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THE POWER OF SONG
M
R. BUSHNELL
of Utica, having business in a neighbor–
ing town, was obliged
in
consequence to see the land–
lord of the village
inn.
When he entered the bar-room,
he saw about twenty inebriates.
Mr. Bushnell began to speak courteously to them of Tem–
perance but they all denounced the cause as the work of poli–
ticians.
Finding it impossible to stem the current of abuse by an ap–
peal to their reason, he proposed singing a Temperance song,
and accordingly commenced the "Staunch Teetotaler."
On glancing around the room after he had concluded, he
observed the tear trickling down the cheek of almost every man.
The sentiment of the song, and the melodious, touching manner
in which it was sung, had awakened their purest sensibilities.
Those hardened men could not resist the appeal and acknowl–
edged its truth with tears!
Soon after the landlord came in and he was asked to repeat
the song for his special benefit. After Mr. Bushnell had con–
cluded, he grasped him by the hand and exclaimed, "I will never
sell another glass of grog as long as I live."
Spirit
of
Liberty,
i845.
.THE STAUNCH TEETOTALER
I
'LL
sing you a new Temperance song,
Made by a Temperance pate,
Of a real staunch teetotaler
Who had a·good estate;
Who kept up his neat mansion
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