“If this person Noble,” said Mr. Dilworthy, in a little speech at a dinner party given him by some of his admirers, “merely desired to sacrifice me.—I would willingly offer up my political life on the altar of my dear State’s weal, I would be glad and grateful to do it; but when he makes of me but a cloak to hide his deeper designs, when he proposes to strike through me at the heart of my beloved State, all the lion in me is roused—and I say, Here I stand, solitary5 and alone, but unflinching, unquailing, thrice armed with my sacred trust; and whoso passes, to do evil to this fair domain6 that looks to me for protection, must do so over my dead body.”
He further said that if this Noble were a pure man, and merely misguided, he could bear it, but that he should succeed in his wicked designs through a base use of money would leave a blot7 upon his State which would work untold8 evil to the morals of the people, and that he would not suffer; the public morals must not be contaminated. He would seek this man Noble; he would argue, he would persuade, he would appeal to his honor.
When he arrived on the ground he found his friends unterrified; they were standing9 firmly by him and were full of courage. Noble was working hard, too, but matters were against him, he was not making much progress. Mr. Dilworthy took an early opportunity to send for Mr. Noble; he had a midnight interview with him, and urged him to forsake10 his evil ways; he begged him to come again and again, which he did. He finally sent the man away at 3 o’clock one morning; and when he was gone, Mr. Dilworthy said to himself,
“I feel a good deal relieved, now, a great deal relieved.”
The Senator now turned his attention to matters touching11 the souls of his people. He appeared in church; he took a leading part in prayer meetings; he met and encouraged the temperance societies; he graced the sewing circles of the ladies with his presence, and even took a needle now and then and made a stitch or two upon a calico shirt for some poor Bibleless pagan of the South Seas, and this act enchanted12 the ladies, who regarded the garments thus honored as in a manner sanctified. The Senator wrought13 in Bible classes, and nothing could keep him away from the Sunday Schools—neither sickness nor storms nor weariness. He even traveled a tedious thirty miles in a poor little rickety stagecoach14 to comply with the desire of the miserable15 hamlet of Cattleville that he would let its Sunday School look upon him.
All the town was assembled at the stage office when he arrived, two bonfires were burning, and a battery of anvils16 was popping exultant17 broadsides; for a United States Senator was a sort of god in the understanding of these people who never had seen any creature mightier18 than a county judge. To them a United States Senator was a vast, vague colossus, an awe19 inspiring unreality.
Next day everybody was at the village church a full half hour before time for Sunday School to open; ranchmen and farmers had come with their families from five miles around, all eager to get a glimpse of the great man—the man who had been to Washington; the man who had seen the President of the United States, and had even talked with him; the man who had seen the actual Washington Monument—perhaps touched it with his hands.
When the Senator arrived the Church was crowded, the windows were full, the aisles20 were packed, so was the vestibule, and so indeed was the yard in front of the building. As he worked his way through to the pulpit on the arm of the minister and followed by the envied officials of the village, every neck was stretched and, every eye twisted around intervening obstructions21 to get a glimpse. Elderly people directed each other’s attention and, said, “There! that’s him, with the grand, noble forehead!” Boys nudged each other and said, “Hi, Johnny, here he is, there, that’s him, with the peeled head!”
The Senator took his seat in the pulpit, with the minister on one side of him and the Superintendent22 of the Sunday School on the other. The town dignitaries sat in an impressive row within the altar railings below. The Sunday School children occupied ten of the front benches dressed in their best and most uncomfortable clothes, and with hair combed and faces too clean to feel natural. So awed23 were they by the presence of a living United States Senator, that during three minutes not a “spit ball” was thrown. After that they began to come to themselves by degrees, and presently the spell was wholly gone and they were reciting verses and pulling hair.
The usual Sunday School exercises were hurried through, and then the minister, got up and bored the house with a speech built on the customary Sunday School plan; then the Superintendent put in his oar24; then the town dignitaries had their say. They all made complimentary25 reference to “their friend the Senator,” and told what a great and illustrious man he was and what he had done for his country and for religion and temperance, and exhorted26 the little boys to be good and diligent27 and try to become like him some day. The speakers won the deathless hatred28 of the house by these delays, but at last there was an end and hope revived; inspiration was about to find utterance29.
Senator Dilworthy rose and beamed upon the assemblage for a full minute in silence. Then he smiled with an access of sweetness upon the children and began:
“My little friends—for I hope that all these bright-faced little people are my friends and will let me be their friend—my little friends, I have traveled much, I have been in many cities and many States, everywhere in our great and noble country, and by the blessing30 of Providence31 I have been permitted to see many gatherings32 like this—but I am proud, I am truly proud to say that I never have looked upon so much intelligence, so much grace, such sweetness of disposition33 as I see in the charming young countenances34 I see before me at this moment. I have been asking myself as I sat here, Where am I? Am I in some far-off monarchy35, looking upon little princes and princesses? No. Am I in some populous36 centre of my own country, where the choicest children of the land have been selected and brought together as at a fair for a prize? No. Am I in some strange foreign clime where the children are marvels37 that we know not of? No. Then where am I? Yes—where am I? I am in a simple, remote, unpretending settlement of my own dear State, and these are the children of the noble and virtuous38 men who have made me what I am! My soul is lost in wonder at the thought! And I humbly39 thank Him to whom we are but as worms of the dust, that he has been pleased to call me to serve such men! Earth has no higher, no grander position for me. Let kings and emperors keep their tinsel crowns, I want them not; my heart is here!
“Again I thought, Is this a theatre? No. Is it a concert or a gilded40 opera? No. Is it some other vain, brilliant, beautiful temple of soul-staining amusement and hilarity41? No. Then what is it? What did my consciousness reply? I ask you, my little friends, What did my consciousness reply? It replied, It is the temple of the Lord! Ah, think of that, now. I could hardly keep the tears back, I was so grateful. Oh, how beautiful it is to see these ranks of sunny little faces assembled here to learn the way of life; to learn to be good; to learn to be useful; to learn to be pious42; to learn to be great and glorious men and women; to learn to be props43 and pillars of the State and shining lights in the councils and the households of the nation; to be bearers of the banner and soldiers of the cross in the rude campaigns of life, and raptured44 souls in the happy fields of Paradise hereafter.
“Children, honor your parents and be grateful to them for providing for you the precious privileges of a Sunday School.
“Now my dear little friends, sit up straight and pretty—there, that’s it—and give me your attention and let me tell you about a poor little Sunday School scholar I once knew.—He lived in the far west, and his parents were poor. They could not give him a costly45 education; but they were good and wise and they sent him to the Sunday School. He loved the Sunday School. I hope you love your Sunday School—ah, I see by your faces that you do! That is right!
“Well, this poor little boy was always in his place when the bell rang, and he always knew his lesson; for his teachers wanted him to learn and he loved his teachers dearly. Always love your teachers, my children, for they love you more than you can know, now. He would not let bad boys persuade him to go to play on Sunday. There was one little bad boy who was always trying to persuade him, but he never could.
“So this poor little boy grew up to be a man, and had to go out in the world, far from home and friends to earn his living. Temptations lay all about him, and sometimes he was about to yield, but he would think of some precious lesson he learned in his Sunday School a long time ago, and that would save him. By and by he was elected to the legislature—Then he did everything he could for Sunday Schools. He got laws passed for them; he got Sunday Schools established wherever he could.
“And by and by the people made him governor—and he said it was all owing to the Sunday School.
“After a while the people elected him a Representative to the Congress of the United States, and he grew very famous.—Now temptations assailed46 him on every hand. People tried to get him to drink wine; to dance, to go to theatres; they even tried to buy his vote; but no, the memory of his Sunday School saved him from all harm; he remembered the fate of the bad little boy who used to try to get him to play on Sunday, and who grew up and became a drunkard and was hanged. He remembered that, and was glad he never yielded and played on Sunday.
“Well, at last, what do you think happened? Why the people gave him a towering, illustrious position, a grand, imposing47 position. And what do you think it was? What should you say it was, children? It was Senator of the United States! That poor little boy that loved his Sunday School became that man. That man stands before you! All that he is, he owes to the Sunday School.
“My precious children, love your parents, love your teachers, love your Sunday School, be pious, be obedient, be honest, be diligent, and then you will succeed in life and be honored of all men. Above all things, my children, be honest. Above all things be pure-minded as the snow. Let us join in prayer.”
When Senator Dilworthy departed from Cattleville, he left three dozen boys behind him arranging a campaign of life whose objective point was the United States Senate.
When he arrived at the State capital at midnight Mr. Noble came and held a three-hours’ conference with him, and then as he was about leaving said:
“I’ve worked hard, and I’ve got them at last. Six of them haven’t got quite back-bone enough to slew48 around and come right out for you on the first ballot49 to-morrow; but they’re going to vote against you on the first for the sake of appearances, and then come out for you all in a body on the second—I’ve fixed50 all that! By supper time to-morrow you’ll be re-elected. You can go to bed and sleep easy on that.”
After Mr. Noble was gone, the Senator said:
“Well, to bring about a complexion51 of things like this was worth coming West for.”
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1
constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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painstaking
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| adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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8
untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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13
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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14
stagecoach
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| n.公共马车 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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anvils
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| n.（铁）砧( anvil的名词复数 )；砧骨 | |
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17
exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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18
mightier
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| adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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obstructions
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| n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠 | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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23
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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complimentary
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| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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28
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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29
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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32
gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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33
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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37
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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38
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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39
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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40
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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41
hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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42
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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43
props
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| 小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋 | |
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44
raptured
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| 欢天喜地的，狂喜的，销魂的 | |
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45
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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46
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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47
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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48
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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49
ballot
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| n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票 | |
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50
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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51
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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