CHAPTER IX. OPPOSITION.

ACCORDING to promise, the missionary¹ was at Mr. Wilson’s house, and he, together with the family, went to the school-house. The words of his text were, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Prov. xxii. 6. He approached his subject with caution, for the people before him were restless and excited; but he gradually unfolded the solemn truth contained in the text. He addressed himself to the parents, especially to the mothers. His apparent sincerity² and great earnestness overcame the prejudices of many, but still a large majority were opposed, or cared little about the matter.

[85]The ’Squire got up and denounced the speaker, Sunday-schools and Temperance societies. He was frequently cheered; and those who had been won by the earnest eloquence⁴ of the speaker, were now carried away by the majority, and were inclined to “follow the multitude to do evil.” The ’Squire then called upon the people to decide by a vote, whether they would have a Sunday-school or not, shouting out: “All who are in favor of a Sunday-school here, rise to your feet.” Mr. Wilson and Mr. Mason sprang to their feet like heroes, their intrepidity⁵ encouraging some of the timid and wavering, who, together with their children, made quite a respectable vote. After these were again seated, all who were opposed to a Sunday-school were called upon to rise. Instantly several of the most bitter opposers, who were waiting for the word, were up; others, soon followed, while the ’Squire was urging the fearful and lukewarm with, “Up! up! I[86] know you are opposed; show your colors!” and in this way succeeded in getting many to rise, who did not really intend to have anything to do with the matter. He then declared the majority opposed, and in triumph took his seat.

Mr. Mason arose and asked the majority to concede to those who desired it the privilege of holding Sunday-school in the school-house undisturbed.

This very reasonable request was opposed by the ’Squire; but upon the vote being taken, the privilege was granted. This was something gained, and the missionary was thankful for it, although he and his little band were openly subjected to sneers⁶ and abuse. But they had the comforting assurance that “all things work together for good to them that love God.”

On Saturday morning, the missionary started for Clear Creek⁷ Settlement. On his way he met a little boy and two little girls.

[87]“How do you do, my young friends?” kindly⁸ began the missionary.

They all smiled pleasantly, but did not say anything.

“How old are you, my son?” continued he, addressing the boy.

“Ten, next Christmas; my birthday comes day before Christmas,” ingenuously⁹ answered the boy.

“These little girls are your sisters, I suppose?”

“Yes, sir,” responded the boy.

“Can you read?”

“Yes, sir, I can read in the ‘Introduction,’ very well; my sister Jane can read too; and little Betty can spell and read easy words,” answered the boy, with some feelings of pride.

“Did you ever go to Sunday-school?” inquired the missionary.

“No, sir!” answered the boy, emphatically. “We don’t go to school on Sundays; we go[88] on week-days.” This direct answer caused the missionary to smile; he continued, however, with the question, “Would you like to, if there were a Sunday-school?”

“No, sir!” again replied the boy. “We play ball, pitch horse-shoes, or go a fishing on Sunday, and I like that better than going to school.”

“Don’t you think it is wrong to do such things on Sunday?”

“No, sir,” again responded the boy, “father and all the neighbors do that on Sunday.”

The parents then were the examples; and the children followed. How many parents thus unwittingly take their children by the hand and lead them down to death!

“You all go to meeting sometimes, don’t you?” continued the missionary.

“Yes, sir, once in a while.”

“Don’t the preacher talk against such things?”

“Sometimes; but nobody cares. Some go[89] to the grocery and pitch horse-shoes for whisky; and some go to the tavern¹⁰ to play checkers or such, for a dram, or for fun,” replied the boy.

“Don’t the preacher talk against drinking liquor and lying about at the grocery on Sundays?” seriously inquired the missionary.

“No, sir, he likes it himself.”

“It is a bad thing to drink whisky,” said the missionary.

“Yes, sir,” quickly responded the boy; “last night they had a spree at the grocery, and Bill Jones liken’d to’ve killed Tom Miller¹¹ with his knife; and Ace¹² Ross knocked Old Butt’s eye out. Father says they have a law suit to-day.”

“What a pity!” said the missionary, shaking his head. “Do you live far from here?”

“About a mile,” answered the boy.

The missionary then gave each of the children a card, and explained to them, as[90] far as they were capable of understanding, what a Sunday-school was like; and they then said that they would like to go to such a school. He told them of an appointment for Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock, in the school-house near Mr. Wilson’s, and invited them to come and bring their parents along; he then said “Good-bye,” and left them.

Having detained himself longer than he supposed, he was compelled to hurry on, as he had quite a distance to go before he would reach Mr. Brown’s. As he was passing through a lane, after coming within the bounds of Clear Creek Settlement, he found two men lying in a fence-corner, drunk! He tried to rouse them, but failed in so doing, for they were past consciousness. Continuing on, he soon came to the grocery. Happily for the missionary, the crowd within was all excitement over a “drinking game;” that is, several engaged in playing cards for a treat of the whole company. Before he had passed[91] out of hearing, a great shout and uproar¹³ at this den³ of sin, told him that the game was up, and the treat was being given. In his heart he then resolved that a Temperance society should be established in that place, and he prayed God to help him in the undertaking¹⁴. After arriving at Mr. Brown’s, he could not but compare the revolting scenes he had left behind him, with the pleasant, social intercourse¹⁵ he was now enjoying.

1 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

2 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

3 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

4 eloquence   

n.雄辩；口才，修辞

参考例句：

• I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
• The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。

5 intrepidity   

n.大胆，刚勇；大胆的行为

参考例句：

• I threw myself into class discussions, attempting to dazzle him with my intelligence and intrepidity. 我全身心投入班级讨论，试图用我的智慧和冒险精神去赢得他的钦佩。 来自互联网
• Wolf totem is a novel about wolves intrepidity, initiation, strong sense of kindred and group spirit. 《狼图腾》是一部描写蒙古草原狼无畏、积极进取、强烈家族意识和团队精神的小说。 来自互联网

6 sneers   

讥笑的表情（言语）( sneer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You should ignore their sneers at your efforts. 他们对你的努力所作的讥笑你不要去理会。
• I felt that every woman here sneers at me. 我感到这里的每一个女人都在嘲笑我。

7 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 ingenuously   

adv.率直地，正直地

参考例句：

• Voldemort stared at him ingenuously. The man MUST have lost his marbles. 魔王愕然向对方望过去。这家伙绝对疯了。 来自互联网

10 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

11 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

12 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。

13 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

14 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

15 intercourse   

n.性交；交流，交往，交际

参考例句：

• The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
• There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。