The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1870-09-16
From the Galary
THE STORY OF THE GOOD LITTLE BOY
WHO DID NOT PROSPER,

The following has been written at the in
stance ofseveral literary friends, who thought
that if the history of 1.-THE Bad Little
Boy Who Did not Come to Grief" "a NOR
al sketch which l published five or six
years ago. was worthy of preservation
several weeks in print, fair and unpreju-
diced companion-piece to it would deserve
similar mortality.-EDIToR
Once there was good little boy by the
name of Jacob Bllvens He always obeyed
his parents, no matter how absurd and UNI
reasonable their demands were and he al
ways learned his book, and never was late
at Sabbath school. He would not play
hockey, even when his sober judgment
told him it was the most profitable thing
he could do. None of the other boys
could ever make that boy out, he acted SO
strangely. He wouldn't lie, no matter how
convenient it was He just said it was
wrong to lie, and that was sufficient fol
him. And he was so honest that he was
simply ridiculous. The curious ways that
Jacob had, surpassed everything. He would
not play marbles on Sunday, he wouldn't
rob birds nests, he wouldn't give hot pen
MES to organ grinders monkeys; he didn't
seem to take any interest in any kind Of
rational amusement. So the other boys
used to try to reason it out of him, but
they couldn't arrive at any satisfactory con-
clusion; as | said before, they could only
figure out u sort of vague idea that he
was afflicted" and SO they took him UNI
der their protection, and never allowed
any harm To come to him.
This good little boy read all the Sun.
"a
delight. This was the whole secret of it.
He believed in the good little boys they
put in the Sunday school books; he had
every confidence in them. He longed to
come across one of them alive, once, but
he never did. They all died before his
time, may be. Whenever he read about q
particularly good one, he turned over
quickly to the end to see what became Of
him, because he wanted to travel thous-
ands Of miles and gaze on him; but il
wasn't any use; that good little boy al
ways died in the last chapter, and there
was the picture Of his funeral, with all his
relations, and the Sunday school children
standing around the grave in pantaloons
that were too short, and bonnets that were
too large, and everybody crying into hand
kerchiets that had as much as yard and @
half Of stuff in them. He was always
headed off in this way. He never could
see one of these good little boys, ON &C.
count of his always dying in the last chap.
| ter.
Jacob had a noble ambition to be put
in Sunday school book. He wanted to
be put in with pictures representing him
glorously declining to lie to his mother
and she weeping for joy about it; and pic,
lures representing him standing on the
doorstep giving penny to poor beggar,
woman with six children, and telling her
spend it freely, but not be extravagant, be-
cause extravaganza is sin; and pictures OF
him magnanimously refusing to tell on the
had boy who always lay in wait for him
around the corner, as he came from school
and welted him over the head with lath,
and then chased him home, saying Hi
Hip as he proceeded. That was the am
bition of young Jacob Blivens. He wished
to be put in a Sunday school book. II
made him feel uncomfortable sometimes,
when he reflected that the good little boy
always died. He loved to live, you know,
and this was the most unpleasant feature
of being Sunday school boy. He
knew it was not healthy to be good He
knew that it was more fatal than cosump-