The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-08-02
MISCELLANEOUS,
JOHN B. COUGH.

Everybody IN England who reads the
newspapers has seen or heard OF J. b.
Cough, the temperance advocate. He
seems to be here, there, aud everywhere ::
now in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, the
next week ip Leeds and Manchester, and
the next in London and the large towns
of the South. No public speaker of the
day seems to be in greater demand. He
is full Of engagements, and cannot over
take one-half of them. The reason is,
that be is man Of striking genius, and
possesses the power ofswayipg popular
audience as no living orator can do.
But Mr.. Cough is not so great as an
orator, as he is great as an actor. He
has no literary finish. His language is
not polished aud chiselled. His periods
are not large and rounded. There is no
grandeur about his eloquence. His style
is not brilliant, chaste anl perfect, as W !
expect in the finished and highly. educat.
cd orator. Indeed, he himself ad uits
that he has never experienced The advan-
tsges Of education he is entirely self ed
ucated man. And yet, as we have said,
he possesses a marvellous and almost nn-
exampled power over his audience. This
arises mainly, as we appreheud, from his
z. eat merits AS an actor.
Take, for instance, Mr.. Coughs lecture
on Habit, recentlr delivered by him be
fore the Young Mems Christian Associa-
tion in Exeter hall, aud since published,
revised by himself Its literary merits,
though considerable, are not great
There are many living men who could
torite much more eloquent lecture on
the subject, co ,taining more striking and
original thoughts, presented with greater
literary finish, clothed in choicer words,
more beautifully turned and pointed.
But hear Mr.. Cough deliver his lecture,
and then you will admit his prodigious
powef. The sleuderest anccdote told by
hi .beeomes instinct with life. Scenes
the most vivid are depicted by him so
truthfully, and yet apparently SO unaffec
tedly, that he carries you along with him,
whether you will or no. Tie figures
start from the canvas-they live and
breathe. And he does it in few graph
ic strokes far more wildly than Retzch
the German can DO ith his bit Of char
coal. lie raises The ghosts Of departed
drunkards with more than a magician's
power, and makes them live over again
their hleous dreams. in which mocking,
jibbering human faces seem 10 glare at
you while he speaks or he describes Nj.
sgsra Falls, aud how q gay party Of
youths are sucked into the Rapids, and
drawn on and on-till at last, avaking
from their dream Of pleasure, they make
for the shore then Pull for your very
Eva.t 81 hlo.~l
nostrils, and the veins stand like whip
cords upon the brow !" but all too late
aud shrieking, cursing, bowling, blssphe-
ming, over they GO! You see it all be.
fore you, so wildly is it depicted; and
the nearer can scarcely resist screaming
aloud, as the youths are hurried headlong
down the terrible torrent But Mr..
Cough is equally great in delineating the
tender and the pathetic. He plays upon
the heart-strings rs upon familiar instru-
inent. There is one OF the anecdotes
which he tells Of poor Irishwoman in
New York, who, on landing from the emi-
grant-thip, left her two little children in a
lodging. house, while she herself went in
search Of friend in distant part Of the
city on her return to her children, she
heard the alarm of T" lire raised, and the
fre-bells booncd out over the city. Sud
denly fire engine came up, and as it
passed her, a person hailed the firemen,
asking Whereabouts the FIRE was I"
y The answer was ut such place-ihe
very place where the poor woman had left
her children! The ru Of the woman
after the fire- engine, its entrance into the
burning square the shrieks Of the mother
as she sees the crowd close up after the
engine had passed, leaving her outside !;
then the policeman clear " ny for er
through the crowd, and the mother run
ming, OF rather staggering, up to pile Of
boxes aud furniture laid in the square, be-
side which sat two children, one Of whom
eiecslates Mother its motherp
All this passes rapidly before your eyes,
like real scene, and the strong touches
Of natpre which the relator throws into it,
seize bold OF your heart, and take you
captive.
There Is another Of his most touching
anecdotes, which, however, must be heard
from his own lips, set OF by bis iniInitabIe
acting, to be fully appreciated.
Il once rode" said he, with man
for about twelve miles, whose story was
most affecting. lie had / zen two splen-
did horses, with silyer.mounted harness,
and handsome vehicle.
a' Al" said he, il you had only seen
me eight years ago, you would have
thought me IN sorry plight. All that
/ bad in the world was on my miserable
eaSs, which was drawn by lean aud
shabby animal. Now, I've good team
and = nice Iittle property. My good old
father and mother hive In the. town where
we are 0ging. anil wa Ynusf make hasfe