Temperance > Autobiography and personal recollections of John B. Gough

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN B. GOUGH.
me to this country. I think he might have written this
under a misapprehension,—and I know he was misin¬
formed,—but this pamphlet was industriously circulated,
and caused me a great deal of trouble. I replied to it,
and that matter soon settled down, and I have been for
many years in correspondence and on friendly terms with
the family whom I was alleged to have slandered.
I make no complaint of severe and adverse criticism.
My style, the subject-matter of my addresses, my ges¬
tures, all my defects as a speaker,—and I know they are
many,—are all legitimate subjects for criticism and com¬
ment; even my personal appearance and dress may be
held up to ridicule, and no great harm done. I have
been called a “ humbug,” a “ theatrical performer,” a
“mountebank,” a “clown,” a “buffoon,” “ungraceful,”
“homely,” “round-shouldered.” I have been accused of
having “crooked legs,” of “wearing long hair,” of “wear¬
ing jewelry,” of having a “sensual mouth;” my lectures
have been called “idiotic ravings,” a “rehash of other
people’s thoughts,” “balderdash,” “insane bellowings,”
and other statements of like character too numerous to
mention; but none of these things troubled me, beyond
the temporary annoyance that any man feels at expres¬
sions of contempt; but such terms as “hypocrite,” “mer¬
cenary scoundrel,” “consummate villain,” “base slan¬
derer,” “liar,” “drunkard,” “unchaste,” touch the moral
character.
Those especially who do not like me, have, up to the
present time, constantly accused me of drinking. I have
often pondered on this, and asked why is it ? It cannot
be because I am a public man, for other public men escape
such attacks; other men strike heavy blows at old-estab¬
lished, cherished usages, and are not vilified as I have
been. The documents are before me, and they are posi-