The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1853-05-12


an attendance upon this meeting. Il have
no fancy Tor such things was answered
sturgess is TO speak, was advanced as au
argument.
lie is cold water fanatic said the
young man with sneer.'
| There was the most perfect stiffness
throughout the room. All eyes we're fixed
upon Sturgess, whose low, subdued tone
ot voice, 50 unusual for him, made a deep
Impression upon the audience. lie stood,
for some moments, again silent, his eye
searching everywhere.
1T, he resumed, in the same low, half sad,
Impressive voice, that young man were here
tonight, would feel il duty, as well as
spriyiege, to tell him why | have become
what he calls cold water ianatic-why
am, probably, iule Incorporate in my
crusade agalns, the monster vice which
has desolated our homes and robbed US oil
the sweet promise God once gave Us in our
condition.
Sturgess' voice had trembIed, ,--but now
it was lost in sob. la a moment he re-
GOV cred himself and went on, still in the
same low, searching tones.
In The sweet promise of our children.
Where are they? | look all around this
large audience. There sits an old friend ;
tnd there, aud there. Like mine, their
heads are blossoming for eternity. Long
wears ago, we started side by side on q
lurney Of life. We had our wives and
our little ones around US then. Where are
they noH?'
Another long pause and deep silence fol
lowed. The dropping Of pin could have
been heard in that crowded assembly.
When my thoughts 60 wandering back
TO That o!den iime,' resumed the orator.
sand see, ia magnHtlun, the bright hearth
ire, now extingui>heJ. and hear, in lmag-
nallon, the glad voices Of children, no"
hushed forever; and when think Of what
caused This sad change, do not wonder
that have been all on fire, as it were;
that have appeared 10 some mere cold
water fanatic.
i wish that young man were here 10,
night; aud, perhaps he is here. ! will al
any rate, assume that he Is here, and bret
ly address him.
slou have called me, my young friend
a cold water 4natic. IL YOU had said en-
thusiast should have preferred the term
| But no mattcr-a fanatic lei II be. Ant
what has made me so? will draw Tor yot
picture.
There is a small, meagrely furnished
room, in the third story OF an old building
rhe the time is winter; and on the hearth
burns a few pieces Of pine wood, that al
| f.rd but little warmth. Three persons
are in the room--a mother and her tive
children. The mother is still young, bu
her thin, sad, suffering face. tells story q
poverty. sickness, and that heart sorro"
which dries up the very fountains OF life
A few years previously, she had gone for,i
troa; her fathers house happy bride. lock
| inp down The open vista Of the future anC
seeing naught but Joy and sunshine. She
clung TO her husband as coDfidng!y as the
vine cings to the oak; and she loved him
with all the tcrvor and devotion Of pure
Young heart. Alas! that shadow SO soon
tell upon her path; that loves clnging ten,
drills were so soon torn away!
She is still young. Look upon her, as
she moves with feeble steps about the room,
All. into what depth Of misery she has
fallen! Where is her husbandY-he who
50 soIemnIy swore to love, cherish and pro
tccl her u sickness and in health? The
door has opened! He en,ers,-gaze upon
him! NJ wonder an expression o! pain
aud disgust is on your countenance, tor q
miserable drunkard is before you. No won
der the poor wlte's pale cheek grows paler,
nor that the sadness of her face changes to
look Of anguish. Hark! he hss greeted
her with an angry word. He staggers
across the room, and in doing so, throws
over that little toddling thing on her way
to meet him. The mother, with m excla-
nation, springs forward to save her child
from harm. See! The drunken wretch has
thrust her angriy aside with his strong
arm. and she has fallen--fhIen with her
head across a chair!
The fall, my friends, proved fatal. A
week after that unhappy day, stood beside
he grave of one who had been TO me the
best and most loving of children.
The speakers voice faltered. But he
recovered himself and went on; "A few
wears before, gave nv daughter, dear TO
me as the apple Of my eye, into the care OF
one believed to be noble hearted and faith
iuI. He was so then--yes, will still say
,his. Bot the demon of Intemperance threw
upon him her baleful gIances, and he be-
came changed. And such a change! The
scene have pictured transpired in far oft
city. whittier my child had been removed.
Alas! the poor child did not die in my own
arms. | was summoned too late, Gal,
The sad pleasure ofgazing upon her vast
ed face, white as marble, and icy-cold, re
manned 10 me-
The old man could no longer suppress
bis emotion. Tears gushed over his face
and he wept aloud. Few dry eyes were
in that assembly.
IS it any wonder,' resumed Slurgess,
after he bad again recovered the mastery
ofhis feelings, that am a cold water innat-
lie? Molhinks, il the Young man TO whom
have referred, had passed through sor,
row such as this, he, too, would have been
IN enthusaSt-a fanatic, if he wl!-in
he cause of temperance. lie, too, would
have proclaimed from the streets and the