Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-01-28
Letter from Main Street.
MIrFLINrowN, Jan. "a, $780,
10 o'clock pm.

MFFLINTowN, Jan. "a, 1881,
10 o'clock p. NJ
Editor Sentinel and Republican: 1t
has been more than year since l
had an inspiration to write for the
Seattnel and Republican, and probably
l should not have been inspired to-
night, to write, had it not been for
The CoNvocATIoS, The LITERARY CoN-
VOCATION OF JUNATA COUNTY.
1t was s o'clock in the evening
when l stood at the front side of the
Court House yard, on Main street,
and looked up at the Temple of JUS
tice, which was beaming in light from
both within and without. Said L,
it is the moon without and the Con
vocation within that gives to the
house a splendor tonight that / never
noticed before, and that inspired me.
If eleven literary societies had not
been in session perhaps l would not
have looked at the house. Eleven
literary societies constituted the con
vocation. 1t was the convocation,
then, that inspired me. Convoca-
tions in all times in the past have in
spired men, and they will continue to
do so till men refuse to be convoked,
which, perhaps, may not be till after
the crack OF doom and the crash of
worlds and the wreck of matter.
You remember it was a Royal con-
vocation that inspired Shakespeare to
write the pleasant piece or play of
LOVES LABoUR's LOST.
Ambition. or longing for intel
lectual requirement, was the cause of
the convocation that Shakespeare
wrote of, Just as it is the cause of
the convocation in the Court House
tonight.
The convocation that Shakespeare
wrote so inimitably of in the play
mentioned, took place in the Middle
Ages. 1t was an assembly of few
people, but they were men of note.
The number was small, but select.
The whole consisted of Ferdinand,
King of Navarro, and three Lords,
a''enqah's On 'ne hIn-HOfuS Di-
! on' i,On ''' rie, =, ''nu tIua, pulil ~"
thalis n, lnoie t VI ':,e noDies u 'ne hnne
l'oin ~ I''u oeen ihsi'e" ooeS no' "p
PeIr on .ne ieoo5u 4.
iha' Ine .onui'lons' VI 0eiins y,
ene 'ohYooa:lon t,": "eie se'el ..I at
,nos' "os.eniious - 9iaihi se' Ioi III
~ one Vi Tue oo''l 'iei : Vi Ile mig
IL 10 Diioi WIZ i''iiiei's IL 'nus
:. | can but say their protestation over,
30 n'ucH' dear ilese, nave .e alreaay S"orn'
R"t : M there he, e. are re o,ber her Strict obserysnces
As. not to see woman in the term;
Which. hope is not enrolled there;
And, one day In a week TO touch no food
Ana, put one neai on e,era 49, uay 1,s,u sues
And then 70 sIeen but three hours IN the
night,
And not,be seen to wink of all the day,
When l was wont to think no harm ali night,
aihaL anu t,i'He IAN M u so' 81 nan 'no
O. these are barren tasks. too hard to Keep.
Not to see ladies', study, fast, not sleep"
AsItb tborcht own, .,a Iomon, of
.ba1l,'1 - : ~ % - IL IL ' - -' ol.o "
oat;an oonoIndaa - % H. c.,
Uo,,aa ~ - H. - az . .oat;;u,onn 80 80
,,,,, 49,, ~ a-,aaonJ -. w ,.hothnn -,
o"n .;o;,aI - N 10 G ~ oarn'aot;aa 80.
.nf , slayen I;terarv Societies Of Jun;ata
oonntr % ;n,nosed snob bar5 canTt;nns
ON tbo stndon, os tbrea reors' abSt;
nanca from tbe society Of ladies hard
study fast and I;ttIe sIeen 7 went
in The first sicbt was q crowd of
bovs and voung men standing in tbe
oiSIe near tba door forn;ng slmost q
comnlete blockade TO tbe entrance.
Above the din of confusion of the
unseated multitude 7 could hear the
notes of a ladv voice Elbowipp nv
way tbrourb the crowd. down the
middle aisle till I could see the au
dience. was convinced bv the sight
in the room that the times of the Re
pnblic are not the same as those of
the Kinolv davs of the Middle Aces
of which Shakspeare wrote. when he
penned Lore's Labour's Lost. Instead
of an audience all of one sex. it was
composed half and half of ladies' and
gentlemen. Superintendent of Com
ION Schools Smith was in the chair.
and n lady. Miss Clara Daughertv.
was sneak;ng. How King Ferdinand
and his s,ndious noblemen would
have looked mon The convocation.