Temperance > Autobiography and personal recollections of John B. Gough

LECTU RES*
291
I could not control myself, and though “unused to tears,”
they rolled down my face as I sat there, watching the
gradual dying out of the blazing letters of “farewell.”
Genial George Cruikshank was there, the life of the
party. Tweedie, Campbell, White (who wrote an excel¬
lent description of the scene, and from whose little book
I have obtained information respecting the house and its
associations), Hewlett, and so many friends of the past
two years, and many of them for evermore, were there.
In the morning, at breakfast, the steward came in to
report, that on a careful examination of the grounds, they
found not a flower plucked, not a border trampled on; not
a particle of damage could be discovered in the garden or
ground, though five thousand persons had roamed where
they would, without let or hindrance.
Mr. Lee said: “Gentlemen, that speaks well for the
good behaviour of teetotalers;” and he added: “I re¬
quested the steward to make his report before you, think¬
ing it might gratify you to know it.”
About sixty persons were entertained by Mr. Lee during
the two days of the/Ste. The London Temperance League
presented to me a very fine dinner service for eighteen, of
pure silver, beautifully arranged in a solid oak plate-chest,
with trays, and receptacles for spoons and forks,—a costly
gift, but more valuable to me than gold or silver, was the
kindness, sympathy, and friendship that prompted to the
generous donation.
Often during the two years’ work in the country I had
witnessed the distress and misery brought upon the inno¬
cent by the intemperance of those near to them. An
awful peculiarity of this vice is, that it not only blasts the
victim, but scorches all connected with him; it ruins the
man, and brings misery on wives, children, parents,
brothers, and sisters. The tender-hearted are made cruel,