Gran. The motion before the meeting is that the Chief Magistrate shall take the chair. Shall I assume it to be carried? (Silence follows.) The Mayor. Yes. (Laughter.) Gran. The meeting should preferably elect some one who may be considered to be unaffected by considerations of party. Alstad (half rising, with his glasses in his hand). Then we shall have to send for some one that does not live in these parts! There is no one of that sort left here! (Sits down, amidst laughter.) The Priest. All authority springs from on high. Obedience to those set in authority over us is obedience to the Almighty. But it is against this very obedience that people are rebelling nowadays. Gran. It is precisely some one to be in authority over us that we want to elect. At present we have no one. The Priest. No, that's just it. Every meeting nowadays seems to claim authority on its own account. Let rather show our respect to actual authority--such respect as we would show to our fathers. (Sits down.) Gran. Then, as far as I can grasp the situation, the Chief Magistrate has been proposed and seconded? The Priest. Yes. Gran. Does any one wish to propose any one else? (Silence.) Alstad. May I request the Chief Magistrate to take the chair? Koll (getting up). I don't know that it is any great compliment to be elected in this way; but I will take the chair, for the sole reason of enabling the meeting to proceed to business. (Takes his place on the platform, and raps on the table with a mallet.) I declare the meeting open. Gran (getting up). Mr. Chairman! Koll. Mr. Gran will address the meeting. Gran. The motion proposed by the directors is this: "That only one class of railway carriage shall be purchased, slightly more comfortable than the ordinary third-class carriage." (Gives the motion in writing to the chairman, and sits down.) Koll. The following is the motion submitted to meeting. (Reads it out.) Who wishes to speak on the motion? (Silence.) Come, some one must speak on it--or I shall have to put it to the vote forthwith. (Silence, followed by laughter here and there.) The Priest. Mr. Chairman! Koll. The Priest will address the meeting. The Priest. I see, in this assembly, a number of young men, even a number of maidens; and I feel bound to ask whether young men, and even maidens, are to be allowed to take part in these proceedings? Koll. Any shareholder that is of age has the right to. The Priest. But St. Paul expressly tells us that women are not to speak in public places. Koll. Well, they can hold their tongues, then. (Laughter.) The Priest. But even the fact of voting at a railway meeting does not seem to me to be in accordance with the humility and modesty that both Nature and the Scriptures indicate as characteristic of woman. I believe it to be the first step on a wrong road. The apostle says-- Koll. We must leave them to decide the matter for themselves. Does any one wish to--?