Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1860-05-18
Famous Apostrophe to Water.

apostrophe 10 water, Wnlch James Is. Cough
the eloquent lecturer on temperance has re-
peatcd to- electrified thousands in England
and America. We stated that it originated
with Paul Denton, an itinerant of the Metho
dist church in Texas, and that it was deliver
ed at a barbecue which Denton had prepared
and to which he invited strangers It had
been years since we read the incident, and
we are delighted to find it in an exchange
credited Texan paper. We feel sure that
our readers will be equally delighted with its
perusal. = Pttsbsny Dispatch. S.' .@ |~
The smoking vianls were arranged on the
table 10y scores of slaves, and the throng pre-
pared to commence the snlnptuous meal, when
voice pealcd from the pulpit loud as the
blast of the trumpet in battle "Stay, gen
tlemen and ladies, till the giver of the barbc-
cue asks Gods blcssingr' a.z F
Every heart started, every eve was direct
ed to the speaker, and whisperless silence
ensued, for all were alike struck by his re-
markable appearance. He was almost giant
in stature, though scarcely thirty years of
age. His hair, dark as the ravens wing,
flowed down his immense shoulders in masses
Unnatural ringlets, his eyes, black as midnight,
beamed like stars, over a face pale as Paran
marble, calm, passionless spiritual, and wear
ing a singular, undefinable expression. ..
The heterogeneous crowd, hunters, gamb-
lers and homicides gazed in mute astonish-
inent. The missionary prayed, but it sounded
| llkeno other prayer everaddressed to throne
ofgrace. 1t was the cry ofa naked soul, and
that soul bcggar for the bread and water
| of heavenly life. sa . "
He ceased, and not till then did become
conscious of weeping. | looked around thro'
my tears, and saw hundreds of faces wet with
rain.
Now, my friends" said the missionary,
"partake of Gods gifts at the table, and then
come and sit down and listen to his gospel
1t would be impossible to describe the
sweet tone of kindness in which these simple
| words were uttered, that made him on the
instant five hundred friends. "
One heart, however, in the assembly, was
maddened by the evidence of the preacher S
wonderful power. .. ....,..
Col. Watt Foreman exclaimed, in snccr-
ing tone: a -.
MIR. Paul Denton, your reverence has lied.
You promised us not ouly good barbecue,
but better liquor. Where is the lquory'
There! answered the missionary, in
tones of thunder, pointing his motionless
finger at the matchless Double Spring, g,lsh-
ing up in two strong columns, with sound
like a. shout of joy, from the bosom of the
earth. "Therc!' he repeated, with look
terrible as lightning, while his enemy actual
ly trembled at his feet. "There is the LIQUOR
of God, the Eternal brews for all his children.
Not in the simmering still, over smoky fires,
choked with poisonous gases, and surrounded
with the stencil of sickening odors and rank
corruption, doth your Father in Heaven pre-
pare the precious essence of life, the pure
cold water.
But in the green glade and the grassy dell,
where the red deer wanders, and the child
loves to play, there God himself brews it
and down--down in the deep valleys where
the fountains murmur and the rills sing;
and high on the mountain tops where the
naked granite gittcrs like gold in the sun
where the storm clouds brood and the thun-
der tones crash, and away, far out on the
wide, wide sea, where the hurricane howls
music, and the big waves roll the chorus,
sweeping the march of God" there He
brews it, that beverage of life, health giving
water. And everywhere it is thing Of
beauty cleaning in the dew-drops, singing
in the summer rain, shining in the ice gem,
till all the trees seemed turned to living Jew
els-spreading a golden veil over the setting
ouii, VI d Willlc Sausc aIOuHu the midnight
moon; sporting in the cataract, sleeping i'm
the glacier, dancing in the Fall shower; fold
ing its snow curtains softly about the world;
and wavcrng the many -colorcd iris, that
seraph's zone of the sky, whose woof is the
sunbeam of heaven, all chcckered over with
celestial flowers py the ystic hand of re-
fraction. Still always is it beautiful that
blessed life water. No poison bubbles on its
brink; its foam brings not madness and mur-
der; no blood stains its liquid glass pale
widows and starving orphans weep not burn
ing tears on its clear depths; no drunkards
shrinking ghost from the grave curses it in
words Of eternal despair. Speak out, my
friends; would you exchange it for the de-
mons drink, Alcohol? p"
A shout like the roar of tempest answer
ed, "Now
Critics need never tell me again that back
woodsmen are deaf 70 the divine voice of elo-
quencc for / saw at that moment the mis-
sionary held the hearts of the multitude as it
Were, in the hollow of his hand, and the pop
ular feeling ran in current so irresistible
that even the duelist, Watt Foreman, dared
not venture another interruption during the
meeting. ia. t.-..s. .,s Fs.. 20