The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1874-12-03

no pupil should be allowed to unite
with thu Sunday. School from that
time till Christmas. Happy were the
faces of those who had been fortunate
enough to slip IN before the gates clos
ed upon their hinges. ! had to be
thus severe in my administration,
and never found cause to regret it.
I cordially recommend. both the es-
tablishment and|the most rigid en-
forcement Of this rule to all connected
with the Sunday School work. For
though it lost me perhaps dozen or
so of the waits who always stray in
at the approach of the Christmas fes-
tivities, it gave the school a basis and
a reputation fargreater than I expect
ed it to gain from my despotic edict.
About the middle of Decem-
Der embarked upon series of visit
ing. I determined to visit all the
parents in the parish who had child
or children in the school and require
them. to enter into q, formal promise
tome that theirchildren should not at
tend any other Sunday School in the
village: 1fthey refused to give me
this free and distinct, promise, they
were required to Withdraw the child
from the school,, This, too, was severe
and in some places, was bitterly op-
posed. H:lost, me7ten or twelve Of
our: brightest and most promising
boys and girls.
In four months oil but one of the
deserters were restored to: the ranks Of
the school; a state of affairs far more
CALLING to, he,amiable postal official
and the illustrious, church official
than the state that had preceded it.
The West is now beyond the Rocky
Mountains and on the shore Of. the
Pacific. In earlier days: Ohio was
West, Illinois was far West and Min
nesota was incredibly far of: Going
West now means going two or three
thousand miles.
I have purposely left unspecifedthe
exact locality in which my story is
laid, for it may come into other hands
than the fasr fA-whom it was origi-
nally intended.
Calling one morning upon Mrs.
Martin, the mother of the young Miss
Arabel1a who is destined to figure,
thoughnot prominently, !, in thesepages,
| was ushered into the room of state.
The room. of state was a low-ceilinged
room, with four small-paned windows.
three on one SIDE, one on the second,
and none 1t all on the other two,
giving the room the appearance Of a
ship with all the sail on one side.
A huge marriage certificate in an
immense shining mahogony frame
hung Oh Tie sits .odfe!the room that was
destitute Of windows. Over the door
was gaudy picture Of little Samuel
in a blue jacket and scarlet necktie;
and about twelve inches from the cell
ing was Rebecca at the Well, neatly
though somewhat stimy. done in
| sample.
While l was contemplating these
ornamentatiom, in wriggled Mrs.
| Martin. Mrs. Martin did not walk,
1t would be untrue to say that she
did. Mrs. Martin wriggled. 1t i,
not romantic word but then Mrs
| Martin was not romantic lady, and
so no harm is done. Besides this
Mrs. Martin is beyond all likelihood
of the simple fact of my saying thai
she wriggled ever reaching her, Of
hurting her feelings:if it. did. Mrs
Martin, I say, wriggled into the par
lor ; wriggled across the room; wrig
gled up to me, shook hands stiMy
with her little stubby hands, the1
wriggled across to- q chair and th'
last thing before she sat down in i
! was to give a final wriggle.
+ 1t was my first call upon this estim
liable lady and as soon as I had mad
known my business, she was delighted
4 She said ::
I "And would they learn to parse 2
Learn to parse?r No ma'am. Ho'
do you mean?" asked I.
II should so like my children t
learn to parse the catechism. I thin]
parsine is so beautiful p
Half promising consent: to the par.
ing business, 1 extricated myself fron
my embarrassing: situation, and rush
ed home and asked Ware what O.
earth I should do to evangelize
woman who insisted on her childre
narsinp the church catechism?