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THE

SABBATH SCHOOL

OP THE

FIRESIDE:

AND THE

SABBATH SCHOOL OF THE CONGREGATION

AS IT OUGHT TO BE.

-♦•♦-

REV. JAMES GEORGE, D. D.,

PROFESSOR OP MENTAL AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY, Ac,

QTTEEN'S COLLEOK, KINGSTOK, CANADA.

-4**i .

KINGSTON,
Published by john creioeton:

TORONTO, A. H. ARMOUR & CO.,
MONTREAL, B. DAWSON & SON.

1859.

^x?f\^t Q*s '^^^'^

JAM£S M. CREIOHTON, PRINTER.

PBEFACE.

The author of these pages has a conviction
absolutely painful, that in order to produce a
healthy and vigorous piety in the Church, and
prevent Society falling into anarchy, there must
be a great revival of domestic religion in the more
thorough attention of parents to the godly up-
bringing of their children. How far he has been
successful in unfolding parental obligation as to
this, and the best methods of giving effect to it,
must be left to the candid judgment of his readers.
But if what he has written shall have the tendency
to awaken abler minds in the Church of Christ, to
a fuller consideration of the momentous subjects
on which he has but briefly touched, he shall feel
satisfied that he has not written this little treatise
in vain. It is the author's earnest prayer, that
God may, by His Spirit, so enlighten the minds

8S749

IV.

F B E F AO E .

of parents, that they shall see, with peculiar
clearness, their responsibilities to their children,
and through their children, to the Church and the
world ; — and that Sabbath School Teachers, who,
from the inability or neglect of parents, are now
called on to do so much for the religious training
of the young, may be eminently successful in their
Jabor of love.

Kingston, April, 1859..

CONTENTS.

PART I.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL OF THE FIRE-SIDE. '

CHAPTER I.
The Family Institution-and its chief end ^""^t

CHAPTER II.

The Sabbath as a special season for giving parental

religious instruction, .... «

Sabbath Instruction fop. Children," .,.,,' il

1. By conversation, ..,..'.*.' 18

2. By reading, .....'..**** 33

CHAPTER III.
Sabbath School of the Fireside, 53

■ 1

Vl CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

Pag§

Prayer an indispensible means to religious training in
the Sabbath School of the Fireside, 62

CHAPTER V.

Example a means for the religious training of children
in the Sabbath School of the Fireside, .... 67

CHAPTER VI.

The indirect but great advantages that flow from the
proper religious training of children.

1. In the cultivation of the pure and gen-

tle aflections, 76

2. The foundation of all obedience laid by-

proper domestic training, 78

CHAPTER VII.

The great responsibility of parents to give their children
a godly training, ,,.,,,,,.,. 83

CONTENTS.

Tii.

PART II.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL OF THE CONGREGATION
AS IT OUGHT TO BE.

CHAPTER I.

Page

The origin and great need of our modern Sabbath
School system, 93

1. The relation of the Clergy to the

system, JQ3

2. The relation of the laity to it—their

fitness — unfitness — failure, .... 109

CHAPTER II.

Causes of the partial failuro of the Sabbath School

system.

1. The want of duly qualified teachers, 126

2. Aiming chiefly to exercise the memory

on sacred truth, ........ 132

3. Show and parade may have injured

the spiritual training in our Sabbath
Scliools, 135

viu.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.

Page

The great need of an efficient Sabbath School system
for our times, 1^

PART FIRST.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL OF THE FIRESIDE.

CHAPTER I.

THE FAMILY INSTITUTION, — AND ITS CHIEF END.

It may be taken for granted, what might be easily
proved, buu which indeed no one who believes the Bible
denies, that the Family Institution is of Divine appointment.
This was the first organization given to human society, arid
is the essential basis of all the other relationships, in which
men stand to one another. "Without it, in an efficient
condition no one of the other organizations can work har-
moniously, or yield to men as social and moral creatures any
largo share of benefits. As the family is, so will the churcli
and the nation be. If order, piety and the social virtues
are thoroughly cultivated in the family, the church and
nation will not only reap the fruits of this in peace and
stability, but will, on a large scale, exemplify the same
excellencies ; for, as the nation, or church is but an aggre-
gate of families, it is plain, that in this, as in other things,
the parts taken together will give character to the whole.
Hence, the condition of the Family Institution among a
people, furnishes the best key to their present character and
future prospects. Those who speculate on national char-
acter, do not seem sufficiently to understand, that the best
field for making observation is by the firesides of the

THT

TOE SABBATH SCHOOL

peasants, mechanics and tradesmen of a country. If tliinrrf
ho nil lorong in domestic life, they will not remain long right
in Legislative Halls, Churches, or Seats of Justice. "NVe are
V(M-y apt to overlook the influences, that in the lonp^ run,
tell most powerfully on all the greater interests and move-
ments of society. Family influence, either for good or ill,
must in the long run, become the universal and predomi-
nating influence. This is a truth too plain to require argu-
ment, and too momentous to be treated lightly by men of
sober reflection. Nor, will the thoughtful fail to see, that
in these times of mental activity and democratic tendency,
the domestic influence of families, in the middle and even
lower ranks of life, may come quickly to affect the greatest
institutions and movements in society. Lads from humble
cottages are every day finding their way into positions, in
which they are able to give direction to the law, religion,
or commerce of their country. Every friend of humanity
will rejoice at this; — yet, the joy can only be unmixed witii
fear, when it is seen, that in proportion as these fountains
f )f this diversified influence are multiplied, so are they tho-
roughly purified.

But while the Family Institution is the source of num-
berless benefits to man, in all his civil and social relations ;
still, it is plain that its highest end— an end comprehensive
of so much subordinate good — is to raise up a godly seed., by
the cultivation of piety in the young. The command of
(rod is, " Train up a child in the way he should go" — and
to this. He has added a promise, " that when the child is
old, he will not depart from it." This command, while it
has a direct reference to the temporal well-being of man,
lias special reference assuredly to his spiritual and eternal
interests. The whole Bible is full of precej>ts and exam-
])les, well fitted to teach, that in the family, the rehgious
training of children, ought not only to be carefully attended
• to, but that it is really in the family, that this sort of
training can he most easily and successfully given. Expe-

OF THE I IRE-SIDE.

riencc not only confirms this view of the Bible on the
matter, but tcaclics with painful distinctness, that if religioiift
iraininy be neglected in the family, the neglect can be but
partially repaired by any other agency. To each one, God
has appointed his duties, and to each relationship in hfe its
peculiar obligation. And as men cannot shake off these
peculiar oliligations, so neither is it intended by God, that
others shall take up, and perform their special duties for
them. It is true, the benevolent are ever labouring to
lessen the ill consequences of such criminal neglect ; yet,
this can never be more than partially done. The Divine
scheme is, that each shall perform the duties of his own
relationships, and shall not through sloth or vicious conduct,
leave his pecuHar duties as tasks for others.

Now, the religious training of children is the peculiar
duty of parents. No parent can, and no Christian parent
can wish to divest himself of the obligation to this duty.
Nor, can any one assume the duty in his stead, and
perform it as he can, if he be a man of godliness and good
sense. For, although natural affection is not grace, yet,
parental affection should wonderfully quicken the motives
to labour for the spiritual good of the child ; while on
the oclier hand, filial affection should give access to the
young bosom, when the instruction comes from the Ups
of parents, which others can but rarely possess. To this,
we may have occasion again to revert ; but in the mean
time it is enough simply to assume — that one grand end of
the Family Institution, is the religious training of children.
Indeed, if parents fail in this, they cannot be said to have
succeeded in anything which they aimed at for the good
of their children. Parents who overlook this, have plainly
lost sight of the chief end, for which God placed these im-
mortal creatures uv.'.ov thoir ca"e. Men of the world do
not in the least realize this. But, why should Christian
parents be supposed for one moment to lose sight of it ?
That your children should be trained up to know God, to

THE SABBATH fiOHOOL

love Him and to serve Him here, and to be eternally happy
with Him hereafter ; — is this not your great business with
them, and should not this, be of aU duties to them the one
that takes the firmest hold at once of your conscience and
your heart.

Now, while this should be a daily business, yet on
many accounts, it is easy to see, that the Sabbath is the best
season, for its regular and solemn performance. For if it be
true, in a wide and most benevolent sense, that the Sabbath
was made for man, it is in a peculiar sense true, that this is
tlie seaaou, every way best fitted for the religious training
of children. Hence, parents who neglect this duty on the
Lord's Day, I presume universally neglect it on the other
<iays of the week. Nor is it easy to believe, that the Sab-
bath is well kept in that family, in which no portion of the
day is set apart for the spiritual training of chil Iren. Every
house in which God is known has its Fireside Sabbath
School

OF THE FIRE-SIDE.

CHAPTER 11.

THE SABBATH AS A SPECIAL SEASON FOR GIVING PARENTAL
RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.

Before, however, proceeding to shew how this kind of
spiritual training ought to be carried on, I deem it not
irrelevant, to make a few remarks on the nature and bindimj
obligations of the Sabbath.

No reasonable man can deny, that the Sabbatical In-
stitute is of great service to the well-being of mankind. —
Yet, it is well known, that many who admit this after a
loose fashion, entertain low notions of the obligations and
ends of the Sabbath. Not a few men, professedly Chris-
tian, look on it as merely a Jewish Institute, which, in the
Christian, dispensation occupies no higher ground than that
of expediency. On this ground, men are taught, that they
may devote what part of the day they choose to sacred
duties, and what part of it they fancy to amusement or
secular pursuits.

Such a view, one might naturally expect infidels to
take ; but it is truly wonderful, that Christian men should
place the Sabbath on no higher ground. Assuredly what-
ever is of Divine appointment, is in the fullest sense expe-
dient ; viz., on the whole best for man ; yet no one in his
senses will suppose, that what men fancy to be merely
expedient can ever have the force of a Divine command ;
in fact the difference is, so to speak, infinite. What is an
explicit command of God is in the highest sense obligatory ;
but a thing of expediency, and not a Divine command, can
never have in it permanency of principle, or a binding force
for moral conduct ; but must ever be shifting, as the feel-
ings, taste, or capricious judgment of men change.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

Yes, truly, it is very expedient for men to keep the
Sabbath. Could they see their own self interests clearly,
they would see this. And yet, unless they feel that God
has explicitly required this of them, it will be found that,
when the expediency theory comes under the full influence of
some low motive, springing from present appetite or pas-
sion, the claims of the Sabbath will be modified to suit the
vicious tastes of men, or what is more likely, will be wholly
set aside. The blind selfishness of man, soon comes to deal
with impious recklessness with the commands of God,
when viewed as resting on no higher ground than that of
expediency. The Sabbath is, therefore, not to be kept in
our way, because in this way we fancy it would be most
lor our good ; but is to be kept in God's way, and simply
because He has so commanded it. This ground taken in an
intelligent and earnest faith, and the law of the Fourth
Commandment will be rightly kept, and from it, when thus
kept, all sort of good will flow to men. It is the Lord's
<lay, to be kept sacred to Him. But, if you admit this, it
settles the question in all its bearings, as to the ends and
obligations of the Sabbath. It can hardly escape notice,
that while the commendation of the Sabbatical Institute on
the expediency theory, has furnished some beautiful
speculations, yet the theory has never failed to lead in
practice to the g-oss desecration of the Lord's day. Men
arrive pretty much at the same practical result, who hold
that the Sabbath was purely a Jewish Institute. Were this
correct, it would plainly follow, that the Sabbath ended
Avith many other things that were purely Judaical, when
that ancient dispensation came to a close.

On this, I can only make a few brief remarks. * What
Avas purely Judaical, or typical, as it was but circumstantial
to religion, under the ancient dispensation, would necessarily
be but temporary, and come to a close when the civil, or
ecclesiastical polity peculiar to that people terminated.
Hence, what was typical of Messiali or His work, ceased

OP THE FIRE-SIDE.

wlien the reality came in the antitype. This is the doctrine
taught in the Epistle to the Hebrews. What in type was
but a shadow of good tilings to come, passed away when
the reality came. But no one can speak of the Sabbath in
this sense, as typical. Typical it was, but not of the gospel
age, but as it still is, of the heavenly rest. The antitype of
the Sabbath shall not have come, till the Church militant
has passed into the Church triumphant, and even then, the
Sabbath of the Church o.i earth, will rather have met its
glorious accomplishment than its termination.

And as Uttle can we speak of the Sabbath as purely
Judaical. In its great moral ends the Jews needed it, but
equally so, do we Christians. If to the Jew it was
conmiemorative of the grandest of the works of God then
accomphshed — the creation of the world — ^is it not equally
so to the Christian ? Indeed, to him it is more ; for on the
First day of the week, he not only commemorates with
adoring wonder and gratitude the work of creation ; but
also, the more glorious work of redemption. Every believer
ought to be able to say with deep emotion, as the light of
the Sabbath dawns on liim — yea, " this is the day that God
hath made, we will be glad in it," for it is the day the
Saviour arose from the tomb, " having finished transgres-
sion," " and led captivity captive." As a commemorative
Institute, the Sabbath must ever be rich with lofty and
precious thoughts for the heart of the Christian. To forget
the Sabbath, is to forget our risen Redeemer, as well as tht?
work of creation. But the Sabbath is not only commemo-
rative of the greatest events that have happened in the
past, it is ^ iously appointed by God, as a season for those
leligious duties, which fit men for the present life, and for
that eternal life to wliich they look forward. Did the Jew
need the Sabbath for these high moral purposes ? so does
the Christian. To serve God, men must have divine
knowledge, and to serve Him aright, they must have suitable
means for cultivating holy affections, as well as for acquiring

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

lili

truth. But without a portion of time sacredly set apart
from secular avocations, truth could not be acquired to any
purpose, nor the graces well cultivated. Hence it is, that
God in His wisdom and goodness commands man to keep
the Sabbath, as a holy day — a day for holy thoughts,
emotions and duties. That men on earth may so worship
God in spirit and in truth, that they may be prepared for
the perfect joys and services of heaven, is the great end of
the Sabbath. Can an Institute, that has this as its grand
«nd, be with propriety spoken of as resting on no higher
ground than a fancied expediency ? And, if a time never
can come, when the high ends of the Sabbath shall be
unworthy of God, or unsuitable to man, then the time
never can come, when this Institute shall become effete and
pass away. One does not wonder that those who are
ignorant of the spiritual ends of the Sabbath should speak
of it, as having been temporary ; or that those who feel its
spiritual duties a weariness, should regard it as one of the
l^urdensome Jewish Institutes, from which the Christian is
free. But such as regard it " as a delight, and honorable"
— honorable to God, and delightful in its duties to the soul ;
— will rejoice in its continuance, and will see in all the ends
of its appointment, the great wisdom and goodness of God.
It is, indeed, surprising that any person, capable of
sober reflection, should question the permanent obligation
of the law of the Sabbath. It was appointed to man in
Paradise ; it was one of the Patriarchal Institutes, it was
engrossed in the Decalogue in the summary of the moral
law, and the Saviour declared, it should continue to exist
after the Jewish dispensation had come to an end. And
farther, we know it was kept during apostolic times, for the
sacred purposes for which it was appointed. This evidence
for the permanency of the Law of the Sabbath, I think is
quite conclusive. Indeed, the argument for its temporary
continuance under the Mosaic dispensation, appears to me
to involve such erroneous views in Theology, and so much

OF THE riBE^SIDE.

that is false in Logic, and on the whole, to be so silly, that
one feels grieved to hear it, and ashamed to reply to it,
from the mouth of professed Christians. Yet, it cannot be
denied, that such men have given wide currency to the
expediency theory^ and temporary obligation of the law of
the Sabbath. All Christendom was struck with horror,
when the French, during their revolutionary frenzy, blotted
out, by edict, the Christian Sabbath from the Calendar.
This act was befitting the men who did it, and the horror
awakened was surely befitting the occasion. But now, may
not one marvel, that so little horror is manifested, when
certain Divines and ethical philosophers, are seen laboring
by their speculations, to destroy in the pubUo mind the
Divine sanction, and lasting obligations of the Sabbath.
These men " have made this law of G-od of none eflfect" to
many, by their subtle speculations. It is hardly saying too
much to affirm, that although by a different road, they have
arrived at pretty nearly the same result as that which was
accomplished by the French Legislature. The latter repealed
tlie law, which in reality, had become a dead letter on the
national statute book, while the former, by their plausible
sophistries, endeavor to nullify the law in the national
conscience. The effect is the same ; — the law of the Sabbath
is virtually destroyed.

I do not affirm, that the pernicious speculations to
which I have referred have done all the mischief, — other
causes assuredly have been at work, — but, be the causes
what they may, the painful fact is patent, that in many
countries nominally Christian, the Sabbath is no longer the
Lord's day, nor man's day exclusively for sacred duties : but
man's day, to a lamentable extent for amusement, or secular
avocations. Now, afler the Sabbath, in its Divine claims,
and spiritual duties, has lost its hold on the public mind, it is
really of little moment, that it still has a place on the statute
book, and has some official acknowledgment paid to it by
the rulers of the land. Let us not deceive ourselves. If

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

the day is mainly employed to minister to " the lusts of the
eye, the lusts of tlie flesh, and the pride of life," it has
ceased to be the Lord's day — a day for man doing the work
of the Lord. Its spiritual character is gone, its grand ends
are thenceforth lost sight of. But this mode of dealing with
the Sabbath, is, I presume, true of all Roman Catholic
countries. And, although, in the greater part of Protestant
countries, there is still a decent outward observance of the
Lord's day ; and in those countries where true piety pre-
vails, the day is sanctified to the Lord; yet it cannot be
affirmed, that this latter condition of things is at all general
in the present age. Few will affirm, that the Sabbath is
kept as it ought, even by many persons, who are otherwise
supposed to sustain a fair Christian character. Many — and
they are not the censorious — bitterly regret, that in the
keeping of the Sabbath, the present generation is far behind
the piety of their fathers. The evidence for this is too
abundant and conclusive, to admit of any reasonable denial.
But then, our forefathers were bigoted Sabbatarians, whose
notions were narrow and their practice foolishly rigorous.
I do not on this, any more than on some other matters,
defend out and out, either the opinions or practices of our
forefathers. Good men may have gone to one extreme,
while latitudinarian sophists have gone to another. Before,
however denouncing the practice of a former age as fool-
ishly rigorous, might it not be well to ascertain, if the Sab-
bath, as then kept, was not on the whole kept much nearer
the Divine requirement, than it is according to the Uberal
practice of our day ? No one will doubt, that the man who
keeps the Sabbath most in accordance with the Divine re-
quirement, keeps it best. This is really the ground on
which the question ought to be tried. But this assumed, and
still no wise man will treat with contempt the lessons of
the past as to the keeping of the Sabbath. Indeed, I cannot
but think, that this wisdom of a former age might teach
lessons of great moment to the piety of the church in our

OF THE nRE-SIDE.

times. Any command of God, wilfully broken, injures
conscience, and if openly broken by professing Christians,
seriously injures religion in the world. Now, waiving all
comparisons betwixt the present and a former generation
as to the sanctification of the Lord's day, it may neverthe-
less be safely affirmed, that the neglect of the Sabbath, in
its claims and spiritual ends, must be destructive of vital
piety in the soul ; while the open desecration of the day,
must be tlie destruction of all religion in a country. It is
true, a religion of pomp may still employ the day for its
pageantries, but, if the Sabbath has ceased to be a season
for Bible instruction and spiritual devotion, its grand ends are
entirely lost to man ; nor can man, under this loss, retain a
religion wliich shall enlighten and purify his mind.

The reason for tliis is plain : the greater part of men
are so occupied with worldly avocations, that the Sabbath
is the only season they have for spiritual duties, while the
ministrations of the sanctuary are the grand means for their
spiritual instruction and comfort. It is no disparagement to
other means to say, that the pulpit must ever be, to the
greater part of men, the great, if not the only source for
religious instruction. But, were there no Sabbath, there
could be no pulpit instruction, or sanctuary devotion ; and
where the day is not solemnly consecrated to God, even
good pulpit instruction were it given, would be of little
avail. A sanctified Sabbath and an efficient pulpit, must
go together.

Nor is this all ; for as we have liinted above, it is in
the means of grace on the Sabbath, that the devotional
feelings are chiefly cultivated. Unless these feelings are
cultivated, grace cannot thrive in the soul. Now, on this
day of holy rest, the soul finds in the quiet of the closet,
the peace of the family, as well as in the sanctuary, the
best means for meditation and fellowship with God in a
hallowed devotion. With every child of God, devotional
duties will be daily duties; yet, those who have thus a

'. I !.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

daily walk with God, will be the most ready to own their
deep indebtedness to the Sabbath, for spiritual health and
comfort, from the opportunities it furnishes for devotional
duties. If the Sabbath be ill kept, the piety that springs
from devotion must be extremely low, and if the day be
desecrated by amusements or wordly pursuits, I am unable
to sec how genuine piety can at all live in the heart.

As I shall show more fully afterwards, I plead for no
Pharisaical or sanctimonious keeping of the Lord's day.
As this is the natural product of a mind diseased by spirit-
ual pride, or sunk into mere formality, so it can only tend
in all its operations, to sere the conscience and harden the
heart. But, is it not absurd to speak of either ancient or
modern Pharisees, as rigid keepers of the Sabbath ? The
truth is, that this sort of people have ever been virtually its
esseniiaJ, if not open violators. The Sabbath is only sanc-
tified, and is just so far instrumental in sanctifying the soul,
as the day is kept holy to God. It is in this light the true
Christian regards the day, and in this way strives to keep
it. Hence, he feels it to be the means of precious oppor-
tunities for his groAvth in grace. FormaUsts and hypocrites,
whatever be their outward appearance of respect for the
day, cannot in the least understand its spiritual ends. If
their life does not violate the letter of the law, their heart,
by the thoughts they cherish, is in constant opposition to it.
He that would keep the Sabbath to God, must not only
visit the sanctuary, but his bosom must be the temple of
the Holy Spirit.

Yet, there can be no doubt, that many sincere chris-
tiaUwS, have carried the external decorum of Sabbath keeping
to such a rigorous length, as neither wisdom nor piety could
warrant. Let us never forget, " that new wine is not to be
put into old bottles." To attempt to enforce a seclusion and
gravity on very young children, which their reason cannot
comprehend nor their patience bear, will be likely either to
crush their spirits into a stupid submission, or train them up

OF THE nRE-SIDE.

in a most vicious juvenile hypocrisy. As wise and affec-
tionate parents would shudder at either result, so they must
be careful not to make the home of their children a gloomy
prison on Sabbath. The day, in short, should be so kept in
the family, that even young children shall not look forward
to its approach with dread, nor look with joy that it is
passed, and feel that they are again free from a terrifying
spiritual bondage. "Whenever this unhappy condition of
mind is produced, it must lead to a dislike of the Sabbath,
and may even end in a fixed aversion to religion itself.
But where there is good sense, affection and enlightened
piety, there is really no danger of that extreme rigour of
external Sabbath decorum, which cannot do good and may
do much harm ; yet, a sacred decorum there must be ; for
it is needless to look for the sanctities of the Lord's day in
a family, where all is levity and domestic bustle. Although
true religion lives not by forms, yet, it can hardly live, and
assuredly will not thrive, unless it takes form, amidst tho
order and sober proprieties which should characterize every
godly household on the first day of the week. Of the state
of our neighbour's heart, we can never judge with certainty,
yet we may judge with tolerable accuracy of the way the
Sabbath is kept as to its great ends in a family, by the
outward appearance of the household on that day.

The law of association has a wonderful deal to do, not
only with the thoughts which spring up in us, but with the
whole tone and temper of our feelings. Now, it surely
were unwise to overlook the influence of a prudent external
decorum on our Sabbath day's thoughts and emotions. No
one, who can speak from experience, needs to be told how
the holy quiet of the domestic hearth on Sabbath tends
to calm and elevate the mind for the sacred duties of the
day. The pious man, who has had to spend a Sabbath
amidst domestic frivoUtieS and turmoil, has had the best,
although a painful lesson, of the value of external decorum
to internal spiritual harmony and joy. But while it should

ii'

TriE SAnoATn school

1)0 the aim of every wise parent to preserve a strict
external decorum, n^* a means to the spiritual ends of tin*
Suhbath, yet he will strive to make that decorum natural
and ffisy, and to dillVise a joyous satisfaction into younj^
minds in all the domestic observances of the day. Were
this done, domestic religion ■would not only wear on
appearance of becominj? sanctity, but vital religion would
never be made to assinne an offensive aspect to the young.

But as it is not my object to discuss at large the law of
the Sabbath, I shall, without further remarks, proceed tu
state what I conceive to be the best methods for conducting
the religions training of the young on the LorcCs day.

The SaVjbath School at the Fireside must ever bo
regarded as incomparably the best means for the moral and
spiritual training of children. All persons of reflection
admit this ; yet many who feel the sacred obligation of the
duty, understand but imperfectly how it should be most
crticaciously performed. On a subject which has frequently
occupied the thoughts of wise men, it were presumption in
nie to suppose that I can state anything strictly new. I
shall rejoice if I am able to place some old truths in a new
light, or so urge them home on the conscience of parents,
that they shall be stirred up to greater fideUty and dili-
gence. For it is with me a thorough and painful conviction,
that many of the evils which are now threatening the peace
and stability of society, wasting the strength, and impairing
the spiritual beauty of the church, may be traced in no
small degree to the inefficient religions training of children in
the family. It cannot be denied that many parents who
do not wlioUy neglect the duty, yet perform it very poorly.
These persons need guidance on this matter.

SABBATH INSTRUCTION FOR CHILDREN.

This is but another name for religious instruction.
Parents are the first teachers, and even in secular education,

OF THE FIRE-SIDE.

nro in some respects the best. True, the child may, in after
lil'c, mivko ftttainmenta far beyond the acquirements of his
j)arents ; yet, neither he nor his teachers can easily overrate
tlj"3 importance of those early parental lessons, by whieii
lia>>its and tastes were. formed, which enabled the child to
rise so high. Those teachers, who have led him on
successfully to the acquisition of the loftiest branches of
knowledge, are possibly but little aware how far they were
indclited for their success to the deep and solid foundation
laid by the prudenco, diligence and piety of parents. It
may ho true, that education in our public seminaries is now
carried on with great art and industry ; yet, if there be a
falling off in the culture given to the intellect and th*;
affections in the fireside school, the public schools will labor
in vain to i)roduce the best fruits of mind among a people.
Where this unhappy state of things exist^^ there may be
among that people a great deal of what is called learning,
but tliere will be but little original thought; little moral
force, and no great share of genius. "Who can estimate how
nmch that child has learned, who in eai-ly life has been
taught to think and feel ariyht, and to whom toil is habit,
and the labour of thinking has become natural. A little
reflection on this may serve to explain the difficulty felt in
getting heathen youths, even when placed under the most
favorable circumstances in Christian seminaries, to labor, so
as to become correct thinkers or able scholars. The minds
of these youths when opening to first impressions, received
no salutary parental training. No early good habits had
been formed. Hence, the instruction given to them
afterwards, was given to the mind under the sore disadvan-
tage of the want of an early taste and bent, for what is
true, noble and good. But, while the importance of forming
good habits and giving a relish for excellence to the opening
mind is readily admitted, it must never be forgotten, that
the heart of the parent can alone perform this. That near
relatives, and occasionally here and there a benevolent

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

!>H

person not a relativo, may do the parent's task by implant-
inp: the first seeds of truth, and by cultivating right habits
in the child, only establishes our position, that a great work
has to be done for the mind in the very commencement of
its existence, and that as a general thing, this work can
only be done by the toil and love of wise parents. Certain
duties can never be performed for a money payment.
Ail'oction can alone fit human beings for tliese tasks. But
from the aflV'clion which parents foel, they are qualified for
their diflicult and groat work. In fact, the parent alone, or
one that has the feelings of a parent, is qualified to give to
the child his first lessons in thinking — and more especially
the first moral and spiritual lessons for his conscience and
heart. Every good parent feels it to be at once a duty and
privilege to conununioate every sort of useful knowledge to
his child. He knows that he can give him no property so
precious as true and rich thoughts.

It is, however, in the light of spiritual instructors that
I would specially address myself to parents. In the relation
in which you stand to your children, this is the higliest
position you can occupy. Nature teaches you to do them
all the good you can, and if you are Christians you must
feel that to do theUi good, you must labor for the good of
their souls. That God who has placed you in your respon-
sible position as the spiritual educator of your children, has
in the plainest terms commanded you to teach them divine
truth. I select the following passages : — " Train up a child
in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not
depart from it." " Whom shall he teach knowledge, and
whom shall he make to understand doctrine ? them that
arc weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts."
" Set your hearts unto all the work,"> av hich I testify among
you this day, which ye shall command your children to
observe and to do— ^all the words of this law." ** Ye fathers
bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord;" These, my friends, are the commands of God

OF THE FIRE-SIDE.

^n this matter; they are too plain to be mistaken, and
coming from God to you in the relation in which you stand
to your children, too important not to be felt. The parent
who withholds bread from a starving child, or would give
him a stone instead of bread, were a monster of iii»rnsibility.
But your children are perishing for the bread of life. God
has commanded you to feed them with this. The truth of
the gospel is the spiritual nourishment which you are
required to communicate. You know — or ought to know —
that without this, the souls of your children can have no
spiritual strength, no heavenly beauty, no faith, no piety.
Is it not plain, that parents who can be instrumental in
•communicating God's saving truth, yet fail to do so, are
disobedient to the Divine command ? They may not be
without natural affection, but plainly, they have no
•spiritual affectioB, no true love for the souls of their children,
and no enlightened desire for their highest good. I shall
be under the necessity of noticing the great sin of neglecting
this more fully in another part of my subject.

As an encouragement to the performance of this sacred
parental duty, we should look at certain promises, which
God has annexed to His command on this matter. " The
just man walketh in his integrity, his children are blessed
rafter him." " The children of thy servants shall continue,
and their seed shall be established before thee." The
following passages are pregnant with instruction and
encouragement to all godly parents : — Genesis, xviii and
19th, " I know him, that he will command his children, and
his household after him ; and tliey shall keep the way of
the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may
bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."
And says Paul, in addressing Timothy — " When I call
to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which
dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice^
and I am persuaded that in thee also" — he intimates very
plainly how much he thought Timothy had been indebted

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

for his faith to the domestic instruction he had received.
Indeed, there is abundant evidence in the word of God,
that fidelity to this duty has never failed to yield precious
benefits to both parents and children. Who, then, that has
the heart of a man, the conscience of a Christian, and the
hopes of a father, can be deaf to the command — " Train up
» child in the way in which he should go ?" — train him up
in the fear of the Lord. A moment's reflection must
satisfy any parent, that whatever he may do for the bodily
wants of his children, yet if he fails to train them up in the
fear of the Lord, he fails criminally, and he utterly deceives
himself if he fancies that with this fearful omission he is
either a wise or a good parent.

The grand que'"'jion then is, how shall divine truth, by
which the soul is sanctified, be most simply, fully and
effectually communicated to the young mind ? In attempt-
ing to answer this question I would remark :

Ist. That parents may communicate much religious
instruction to their children by conversation.

In the early ages of the world, before writing was
known, conversation must have been the only means of
communicating knowledge. And even now, a r ach larger
portion of our knowledge is obtained in this way, than wo
are apt to suppose. Assuredly many subjects, which
require accuracy of language, can be better taught by
books than by conversation. But wliile every man of
sense perceives this, and rejoices in these gifts of Providence
— writing and printing — gifts so invaluable for preserving
and diffusing knowledgj ; still, no one can fail to see tho
power of the living voice for communicating knowledge.
After all allowance is made for the amazing power of the
Press, it is nevertheless true, that the public mind is in the
end chiefly moved, if not directed, by the living voice of
man appealing to the understanding and heart of his
feilowmen. Mere written thought never could do what is.
done every day by the earnest speaker, while he pours.

or THX FIRE-4IDX.

truth warmly from his own heart into the hearts of others,
from the pulpit, at the bar, or in pubhc assembUes. We
see in this, that Nature is greater than Art, or rather
without this mode of natural teaching, art could accomplish
but little. My intention, however, is not to speak of the
power of the public instructor, or debator, but of simple
conversation as a grand means of giving religious instruction
within the domestic circle.

Divine wisdom has given directions as to this. " These
words which I command thee this day shall be in thine
heart ; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou
liest down, and when thou risest up." This command is
as binding on fathers now as it was on fathers among the
Israelites. That children have in our day so many fountains
of knowledge opened to them through the Press, should
rather strengthen than weaken the command. For the
greater part of men, reading without conversation, amounts
to little, while for children, as what they read is neither
well remembered nor digested, it in many cases amounts to
nothing. The child whose reading ministers most to his
growth in knowledge and wisdom, is the child who has
what he reads digested by the comments and remarks of
wiser minds. By this means, what is read is fixed in the
memory; is comprehended by the understanding, and
naturally gives complexion to the general tone of the child's
blinking. Looking simply at the intellectual aspect of the
Bubject, I would earnestly urge parents to converse much
with their children on what they read. Nor, indeed, would
it be wise to lose sight of the intellectual, while we are
anxious to give a peculiar prominancy to the moral and
spiritual advantages of conversation. True religion, not
only sanctifies all the powers, but demands all these in their
highest form for its service. But wise conversation in
famiUes has a direct tendency greatly to cultivate the

TBI SABBATH SCHOOL

'i 11!

I h'

intellectual powers. Those who have read with care the
lives of some of our most distinguished philosophers, as
well as Divines, must be well aware, that not a few of these
eminent men sprang from godly families, in which the
minds of the children were early cultivated by a wise and
pioui conversation. Indeed, but for this schooling these
men had never become the able benefactors to the church
and the world, which they became in afler life. If you
would, therefore, awaken a thirst for useful knowledge, and
give to your child those tastes which will be so valuable for
him in all his future progress, converse much with him on
everything that he may read or observe. No mode of
instruction is more efficacious for good than this: indeed
without it, all other modes will be lamentably defective.
Affectionate parents seldom fail to talk with their children,
but many fail to talk with them to edification ; with some^
the topics of conversation are unsuitable — because above
the capacities of the child; — with many others again,
the talk is frivolous ; and in godless families, oiten most
pernicious. What is desiderated then is not mere talk, but
talk that shall edify. Let what is communicated be such aa
shall add to the child's stock of useful knowledge, strengthen
his motives for good conduct, and purify his heart.
Conversation of this sort can hardly fail to prepare the child
for future usefulness and happiness.

We would err greatly, however, did we suppose that
intelligent and pious conversation between parents and
children, accomplishes nothing more than the communication
of so much knowledge. This is really the chief means for
cherishing all that is pure and lofly in affection, and all that
is stable in the friendly confidence that is felt in this dear
relationship. There can be properly no attachments which
shall be durable, but such as spring from communion of
minds. Those who are constantly with geniality of word
and look, exchanging their innermost feelings and thoughts,
rather live in one another's souls, than live with one

or TBI nni-siDi.

another. Where there is love, there will be communion,

and where this is open and confidential, friendship will

become uncommonly strong. No on.e needs to be told that

friendship is never so precious or productive of good, as in

the domestic circle. The want of it there never can be met

by the possession of it elsewhere. I am far from thinking

that there may not be ardent love where there ia

comparatively little converse, but if you would strengthen

this love into a wise and productive friendship, you must

converse much with your children. I have no sympathy

with those who fancy that this will, by weakening respect^

impair parental authority ; that assuredly may be feared, if

the parent talks like a child and not like a parent; for nothing

is more fitted to destroy parental authority, than foolish

talk. But talking to children in their own language is not

foolish talk. Although there can be no wise prattle among.

men, yet there may be a wise as well as a tender prattle

with children. As said the Apostle: — "When I was a

child, I thought as a child, I spake as a child." And those

who would please and edify children when they are very

young, must speak to them in childish thoughts and in the

language of children. But all this, so far from necessitating

either folly, or silly babble will to the wise parent, furnish

the best means for giving prudent instruction and pleasing

amusement to his little ones. Of course the wise parent

will rise both in his matter and. manner, as the mind of his

child expands. Happy the child whose parents understand

this, and with wisdom give effect to it. That child's

memory, from the first dawn of thought, will be stored with

valuable sentiments, his reason exercised, and his affections

cultivated ; while a tender and reverential friendship will be

cherished by him for those who thus nursed his mind with

not less care than his body. It is, indeed, abundantly

plain, whatever be the modes of instruction employed in.

after life, the first must be that of wise and affectionate

conversation.

m SABBATH SCHOOL

Now, religion furnishes the most varied and deeply
interesting themes for conversation with the young. It is
no small evidence that Christianity is from God, that its
lessons and duties are adapted to human beings under all
circumstances. For while its truths are of magnitude to
exercise the greatest intellects, yet there is much in it which
even a child can be made to understand, and in which ho
may take the liveliest interest. Now, as the Bible is the
Book of our religion, children cannot be too early taught
not only its doctrines and moral precepts, but the great
facts and incidents which it contains. The facts of the Bible
are, indeed, the basis of the doctrines, as I shall shew more
fully afterwards. This is a truth pregnant of meaning for
oui present purpose ; — for a child can be taught the great
facts of the Bible long before he can comprehend logically
its grand doctrines. This is a beautiful arrangement of
divine wisdom. For while the child is learning the grand
facts, his mind is receiving the best preparation for giving
an enlightened reception to the cardinal doctrines. Indeed,
without the facts the doctrines could have no meanmg ; —
for to believe in the atonement we must first believe in the
incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Tut no book
for the young mind contains such incidents and facts as the
Bible. Among many others in the Old Testament, I need
only remind you of the story of Joseph and his Brethren ;
of events in the life of Moses, and various passages which
narrate certain actions of David and Elijah. The New
Testament is even more rich in matter to interest the young
and thoughtful reader, when what he reads is made the
subject of conversation. What narratives of amazing events
are unfolded in the life and death of Jesus ; while many
passages in the Acts of the Apostles will furnish matter for
interesting and edifying conversation with the young; — so
that their attention may be enlisted for sacred reflections,
and precious lessons drawn from the incidents on which
you converse with them. 0, that mothers who have so

01* THE FIEE-SIDE.

lew more

many opportunities with their very young children for
conversing with them, would strive to awaken in their
minds an early interest in the events recorded in the Sacred
Volume. Were this done it would knit the affections of
your children to God's truth, and would bring their earliest
associations into contact with the grandest and most
instructive events; whereas, with the greater part, their
early associations are only found in connection with what
is false, mean and absurd. No words can express the
importance of having the mind in early life imbued with
those Bible narratives, which are every way so admirably
fitted to produce right tastes, pure feelings, and holy
associations.

But althougli the conversation on the great facts and
historical incidents in the Bible is admirably adapted to
interest the young in God's Book, yet you must not suppose
that I would have you confine your religious conversation
entirely to these subjects. Were this done, the Bible might
come to be regarded by the young as a history of remark-
able events ; to be read to gratify curiosity rather than to
produce faith and a holy life. This were to remain satisfied
with the rudiments of truth. And yet how unspeakably
important are these rudiments, as one may call them. They
are pretty nearly in religion what first principles are in
science. For it is plain that on a belief in these facts our
whole structure of saving knowledge rests. For instance,
without a knowledge of the facts contained in the first
chapters of Genesis, we could hardly know any tiling of the
doctrine of original sin, and the introduction of moral
government into our world. And again, without a
knowledge of the facts in the beginning of the three first
Gospels, we could know but imperfectly the doctrine of the
incarnation of the Son of God; — and had we not a
narrative of certain facts as to the suffering of Jesus in the
Garden an*:, on the Cross, we could form no clear notion of
the doctrine of the atonement. But then mark it these

91 TBK 8ABBATB SOnOO&

aarratives of f^ts are to be read, or to be made the subjecto
of conversation, in order that the soul may be able, by a
living faith, to lay hold on the doctrines of the gospeL
Hence it is that the conversation ought not to end with the
facts, but be directed chiefly through them, to such doctrines
as the following, viz. : The depravity and guilt of man—
the perfections of God ; His commands, His threatenings
and promises ; the person of Christ and His work, and tho
work of the Holy Spirit in the sanctification of the souL
0, my friends, are not these truths, every way the highest
and most interesting on which human beings can speak to
one another. Angels desire to look into them. If man bo
ignorant of them,. " there is no true light in himJ'

Now, if you desire that your children should have this
heavenly light in them, you will converse with them on tho
doctrines of religion, in connection with its facts ; let it bo
on those precious doctrines, on a belief in which the soul
finds peace of conscience and strength for every godly duty
that you talk with them. Let your conversation in tho
Fireside Sabbath School be often on these doctrines from
which you have obtained your own peace of conscience^
strength and hope. Your ardent desire is, that those dear
to you should have these spiritual blessings. Well, then,
often speak to them of the source of these blessings, and
the way by which they arc to be obtained. Do not say
that you want ability for this ; or confess at once that you
want the faith and love of the Gospel. "Out. of tho
abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh ;" and no
parent can fail to speak to edification to his children on theso
matters, who speaks from the conscience and the heart. No
man who sees divine truth with any degree of clearness,
and whose heart is burning with love to Jesus and yearning
with love for the souls of his children, can want matter or
unction in speaking to them on the great things of God and
tb^ir souls.

And here I cannot but guard you against the common

or THS riRE-SIDK.

eril of talking on religion in vague generalities. Let ther^
bo definitcness in what you say. Without this you can
neither instruct nor warn. Let me illustrate what I mean.
Suppose you wished to speak of the evil of sin, it will not
do simply to say, that it is an evil thing and should be avoid-
ed — you must try to shew its evil by shewing how ofiensiva
it is in the sight of God. In order to do this, you have only
to turn to your Bible facts for illustrations, such as the
expulsion of man from Paradise, the destruction of the old
world by the flood, the overthrow of the cities of the plain^
the judgments of God on the Egyptians, and the sore
punishments which God brought on the Jews for their sins..
And if you wish to go deeper into the matter, you can then
refer to the sufferings of the Saviour, " when his soul wa»
made a sin offering for his people." This was, indeed, the
most awful manifestation of the Divine abhorrance to sin
that the Universe has witnessed. The evil of sin, in the
sight of a holy God, is s2ldom taught with the fullness and
distinctness which the subject demands ; and when taught
with some degree of fullness, is not always made to rest on
those principles which bring dearly into view its real evil
And although all this may be done very ably in abstract and
metaphysical discussions ; yet, in teaching the doctrine to
young minds, I cannot but think, that the more simple
and direct way is to teach the evil of sin from those
punishments which God has inflicted on account of it. Ah I
it must indeed be a great evil in His eyes, when He thus
destroys the work of his own hands — a great evil truly,
when His well-beloved Son cried — " Father if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me," — and the cup could not pass from
Him, for He was drinking it on behalf of His people.

I am not ignorant, that serious objections have been
made against giving such a view as this of God, to young
minds. It has been said, the young should only hear of
the goodness of God, but never of His wrath, or judg-
ments. This is a false apd superficial view. It must be

THE SABBATH BOHOOL

false, as it is not the Bible view of Ood. And let men be-
ware, of trying to represent Him in a light more pleasing
than the Bible represents Ilim. For this is not the true
God, but a creation of fancy. But the view is also super-
ficial. When we represent God as abhorring and punishing
sin, it is never intended to teach from this, that He is ma-
lignant, or implacable. That He hates sin, is decisive evi-
dence of His love— His love for holiness, for goodness and
for the true happiness of his creatures. We ought to love
God, because He necessarily hates sin ; and as moral ruler of
the universe, punishes the impenitent sinner. Did God not
hate sin. He could not be lovcable ; — yea, with reverence be
it spoken, would to holy minds be hat(iful. If thi-^ matter
then is taught wisely, it cannot be spoken of too earnestly
or too frequently. The most valuable lessons are drawn
from correct notions of the evil of sin. How momentous
are these lessons to the young in meeting successfully the
temptations of the world, the devil and the flesh.

Still it is true, the goodness of God, — in the common
acceptation of the term, — ought often to be the subject of
conversation, in the Sabbath School of the Fireside. That
God is good, is not only the most delightful, but the most ob-
vious of all truths. " The earth is full of the goodness of the
Lord" — and in innumerable ways, " His goodness is great to
(ho children of men." But, although no truth is more plain,
or should be more precious ; yet, how generally is it either
entirely overlooked, or very partially apprehended. Hence,
the declaration, " The ox knoweth his owner and the ass
his master's crib, but my people know not me saith the
Lord." Alas, it is so still. " Men eat the fat and drink the
sweet, but forget the giver." Ingratitude for mercies is
sedition to God, and naturally leads to all forms of rebellion
against Him. For could men violate the laws of God as
they do, if they felt, that to Him they are indebted for life
and all its benefits; yea, and all their hopes of a life to
oome. That common and stupid ingratitude to God, which

or THK nRE-8IDI.

we witness on all hands, is a heinous sin, and cannot but
give to the soul a terrible facility for the commission of
other sins. But as my object is not to discuss these topics,
but merely to hint at them, let me in a word press on you
the duty of frequently making the goodness of God in all its
Vwpectp, the subject of earnest conversation with your chil-
dren. There can be no want of suitable occasions for speak-
ing on this, for there is not a morsel eaten, or a day's health
enjoyed, or indeed a ripe ear of wheat, or an apple, or flower
in the garden, but may furnish you with matter to speak of
the goodness of God. And if your thoughts rise as they
ought, to His goodness, in the gift of His Son, in the graces
of His Spirit, and the glories of Heaven which he has pro-
pared for the soul — what themes may you then find, for
speaking to your children on the goodness of God. Can
any topics be more becoming the lips of Christian parents,
or better fitted in every way to improve the understanding
and heart of your children ? The child who is taught to
repeat a few abstract propositions as to the Being of God,
may really have learned but little. Simplify and expand
these propositions by illustrations ; tell your children what
God, as an infinitely good Being, has done and is every day
doing for them ; speak of His goodness in all its various
manifestations, so that they may be brought to love Him,
who in so many ways loves them, and especially loved
them with that everlasting love, which moved Him to send
His Son, "not to condemn the world, but to save it."
Think ye, that such conversation can fail of being benefi-
cial ? No my friends, it could not, for it -would lead your
children to form just and delightful notions of that God,
who is love I It is but an expansion of this view to say,
that you must frequently speak of Divine love as unfolded
m Jesus. For it must ever be kept in mind, that it is only
as poor sinners can see God in Christ, that they can see Him
CO as to believe, rejoice and hope. It is in Jesus, that men
■ee the Father all glorious, yet, all loveable. Yes, the namo

28 TBI SABBATH SOHOOL

of Jesus is indeed "like ointment poured out." Should not
that name, in all the richness of its meaning, move our
deepest feelings and cause us to speak, as if our lips were
touched "with a live coal from off the altar ^" Shame on
U3, for our weak faith and hardness of heart, that we
speak so seldom of Jesus, and even when wo do, — speak so
coldly. Do we really believe that for us, the Son of God
"became a child of days, a man of sorrows," and died in
unspeakable agonies ? Do we really believe, that but for
Him, we would have been all doomed to spend an eternity
with devils in hell ; and yet, when we speak of Him to our
children, do we speak coldly and hesitatingly, as if we
either knew little about Him, or were secretly ashamed to
own Him ? Is not this sad ? Would it be thus, if he were
to us " the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether
lovely ?" Is it thus that we speak in our families of some
earthly friend, who, in addition to his rare moral excellence
has been to us a great family benefactor? No. Of such
we speak often, fully and warmly. This is natural, and is
every way beautiful. But then, tell me, if it be the natu-
ralness of grace, or have in it the beautifulness of gratitude,
to have so little to say of our Divine benefactor, our precious
Saviour, the infinitely excellent Jesus?

You have all taught your children to answer certain
qiestions about Jesus. This is so far well. But let me ask
you, Christian fathers and mothers, how it is, that you
converse so little with your children about Him, and about
what He has done for their souls ? I know there are many
beautiful exceptions to this neglect and sinful retinence.
Yet, I fear the evil which I reprehend, b^ very common in
our times, in many Christian families. My friends, this
ought not to be. Love to the Saviour forbids it. Love to
the souls of your children forbids it ; — and your Fireside
Sabbath School is not conducted at all as it ought for
spiritual training — nay, will be found in the end essentially
defective, unless Jesus and His work hold a prominent placo

or TBI nRE-SIOB

in your system of instruction. But if so, you will often
converse on the Saviour with your children.

And afisuredly, you cannot find a grander, or a more
fruitful theme, than the character of our Saviour. How
full of instructive and delightful incidents is every part of
His life, while He went about doing good. Whether you
look at Him on the Mount instructing, or by the way-side
healing diseases ; in the house comforting sin-afflicted souls ;
at the gate of Nain, or at the tomb at Bethany, there is in
all that He docs and says, abundant matter for instructive
conversation with your children. There is not a miracle
that the Saviour wrought, nor the simplest incident of His
life, but furnishes abundant matter for profitable conversa-
tion. As you would wish your children to treasure up the
noblest moral sentiments, and the best of practical lessons,
BO you must often speak to them of what the Saviour
taught, what He did, and how He did it. In this way, the
minds of the young may, by the aid of the Spirit, be early
moulded into a likeness to Jesus. And just to the extent
this is done, the character is formed to all that is pure, grand,
and loveable. Parents oden succeed in firing the minds of
their children with a desire to imitate some great and
excellent man, by just speaking frequently of his worthy
deeds ; may we not hope that aided by the Spirit, if their
conversation frequently turned on the excellencies of Jesus,
they might be instrumental in bringing young minds to love
and imitate Him. This is much, but it is not all; — and,
indeed, it pre-supposes another important thing.

You must, also, speak much of the Sacrifice which
Jesus oflfered. Till the soul knows Jesus as a dying Saviour,
He cannot be fully known as the Divine teacher. The
atonement of Jesus, as the ground of our justification, is
the corner stone of our hopes, the animating p. .iciple of
our faith ; and, in a word — the central truth of christianHy.
This doctrine, in its principles and results, may be less or
more fully explained, but never can be exhausted by the

THE SABBATn SCHOOL

; i

highest order of minds. Yet, it is wortliy of notice, that
OS the sim{)lcst believer has an intellifjent faith in it, so is he
able to say somethinf^ to puri)ose on it. Every Christian
parent wiio behcves in a erueilied Saviour, can say some-
thing on that Saviour's sufferings, and the great enda
occomphshed by them. Then, my friends, speak with
the abiHty God has given you to your children, of what
Jesus enchired in the GanUm, in the High Priest's Palace,
in the Judgment ITall, and of what He suffered on the
Cross. Tell them of this, and the other part of these
fiufforings, which met in this Wonderful One, while He
bore the wrath of men and devils, and the judicial wrath
of a sin avenging God, that lost sinners might be
saved. It cannot be supposed, that this most solemn
and momentous subject can be made the topic of frequent
ond earnest conversation, without leading young minds to
have somewhat clear views of the Gospel scheme. Is this
not, indeed, to bring your children to the foot of the cross,
and give them a near view of the " I^mb of- God," who,
by his bleeding love, took away the sin of the world?
Yes, you must tell them of Jesus the great Prophet of God^
and strive to get them to sit at His feet and learn divine
wisdom from His lips. And you nmst talk to them of
Jesus, as their King, and strive to get them to give up their
hearts to Ilim, to be ruled by Ilim ; — but then labor to get
them to do all this at the foot of the Cross. It is by looking
at Him, as dying for us, that our love to Him is enkindled,
and that overcome with that love, we cry out, — "Lord
what wouldst thou have us to do ?" It surely were not
presumption to hope, that such conversation might, through
Divine help, beget such solemn reflections and enquiries, aa
would issue in the blessed union of the souls of your
children with the Saviour.

But, although a knowledge of these saving doctrine8 —
and I have only glanced at a few — be indispensable to faith;
yet, to a life of piety, there must also be a clear apprehensiooi

OP TUK FIRE-SIDB,

ics, aa
your

rines —

faith;

kensioQt

of the commands of God, and the duties we owe to Him
and to our fellow-men. On this I need not go into detail.
I remark in general, that you should talk often with your
children on the various duties taught in both tables of the
law. It is thus you will be able to set before them the sins
to be avoided, and the duties to be performed. Every one
who feels the least ooneern for the well-being of his ehildren,
gives them some kind of moral instruction ; yet, I fear
many do this in a very poor way, by a set of general
Btatements on good and evil ; while the whole instruction
is rendered to the last degree ineffectual, from the sort of
motives by which duty is enforced. My child, says the
parent, you must do this, or avoid that, in order to be
prosperous, respected and happy in the world. Tiiis may
be true. IJut is this teaching the nature of virtue, the
claims of duty, or the motives to the performance of duty,
as all this ought to be taught, in order to have a purifying
and lasting influence on conscience? I dc not object to
minor motives, tliey have their place and their use. But
what I object to is — putting the greater motives, love tQ
God, love to our fellow-men, and peace of mind in th©
back ground, or leaving th(»!n altogether out in the calculap-
tion. lu speaking then of duty and sin to your children,
ppeak delinitely, and speak clearly, of the highest sort of
motives. Shew them distinctly, the nature of the duty;
shew them that God requires it, and that they ought to
do it, simply because lie requires it; — and from reverence
and love, cheerfully to obey liim in all things. On the
other hand, impress on their minds, that Avhat God forbids
is not to be done, that to do it were wrong ; — a wrong to
God, a wrong to themselves, and wrong to their fellow-
men — even did the whole world say it were right. Were
parents thus to converse with their children on duty, sin
and motives, would not the teaching of the Sabbath School
of the -Fireside, soon change the whole moral aspect of
society? Moral lessons thus learned, could not fail to

iitfl

THK SABBATH SCHOOL

!■ ti

'1 il

I 'II

'' (!

produce the most precious fruit. Besides, who does not
see if there were more of this sort of talk by parents, there
would be much less need for the unseemly threatenings,
bitter reproofs, severe punishments, unavailing regrets,
alienation of affection, and helpless despair, which we now
so often witness. I do not say that wisdom can be talked
into all heads, or that the most tender appeals can move
all hearts ; yet, if human instrumentality can either instruct
or move, it is surely the instrumentality of wise parental
affection, laboring in an earnest disinterestedness for the
good of the child. It is a trite remark, but very true, that
the child who has not been instructed by his parents in
religious doctrines and moral duties, goes forth miserably
ill prepared to meet the temptations of life. I shall just
add — and add it with pain — that those who have had the
«ort of moral culture of which I have just spoken, and yet
have not profited under it, are indeed in an ill case. Alas)
what instruction or warning can tell on ihose who have
heard parental wisdom with indifferency, or turned away
from its most tender appeals with contempt. These persona
surely carry about with them sered consciences.

It may not be improper t<M*emark, that there is a good
-deal in the manner^ as well as in the matter of conversation^
to make it edifying. The mode of instruction of which I
have spoken is not that of formui addresses, but simple and
natural talk. In the language of the prophet, " line upon
fine, precept upon precept, a little now and a little then."
The conversation, in short, with children, which is to edify,
must partake very much of question and answer, brief ex-
planations, plain hints, pointed appeals and simple illustra-
tions. This is the mode, by which knowledge can be best
communicated and reflection awakened in young minds. It
is true, that v^'ithout long and systematic discussions, no
justice can be done to certain subjects of thought Yet, all
persons of reflection know, that as this mode of communi-
cating truth demands dose attention and a considerabla

OF THE FIRE-SIDE.

«xe^cl?^c of reason, it is but ill adapted to young minds.
Hence a simple talk is a better mode of instructing them,
than a formal address. But there is no situation where
the long formal address is more out of place, I might add,
more mischievous to children, than by the fireside. Every
parent should preserve a becoming dignity in the eyes of
his children, yet he should beware of assuming an atti-
tude which would produce stiffness, or a cold distance
between him and them. In fact, the character of the dear-
est of friends, never should be lost in that of the formal
lecturer, or pedantic pedagogue. The good hearted parent
is indeed incapable of this folly, and wilh the Avise man, the
vanity of display can find no place in such labour; yet,
uiy affectionate and wise parents, from a lack of prudence,
or an excess of zeal, instruct their children by addresses too
long and too formal to edify. This may not disgust the
child. The respect he feels may forbid this ; yet, the unwise
course taken will be sure to weary, and when patience fails,
profit ends. Let your method then be that of simple talk.
Try as much to awaken enquiry, as to communicrtte know-
ledge, and let your instruction be given as much as possible
in answer to questions, which your remarks elicit. This is
really the highest form of the thing ; and the parent who
pursues this course will be delighted to see how accurately
his instr'K ti^n is remembered, and will be often amazed at
the s«':: K'ity of the questions which his young listeners put
to L n- Tr ^se simple hints may be found of service to
many, ur. I inuy be found not without their use, even to
those who art, well qualified to instruct their children.

It has been already stated, that the religious training
of children should be an every-day business. And each
day assuredly will afford incidental occasion;? for giving
spiritual instructions, or forming virtuous habits. Hence,
the Divine command to speak with them on divine things,
"w!.; n you rise up and sit down, in the house and in the
way.' C odly parents have never failed to give efTect to

THE SABBATH SCnOOL

this command ; hence, many pious hints have been dropped
by them when eng?ged with their children in the L^b^ura
of the field, or of the work-shop ; while many daughter*
have had some of the most valuable lessons taught them hy
mothers in Israel, as they were occupied busiiy in their ordi-
nary domestic duties. It is no little wisdom to catch the
proper occasion to do good, and that is surely a high order
of wisdom that can on ordinary occasions bring in religion,
among the common affairs of life. " A word spoken in
season, how good it is." This thing of course, if not done
with prudence and qt< at sincerity, will only do harm. But
indeed, what can bo a < ' ne by the imprudent and the
insincere? Yet, let it nc questioned, that parents who
can, with a natural simplicity of manner and sincerity of
heart, mingle religious observations with the common avo-
cations of life, may do much good for the eternal interests
of those under their eye, without in the least unfitting them
for the ordinary duties of life. This mode of carrying re-
ligion home to the bosoms of children will only appear
trivial in the eyes of tliose who have not felt its benefits, or
thought seriously on it. Let parents reflect solemnly on
the opportunities they have every day of dropping a word
which may be a seed of God's truth, that may afterwards
bear abundant fruit. "We are criminal, if we permit oppor-
tunities for this to pass unimproved.

But, because I lay great stress on religious conversa-
tion, I would not have it supposed, that I think there should
be no conversation in domestic life on worldly matters. Our
present condition, with its various secular duties, requires
free converse on the things of the world. When enthusiasm
forbids this, the result is not celestial converse in the family,
but blind fanaticism, or stupid spiritual pride. While we
are still in the body, temporal wants and relationships have
their sacred claims. The Bible teaches, that if we neglect
these, we commit much sin. The present age. however, is
not likely to fall into this sin.

OF THE FIRE-SIDE.

But to return. As has been already stated, the re-
ligious training of children should be a daily business, for
which, at least some portion of every evening should be set
apart. Still, it is plain, that the Sabbath must be the chief
season, inasmuch as it is only on the day o" holy rest that
most persons can find the leisure and mental repose which
the right performance of this duty requires. Hence, it is
on that day, that religious conversation so valuable an aid
to the duty, can be most solemnly and easily carried on.
Nor must this be carried to an unwise extreme, even on
Sabbath. But what is an unwise extreme ? Dear friends,
if your own common sense cannot define and settle that,
no definition of mine could do it for you. i shall not at-
tempt any.

I cannot, however, close this part of my subject with-
out earnestly guarding you against mere worldly talk on
the Lord's day. This evil, so common, is one on which
there should be no differcrice of opinion among christians.
If doubts may be started, as to the form of Sabbath dese-
cration most injurious to the public morals of a people, yet,
surely there can be no doubt, that if the general strain of
talk in the domestic circle be thoroughly worldly, the sanc-
tity of the day is grievously violated. Is it not every way
wrong, to spend a large portion of the day in silly tattle
and secular talk ? Let me speak a few plain words on this.
Is it not greatly to be feared, that if the talk of the family
be mainly on their worldly business, the news of the time,-
or the gossip of the neighborhood, the Sabbath School of
the Fireside will accomplish but little good. Nay, if this be
the prevailing tone of your conversation on Sabbath, can
piety flourish in your house ? Who can expect any salutary
effects to flow from the best sermon addressed to men who
enter the house of God with wo.'ldly talk ringing in their
ears, and who no sooner reach their own houses, than the
same kind of conversation is resu.Tied. No wonder, that
the most excellent sermons and the most solemn services of

f.\

3©

THE SABBATH SCHOOIi

the sanctuary produce so little effect on many. It wer«r
nevertheless uncharitable to say, that in such families there
is no religion ; but is it uncharitable to surmise, that the
religion of these families must be sorely blighted, by a con-
versation that is entirely " of the earth, earthy." Such
conversation on Sabbath, will be a rust to mar and eat into
your spiritual religion. And may it not lead those, who
look up to you for example, to regard religion as a trivial
formality ? Better have no religion at all, than a poor form
of it, is not a wise statement, and is often thoughtlessly
made by those, who, although they have enough of the form
of religion, have but httle of its power. Yet, is there not
ground to fear, that the unhallowed way in which the pri-
vate hours of the Lord's day are spent by many has tended
to lead not a few young persons in the end to cast off all
regard for Christianity ? • Could we trace the infidelity of
some men to its source, we might well be astonished at
some of the causes. It might indeed awaken most painful
reflections in certain professing christians, could they see
how far they are responsible for the sins and impiety of
certain persons who had their faith first shaken by witness-
ing the mode in which those they looked up to spent the
Sabbath in private. Is it much to be wondered at, if the
child who scarcely hears anything from the lips of his
parents in private on Sabbath but worldly conversation,
should conclude, that the world and not religion should be the
supreme object on which to fix the heart? Beware, as you
value the eternal interests of the young, of furnishmg any
ground for such a conclusion.

That you may not be the cause of this, and of the
dreadful consequences that may flow from it, sanctify the
Sabbath by your words; set a watch on your lips. If
a man's talk be, as it really is, the best evidence of
what is in him, surely it is a bad symptom of the state
of the christian's mind, if the general tenor of his talk
on Sabbath be that of a man of the world. It will not do

OF THE FIRE-SIDH.

of the
tify the
ipti;. If
tnce of
le state
lis talk

not do

to attempt to escape from this painful conclusion, by crying
out against Puritanical severity, or denouncing what you
may call an extreme view. Puritanism was good, as far as
it* was agreeable in its practices to God's word — and as-
suredly I plead for no extreme view in anything: being
well satisfied, that the extreme, that lies beyond prudence,
or wisdom, is mischievous folly. But, in order to avoid the
suspicion of this, is it necessary to desecrate the Sabbath,
by an unholy cor -orsation ? I readily admit, that under
certain circumstances, it is not easy to keep clear of this in*
all its forms, and even good men are apt to slide into it.
But surely, that furnishes no reason fgr a practice manifestly
injurious to your own piety and that of others. No
Christian requires to be told, that it is no easy matter, in
such a world as this, to walk closely with God, yet every
Christian professes to believe, that unless he walks with
God here, and is ready to take up his Cross, and, in all
cases, to witness a good confession — he cannot hope to
enjoy God hereafter. No work may be done by you, and
you may be zealous to have all Public works stopped on
Sabbath, and moreover, may be very punctual in your
attendance on public ordinances ; but if your conversation
in private be mainly about your farms, your merchandise,
and the current news of the time, you are really desecrating
the Lord's day, and to a greater extent than you are
possibly aware of, damaging all your graces. I trust it has
been satisfactorily shewn, that reUgious conversation, wisely
and affectionately carried on, may be made a grand means
of making the Sabbath School of the Fireside delightful
and highly profitable ; but let me entreat you to beware
lest you may neutralize all your good efforts, by indulging,
in the presence of your children, on the Lord's day, in levitj
or mere worldliness in your talk.

+•

THK SABBATH 8CH00L

RBADINa AS A MEANS OF FIRESIDE
INSTRUCTION.

Every source of information should be opened to the
minds of the young, by parents, for their children. Books,
in our day, furnisli a most abundant supply of all kinds of
knowledge. The wish to give permanency to thought, in
visible signs, has been coeval with civilization in every
country. The ends of benevolence, and the wants of man,
• in his social relations, made this desirable; — and for these
ends, it has been in the highest degree efficient. To make
useful thought permanent, is to do a great good to man.
As long as a good book lives, it is a teacher of truth.
Indeed, without this method of preserving and transmitting
thought, all the rich products of mind, in former ages,
would long since have perished, or only lived in obscure
traditional surmises. Nay, but for the aid of writing,
Divine truth itself, without a constant miracle, would, in
the form of tradition, have been long ago utterly corrupted
by human folly. If the Alphabet was not in the full sense
a miraculous gift of God, yet assuredly no human invention
has been more subservient to the preservation of God's
precious gift — Divine truth. But what the Alphabet and the
pen have made permanent, the printing press has now made
the universal property of all men who can read. On this
marvellous power for teaching, I deem it unnecessary to
enlarge. God has put no greater power into the hands of
man. But all power takes the ultimate character of its
effects, from the moral influence by which it is wrought.
The Press, directed by a good moral influence, is a mighty
agent to bless man ; but if under a vicious moral influence,
must be an agent capable of doing prodigious mischief.

It cannot escape the notice of any person of reflection,
that while the facilities for acquiring knowledge have been
constantly increasing, since the invention of printing, these
have now become so great, that the richest stores of

OF THE FIRE-SIDS.

learning are now accessible to the poorest man. A few
shillings will now purchase some able work on theology,
morals, or general information ; so that the productions of
those master minds, which, in former ages, were only found
in the libraries of the wealthy and the learned, may now be
found in the dwellings of poor men. This is, indeed, a
great talent, which God has now put into the hands of the
common people. It is painful to think that many utterly
neglect this source of knowledge, while others use it merely
for selfish gratification, or to kill time. To read, and to
read wisely is, indeed, a grand means for intellectual and
moral improvement. Let Christian parents avail themselves,
to as full an extent as possible, of this grand help to fireside
training. Few parents iare incapable oC making use of
reading as a means of educating their children ; j^et, many
employ it to very little purpose. Hence, the Sabbath School
of their Fireside is ill taught.

The fact is, if ycu would have your children to be
intelligent, useful and happy, you must endeavor to give
them, in early Ufe, a keen taste for reading. But this, like
many other mental tastes to be beneficial, must be correct.
Many books are so silly, as only to weaken the understand-
ing; while others are so immoral, as only to debauch the
conscience and the heart of those who read them. A
sensible parent will oppose the former sort of books for the
sake of the intellect of his children ; while a good parent
would as soon permit his children to mix poison with their
food, as to read works in which lessons of profanity or
licentiousness are taught. Such works are truly the
literature of the devil, for they serf the conscience and set
the appetites on fire of hell. Xiany young persons, of
goodly promise, have had their faith destroyed, and their
mind irreparably polluted, by the perusal of one pernicious
book. This sort of reading has, indeed, been to many, the
cause of a life of infidelity, profanity, debauchery and
misery — anding in a death-bed of despair. Every pareni;,

jii

TnJE SABBATH SOHOOL

!': -1

at all alive to consequences so awful, will resolutely forbid-
that sort of readiiifr, which poisons tliought and feeling at
the fountain head of life. Oh I j)arent8, as you value tho
peace and happiness of your children on earth, — as you
value their hope of a heaven of purity, guard sedulously
against the introduction of such books into your family.

Where there is due watchfulness, with any share of
respect for decency or virtue, this will assuredly be done^
as to the grosser forms of the evil. But remember, the evil
is not little, where it never appears in its grosser forms.
The world is now flooded with a light literature — light^
because void of all solemn thought; — yet pregnant vith
lessons to inflame vanity, to awaken irregular and extrava-
gant desires, and to lead to the most false and mischievous
views of the great ends of life. If what may be called
special lying slays its tens, this general falsifying, this
comprehensive lying, as to the great ends of life, slays its
tens of thousands. Otlier causes there are at work, deep and
powerful enough in the heart of society ; yet,, is not our
light literature, a cause sufficient to account for not a little
of the folly, imbecility, prodigality, confusion and vice^
which, to a fearful extent, ruin the peace and order of
domestic life. Parents who wish their children to be
emphatically men and women — marked distinctly for good
sense, energy of character, and a keen appreciation of the
real ; — and who ardently wish, above all things, to see them
endowed with a moral fitness to meet temptations and trials ;
and, like Christian men and women, perform all their duties
in life, will never think of training them for these high
ends, in the school of light literature. I do not condemn all
reading for amusement. Nothing could be farther from my
mind than this. Indeed, one of the most salutary forms of
innocent and refined amusement for the young, must bo
found in a certain kind of reading. But the mind, even in
its playful moods and hours of relaxation, should ever be
occupied with what is true and pure. If young persona

or THE FIRE-SIDB.

vice»

come to find hip^h pjratifiontion in what us falsp'^ even in
jtnagination, thoy arc in no little danj,'('r of becoming false
in hc'irt and consL'ienco. Our moral nature is wonderfully
influenced by tiie healthy or the unhealthy state of tho
imagination. Indeed, whatever vitiates the imagination,
vitiates the very elements of our moral being. This evil is
ftU the more to be dreaded, as its e(Veets are peculiarly hurt-
ful and insidious in the finest and most suscopiihle minds. Let
parents then set their face against every sort of pernicious
reading, for, unquestionably, if this be indulged in, it will
undo their wisest counsels, neutralize their best example,
and may end in the ruin of their children, and bring down
their gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

Without going into details, I would merely remark that
the Books, for family reading, should all, in their kind, be
of the highest excellence. A few books, of this sort>
frequently read, thoi ght over, and talked over, cannot fail
but cultivate the taste, enrich the mind with solid informa-
tion, improve the reasoning faculty, and teach and strengthen
moral and religious principles. Let no man. call it in
question, that children who are taught by their parents'
fireside, to relish and understand a few such books, are
receiving a very high order of intellectual and moral
culture.

My object, however, is not to speak on intellectual
culture, but of the religious training of the young by
reading. For this, it is plain, that works written on sacred
subjects, must be employed by parent^, in conducting the
Sabbath School of the Fireside. Although all sound
knowledge may be made subservient to religion, yet
religious truth should be viewed as a distinct sort of
knowledge. Now this can only be learned with accuracy
fi"ora those works that professedly treat of it. I need
scarcely remark, that the Bible is, in every sense, the only
complete Book on this. It is, indeed, a grand truth, " that
the Bible is the religion of Protestants." It is, in fact, the

Tin SABBATH SCHOOL

P '
llilil

III

Book of the Gospel. Ilcnco, a man knows Christianity, just
in proportion as he knows the Bible. ** Search the Scrip-
tures," said the Saviour, "for in them, ye think ye have eter-
nal life, and they are they which testify of mo." Whatever
Nature and Providence teach, of the j)crfection8 of God,
and the general tendency of his moral government — and
they teach much — still, it is plain, if wo would obtain such
views of God, as guilty and depraved creatures need for
faith, duty and happiness, we must turn to the Laio and
Testimony in the written word. The Bible is, indeed, God's
Book. It tells us truly of Him ; — it unfolds His glorious
perfections, in a way that awakens our confidonco and love.
It may, also, be called Christ's Book, not merely because His
Spirit is the Author of it ; but because it is the Bible that
unfolds Jesus to us in His person and mediatorial offices, as
our Saviour. And is it not, in a most emphatic sense, the
Book of man, as it unfolds his origin, duties, responsibilities,
hopes, destiny ? Without the Bible, how helplessly ignorant
would man be of himself. It is, therefore, from this Book
we must draw all our religious knowledge, in its principles,
faith, motives and consolation.

No act of the Church of Rome more thoroughly marks
her anti-christian character, than the diabolic decree by
which she forbids the Bible to the laity. The Protest made
against this, was of all others, the most indispensible to a
true reformation. Had not the Reformers opened this
fountain of truth, no healing waters had gone out from the
sanctuary of the Reformation. Blessed be God, that we
have His word, by which we can read His wonderful works,
and above all, the wonderful work of Redemption. These
are, indeed, saving doctrines, and but for the knowledge
of them, what could wo know of the way of salvation ?
Here "Hfe and immortality are brought fully to light."
The man who knows and believes the Bible, is in the highest
sense, a wise man; — for it makes him, as the Psalmist
expresses it, " far wiser than all other counsellors could."

or Tin rntE-siDi.

the

This is one way of looking at the matter ; but there is
another. Turn to those countries, in other respects, highly
favored, but without the Bible; or to Roman CathoUc
countries, where this heavenly light is put under a bushel,
and you see how d(!plorable every way the condition of
man is, where the Book of God is unknown. " Where no
vision is, the people perish." Without the Bible, the
liuman soul has no true spiritual vision. But where this
Book is universally read, believed and understood, that land
is, as the land of Goshen, full of light. It is, indeed, //le
grand school book which God has put into the hands of men,
in order that they may learn the highest lessons intelligent
creatures can learn — lessons for man absolutely indispensible.
For religious training, then, the Bible must ever be
regarded as the grand book. Other books, as I shall shew
afterwards, may be of great value for this ; but, let it be
observed, that the value of the best of them, will just be in
projiortion to the prominency they give to the Bible. This
ought, indeed, to be with Christians, the family Book; — and
when it is so — that family has, in many respects, a marked
character. A family character, formed thoroughly from the
Bible, has a moral beauty and dignity quite peculiar from
that which mere education, or the most refined good
breeding can give. Such a family character, even in the
humble walks of life, is seen to possess the noblest senti-
ments, very pure and lofty feelings, a just sense of true
honor, and a most simple, earnest and consistent piety.
But the Bible may be in your family, and yet may not be
the family book ; — hence the family character will not be
formed by it. It is true, that even when partially read, it
may do good ; — it is only, however, where it is constantly
and devoutly studied, and its great lessons applied to all the
conditions of a household, that its real importance is seen as
a family book. It is certain, that in those houses, where
the Bible is little studied, and its truths but little talked
over, family religion will either entirely disappear, or pass

ili;

■I.

1 1

THE SABBATH SCnOOL

inlo some form of weak sentimentalism, or prim formfilism.
Let no one suppose that family piety can be preserved in a
healthy condition in households, where the Bible is but little
read. Apart fr'^m other evils incident to this sad neglect,
who does not sec that the children of such families, if in
the least influenced by any religious feeling, are very likely
to fall into some si)ecies of error.

There has been no little astonishment and regret
expressed at the fact, that not a few of the proselytes to
Popery of late, have been from families of some distinction
for their wealth and education. There is no education that
will preserve men from falling into the worst errors in
religion, but a thorough Bible education. I cannot think the
inference uncharitable, that the Protestant families that
have been furnishing recruits to Romanism, must have
grievously failed to make the Bible practically the family
book. It may have lain on their parlor tables. It may
have been read occasionally in a perfunctory way, and
Bpoken of in cold but respectful terms; but they never made
it the Book from which their family religion was drawn,
and by which their children were instructed; else these
children would never have embraced Popery on the flimsy
prctjxts which have been avowed by many. Indeed,
persons thoroughly educated from the word of God, cannot
be imposed on by the cunningest emissaries of Rome. This
is the only sort of education that can protect the young.
For it is a delusion to suppose that mere secular education
will be a sufficient protection against the plausible subtleties
of an artful priesthood. It is not my intention to discuss
the subject here ; yet I must express my thorough convic-
tion, that a certain kind of that light literature, of which I
have already spoken, combir.3d with a fashionable and
superficial education, is doing more to prepare young persons
of an ardent temperament, in our upper classes, for the toils
of Jesuitical Priests, than all the writings of the Romish
doctors could acccmplish. If you would prepare your

OP THE FIRE-SIDE.

children, then, for resisting or successfully exposing Popish
Bophistries, you must deeply imbue their minds with Bible
truth. A country has no reason to fear Popery, in which
the Bible has become, in the full sense, the family book.
That Popery so much fears the Bible, is a very good reason
why you should fear to give it a subordinate place in the
Sabbath School of the Fireside. Yet, with many, it
occupies practically a very subordinate place. Many neglect
to read it, and many parents fail to make it their grand
teaching book. It is strange how completely we may
voluntarily become in practice, what we would justly regard
v/ith horror, if forced on us by others. Any interference
by your fellow-men with your liberty of instructing your
children from the Bible, you would justly resent with
unmeasured indignation ; yet, if you neglect to read the
Bible, and do not make it your grand teaching book, the
effect may be the same as if it were prohibited by despotic
authority.

It is no doubt true, that all our evangelical Protestantiera
is drawn from the Bible. But remember, if you are to
preserve this in the Church, evangelical Protestantism must
be taught from the Bible in the family. Hence, the Bible
is not merely to be employed as the grand teaching Book,
in order that children may be preserved from the contami-
nation of error, under what form soever it may appear ; but
th > their minds may be savingly imbued with the doctrines
of the Gospel. It is from the Bible that you are to draw
«11 the principle!;' for their fui th ; — all the moral lessons for
their conscience, and all the motives by which their conduct
is to be regulated. A child is v.-ell trained for the present
life, as well as for the life to come, who has been the oughly
trained from the Bible. What spectacle more interesting
than to see a parent with God's Book in his hand,
communicating to his child that truth by which the mind is
enlightened, the heart pui .fied, and the conscience taught
how to have peace in God ? Is this not every way, the

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

liir

highest kind of knowledge you can teach ? But, then^
remember you can only teach it well, just in as far as you
<Jraw on the Bible for it.

Parents ofl(!n complain of their little success in train-
ing their children to virtuous habits. Assuredly many good
and wise parents have had cause on this, to exclaim, " we
have labored in vain, and spent our strength for naught."
But need they wonder at their failing, who neglect to teach
from God's word, or fail to teach in God's name ? Why
should men forget that the human heart is not to be changed
by lessons of prudence, or affectionate appeals ? The word
of God is the fire which can alone mcli the hard heart. Let
those who bitterly complain of failure, honestly enquire if
they have not neglected to make the proper use of this
divine instrument, — not that the word without the spirit
can regenerate or sanctify. But is not the word the voico
of the Spirit? The Bible is the word of Qod. It is the
Divine mind made visible — made audible to the soul of
man. How mnrvollous ! — what a mystery of Divine
condescension, wisdom and goodness, that God should spcxk
to us ! — that God should thus dwoU in loving and intelligent
communion with us ? It is, indeed, through the Bible
that the fountain of all triitli, peace and love, is laid open
for the mind of man. O, my friends, is it not wonderful
goodness, that God speaks to us, not in wrath as lie might
have done, but in loving kindness and in tender mercies.
This is what He does in the Bible.

Worldly parents fail in training their children even as
they wish. This is not suprising, as they do not work
with the propor moans, nor look at the proper ends, nor
rely on the p.opor help. Their words arc, at best, but
words of human wisdom, while all their lessons to virtue
are made to rest on worldly motives. Mark the difference
betwixt the position of a worldly parent and that of the
Christian parent. The latter, with the Bible in his hand,
drawing sJl his lessons from this Book, aud making all bis

I'li

OF THE rmE-SIDK.

ren aa
work
18, nor
It, but
IvirtuG
trence
)f the
[hand,
bis

appeals rest on its authority, is really uttering the words
of God to his children — is God'a monitor to them, or rather
brings them to be '.lught directly by God Himself. The
man of the world speaks merely on his own authority ; but
the Christian parent speaks on the authority of God.
Verily there is a dilFerenoo here. Nor let it be supposed
that children do not see it. Admit that every ingenuous
child listens to what even rv'orldly parents say; yet he
cannot feel as that child, who listens to what he believes to
be the truth of God, spoken by a pious parent. The latter
speaks not with less natural aflection, and with fiir more
love than the former ; but with an authority which he can
never cmpl< y. No one can fail to sec, that when a child
believes that the counsel' and warning given him by a
parent, is simply the utteran(;e of so much of God's truth,
that parent occupies in the eyes of his child, a position
incomparably higher, for giving weight to what he says,
than can ever bo occupied by him v, ho merely utters the
maxims of a worldly policy. Yes, I readily admit there
are those who even, when tluis addressed, will not be made
wise ; but would such be made wise, even if one rose from
the dead to teach them? For conducting the . ^lath
Scliool of the Fireside, the Biblo not only furnishes the bei-t
matter to be taught, but when held forth, as God's Book,
gives a moral force to parental teaching, which nothing else
can give. To refuse to listen to parents who thus teach, is
not only to refuse to hear man, but to refuse to hear God.
The proofs, for the inspiration and .authenticity of the
Bible, are such as must satisfy any candid enquirer.
Parents, fully capable for the task, may, with profit,
occasionally state some of these proofs to their children. It
is, however, on various accounts, better for parents to
assume, unhesitatingly, the inspiration of the Bible, if their
own minds be fully confirmed on this. Doubt or suspicion
ought, at least, never to be heard from their lips, as to the
Bible being the word of God. Children, at an early age.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

t ' 1

i ;

miist hear to believe, if, in after life, they are ever to reason
soberly. To teach a child to doubt, before he can reason
and weigh evidence, is not^ to make him a hopeful investi-
gator of truth, but a feeble sceptical wrangler. Indeed,
parents who would make the Bible their all-efficient book
for teaching, must ever speak of it with profound reverence.
Some who are not infidels, sometimes speak in a tone of
levity of certain portions of the word of God. Such men
should forbear to teach their children religion from, tho
Bible, and just leave them, as they generally do, to find
their moral principles in the maxims of the world. If you
would have your children to respect you as their spiritual
teachers, your whole demeanor must shew, that you havo
a profound reverence for God and His word.

But in order that the Bible may yield for instruction,
its many precious lessons, it must be read so that i^s rich
and varied contents shall be somewhat clearly understood.
Many read it superficially, others partially, while not a few
occasionally look into its sacred pages, for the sake of the
beautiful imagery, historical narratives, and remarkable
portraits of character. Others, again, have, to some extent,
Btudied the Sacred Scriptures, for ihe sake of the just moral
eentiments which they contain. The indirect benefits are
assuredly far greater than are generally supposed ; yet, no
wise man will read the Bible merely for the sake of these.
Every Christian holding it as ho does, to be God's revealed
will to men, will read it that he may know what the will
of God is, and will endeavor so to train his children by it,
that they, also, may know God, and be made eternally
happy in his friendship. Hence, the reading of the Bible,
for the instruction of his children, will not be done partially,
or superficially, nor merely as a book to strengthen their
intellect, or improve their taste. He knows that ^he Bible
will do all this, but he also knows, unless sinners learn the
way of salvation from it, its truths can be of no lasting
advantage to them. And in order that the way of salvation

OF THI FTRE-SIDE.

may be clearly learned, the wise parent will endeavor to
give to his child large v'ews of the various modes in which
the Bible unfolds God to man.

Nor is it very difficult to lead an intelligent child to
take an interest in all *^hc different departments of God's
truth, as revealed in the Bible. Curiosity is for the wisest
purposes, peculiarly strong in the young. But no book fur-
nishes so much to gratify a reasonable curiosity as that very
Book, which is full of the profoundest wisdom for the in-
quirer, and of consolation for the simple believer. It is
hardly possible to read with an intelligent child the opening
chapters of the Bible, without awakening his curiosity and
enUsting his attention. There are kinds of subhmity which
the young mind realizes with wonderful readiness. Many
children have read and listened to the simple remarks of
parents, on the sublime narrative of events recorded in the
first chapter of Genesis, with an interest and delight which
have found but a poor substitute in the barren speculations
which may have occupied their minds in after Ufe, on the
same subjects.

And who needs to be told, who has ever made the
experiment, how deeply the young mind can be interested
in the accounts we have in the Bible of the Flood, of the
passage of the Red Sea, — the giving of the law at Sinai^
with other events by which Divine power was displayed.
No intelligent Christian can have any difficulty in (h-awing
from such portions of the Sacred Scriptures, the most
striking illustrations for the culture of the moral feelings.
For as the hiistory of man in the Bible connects cause and
effect under the government of God, as no secular history
does ; it opens up a store of rich instruction for the young
mind. At the same time it is easy to see that family Bible
reading should be made to widen as to its topics, as the
mind of the child enlarges. The wise parent as he reads
with his children, or makes them read to him the history of
the primitive condition of man, or his fall^ will not fail to

! i

THE SABBATn SCHOOL

explain tlie moral bearings of this solemn transaction, an^
point out its momentous consequences. And in like
manner, while in reading of the events that happened at
Sinai, he will not be satisfied with noticing the fire and the
smoke, and the whole mountain quaking when God
appears as the Law-giver ; but will endeavor to unfold the
meaning, ends and obi"' ations of law, coming to man from
this glorious Ruler of the world.

But while " all Scripture is given by inspiration," and
when wisely read, must, in many ways, be profitable to
man ; — still it must be ever kept in mind, that in the New
Testament we have our religion in its accomplished facts and
spiritual fullness. Hence this portion of Scripture, as it is
the richest in truth and consolation, ought to be read
frequently and with peculiar earnestness. Nor is it difficult
to interest the young in New Testament narratives and
incidents. The amazing story of Bethlehem, the events at
Bethany, the awful scenes in the garden at Gethsemane and
at Calvary, have often moved the heart, and deeply touched
the sympathies of the child, ere his understanding could
\comprehend, or his faith embrace the Gcffepel truths with
which these events stand closely connected.

It is scarcely necessary to add, that those portions o£
the Bible which are peculiarly rich in moral sentiments, such
as the Book of Proverbs, should be frequently read with
the young, and as far as possible, explained to them. The
Bible is our only sure guide in the discharge of relative du-
ties, and while every part of it furnishes some lessons on
this, yet, some portions are wonderfully rich in those divine
maxims, which present in a simple and condensed form the
very essence of moral truth. All are aware, that this is the
form of truth which memory can most easily retain and
conscience most readily apply. The time was, when in sev-
eral Protestant countries, the Book of Proverbs bound up
by itself, was used as a class hook in the common schools. The
benefit of this wiU be readily admitted by those who know

OF TIIE FIRE-SIDE.

to what a wonderful extent these heavenly precepts were
infused into the popular mind, and how readily they could
be quoted for practical use by the people. Would to God,
that this ancient treatise of divine morality could be made
to take the place of some of our modern school books. But
as there is little hope of this in our common schools, parents
who value divine teaching for their children, should give to
the Book of Proverbs and similar portions of the Bible, a due
place in the Fireside school. For apart from the great value
to intellect of these pieces of divine wisdom, is it not most
obvious that the young can carry with them into hfe, no
weapons more efficient for the hour of temptation, or instru-
ments better fitted for the faithful performance of the rela-
tive duties, than a large stock of scriptural proverbs ? It
might be well, if our lights and guides of modern education
would give a little candid reflection to this matter. But of
this there is little hope.

In fine, let those portions of the Bible which contain
the essential doctrines of the Gospel, be diligently and fre-
quently read witli your children. In these portions, much
no doubt is contained which can be but imperfectly under-
stood by the young; but, let me ask are these portions well
understood by the old, whose attention was not directed to
them in early life? It is no disparagement assuredly to men
of mature minds to have to admit, that they find passages
in the Epistles to the Romans and to the Hebrews which not
a little perplex them. Yet, even in these Epistles, the great
doctrines of the Gospel are taught so plainly, that the child
who reads with the help of wise explanation, may learn
much of the character, offices, suffering and triumphs of
his Redeemer. Nor should it be overlooked, that the child,
who in early hfe is made familiar with the phraseology
which the Spirit of God hath employed to unfold the great
doctrines of salvation, has in tliis no small advantage for
acquiring in after life a correct knowledge of the mysteries
of the Gospel. It is in this way that the Spirit of God

Ill I

i I

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

fieems to take the first steps in revealing to babes those
things that forever He hidden from the wise and the prudent
of the world. Nor do they reflect, who keep the grand
doctrinal portions of the Bible from their children, because
too difficult to be understood, that tliey are really doing a
dishonour indirectly to the Spirit of God, and a very direct
evil to the intellect, as well as the faith of the young.
That was in many respects a most gracious declaration —
" Suflfer little children to come unto rae, and forbid them not."
Yes, christian parents, bring your little children as near to
Jesus as you possibly^can. For although there is a glory in
Him, which overpowers angels, and causes them " to veil their
faces with their wings;" yet, there is a Divine arrangement
by which even your Uttle children may see somewhat of the
person and work of Christ — see His glory and live. Henco
it is, " that out of the mouth of babes He sometimes
perfects His praise." "Well, if you admit the great impor-
tance of Bible reading as to the religious education of your
children, I beseech you not to leave this among the good,
but inoperative admissions, which men are so apt to make
and forget. If you have hitherto given a high place to
God's Book- in your Sabbath School of the Fireside, you
are the persons who can speak from experience as to its
efficiency, for rehgious training. To your faith in this, add
still greater diUgence in the use of the Bible. The benefits
which you have witnessed, as flowing directly from Bible
teaching, will encourage you to a greater zeal in the use of
God's word. Strive to make your children " mighty in the
Scriptures," for when ye have done this, you have
"thoroughly furnished them for every good work." 0,
happy land, where the Bible has become, in the full sense,
the family IBook! — ^for then> indeed, this Book of God has
become the source w^hence parents and children obtain
light to guide them through hfe, comfort to support
them under trials, and that Divine teaching, by which
they are enabled, not only to love God supremely.

OF THE FIHE-SIDV.

but " to love one another out of pure hearts fervently."
But, alas! there be many who have the Bible, but do
not thus employ it. To them it is virtually a sealed book.
They sc.ireely ever open it ; — scarcely ever read it to their
children, and never urge their cliildren to read it. And yet
these persons are nominally Christian. At all events, they
are not professed infidels, \7ere they infidels, they would
have an apology, which, wretched as it is, would give to
their neglect of the Bilile, a consistency with the sentiments
they hold. But you would tremble to make use of eitlxer
the infidel's arguments against the truth of the Bible, or
his excuse for neglecting it. You call the Bible God's
Book, profess after your own fashion to find in it the way
of salvation ; and yet practically, you neglect it, possibly
as much as your infidel neighbor that scofi*s at it. Say not
this is harsh. It is true — ^painfully true, if you seldom read
the Bible, never read it with your children, never urge
them to read it, and never explain it to them. Is this to
handle the w^ord of God honestly, " or deceitfully," or
rather contemptuously? Are you not virtually, by this
criminal neglect, keeping God's word from your children ?
Is this doing justice to their souls ? — is this acting hke
Christian parents ? Ah, the poor pitiable inconsistency of
man 1 Many of you possibly denounce, with great severity,
the neglect shewn to the Bible in our Common Schools.
Your testimony on this is right, and your condemnation can
hardly be too severe. But now think what a testimony you
are giving against yourself, by your own conduct, if the
Bible is practically excluded from your own Fireside School ?
You may not be able to introduce it into the Common
Schools ; but here you could introduce it, yet fail to do so.
If family religion is at all kept up, some portion of the
Scriptures will be read in your house. This is so far well ;
— ^but this is far short of the teaching from the Bible, for
which I plead. Nay, is there not reason to fear, that the
ocoasional and careless reading of the Scriptures, may

.11

'I i

iil'i 'I :

TUB SABBATH SCHOOL

rather do harm than good in families? Let me tell you
plainly, that if you are not making the Bible your family
Book, you are neglecting your privileges, you are not
realizing your responsibilities, and great guilt will lie at
your door, in this matter. May God so open your eyes,
that you shall see your sin in this, and shall resolve that
henceforth you will not in this wise, sin any more ; but will
make the Bible in the full sense, your family Book — the
Book from which you shall strive, with God's help, to teach
your children to know the Lord and how to serve Him.

It will not be supposed that I wish to speak slightingly
of works written by good, though not inspired men. These
have been, in all ages, great helps in explaining the
doctrines of the Bible. In this way, the labors of pious
men have been of unspeakable value to the Church. Every
parent ought, therefore, according to his ability, to have a
portion of sacred literature, to furnish instructive reading
suitable to the tastes and capacities of the various members
of his family. Such works would be of great service in the
religious training of children. The best works on religious
subjects, however, are those that embrace the largest amount
of Bible truth, and express that with the greatest simplicity,
clearness and earnestness. A work of this sort, whether
on doctrinal or practical religion, if read socially, and made
the subject of frequent conversation, will be found an
excellent help for the religions training of the fireside.

May I take leave to remark on this subject, that while re-
ligious biography has a peculiar charm for most pious minds,
it needs to be selected with care, and read with caution, lest
your experimental religion become rather the echo of what
you read in the lives of others, than the reflection of the
Bible, or the true expression of your own feelings. All
religious reading should have the effect of enlightening the
understanding, purifying and warming the heart, and of
improving the life, or it is but a kind of pious luxury.
Hence the book that leaves on your mind clearer views of

or THE FIRE-SIDE.

Divino things, and produces in you a more ardent love of
Ood, and a stronger resolution to do His will, is the best
book, not only for advancing your personal religion, but for
•enabling you to give to your children the best training in
pious sentiments and feelings. That parent, assuredly, fails
in his duty, who does not strive to give to his child a taste
for this kind of reading, or does not furnish him with the
means for gratifying that taste. Some good men have had
their fears, that this kind of sacred reading may be allowed
to encroach on the time that should be devoted to the Bible.
Yet, there is little danger of this, if the Bible has its due
-place in your affections-; other books will then be read, not
so as to displace it; but so as that you may better under-
stand its meaning. A religious book may be read to
advantage at any time; it is, nevertheless, plain that in
most families, the Sabbath is the chief season for this kind
•of reading. I cannot but think that religious reading of a
solid and instructive kind, is one special means of effectually
conducting the business of the Sabbath School of the
Fireside. A few books of a high order of this sort fre-
vquently read, and thoroughly digested, will yield a largo
amount of sacred knowledge, to all the members of a family
'Circle. You never fail to notice an intelligent piety as
a characteristic of such families. Nor should it be over-
looked, that the families thus instructed will not only be the
most regular in their attendance on sanctuary ordinances,
but will be the best prepared for profiting fully from what
they hear from the pulpit.

I have already spoken of the evil of worldly conversa-
tion on Sabbath. But I must add, that I regard mere
secular reading as scarcely less mischievous to true piety.
Surely no enlightened Christian can question this. And
why should it be supposed, that any man anxious to
preserve in liis bosom a lively sense of divine things on the
Lord's day, would spend the private hours of that day, in
■reading books of travels, history, or works of mere literature.

THE BADDATn BCnOOL

But many who do not indulge in tliia kind of reading, there
is reason to fear, frequently spend suered time in reading
the newspapers of the day. This, in its grosser forms, must
bo fatal to all earnest piety ; — and in its grosser forms surely
no God-fearing man will indulge. But let even the pioua
beware, for they have their temptation to this sin. In our
times, the secular and the sacred are so strangely mixed up
together in our books, as well as in our periodicals, that the
pious, if not on their guard, may insensibly pass from tho
latter to the former. When this is done, the sjiiritual tono
which tho mind may have acquired from sacred reading, is
wofully spoiled, or utterly destroyed by the secular. One
rejoices to think, that there arc now in most Christian
countries religious periodicals, richly stored with matter for
Sabbath day's reading. Indeed, no family should bo
witliout one of these Papers. But, to read secular news-
papers on Sabbath, is obviously a gross profanation of tlio
day. Tho parent who does this cannot bo in a right frame
of mind, nor is ho in a riyht position for addressing his
children on sacred things. Nor will his children fail to see,
if ho attempts this, such an incongruity betwixt the one
part of his conduct and the other, as must do away with all
respect in their minds for the sacred truths he may utter.
No wise man will readily sneer at tliis as narrow-minded
bigotry. It were perilous for any father to do so. Common
sense, just as clearly as piety, condemns the practice of
secular reading on Sabbath. I can have no dispute with
professing Christians who would countenance it; — inasmuch
as I hold the sanctification of the Sabbath indispensible to
family religion, and essential to the spiritual training of
children. But secular reading must be hurtful to both.
Depend on it, the reading that goes on in the family circle
on Sabbath, will give character to tlie religion of the family >
or — as not seldom happens — shew the total want of it.
Secular reading cannot fail to secularize your religion. No
parent, who seeks the salvation of his child, can think

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Of THI riRE-SIDI.

lightly of this. You cannot train your children — although
many attempt it — to servo both Oo<l and mammon.
If you give them a secularized religion, the worldly elcmeni
will prevail, and you may expect your children to leave tho
parental homo thoroughly imbued with the .spirit of tbo
world, and with, probably, just enough of religion to
trouble their own bosoms, and mako them contemptible in
tho eyes of men of tho world ; but not enough to CDabltt
them by faith " to ovorcomo tho world."

THH SABBATH SCHOOL

CHAPTEK ni.

CATECmSING AS A MEANS FOR RELIGI0T7S INSTRUCTION IS
THE SABBATH 5;0H0OL OP THE FIRESIDE.

i I; :

If the great end of all teaching, be to store the mind
■with sound knowledge, cultivate right feelings, and form good
?aabits, no mode is equal for these ends to a wise system of
catechising. Experience has settled no point in education
more thoroughly than this. Every intelligent teacher, who
aims at grounding his pupils in any branch of learning,
employs largely and rigorously, the catechetical mode. It is
my wish, however, at present, to •speak of it merely in
■connection with the communication of religious knowledge.

As each church has its own Catechism, parents wifl
naturally choose that of their own denomination. I do not
©peak disparagingly of other works' of this kind, when I
gay, that few are equal, and none, in my judgment,
superior to the Catechisms of the Presbj terian Church. As
the-'-o summaries of sacred kaowledge were • written by
fallible men, no Protestant will plead infallibility for them.
Yet, I cannot but think, that the Church of God has scarcely
any theological treatises, which, for clearness of iogicol
statement, soundness of scriptural views, simplicity of ar-
rangement, and comprehensiveness of plan, that can be com-
■parccl «'ith the Catec^hisms drawn up by tlie Westminister
Divines. The shorter Catechism is, indc' 1, one of the grand-
est monuments of human wisdom, l^it if your taste, or
■early predilictions fc:hould lead you to choose some other
'Catechism as a manual, good and well, so bo, it contains
ifuUy the truth of the Gospel. I am fai' from affu-ming, that

OP THE FIRE-SIDE.

the Siibbatli School of the Fireside may not he efficiently
conducted by the Bible, without the aid of any Catechism.
Yet, when this is done, it is plain the parent is under the
necessity of extemporizing a Catechism for himself ; for I
liold, that unless the child be thoroughly questioned, he
never can be well instructed. But now, is it not every way
better to have the great doctrines of rehgion expressed
accurately, and clearly arranged, than to have all this to do,
while engaged in the work of teaching ? Besides, many
parents must feel great difficulty irx putting such questions
as will best unfold the truth; — not to speak of the difficulty
of young children giving suitable extempore answers.
Wise and pious men have furnished these helps for both
parents and children, and surely it is well to take advantage
of such aids. Of these the wiser sort will readily avail
themselves, wliile, for parents of very Umited attainments,
these helps are really indispensible to the religious training
of their children. The Catechetical method is admirably
adapted, not only to awaken thought in the child, but to
exercise reflection in the parent. No thoughtful man can
ask solemn questions of his children, without instinctively
revolving the answer in his own mind. Hence, the parent
is really catechising Mmself as well as his children. This,
although an indirect advantage, is a very great one to the
parent. Besides, as many of the questions. are condensed
propositions, containing a vast mass of truth, the parent
will fmd abundant matter in the answers to these, for farther
questions, in order to simphfy and api^ly to young minds,
the great doctrines of religion. The parent who pursues
this course, with pains and regularity , will perhaps wonder
mor-} at the amount of knowledge he is acquiring, than at
what he is communicating to his children. This is the
teacher taught, and, of course, every duy becoming better
qualified to teach.

But aside from the more obvious advantages of the
Catechetical method, no one can fail to see the unspeakable

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Tin: SABBATH SCHOOL

advantage of storing the young mind with a well digested
uystem of divinity, in accurate, clear and condensed
propositions. What a foundation is thiis laid for futuro
attainments ; — ^what a precious supply of matter for a lifo
of piety. But if you admit the truth of this, then you
cannot, without a most flagrant dereliction of duty, fail to
employ the Catechetical mode of teaching. See that your
children learn some Catecliism thoroughly, and as each
Sabbath comes round examine them on it, and so explain
and apply it, that its whole contents shall not merely be
fixed in the memory ; but in some good measure be com-
prehended by their understanding. If all the firesides of
the land had Sabbath Schools thus conducted, might we
not hope for a great increase of knowledge in famihes, and
a great increase of true piety in the Church? I do not
know that religion has thriven in any land without parental
Catechising. I have already spoken of the importance of
bringing the minds of parents r.nd children into intimate
contact, by means of divine truth. But there is no mode
by which this can be more efficiently done, than by
Catechising. It is by asking questions, that the prudent and
affectionate parent comes to discover not only what his
child needs to learn, but liow his child feels and thinks on
what he has already learned. And withal — and that is not
a little-^it is the best method of easily discovering tha
wants of the child to himself.

Those who have allowed domestic Catechising — ^no
matter under what pretence — to fall into disuse, are neglect-
ing a means for instruction which nothing else can supply,
and for the neglect of which, God will call them to account.
A superficial acquaintance with Gospel truth is a certain
consequence of this neglect. Men of observation have
noticed the spread of deadly errors in certain communities,
yvst in proportion as domestic Catechising was given up in
families. You may do it in one form or other, or from this
Qf the other Catechism, or just from the Bible ; but CatecUiso

Of THE FIRE-SIDI.

your children you must, if you would have them sec clearly,
and firmly believe the doctrines of the Gospel. Let me
entreat you then, to employ a portion, at least, of every
Sabbath, with earnestness, in this profitable and delightful
task. Nor must you be discouraged, because the grand
truths thus taught are not at once understood. These
p-and truths, if lodged in the mind in the shape of clear
propositions, cannot fail, in due season, to produce fruit. A
mind thoroughly imbued with the truths contained in some
of our Catechisms, has, indeed, a precious treasure of Divin*
wisdom.

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Vnx SABBATH SCHOOL

CHAPTER IV.

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PRAYER, AN INDISPENSIBLE MEANS TO RELIGIOUS TRAINING ISF
THE SABBATH SCHOOL OF THE FIRESIDE.

Prayer is the believing heart speaking to God. If with-
out this, all other means must fail for a Hfe of piety, assuredly
without this, all means will fail for the rehgious training of
children. For this great work,. Divine help is obviously in-
dispensible. Indeed, to insure defeat in any spiritual un-
dertaking, you have only to set about it in your own
strength. The christian must never forget, "that it is God
that works in him, both to will and to do." But all this ia
practically denied, if men do not call on God for grace, that
their strength may be as their day of trial, or of work is.
The apostle thoroughly understood this when he said,
"When I am weak, then am I strong" — conscious of his
own weakness for any good work,, and hence relying entirely
on God to make him strong for the work to which he was
called. When men fail in duty, or are overcome by temp-
tation, it is very hkely that they have either been restrain-
ing prayer, or praying wiQiout faith and with the love of sin
in their heart. There may be mysterious causes of failure; —
but if prayer be neglected, or performed without faith in a
covenant keeping God, there is then really no mystery as
to the cause of the triumph of sin, or the failure in duty.

But all this applies with peculiar force to the matter in
hand. Many parents fail, and bitterly complain of their failure
in the religious training of their children. No doubt this
complaint has been sometimes made by praying parents,
and yet, it can hardly be questioned, that many might havo

OP THE FIRE-SIDE.

.INING I»

found the cause of their want of success in the neglect or
partial performance of prayer to God for help. These
parents forgot, that to enlighten the mind savingly is a task
altogether beyond the power of any creature. " Paul may
plant, and Apollos water, yet God alone can give the in-
crease." Ah, ray friend?*, if you do not often and earnestly
wrestle with God in secret for His help, you will labour in
vain. And if you utterly neglect secret prayer, in connec-
tion with the spiritual training of your children, you need
not wonder if you have to exclaim, " The harvest is past
and the summer is ended, and they are not saved.* To en-
gage in this work in your own strength, shews deplorable
ignorance of the greatness of the work to be done. Why
think only what you aim at; — nothing leis than this to
bring your children "from darkness to light, and from the
power of Satan to God." You may be the blessed instru-
ments of this, but remember, that you are but instruments
that the hand of God must direct, if the great work is ta
be successfully accomplished. Pray often and earnestly to
Goa for His help in this. It is from Him alone that you?
can obtain strength, patience and pure motives, which your
task so specially requires. Your love for your children ,
your fear lest they should die in their sins, your experience
of the temptations which they may have to encounter in the
world, and your faith in the sufficiency of covenant bless-
ings for all their wants, should lead you often to a throne of
gi'ace on their behalf. It is needless to say, that the parent
who most frequently and with strong faith, pleads for sup-
phes from God, will be every way the most efficient in
teaching his cliildren to know the Lord and walk in His
way.

Yet, to pray for your children in secret is not enough ;
you must often in a way, and a very important way, train
them for God, by praying with them to God. That cliild
must learn much, who kneels in the family circle, and heara
his father pleading with God for family blessings, and givin

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■■; ilJ!

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Tn'S SABBATH SCnOQL

tlianks for family mercies. I assume, that where there it
religious instruction, there will be family prayer. Indeed,
*« Uhout this, religious instruction becomes so painful a kind
of absurdity as cannot escape the notice of reflecting chil-
dren. In fact, tins is the lowest kind of formalism, or whe
most naked hypocrisy. Religious instruction without prayer
cannot come to good. Those who instruct their children,
then, must be persons of prayer. For if the Sabbath School
of the Fireside wants prayer, it wants power. The Biblo
furnishes many cheering proofs, that the prayer of a right-
eous man for his children availeth much. But not to speak
at present, of the direct influence of this, in drawing down
blessings on children, "vvho can fail to perceive, that when
children see their parent regularly, pleading with God for
blessings to them, he becomes in their eyes, of all men,
the one that they revere and love most. The father who is
the true priest of his family, occupies a high position in the
eyes of his children, as their instructor. All that he says on
religion has in it a peculiar weight. He is no paid function-
ary to teach them their tasks, but their revered and loving
parent, appointed by God to be their spiritual guide, even
more than their earthly protector. It is well known, that tho
force of instruction on our minds depends very much on the
fnoral dignity, which in our eyes, surrounds him who in-
structs. This principle is so beautiftil, not only springing
from fine sentiments, but leading as it does to the best results
that it may well be looked at with charitable forbearance, al-
though sometimes incautiously cherished, or indulged in to
excess. Well may the father, who is a man of piety, and
who devoutly conducts the devotion of the family, be re-
garded with reverential esteem ; and surely if the counsel
or example of any is to have peculiar weight with the
young, it is the counsel and example of the praying parent.
But, no parent has taught his child well, who has not
taught the child to pray for himself, as well as join in family
prayer. I shall only make a few brief remarks on this. With

ii ;

OP THE FIRE-SIDB.

tiere il
[ndeed,
a kind
ig chil-
, or wlie
; prayer
liildren,
I School
le Biblo
a right-
speak
ig down
at when
God for
all men,
r who is
)n in the
J says on
[unction-
d loving
de, even
that tha
h on tho
who in-
pringing
,t results
ance, sl-
ed in to
ety, and
, be re-
counsel
ith the
parent,
has not
in family
With

Tery young chiklren, prayer must at first be the repetition of
eome form. But be the form ever so excellent, christian
parents will not be satisfied with this, but will strive to
imbue tho minds of their children with the spirit of prayer.
They will tcaeh them the solemn nature of the duty, by
impressinj^- their minds with just notions of God, who is tho
hearer of prayer ; — of Jesus for Avhoso sake prayer is answer-
ed, and of the things for which they should pray, and tho
temper of mind in which these things should be asked. In
this way, the young mind is brought, not to cast away tho
form, but to enter into the true spirit of prayer. It is thus,
that the pious parent will train his children to go to their
closet, and in faith, and in love to ask aright from their
Heavenly Father, tho i)lessings they need; and to thank
Him with grateful hearts, for the benefits they receive. Let
all this be done wisely however, and with becoming solem-
nity of spirit. I cannot help thinking, that many have a
faulty way of teaching the duty of prayer to theiV children.
To throw an air of levity around any religious c^aty is hurt-
ful to piet;y. but to do this with the duty of prayer must be
unspeakably mischievous. Young children are often called
on, before strangers, to repeat their prayers in order to
ehow how nicely they can go through the duty. Good
people may fall into very ill practices, from not looking nar-
rowly into their acts, and the evil consequences that may
flow from things plausibly good. The practice to which I
refer, is precisely one of these. Apart from the aftcctation
which this is likely to produce in the child, it can hardly fail
to destroy all reverence in the duty of prayer ; while it is
very likely to nourish a self-conceit exceedingly adverse to
true piety. Is it not very possible think you, to teach tho
young to pray in a way which may lead them in all their
afi;er life to pray as the Pharisee did, who " thanked God
that he was not as other men," but who had no petition to
offer for God's mercy, and no confession of sin to make.
•These few hints will not be deemed by persona of re-*

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fi ffn iABBATH SCHOOL

flection altogether unnecessary in our times. If it be painfal
to think of parents in christian lands neglecting to teach their
children to pray, it is surely very sad on the other hand to
think of the way in which some professing christians un-
happily teach this duty. In fact, as the duty is taught by
many, we need not wonder if their children become tho-
roughly formal in prayer, or after a while wholly give it up.
They have never been properly taught, " that prayer is an
oflfering up of the desires unto God, for things agreeable to
His will in the name of Christ, with confession of sin, and
thankful acknowledgement of mercies;" and hence, their
heart is never in the duty, and they either give it up.
entirely, or continue to perform it without devotional emo-
tions, or any spiritual progress. It«is true the Divine spirit
can alone teach man to pray aright, yet in as far as parent*
can be co-workers with the Spirit in this, let them labor
with wisdom, faith and love, to teach their little ones how
to pray. Indeed, those who have taught their children to
go to God in secret, and in a right frame of mind to tako
their place at the footstool, have given them not only an
important part of spiritual training, but have really brought
them to the Divine teacher. There is no place whero
Divine truth can be so well learned, as at the throne of graca
—and if the throne of grace be neglected, where c&u. we learn
or what can we learn, for the good of our souls?

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W tBE FniB-SIDK.

CHAPTER V.

SZAIIPLE A3 A MEANS FOR TDE RELIGIOUS TRAINING OF OBILDBBT.

I had intended to say nothing on this. My limits
forbid me going largely into the subject, and to say but little
on it may have the appearance of attaching to it but little
importance. Its importance, indeed, is such as to commend
it to every person of thought ; and on farther reflection, I
think it would be unwise to pass it over in silence in a
treatise of this kind.

Example, in the sense I use it, is the moral influencse
which the conduct of others may have in forming our
character. We arc so couKStituted, that if we esteem and
love any one, "we readily imbibe his sentiments and imitate
his example. This order of things, among holy creatures,
would be one of the m.ost delightful and efficient modes of
teaching. But men are not by nature holy creatures.
Hence, all experience shews that example, if evil, may
become, through the depravity of the human heart, a fearful
means of spreading corrupt principles. The depraved
heart, as it loves what is evil, naturally enough imitates this
in the conduct of others. Evil may not be loved as evil;
yet, from the sympathy which like has to like in minds, if a
bad man from position, force of intellect, or any other
cause, is the object of our respect and attachment, his
example will greatly influence our conduct. The example
of a bad man must ever do harm. It is, indeed, the "evil
communication which often corrupts even the good morals"
of those who may have been well brought up.

But^ if bad example be from its nature, powerful for

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THS SABBATn SOHOOL

I '

evil, good example is no less powerful for good. There ara
few Chritstians who cannot with gratitude, refer to tho
blessed effects which have been produced on their moral
and spiritual condition, by the religious example of somo
pious persons, witli wliom they had come closely into
contact. The greater part of good men possibly owe moro
to this, for the mould their character has taken, than to all
they have read from books, or heard from the lips of
strangers. If they have not got in this way the larger shara
of their knowledge, they have nevertheless got those tastes
and habits by which knowledge is turned into wisdom.
Yet, all who feel the power of good example and highly
prize it, do not clearly see wherein its great strength lies.
Its strength is simply in the amount o( Divine truth ivhic.h it
tmbodies and unfolds in conduct. It is g :it principles
written plainly out, so that all can read what is written.
Many who could not give an abstract definition of benevo-
lence or justice, and but imperfectly comprehend it if given,
wouhl, nevertheless, readily understand what either of theso
graces is, when exemphficd in the conduct of a benevolent
and just person. The man who is seen year after year,
wisely helping the poor, tenderly sympathizing with tho
afflicted, and ever shewing gentleness and forbearance to
the weak, would unquestionably teach more clearly by hia
conduct, what benevolence is, than he could do by words.
The same is true cf justice. The man who, in all his deal-
ings with others, ever holds all their rights as well as hia
own to be sacred, and never by word or deed, does a wilful
wrong to any one, teaches very clearly what justice is.
The priiKjiples of virtue, as well as of piety, must, no doubt,
be taught in the abstract; yet, no logical definition can
make moral truth to certain minds, so plain in the abstract,
as example makes it in the concrete. If the life of a pious
man docs not strictly teach principles, yet it is assuredly tho
best of all commentaries on them. For in this way, if ono
may so express it, principles are embodied, simplified,

or THE riRE-SIDB.

)stract,

la pious

|dly tlio

if ono

IpliHed,

explained and made, as it were, visible to the eye of sense,
as well as of reason and faith. Nor is this all. The lessons
tluis taught, are not only tau_,'ht with great plainness and
force, but are kept so constantly in view, that none can fail
to see them, while even the thoughtless can hardly fail to
learn somewhat of them. Hence, this mode of teaching the
practical lessons of piety and virtue, has very peculiar
advantages over the mere utterance of aljstract truth with
the lips. When the law of God is so written " on tho
fleshy tablets of the heart," that it comes forth spontaneously
in every action of the life, then is it made so plain, "that
even those who run may read." And all this is just as
applicable to the First as to the Second table of the law. If
a life of morality shews what we owe to our fellow-men, a
life of piety shews what wo owe to God. The true
Christian exemphfies both, — for while he zealously dis-
charges the duties he owes to God, he never forgets those
which are due to his fellow-men. As a servant of God, he
Etrives to keep the whole law, for he knows that without
this there is no true gospel obedience, no love to God, no
faith in Christ, no growth in grace. Thus by his good
example he teaches effectually, inasmuch as he shews
practically, what the religion of Christ is. This is, indeed,
in the language of scripture, " to put on Christ, — to walk
in Christ, and to do the works of the Spirit."

No one, however, will infer from this, that the whole
of religion can be taught by the example of the best of
men. Such doctrines as those of the Divine unity, the
Trinity, the Incarnation of the Son of God, His Atonement
and Resurrection, must be presented to the reasoning soul
of man in propositions, with which reason, faith and con-
ecicnce can alone deal. True, the life of the believer will
teach much of the effects of these doctrines, but the doc-
trines themselves cannot be taught by mere example. It
t must indeed be ever kept in mind, that the didatic method
of teaching abstract truth by word of mouth and book^

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Tni 8ABDATB lOnOOL

must ever accompany Iho tcachinp; by example; or thii
must in the nature of things bo oxcocdingly itJiperfoct. Itil
when both go topcthrr, thata systotn ofrcligloua instruction
is cornplcto. Still, is thcro not much taught, when the life
of the christian shows with soino oloarnoss, what the hfo of
godliness in tho soul is — what it is for a soul to livo to God
and exemplify tho moral ])orf(M'tions of tho Divine mind?
This is tho grajulost thing a croaturo can do for tho glory of
his Maker, and for the good of his follow croaturoa. But
this is really what tho godly man does by a life of consist-
ent piety. Vorily sui'h a life touchos iinich, which mora
words never can tc^ach so well. Without it, tho t(>aohing
of the Firosid{^ Sabbath School must bo an uttor failure.

Example has some power on all ; on tho young, from
their tendonoy to imitato, it is jx^euliuily strong. But
parental example is, of all others, tlu; most direct and pow-
erful in inlluonoing ohildren. This is a beautiful arrange-
ment in Providonoo, for as soon as a child can (>l)serve moral
traits of character — and that is very early — if ho sees thcso
in their purity in his parents, his religious education is begun
under the most favorable^ circumstances. It is thus, that so
soon as a child begins to think, he is taught tho grand diflfer-
cnco hdwixt right and wrong, by tho conduct of ids parenta
To the early Ibrmationof right sentiments, feelings and hab-
its, this nuist bo of tho last consequence.

But if the influence of parental example bo very great,
how great is the responsibility of parents to give it of a
kind that their children may safely imitate. For it will
hardly be questioned, that the want of a good parental ex-
ample necessarily implies a had one — and this is surely tho
sorest calamity that can befall a child, lie that looks at
responsibilities and consequences, cannot without horror,
look at parents setting a bad example before their children.
This is not to neglect their salvation merely, which wero
deeply criminal, but systematically to train them for perdi-
tioa. To speak it plainly, it is nothing else than to bring

OF TOE nRE-SIDI.

them up to be the servants of the devil. This is literally
what many are doinR to their poor cliildren. They can do
nothing worse to them. Yet, I do not say that these
parents — for they liave natural affection — wish their children
to be misorab!(! ; yet the course they take leads to this, and
their ill-regulated affection often contributes not a little by
humoring the passions and appetites of their children, to
land them in certain ruin. Because parents in a foolish way
love their children, they fancy it to be impossible, that they
can be injuring thcin. Perverted natural affection is the
cause of great moral evils. To please any one to the hurt
of his soul, is frightfid cruelty. This is not the love into
which affection is turned by the wisdom and power of the
Gosi)ol. Sanctidt'd affection ever seeks tho highest good
of its object — tlu> salvation of the soul.

It is enough, however, for our present purpose simply
to assume, that the innioral example of parents in what way
soever it may be shewn, or by what motives brought into
play, must ever have a pernicious influence on the best inter-
ests of their children. It gives no little confirmation to the
truth of this, that many who make little pretension to
religion, are, nevertheless, careful to conceal from the eyes of
their children what they know to be wicked in their owa
conduct. This is really to" their credit. They know the
influence of example, and are afraid lest they may corrupt
their children. This, certainly, says a little for conscience,
and a good deal for affection. Yet, on the whole, it presents
but a poor aspect of parental character. The parent is
bound not merely to hide from the eyes of his child what
would corrupt him, but in all things to set a good example
before him. And yet, were it possible to find an apology
for a man playing the hypocrite, it might be attempted in
behalf of him who pretends to virtues before his children
which he does not possess, or strives to hide vices from
them, in which he indulges. But in this, as in everything
else, hypocrisy is a folly as well as a sin. Apart from other

i i,

!!l

.; J

HIH

I i

l3j!:

THE RACBArn srnooL

consideration?;, the cliild will be sure to detect the hypocrisy-;
for the eye O: a child is quick in noticing Avhat is but the
mere pretence of goodnes?. Ilonee, ])arents often deceive
themselves when they think they arc deceiving their
children. Children have no sympathy with those who
make them the dupes of pious frauds. "While tho
detection of anything of this sort must destroy all respect
for the parents. Be hypocrites to no one, but shun this ii,v.
all its forms with your children. With them be sincere in
all you ])rof'ess, if you Avould hiive their genial respect and
ardent love. But seeing that no parent can, or indeed
ought to mncml his real character from his children, how
momentous is it, that his character should ever furnish an
example which they can respect and imitate.

It is needless to sa};-, that this is far from being general
amorg even professing Christians. If those unworthy
parents do not teach innnoral lessons direct]}^, yet, their
example on the whole, is not wholesome ; — and indirectly
teaches much that is exceedingly injurious to their ofl'spring.
The agreement betwixt profession and jiractice may be far
from complete in tJie be^t ; but, alas ! with many it is a
violent contrast. ^Many prof^'ss to be tl'c followers of
Christ, and tc take His example and laws for the rule of
their life; yet t.icir whole conduct looks very much hko
that of men of the world. It is not impossible, but even
thosj men may occasionally utter moral maxims to their
cl'ildreu, and fancy that tlicy arc thus giving them a moral
ed''.cation It will likely prove an utter failure. Suppose
they tell their children, that God forbids falsehood ; yet, if
they observe their parents false in their talk, cunning and
deceitful in their general conduct, is it to be expected that
they shall lay to lieart the sound princi[)le uttered, and
esche'-v the bad example which is daily set before them?
All experience ^orbids such an inference. The deceitful
equivocator will, in all probability, make his children very
thorough liars. They will forget his poor lessons — for they

OP THE FIRE-SIDBw

their

ig-

tro poor from Lis lips, and will follow liis example, naving
instanced the vine of lying for illustration, a few additional
remarks inay not be deeincd irrelevant.

No sin in our day is eatincf more deeply into the heart
of social morality, or threatening greater mischief to the
well-being of man, in all his interests, than the sin of false-
hood. In many of its forms — for its forms are indeed many —
it is the foul reproach of not a few, of whom better things
from their profession might bo cxp(!cted. Is i*. '.ot horrible
to think that many who profess to be the children and
servants of the God of truth, should, when any temptation
allures, sacrifice at once their claims to veracity of spcecli.
They may not lie broadly, l^ut to lie subtibj is not leas
offensive to God, or hurtful to conscience. If we excepl
the malicious, there is, perhaps, no character more unlike
the God of truth and love, than is the character of the
thoroughly false man. I cannot enlarge, — yet, let me
Ui'ge on parents the necessity of teaching by word and
deed, aprolbund revercnc(^ fur truthfulness, to their children.
lie who makes his child a liar, makes him not only the
basest of humnn creatures, but little -as he may think of
it, has in this, so rained his moral nature, that he is capable
of almost any crime to which he may Ije tempted. He is,
indeed, a bad and a cruel man, who, by his example, teaches
liis child to equivocate even in the smallest matters.

It is needless to add, that the same holds tnvein regard
to honepty in dealing with property. How ntterly useless
and absurd is it for a man to tell his children that in t^ us
dealing they are to '' do toothers as they would be done by,"
if in his ordinary business transactions, he catches every
opportunity whieli he can with safety take, to swindle and
overreach those with whom he has dealings. Ikre, again,
the example will be followed, but l!ie moral maxim, if given
at all, will be forgotten. IL is possil)lo, that the dishonesi
pest may have been the son of an honest man, who (brgeta
^■ad disiiouors liis futher'ii example. It is much mar;»

IM 'It

III:

THB SABBATH SCHOOL

J I'l !!t

ill

! 7

i:3

likely, however, tlicit he is the son of some nri/aJ rrvn, whtt^
•Ithough he always hud the shrewdness to kf--p 'on the
windy side of the law," was a constant \\t>htov of the laW
of honest dealinj^. Why should tluit man wwt.dfi if Iuk sott
goes to the Penit(Mitiary ? li^^ve not many lailHiiers, l»f
their dishonest prueticcs, put their sons on the road that
lead«« to tliiscnd?

But what has been stated in regard to truth and
boncsty is applicable to all the other virtues. On these
virtues you may speak with the eloquence of a Paul, but if
your conduct be that of a Gchazi, your children will, in all
likehhood, forget the moral talk, or only nmK'mber it with
contempt, and follow the bad example. And the danjfcr if
fill the more, botli for you and them, if a tlioro»rj,hly bad
practice is made slily to keep company witli a Harnin^j
profession. It is not well for any man Ix^iitftingly to profcsf
too much, but it is perilous for the man wlx) ael* -in ilj
example before his children to t<'ach, or ]vffft:JF» f.riything
that is good. Such a man sins if he keeps .silent on sacred
things; yet sins even more if he speaks ot them.

See to it then as you would keep your own soul clear
of great guilt, and would not be the cause of ruining the
Bouls of those dear to you ; — that your (vxample, as it arisei
out of every part of yoiu- conduct, shall sustain and illus-
trate what you teach w'ith your lips. So be there is a
natural harmony betwixt yom' profession and pi'actice, then
ehailyour example give great breadth, jtlainness and strength
of meaning to all that you utter as a christian pai-ent. Nor
will your children fail to perceive in this consistency such
force and beauty of moral character, as shall nuike your
example tell powerfully on their heart and conscience.
Such a parent may have but little of the gift of speech for
instruction, yet he caimot fail to be an efficient teacher. A
silent, yet powerful and hallowed influence, is daily going
forth from such a man, which cannot but penetrate to the
deptha of the moral nature of liis child. While, from every

••■■ %■;

OF THE FIRE-SIDB.

ii.\

day's intercourse, he is imbibinjj: lessons of the profoundest
wisdom, and of the most easy practical application, from the
example of his parent. This is really the most direct way
— as far as man can do it — of forming the tastes and habits
of the yonn<jc to all that is good. Oh, yes, this is, indeed,
the mighty power that has been mainly instrumental in
making so many good men and women in the School of
the Fireside. As I have before hinted, the better kinds of
education never can be valued ; but who would attempt to
estimate the value of the training that that child has
received, who not only heard from the lips of his parents
truth to make his understanding wiser and his heart better,
but who, in the closest intimacies, never saw anything in
the example that was set before him, that did not support
and illustrate; all that he heard. If he feels any shame in
thirl:"'''g of his parent's example, it is that he has followed
it Cv iiperjedly. When a father of this sort kneels in
prayer, to load his children at a throne of grace, they kneel
around him with a peculiar reverence; — when he speaks to
them on their duty to God and to their fellow-men, they
hear with reverence, and believe what they hear. Indeed,
all that such a father says and does sinks into their hearts
with the combined force that truth possesses when received
in faith, esteem and love. Well may the children of such
parents rise up and "call them blessed," — and well may
those who behold the advantages of such children say, that
in their teachers they are blessed indeed. To speak it in all
soberness, are not these the teachers wlio make the Sabbath
Bchool of the Fireside, not only the best school for eartt^
but one of the best schools for heaven ?

I HI! 1*

iFi

iipi

TQa SABBATH SCDOOL

CHAPTER VI.

I BHALL NOW NOTTrR RRIKFLY SOME OF THE IITDIUECT TBI

)VAXTAGi:S, THAT FLOW FROM I
DOMESTIC RELIGIOUS TRAINING.

GREAT ADVANTAGES, THAT FLOW FROM A TROPER

First, — The cfiJiivatlon of ihe ;pure and gentle aJJ'ecUom
d^ends verii mncli on tin's.

i>Ieu 'Nvitliout love, c"cntlcncps<incl luimilitv, if ijTfnorant,
flrc coarso savajrcs; il" learned, arc little else thar selfish
intellectual demons. A.^ the graces to which I refer arc tho
fruits of the Spirit, every real Christian who is born of tho
Sp'- 't has th(Mn, at least in their seminal principles. Yct^
for tlieir p'rowth in beauty and streng-th, much depends on
their early cultivation. The vant of this is painfully seen
(Bometimes in those of whose Christianity you cannot doubt*
These persons have been born again, and will, in due time,
be prepared for heaven ; yet, it cannot be concealed, that
from the unhappy condition of their lot in early life, tho
Christian graces of love and gentleness have been sadly
Btinted in th.-ni. Th(>y are Christians ; — in a sense, strong
C/irifitlans ; yet their character lacks sweetness and amia-
bility. They have strength of faith ihaL would enable them
to die for their ^Master ; yi't their conduct manifests little
of His meekness and gentleness. This is much to bo
lamenled, inasmuch as it presents the Christian character in
an unloveable aspect. The true remedy for the (.'vil is to
be found in tlK> early training of children ami;1st the sweet
christian charities of domestic life. The teaching of tho
Church may do much, but it cannot \)c a substitute for tho
want of this. As the Christian graces all so pure aucl

OF THE FIRE-SIDB.

lECT TBI

afedion$

ignorant,

r selfish

r arc tho

-n of tho

?s. Yct^

lends on

lly seen

)t doubt,

ne time,

ed, that

hfe, tho

n sadly

strong

amia-

)lo them

ts littlo

to bo

acter in

il is to

c sweet

of tbo

for tho

re aud

gentle give great excellence to prrcntal affection, so do they
fihine with peculiar charms when they appear in connec-
tion with a well-balanced and ardent parental love. It ia
hardly necessary to say, that the love of Christ is not only
the model for this, but must furnish the motives to ita
exercise. Little does tho Clmrch know how much she ia
indebted for some of her finest specimens of Christian
loveliness, to the first views which tho young soul had of
the Saviour's love reflected from the sa-ictified bosom of a
pure-hearted loving parent. The intellect may bo cultivated
highly in many places, but the domestic circle is the grand
school for cultivating the aflections. But this part of
education, when acquired, not only gives a singidar beauty
to the Christian character, but also yields that, which is tho
chief means for securing the harmony of society. Every
one is awaro, that where there is love and the other gentlo
graces in a family, there is peace and every good work in
that family. But what is true in this respect of the littlo
social circle, is true of tho largest communities. It would
notof itself secure millennial glory, yet without tho cultiva-
tion of these graces could there by any millennium, or any
preparation 1' r it ? Just in proportion as the gentle graces
are cultivated, there will be good will anioug men, and tho
God of love will bo glorified on earth.

Now, every pious family is a nursery of what we call
the. gentle <jraces. But then let parents remember that tho
wisest precepts, ever so often reiterated without a life of
gentleness and love, will never cultivate these graces in
their children. My friends, you may f^peak of love in ita
highest forms, and that too in the very language of Scripture,
but if 3'our general deportment be cold, harsh and selfish,
you never can cultivate in others that love which Jcsua
taught and so beautifully exemplified ; and which Uo
re(|uires in all His followers. Very plainly you must, by
your whole deportment, shew what the gentle graces are,
if you would have your cliildren understand or practice

';f;"I

Hi!

ill' I

THK 8ADDATII BOnOOL

them. Many sadly fail in this ; lionco their domcstfo
trnininp^ is misorably (Icroctivc. Thoy may have taught the»
law ill its various olaiins ;— nay, may liavo taufjht "that
lovo ia tlio rulfilling of tho law," yet tlio eduoation their
children have received lor tlio every day claims of tho
relative di'.tiea of life will bo very deficient, if their nflcc-
tiona have not been cultivated by oentlcness and love iniht
life of their parents. The want of this accounts lor much
of tho misery, or which is nearly the same tliinir, the littlo
share of positive happiness found in many families whcro
there is no want of intellectual culture — no want of tho
decent observances of religion, or of the wealth necessary
for material comfort. The j^rand want is tho want of lovo
in practice. To what an extent would happinesss bo
increased, if the lov(^ and mei'kncss of the (Jospel wcro
wisely tnui^ht by par(>ntal conduct at the lu'cside? That
this is soinij)(M-lcelIy done by many, gives to family religion
ft hard aspect to those that are witlioiit, and what is worse,
a harder aspect to those that arc yu'iltin. But, on tho other
hand, do not fancy that a soft and foolish complacency will
mend the niatler. Th(> silly love that gratifies every humor
and eapric.^ of tho child, at the expense of his spiritual
interests, is a great folly and a great crime. Unwiao
aflection is a monstrous perversion of true love. This ia
Very coimnon, and the cousequencos are very dishonorablo
to religion, and disastrous to souls. Love, as Christ loves,
and as lie has taught you to love, and all shall bo well
Let all the gentle graces be thus unfolded and thus applied,
and your training will be wonderfully complete. An
education that wants this is not so far imperfect; it is
utterly false, and may, in many ways, be ruinous.

Second, — A thorougi\ Ciuistian training lays the foun-
dation o^ ohcdu'itcc to all true. authoriUj.

"Without sentiments of respect for those in authority,
tho best laws must become nullities. Contempt for author-
ity and contempt for all law, have a very close connection

lomcstfo
light the
It "that
on their
IS of tho
Ml' nflcc-
)vc in th9
or much
Ihc littlo
cs whcro
it of tho
locossary
I of love
nosss bo
pel wcro
I? That
' religion
is worse,
:,lio other
'ncy will
y humor
piritual
Unwiso
This ia
:7norablo
loves,
JO well
applied,
An
t; it i3

10 foun-

thority,
author-
uectioD

or THE nRE-SIDI.

7»

in tho human mind. But tiiis ton)per of mind has only to
reach a certain lieijj^ht in the conunuiiity, and society must
bo involved in iiarchy. How often, within a fow years
past, hav(» wise men, in various jiarts of the world, tnsmbled
lor true liberty ? These men know — what experienco has
often bitterly tauj^ht, that a free jj^overiinient if not suB-
taineil by res|)eet for lawful authoi-ily among the people, is
near to anarchy or des[)otisni. AlLliongh this has not been
overlooked by writers (Mi governtnenl, yet few appear to
have sullieienlly weighed its immense; imporlnnee. In fact,
the destruction of this sentiment of respect is only realized
as wo reali/,e a great disturhanc/o in somc^ of the laws of
nature. I have no intention to go f;'.rther into this.
Suflice it to say, that I deem it sheer madness to suppose
that rational liberty (;an be preserved, or the social well-being
of tlu; people secured by all other appliimccs, ifenligiitcned
respect for authority be not widely dill'iiseil. Despots may
compel tlu; appearance of this, a enmiing pi'icsthood, by
superstitious ap[>li;uu'cs, may nurse it f(U' their own ends,
,and il may be clearly taught in schools as a branch of
ethics; yet, di'i>end ou it, it is tlu; intellig(Mit and pious
father of a family, who can teach its (irst principles with tho
greatest purity, and by ]\is wise conduct as the domestic
ruler, cause tlu^so to take a deep anil a firm hold on tho
conscieiKH? of tiie young. All trut; ordcM*, whcth(!r in tho
Church or the State, must not only bo sustaine(l by domes-
tic order, hat thciire take its rise. Indeed, if rcspc^ctt for
authority be not taught in the family, it is doubtful if it
ever can be so taught as to become un easy and natural
eentiinent in the cons(;ience of men. Lil)crfy has failed
practically in many ]vuis of tin; worUl, not because states-
men had been unable to make good laws ; but because
parents hail failed to Uy.idx their children reverence (or good
laws, and the lirst pi'inciples of obedience to lawful
authority. In this, as in much else, if the parent docs not
go first with wise lessons and a right practice, others will

THE SABBATH SCnOOIi

I m

;i!il

follow him, cither in training? or ruling under grca^
disadvantage. Not in a censorious spirit, but in grief, not
unmingled with terror one has to ask ; — and does this kind
of domestic training appear in our times to bo receiving
from p.'irents tlie care and labor to "which it is entitled?
Let the ready tendency to insubordination which wo wit-
ness in all the departments of life, bo the answer to this.

Nor is it merely in the school, the workshop, and other
departments of public life, where tliis frightful insubordina-
tion makes its appearance. It is the shame and the curse of
many a home in the land. Di)ul)t it not, that if this evil
grows to a sufticient height, all the fruits of virtue must
perish as it undermines the foundation of all order. It wero
rasli to afiirni that parental misgovernment is the sole causo
of this ruinous insubordination ; yet, one is confounded at
the reckless folly of parents in this matter. Although
bound on the most sacred princii)les to teach subordination,
yet many teach the very opposite, by cherishing self-conceit
and pride in their children. What criminal folly is this.
Parents, are you really blind to the self-willedness of tho
heart of the child? — do you not se(i from experience, as
well as from the word of God, that this must be checked
in youth, or it may become incorrigible to tho wisest
counsel in afterlife? Tlioso Avho overlook this are indiffer-
ent to the future well-being of their children, the peace of
isocicty and their own domestic peace. Ncetl such wonder
if they fnid cause in time, to come bitterly to mourn over
their neglect and criminal folly in this? In innumerablo
instanees this may be traced to ^Mhe kindness, or an utter
thoughtlcssnvss. But this will not prevent thing3 taking
tlieir eoui-se and producing their natural consequences. If
jou would, therefore, not be directly accessory to theso
fcArful consequences, I beseech you teach your children
respect for lawful authority. You are possibly tiof- UWUVPf
that to learn toobe>/ is to learn to rulr, and that he wIliJ hi
j^outh was taught to revere authority was thus prepureij for

grcai
ief, not
lis kind
cciving
ititled ?
re wit-
:liis.
d other
lordina-
cursc of
:liis evil
ic must
It wero
le causo
iided at
Ithongh
lination,
-conceit
is this.
is of tho
enco, as
Ichcckcd
wisest
ndil'l'er-
heacc of
wonder
in over
tierablo
\n\ utter
taking
Ices. If
lo theso
Hiildren
a)vnVR»

111) Iti
Uor

OP THE HRE-SIDE,

ireo

employing it aright, when he came to be clothed with it.
But now, first of all, you must teach your children res-
pect for your own authority. It is from this they must
take their earliest and best lessons for obedience. Look
well to it, that there be much in yourself to respect.
There is, no doubt, a great deal in the simple fact, that you
occupy the place of tlie parent. From this natural affection
must spring a certain amount of respect. But this is not
enough — for if you are foolish or vicious, as soon as your
child begins to reflect, reason will forbid the respect for
which nature may plead. Few conditions can be more
pitiable than tliat of the child who is compelled silently to
despise where he should love and revere. Be careful, then,
to add to the claims of nature, the higher claims of mental
and moral excellence. Endeavor so to speak and act, that
your children shall ever regard you if not as the most wise
and learned, yet in their eyes, as morally the best of all
human beings. If parents are kind, intelligent and pious,
they cannot fail but take a high position in the eyes of
their children, if these children are at all intelligent and
ingenuous. When this is the condition of things, parents
have rather to repress than encourage respect. How
beautiful, how honorable and happy, is that household!
Who does not see that instruction given at such a fireside,
must come liouie lo the young mind with a force to which
neither genius nor learning could add anything. Such
parents are great— justly great in tlie eyes of their children.
Tliis, however, is not all. You must teach your
children to revere wdiatover is great and good in human
<'haractcr, wherevc^r it may appear. Tli.;t child has been
taught nincli that is excellent, and will not fail to learn far
more, who has been early taught ;o love and admire high
AViirtli Avhert'^er he may find it. This will give an elevation
to his sentiments and feelings, v,hich will have the best
efl'eot, not only on the growth of his intellect, but on his
moral and religious tastes, piirents who have the ill habit

• ;«i

I ; IB III

III! m!|i!|

li' '

THB SABBATH SOHOOL

of sneering at, or depreciating the character of worthy
men, in the preaence of their children^ are doing more than
giving vent to envy, vanity or maUce; — they are really
stamping their children's minds with base and vicious
sentiments, which no after training may be able to erase.
A greater injury can hardly be done to a child, than to
teach him to despise or slight excellence. On the other
hand, to teach a child to revere aright, is to give him one of
the grandest and most useful lessons. This lesson parents,
if wise and good, can teach, and they ought to teach it with
great diligence.

In fine, if your children have good natural capacities^
you may purchase the labor of others for their intellectual
education; but if you neglect to cultivate in them tho
sentiments of love and respect, no other teacher can supply
this omission. I» it not a beautiful arrangement of
Providence, that money is not needed to purchase, and in
reality, cannot purchase the education that human beings
most require ? Affection, wisely directed, can alone give
this; — and must give it for God's sake, and for the sake of
those dear to our hearts. Money cannot buy it in anjr
school

Of TBI RBI-SIDE.

CHAPTER VII.

ORKAT RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS TO OITS
CHILDREN A GODLY TRAINING.

But, oh, ye parents I if all this be true, what tolemn
responsibilitiea are yours? If you conduct the Fireside
Sabbath School with wisdom, love and piety, you will, with
the Divine blessing, confer inestimable benefits, not only
on your children, but on the Church and the world. From
this nursery of godliness, the communion table will be filled
with pious and enlightened young men and women, who
will become fathers and mothers in Israel to perpetuate and
extend true religion on the earth. Did parents faithfully do
their duties, then might we expect to witness, from a
vigorous domestic piety, such a revival of religion in the
Church, as would mightily extend reUgion throughout the
world. Those brought early to Christ, are by far the most
efficient laborers in the vineyard. No doubt, some are
saved at the eleventh hour, which shews marvellously the
grace of God. The souls thus saved will assuredly be made
fit for the happiness and work which God has prepared for
them in heaven. But not to dwell on the fact — ^for it does
seem to be a fact — that but few are saved who have lived ta
old age without God — it is abundantly plain, that such as
are then snatched as brands from the burning, can do but
little work for the Saviour on earth. They have not time — ^
and besides, their minds are not stored with Divine truth,,
and they have but little ri-iritual vigor, or pliancy for the
work. Yes, it is grand to stc^ an aged sinner bow with a
believing heart at the loot oi' the Cross; yet, it is every
way more interesting^ to »ej persoos "with tjiie dew of

:iM

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Ui Itt 122

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Sciences

Corporation

23 v<re;T main strut

WnS7«R,N.Y. 14SS0

(716) 8/2-4^ -j:;.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

.liiiii.

their youth" on them, " coming up to the help of the Lord
against the mighty," and consecrating all their future years
to the advancement of the Saviour's glory. Such acquire a
peculiar beauty of holiness, and attain to great power for
doing the work of the Lord upon earth, as well as
preparation for a high place in heaven. I shall have
occasion afterwards to shew that the Sabbath School
Institution has done not a little to fill the ranks of the
Church with young converts ; and yet, if this is to be done
so as to give special joy to angels, and be a peculiar blessing
to the Church, it must be done by the Sabbath School of
the Fireside. The former never can, and never ought to be
regarded as a substitute for that parental training, by whi^h
the young may be brought to the Saviour.

Whatever is auxiliary to our own earneat efforts^ is ever
beneficial. But it is quite otherwise when the aid we
expect from! others, tends to relax our own exertions. In
this case, our powers run to waste, and our sense of respon-
sibility is weakened. The latter is a common and dangerous
consequence of aid thus received. It will hardly be denied
that there is reason to fear, that the instruction given in the
Sabbath SciiOol is regarded by many, not as a useful help,
hut as a complete substitute for domestic instruction. It is
easy to shew, that this is a very false view; 3^et, if it be a
view very generally held, its consequences must be disastrous.
It has already, I think, been clearly proved, that the most
important of all lessons for children, can only be taught
with full effect by parents. But now observe, if parents
fancy that the Sabbath School teacher can do all that the
understanding, heart and conscience of the child require—
is there not great danger, that they shall lose that keen sense
of responsibility, which is the best spur to parental duty ?
This must be a serious loss ; — for whatever impairs our sense
of rCvSponsibility, is exceedingly hurtful to us as moral and
accountable creatures. But if parental responsility be
seriously weakened, this may do irreparable harm to the

OF THE nRE-SIDE.

taught

tarents

hat the

huire — ^^•

In sense

duty ?

|r sense

■al and

lity be

to the

child. Many who would tremble at the thought of allowing
their children to grow up in ignorance of Divine things,
may fall into an indolent complacency, with the
notion, that the Sabbath School teacher is doing for the
souls of their children all that they are required to do. This
notion may be tacitly held by many who would be ashamed
to avow it ; hence their conscience slips away from respon-
sibility as to what they owe to the souls of their children.
No man who has elevated natural affection, and a sanctified
conscience, can rejoice in freedom from this sort of
responsibility. It is, indeed, when men feel deeply and
cheerfully realize their moral responsibilities, that they
possess the true position for engaging in all duties with
alacrity, and going through them with benefit to themselves
and others.

Is it uncharitable to affirm, that parents who are
contented to have the peculiar moral duties which they owe
to their children, performed by proxy, have no very high
love for their children? And what is more — and this is
well worthy of notice — such parents will never awaken in
their children any very high love for themselves. You may,
from pure aft'ection, employ money to purchase much for
your children, but you cannot by the labors of others for
their spiritual well-being, whether these labors are given
from benevolence or otherwise, secure the highest form of
their love. Love is the only suitable equivalent for love ;
— and you fail to shew true love to your children, if you
leave their spiritual interests to be entirely cared for by
others. Many bitterly complain, that they have not the
love of their children ; and this is plainly seen in many
cases, where no complaint is uttered. And yet, it must be
confessed, as they themselves feel, that they have done
much for their children. Yes, much — but have you done
this : — have you labored with your whole soul and heart for
their spiritual welfare ? Love to them should have led to
this, and if this has been done, then are you entitled to

Si iiir

V:!ll

iiSH'

. t

THl 0ABBATB SCHOOL

their ardent love in return ; and if this be withheld, well
may you then wonder at filial ingratitude. But if you have
only labored for their temporal wants, with your oivn hand,
but left their spiritual wants to be entirely ministered to by
others, then you need not wonder if their love for you be
neither ardent nor permanent. I am far from thinking,
that this sufficiently accounts for the feeble love which many
children feel. Many parents, who have been faithful to the
souls of their children, have not the love of these children.
Without stopping to enquire into the various causes of this,
it is enough to say, that whatever of weakness or faults it
may imply on the part of the parents, it plainly indicates
criminal filial ingratitude. And yet, on the whole, may not
the want of fiUal love, or the sel/Mh form in which it often
manifests itself, be in all soberness regarded as a retributive
punishment for the neglect of parents in the spiritual
training of their children ? Be not deceived, if there be no
love of God in them, their love to you never can be such as
the good man desires. Do you really think that you can
utterly neglect your most sacred duty to them, and yet
receive fi'om them a lasting and ardent love ? If you have
only taught them to love the world, you need not marvel if
they love you only after a worldly sort. Let us never
forget, that if we fail in our moral duties to others, to whom
we stand nearly related, the probability is very great, that
they will fail in their love to us. One can see in this, a
wise as well as a just arrangement. If you would,
therefore, have your children to love you with a holy
affection, you must teach them to love Jesus, and you must
shew, by your untiring efforts, that your desire by cultivating
their conscience, as well as their affections, is to seek not
only their temporal, but their everlasting well-being.
This is far from being a low view. Love betwixt parents
and children is one of the most beautiful and beneficial
forms of this holy passion. That there is but comparatively
little of it in some homes, may be owing to the little

GF THK FISE-SIDS.

personal efforts that parents make in training up their
clildren to God. Of this, at least, there can be no doubt,
that where filial love is found to be pure, ardent and
lasting, — capable of bearing all trials and making all sacri-
fices, it is in those hearts " in which the love of God is
shed abroad by tlie Holy Ghost." But we must take higher
ground on this matter.

Although it is every way desirable to have the love
of your children, there is a far higher reason than even
this for seeking their spiritual well-being. They are
immortal creatures. The moral relationship betwixt them
and you, is every way the most weighty. Under God,
their eternal happiness may turn on your fidelity in the
moral and spiritual training you give tliem. In a word —
you are to strive to lead them to Jesus, that they may be
saved. This is your highest form of love to thetm, and is
not this your highest wish on their behalf ? But if so, then
you will labor with the utmost diligence in the use of all
means, to bring them up in the knowledge and fear of the
Lord. ! what a blessed task is that parent engaged at,
who is thus laboring for the spiritual good of his children ?
If they live, they will comfort his heart, be an honor to his
house, a blessing in the world, and ornaments to the
Church. And if they die young — and, alas ! that may be —
is not that the parent who can stand by the bed of a dying
child, and while he looks with anguish, yet looks not with
despair? No, truly, not with despair, but with a hope
which he would not exchange for all the treasures of
earth! The agony of parting is entirely altered in its
nature to the eye cf faith, if not wholly to feeling, when the
pious parent has the well-grounded conviction, that although
never unmindful of the temporal welfare of his children,
yet he never lost sight of their eternal interests. As he
felt deeply, that their souls needed pardon, regeneration and
eternal happiness, so he ever labored to instruct them in
Divine things, that they might come to God for all this.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

Ho wished to see thorn happy and useful in the world ; but
the most ardent wish of his heart was, that they might be
united to the Saviour. What words can express the
blessedness of that man, who, while watching by his dying
child, can hope that he has not labored in vain, and that the
great wish of his heart has been realized. It is sore to part
with a son or daughter in the morning of life ; — but, oh ! is
not the bitter cup wonderfully sweetened, when the child is
seen dying in the hope of the Gospel? That is, indeed, balm
to the wounded heart. For if faith supports the soul with
the blessed hope, that God has your dying child in the arma
of His covenanted mercy, and that He has given His angels
charge to wait on the departing spirit, and guide it home
to the Throne, will not this sustain the heart under the sore
anguish of the severing of the ties of nature ? At such an
hour, the parental bosom does require comfort, and wonder-
ful comfort has been afforded by the dying child, when from
his pale lips has been heard the language of a Gospel liope.
While bending over the beloved object, has the ear of the
parent heard this: — "Even so come Lord Jesus, come
quickly." " I know in whom I have believed." " Though
I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for
the Lord is with me." Then, did not the ear of that parent
hear sounds sweet as the music of heaven ? Such words
spoken in faith, have banished from many a parental bosom
the despair which heart-breaking grief was like to bring in
upon it. Nor must it be supposed, that even when parents
from the disturbed intellect, or ftom bodily prostration of
the dying, have not had the satisfaction to hear the language
of triumph from the departing soul, were yet without hope.
Afflicted parents, your sorrow even then was not the sorrow
of the world, for " ye sorrowed not as those who have no
hope." Ye had hope. In the days of health, when reason
was clear, you told that child of Jesus, led him to Jesus, and
often and earnestly wrestled with God for his salvation, and
although the messenger came iu darhaess, you could still.

OF TUE FIRE-SIDE.

but

through tliat darkness, look with hopo. True, your child
could no longer speak to you, yet you could believe that he
could still speak to his Saviour, and the Saviour speak peaco
to him, by the All-coinf(jrting Spirit. Yes, such parents
sorrow, but they do not sorrow as those who have no hope.
In faith they consecrate their crnlilren to God, in faith they
labor for tlieir salvation, and let the manner of their death
bo what it may, they believe '" that those who sleep in
Jesus, God will bring forth." What a reward is this hopo
to the pious bosom! The godly heart that has this, has a
foretaste of the bliss of heaven, amidst the suflerings of
earth. Under such bereavements as those to which refer-
ence has been made, philosophy could do nothing more than
teach a sullen acquiescence; but Christianity can teach a
cheerful submission so that wliile the tears of affection
flow, the lips may be heard to exclaim : — " The Lord gave
and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of
the Lord." These dear ones are with the Lord, they cannot
come to us, but we will go to them, and will all " be forever
Vfuh the Lord."

Let us look for a moment at another occasion, when
parents need special comfort. When they come to die
themselves, and feel that they must leave their children in a
world full of sin, selfishness and misery, is it not unspeakable
consolation to leave them in the care of that God whom
they have taught them to know, love and revere ? If with
the dying man the salvation of his own soul be the first con-
sideration, yet, surely it is a tender consideration with the
dying parent how he is to leave his children in the world.
Now if he has some well grounded evidence of their union
with Christ, this must afford him great consolation in leaving
them. For although he can no longer guide and comfort
them, yet he knows that if they are united to Jesus He will,
by His infinite wisdom and love, ever direct and console
them in life. He hears his Saviour as it were, saying, —
%o, I will be with them," The godly man indeed feels that

ill

ijtiillii

ItiHB

Eli ill:'
11 If

TBI BABBATn 80IIOOL

they are not left orphans who are Icfl in the hands of •
covenant keeping God. Many of God's people can leave
but little wealth to their children, yet, if they leave them
with the faith of the gospel in their conscience, and the
fruits of the gospel in their heart, they leave them with a
great treasure.

It is not presumed that the best of parents are perfect
hi their duties, and no doubt the best at a dying hour, when
they looTc back will see much to mourn over in the religiouB
training of their children : yet, if at that hour they have the
approbation of conscience that the spritual interests of
those intrusted to them were ever kept first, in their wishes
ftnd efforts, they can take the last look of those dear to them,
and cherish the hope that God will be their guide in life,
and their portion through eternity. Such parents feel that
the parting, although very painful, is but a temporary
«eparation. As they strove to bring them up for the Lord,
80 they can hope that before the throne they may be per-
mitted to say : — here we are through grace with the child-
ren whom thou hast given us. The man who can thus die,
dies the death of the righteous, and his latter end is indeed
peace.

/ could fain wish to close with this, but duty to a very
different class of parents, compels me to say a few words to
them. It is, alas ! but too plain that many parents are al-
together unfaithful to tiie spiritual interests of their children.
While there is yet time for repentance, and opportunity to
bring forth its fruits; let me honestly, yet affectionately say
a few words to such. To parents careless about the souls
of their children, one may surely appeal with «ome hope of
being listened to, if they are not utterly hardened by sin,
God hath given you, as parents, precious souls to be brought
up for Him ; but if you are not giving your children re-
ligious training, then are your utterly failing in your duty
to them, and very unfaithful to God. This is really bring-
mg great guilt on your own souls, for you are leaving those

07 THE FIRK-BIDI.

•1

kds of »
n leavo
re them
md the
with a

perfect
r, when
eligiouB
lave tho
rest* of
r wishes
to them,
i'in life,
'eel that
mporary
lie Lord,
be per-
le child-
hus die,
s indeed

)a very
vords to

are al-

ihildren.

unity to

tely say

le souls

hope of

by sin.
brought
iren re-
•ur duty
y bring-
ag those

to be exposed to eternal misery who have been entrusted t»
your care. This is a heavy charge. I do not affirm that
you neglect all means of instruction, or set no good ex-
ample before your offspring. Those of whom this were true,
are not likely to read these pages ; yet, who needs to be
told that the difference in results betwixt duty neglected
and carelessly performed, may be extremely little. Now it
is the careless performance of these sacred duties by parents,
or leaving them to be entirely done by others, that is the
crying sin of many professing christians of our times. This
in fact is nearly tantamount to the omission of the duty.

Men are apt to overlook the guilt of sins of omission ; yet
out of these often flow many of the most heinous sins of com-
mission. Because sins of omission, in many ways do not
alarm conscience on the instant, their consequences are not
marked. Yet God specially marks this class of sins with
His disapprobation. But of all the sins of omission it is not
easy to conceive of any one so terrible in its consequences
as ii the parent's neglect of the moral and spiritual inter-
ests of his children. It is not necessary, however, after
what has been said, to enlarge further on this. I must, how-
ever, repeat that a chief cause of this fearful omission is
the want of enlightened love for your children. Love,
worthy of the name, implies the ardent desire of the
greatest happiness of its object. Now if you look with
candour at what, as professing christians you readily
admit, and then look at your neglect of duty, you can-
not but see that it is an utter delusion to say, that you
love your children well and wisely. You admit that the
fear of the Lord — religion — is the beginning of wisdom ;
yet, if you neglect to teach religion to your children, do
you love them aright ? You admit, that as human beings
" sow now, they shall reap hereafter;" yet if you neglect to
teach your children " to sow to the spirit, that they may of
the spirit reap life everlasting," do you love them aright?
You admit that "the wages of sin is eternal death;" yet, if

'■: I

Hi!-'

i;!''

iditiii

THK SAnnATII SCIIOOli

you noj^lcnt to to.icli your children to avoid all sip, and flco
to "tin; blood of Cliiist tliiit (.'loaiiscs Irom nil sin," do yo
lovo tlii'iu jvrijflil V Vou iuliiiit, that there is in them "an
evil heart of unbeliel"" yet, if yon do not teach tluMii to cry
to God lor the new heart — ilo you love th«Mn ari^ditV You
admit, that "without holiness no one can sci- the Lord,"
yet, if yo»i nejilect to teach them to live a holy life, "by
lovinj,' the Lord their (Hod with all their heart, with all their
sotil, with all their strength and mind, and their neighbours
08 themselves" — do you love them ari^rht? In Ihic, you
ftdmit that the soul is of more value than the whole world;
yet, if your conduct day alter day teaches that the world
is the c/</V/thin<^ for your children to set k, and that the in-
terest of th" sold is a very small matter — do you love them
aright, for whose; souls you arc bound to care with the tcn-
Uorcst afTeotion ?

You know that these admissions are the truths of God;
— you readily aeknowleclgo this. But. if you utterly neglect
to give clleot to thcvse Divine truths, in the training of your
children, is not your conduct very criminal in the sight of
God ? Oh. careless parents, are ye not fdled with ti'rror, as
you look at the admissions you make as to God's com-
mand.s, and your responsibilities; and then look at your
omissions of duty ? If you persist in this neglect, will not
these omissions rise up in judgment and condemn you? It
is thus, that wicked and slothful servants will be condemned
out of their own mouth. "They knew their Lord's will and
did it not, and they shall be beaten with man}' stripes."

Still, you fancy that you love your children. Now
there may be, as has been already shewn, great natural
attection, where there is a lamentable want of that love
which should burn in your bosoms as Christian parents. Do
you r*'ally think, if you felt this love as it should be felt,

you

would fail as you do in your duty to the souls of these dear
little ones ? For I must tell you plainly, that feel as ten-
derly for their bodily sufferings, or labor as much soever as

ir 1

or THE FIRE-SIDE.

md floo
do yo
111 '* an
I to cry
? You
Lord,"
•o, ''by
all their
<^lil)ours
no, you
; world ;
13 world
t the in-
ve them
the tcn-

ofGod;
T neglect
:, of your
sirrht of
enor, as
i's com-
at your
will not
ou? It
idemned
will and
>es."
Now

natural
lat love
lits. Do

elt, you
esc dear

as ten-

oever as

you may for their temporal interests, yet if you fail to love
them as immortal creatures, your love is essentially dtfcc-
tivo. If you do not teach them *' to seek first the kingdom
of heaveJi and the righteousness thereof," your love is low,
spurious and false, and like all such love, will end fatally.
Indeed, if your love only aims at making them happy as
creatures of sense, in tin; possessing of earthly things, it
can hardly bo called rational; and is certainly far from
Christian or godlike. I hold no extravagant or fanatical
view on this; for I aflh-ni, that no loving parent will be
indiflerent to tho temporal happiness of his children — yot,
is he not in every sense the loving parent, who, while he de-
sires this, yet wishes above all, that those so dearto his heart
may be holy creatures, rich towards God, and heirs with
Christ of tho heavenly inheritance? Do you wish this with
intense longing of heart? do you labor earnestly for this?
then, indeed, is your love for your children comprehensive ,
pure and hujh. But if, on the other hand, there be no earn-
est desii-es of this sort, and no active personal eflbrts for their
salvation, are you not practically setting aside God's com-
mands to you as parents, forgetting your most solemn
responsibilities, and neglecting the eternal interests of your
childrtm? You may forget all this, but God will not forget
it. God will bring you into judgment, and reckon with
you for the neglect and abuse of your trust. And when
God calls you to give an account of this part of your
stewardship, may not the reckoning be a very terrible one?
The Divine conunand in efTect is : — " Bring up these children
for Me." So far from obeying this command you are bring-
ing them up, not for God, but for the world, and as far as
you are concerned in the business, they are likely to turn
out mere men of the world. Tiiis, to any one who has
even the fears of relif/ion about him, should be a painful
consideration.

But there is another consideration to which it may not
be improper to turn your thoughts for a moment. Your

i ,

mti^

ir ii

H! W

mi SABBATH SOnOOL

oninsiructed and unconverted children may be taken fVom
you in mrly life. I speak to parents who, altiiough very
undutiful to their children, are not wliolly indificrcnt to
tlioir eternal interests. What emotions think you would
you have were you to be called on within a week, to stand
by the death-bed of some one of your dear children, who
had to meet death with no preparation for it ? Have you
thought of this, or can you comprehend what a spectacle
it would bo to thy heart to see a beloved child die in a stato
of estrangement from Ood ? Oh I how could your heart
endure this ? I can conceive that your natural affection
might be so strong at that hour, that you could almost saj
«8 David did : — " would to God that I could die for thee"
my child. But this may not be. It is your child that Qod
calls to die, and while you look on the last struggle, shall
conscience whisper, that you have done nothing to teach
him how to die in the Lord ? What a thought I — the sting
of death is m his soul, at least you fear this, for you never
led him to the Saviour, who alone can take away this. If
any parent who reads this shall have to witness a beloved
child thus dying shall he not feel, that tlio trial has in it
something far more bitter than the mere bitterness of death?
It is one of the strange inconsistencies so common, that a
man who has not embraced Jesus for his owa salvation,
would, nevertheless, at such a moment as has now been
referred to,^ give the whole world if he could, to see his
darling boy or girl die in the hope of the Gospel. In the
mysterious dispensations of God, even dutiful parents have
not always witnessed this; but how can they who are ut-
terly careless about the souls of their children ever expect
to see it? If you would see your children die in the hope
of the Gospel, lead them in the days of health to tiio
Saviour.

"The heart knoweth its own bitterness," and often the
nearest friend as little as the stranger can understand iL
But tbia^ all men who have conscience, know that the an-

I'lliii

Of Tni riRK-BIDI..

m fVom
;h very
,Tcnt to
. would
to stand
;n, who
ftvo you
ipcctoclo
1 a state
ur heart
aflcctioa
nost say
br thee"
^hat God
^le, shall
to teach
the sting
)u never
this. If
beloved
iias in it
f death 7

that a
alvation,
)w been

see his

In the

nts have

are ut-

r expect

le hope

to the

)ften the
stand it
the an*

fuishof remorse is far more terrible than any natural grief.
What must be the remorse of that parent, who, as he stands
by the grave of a child, or by his aeath-bod, is compelled to
own to himself, that while he taught his child all other
things with great diligence, ho utterly neglected to teach him
the truths of tho Gospel. Ami as he now stands by the
grave and reflects that all is ended in time, and all for the
soul fixed in eternity ; — who can tell the fears and remorse
of that parent's bosom ? The mere man of tho world may
have great sorrow, for he may have keen natural aflections
as ho also stands by the grave of a beloved child ; but as he
cannot have the consolation of tho faithful christian, so
neither can' he have the terrible sorrow felt by the carelci
professor, whose conscience at such a place tells him that ha
allowed his child to live land die fearfully ignorant of the
great end of his being, and of the Saviour of sinners. I do
not say — Gou forbid that I should — that the children of
such parents are never saved. Even in the child of Jero-
boam " There was found some good thing towards the Lord
God of Israel," and assuredly many of the Saviour's lambs
have been gathered into His fold from godless homes. Others
than their parents may have led them to the Saviour. Let
us hope whenever we can hope. But then what is- this to
tho careless parent who utterly failed in his duty to the soul
of his child ? As far as his eSbrts were concerned in the
matter, where can he find ground for hope^ or ground for
an approving conscience? He can only have one feeling in
the matter, a painful conviction that he cruelly failed to do
his duty to one near and dear to him, and now he cannot
speak one word that will be heard, for the ear is sealed in
death, and the condition of the soul is unalterably fixed.

It is only the believer in Jesus, who can have hope at
death, and he may, indeed, have hope in the various forms
in which it affords comfort to the dyin^. Now it has been
shewn that the parent who has been faithful to the souls of
his children, may have precious consolation in parting with

I|:

I4i'ii

hi -

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

thorn at death. But the undutiful parent cannot find this
consolation. To God he liav«; never directed them for
guidance and support; nor is it hkely that now he can, in
lively faith, direct them to the source of all consolation, or
that he shall be able in faith to leave them on the arm of
God. Such a man, if rich in the wealth of the world, will
be able to leave them earthly wealth ; but if he has left
their souls devoid of sacred knowledge, while they were
under his care, and cannot now leave them the abiding influ-
ence of a godly example, he leaves them poor indeed. The
provision he has made for them, is no suitable provision for
the duties, temptations and trials of life. At a dying hour
he may have a painful conviction of this, but a still more
painful conviction, that it is now too late to repair his fear-
ful neglect.

Under any cii'cumstancos, it is a solemn thing to lie
down to die, and for the last time to look round you, on all
you are about to leave. What a strange farewell must that
be, when the heart is taking its leave of objects dear to it,
and long cherished by it, and which are to be seen no more
on earth? The emotions of such an hour can only be
known to the dying — nor can they utter what they feel,
when the last look is given, or the hand held out for the
last time. But who can begin to form any notion of what
a parent's feelings must be, if he has somewhat just views of
the realities of eternity, when taking the last look of god-
less children around his bed ? True, if he has a conscious-
ness that he has no interest in Christ, the f(>arful future that
awaits his own soul must be the awfully engrossing
thought; yet, if at this moment he realizes, with some
clearness, his responsibilities to those whose spiritual inter-
ests he has cruelly neglected, will not this give a pecuUar
intensity to the ment^al anguish which he feels ? Conscience
speaking clearly, must at such a moment, give a strange and
terrible meaning to the emotions of the departing soul.
For we assume, that the undutiful parent knows that he

find this
them for
lie can, in
(lation, or
le arm of
orld, will
) has left
ley were
ing influ-
■cd. The
vision for
^ing hour
still more

his fear-

OP THE PIRE-SIDE.

has been, to a sad extent, unfaithful in that he is now ffoinjr
to the bar of his God to account for the trust committed
to him Farther we do not follow him, but would turn to
you who are still in the vineyard where work can be done
-who are still in a condition to realize responsibility, so as
to give It salutary effect, —awake then, oh, parents ! to a
cense of your responsibilities ;-'' work while it is day," and
so work, that through the grace of God, you may escape the
fearful condemnation of those in whose skirts shall be found
at the day of judgment, the t)lood of the souls of their
dmoreo.

ng to lie
ou, on all
must that
iear to it,
I no more

only be
hey feel,
it for the
1 of what
! views of
k of god-
lonscious-
iture that
n grossing
'ith some
ual inter-

pcculiar
onscience
I'ange and
Ling soul.
3 that he

ik i

IHl. SABBATH SOEOOb

PA.IIT SECOISTD.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL OF THE CONGREGATIOK
AS IT OUGHT TO BE.

Having now given my views somewhat fully on ther
Sabbath School of the Fireside, I proceed to tue next
branch of the subject — viz,: the Sabbath School of the
Congregation. It is not my intention to go into details err
this; but merely to lay down certain general principles, and
briefly illustrate them.

CHAPTER I.

THI ORIGIN AND GREAT NEED OF OUR MODERN SABBATB

SCHOOL SYSTEM.

There are few men of piety, at the present day, wha
will oppose Sabbath Schools The time, however, has not
long gone past, when many persons of undoubted piety
were unfriendly to this mode of giving religious instruction
to the young. The opposition of these men was, of course,
from no hostile feeling to the spiritual instruction of the
young; but arose from the conviction, that this sort of
instruction could bo better given by parents than by any
others. Now, it' all parents were faiih/ul to tli»

or THB OONGBSaATIOK.

ipiritual interests of their children, the ground thtis assumed
would be every way safe, for no one will doubt, that if
the Sabbath School of the Fireside were properly con-
ducted, there would be little need for the Sabbath
School of the Congregation. It were, indeed, a happy day
for the Church, if every house were a little Bethel in which
children were prepared, by parental teaching, for the higher
and fuller instruction of the Pulpit. But the theory of
these good men was false, inasmuch as they assumed, that
parental fidelity was commensurate with parental respon-
sibility. It is needless to say, that this is far from being the
true condition of things throughout the Christian world in
our day. Many professing Christians, it must be owned
with grief and shame, have not the disposition, even did they
possess the ability, fuUy^ to instruct their children in Divine
things. It is true, were there no family religion, there
could not be congregational piety to sustain a Sabbath
School — for the piety of the congregation is, after all, but the
collective piety of its families. Yet, it were unjust and
unwise to affirm that because in many families piety is low,
and religious instruction consequently neglected, there is
no sufficient amount of Christian worth in the Church, by
which public efforts can be made, in some measure, to
counteract the evils of private neglect. It will admit of no
question, that this neglect, as to the religious education of
children, is very great. Whether these persons are more or
less than nominal Christians, I shall not stop to enquire ; it
is enough for our present purpose to say, that in their houses
there is no Fireside Sabbath School. Men of true piety, as
they could not fail to see this, felt it to be their bounden
duty to try and do sometliing for the souls of the children
of these careless parents. Christian love could not permit
them to say, this is no business of theirs. They felt, and
felt truly, that if parents neglect to care for the souls of
their children, those who love the souls of all were bound to
do what they could to aid these neglected little onea You,

100

TnE SABBATn scnooti

-i:

Jiiiiiid

I '

therefore, perceive that nefjled on the one hand and
christian love on the other, led to the estabUshment of ouf
modern system of Sabbath Schools. Were piety in the
Church sufficiently powerful to give parental responsibility
its due force, this benevolent eflbrt would not be needed ;
and yet, were the piety of the Church extrenieiy low, the
eflfort could not be made. Not to speak it paradoxically,
our modern Sabbath School Institution is at once the glory
and reproach of the Church. And one cannot but hope
that the time may come, when, if properly conducted,
it will destroy itself by so elevating the piety of the Church,
that each parent will become tiie able and zealous teacher
of hia own children. Surely this were a consummation
devoutly to be wished, and none can wish it more ardently
than the most enlightened friends of the Sabbath School.
But he is not very well enlightened as to the condition of
our modern Christianity, who fancies that we can as yet
dispense with the aid of the Sabbath School, If the
condition of innumerable christian families forbids this, it is
needless to say, that the condition of those families in which
there is no religious instruction whatever, utterly forbids it
if their children are to be at all cared for. If the Church
could but ill do without the Sabbath School, what would
become of the world without it ?

Men of piety and rcllection had long behold, with grief
and alarm, great numbers of the young growing up in
ignorance of God, and of the end of their being. It W{i3
felt by these men, that such a state of things must, in every
way, prove ruinous. But to utter lamentations over the
evil, they saw would never cure it. in short, they saw
that the evil iiuist be al)atcd, — and as a means to this, they
Bet about establishing Sabbath Schools. It was supposed,
and not without reason, that unless something were done
m this way co secure a better religious training for the
young, all true piety would gradually decay in thv. Church.
This conviction did not come a moment too soon, nor wa»

OF THE CONGREGATIOK.

101

the effort made before it was pressingly called for. But if
it was seen that something must be done to supplement
parental labor within the Church, it was still more clearly
Been that this agency was most urgently required for those
without the Church. When men began to look narrowly
into the matter, it was found that vast multitudes were
growing up in christian countries in a state of entire aliena-
tion from the visible Churchy and that they, as might be
expected, were nearly as ignorant of the true God and of
Jesus Christ, as if they had been born in heathen lands. It
was, indeed, chiefly to meet, to some partial extent, the
clamant wants of this wretched class, in secular as well as
in religious education, that the first public Sabbath Schools
were set up by benevolent men in England and America.

It is pleasing to think that at least the outward means
for this has been very extensively secured. The Sab-
bath School Institution is one of the grand institutions
of our times. For there is no section of the Church now
without this instrumentality — indeed, scarcely any congre-
gation can now be found without a Sabbath School. Surely
all this is so far well ; — for no one can doubt that these
innumerable Schools for the religious training of the young,
are all doing something for the spiritual good of the Church,
and the safety of the world. But as this is among
instrumentalities, a new power in the Church, it should be no
matter of wonder that if along with much good it is
accomplishing, there should, nevertheless, be found imper-
fections in the working of the system that greatly lessen the
good that might reasonably be expected from it. Now, it
surely ougiit to be the wish of every friend of religion that
our Sabbath School system should be made as efficient as
possible for accomplishing the greatest amount of good.
Let no one doubt that this is such an institution now which,
if not wisely wrought, may not only fail to produce the
good expected, but will be sure to producv^ great evils. As
you admit the Sabbat'i School to be in our times an indi«-

102

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

■'■;-li

pensible instrument for the religious training of children, s»
you must never forget that it is, in a sense, a new power in
the Church, which the friends of Jesus should labor so to
direct that it shall ever yield benefits. It is, indeed, a
stupendous power. It is the thorough conviction of this
that induces the writer of these pages, in addition to what
he has said on domestic religious training, to oflTer a few
thoughts with the view of improving our Sabbath Schools.
If he knows his own heart, these thoughts are offered from
the simple wish that the Sabbath School may become, in the
highest degree, efficient for bringing up the young in the
fear of the Lord ; — hence he is surely warranted to look for
the sympathy and candid judgment of all persons of piety,
in what he is about to state in as far as the views to be stated
are found to be in accordance with truth and soberness.

Before, however, proceeding to do this, it may be well
to correct a common error on the origin of religious congre-
gational instruction. Although the Sabbath School in its
present form is, as has been hinted, but of late origin, the
same thing, although in a different form, was very ancient.
It is, therefore, quite a mistake to suppose that the Church
never felt her responsibility for the religious training of
children till some fifty or sixty years ago. It is well known
that in very early times there were classes of catechumens
in all the cities of the East. The object in these classes was
to give such a course of instruction to Inquirers on the es-
sential doctrines of Christianity, as would fit them for ad-
mission into the Church by baptism. For those who were
passing over from heathenism to Christianity, this was a
wise and safe expedient. This ancient institution was con-
ducted under different forms in different ages and countries;
but its object was ever the same — preparation for enquirers
in entering the Church. But when a community became
generally christianized, it is easy to see that the greater part
of the catechumenical class would be the children of pro-
fessing christians. Hence whether tliis class met on the

«r THB CONGRBOATIOir.

103

Sabbath or no, it is plain it would hold to the ancient
<jhurch nearly the same relation that the Sabbath School or
th'* i3ible class does to the Church in our day. Indeed,
when the Church has been faithful to her Lord, she has
never failed in one form or other to give religious instruc-
tion to the young. Did she fail in this, she would fail in
one of her special duties.

I. THE RELATION OF THE CLERGY TO THE SABBATH SCHOOL

INSTITUTION.

" Feed my Lambs "was one of the last commands given
\>j the Saviour. And although Peter was more specially ad-
dressed vvrhen the command was given, in order to mark his
restoration to his Master's favour, still, it is plain the com-
mand was not intended merely for him, but for all tho
Apostles ; — nor for the Apostles of Christ only, but for aU
His ministers till the end of the world. How absurd to
suppose, that this command could be peculiar to Any class
of Pastors, or any age of the world ? It is a command to
all that feed the flock of Clirist. There is, nevertheless,
abundant reason to fear, that many who have in good
measure realized the force of the command to feed the
flheep, have not at all, in the same degree, felt its force, to
feed the Lambs of the flock. It is dangerous to narrow,
and still more dangerous to mutilate any of God's com-
mands. It is surprising, that the command to preach the
Gospel has so generally been supposed to have its chief ref-
erence to grown up persons, and but very little reference to
the children of the church. If t|Pbc tacitly held, the conse-
quence will be, that Pastors will^actically neglect to preach
the gospel to the young. Hence, the Lambs will not be
fed. It is by Divine truth that souls are fed. To commu-
nicate this is the grand function of the ministers of religion ;
but he who utterly neglects to give a suitable portion v^
the joung, is so far unfaithful to his trust. It will not be

if-'-

■i

104

THE SABBATn SCHOQXi

inferred, after what lias been saitl, that I think the -whole
of the responsibility or labour in this, or even the chief part,
devolves on the Pastor of a congro{^ation. Parents occupy
the first position here as to responsibility, and should be tho
chief labourers. Yet, is not the command "feed my
Lambs" addressed also with peculiar force to ministers?
He who neglects this is no true successor of the Apostles.
Men of their spirit must ever feel the force of that tender
command, "feed my Lambs." No minister of Christ
ought to neglect this, or allow it tp sink into a piece of cold
formalism.

The Church of Rome boasts tliat she has ever had her
class of catechumens, and ever has, as a church, been atten-
tive to the reUgious instruction of the young. It must bo
confessed, that for a long time many Protestant churches
could make no such boast. I shall not attempt to strike
tho balance of disadvantage betwixt the neglect of the com-
mand — "Feed my Lambs" — in Protestant churches, and
the wretched attempt to give effect to it amidst the formal-
ity and superstition of the Romish communion. It is of the
genius of Protestantism, that when living piety is gone,
certain institutions cease ; but Romanism has the art of long
feigning life in dead forms. The boast of Romp, that she
has ever been careful of the religious training of the young,
would indeed be to her honour, were it true, that she has
ever communicated to them the saving doctrines of the
gospel. To feed the minds of the young with fables and
superstitious rites, and to feed their souls with "the sincere
milk of the Word," are Ibings as widely different in their
nature as they are seen^Hj^j in their effects. Let it never-
theless be observed, that ifce Romish Church falls to com-
municate to her catechumplg a knowledge of the gospel, she
is at least eminently successful in binding them in strong
attachment to her communion, through their fears, fancy
and early associations. The influence of the priest, in the
coafessional, is, in no small degree, to be traced to the iuJ^*

OF THE CONOREGATiOy.

106

and

•nee he acquires over the yoiinj^ as their spiritual instructor..
Might it not be well for the Protestant Pastor, who.
complains of the Avant of le;:;itiniate influence over the old, to.
enquire how far he ivas in his duty in seeking this over
them when young, by a faitliful and aflectionate attention
to their si)iritual instruction? Those who liave taught us
first to believe and to hope, must ever have a strong hold
on our esteem. But, if Protestant ministers have not this
hold on the affections of tlio young, it is difficult to see how
the church can at all gain it ; for plainly, she has no means
to knit their heart to her communion, by appeals to imagi-
nation through the senses. When the church, at the Re-
formation abandoned this, she took the far higher ground
of professing to deal directly Ayith the soul, by the simple
truth of God, presented to the understanding and con-
science. This is the only ground for those to take who
believe God to be a spirit, and wlio profess to believe that
those who worship Ilim aright " must worship Him in
spirit and in truth." But let it be observed — for it is a
necessary consequence of this — that when piety decays in.
the Protestant church, and the clergy cease to have any
hold on the hearts of the young as their early friends and
instructors, they naturally drop off from all connection with
the body to which their parents belong. Admit that there
is a connection with the church that yields no spiritual
benefits, still it is mournful to see the young openly go over
to the world, become indifferent to the very forms of relir-
gion, and it may be, end as scoflfers at true godliness. To
what extent clerical neglect to tl^jfiaviour's command may
have led to this, is a question wjiPn never can be definitely
answered; and yet, is there VL^i matter for the gravest
thought to all who are conscious of blame in this? The
fact at least will admit of no dispute, that during the latter
half of the last century, multitudes in various parts of
Christendom, virtually ceased to have any connection with
^e visible church. It is impossible to over estimate th^

106

THK 8ABBAT0 BCHOOL

lamentable consequences of the entire desertion of reK-
gious ordinances. The young man who is but a formal
•dherent, ia doing no good in the church, and certainly
reaping but little ; yet, when he finally turns his back on
the house of God, he severs the last moral ties that bound
him to what was good, and henceforth stands peculiarly ex-
posed to every temptation to evil. Let it be assumed that
•other causes were at work, still was not the neglect of the
ministers of religion as to the spiritual education of the
young, one of the chief causes in swelling the ranks of the
world with recruits from the visible church ? Why should
Pastors wonder to see their flocks thin, if they utterly neg-
lect to tend the lambs ?

It is cheering to believe that within the age of men still
living, spiritual religion in the Church has been revived.
On many barren spots refreshing showers have fallen.
Whatever other means the Spirit has employed, none can
doubt tbat the increased attention to the religious training
of the young, has been made instrumental to this revival of
rehgion in many parts of Protestaijt Christendom ; — or may
we infer that the revival which the Spirit began, has pro-
duced this as one of its most blessed fruits ? There is at least
a remarkable connection in time, and more than a fortuitoua
coincidence betwixt the revival of religion in the present
■century, and greater attention to the religious education of
the young during the same period, wherever the revival has
borne marks of being a work of God. In this, as in other
things, there may be action and reaction betwixt cause and
jeflect. But be that as l|anay, it were not wise to overlook
the connection betwixt the spiritual training of the young,
and an increase of piety in some parts of the Church. In-
deed the Minister who would have a revival that shall be
deep and lasting, must give earnest heed to the Saviour's
command — "Feed my Lambs."

Godly ministers have in one way or other, ever striven

(o give elTect to tliis command.

Even during seasons

or TBI OOKQIUCaATIOV.

lOT

of reB-
\ formal
jertainly
back on
it bound
iarly ex-
ncd that
[jt of the
[) of the
cs of the
y should
rly neg-

men still
revived.
3 fallen,
done can
training
evival of
—or may
has pro-
s at least
3rtuitoua

present
cation of
vival has
in other
ause and
overlook
e young,
ch. In-

shall be
Saviour's

r striven
asons of

great indifferency, faithful men never lost sight of their ob-
ligation to watch for the souls of the young. It is a mia-
take to suppose that in our Sabbath School Institution wo
are to look for the first modern manifestation of clerical
fidelity to this great duty ? It is not generally known that
long before Sabbath Schools were heard of, godly minis-
ters in different sections of the Church, were in the habit of
caUing the children of the congregation together, before or
after public worship, to catechise them on Christian doc-
trine. While others, by pastoral visitations to private
houses, attended to the same duty at stated times. It was
indeed by this latter method, that many faithful men in a
quiet way, not only followed, the apostolic example " of
preaching from house to house," but also met the Saviour's
command to feed the Lambs of the flock. It is impossible
to gay how far pastoral visitations, and the catechising of
the young in private, may have kept true piety alive in
many corners of the Church. Indeed, were parental in-
struction given as it ought, under faithful pastoral super-
vision, there would be little need for Sabbath School in-
struction for the children of professing christians.

But be it done as it may, it is obvious that the great work
of instructing the young in divine things, never can be well
done unless the pastors of the Church take the direct supervis-
ion of it. I cannot express the strength of my conviction
that the success of the Sabbath Scliool as a spiritual semi-
nary, depends mainly on the efforts of the clergyman. And
feeling strongly as I do on this, I shall take leave honestly
to express my sentiments. First, — that Ministers may be
stirred up to a livelier sense of their responsibility to see
that the Sabbath .School system is wrought in a way that
shall nourish the piety of the Church :^ — and next, that lay-
men may feel more deeply the need of clerical influence and
guidance in their labors in the Sabbath School. It ought,
indeed, to be clear to all persons of reflection, that the ig-
norance and irreligion with which the Sabbath School ig

';,:itil

i' ''I

I Kill III

108

THE SAUDATn SCHOOL

now prapplinpf, will never bo removed; uiiles.s those who
aro Riu'oi.'illy iippointed l»y God to wateh for souls, shall
enter lienrtily into the work. Surely no intelli^'ent and
conseientious Minister will eall this in (pu'stion. Would to
God then, that all {\w watehnien upon Zion's walls would
watch over the Sal)l)ath School as those that Imve to givo
lionoimt of what is done in this, as well as in other depart-
ments of spiritual lalior. Itcaiuiot bedis^^uised that if Min-
isters fail m this part of their duties, reli^non in our day can-
not prosper in their congrefrations. Nor should any ono
conclude that because the neglect of this duty, or its care-
less performance, may not involve him in any grave censure
that his sin is little in the sight of God. !My brethren do not
be displeased with me because I thus speak. The Sabbath
School is now much to the Church ; — but then the Sabbath
School is in your hands to bo made every way a mighty in-
strument for good, if you manage it .with wisdom and zeal;
but if you neglect it, or manage it ill, it will prove, be as-
sured of it, either a sad want, or a terrible engine of mis-
chief.

But the truth is, the Sabbath School had from the
criminal neglect of pastors, as well as parents, become a
terrible necessity. Ignorance and irrehgion among the
rising generation had assumed so fearful an aspect in many
parts of the world, that pious men saw no way so feasible to
abate the evil, as by the establishment of this institution.
But if the need of it was great, very great benefits have
already flowed from it. These, however, should only be
regarded as iU first fruitt. Nor need the Church expect to
reap the full harvest of benefits from the Sabbath School,
unless the Ministers of religion exercise over it a wise and
Bcalous supervision. If this were done, then might the
Sabbath School indeed be instrumental in giving to the
Church that elevated piety by which she may be prepared
|br the conversion of the world. I repeat it, there must bo
for the efficiency of the Sabbath School, a holy and vigor-

109

0ti8 clerical influence. Clerical influence wliich aims "at
lording it over (Jod's lieritage," ou^'ht to ho resisted as
every way pernicious. But the lej,Mtitnate iiillucnco of a
faithful cltTjry, ia an indisponsihle and wholesome element
in every .scheme of christian eflort. That the enemies of
religion oliould greatly dislike this kind of inllucncc, is easily
undjrstoud ; but it is not so easy to understand the aversion
which is often manifested to it, even by professing chris-
tians. These persons do not seem to know, that to sink
their Ministers to the more place of teadiers, by depriving
them of all the means to rule and guide, were to make them
very ineflicent teachers. If they are to have the place as-
eigned them by our Lord, then their inniience to direct in all
moral and spiritual matters ought to bo very high, and if
they arc tru(^ servants of Christ they will have prudence and
humility to prevent them making any ill use of their power.
I have touched the more fully on this because of .in opinion
Bomewhat extensively held, that Sabbath Schools may
be very well managed by the laity, although the clergy
Bhoulcl take little or no care of them. If there bo special
cases in which this is true, it is not so much a compliment
to the luity as a heavy disj)aragemcnt to the clergy.

I am fiir from thinking, however, that the Minister
can, in ordinary cases, pcribrm the (hiies of a Sabbath School
teacher. His other duties on the Lord's day in general, oc-
cupy all his time, and assuredly exhaust all his energies.
But the thing desiderated is, — that his induence shall thor-
oughly pervade every department of the Subbath School
operation, and that he shall animate and guide, Jay his zeal
and wisdom, both teachers and pupils. The faithful Pastor
who acts thus, may be said to feed the Lambs of the flock,
although he never sits down to take the charge of a class.

2. THE RELATION OF THE LAITY TO THE SABKATII SCHOOL SYSTEM.
TUEIR FITNESS — UNFITNESS — FAILURE.

But if the pastor of the congrc :"ation should occupy a

110

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

I; '' I

;fif

high place in this field of labor, the ordinary teachers as-
suredly do not occupy a low place. They are co-workers
with him: yea, are they not co-workc r3 with God? For if
they labor with ability and fidelity in their classes, they are
eminently the benefactors of the Church. Were it needful,
nothing were more easy than to furnish abundant proofs of
the great good these laborers accomplish. It is but speaking
soberly to say, that "they stand betwixt the living and the
dead" to stay the plague of sin in the world, and j)revent
the decay of piety in many corners of the Church. It is no
extravagance to say, that many who have taught the prin-
ciples of the gospel in Sabbath Schools, will appear at
the day of judgment with "souls as their crown of re-
joicing." There is no honor so great as that of saving souls,
and no joy so pure to the christian mind as this must af-
ford. Shall not this honor and joy be the portion of many
Sabbath School teachers? In the day of the Lord it may
be found that many of these laborers may have been more
successful in winning souls to the Saviour than some who
have been gifted with great endowments, and occupied high
positions in the Church? "Not by might, nor by power,
but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts," is a truth, when
applied to the conversion of souls which we never deny, and
yet in practice, how apt are we to forget it. It is even so, my
friends, that in the estimation of men, and in the sight
of God " the first may be last, and the last first." If
God, ordinarily as it seems, employs men highly gifted
as his instruments in conversion, yet, as this is so peculiarly
the work qf His Spirit, so it would appear, He sometimes
employs the feoble, that the work may be seen not to be of
man, but of God. Hence, many who never had any other
corner in the vineyard than a Sabbath class, may appear at
last before tiie Throne, with not a few whom they were
instrumental in leading to Jesus.

The conversion of the young is what these obscure,
t>ut most useful labourers seek; and when they hav«

OF THE COKGREaATIOK.

Ill

lers as-

workers

For if

they are
needful,
proofs of
ipeaking
and the
})revent
It is no
iie prin-
ppear at
n of re-
ng souls,
must af-
of many
d it may
en more
»me who
oied high
r power,
th, when
leny, and
;n so, my
he sight
•St." If
y gifted
leculiarly
>metimes
t to be of
ny other
ippear at
ley were

obscure,
ley have

any evidence of this, they have a joy incomparably higher
than that of the men of the world "when their
corn and their wine abound." It is enough to them
—what more can their heart desire? — that God
makes them his instruments in accomplishing "c«:ults over
which angels rejoice, and to achieve which was the highest
honour and joy of a Paul. He that forgets that the con-
version of souls is the great business after which he should
aim in his class,— had he the highest gifts possessed by any
creature, — would but labour in vain, tand all his gifts be " as
sounding brass and a tinkling symbal." Whatever duties
God may assign to the redeemed in heaven, assuredly the
task of converting souls is the highest to which He can ap-
point any creature in this world. But now, if the Sabbath
School teacher is labouring faithfully to communicate saving
knowledge to the young children under his care, this is the
very task in which he is engaged. The training which a
child receives in such a class, may contribute in many ways
to make him useful and happy in life ; but while the teacher
never overlooks this, yet, the grand wish of his heart is,
that the child may be happy through eternity. This is what
he aims at, — he can be satisfied with nothing less tl.an this.
High indeed is the position of the Sabbath School teacher
who keeps this grand end steadily in view. With the Bible
in his hand, and a inind in jome measure capable of unfold-
ing its truths, he is teaching to the Httle children around
him lessons incomparably higher than any ever taught by
the wisest of heathen sages. And when these lessons are
received in faith, he achieves triumphs which will last
through eternity. The woild never knows who are its
grandest labourers, and indeed the church may understand
but imperfectly who the persons are that should be most
honoured; but in heaven it will be well understood, that
those who were most instrumental in saving souls were the
greatest benefactors that man had on earth. Now this is
the sujpremQ ohjeci with tlie pious Sabbath School teacher.

112

■*niE SABBATH SCHOOL

He may teach much indirectly, as we have hinted, which
"ehall be of great service to the temporal well-being of those
tinder his care; yet, all this he will regard as very subordi-
nate to the great business of teaching sinners their guilt,
depravity and helplessness under sin ; and of shewing them
tt Saviour every way suitable to their case. The Sabbath
School teacher who zealously aims at this can hardly fail
to enlighten young minds with saving knowledge. This is
indeed but giving eHect to the old command, " Train up a
child in the way in which he should go." The Sabbath
School teaching which seeks to accomplish this, may bo
iBomewhat novel in the form by whiuh -t does it; yet it is
eimply a return to the oiyinmand of God given of old.

As God makes use often of indirect instrumentalities
for the advancement of His kingdom of grace, I will not
eay that such teachers as only aim at lowei' ends than the
conversion of their pupils, do no sort of good. Unques-
tionably some good is done when the outcasts of society
are taught to respect the Lord's day, and are made acquaint-
ed with even the simplest moral truths. Yet, it must bo
confessed, if nothing moi'c is accomplished, little is " jne for
the snl vat ion of the soul, or the si)iritualgood of the church.
The teacher who loves the Saviour, while he is glad that
he can do any good to his pupils, will never be satisfied,
until he has some evidence that he has done something
which may be for their eternal good. It is their conver-
sion to Jesus that he seeks. For this, he gathers in the
neglected f"om their godless homes; — lor this, he earnestly
wrestles with God in secret, and for this he labours by in-
etruction, warning and entreaty, when he fits face to face
with his young charge. He leels when he looks at them
as if he saiv Jesus holx'nig at Jn'in, and heard Him saying,
bring these little children to me, that 1 may take them up
into my arms and bless them. And every time that ho
Bits down to instruct them, he feels as if he heard Jesus
raying: — Tell them of God as the Father of Mercies ; tell

or THE CONGREGATION.

113

of those

iubordi-

ir guilt,

ig them

Sabbath

rdly fail
This is

ain up a

Sabbath

may bo

yet it ia

)ia.

eiitalitiea
will not
than tho
Unques-

)f society

acquaint-

must bo

■ jne for

10 church,
glad that
satisfied,

lomething
r convcr-
rs in the
earnestly
Irs by in-
;o to face
at them
m saying,
them up
that ho
ird Jesus

•cieS ;

tell

iJiem of the one Mediator betwixt God and man; tell them
t)f their duties, of their hopes, and of heaven as their home.
Oh, is not this the feeling that should animate the bosom of
every Sabbath School teacher, and if each thus felt, what
efforts would be made for the spiritual good of his scholars ?
But then, the teachers who can thus realize the true
end of their vocation, and feel their responsibility to the
€Ouls of those under their care, must be persons of earnest
piety. No doubt of it But much as this may be vished,
it is asked despondingly, where shall the Church find asup-^
J)ly of such teachers for the work she has now to do? That
question may not be easily answered, but if the Church has
mo satisfactory answer to give to it, the work in her Sab-
bath Schools can neveT be well done. Persons of piety can
alone do this work The notion that any person of a good
moral character may do for a Sabbath School Teacher, is an
error that is producing unutterable evils. The Church is
bound to look to this, — and in looking into this matter she
may find that her Sabbath School Teachers have often been
appointed to their difficult task without any sufficient consi'-
deration of the spiritual qualification which it requires. To
euppose that frivolous and worldly persons can do any good
as Sabbath School Teachers, is a point on which it is &d
needless as it were painful to ppeak. Experience fully illus^
trates what the Avord of God plainly teaches — that those
only can teach the evil and danger of sin who are true peni-
tents ; and that those only are likely to be successful in
leading souls to Jesus, who have embraced Him as the
Saviour of their own souls. Do not tell me that God can
work with any instruments, for this is not a safe way of
talking in this ca;-;o. If avc act wisely we will in this, as in
otlier things, not speculate on what God can do, but what
Ilis word and the ordinary course of Ilis providence war*
rant us to expect IIo will do in the conversion of sinners.
Now, if this viev/ be taken, — and why should it not? — the
obvious conclusion is, that those who know the Lord and

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

11:

love Him, and love the souls of their fellow-creatures, ara
the persons suitably qualified to lead wanderers to the fold
of the Shepherd of souls.

Now let tlio question be candidly answered : — Has thd
Church exercised a due caution and a holy jealousy in the
appointment of her Sabbath School Teachers ? On this I
wish to speak with forbearance and tenderness ; yet I fear
truth will compel us to own, that to a groat extent — it is
impossible to say how far — the chikh'on of the Church, as
well as the children of irreligious parents, have been placed
for spiritual tuition under the care of persons who have
given no evidence of a Christiaai qualification suitable for so
weighty a trust. No enlightened friend of religion can fail
to see that such Teachers have been sadly marring that
great Christian enterprise, which is so dear to the hearts of
the friends of the Redeemer. I stop not to ask, what the
motives of persons clearly unsuitable may have been for
taking part in this work ? It is enough to say, tlip t apart
from other deficiencies, if their motives be " of the earth
earthy," they never can be efficient laborers in the Sabbath
School. "With no uncharitableness, but in simple bitterness
of sorrow, I must aver, that I believe the Church to be sin-
ning grievously, and suffering lamentably from the unwise
appointment of Teachers in her Sabbath Schools. Nor will
it do to reply, we would fain have the best Teachers, but
must in the meantime take such as we can find. This
apology is utterly unsatisfactory. In spiritual labour your
instruments may be so essentially defective, as in the end
to produce only mischief. You may be doing less than
little good, you may be doing much positive iiarm ; for,
remember, that not to teach truth to the young, is to teach
error, and it may be hopelessly alienate their minds from all
truth. You admit — and the illustration is apposite — that he
who preaches to men should, in addition to other acquire-
ments, have piety and enlightened zeal. Now you may use
what names you choose, but the fact is, the Sabbath Schooi

or THK CONGREOATIOir.

115

es, ara
ihe fold

Flas thd
in the

I this I
ill fear
at — it is
urch, as

II placed
ho have
)le for so
I can fail
•ing that
hearts of
\'hat tho
been for
ipt apart
he earth
; Sabbath
)itternes3
,0 besin-
ie unwiso

Nor will
hers, but

teacher ia really a preacher to his class, and very often the
only picacbor they hear. Bnt admit this, with all that it
invol\es, and •\vho can conlem[)late without extreme alarm,
vast numbers of ».hildrtn in our chiy hanOrd over for their
entire spiiitual instrucllou to the care of those, who have
neiilier the Uiiowlodgc, failh, patience nor love which this
work demands ?

I do not forc^et, that the ill informed teacher may have
the aid of books. Were information tlie sole or chief quali-
fication for his work, ho luiyht teach a great deal from
books. But knowledge is not all that lie needs. Nor must
we overlook tlie fact, that Ufitlier teacliers nor preachers
can find h substitute in the labours of otlK.TS for the want
of sanctilietl knowledge, connected with ardent piety, in
their own bosoms. It is the man of enliglitencd piety, who
can find true help from books for the instruction of other?.
It is such a man that can give Ufe to what he utters from
memory, or repeats from some manual. No one can have
failed to observe what wonderful meaning, not only for the
heart and conscience, but also for the understanding, may be
thrown into the explanation of a passage from the Bible,
the verse of a hymn, or an answer from the Catechism,
by the look, the tone, or the warm appeal of one whose en-
Ughtened mind is burning with love to Jesus. Is it not this
that gives a peculiar emphasis to the meaning of sacred
words, whether addressed to the young, or to the old ? But
then if the teacher be not a person of genuine piety, he can-
not thits thraio the tender and mysterious force of a deep
conscious feeling of the truth into the lessons he utters. He
may uttes nothing but the truth, yet this may be done so
formally and coldly, and with such an evident want of the
speaker's faith in what he says, that his statements will pro^
duce no good elTect on the yonug heart.

But let us take another view, in order to see how very
needful is high piety in Sabbath School teachers. It is weU
known that a great many attend these Schools, who re-

:\'l

116

THE BABBATH SCHOOL

ceive no religious instruction at home. This class should
indeed occupy the special care of our Sabbath Schools. But
then,' it is often said, it is better that such neglected children
should receive a little instruction, — even although very in-
difTerently given, — than none at all. This has no doubt somo
force in it ; still, it is obvious that this very class of children
stand specially in need of the very best spiritual supervision
the Church can furnish. The children of pious parents, if
they fare but ill in the Sabbath School, receive spiritual
nourishment at home. But ah, it is far different with tho
other class. "What words can express the moral Avretched-
tiess and truly forlorn condition of those poor children whoso
parents have never giv.en them one godly lesson, nor set
before them one pious example ? They do not come to
their teachers imperfectly taught — they are grossly ignorant
of even the rudiments of the christian faith, and in their
homes the imperfect lessons of the School are never supple-
mented by pious lessons at the fireside. All that they get
must be got from the Sabbath School teacher. Now, if
your heart bleeds for such neglected little ones, surely you
"will be ready to admit, that the most mature Christians in
the congregation, ought to be appointed to deal with these
very sad cases. And, methinks, that the most eminent
Christian needs to ask for no more interesting, more difficult,
or more honorable field of labor. They are all immortal
creatures, and ought they not to be objects in their
present condition, and with their future prospects, of
the liveliest compassion ? Nor should this compassion be
the less, that although they live within the pale of Chris-
tianity, yet they are immersed in a moral degrHJation as
great as almost any form of heathenism. The pious Sab-
batli School teacher is often the only friend of their soul.
And how truly godlike is his task, when he goes to tho
homes of these children and with sincere and tender words,
urges them to come to the Sabbath School to be taught the
way of salvation ? God sees these labours of love, and this

should
Is. But
jhildren
rery in-
bt somo
children
ervision
ircnts, if
spiritual
vith tho
retched-
in whoso
nor set
come to
ignorant
. in their
ir supple-
they get
Now, if
irely you
'istians in
rith these
eminent
e difficult,
immortal
in their
pects, of
)assion be
of chris-
^ation aa
ous Sab-
lielr soul.
s to tho
cr words,
aught the
and this

or THE CONGREaATIOir.

117

is enough for the labourers. Indeed, the commendation of
men, which such persons never seek, could be to them but
a small matter ; and yet, are they not well entitled to tho
most hearty commendation of the Church. They are not
missionaries to the heathen, but in many cases missionaries
to atheists. And if the honour of carrying the gospel to the
heathen be very great, the honour due to these men and
women is not little ; for assured!}'', their labour is not less
needed, and I will add, often not less trying to faith and
patience than that of the missionary to a pagan horde.
" The world knows them not," although they are its truest
benefactors; for if he who implants but one sound principle
in the heart of a fellow-creature be a friend to mankind, how
great a friend is he who labours year after year to enlighten
tlie darkened mind, and so to purify the polluted heart that
men may be useful and happy on earth, and happy with
God in Heaven ? A laborious, meek and humble Sabbath
School Teacher, who gathers up from the hedges and high-
ways of society the very offscourings of mankind, and then
labours patiently and lovingly without any earthly reward
to bring them to God that they " may be new creatures in
Christ Jesus," is indeed a grand character very mach needed
in our day. The children of Christian men may reap bene-
fits from such ; but the children of men of the world must,
humanly speaking, perish but for the help of such labourers.
These neglected children cannot be expected to come to hear
the gospel preached if left to the misguidance of their par-
ents ; and even if they did come to Church, but for the
labours pf the pious Sabbath School Teacher, they could
profit little from the services of the sanctuary. The Sabbath
School then, as matters now are, may be of great service to
the children of professors of religion, but is indispensible to
children of men of the world ; but its value for either will be
in proportio; to the earnest and ripe piety of those who
labor in it. The best plan, without piety, is no better than a
piece of fine machinery without its motive power. It it

18'

1-i ii,

? life I

lit

TBI SABBATH SCHOOL

indeed, the able man of God at the heart of any scheme thai
makes it productive of good. This in theory ia readily ad-
mitted, but as has been already hinted, ia but very
imperfectly carried out in practice in our Sabbath Schools.
But this has assuredly greatly impaired their ellicicncy, and
if the evil be not corrected, must lead to very ill conse-
quences.

If our Sabbath School teachers have hitherto been to
a great extent deficient in sacred knowledge, and more es-
pecially in earnest piety, vv^e need not wonder that the hopes
of the church have been but poorly realized. It is more
than a generation since the IViends of the Sabbath School
predicted that glorious results would flow from the nev^
Institution which the wisdom and piety of the age had set
up. That it has been a nui scry to the communion table, and
hastended'to keep piety alive in many parts of the Church,
we cheerfully a:lmit ; and yet it must be confessed with
grief, that when we take into account the many and vast
appliances which have been so long employed tliroughout
Protestant Christendom by this Institution, the expec tations
of good men from it have been but very partially realized.
I do not know that in any land the Church has witnessed
■uch a revival from its help as was at one time exjiected.
It is true, more time may be required for seeing its
full fruits, even according to its present management;
yet, I would take leave to ask, has there not been time
enough to prove its excellence as an auxiliary to the Church,
and also to reveal serious defects in its working? There is
no doubt, a sense in which we onglit to be thankful for any
little good that is done ; yet, if but little good be done by a
great system of means, it is neitlier wisdom nor gratitude to
rest satisfied with things as they are. In this case, either
the system is wrong, or we arc not working it rightly.
Th*^re is at least room for sober inquiry ; and surely those
who ardently love the Saviour, will desire to see Ilim glori-
fied, not in a few souls brought to Him ; but in many —

Or THE CONOREOATIOIf.

Tery many. This is indeed the feeling of all who truly love
<Jhe souls of their fellowmon. The heart of the Christian
longs to see tho followers of Christ "niuncroiis as tlie drops
of dew from the womb of the mojning." lie is jilad when
it can bo paid, one here and another there is bora again; yet
he would fain see all bronc>ht to Ihc loot of the (•ro>>. so that
Jesus "m;iy see of the travail of Ilis soul and be sati-Pied."
The best of men may have to weop in coiners and <;onfes8
that tlioy think they have laboured in vain, and s^pcnt their
strength for nought; yet, thoy wiTl not do this without
anxiou>ly and Ihiihrntly (;\V[nmi)g7iow/ar they have wisely
employed the best means for briuging souls to Jesus. Men
often complain that the Spirit is icslrainiug His influences
when they are either not wrestling Ciirno.^tly as thoy ought
for the aids of the Spirit, or are not widely employing the
means best fitted for the gxeat end tliey have in view. The
Christian who longs to see his Saviour glorified in the sal-
vation of sinners, and yet, sees apparently but little of the
real work of conversion going on, will not fail humbly, yet
earnestly to encpiire into the cause of this.

And now, my friends, is not this enquiry very much
needed in reference to tlie present condition of our Sabbath
Schools? It is a principle in common sense that there should
be a keeping betwij:t means and results, if the means arc
right and properly employed. It were to the last degree
unwise to permit complacent cant, or blind fanaticism to
divorce this principle Irom religion. But the means in the
Sabbath Scliool Institution have for a long time been every
way abundant. Tlioso Schools are now far more numerous
than all the conc'rep-ations of the visible Church: — the
Teachers may now be counted by tens of thousands, while
almost every School has a library, and for many years past
there have been many able and eloquent agents employed
in various countries to organize and direct the whole of this
vast apparatus of religious instruction for the young. So
tkat this is not only a new, but every way a vast poi^^er in

120

rnS SABBATH sonooL

} 1

the Church. Moreover, it must bo kept in mind, that alt
(heso means have been for a long time in full operation. It
is surely, then, in no carping spirit that one asks, has the
fruit been at all commensurate to the means ? If the candid
enquirer can find no satisfactory answer to this, it is surely
not uncharitable to suppose that had there not been some-
thing wrong — much wrong in the working of this system of
means, the results would have been much greater for the
spiritual good of the Church. Keeping in view the covenant
relationship betwixt Christ and His Cliurch, and the many
promises He has given, it seems a fair inference that if llicro
be much labour expended, and yet but little of the fruits of
piety visible, there is something faulty in the principles on
which our scheme rests, or something wrong in our motives
in carrying it on, or in our ordinary management of it.
Accurate statistics arc not possible, yet, something like an
approximation to truth may be made ; — now, I have seen it;
stated, on grounds apparently good, that not more than one
in fifteen of those who attend the Sabbath Schools in the
United States join the Church. If this statement be at all
near the truth, it presents a most painful result of the labour
in these Sabbath Schools; and I presume the Schools in
that portion of Christendom are just as well conducted as in
any other part. The intelligent Christian, however, will
perceive that there is another question of far more impor-
tance than even that of the numbers that pass from these
Schools to the communion table : — what is the kind of piety
with which these Schools are leavening the Church ? is in
fact the vital, the all important question. Assuming that
there has been time to test the efficiency of this new instru-
mentality in the Church, will its wise friends say that it has
dilFused through the Christian world that amount of sober,
humble and vigorous piety, which they had expected it to
yield ? I am not ignorant how difficult it is to arrive at a
satisfactory answer to this important question. Men — even
very good men—have very diifereat niodes of estimating;

■

or TOT CONGREOATIOW.

12t

that all
on. li

has tho
) candid
3 surely
I some-
stem of
for tho
ovenant
le many
if tlicro
fruits of
iplcs on
motives
nt of it.
g like an
e sceniti
than ono
3 in tho
)e at ali
e labour
hools in
cd as in
'er, will
impor'
tn these
of piety
? is in
ng that
instru-
at it has
: sober,
id it to
ve at a
I — even
imating

the amount of piety for a given period ; nor is this difTiculty
lessened in times when noiso and l)ustle are apt to be mis**
taken for stron;j[th and hoavon-'.vard progress. Indeed, God
only knows His true ones, as many of tliom " are oflen
hidden ones." It is, nevertheless, a fiict, that not a few
whom tlio Church regnrds as eminently wisiso and good, havo
painful mi?':;ivinf^s as to any great increase of genuine piety
for a considerable time past. Active eflbrtis tlie character-
istic of the age ; the piety of the Churcli, of course, partakes
of this; hence there is greater activity now than formerly,
in sending the gospel to the heathen, and in lessening tho
Bum of human misery on all hands, by benevolent efforts.
All this ought to be matter alike for thankfulness and hope.
And yet, does not the hope for future success in these grand
efforts depend on the soundness and depth of the principles
whence it springs ? If the Church is strong in faith and
love, then all our modern enterprises will increase in effiei-
cncy ; but depend on it if faith bo weak and love to tho
Saviour feeble, they will be broken up by party strife, or liko
the fashions of the world decay, and ere long vanish. It ia
painful to confess, that as to some of our great schemes there
are ominous signs of an unhealthy condition of feeling.

Let it be assumed that the Church has within the present
century been revived, still it holds true that had the cxpec-*
jtation of the fi-icnds of the Sabbath School been fully realized,
the revival v/ould have been /cw wore extensive, and its fruits
more abundant. You may admit with great satisfaction
that good has been done by this Institution ; and yet in no
gloomy and censorious temper of mind enquire, why more
good has not been done, or a broader foundation laid for
high hopes for the future? But even this view is not held
by all. There are men — and these not the ignorant or the
uncharitable — who affirm, that in proportion to numbers, wo
havo really less solid knowledge among the people, lesa
closet fellowship with God, and less sincerity of word and
deed than were found amojag the meu of a former generar-

11'
i
s ■

M! I

192

TBI SABBATH SCHOOL

tion, who Imd not the advantages of a Sabbath School
training. Every ojio must bi; awavo tliiit siidi coinpari8oni
•re on many gvoiind.s liiiMo to Hcrions oljcciioiis, and ara
peculiarly ofl'cDhivo to "llio diuiily lluit. liopi.'tli all tliingi
and belii'vclh all .iliiups," and one nioy add, soiiict'iTnos not
« little disagrccal ill! lo .sectarian Mid iiatioiiai iircdilcctions.
Let 8uoln;oniparisovis, tlicn, be Aviiolly ili>iiii,-se'd I r cm our
minds, or bold al a elu'a]> rale, a>^ we may vciy easily err in
comparing our til Mos whli tlie past. Yer, tlitro i.s a mode
of comparison wliidi is sure, easy and very nei'dlid; let ui
oompare oursdvos wiib tin- stan<hii(l (iod lias given. What
well-grouuilfd e\ iilcncc iiavo vo iluit prdrs.ving Clnistiani
in our day '"liaM' pul on ('Iirist'" more liilly ilian was done
by their latlicrs? l.hj we lind among (.'liiistians in general,
dear and extensive views of gospel tnilli, a readiness to
<X)ntend Ibr tla,' Iruilruf ilie gospel, a close walk with God
in secret, tnul a veiy mailxfd separation lioni tlie wold by
honest dealing, trnlli speaking, Kf>'laiely and sell-denial?
'The word oftJod Inrnislie?; a slandanl as to all this: — how
18 it with ns when tried by tbat .standard? Tlie question
with wliich we bave to iloisnot- -were fornier times ))eiter
than these, but a've our times? — ourQiristianity ebaracter-
ized by that high oiMer ol'piely ^vhiel^ the gospel requires,
and which our Kabl)atli School Institution with all its appli-
ances might bave warranted us to expect? If it has done
far more than its early opponcnits or lukewarm friends ever
counted on: yet, has it not failed to aoemiplish anything
like the amount of good its ardent friends had anticipated?
The intelligent C'hrit;| iun will ponder tliid ;.nd try t'O look al
it in its various practical Iteariiigv^.

There is, hosvever, one aspect of this question which it
supposed to lurnish an -easy and true solution to the above
inquiry. The liberality of the present age in sustaining
benevolent institutions, is held as conclusive evidence by
many of the higli piety of the Church. We have admitted
this liberality to bo a cheering phase of our modern Chris-

or THE CONQREOATTOIf.

128

tianity. Yet, while we accord nil tine praise — not so much
to tho rich who give thoir linnilrcds — as to the poor whd
give their two initos ; still, doc\s not truth compel you to
iay that when you keep in view the vast wealth now pos-
Bcssed by professing (.'liri.stians, It i,^ after all but a mere
pittance that is </\\ en to the chtims of benevolence? Indcc<l,
if the immense increase of wealth a\ iiliin flio piesent century
be taken into aeeonnt, — and why slionM il not? — it might
possibly bo found tuiit far le.-s is irivcu in pvoporliou to our
abundance, than >\ as ;j-iven by onr fatliera, and that fewer
sacrifices arc n^adeby us than were made by lliem to build
up the walls of Zion, or extend her bonndaiies. Still, what
is done in this way is assnicdly one of tho mo?t cheering
symptoms of a vital pilly in the Church. At the same
time it needs to be remembered that this stream of benevo-
lence can only cnnlinue to flow and increase, as it ought^
just in proportion as the Ibimtaips are kept supplied by
heavenly piety. \i' i]\c hearts o? jirofessing Chrislians are
right, their benc^liecnecneiiher as to amount ordurclioncan
be wrong. It is liigh piety, aniinate<l by pure motives in
the bosom of Ciiristians, that alono can make tho charity of
the Church spontaneous, lull and pennnial : nor will it end
with mere acts of l)eneficence. A hi.ii-h order of piety will
not only open tho hand, t)nt will adorn 1]ie life a\ iih all the
fruits of the Spirit. But now ajiain comes up the old ques-
tion, — were thoSabbaHiSchool Jii>litn(i»'ii Avoiklngonb the
resultA which its friends had expected, would there nob have
been long ere n<iw a far laruor shaie of these fruits? Had
the Sabbath School accompli-ln-d vhal thc.-c warin-hearted
friends had hoped lor, it is not evlravagant to say that the
Church by this tiin(; would be "lair as tlie moon, clear at
the sun, ''andtollie powers of darkness," terrible as an army
with banners." J t does seem just to conchidetliat tho state
of religion in the Church must ever tell with considerable
accuracy what has been the kind of religious training the
young have received. Let us apply this principle. By far

124

vns SABBATn scnooti

the ^eater number of those who are now heads of famiUea
received in their youth a Sabbath School training, while
possibly threo fourths of those who arc nov/ members of the
Church were scholars in the Sabbath School. In order,
then, to know how the Institution has been wrought, wo
have but simply to enquire into the state of the piety of the
Church. The extreme difliculty of arriving at certain con-
clusions on this has been admitted, and it might be assumed
that no wise man will hastily dogmatize on this subject ;
yet, when you take into account the vast means which have
been employed for so long a time, you feel compelled to say
that the fruit hfar less than might have been expected from
our Sabbath Schools. Every friend of the Redeemer ar-
dently longs to see this Institution conducted so efficiently
as to yield the largest possible amount of good. But, in as
far as the Sabbath School is a failure, the Church, or mora
properly the piety of the Church, is injured. For it is a truth
that no one need question, that if the religious training of
the child be neglected, or but partially attended to, the reli-
gion of the man will be feeble or spurious.

And let us beware here of being imposed on by
appearances. The most precious interests are in eminent
peril when appearances are mistaken for realities ; but men
are lost when they complacently take up with plausible ap-
pearances, and yet have a secret conviction that things aro
seriously wrong. Yet, is not this to some extent our con-
dition of mind as to our Sabbath School system. Great
appearances of good seemingly done, or that might he done,
fill the imagination with hopes and awaken pleasing emo-
tions amidst the excitement of public displays ; but when
we enter our closet, or lay our heads on our pillows, does
not sober reiiection occasional!}'' whisper the painful suspi-
cion that the reality is not at all equal to the appearance ?
And is this suspicion without ground if you find that there
is not the growth of a deep raid earnest piety throughout
the Church, commensurate with the efibrts made in th«

OF THE CONGREGATION.

125

r families
ig, whild
crs of the
[n order,
ight, wa
ty of tho
'ain con-
assumed
subject ;
lich have
ed to say
:;tedfrom
sraer ar-
fficiently
iut, in 83
or more
is a truth
aini ng of
the reli-

Sabbath School. This is my fear— would to God that it
were groundless ; but, as I cannot get quit of it, so I dare
not conceal it. Our modern Sabbath School system may
have grievously failed, not because it is not sanctioned by
God, but because we have failed to work it after a godly
Bort. In this, as in other things, folly in our practice may
pervert wise principles in a sound theory, and tho worldly
may be so mixed up with the heavenly, that religious effort
shall yield but little spiritual fruit. As an ardent friend of
the Sabbath School, I claim the riglit of charitably— yet
honestly— pointing out some of those things which I think
are impairing its efficiency as a grand spiritual agency in
the Church. But in doing this, I shall only notice a'few
topics; and in briefly considering these, I hope I raaycoual
on the candour of the friends of rehgion.

ililEli*

I on by
eminent
but men
sible ap-
lings aro
Dur con-
Great
he done,
ng emo-
iit when
tvs, does
111 suspi-
jarance ?
lat there
'oughout
e in the

120

fHK SABBATH SCHOOL

^^^ra ^ ^

'v i

i>i

;i i

CHAPTER II.

CAUSES OP THE PARTIAL FAILURE OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL.

SYSTKM.

First, — Is not the cfliciency of our Sabbath Schools, in
man}'- cases, greatly impaiicd from the ivant of culy qualified
teachers ?

I have already stated so fully my views on the
necessity of cnligliteneJ and earnest pict}-- as a qualification
to teach jii the Sabbatli School, that I deem it unnecessary
to go as largely into tliis «juestiori now, as ils importance
would otherwise demand : yet, such is rny conviction of the
unspeakable harm of the inefficiency of tcr >hers, that even
at the ri.sk of some little repetition, I nmst again refer to
this. Genuine piety, in connection with a moderate share
of intellectual gifts, 1 hold to be indispensible in a Sabbath
School teacher. I presume, it will be very generally
admitted, that these teachers, ialcen as a hodi/, constitute th&
flower of the piety of the Church. But where so many are
required to do a work, it were +oo much to suppose that all
are, by their talents or piety, wall qualified for it; yet, they
must have a share of both, and a large share of the latter,
else they cannot work to edification. Now, is it unchar-
itable to suppose, that not a few are not only deficient in
knowledge and experience, but still more in that piety ,
without whith they never can labor to the edification of
Others y Such persons are uncpuilified for teaching the
young the krowldlge and the fear of the Lord. What we
do not know wc cannot teach, and what we do not love, w
never can teach with zeal. " If the bUnd lead the blind
both shall full into the ditch."

or THE CONGREGATTON.

Mir

[ SCHOOL

hools, in
qualified

on the
lification
lecessary
por^ance
oil of the
hat even

refer to
itc share

Sabbath
generally

ute the

any are

that all
ret, they

he latter,

un char-
lent in
piety,

ation of
the

^hat we

ic
it

ove, w

blind

Yet, from the prevail in,!^* fashion of the times, it is easy
to see tliat llie yoniv/, l^e zealous and imap'inative may be
strongly teiii[ili;(.l to enter on this work, altliongh they have
no call to it, and uo rcol fiiuess for it. To suppose that any
one, a? I have alrofiuy slated, of a fair moral charac-
ter is Jit furhoingu Sabhaili Seliool Teachei', is a false
inference, fruiirul ol' many cvJl>. A person's moral
Standing may ho good, and yet ho mny not possess
either the jiilollecftial or spiritual (pialiliua irons needful
for giving,' rel;;i*fou>; in-trnclion to the young. To
say that lie may do it as ATell as .some others, may be but
Baying, that souk^ others do it very imperfectly. Is it not
(,uitc as pop.-iljlc to run into this service without being called,
. iiito a hi;^licr servicQ. That many well qualified will not
engage in the duty, is no good reason why the ill-C[ualified
should undcrtaltC it.

Nor can it, I fear, be denied that Ministers are often
tempted, in order toplease leading families, to make unwise
appointments of teachers. Bnt be the causes what they
may, it were not wisdom to deny, nor charity to- conceal,
the painful fact, that many have been employed as teachers,
who had neither the experience, mental endowments, nor
piety, which the difficult ta^fk they undertook demanded.
Admit that even these persons might do some good under
the close supervision of the Offlco Bearers of the Church,
yet, in ••o "w ^r\l they have undertaken when left as they
geno •-!; . i' to themselves, they may be worse than
wseless a^ ;e .oners in a Sabbath Sehool. Is ib not a most
solemn consi-'ctation, that multituiles of young souls are
placed for tboirreligioiTs training, if notntiderthe thorough-
ly wordly and thoughtless, — which I fear i.? someti.nes the
case ; yet, ofcen under the care of those who nollhcr know
much of ''the truth as it is in Jesus," nor have any ardent
love for the souls of those they profess to instruct? Is this
righ / Can it come to good V Can you think of it without
feai t cu nr.in ? And yet how difficult to unfold and eoli-

128

The sabbath scnoot

6emn this evil, as fully and severely as it deserves, lest yoU
may wound the feelings, or awake causeless apprehtnbions
in modest and humhle laborers ?

Parents in general feel a laudable anxiety that their
children should receive their secular education under com-
petent teachers. Yet, many professing Christians manifest
little care as to the fitness of those to whom they entrust
the spiritual training of their dear little ones. They readily
fall in with the notion, tliat because it is the Sabbath
School to which they send them, their religious education
must be duly cared i Ts this "the charity that hopeth
all things," or rather minal carelcjsness as to tho

all-important thing ? It. ; teachers of the Sabbath School
are not wise and godly persons, how can they possibly bo
able rehgious instructors? It has, indeed, been but too
common to appoint any one to give this instruction, who
has been willing to undertake it. And because there is no
emolument attached to the labor, it is naturally, though
groundlessly, inferred that all who engage in it, do so from
the purest motives. This is an inference which experienoo
will not warrant. As I utterly disclaim any wish to give
Vent, to sweeping censure, or bitter recrimination, so I
forbear to go into details on this. Yet, surely as I speak in
love and sorrow, and not in anger, I may hope that tha
\vise friends of the Sabbath School will candidly weigh the
hints I have thrown out. If teachers want piety, tho
Institution must bo a failure.

But the friends of religion must do more than wisely
ponder this subjects If they share in my fcnrs that through
a want of prudence and earnest piety, the Teachers of our
Sabbath Schools are failing to do the direct good that might
be expected, and are in many cashes doing a grcc.t deal of
indirect evil to tl)o Churcli, they will strive to accomplish
the needful reformation in this respect. In tliis the Pastors
of the Church must take the l^ad. Nor is it possible for
them to reflect on tho woful carelessness of Parents, and on

\'-i '

OP THE CONGREGATIOIf.

129

lest you
;hi;ribio!i3

hat: their
dor corn-
manifest
■f entrust
;y readily

Sabbath
jducation
it hopeth
s to tho
th School
issibly be

but too
;ion, who
lere is no
r, though
) so from
xperienoe
h to give
on, so I

speak in

that the
veigh tho
)iety, tha

in wisely
through

rs of our
it might

deal of

:coniplish

le Pastors

sible for

,s, and on

their own responsibilities to the Saviour for the proper reli-
gious training of the young, without feehng the most ardent
desire to find ablo Teachers. Painful exceptions — as in the
case of new congregations allowed for — and surely it is not
too much to suppose that a pious and laboricas Pastor may,
in all ordinary circumstances, find a few persons capable of
aiding him in this work. But if he cannot find such, he
must endeavor to give to those he would appoint as Teach-
ers, the necessary training.

The Bible Class — and there should be one in every
congregation — may be made, in addition to its other ends,
an admirable means for preparing Teachers for the Sabbath
School From a well conducted Bible Class, the Pastor will
soon, through the aid of the Divine Spirit, find efficient
Teachers. Yet, in order that they may be as fully as possible
prepared for their task, he ought to do more than give them
doctrinal instruction in his Bible Class. In addition to this,
would it not be well for him, at stated times, to bring all his
Teachers together, and on these occasions explain to ihem
the best methods of conducting their classes? — and at these
private meetings pray with them and earnestly urge on them
the solemn responsibiUties of their duties ? Were all this
done with sincerity, prudence and zeal, a well qualified staff
of Teachers might soon be raised up in every congregation.
But be this done as it may, it is the bounden duty of every
minister to see that it is done.

Yet this, although much, is not all. As the clergyman
is really the party responsible to God and the Church
for the kind of instruction given to the young of his
flock, so he ought to see with his own eyes how this is done.
He is, indeed, virtually, and should be really the spiritual
superintendent of his Sabbath School. One rejoices to think
that there are many ministers who thus act ; and those who
do so with wisdom and zeal, give cheering evidence of their
care ^.r the souls of the young, and can hardly fail to have
their Sabbath classes well conducted. And here I cannot

130

TBE SABBATH SCnOOL

III!

but remark that did the miniaters of the gospel realize as
they might, the necessity of sound elementary instruction to
prepare hearers to listen with profit to discourses from the
pulpit, they would exercise the utmost care in selecting and
preparing the Teachers of their Sabbath Schools.

While pulpit instruction should in some measure be
level to the lowest order of minds, yet, every one
should know that this kind of instruction, if it be what
H ought is not well adapted, either in matter or form,
for those who have not yet learned the first principles of
religion. Hence, although it may be well for a minis-
ter to preach occasionally as if children only were present,
yet, if this be his ordinary strain, there is great danger
that his hearers shall be kept children in knowledge,
"Babes are to be fed with milk, that in due time
they may be able to receive strong meat," but hearers
who have not been thus fed, are seldom fit to. partake
of the strong and nourishing food of the gospel. To
drop the figure, — those who have not had a suitable
elementary religious training will profit but little under a
preacher whose discourses are characterized by profound
and masterly views of divi -e truth. It is painful to think
that the best sort of preaching is, in some respects, the worst
for those who are extremely ignorant. Still, the preacher
dareSnot forget that their souls are just as precious as tho
souls of his best informed hearers ; but while remembering
this, how difficult is it for him to feed them with irumbs
and not starve the well instructed. The fact is, the instruc-
tion of the Fireside, or the Sabbath School, must give tho
necessary preparation for the instruction of the pulpit. Till
this is done, the ministers of the gospel cannot be clear from
sin in the matter, for they cannot bring into full play all
their high powers, and the varied stores of truth for the edi-
fication of the Church. We readily admit that the ambas-
sadors of Christ should speak with such plainness, that like
their Divine Master they should be easily understood by the

or THK COKOREOATIOK.

131

common people. Yet to lower the pulpit to a childish sort
of preaching, made up ofbnecdotes, trivial remarks, or loose
declamation, is but a poor way of saving either the consci-
ence of the preacher or the piety of the Church. But this
is just what some good men do who have a conviction of
the sad ignorance of their hearers, and yet honestly desire
to benefit them. How much soever you may con,mend
the motives of these men^ you cannot but fear that they will
fail in their object. For instead of turning these children in
mind into men of mind, the probability is that they will
forever keep them helpless children as to a full knowledge
of the gospel. Indeed, the want of suitable preparatory in-
struction, is in many ways deeply vitiating the piety of our
times; hence the UabiUty we witness to unhealthy excite-
ment or torpid formahty in religion, which may to a great
extent be traced to superficial views on divine truth. Has
not the sort of teaching which is given in many Sabbath
Schools a good deal to do with this ? Indeed, the kind of
teaching given there is to an amazing extent giving charac-
ter, both directly and indirectly, to the whole of our Protes-
tant Christianity. This new power in the Church, as we call
it, if properly directed, must be productive of incalculable
good ; but if misdirected, of unspeakable harm. All the
friends of religion, but especially its ministers, ought seriously
to ponder this, for whetiier they see it or like to own it, it
is, nevertheless, a fact that the Sabbath School is not only
shaping out their work for them, but is to an extent they
are Uttle aware of, insensibly shaping them. If all this be
well done all will go well, but if ill, who can estimate the
mischief? Not seldom have seemingly feeble and remote
causes produced the mightiest changes in the moral woridf
No language can adequately express how much inpurtime,^
depends on the character of Sabbath School Teachers.
Multitudes of them are doing their work nobly, and of such
all good men will say — God speed them, God bless them for
their labours of love. But what shall be said of the ineffici-

132

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

ent? Alas! are they not marring to a mournful extent the
working of an Institution, the nelfl of which all so keenly
feel, and in the prosperity of which every friend of Zion
must feel the livehest interest ? But

(2nd.) Aiming chiefly to exercise the memory is, I think,
a serious error in the method of conducting many of our
Sabbath Schools.

Unless the memory be stored with truth, faith can have
no foundation on which to rest, and reason no materials on
which to work. Hence the declaration — " That the mind
be without knowledge is not good," and that injunction —
"Add to your faith knowledge." Indeed, without this
knowledge no man can be wise or consistently pious. —
" Sanctify them through thy truth" was the prayer of the
Saviour for His people. Indeed, all that is good in feehng
or in practice must spring from the truth of God. The first
thing, then, to be done for the young is to store their minds
with divine truth. The Teacher who fails to do this can do
nothing else for them. Now, by means of our Sabbath
Schools divine truth has assuredly been widely dissemina-
ted. But, then, it should never be forgotten, that in order
that truth shall be effective fo: the sanctification of the soul,
it must not merely be scattered on the surface of memory, but
deeply implanted in the heart. This seems to be overlooked
by those who fancy that the great end of Sabbath School
teaching is to exercise the memory with Bible truth. Hence
the amount of sacred knowledge which young persons com-
mit to memory in some Sabbath Schools is quite astonishing,
and shews to what an extent the power of memory may be
carried when exclusively cultivated. But if we do not cease
to wonder, ve cease to admire this mode of training when
we reflect that the excessive cultivation of memory is unfa-
vourable to intellectual growth, and is still more unfavourable
to the spiritual growth of the soul. While we admit that it
is of the last importance to store the mind with truth, ix,
were quite a delusion to suppose that the common mode of

OP THE CONGREGATION.

133

committing to memory is doing this. You seo tho fallacy
when you discover that of the forty or fifty verses which
the child could repeat on some Sabbath a month ago, possi-
bly not one dame now remains in liis memory; he has
forgotten the whole, or more properly, never had a firm
recollection of it. One would bo apt to suppose, when he
hears the children of certain Sabbath Schools repeat their
tasks, that their minds would soon be richly imbued with
Bible trutli. Experience proves this inference to be false ;
the reason is obvious, in order that Biblo truth shall take,
not a temporary, but a permanent hold on the memory'
faith must fasten on it, reason be exercised about it, and tho
affections of the heart be entwined arond it. Without
this, what is repeated.to-day may be but faintly remembered
to-morrow, and before a week is past, be entirely forgotten.
The experience of every person of observation must satisfy
him as to this. Our spiritual benefit does not result from
carrying truth for a few days in the memory, but from
having it in the soul by a hving faith leavening all our
thinking and feeling powers. Unless it thus acts, it yields
no permanent benefit to the reason, the heart, or the con-
science. Let the memory by all means be stored with
God's truth, but let there be at the same time such expla-
nations given by the teacher, that the young shall in some
measure understand what they repeat. This is the way to
bring them, not only to the knowledge, but to the love and
practice of the truth. The teacher who thus connects the
exercise of the memory with the exercise of reason and
the affections, cannot fail to teach to edification.

Can it be doubted, that a few verses from the third or
fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, or the Sermon
on the Mount, thus learned, would have far greater effect on
the spiritual well-being of the child, than a whole Gospel
or Epistle carelessly repeated from memory ? As the
Apostle says in another case, " that five words uttered with
the uuderstandiug, is better than ten thousand uttered in an

134

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

i:.

unknown tongue," — for indeed, is not this kind of repeat-
ing which we condemn, but a kind of utterance of God's
truth in an unknown tongue? This mode of deah'ng with
sacred truth is every way hurtful, but peculiarly so as now
practised in many Sabbath Schools. Nor is the evil lessened
by the notion so commonly held, that in these schools a
thorough course of scriptural instruction is given. This is
far from true. To teach the young to repeat large portions
of Scripture, without any serious consideration of its mean-
ing, or any personal application of it to their conscience, is
likely to have a deadening cfiect on the heart by this un-
wise employment of that very truth, which should soften
and purify it. It were not easy to guess how far this may
tend to make these children when they become men, look
with unhallowed indifferency or levity on that Book which
in early life they were taught to repeat so flippantly. We
impair our reverence for truth, if in any way we trifle with
it. It is exceedingly dangerous for teachers as well as
scholars, if they ever forget that the Bible is God's word,
by which faith and life must be framed, and not a book for
the mere task-work of memory. Every truth learned from
the Bible ought to be rivetted in the understanding and
conscience, by some pointed explanation or forcible appeal.
Were this done, it would bring the mind of the teacher into
profitable communion with that of his scholar, while it
would tend to bring the minds of both into direct and
practical contact with the mind of God. This is surely the
true method o" so storing the memory with Divine truth,
that the reason shall be exercised on it, and all the graces
nourished by it.

I will not say that the transient contact of truth with
the mind never does good ; yet, no one will deny, that it is
only when it is in the heart " as a well of water, springing
up into everlasting life " that its full efifects are felt in puri-
fying and refreshing the soul. Indeed, every doctrine or
duty read or repeated by children, ought to be so explained

or TIUE CONOREGATIOK.

135

that they shall comprehend its general sense. And as has
already been shewn, those who undertake theb: religious
training should bo able to do this. The teacher who is in-
capable of giving a simple exposition of such passages as the
fifth chapter of Matthew, or the third of John, is not fit for
his place. Not a learned, but a simple and earnest expla-
nation is all that is required. But as I have already, in
speaking of parental teaching, given my views very fully on
this, I deem it unnecessary to add anything farther here.
What is the best method for the Fireside instruction, is best
for the Sabbath School. But,

(3rd.) May not the sJiow, or parade, which of late years
especially in cities, has been so extensively connected with
Sabbath School exhibitions, seriously impair their ejfficiency
as Institutions for spiritual instruction f

I enter on this topic with considerable reluctance and
fear, — reluctance to find fault on a subject on which my
knowledge is but very limited, and fear, lest my censure
may be wholly misunderstood. I must cast myself on the
candour and good sense of my readers. I repeat, that the
Sabbath School is essentially an Institution for bringing
Bouls into the kingdom of God, and for the advancement of
that kingdom in the world. I do not expect any sympathy
with the sentiments I am about to utter, from those who do
not hold this high view of the grand end of the Sabbatn
School

The Kingdom of God, says the Saviour, " cometh not
with observation," or as some have rendered it, "cometh
not with pageantry," Now, without affirming that there
is any wish in Evangelical Churches to turn religion into
mere pageantry, yet, is there not a strong tendency in many
quarters to let far too much of the pomp and show of the
world into rehgion? Popery has with consummate art
availed herself of the leanings of the carnal mind to pomp-
ous displays in the worship of God. All true Protestants
profess to abhor those worldly devices, which, while they

13G

THE SADBATn SCHOOL

t'K 1

amuso tho fancy, through the senses, corrupt all the spirit-
ual sentiments, and unfit the soul for true fellowship with
God by a living faith. It is quito possible to condemn tho
Church of Rome for her grosser superstitions, while under
other nameSj and by diflcrent forma wo may be deeply in-
fected by some of her God-dishononring practices. Let us
bewaro of this ; for bo assured of it, that whenever wo
tubstituto scenic displays or worldly parade and appliances,
for tho simple doctrines and rites of tho Gospel, we aro
vitiating its spirituality, by hiding tho Saviour and His work
from tho eyo of tho sinner. This to any must be an un-
speakable calamity, and it is needless to add, that the young
aro peculiarly liable to be caught by this fascinating evil.
All children are fond of displays that appeal to their fancy,
through their senses. As far as I know, the friends of tho
Sabbath School have not as yet carried these displays to any
very alarming extent. Still, is there not enough of this in
some quarters to awaken fears, lest such pompous displays
may in the end utterly spoil the Sabbath School in its spir-
itual labours.

Let me not, however, be mistaken. I am no enemy to
any innocent amusement. I think there is far too little of
this, and assuredly he who could teach the present genera-
tion how to multiply and refine amusement, so that the
feelings of the heart will find in it innocent gratification, and
the physical powers a healthy exercise, would be no ordi-
nary benefactor to his fellow-men. I have not the ability
for tho task, yet I take leave to say, it cannot be much
longer left undone. And were it done as it ought— no easy
matter — society in its social relations would be greatly ben-
efited, while the church might indirectly reap from it some
real advantages.

But if innocent amusement be much needed for grown
up people, it is indispensible for the young. Pure air is not
more necessary for their bodily health, than is this to the
health both of body aud mind. It is only stupidity, or a

or TDE CONGREOATIOK.

137

prurient pietism, that -svill call this in question. I say it
calmly but firmly, that ho is not only a Ibolish, but a cruel
man, "who under tho pretence of making chiklren eminently
wise and yood, would deprive them of all innocent amuse-
ment. A child thus nurtured, is almost certain to fall into
Bomo form of sickly cant, which ho mistakes for piety, or if
ho escapes this, is very likely when ho goes forth into tho
world, to become an open scofl'or. A violation of tho laws
of nature never can be beneficial to rehgion.

Yet, while I plead for a far larger share of innocent
amusement for tho young than they now have, I must at
tho same time, enter my solemn protest against mixing up
amusements with religious duties, as is now often done in
Sabbath School celebrations. I may be wrong, yet I hold
the opinion very firmly, that this practice is unsound in
principle, and of dangerous consequenco to piety. For
everything there is a time, — and assuredly there should be
. time for children to laugh and be merry. And, O ! what
sound so delightful to the ear, as the whole-hearted ringing
laugh of joyous children. No music so sweet as this,
whether heard in the open air, or by the family hearth.
But is there not an incongruity, not only offensive to your
moral feelings but hurtful to piety, when obstreperous mirth,
and the most solemn duties of religion are jumbled up to-
gether'? To do justice to the views I hold on this, would
demand an enquiry into the laws of mind, and especially
our association of ideas, on which I care not to enter here.
No man of common sense can fail to see, that although there
is a suitable time for amusement, yet that is not in connec"
tion with Sabbath School celebrations.

Some pious but not very clear headed people, enter-
tain a plausible but what I think a pernicious error
on this. These people are opposed, and not without
reason, to what they regard as the sinful amusements
of the world ; but seeing that the young especially
cannot be always confined to toil or serious thought.

;

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TEX SABBATQ SCHOOL

imf

and as tliey look on even innocent amusement by itself bs
wrong, tl'ey think to sanctify it by bringing in religion.
Hence, they would connect the most solemn religious acts,
if not with boisterous hilarity, at least with cheerful
amusement. AccOx ding to their notion, amusement is not
only purified by religion, but religion is thus made to wear
a cheerful aspect. And why should iijt religion be made
to appear a joyous thing? This is readily admitted, for
assuredl}' religion is not only the source of the purest enjoy-
ment, but without it the soul can have no true happiness of
any kind. Nay, more, the man whose heart is not under
the influence of religion, is neither fit for entering into any
amusement with safety, nor of tasting true pleasure from it.
This will not appear a paradox, to persons of experience
and piety. Yet, let us discriminate wisely, and not be car-
ried away by confused fancies. The enjoyment which a
child craves for in amusement, never can be provided for
him along with the solemn duties of religion, without pro-
ducing in his mind a fatal confusion of ideas, as to things
temporal and spiritual. Those who make even refined
amusements usher in religion, are little aware how soon re-
ligion may be made to dance attendance on woildly amuse-
ment. This is not to make the earthly heavenly, but io
transmute the heavenly into the earthly.

Besides, if we deal /aiVZy with reUgion and "honestly
with human beings, we never can make it b. thing to amuse
the depraved heart. It is not thus that either men or
children can be charmed into a love with the humbhng and
self-denying religion of Jesus. Let everything that would
give causeless offence to the young be removed, — and while
you shew them that their capital want is the want of reli-
gion, shew them at the same time, that if this be received as
God offers it, it will diffuse a pure joy through all their earthly
pursuits, and give them a title and a fitness to eternal nappi-
ness. But while doing this justice to religion and to the young,
employ no worldly t, -ts to allure them to an attendance on

or THE CONQREGATIOlf.

13»

sacred ordinances. This tact, or worldly finesse, which is
but the poor wisdom of man, will never "work the righte-
ousness of G-od." Its success is but apparent — not real ;
and alas I is there not much that men regard as success,
which would, if they could see the end, be regarded as the
most painful sort of defeat. The Church gains no triumphs
but in bringing souls to bow at the foot of the Cross. This
was the triumph which gladdened the heart of the Apostles.
Nor do we find that they or their Divine Master ever em-
ployed any low arts or worldly devices to hide " the offence
of the Cross," or allure men into the true fold. Their mes-
sage was simply an announcement to perishing men to
partake of a free and a full salvation. Thus it should still
be. And if w,e follow the example of Christ and His
Apostles why should we fear a want of success in our
labours ? The Spirit will not fail to bless His own truth for
the conversion and sanctification of sinners whon honestly
announced and faithfully employed in his own appointed
means. But let us beware, lest if we employ worldly
means and delusive arts to draw the young to the Sabbath
School, we may find when we have thus got them there we
have grieved away the Spirit.

Nor will it do to say that but for these showy
appliances which afibrd gratification to the young, you
never could draw in some who need very much to be
tau^iit. This is o. specious but dangerous view of the mat-
ter. For, apart from the fact that those who are thus
allured to the Sabbath School : re not likely either to remain
long or profit much, is there not, on the part of those who
thus draw them in, a kind of deception which the mori Ity
of the gospel does not sanction ? We all condemn the do. trine
that the end justifies the means. Let us then, act sincerely
from first to last with our Sabbath School children ; let them
see that our grand motive is to save their i50uls. By thus deal-
ing plainly with them, we i. >t only keep clear of every kind
of deception, but teach them the highly important lesson of

140

THB SABBATH SCHOOL

ever acting from pure motives in all that they Jo. If child-
ren are ever to become ,^ood men, this is a lesson that cannot
be too early or thoroughly learned. The child that has
learned in early life to act from pure motives, has taken high
vantage ground for the whole of his future conduct ; while
ho who is taught to perform religious duties from merely
worldly motives, is led to trifle with the claims of conscience
on the most vital of all questions. This applies with pecu-
liar force to those children — and they are not few — who
have no other means of forming their moral sentiments than
what the Sabbath School affords. Nor should it be over-
looked that even if we succeed in drawing in the children
of the irreUgious, by gratifying their carnal taste and fancies,
that thoy may come to regard religion as merely a thing to
amuse, although the amusement is different from what they
have hitherto been accustomed to, — this may lead to the
most pernicious notions as to the real ends of religion. And
surely it were a reproach to professing Christians to sup-
pose that their children should need any of these question-
able allurements to bring them to the Sabbath School. It
will be observed that I have forborne to go into particulars.
This were not easy — nor indeed is it needful. The evil, I
lament, assumes many forms besides that of gaudy exhibi-
tions, and some of those — althougVi not the most offensive
to the sober Christian — may, nevertheless, be exceedingly
dangerous to the young, who need to learn their guilt and
helplessness and their hopes of mercy through a Saviour, in
the Sabbath School.

But now I have done with this branch of my subject.
It ever seems ungracious to find fault, and especially with
benevolent inst'tutions. This must be to every man a pain-
ful task ; yet, if the sole object of pointing out faults in the
working of our Sabbath Schools be to render them more
efficient for the spiritual good of the Church, then surely I
may hope, that in as far as I have spoken in love and can-
dour, I may coTint on the forbearance of the friends of the

OF THE CONGREGATION.

141

Saviour, even if I have spoken with some degree of severity.
I might have noticed some other things which I regard as
adverse to that heavjnly influence, which should ever eman-
ate from the Sabbath School. But if I have truly indicated
certain evils that need correction, this may lead thoughtful
men to notice others, and in due time to correct all. And
the reason for this is all the stronger that the Sabbatli
School was never more needed than at the present day.

L »

142

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

CHAPTER III.

TBI GREAT NIED OF AN EFFICIENT SAPBATH SCHOOL 8TSIXM

FOR OUR XUIES.

The low state of domestic religious education ia
obviously the chief cause of this. As has been already
shewn, were professing Christians faithful to their trust, the
Sabbath School of the Fireside would soon, with the best
results, supplant that of the congregation. But, alas ! wo
are yet far from this consummation, even as to the children
of the Church. Many parents are careless, others are in-
competent ; so that, but for the aid of the Sabbath School^
great numbers of the cliildren of professing Christians would
grow up grossly ignorant of the gospel. In addition, then,
to all that has been said in ar^ Lher part of this work, I
would earnestly entreat ministers to give parents no rest
till they have brought them to engage heart and soul in the
reUgious training of their children. Incidental allusions will
not do ; the pulpit ought to utter on this momentous, but
grievously neglected duty no feeble or uncertain sound. —
The nature, obligations and consequences of the duty ought
to be fully and earnestly brought before every congregation.
Careless parents should be aroused to a sense of their awful
trust; yet, were this done with the utmost zeal and ability,
it were too much to expect that an evil which has grown tO'
Buch magnitude could be cured at once. Under the most
favourable auspices the Sabbath School will yet for a long
time be needed to meet the evil of parental neglect

Nor will it surprise any person of reflection to hear me
affirm that the Sabbath School, from some peculiar condi-
tions of modern society, is more needed now than in former

OF TOE CONOBEOATION.

143

times. It is a fact, not a little painful and perplexing, that
notwithstanding all the vast power which has been placed
by science and mechanical art in the hands of man within
the present century, 3''et in all situations, from the highest to
the lowest, men are ii^ore harrassed with anxiety and
labour than were their fathers, who had far less means for ma-
terial enjoyment. I waive all speculation, either on the causes
or the general social eflfects of this, with two simple remarks :
Ist. The discoveries of science are not yet working har-
moniously with the higher and purer ends of human
happiness.

And next, did we not regard the present as a transition
period, we would have Uttle cause to- boast of the triumphs
of science, as furnishing hope for the moral future of the
world. Yet, why should we wonder at this anomalous
state of things ? It is, indeed, only when man consecrates
all his gifts and labours to God that he can eat the fruits of
thf^se with a jojrful heart. Still, the Christian can hope that
God will in the end make all things work together for
good. Our age in many senses, may be a seed time that
shall yet yield a glorious harvest tothe world.

But be this as it may, it is with the present that we
have practically to do. Now, it is obvious that most parents
have less composure of mind, and really less time on week
days for the religious education of children than the parents
of former ages. This is stated merely as a fact, not offered
as an apology for parental neglect; for surely no parent
should find any duty mo)x pressing, or more sacred, than the
duty of training up his children in the fear of the Lord. —
Yet, it is a melancholy fact, that many parents are so im-
mersed in business, and so perplexed witli the cares of tho
world, that they give but little attention to this solemn
branch of their parental duties. This proves but too clearly
the need of the Sabbath School for the children of many pro-
iiessing Christians. The Church, as weE as the world, still
needs it — the world most specially so.

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THE SABBATH SCHOOL

n.
H

And while you cannot point to any part of the world
that can, at present, dispense with its aid, it is at the same
time plain that some places require it far more than others.
The new settlements in this country stand pecuUarly in need
of its christianizing action. It is noteworthy that God so
orders it that you general r find a few pious persons mixed
up with the rough pioneers of the wilderness. Now, while
such a situation must be to pious men, on many accounts,
painful, yet it is one in which they are often enabled to do
much good to their godless neighbors, by setting up Prayer
Meetings and Sabbath Schools. This mode of holy effort
has, in many localities, been the forerunner of the Church
in preparing the field for the labors of a stated Ministry.
Hence, very often a well-conducted Sabbath School has
been the nucleus of what afterwards became a flourishing
congregation. They only who have witnessed the moral
deterioration that takes place from the want of sanctuary
privileges in frontier settlements, can appreciate the labors
of pious Sabbath School Teachers in the moral as well as
in the natural wilderness. A few godly persons thus
laboring to disseminate Gospel truth, aie often instrumen-
tal in preventing these communities from sinking into utter
moral putrefaction. There is, indeed, hardly any situation,
the duties of which are more responsible or more difficult,
than that of those teachers who labor for Christ on the
outskirts of civihzation. They would need to be eminently
men of God, for they fight " in the high places of the field,"
and have to sojourn in places " where Satan's seat is." Let
all pray that they may be men strong in faith and success-
ful in their work. Indeed, were there no other reason for
striving to have our Sabbath School system in the most
efficient state, the condition of our new settlements would
furnish a very powerful reason for this.

Well, then, is it not apparent, from all this, that whatever
may be the great need of the Sabbath School for the Chil-
dren of the Church, still its need in behalf of the children

OV THE CONORSaATIOX

14S

Let

of men of the world is far greater? We repeat, that btrt
for this there is apparently no other means by which they
can bejeached. But for the agency of this Institution, ono
sees not how these children could ever obtain the merest
elements of sacred knowledge. Indeed, without it, how
could they be brought even within the pale of the Church ?
No man can for a moment suppose that in the present stato
of things, the Common Schools can be depended on for re-
ligious instruction. No sensible parent even fancies that
his child can receive in these Schools any other than a
purely secular education. Rare exceptions allowed for, and
what we state will be found true, let our feehngs in refer-
ence to the merely secular education of the Common
Schools be what thpy may. Now, seeing that Govern-
ments cannot or will not, through the Coinmon Schools',
give eVen the elements of a religious education ; and know-
ing as we do, that godless parents have neither the will nor
capacity to do this for their offspring ; it is plain, if done at
all, it must be done by those who love the Saviour and the
Bouls of their fellow-creatures. Indeed, but for the benevo-
lent efforts of such in the Sabbath School, you could see
nothing for the children of irreligious parents, but a life of
ignorance, sin and misery; and notliing for Society but
certain and frightful anarchy. Does not the state of some
of our cities give alarming symptoms that the latter evil
may come withswil't and terrible destruction?

Ah, is it not most true, my friends, that good men can-
not labor too zealously to dehver the rising generation from
spiritual ignorance, and the world from great calamities.
Every intelligent friend of reUgionand of his country, now
feels that while it is his duty to send the gospel to the heath-
en abroadjit is not less his duty to strive to prevent the growth
of atheism at home. We may use what names we choose,
but it is nothing else than practical atheism that is growing
lip around us. I speak not of atheistical speculations,
uitered through th© press, but of that' hardened impiety

146

THE SABBATH SCUOOL

and utter disownment of God so prevalent in many coun-
tries nominally christian. It is impossible to arrive at ac-
curate conclusions here ; yet, from a mass of statistics col-
lected by men who have paid much attention to the subject,
it would a2'*PGar, that within tlie Protestant portions of
North America, there are many milUons literally living
"without God, and without hope in the world." These
millior i have no sort of connection with the visible church
—they do not make even a formal profession of religion.
Is not this a fearful state of things ? — a state of things
apart from all consideration as to the soul in eternity, which
must soon end disastrously for the social well-being of
society.

No doubt, among these godless masses, there are many
who received a rehgious training in youth, but who, under
corrupting influences, have forgotten their early lessons, and
cast off the good example that was set them in the home of
their childhood. Still, there is just as Httle question, that
were this frightful impiety traced to its source, it would ba
found to be the necessary and natural consequence to a great
extent of parental neglect. The"e irreligious men and wo-
men who are now heads of families, had no Fireside Sabbath
School under the parental roof. We now see somewhat of
the outcome of this home-neglect in the impiety and lawless-
ness which prevail on all hands. ' Yet, bad as the evil is
now, it were vain to expect that if not checked by the pious
labours of godly men, it will stop at the point which it has
reached. The moral world has its laws as well as the phy-
Bical ; and there is no law of nature more certain than this,
that unless the Church interposes by her Sabbath School
teaching, to enhghten the rising generation, the evil of which
we compluin will go on repeating itself with terrible com-
pound interest. For what of good, indeed, can be expected
from the children of these irreUgious parents, if they receive
no better instruction than their wretched homes furnish?
Ah I yes, be assured of it, they will follow in the toot-

or THE CONOREOATIOir.

atepa of their parents, and swell the ranks of th©
Prince of darkness. No friend of humanity, and cer-
tainly no friend of Jesus and of souls, can contemplate
this without intense anxiety and grief. But the friends of
the Saviour cannot thus feel, without being at the same timo
moved by the highest and purest motives, to make every
effort to lead these souls that are wandering in darkness to
Him " who is the true light." For this all the means which
God has appointed should be employed ; but as the Sabbath
School is the best suiced to actpn the young, this should bo
employed by the Church with the greatest wisdom, ;:eai
and energy. 1 ye who love souls, and would fain see tho
Saviour glorified in the conversion of those who now dwell
in tho valley of spiritual death, arise to the help of tho
Lord. " Work while it is day." Let each work as ho can
—and all work in the strength of God and for the glory of
^God our Saviour.