The elder Higginson here wet his palm and laid it on thebrow of the first town-born child. For many years it wasthe watering-place， and， as it were， the washbowl， of thevicinity， whither all decent folks resorted to purify theirvisages and gaze at them afterward—at least， the prettymaidens did—in the mirror which it made. On Sabbathdays，whenever a babe was to be baptized， the sexton filledhis basin here and placed it on the communion-table ofthe humble meeting-house， which partly covered the siteof yonder stately brick one. Thus one generation afteranother was consecrated to Heaven by its waters， and casttheir waxing and waning shadows into its glassy bosom，and vanished from the earth， as if mortal life were but aflitting image in a fountain. Finally the fountain vanishedalso. Cellars were dug on all sides and cart-loads of gravelflung upon its source， whence oozed a turbid stream，forming a mud-puddle at the corner of two streets. In thehot months， when its refreshment was most needed， thedust flew in clouds over the forgotten birthplace of thewaters， now their grave. But in the course of time a townpumpwas sunk into the source of the ancient spring； andwhen the first decayed， another took its place， and thenanother， and still another， till here stand I， gentlemenand ladies， to serve you with my iron goblet. Drink andbe refreshed. The water is as pure and cold as that whichslaked the thirst of the red sagamore beneath the agedboughs， though now the gem of the wilderness is treasuredunder these hot stones， where no shadow falls but fromthe brick buildings. And be it the moral of my story that，as this wasted and long-lost fountain is now known andprized again， so shall the virtues of cold water—too littlevalued since your fathers’ days—be recognized by all.
Your pardon， good people！ I must interrupt my streamof eloquence and spout forth a stream of water toreplenish the trough for this teamster and his two yokeof oxen， who have come from Topsfield， or somewherealong that way. No part of my business is pleasanter thanthe watering of cattle. Look！ how rapidly they lower thewater-mark on the sides of the trough， till their capaciousstomachs are moistened with a gallon or two apiece andthey can afford time to breathe it in with sighs of calmenjoyment. Now they roll their quiet eyes around the brimof their monstrous drinking-vessel. An ox is your truetoper.
But I perceive， my dear auditors， that you are impatientfor the remainder of my discourse. Impute it， I beseechyou， to no defect of modesty if I insist a little longer onso fruitful a topic as my own multifarious merits. It isaltogether for your good. The better you think of me， thebetter men and women you will find yourselves. I shall saynothing of my all-important aid on washing-days， thoughon that account alone I might call myself the householdgod of a hundred families. Far be it from me， also， to hint，my respectable friends， at the show of dirty faces whichyou would present without my pains to keep you clean.
Nor will I remind you how often， when the midnightbells make you tremble for your combustible town， youhave fled to the town-pump and found me always at mypost firm amid the confusion and ready to drain my vitalcurrent in your behalf. Neither is it worth while to laymuch stress on my claims to a medical diploma as thephysician whose simple rule of practice is preferable to allthe nauseous lore which has found men sick， or left themso， since the days of Hippocrates. Let us take a broaderview of my beneficial influence on mankind.