McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XLIII · Part 5: Lessons XXXVII-XLVIII: Faith, ambition and character
49. The Baptism (John Wilson)
Goal: Your student follows a story of persecuted worshipers in Scotland and discusses their courage.
You'll need
- The book, or the scan beside this guide
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
From Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life: in a time of persecution, a congregation meets in a rocky river gorge to worship and baptize their children, while a shepherd keeps watch for soldiers.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: rite, kirk, persecution, sentinel, Covenanter.
About the author
The book says John Wilson (1785-1854), who wrote as "Christopher North," was a Scottish author and for thirty years Professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh. He wrote much for Blackwood's Magazine. His Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life (1822) collects tales of Scottish home life.
Read it aloud
Read the opening together:
The rite of baptism had not been performed for several months in the kirk of Lanark.
Your student reads on. A sentence to find:
The church in which they were assembled, was hewn by God's hand out of the eternal rock.
Talk about it
SayWhy were the people not worshiping in their church?
SayDescribe the place where they meet. Why does Wilson call it a church "hewn by God's hand"?
SayWhat does the shepherd do when the soldiers come? What happens to him?
SayWhat does this story show about the people's faith?
Tell it back
Your student retells the story in order: the setting, the service, the soldiers, the escape.
Copywork and memory
Copy:
The church in which they were assembled, was hewn by God's hand out of the eternal rock.
Write (optional)
Write a paragraph about a time or place where people kept their faith in danger. You may need to look it up.