The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1895-04-04


exchange of books and magazines.
In process of time a secretary was
appointed to make record of the do
ings of each class exercise. and to read
the same at the commencement of the
next
The very appropriate and significant
name of "Leok Forward Circle" was
adopted; and the motto from Goethe:
"Woulds't lead noble life?
Then take no backward glances at the
past:
And though somewhat be lost and gone,
Yet do thou act as one new born.
Programs for each class exercise,
neatly written and sometimes artisti-
cally arranged, are prepared by the
secretary or some other member, and
copy is given to each member two weeks
in advance.
The opening exercises are varied, but
by special request of the circle, made
through their secretary, the Lords
Prayer, repeated in unison, is always
made part Of them.
At the close of the study year lady
member of our circle who was asked to
report upon the prison work, wrote as
follows:
"The soul life inside these prison
walls is struggling toward the light.
There has been an awakening. good
seed has been sown, and some Of it has
fallen into good ground. and is SO soon
yielding fruit.
"You will recall that at our first
meeting in the prison, Mr.. Bryan spoke
to the mon about books and good read
ing, with apt quotations from various
: authors, everyone of which contained a
sermon.
'The prisoners were very much moved
by the exercises. UncOnsciously they
reached out for something beyond
there had suddenly sprung into exist.
ence want. The old shell of indiffer-
ence and sluggishness was broken; a
ray of light Streamed in and desire tc
'push the clouds away and find new
life this side the great unknown, was
created. The desire was perhaps feeble
= in some, for there may have been the
: life long habit of sin-born in it, per
:, haps- surrounded by 1t; but they were
touched, they felt the contact, the sym
pathy, and after the cell door CLOSED
them in for the day and the librarian
! made his usual rounds to distribute
c books, the first man he came to wanted
n the book that had the story of Little
~ Nell. others to read about Oliver Twist
d Mark Tapley, David Copperfield, etc
is others, from the writings of Shakespeare
- Thackery, Longfellow, Milton, Pope
If Bryant and other authors, in variou
ID lines of subject, historical, religious
IF scientific. etc. If the book of thei
choice had been taken by others, the
&C went down the whole list mentiOne
" by Mr. Bryan in his talk. Some of tn
10 men may have read these same book
10 before, but new meaning was put il
70 to them-they caught glimpse of
nt new world, which the talk upon tn
he books had opened up to them.
be "This was the good seed. They wal
of more books s-better books. This neet
of this crying for the light was felt by tn
N. contractor of the prison, and last wee
,s- he put 500 new volumes in the prise
in library, good books of fiction, histol
to and science; choice selection.
en- "It was great pleasure to see tn
,n fruit of Chautauqua growth, and ca
Ter not emphasize it enough. These bool
cb would not have been put there save II
yas this influence. This is part of tt
by awakening. He is helping to s'pu:
)n- the clouds away
ces "How about these forty eight me
as our fellow students? For we must n
nd allow ourselves to consider prisOne
as another order of beings from OU
ion selves, as castaways, without the pa
or of society, concerning whom there is
rly hope.
me 'The line of wrong doing cannot
ind drawn at prison walls. Those fort
one oight men have human nature in COZ
ass. mon with ourselves, and this bless
I'M Chautauuua work comes to refre