For many years it was the watering-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 if I insist a little longer on so fruitful a topic as my own multifarious merits . It is altogether for your good .
The better you think XXXXX me , the better men and women you will find yourselves .
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