g-place, and, as it were, the washbowl, of the
vicinity, whither all decent folks resorted to purify their visages
and gaze at them afterward--at least, the pretty maidens did--in the
mirror which it made. On Sabbath-days, whenever a babe was to be
baptized, the sexton filled his basin here and placed it on the
communion-table of the humble meeting-house, which partly covered the
site of yonder stately brick one. Thus one generation after another
was consecrated to Heaven by its waters, and cast their waxing and
waning shadows into its glassy bosom, and vanished from the earth, as
if mortal life were but a flitting image in a fountain. Finally the
fountain vanished also. Cellars were dug on all sides and cart-loads
of gravel flung upon its source, whence oozed a turbid stream, forming
a mud-puddle at the corner of two streets. In the hot months, when its
refreshment was most needed, the dust flew in clouds over the
forgotten birthplace of the waters, now their grave. But in the course
of time a town-pump was sunk into the source of the ancient spring;
and when the first decayed, another took its place, and then another,
and still another, till here stand I, gentlemen and ladies, to serve
you with my iron goblet. Drink and be refreshed. The water is as pure
and cold as that which slaked the thirst of the red sagamore beneath
the aged boughs, though now the gem of the wilderness is treasured
under these hot stones, where no shadow falls but from the brick
buildings. And be it the moral of my story that, as this wasted and
long-lost fountain is now known and prized again, so shall the virtues
of cold water--too little valued since your fathers' days--be
recognized by all.

Your pardon, good people! I must interrupt my stream of eloquence and
spout forth a stream of water to replenish the trough for this
teamster and his two yoke of oxen, who have come from Topsfield, or
somewhere along that way. No part of my business is pleasanter than
the watering of cattle. Look! how rapidly they lower the water-mark on
the sides of the trough, till their capacious stomachs are moistened
with a gallon or two apiece and they can afford time to breathe it in
with sighs of calm enjoyment. Now they roll their quiet eyes around
the brim of their monstrous drinking-vessel. An ox is your true toper.

But I perceive, my dear auditors, that you are impatient for the
remainder of my discourse. Impute it, I beseech you, to no defect of
modesty i