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    The Hoosier Schoolmaster by Edward Eggleson The Hoosier Schoolmaster by Edward Eggleson    

Chapter 24: The Good Samaritan

Performer: Librivox - Bridget Gaige


The Methodist church to which Mrs. Matilda White and Miss Nancy Sawyer belonged was the leading one in Lewisburg, as it was in most county seat villages in Indiana. If I may be permitted to express my candid and charitable opinion of the difference between the two women, I shall have to use the old Quaker locution, and say that Miss Sawyer was a Methodist and likewise a Christian; Mrs. White was a Methodist, but I fear she was not likewise.

As to the first part of this assertion, there was no room to doubt Miss Nancy's piety. She could get happy in class-meeting (for who had a better right?), and could witness a good experience in the quarterly love-feast. But it is not upon these grounds that I base my opinion of Miss Nancy. Do not even the Pharisees the same? She never dreamed that she had any right to speak of "Christian Perfection" (which, as Mrs. Partington said of total depravity, is an excellent doctrine if it is lived up to); but when a woman's heart is full of devout affections and good purposes, when her head devises liberal and Christlike things, when her hands are always open to the poor and always busy with acts of love and self-denial, and when her feet are ever eager to run upon errands of mercy, why, if there be anything worthy of being called Christian Perfection in this world of imperfection, I do not know why such an one does not possess it. What need of analyzing her experiences in vacuo to find out the state of her soul?

How Miss Nancy managed to live on her slender income and be so generous was a perpetual source of perplexity to the gossips of Lewisburg. And now that she declared that Mrs. Thomson and Shocky should not return to the poorhouse there was a general outcry from the whole Committee of Intermeddlers that she would bring herself to the poorhouse before she died. But Nancy Sawyer was the richest woman in Lewisburg, though nobody knew it, and though she herself did not once suspect it.

How Miss Nancy and the preacher conspired together, and how they managed to bring Mrs. Thomson's case up at the time of the "Sacramental Service" in the afternoon of that Sunday in Lewisburg, and how the preacher made a touching statement of it just before the regular "Collection for the Poor" was taken, and how the warm-hearted Methodists put in dollars instead of dimes while the Presiding Elder read those passages about Zaccheus and other liberal people, and how the congregation sang

"He dies, the Friend of sinners dies"

more lustily than ever, after having performed this Christian act — how all this happened I can not take up the reader's time to tell. But I can assure him that the nearly blind English woman did not room with blasphemous old Mowley any more, and that the blue-drilling pauper frock gave way to something better, and that grave little Shocky even danced with delight, and declared that God hadn't forgot, though he'd thought that He had. And Mrs. Matilda White remarked that it was a shame that the collection for the poor at a Methodist sacramental service should be given to a woman who was a member of the Church of England, and like as not never soundly converted!

And Shocky slept in his mother's arms and prayed God not to forget Hannah, while Shocky's mother knit stockings for the store day and night, and day and night she prayed and hoped.

    The Hoosier Schoolmaster by Edward Eggleson The Hoosier Schoolmaster by Edward Eggleson    

Chapter 24: The Good Samaritan

Performer: Librivox - Bridget Gaige

Directions

Study the chapter for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read and/or listen to the chapter.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Discuss the review questions.

Synopsis

Miss Nancy Sawyer and Mrs. Matilda White belong to the same Methodist Church. While Miss Sawyer is a Samaritan in thought and deed, Mrs. White is not. Miss Nancy is the richest woman in town, although no one knows it, including herself. Miss Sawyer gives generously of her time and money to those in need and conspires with the Methodist preacher to ensure Mrs. Thompson and Shocky will not return to the poorhouse. Mrs. White, in contrast, thinks it a shame when the Methodist church takes up a collection for Mrs. Thompson, as she is a member of the Church of England.

Vocabulary

Samaritan: A charitable, helpful person.
Methodist: Of or pertaining to the branch of Christianity that adheres to the views of John Wesley.
County seat: The city in which the offices of county government are located.
Candid: Straightforward, open, and sincere.
Piety: Reverence and devotion to God or family.
Pharisees: 1) A member of an ancient Jewish political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 BCE–70 CE). 2) A person who values the letter of the law over its spirit or intention.
In Vacuo: In a partial or full vacuum.
Vacuum: A region of space with no matter.
Perplexity: The state or quality of being puzzled or confused.
Zaccheus: In the Bible, a tax-collector (tax-collectors were considered sinful) who repented and gave half his possessions to the poor.
Blasphemous: Lacking piety or respect for the sacred.
Sacramental: Used in, or relating to, a sacred act or ceremony in Christianity.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Book Information

  • Recite the name of the author, the title of the book, and the title of the chapter.

Activity 2: Narrate the Story

  • Narrate the events aloud in your own words.

Activity 3: Study the Story Picture

  • Study the story picture and describe how it relates to the story.

Activity 4: Discuss the Story

  • Why is Miss Nancy Sawyer a true Samaritan?
  • Why isn't Mrs. Matilda White a true Samaritan?
  • If Mrs. Matilda White isn't a true Samaritan, why do you think she is a member of the Methodist Church?

Activity 5: Map the Story

  • The story of 'The Hoosier Schoolmaster' takes place in the state of Indiana.
  • Pretend you are traveling from Indiana to visit a friend in Florida (FL).
  • Plan out your path. Which states will you traverse on your trip?

Review

Question 1

Which church do Mrs. Matilda White and Miss Nancy Sawyer attend?
1 / 5

Answer 1

Mrs. Matilda White and Miss Nancy Sawyer attend the Methodist church in Lewisburg.
1 / 5

Question 2

Who is the richest woman in Lewisburg?
2 / 5

Answer 2

Miss Nancy Sawyer is the richest woman in Lewisburg.
2 / 5

Question 3

Why does no one know that Miss Nancy Sawyer is the richest woman in Lewisburg?
3 / 5

Answer 3

No one knows Miss Nancy Sawyer is the richest woman in Lewisburg because she does not flaunt her wealth or care enough about her money to discover her financial ranking in the community.
3 / 5

Question 4

How do the preacher and the people of the Methodist church show kindness to Mrs. Thompson and Shocky?
4 / 5

Answer 4

The preacher asks the congregation to donate money to help Mrs. Thomson and Shocky, and the generous congregation gives dollars instead of their usual dimes.
4 / 5

Question 5

Which Methodists believes the congregation should not have given money to Mrs. Thompson and Shocky?
5 / 5

Answer 5

Mrs. Matilda White believes the congregation should not have given money to Mrs. Thompson and Shocky.
5 / 5

  1. Which church do Mrs. Matilda White and Miss Nancy Sawyer attend? Mrs. Matilda White and Miss Nancy Sawyer attend the Methodist church in Lewisburg.
  2. Who is the richest woman in Lewisburg? Miss Nancy Sawyer is the richest woman in Lewisburg.
  3. Why does no one know that Miss Nancy Sawyer is the richest woman in Lewisburg? No one knows Miss Nancy Sawyer is the richest woman in Lewisburg because she does not flaunt her wealth or care enough about her money to discover her financial ranking in the community.
  4. How do the preacher and the people of the Methodist church show kindness to Mrs. Thompson and Shocky? The preacher asks the congregation to donate money to help Mrs. Thomson and Shocky, and the generous congregation gives dollars instead of their usual dimes.
  5. Which Methodists believes the congregation should not have given money to Mrs. Thompson and Shocky? Mrs. Matilda White believes the congregation should not have given money to Mrs. Thompson and Shocky.

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