The Ohio organ, of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, [Ohio]) 1853-1854, 1853-07-01

er TO my speech; as ne came rOlllng |
along, some Of the crowd gleefully |
called out, as If they expectedia a row,
Here comes Charley Brown real
teetotaler; hurrah for Charley ~ The
children set up q shout the drunken |
man staggered in among the audi
ence and I went on with MY speech.
Isl could not keep my eyes off the
man; he was irightful example Of
the degradation to which habitual
drunkenness may bring one. He was
tall and powerfully made, but he was
clothed IN rags, dirty and unkempt,
and his face was one mass of red
blotch. The man fixed his drunken
eyes upon me as / spoke, and l felt
encouraged by his attention, degraded
and outcast though he looked. Iwent
on, in homely words drawing a picture
OF the wretched life Of the drunkard,
his beggard home, his neglected chill
dren, and his ruined wife aud urged
again and again that the only radical
cure was the teetotal one,-abstinence
at once and forever from all intoxicat-
ing drinks.
/ By this time some other tipsy
men had joined the audience, and |
was told that beer-shop keeper was
among them, who kept up a fire of
I interruptions, shouting out, 'It's a
\ lie = You're a fool 7 and such like;
1 and pieces of rubbish and dirt began
| to be thrown at me from the outskirts
of the crowd.
Il sat this, the drunken man, whom
the crowd had saluted by the name of
. Charley strobe forward, and push
ing his way up to where | stood,
stretched forth his hand to me. Ny
first thought was, that he meant to
pull me down from my chair, and the
delighted audience thought so too /;
but the man called out instead, that
l must Z shake hands with him, which
| did at once; and then the man, clap
ping me on the shoulder, called out,
GO on, good lad, and let Charley
Brown see the man that dares to med
die WI you'll
"As | afterwards learnt, this Char
ley was the terror of his neighbor-
hood he was the greatest fighter in
the place, and his Dashed face bore
many evidences of his pugilism as
we'll as of his drunkenness. So his
patronage at once quelIed the rising
insults of the crowd, and | was per.
mitted quietly to finish my address.
At the end, | offered to take the
names of any persons present who
might be disposed to join the Teetotal
Society, and to my surprise, i may
almost say to my dismay,-the only
one who offered to j3in was the
drunken man Charley l, of course,
regarded his taking the pledge as a
! joke, and offered to defer it until the
following morning. MOP said he,
NOW, Now.-Pm your man. So |
took his dge,-I confess reluctantly,
and amidst much laughter. No other
dared to follow his example, it SEEM
ed only too ludicrous.
|. "Well I returned the chair to the
I poor woman from whom | had borrow
ed it, and was about to proceed TO-
wards my humble lodging; but Char.
ley would not Ieave me. He insisted on
accompanying me, arm-in-arm, across
the market-place, down the High
Street,-people coming to their doors
to see us pass, and wondering what
new misc hief the drunken pest had
been brewing. Charley even insisted
on my going to his house to see his
wife and family, | consented to 90,
for found I could not shake him off !;
and l was afterwards glad went.
81 was introduced to the Drunk
ards HON e, and a more destitute,
II ruratoboI l. o,ooz ,,o,,a,. ov4o,aJ