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BR 1653 East Main Street

Rochester. New York U609 USA
(716) 482 - 0300 r Phone
(716) .288 r 5989 -,Fox

A PiLPBIi

■/«..

— RKAD BY—

EDMONIl L. WATSOi,

•».

At THE

. - ' ' ■ " ■.■*-■ / - ' • *

Seventh Conuehtijon ofiAe oun^
day ScA^ol SnsHtute

OF THE

jfrcJictGaconary of Medford,

hkld at

/ .'■.-■■- ■'^- . , ■ . ■■ . ■ - . ■ . .

Cawan(sville, Que.j August 5th,

■..■■■!

1896.

NsW

The Nc\^ Print, Sf.J«

AMGUGAN CHURCH Of CANAPA
, GENERAL SYNOO>ARCHiy«$

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A PAPER

—READ BY^

LWATSOH.

AT THE

Seventh Convention of iho oun^^
day Schop^i Snstitute

OF THE

^rcAdeac^nary op^Meclfordj

■^ • HiEliD' AT ■ •■ ■ -

Cowansville, Que., August 5th,

The Newis Print, St. Johns.

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APAPERBY ; .

EDMUND L. WATSON

'111 appearing before you to take up a part of
ycur time, do not, please, regard rae as an in-'
trusive volunteer. If those we had hoi)ed to have
been here to have addressed you had not disap-
pointed us, there would have been no occasipa
for rae to have been asked to draw your attention
to the chosen subject, which is— The Main Aim^
Objector Purpose, which has called forth the Modern
Su7iday School.

You, who by your presence may be presumed
to be iijterested in the subjt^c|^aii '^ot but have
noticed a remarkable lette^^f the Rev. Robert
Ker, of St. Catharine's, since followed by another,
which appeared in the Toronto Mail arid Empire,
and was transcribed by the Montreal Gazette. "

The reverand gentleman takes the ground
that the Sunday School, as now administered, by
providing a plausible excuse for parental neglect
in the Christian home t raining of children, and
by pandering to frivolous and exciting amuse-
ments, has proved a deci4ed hindrance to future
spiritual life and faith, and had far better be
dropped. ■'■-:[ '■■::■-'■... ■''.^■:.

Whilst:much of this charge is too sadly true
with regard to Sunday Schools, yet upon consid-
eration we can hardly come to this conclusion.
The scrambling haste of the present age to snatch
at every chance for what is called advancement

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in the social scale, by all classes in life, has in-
deed encroached, to a lamentable and unseemly
extent, upon that interest parents formerly took '
in their childrens' Christian trajning.^ Conse-
quently there is very little time for gatherings
round the mother's knee, and even le^s of what
the poet Bums describes as the " father's admon-
ition due." , ■

I have not to go back farther than to my own
childhood, to the time when a very different state,
of things prevailed. . ,

Then, those classes who were in what are
called comfortable circumstances, spent much
time with their children, andeiveu those who were
not so well off, were less ambitious to appear so,
and were more satisfied with their children re-
maining in a recognized inferior, but then more
honourable status than now. This afforded much
more time for aiding weekly school instruction in
religious subjects* There was more faith in an-
other existence when mere worldly distinctions
would be entirely effaced and povert:nn this life
would have its recompense # ; -

But now, it is the attainment of the tangible

possibilities of this life which is the main object
of all classes, and there is but little Value for what
is regarded as, at least, uncertain, undefined, and,
if the saddest truth be told, little desired, or, at
the best, capable of being deferred for that ' ' mor^
convenient season ' * which seldom comes.

But i do not sayAhat now a consciousness of
duty towards their children's spiritual welfare is
entirely effaced, but that parents are too willing
to depute that duty to the Sunday School. There-

■ I-

fore Is in not better to mkke the bes^ of things as
we find them and retain it? Have you never
noticed in nature that an uprooted plant makes
the most of what poor remnant of soil ^till dings
to its roots, by which it often retains life, until
after a while it is able to send down roots into
one that is better and more nourishing? Is not
the remedy rather to use it, but more after the
plan of our own church, for the reliu ions instruc-
tion of youth? If we can not bring back the
public catechising, which was the only Sunday
School I had the oppoitunity to attend in _my
childhood, let us no longer be content to spend its
curtailed hour or so, in a feeble shuffling attempt
to give instruction in scripture history, geography,
ancient genealogies, and critical dissertations
upon a past theocracy. » V j

Ltt the w^eek day .-chof»l again teach tbat, and
let the Sunday School time be applied to what
should be its main aim and object. Let us con-
sider what that aim should be. It is not what
those outside our communion, and .some within
it, would call— conversion of the young heart la
Christ, but what may be more appropriately de-
fined as awakening and nourishing up of a trust-
ful Faith in God, the Hope^of a better life here-
after, and a present Charity or love of their fellow-

> beings, and all that that means\ The Church of
England plan for which was and;\thank God ^ yet
is as the prayer book tells us, the teaching and
expounding of The Lord's Prayer, The Creed
and the Ten Commandments? First in the easiest
and simplest remarks, and when the child's in--
telligence is more unfolded, in the not to be sur-

•f-

•ii

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passed words of the catechism. Now this, you

may remark, may not be so interesting, certainly

not so aipusing, either to teachers or scholars, as

looking up texts and repeating them by heart, or

reciting yerses of hymns, or ^udying scripture,

which are all excellent things, ^ost desirable, if

there were sufficient time. But we must get on

at once to the main object if ve have it not. And

how can- we make the best of the limited time?

r Let us note the wisdom of the Church of l^ng-

land By three processes only, of which ihe.firjit is.

V I St. Reverence for God and all power above us..

The -Lord's Prayer teaches us that reverence,

' without reverence we cannot make the first

step. : . v'-} ■/■-■

. 2ud. Obedience to God and all power above us.

She first four of the Ten C^ommandments will

do that;:; ;'■;-•-■■ ■■ "•.;•;■-■■-■■.-

. 3rd. Truthfulness, our duty to our fellow being,

resulting in holiness in ourselves, conibined

with justice to others is lejarrned frpm the last

six.' ■ , . :■
Then perhaps you will say "for what and
why does the Creed appear with them?" Is it
hot for a confession of faith, without which the
soul, either young or matune has no anchor of
Hope to hold it up from being drifted by the
storms on life, and then beaten and destroyed
upon tlie rocks of infidelity, indifference or selfish-
ness. And here is Authority, St. Paul to the
Romans. ** If thou slmltdonfess with thy mouth
the Lord Je$^us, and shall believe in thine heart
that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou
s h a lt be saved." ^-, . ^

^ I

A-

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= ■0

The necessity foi* open profession offaitb,^rj/
is here clearly stated, and the declaration of what
is professed contains a good foundation substance
of the Apostles' Creed, and we have in another
case the injunction of Philip, ^he Deacon, an or-
dained ofl&cer of the church to the man he was
instructing in the elements of th^hristian faith,
an additional testimony of great Height, though
he and the retainers only were present.

As an illustration of the need of a Creed, let
me relate a proof that has just come under my
own notice. A very bright yoUng man, living
an unblemished moral life, well acquainted with
Holy Scripture, acquired in a typical Sunday
School of the prevailing Christian body in the
State of Massachjjisetts, where he resides, wliere
they gave considerable prizes for the number of
verses recited and far texts correctly hUnted up
or located, but wl&o had never been taught any
Creed, but ratbei^made to believe that to believe
as little as you like, was the grand charter and
privilege of a free Protestantism ^ lately wrote to
me that CoL Ingersoll had arrived in his town,
and that he had lectured there with such effect
that he was perfectly enraptured with his elo-
quence, and his admiration for his arguments
was such that he could scarcely refrain frotn rush-
ing on to the platform to clksp his hand and
thank him then and there for what he had heard
from him. I could also say the most stubborn,
God reviling and defying atheist up to his death,
that ever I knew, was a man most thoroughly
grounded land trained in scriptural knowledge
obtained by him in a Sunday School of H^ssa^

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chusetts. 'He would read the bible for hours to-
gether/. ;,>••:■.•-,..: .:,:^' ", .:.■;■'.■■■ '': -■

And this is why the Church of England makes
these three, The lord's prayer, signifying what
ought to be prayed for, the Creed, what ought to
be believed and openly declared, and the Ten
Commandments, what ought to be done, its prin-
cipia, in the instruction of Its youth. In almost
every church edifice erected not later than sixty
years ago, these appeared in the place of honour,
either by the Altar, or on the sides of the Chancel
Arch, and aire yet to be seen, sbmetimes worked
in with mubh adornment, as in Sir Christopher
Wren's beautiful altat pieces, or in the humble
lettering of the village artizan.

Until lately the Lord's prajer. Creed, and Ten
\ Commandments might have been styled the Very
insignia of the Church of England. And I am
glad to see that in the one modem church lately
built near us, Frelighsburg, they have their
ancient place, and with regret I heard that in an-
other, Milton, the planter's brush had only just
eflfaced them. Perhaps the present members
tlvnk that the church is now past its childhood,
and that amongst other childish things, they
that is the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Com-
mandments may now be put away. Is not this a
mistake also ?

Let us retain our Sunday Schools. The Work
may not be pleasantly attractive, but it can be
made a loving duty. St. Peter, when hf was,
ordered to leavi^ 1]^ fishing outfit , was tbld that
henceforth he should catch men as ^n encour-
agement, but later on. Our Lord addressed him

■\

by name asking him if he loved him, then hav-
ing teeeived the affirmative answer, and then that
a reply was unnecessary for the Lord knew well
whether he did or not, Gur Lord twice and first,
had ordered his lambs to.be fed, then last his
sh^p. The lambs first and most emphatically
, by repetition as the easiest and most practical
way of feeding, which of course means instructing
the sheep. But he wished to impress upon us
through St. Peter that though the occasional
feeding of a child lamb may be a pleasant amuse-
ment/ its systematic continuation as a practice is
most monotonous and requires all our* love to-
wards the Master to ^arry it out. Far less ex-
citing or stimulating ta emotion than St. Peter's
old calling, t think this is a good authority for
Sunday Schools. Every one who has lived in a
sheep /BOuntry as I did in my youth knows full
well how many young lambs are orphans, and
how many mpre are deserted by the natural
parent and would certainly perish without the
shepherds continual care. Then let us consider
as a solemn thought what would be no^/\^our case
if such had happened to iis. Let mfe read you
what the present. Archbishop of Canterbury has
said not ten years ago on this subject at a clerical
meeting at Sutton, (the place that our Sutton is
named after), more worthy of your attention than
anything I can tell you. ^^^ Y ^» ■

'We have received the Church o^Hnglahd from our
fathers ; we trust, by Gcd's blessing, to hand it down
unimpaired to our successors, and it is our hearts desire
to make it in every wav sub seive the great purpose of
advancing the cause of Chr^gt Tberek»re as ^sacred
duty you triay regard it as part Of J our daily task to visit

the sciiooTs and 8ee that religious itistruction is proof rly
conducted. And if unfortunately, (as has hap\)i^ned
\-/- here). The common schools have passed from under

your direct c^rtrol, I trust that this will but make ypu
redouble your tflforts to give life and reality to some Well
regulated system, at fixed hours, when by Sunday
Schools, or olherwiie, you can gatht r the young together
for directly religious instruction, that whjat they a^re
taught shall not be merely accepted, but underatood. And,
I think, you will act wisely if each of you, in your schools,
• will satisfy yourselves by individual questioning, as t
the prayers which the children • offer up morning am
evening in their homes. A child trained in habits 6
prayer may. by a quiet example, become a jnissionary to
a whole family, who would'otherwise live •without God."

This is exactly what Bishop Hall told us
'- should take the place of so much historical teach-
ing, and was heard as something ne\y and strik-

If a trust in Jesus Christ a light to yourpther-
wise dark pathway ? Strive then to kindle such
a light in at least, one young heart, and earn the
promised reward, with God's grace of covering a
multitude of isins. If you cannot convert to Ghrlrt
a young heart which is mol^e Christ like, as yet
being free from envy and malice, /though with
plenty of other faults, you have but small likeli-
. hood of prevailing with an old and hardened one,
though amongst the young lads th^ spirit of Ab-
salom may soon be developed to your dlscourage-
/ ment (or the d isdainful con tempt of a Michal, the
daughter of Saul, at^^jngst the young girls) if
you have striven to do your best by them when
they were ygungi^ and tender, they will not all
turn out so/ Tbere will be young Josephs and
yotuig li^arys ^ho will preferthe better part,
and be unmoved by the spirit of the present age.

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If you feel that you are iiot a valuable piece of
machinery in your parish organization, if yqu are
nothing but a plain mental crank pin in youir
Sunday School, do not drop out of it, for by so
doing you may delay the working power of the
whole engine, until a betttr is found.
»• You may say in objection to what has b<.en
put lorth, that without attractive amusement
your Sunday School would soon dwindle awa'y,
or that you would soon have the scholars desert-
ing to that of other Ghristian bodies. Many no
doubt would, but the example of Our Lord and,
Saviour in his ministry teaches us that the fol-
lowing of a great ctowd is not the most import-
ant object to be desired, but rather the pieparing
of as many as possible, if^ut «y<?a', Well ground-
ed, well tried, eanitst ones that may hereafter
influence and elevate others, j j

Our Lord fn the early part of his ministry had
' inany followers, we are told; for^ no doubt to be
a disciple of the great ii^iracle \ii^orker, and mover
of what they' hoped would be a national reform,
and a change which would perhaps bring ma-
terial advantage or at least notoriety to th^tn-
selves, was a gre^t attraction*. When they went
back and ceased from following after him, Qur
Lord aud Saviour made no compromising move-
^ ment towards propitiating them; but went on in-
. structing and preparing the few faithful Ones
who remained, and you knojv w ./.i what final
result; '

The remarks pf the Archbikhop of Canterbury
which I rcad^ imply that it isj he thinks, only by
reaching and' ti'aining the consciences qO^^ yoting

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tbat, what some contend is the chief aim of the
Sunday School, but which is rather the result of
that aim, Ihe perpetuation andsustentation of
the congregation is secured. We are told by
many that, as the tendency of the present age is
to cojitribute less in pn portion to its means for
the sup|»orj| of the sacrtd ministy, we must there-,
fore have more exciting and attractive amuse-
ments, and more bro^d and less defined teaching,
so as to draw numbers Xo.^ make up for want of *
liberality for this important necessity, for of course
the clergy and their families must live. I think
that there is some delusion in this. I^or while it
is no doubt true that the undecided and iiidiirer-
ent, being less influenced by public sentimedt
than formerly, do give less, on the other hand it
will be found that real earnest and pronoiinccd
church men from conviction, actually contribute
much more, cot measuring their duty by auy
other's standard but their own good will. Let
the *cl^Tgy be more decided^ earnest and pro-
, nounced, and it will be found an extending co;i-
tagion with the flock, and the place to commence
with is the Sunday School.

I understand the difficulties. No ! teaching
doctrine, or dagma, is not what will drive away
your Sunday School scholars, though I have'
heard it averred, and been cautioned against i t —
but rathenh'S. Let your scholars get the con-
I viction or even the suspicion from your apathy or
careless indifference, which^ surprisingly /y««^^
parent to them at a very early age (remember
rn childish e xp e ri e nc e s in re tding char-

acter) that it is not their good you are seeking,

X ■ :

but that there is a desire on your part to retaia
their presence with as little tflfort as possible for
adding to your own importance, or that there is
a combined agreement between yourself and their
parents, to detain them, simply to restain them
from mischief, and that, to that end, you wish
to amuse them in jaur vr&y, instead of letting
them amuse themselves in theirs \ and just so
soon as they are old enough to defy theif parents, •
you wi 1 lose your scholars. But, if you have
gained their hearts and consciences, and made
them feel what Christian duty is, then the con-
viction of your sincerity and good will io them
can hardly be erased. The- memory of it will
last to the ends of their lives^ " for their good."
^ And it requires much more both of wisdom
ani tact to influence the adults after a generation
or more of laxity and indiflference, but the child
Mil be ppen to explanations and will receiye pre^
cepts without the resentment of precoticeived
prejudice. #hat js called broad teaching, really
means careless undefine4 teaching, and is most
one sided in its elTectsr SU is simpleness and
childish folly itself to suppose that the energetic
and earnest pastors outside our church, do not
accentuate and comment upon the differences be-
tween their vi ws, and those ol tte Church of
England, both in their public and family com
munications with their ovirn people. I^et «5 fol-
low their example which is highly to be com-
mended as carrying out their dti':y, for which
they are engaged and paid, and let us no longer
be so apologetically sham e fac e d. The church
has lost, and is continually suffering from thig

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mistaken timidity, those who only come an
go with the crowd, to hear only pleasant thing! ,
are not the ones who will make provision for ih6
clergy their aim. But you may say we cannot
wait for the yoking to be trained up, "Whilst
the grass is growing the horse will be starving.T
I^ear not ! Without being prepared to make some
sacrifices, no one has a right to accept order^,
and we know that a self sacrificing parish priest
is sure to beget the same spirit in some at least 61
his parishoners» as much so now as when five
^hundred years ago, Chancer gave us that charm-
iiig description of the faithful one of his day,
which should be read by all. We know what
happened to the Apostles. They replied to our
lord's questioning, that they lacked nothing-^
that is, no r^a/ necessity. When such w the case
it may be laid most frequently to a fault of tem
perament. ;

Let me read you the opinion of a leading
gregationalibt minister, which seemed to,
worthy of preserving, on this subject of a
ments, as bearing upon religious principles.
'[Church'' in the I gth ^^^

*• The absence of devotional atmosphere is attiibutecl
to * over familiarity, want of imagination , want c f train-
ing in devotion and of faith' But one great cau$e is the
notion, in itself a terrible irreverence, that ' chutch ' is a
matter of show, a social performance, in which there is
no harm in staring about and noticing what goes on.
The church was never intended to furnish entertainment
for old or youtig. It is not and cannot be the pchool for
entertainment without the saddest and most disastrous
lesnlts. Its purpose is the same for each atld all -to
promote piety, cultivate holy inclinations and principles,
•nd train for the heavenly life T^e other misitake is a

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^deern religton in the young a diflFerent thing from reHgion
'in the old. They are the same, and differ only in de-
gree and not in nature, and the tame methods are neces-
sary to develop the one as the other. The same food for
the babes as for the elders, only in a, more condensed
and more easily digested form The same holy principles
must be taught the young. They must be cultivated in
piety and all heavenly principles. Feed them on enter-
taicments and they will have no relish for prayer and
the solemnities of God's house. These^will be iBSipid
and stale, and as they grow older they will debauch tb«
church into the principles of the opera, the theatre, and
the dance "■/.■^^/.^v ■/■.•■-■; r:-^- .■.•;. v..' \ ^.;■^ ' *■,■ ';..■..•■:.

Now this is very well put, but 5'ou niay notice
his last concluding words— his deprecation of tile
principles of the opera, the theatre and the dance.
Now we Church of England people want nothing
of this character in our religious church teaching,
though we do not regard these amusements in
themselves a?, harmful, or when religion hias/rj/
Jiad her due [share of time and place, as danger-
4)tis, for their degree and character will be moder-
^ated and directed thereby. But it is a grifevou$
mistake to confuse aiid mystify the minds, espec-
ially of the young, by mixing motives, promot-
ing an uncertain feeling that the end justifies the
me^ns, or even, that what may be in itself harm-
less aiid innocent amusement, when contributing
to church funds, or under church auspices, be-
comes a nieritorious or pious act. This is an
impious fraud upon the young or untrained con-
science, Solomon has taught us, a|j| few will
venture to dissent from him, that theffis a time
for recreative amusements, and also a time for
serious instruction and solemnities. Mix tliem
and "you make the instruGtion tend to frivolity,

«nd vou only add weariness to the amusement,
which feeUng itself suspiciously out of place.
Reacts 'into either a simpering hypocrisy or a con-
temptuous scoffiing. These remarks apply to no
one party in the church, or to any particular out-
sfde Christian community, bufsa^g beginning to
cteimthl attention of all thinking religious men
on this continent. The practice of the English
church clerey at home is wiser. They do not
S it in good taste to mix up solemn prayers
Ind serious hymns in literary and mu^'cal enter-
tainments to the extent that prevaUshere^nd
tLy do not. nor ire they «pected to give a

ministerial blessing at tl>«"^ ^''["'"t'i^'^^iltio^
would as soon think ot pronouncing the absolution

r°a befitting dismissal after a comic reading or

■^A^'ow hoping that you-^iU exci^e^the
imi^rfect and disconnected way in which I have

• IreSed this subject, for it is only late m hfe and
„ui, little leisure that I have had any oppor-
tonL forstSg"^^^^ Schools, either prac-
S^^hSrSy. I will conclude, hoping
im I hav3 not been misconstrued into supposing
ha I thTnl, myself capable of g'^^f^-'S^^i-
to so many now present from w^"";.! *"***^
share with you in thje pleasure of hearing. Not

\ toSiy^ tothet Ithankyoufor yourkuid

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