The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-08-07

dear child, put down the cup, and yield your
place TO this elderly gentleman, who treads so
tenderly over the paving stones, that | suspect
he Is AFRAID OF breaking them What he limps
Dy, without SO much as thanking me, as if my
hosphable oilers were meant only TO people who
have no wlne-cellars. Well, well, sir-no harm
done hope! Go draw the cork, tip the decan-
ter; but when your great toe shall set you
roaring, II VIII be no affair of mine. If gentle
men love the utilization Of the govt, it is all
tolhe Town Pump. This thirsty dog with his red
tongue rolling out, does not scorn my hospitality,
but stands on his hind legs, and laps eagerly out
OF the trough See how lightly he capers away
again! Jower, did your worship ever have the
govt
Are you all satisfied Then wine your
mouths, my good friends; and, while my spout
has amoment's leisure, | will delight the town
with few historical "reminiscences. In far an
tiquiy, beneath darksome shadow of venerable
boushs, spring dubbed out of the leaf strewn
| earth, IN the very spot where you now behold
me, on the sunny pavement. The water was
as bright and clear, and deemed as precious as
liquid diamonds The Indian sagamores drank
OF II, nom Time immcmorial till the fatal deluge
OF the tre-water burst upon the red men, and
swept their whole race away from the cold
fountains. Endicott and his followers came
next, and often knet down to drink, dipping
| their lang boards in the spring. The richest
goblet, then, was of birch bark. Gov. Win
throp, after journey on foot from Boston, drank
here out OF the hollow of his hand The elder
HiggiIson here wet his palm, and laid it on the
brow OF the first town-born child. For many
years, was the watering place, and,as il were,
the washbowl OF the vicinity-whither all de-
cent folks fesorted, to purify their visages, and
gaze at them afterwards-at least, the pretty
madeIs dd-in the mirror which il made. On
sabbath days, whenever babe was TO be bap-
tized, the sexton filled his basin here, and placed
it on tie communion table Of the humble meet
ing house which partly covered the site of yon-
der stately brick one.
| Thus, one generation after another was con
secratd to Heaven by its waters, and cast their
waxing and waning shadows into its glossy bo-
som, and vanished from earth, as if mortal life
were but fitting image in fountain. Finally,
] the fountain vanished also. Cellars were dug
on all sides, and carloads of gravel were thrown
upon It's source, whence oozed a turbid stream,
| forming mud puddle at the corner of two
| streets. In hot months, when its retreshment
was most needed, the dust flew in clouds over
the forgotten birth place of waters, now their
grave. But, in the course of time, Town
Pump was sunk into the source of the ancient
| spring and when the first decayed, another
took It's place--and then another, and still an
other-t here stand 1. gentlemen and ladies', TO
/
refreshed The water is as pure and cold as
that which slaked the thirst of the red Sycamore,
| beneath the aged boughs, though now the gem
of the wilderness is treasured under these hot
stones, where no shadow falls, but from the
| brick buildings. And be it the moral Of nv
story, that as this wasted and long lost fountain
is known and priced again, so shall the virtues
of cold water, too little valued since our fathers
days. be recognized by all.
| Your pardon, good people! must interrupt
this stream of eloquence, and spout forth a
stream Of water, to replenish the trough for this
| teamster and his two yoke of oxen, who have
come from Topsfeld or somewhere along that
way. No part of my business is peasanter than
| the watering of cattle. Look how rapidly
| they lower the watermark on the sides of the
trough till their capacious stomachs are mois-
| tened with gallon or two apiece, and they can
afford time to breathe il in with signs of calm
enjoyment. Now they roll up their quiet eyes,
| around the brim of their monstrous drinking
vessel. An OK is your true topper.
But perceive, my dear auditors, that you
are impatient for the remainder of my discourse.
lmpute It, beseech you to no defect of modes
ty, if insist little longer on so fruitful topic
| as my own multlfarious merits 1t is altogether
for your good. The better you think Of me, the
better men and women you will find yourselves.
shall say nothing of my all-important aid on
l
might call myself the household god of a hun
dred families Far be it from me, also, my re-
| spectacle friends, at the show of dirty faces,
which you would present, without my pains to
| keep you clean. Nor will | remind YOU how
often, when the midnight bells make you trem-
bic for your combustible town, you have fled
| to the Town Pump, and found me always at my
post firm amid the confusion, and ready to
| drain my vital current in your behalf Neither
/
to medical diploma, as the physician whose
simple rule of practice is preferable to all the
nauseous lore which has found men sick or left
them so, since the days of Hippocraies. Let
US take broader view of nv beneficial inllu-
ence on mankind
| No; these are trihes compared with the me
rts which wise men concede To me--if not in
my single self vet as the representative Of
class-of being the grand reformer of the age.
From my spout, and such spouts as nine, must
flow the stream that shall cleanse our earth of
the vast portion of its crime and anguish, which
has gushed from the fiery fountains of the still.
In this mighty enterprise the COW shall be my
great confidence. Milk and water The Town
Pump and the Cow. Such is the glorious CO.
partnership that shall tear down the disteries
and brew houses, uproot the vineyards, shatter
the expresses, ruin the tea and coffee trade,
and finally monopolize the whole business Of
quenching thirst
Blessed consummation Then Poverty shall
pass away from the land, finding no howell so
wretched, where her squalid form may shelter
itself Then disease, for lack of other victims,
shall gnaw its own heart and die. Then Sin,
| if she do not die shall lose half her strength
Until now, the phrenzy of hereditary fever has
ragged in the human blood transmitted from sire
TO son, and rekindled in every generation, by
fresh draughts Of liquid flame. When that in
ward fire shall be extingushed, the heat Of pas
sion cannot but grow cool, and war-the drunk
enness of natious-perhaps will cease At least
there will be no war of households The hus-
| hand and wife. drinking doom Of ncacnlul inv