"It was this mother; he took for his text, 'Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.'
"He said it was not his purpose this afternoon to describe in detail the circumstances which led Jesus to utter those words, nor to enter in full into the history of those people at that time, nor to describe the way in which they were raised by their parents in those days, nor how children were treated in general at the time Jesus walked on the earth, but to dwell on the thought more particularly about how to bring the children to Jesus now, and how to help them find the Kingdom of Heaven within. He said the subject was such a large one that he could only dwell for a short time on one method for bringing the children to Jesus, and that was how to bring them up pure and make pure men and pure women of them. For purity of life and thought was one of the first steps in coming to Jesus, and finding the Kingdom of Heaven within.
"Penloe said such an innovation introduced into our society would be a God-send to us all, for it would bring about a change in so many ways for the advancement of the race, as to make the mind almost bewildered in the contemplation of the giant strides that humanity would make. I cannot begin to tell you all he said, mother, and I don't think the congregation took in the full sweep of his great thought.
"I will tell you one thing Penloe has done for me. He has cut what few strings there were which kept me in bondage to my sexual nature. I am free." And here the beautiful and intellectually bright girl laughed, and shouted again, "I am free! Free from that awful superstition of sexual bondage. Bless Penloe for helping me to my freedom," said Stella.
Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Stella, there have been millions of women who have died deaths of untold agony through being in bondage to their sexual natures."
"Mother," said Stella, laughing again, "I give you notice that on and after this I shall speak and act just the same when members of the other sex are present as I would with my own sex, I don't care what they may think. I will not be negative to their ideas, for I am free;" and here she clapped her hands, and said, "I intend to have the courage of my convictions under all circumstances.
"I must tell you, mother, there were a number there who were perfectly disgusted that Penloe should have introduced such a subject. You just ought to have seen the faces on some of the congregation.
"The dressmaker, Mrs. Hopkins, and her daughter, said they would not have come to church if they had known the indecent talk that a strange man was going to make. The two May girls, with their beaux, were there, and after the service they acted as if they were afraid to speak to each other. They went out of the church with their heads down and seemed afraid to look anywhere; till they saw Deacon Tompkins' wife get in the buggy, and then the Deacon got in and took the reins and started the horse. But he had omitted untying the animal from the post, and they all had a laugh, and that broke the strain they were under, and they were seen talking to their beaux after that.
"After service I went up to the desk and gave Penloe my hand and thanked him for the help he had given me in breaking my bondage. I told him he had cut the last string of sex superstition for me. He smiled and pressed my hand and said he was glad to hear it.
"Mother, I did not know that Orangeville had such a young man as that. Why, just think of it! A fine Sanskrit scholar; he can read Bengali just as well as I can English, and by his reference to the Old and New Testament he shows he understood Hebrew and Greek. And think of it; he is only twenty-two years of age! He is a fine orator, very eloquent, and has such a command over himself and his audience.