American Annals of Education (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Extent of hit Obstinacy. 5 leave his seat, and come and stand near me, before the door of the pew. He obstinately refused. Laying my hand upon his shoulder, to produce compliance, 1 perceived, as he struggled to resist me, that he was preparing for one of his tremendous shrieks, which, if uttered at the time, and under the circumstances of the occasion, would have electrified the whole assembly. I knew this from my familiarity with the foreboding movements and expressions of countenance that always accompanied this practice. I dreaded such an explosion exceedingly, and saw that there was but one way to prevent it. In an instant, I took his hat and my own, and ordered him to go with me out of the church. The unexpectedness of the command, and the strong and stern air of authority with which I enforced it, to my agreeable surprise, (for, I confess that I had fears of not succeeding, ) produced immediate obedience. We went, with all possible expedition, to my study in the Asylum, adjoining which was a large closet. There I bade him be seated on a chair, and proceeded to tie his hands behind him with a silk handkerchief, and his feet together, in the same manner. All this was done with so much despatch, and with such an air of determination on my part, that he seemed not to have the time necessary to collect and array his turbulent feelings into a confirmed opposition. Had he done this, there is not much probability that I could have accomplished my object, single-handed; for his muscular strength and eel-like lubricity of motion, under the direction of his inflexible obstinacy, when it was once fairly roused to effort, would, I think, have proved an over-match for me. I hoped, by tying him as I did, to make him feel that he was in my power, and, in addition to this, to pr...