Temperance > Autobiography and personal recollections of John B. Gough

342
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN B. GOUGH.
has any man applied to me,—when I was able to relieve,
and his claim on my sympathy was reasonable,—and gone
empty-handed away. I simply denounce the class who
live and thrive on the credulity and generosity of others.
“Help yourself,” is a good motto; but “Help yourself
that you may help others,” is a better. Every man in
life’s battle may meet reverses, but need not be over¬
whelmed. Let him do his duty, and strive to be a man
rather than a gentleman; unless he takes Billy Downey’s
definition of a gentleman: “ I say if I pays my way, does
not owe nobody nothing, if I is industrious, and takes care
of my old mother, and is ready to serve my country when
I is required, I say I is a gentleman. It isn’t the toggery,
it’s the charackter.”
Some men give up in despair under difficulties. A man
was seen by the side of an overturned load of hay, blub¬
bering and bawling. A passer-by asked, “What’s the
matter?” “Oh, boo-ooh!” “What’s the matter?” I ask.
“Oh, boo-ooh!” “Why don’t you get to work and pitch
up the load?” “Oh! oh! boo!—” roared the poor fellow,
“Oh! dad’s under the hay!”
A long chapter might be written on the genus bore, in
all its varieties; but I forbear—lest I bore my reader. In
my constant travel, I have had abundant opportunities of
seeing the peculiarities of people; and often the dull
monotony of a journey is broken by some amusing inci¬
dent; and when weary, a little thing will divert one. I
have seen a whole car-full of people roaring with laughter
at the most trifling joke. Once, between Adrian and
Cleveland, we were going very slowly, and the passengers
were complaining, when one man, who looked like a New
England deacon, drawled out, “Ah! well, yes! we are
going slow, and we shan’t never get nowhere, at this poor,
dying rate.” There was a universal shout of laughter.