Plate XXIV.
Fig. 31.—A rural scene in Canada, where the church and the school are situated together. The large barn in the background is significant. Much of the daily thought and conversation is centered here.
1. The social hour at the religious services.—It is deemed quite advisable that those who plan the religious service in the country have thought of a social hour in connection therewith. The latter may prove fully as helpful in a constructive sense as the former, and it can in no wise detract from the value of the religious meeting. This combination of events is already being successfully tried in a number of places. For example, at the mid-week evening service, there is given first an hour to the prayer meeting or the discussion of the religious topics and the church work. After that, the scene is changed into one of clean, wholesome amusement with the special thought of giving the young people social entertainment and training. It has been found that this very method of uniting the religious and social service under a carefully planned program sometimes more than doubles the attendance. Of course the first essential for the success of such a meeting is that an able leader be in charge of it.
2. A country literary society.—In times gone by the country literary society has played a mighty part indirectly in the building of the nation. Many a statesman or leader of the people has received his first aid and inspiration at the little old country “literary and debating society.” There is no good reason why this same general form of society might not continue to do its effective work. However, in its best form, there will be some additions to the old procedure of merely debating the important public questions. The program makers may well have in mind the ideal of bringing out every form of talent latent among the young of the community. It is especially advisable that every young attendant be given an invitation to do the part of which he is most capable, and that he be urged to do it. It is quite possible to arrange a program upon which only the ablest and most capable young persons of the neighborhood may appear. But such would be a violation of the best purpose of the society; namely, not merely to provide a first-class entertainment, but an entertainment which shall bring out the greatest possible variety of talent and awaken interest and enthusiasm on the part of every member.
Then, let the motto of the ideal country literary society be, “Something worth while for every member to do.” The old-fashioned country society, like the older public school, was too narrow. It touched life and awakened interests in only a few places. The old school tested a boy in the three R’s and geography. If he did well in these, he was “smart.” If he failed in the traditional subjects, he was branded as a dullard and crowded out of the school, although in respect to some other untested activities he may have been a slumbering genius. So with the primitive “literary and debating society”; debating and “speaking pieces” were practically the only numbers on the program and usually only the ablest were allowed to appear. Ordinary talent in debating and reciting and all manner of promising talent in other lines was allowed to slumber on in the lives of many of the young people in attendance. Now, it is practically a certainty that every member of the young literary society can perform a part very acceptably, provided the discerning leader know what that part is. And best of all, the bringing out of such talent means the awakening of many other splendid interests among the youthful members of the community, and finally the development of moral courage and other forms of manliness and womanliness.
Now, to come to the point of a social result, the so-called literary entertainment can easily be made up in two parts, the literary and the social; and there should be set apart an hour for the latter.
3. The social side of the economic clubs.—In many instances, there will be organized boys’ corn-raising or crop-improvement clubs, and with them country clubs of the girls interested in household economy. These club meetings may be made the occasion of not a little social improvement. The boys and girls may meet at the same hour and place, and after the business has been disposed of there may be a coming together in a social way. Such arrangement is highly advisable for two reasons. First, it will certainly increase the membership of the clubs; and, second, the social instincts of the young people may be suitably indulged.