GOUGH, JOHN" BARTHOLOMEW. 



mother and sister, who reached New York in 

 1833. Mrs. Gough died in a few months, hard 

 times came on, the youth lost his place, and, 

 having formed evil associates, fell into habits 

 of dissipation. In 1839 he set up as a book- 

 binder on his own account, and married; but 

 his nightly debauchery hindered his daily work, 

 so that he lost custom and sank into the deep- 

 est poverty and degradation. His wife and child 

 died from exposure, and at the age of twenty- 

 four this naturally brilliant youth seemed a 

 hopeless drunkard and an outcast from decent 

 society. He had great powers of representa- 

 tion and of imitation, and could stir an audience 

 wonderfully. He had a great desire to go upon 

 the stage, and made one or two earnest efforts 

 to prepare himself; but the passion for vice 

 and intemperance was too strong to admit of 

 any steady pursuit, and he soon sank into 

 earning his livelihood in low resorts, where his 

 comic acting and rude singing won the applause 

 of his besotted companions. 



In 1842 a kind Providence put it into his 

 heart to quit his vi!e associates and seek work 

 in Worcester, Mass. He has thrilled innu- 

 merable audiences with the story of his first 

 year there, of the delirium that possessed him, 

 of the tools that were forever turning to ser- 

 pents in his hands, until he wns forced to run 

 from the crawling devils that stung him while 

 he tried to wield them. Then they listened 

 with bated breath as he told how a Quaker 

 persuaded him to attend a temperance meet- 

 ing, to sign the pledge, and then to keep it in 

 spite of an awful craving for liquor. He had 

 resisted for several months, when he wns in- 

 duced to violate his pledge. After a severe 

 struggle he confessed his fall in a public meet- 

 ing in Worcester, took the pledge again, and re- 

 solved to devote himself to the cause of reform- 

 ing drunkards, which purpose he clung to with 

 great tenacity. He became a talker to what- 

 ever audience he could get when it was at per- 

 sonal sacrifice, and contrived, when money 

 earned by his eloquence brought temptation, 

 to live a life of greater ease. At first he set 

 out with his carpet-bag to walk through New 

 England and make an appeal wherever he 

 could find a hearer, and he was delighted 

 when he received seventy-five cents for a 

 lecture. His reputation soon rose. Impas- 

 sioned, eloquent, gifted in voice and expres- 

 sion, telling the tale of his own bitter experi- 

 ence, he held his hearers spellbound, and his 

 fame went throughout the land. He could 

 draw tears and excite laughter, and men yield- 

 ed to his persuasions with marvelous readi- 

 ness. For seventeen years he lectured solely 

 upon temperance, and addressing over five 

 thousand audiences, North and South, East and 

 West. In 1853 he was invited to visit England 

 by the London Temperance League, and was 

 entertained there by George Cruikshank, the 

 artist, who was an earnest advocate of total 

 abstinence. Mr. Gough's first address in Ex- 

 eter Hall produced a profound sensation, and, 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 393 



although he had gone to England to remain 

 but a few months, he stayed there two years, 

 working hard for the great cause. During the 

 second year he was announced to speak at 

 Oxford, when the undergraduates determined 

 to break up his meetings by hisses ; but his 

 tact and power were such that the yells and 

 cat-calls grew fainter, and his enemies found 

 themselves listening with serious attention. 

 On a second visit, in 1858, he met a distin- 

 guished reception. In 1855 he returned to his 

 adopted home, and, after two years of success- 

 ful lecturing, returned to England for three 

 years. 



In all his work, Mr. Gough relied entirely 

 upon personal moral influence. He introduced 

 the total -abstinence pledge at the close of 

 every address, but was never the spokesman 

 of any political or temperance organization. 

 He told his own story, and made the direct ap- 

 peal with an eloquence and natural oratorical 

 power seldom equaled. His home was in 

 Massachusetts, latterly at West Boylston, where 

 his wife lived quiet and retired, and where he 

 sought rest among his books and friends. His 

 private benefactions were large, and he assist- 

 ed many boys to obtain education and means 

 of livelihood. 



He published an autobiography (London, 

 1846; second edition, 1853); "Orations" 

 (1854); "Temperance Address" (New York, 

 1870); "Temperance Lectures" (1879); and 

 " Sunlight and Shadow, or Gleanings from 

 my Life-Work" (1880). He was delivering 

 a lecture in the First Presbyterian church, 

 Frankford, Pa., when he was prostrated by a 

 paralytic stroke. He never rallied, but after 

 two days sank into unconsciousness, which 

 continued until his death. 



GREAT BRITAIN MD IRELAND, a monarchy 

 in Western Europe. The supreme legislative 

 power resides in Parliament, which is not re- 

 strained in its action by any constitutional 

 limitations, but is largely guided by precedents. 

 Parliament meets annually, usually remaining 

 in session from February to the middle of 

 August, or later. Legislation left incomplete 

 at the end of the session must, to become law, 

 go through all the stages from the beginning 

 in a subsequent Parliament. 



The House of Commons consists of 670 

 members, elected by ballot. By the Reform 

 Act of 1832 the county constituencies of Eng- 

 land were increased from 52 to 82, and the 

 number of county members was increased 

 from 94 to 159, while those of Scotland and 

 Ireland remained as before ; boroughs return- 

 ing 111 members were disfranchised, because 

 they contained fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, 

 and 31 boroughs, with fewer than 4,000 inhabi- 

 tants, sent one member instead of two, while 46 

 new boroughs were created in England, 22 of 

 which, containing over 25,000 inhabitants, re- 

 turned two members each, and 24, with over 

 12,000 inhabitants, one member each. In 

 Scotland the representation was increased from 



