Nebraska palladium. [volume] (Bellevieu City, Neb.) 1854-1855, 1854-11-01
stItttta 9aatttr.
Mr.. JOHN B. COUGH.

NN''1 N''Nf' -
town Of Newburyport; he had reached the
churchyard Of She town, and had come
there to die. In the wide world he stood
alone. His wife was dead. He had no
friends. lie was overwhelmed with mise
ry and with debt. As he turned round
his anxious eye, he saw no way Of escape.
any no ray Of hope. There was nothing
left for him but the drunkard's unhonor-
ed grave. Another drop. and he would
have become suicide; but the bottl E
struck his lips, and that saved his life.-
He went back 10 the town. A temper
ance meeting was held, and he was in
duced TO sign the pledge. He did more
he left his humble calling--that Of book
binder--a became a zealons advocate of
the instrumentality that had done so much
for him. Friends gathered round him. -
As an orator he was perpetually in re-
quest. For fen years he spoke three
hundred times year, travelled Zen thou-
sand miles year; his name was John B.
Cough. His fame reached this country,
and twelvemonth since, he was engag-
ed by the committee Of the London Tenn
perance League, to visit England. He
came originally for six weeks, but he was
induced 10 stop two years. Nor will
those acquainted with Exter-hal oratory
wonder at the result. See Cough as he
stands upon the platform, and you at oice
! | arm the secret Of his success. He is a
spare, thin man, with premature age
stamped upon his face. with stature by
no means imposing. Dressed in Ordina-
ry black. you would take him for very
ordinary man. and the first few sentences
that fall from his lips strike YOU as little
better than commonplace. Wait awhile,
and the orator will warm; the mass before
him will respond, and it will beat as with
one pulse, while he convulses it with
laughter, or nelis e into tears. The ef- !
feet Is striking. The scoifes il touched; |
!the drankard is reclaimed; tisS Hfoet de-
graded feel that there is yet hope and hap
piness. and heaven for him. And what
is il that does all OF this? Not learning;
for Mr.. Cough has never been 10 school
since he was twelve years old; not reason
ing, for he makes no pretentious TO the
possession of augumentative powers; not
rhetoric, for he tells plain, nnvarnished
tale, and leaves il to others copiously to IL
Iusirate, or gorgeously to declaim. But
the fact is, that he is in earnest; that il is
the terrible story of his life he unfolds;
and ths., saved as by fire himself, he de-
notes for the salvation of others; real
natural eloquence, that never tires, never
wearies; and. tongue that never grows
dull. To save The drunkard-to stop the
ravages of intemperance--to build up a
barrier between the intoxicating cup and
nnpolluted lip--to bid man TO be true 10
himself and the Divine principle within
him; and 10 dash down the flowing bowl.
wreathed as il may be, by flowers, and
presented bv Beauty for beneath, turks
a serpent that may sting as an adder; such
is the work Of Mr.. Gough-such is his
unva,ied theme. Had he been an orator
alone, he must have failed long before this;
but he is an actor as well; he has unusual
hexibility OF face and voice. His fea-
lures can express every shade Of feeling;
his tones can give utterance 10 every emo
ton of the human heart. He can be all
things in an hour; he is the very Proteus
of the platform. He walks up and down
il as one inspired; and you tremble all the
while, lest the speaker and the audience,
in the frenzy Of The moment, should rise
UP, and do something extravagant or mad.
You feel what wonderful instrument the
human voice is-what power the orator
wields. You feel that he has as much
power over men as when the Hebrew
Paul spoke and Felix trembled, or as
when The Aihenian Demosthenes reused
the decaying hearts of his countrymen,
and fulmined over Greece
Mr.. Cough has now been twelve
Il months in this country. Of which he is a
na'ive--for he was born august %,
1917 and spent the first twelve years OF
his life, at Sandgate. Since he has been
here, he has travelled over England and
: Scotland, and has delivered two hundred
, and thirty-seven orations TO audiences Of
an average Of at least one thousand FIVE
hundred persons. He is accompanied by
a his second wife, an American lady, tc
, whom he was married in l843. His faith
4 er was soldier, and lived on pension
. in Landau He has n sister in Atnerica