Temperance > Autobiography and personal recollections of John B. Gough

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP JOHN B. GOUGH.
Mr. Eipley engaged in prayer, followed by the Methodist
friend; and I asked one or two if they had anything to
say. A young man rose and said: “This is the first time
I ever spoke in such a place as this—but—” and he be¬
came so affected that he suddenly sat down; the effect of
his broken words was felt by all. Another meeting was
appointed, and during the entire summer we held meet¬
ings, and thirty-four (if I remember rightly) were added
to the church.
Among the ministers who came to preach for us, was
the Eev. George Gould, and from our first meeting we
became friends—not in the ordinary acceptation of that
term, but we loved each other at first sight. There was
a rare tenderness in our friendship. Our souls were knit
together; we were so drawn to each other, that we seemed
to fuse into one,—it is a holiday when we meet; the grasp
of his hand does me good “like a medicine.” I number
him and his wife among my dearest and best loved friends;
our friendship strengthens as we grow older; we have
been together in dark days and sunny days, but neither
clouds nor sunshine affect the stability of our love for
each other.
I commenced work on November 8th, in Boston, after
a long vacation, and continued till December 3d, when I
returned home to attend the funeral of William Lincoln,
at Oakham. He died December 1, 1856, after a short ill¬
ness, and left Sarah a widow, but seven months from her
marriage. His was a lovely character, and the sorrow
for his death was universal in the town where he had
lived. The bearers at his funeral were some young men
he had helped to the Saviour; and the tears that dropped
into his open grave were genuine testimonials of the deep
grief of the many he left to mourn over the early de¬
parture of one so useful and so dearly beloved. I left