Temperance > Autobiography and personal recollections of John B. Gough

INVITATION TO GREAT BRITAIN.
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Gough excels Gavazzi in pathos, far more than Gavazzi excels
Gough in power. Then, Gough is more moderate in his theatri¬
cal displays. He paints much more, and acts much less; while,
as to force and general effects, he is, of course, on high vantage
ground, speaking his native tongue, and among his fellow-country¬
men. He is, in this respect, in England, what Gavazzi would
. be in Italy. Both find—and find to an equal extent—their
account in their histrionic manner Last night
the address was a succession of pictures, delivered in a manner
the most natural; and hence, at one time, feeling was in the
ascendant, and at another, power. His gift of mimicry seemed
great. This perilous, though valuable faculty, however, was but
sparingly exercised. It is only as the lightning, in a single flash, |
illuminating all, and gone,—making way for the rolling peal and |
the falling torrent. Throughout the whole of last night he ad¬
dressed himself to the fancy and to the heart. We cannot doubt,
however, that Mr. Gough is, in a very high degree, capable of
dealing with principles, and grappling with an adversary by way
of argument; but he adopted a different, and, as we think, a
much wiser course for a first appearance. The mode of address
is one of which mankind will never tire till human nature be¬
comes divested of its inherent properties. He recited a series of
strikingly pertinent facts, all of which he set in beautiful pictures.
Nothing could exceed the unity of the impression; while nothing |
could be more multifarious than the means employed to effect it. |
It was a species of mortar-firing, in which old nails, broken
bottles, chips of iron, and bits of metal, together with balls of
lead,—anything, everything partaking of the nature of a missile,
—were available. The compound mass was showered forth with
resistless might and powerful execution. The great idea which
was uppermost all the evening, was,—the evils of drinking; and,
under a deep conviction of that truth, every man must have left
the assembly. The conclusion to which we have come, then, is
that the merits of Mr. Gough have by no means been over-rated.
. . . Oratorically considered, he is never at fault. While the
vocable pronunciation, with scarcely an exception, is perfect, the