want of the
being. How are you going to answer it to-night? I charge you not to
close your doors upon those who knock, lest, if the gate of heaven
closes upon them, you be found not guiltless."

These pointed words evidently made a good impression, and the opposition
had not courage to oppose farther. Several of the brethren, men whose
hearts were under divine control, and whose lives were devoted to the
advancement of the Master's cause, in a few words endorsed the remarks,
and when the question was called for, there was but one side, the
opposition not voting.

When the young people were called together, there was quite a large
gathering. Rev. John Jay was unanimously elected President, and Mr.
Hayes, Secretary. But now the great difficulty was, to obtain members.
All at once, these young men and women, the latter especially, became
conscious of their ignorance, and dreaded its exposure, for the public
Library of Ripley, was not very extensive or attractive. Its old volumes
of Theology, its Annals and Histories, had been too heavy matter for
youthful digestion, and as a majority of the young women did not
consider it necessary to know anything of the affairs of the nation, or
to possess any knowledge of the world outside of their own town, they
had been content to glean from the newspapers, to note the deaths and
marriages, watch for some new recipe in cookery, or the love-stories as
they appeared each week.

After a great deal of difficulty, twenty signatures were obtained, with
the understanding that the young ladies in preparing their essays, were
not expected to read them or make public their names. Every thing at
first, until the members acquired more confidence, was to be voluntary.
After the business of the evening had been transacted, a call was made
for contributions.

This was at once responded to by the principal clerk in the principal
grocery store, he giving them in loud and thundering tones: "The Star
Spangled Banner." So grandly did he render it, especially the "bombs
bursting in air," that one young lady covered her face to shut out the
view of the descending bombs, and the President was compelled to move
aside, to prevent, if not the deadly missiles, the bodily weight of the
speaker from descending upon him.

Loud applause greeted him at its conclusion, and but for the hint given
by the President that it was time to close, they would have been favored
with another brilliant display. The general