, collapses, and soon joins his companions again to drink away the effects of the previous night. Adam gradually becomes a frequent visitor to taverns and theatres and falls into wider vice. His religious principles fade, and even his affection for Mary loses its former power, though he continues to write to her and sends money to his mother. When he returns to his native village after several years, Mary still loves him despite the affected levity that grieves her father. They marry and go to London. For a short time Adam remains at home with Mary, but he soon returns to nightly drinking. Mary silently endures his absences, harshness, and neglect, welcoming him despite his frowns and imprecations. After she becomes the mother of his child, she spends nights weeping over its cradle while waiting for him. On Mary’s birthday, as her father and guests await Adam, a police-officer reveals that Adam has become a gambler as well as a drunkard and has committed fraud and embezzlement. Mary and Mr Douglas hurry to seek help from Adam’s employer. Meanwhile, Adam learns in a gambling-house that his guilt has been discovered. In frenzy he calls for another drink, puts arsenic into it, and swallows the poison. Mary and her father find him dying among his companions. Adam recoils, then recognises Mary, calls himself once innocent, and begs her forgiveness for their child’s sake. Mary tells him that his debt has been paid and urges him to leave with her, but he dies in convulsions. Her grief leaves her nearly insensible to everything around her, and within three weeks she dies. Mr Douglas returns sorrowfully to Teviotdale with her helpless orphan.
By John Mackay Wilson · First published 1835 · Genre: Moral Tale, Temperance Fiction, Tragedy · 6,182 words
First lines
When the glass, the laugh, and the social "crack" go round the convivial table, there are few who may not have heard the words, "_We'll have another! _" It is an oft-repeated phrase -- and it seems a simple one; yet, simple as it appears, it has a magical and fatal influence. The lover of sociality yieldeth to the friendly temptation it conveys, nor dreameth that it is a whisper from which scandal catcheth its thousand echoes -- that it is a phrase which has blasted reputation -- withered affection's heart -- darkened the fairest prospects -- ruined credit -- conducted to the prison-house, and led to the grave. When our readers again hear the words, let them think of our present story.
Similar titles
- Tales The Drunkards Death by Charles Dickens
- Lazy Robert Or The Colonels Servant by Madeline Leslie
- The Shortest Way by Jane Barlow
- Concerning English Gambling by Thomas Burke
- An Honest Thief by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- If This Were Faith by Robert Louis Stevenson
Genres
- Moral Tale — The narrative is explicitly structured as a warning about the destructive consequences of yielding to drink, vice, and corrupt companionship.
- Temperance Fiction — Alcohol consumption is the central destructive force: the recurring phrase 'We'll have another' marks Adam's progression from social drinking to addiction, crime, and death.
- Tragedy — Adam's moral decline culminates in embezzlement, suicide, the collapse of his family, and Mary's subsequent death from grief.
- Social Problem Fiction — The work examines poverty, urban exploitation, alcoholism, gambling, crime, precarious employment, and the dangers facing an inexperienced migrant in London.
Tags
temperance tale · alcoholism · drunkenness · moral downfall · addiction · vice and temptation · social drinking · tavern culture · gambling · embezzlement · suicide by poison · tragic marriage
What this Textopian page supports
We'll have Another is listed on Textopian as a short story by John Mackay Wilson, dated 1835 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: John Mackay Wilson
- Date: 1835 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Moral Tale, Temperance Fiction, Tragedy, Social Problem Fiction, Cautionary Tale
- Length: 6,182 words
- Structure: 1 section, 65 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for We'll have Another by John Mackay Wilson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph