for drunkenness. He had been a liquor-seller, commencing the work as a
sober man with a good character, and ending it in ruin to himself and
family, and with the curse of the drunkard's appetite upon him. A
Christian gentleman, Captain Cyrus Sturdevant, had obtained permission
of the authorities to visit the jail and talk and pray with the
prisoners. This brought him into personal contact with Mr. Murphy, who
was not only deeply humiliated at the disgrace into which his
intemperate life had brought him, but almost in despair. He tells the
story of this part of his life with a moving eloquence. Capt.
Sturdevant, after some solicitation, induced him to leave his cell one
Sunday morning and attend religious services with the prisoners. He was
in a state of mind to be deeply impressed by these services, and the
result was a solemn resolution to walk, with God's help, in a new and
better way. While yet a prisoner, he began his work of trying to save
men from the curse of drink, and to lead them to enter upon a religious
life; and his influence with his fellow-prisoners was very marked and
for good. On leaving the jail, he began at once his efforts to rescue
others from the slavery from which he had escaped. His first appearance
as a lecturer was in the city of Portland. The effort was well received
by the audience, and at its close he found himself an object of special
interest. From this time, he gave himself almost wholly to the cause of
temperance. After working for a time in Portland, and assisting in the
organization of a reform club, he extended his efforts to other parts of
the State of Maine, and afterwards to New Hampshire and the adjoining
States, in which, he labored for nearly three years with marked and
often extraordinary success. From New England, Mr. Murphy went, on
invitation, to the West, and was very active there, especially in Iowa
and Illinois, in which States he aroused the people, and was
instrumental in the organization of large numbers of local societies and
reform clubs.