fTtfl 
 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 _ OF 
 
• S MONUMENT TO THE CHRISTIAN. 
 
 Bee page 1 13. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART; 
 
 OR, 
 
 SYE-TEACHING IN THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 
 
 [REVISED EDITION.] 
 
 By 'Rev. W. F. CRAFTS, 
 
 Author of "The Coming Man is the Present Child," " Trophies of Song," "Ideal 
 
 Sunday-School," etc. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY J. H. VINCENT, D.D. 
 
 AN APPENDIX CONTAINING BLACKBOARD EXERCISES, OBJECT ILLUS- 
 TRATIONS, ETC., ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSONS OF 1877. 
 
 * Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 NELSON & PHILLIPS 
 
 CINCINNATI : 
 HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. 
 
3VIJ-3 3- 
 
 £7 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 
 
 NELSON & PHILLIPS, 
 
 in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
TO MY FATHER, 
 
 REV. F. A, CRAFTS, 
 
 WHO LED ME TO CHEIST BOTH BY WHAT 1 HEARD FROM 
 HIS LIPS, AND WHAT I SAW W HIS LIFE, 
 
 ®his Booh is lovincjltj dedicated. 
 
 101694 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This volume on the power and method of "Eye-teaching," which I 
 am requested to "introduce to the Sunday-school public," needs 
 no words of explanation or compliment. Its pages speak for them- 
 selves. The book is a defense of a most ancient method of teach- 
 ing — so old that we cannot recall the time when men who thought 
 and taught at all did not employ it. We find it in Eden, when 
 God gave man his first command ; at Sinai, when Moses taught 
 God's chosen people both law and gospel by complicated and im- 
 pressive symbols ; in Israel, by the Hiddekel, and in Babylon, when 
 holy prophets gave forth burning words from the invisible God ; in 
 Galilee and in Judea, when He who "spake as never man spake" 
 taught the thronging multitudes the love and power and sweetness 
 that were to be found in his own divine Gospel. Prophets, priests, 
 apostles, philosophers, reformers, and teachers of all ages and of 
 every nation, have used it. To-day, in the primary school, the 
 academy, college, on the popular rostrum, and in every court of 
 justice, it is continually employed. 
 
 This book is more than a defense. It is a guide-book to all the 
 practical details of the art. If the author errs at all it is in the 
 excess of examples which he furnishes. He illustrates the whole 
 field of illustration. One is left in no doubt as to what he means by 
 a principle or a definition. He also exposes many of the mistakes 
 which enthusiasts in chalk have made, reminding the teacher that 
 things thoroughly good may be sadly abused. 
 
 Let not those who use "Through the Eye to the Heart" forget 
 that after all it is the Spirit, and not alone the truth, that is to 
 reach and regenerate and enrich the heart. The clear apprehension 
 )f truth does not necessarily bring the affections and the life into 
 harmony with the truth. For this interior and divine and most 
 essential work we stand in daily need, both as teachers and pupils, 
 of the ■ ' Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." For this gift — for 
 this Teacher who shall " teach us all things "—let us look with the 
 faith that is the " evidence of things not seen." J. H. Vincent. 
 
 New York, March, 1873. 
 
PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION. 
 
 The author's purpose in the theoretical portions of this 
 book is to show that eye-teaching is a legitimate method 
 of teaching, and, also, that it is practicable for all pastors, 
 superintendents, and teachers of average ability ; not re- 
 quiring any unusual ingenuity or artistic talent for its suc- 
 cessful use, and as appropriate for the teacher's slate as 
 for the school blackboard. 
 
 The exercises will be found to be briet and suggestive 
 rather than elaborate and exhaustive, the desire being to 
 stimulate thought and study rather than take their place. 
 Mrs. Crafts having published " Open Letters to Primary 
 Teachers," in which the subject of illustration in Pri- 
 mary Classes is fully treated, the appendix on that sub- 
 ject from her pen is omitted in this edition, and a large 
 number of additional blackboard exercises, especially pre- 
 pared for the lessons of 1877, take its place. 
 
 W. F. C. 
 
 Niw Bidford, Mass., November, 1876. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction 5 
 
 Preface 6 
 
 \Eye- Teaching in the Sunday-School 9 
 
 Eye-Teaching is Philosophical 11 
 
 Eye-Teaching is Scriptural 13 
 
 > Eye-Teaching Adapted to the Times 19 
 
 » With whom should Eye-Teaching be Used ? '20 
 
 \ Whence Shall Illustrations be G-athered? 21 
 
 < Who shall Conduct Eye-Teaching? 23 
 
 What shall give us Themes for Eye-Teaching? 24 
 
 Divisions of Eye-Teaching 24 
 
 1. Vivid Description and Allegories 25 
 
 2. Stories vividly told 29 
 
 3. Stories represented 32 
 
 4. Object Teaching 33 
 
 5. Map Teaching 46 
 
 6. Picture Teaching 49 
 
 7. The Use and Abuse of the Blackboard 51 
 
 Abuses 51 
 
 Uses 56 
 
 What to Take Out of a Lesson 70 
 
 Materials Wanted 71 
 
 How to Make Letters 72 
 
 The Scholars' part in Blackboard Exercises 65 
 
 Variety and Emphasis G4 
 
 1. Motto Exercise 74 
 
 2. Topic Exercise 7G > 1 15 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 Paor 
 
 3. Initial Exercise 77, 127 
 
 4. Syllable Exercise 77 
 
 5. Word Exercise 78, 128 
 
 6. Phrase Exercise 79, 135 
 
 7. Table Exercise 80 
 
 8. Acrostic Exercise 82, 137 
 
 9. Parallel and Contrast Exercise. 83, 141 
 
 10. Over-chalking or Canceling Exercise 84 
 
 11. Erasing Exercise 87 
 
 12. Word-Symbol Exercise 90, 149 
 
 13. Map Exercise 92 
 
 14. Outline Exercises 96, 156 
 
 Table op Symbols 190 
 
 Table op Blackboard Alphabets 195 
 
 Appendix of Exercises for 1 877 107 
 
 Index to Illustrations of International Lessons of 1877 199 
 
* C*. OF 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO TE EAUT. 
 
 Eye-Teaching in the Sunday-School. 
 
 The great object of the Sunday-school is not to organize its 
 members into a picnic club, or a library association, or a sing- 
 ing-school, or a theological institute ; not merely to please, or 
 discipline, or teach, as the end in view, but by means of all 
 these to accomplish its great purpose, to present Chtetst 70 
 
 Christ is to be the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
 the ending, the first and the last, in Sunday-school work 
 He must be above all, and in all. and through all the 
 exercises. 
 
 A little child climbed up in her chair at home to preach to 
 her little brothers and sisters. She turned to the right and 
 said, " Jesus; " then to the front and said, " Jesus ; " then to 
 the left and said, "Jesus," and her sermon was ended. So in 
 the Sunday-school we must begin and continue and end with 
 u Jesus." 
 
 Though a school can speak at concerts with the tongues of 
 men and of angels, and though its blackboard be always at- 
 tractive, its superintendent always pleasant, and its numbers 
 iarge, yet if it only talks about Christ instead of talking 
 Christ, if it only pleases without saving its scholars, all its 
 machinery and outward success are but as u sounding brass and 
 a tinklinir cvmbal." Like one of the English li^ht-houses, the 
 Sunday-school should have the double inscription, " To give 
 
10 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 light, to save life." A boy with a Testament was asked what 
 a* 1 knew about Jesus. He replied, "I haven't got to that 
 yet." A Sunday-school which has not " got to that yet," 
 amid its many schemes and plans and picnics, is false to its 
 trust. 
 
 To present Christ, then, is our object in Sunday-school 
 work. How shall we vividly and savingly present him to the 
 heart ? By universal consent the senses must usher truth to 
 the soul. 
 
 The Sunday-school works mainly through the two most in- 
 fluential senses, sight and hearing. Hearing lacks vividness 
 without sight ; sight lacks definiteness without hearing. It 
 is well, therefore, that hearing and seeing should accompany 
 each other. Joseph's brethren brought to their father, who 
 had long mourned for Joseph as dead, this wonderful mes- 
 sage : " Thus saith thy son Joseph, I am yet alive ; come 
 down unto me, tarry not." Jacob's heart fainted when he 
 simply heard these words, for he believed them not; but "when 
 he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the 
 spirit of Jacob their father revived." The wagons would have 
 meant nothing unless they had been preceded by the mes- 
 sage; the message would have failed unless it had been fol- 
 lowed by the wagons. This shows us how to use the eye and 
 ear in the Sunday-school. Give what "is written" and then, 
 by maps, pictures, objects, blackboard exercises, and stories, 
 put it into " wagons " to help the imagination and the under- 
 standing. The flowers and butterflies in "Joseph's garden" 
 had no smile of hope, no promise of a resurrection, for Mary, 
 when she came there at that early hour of Easter morning, 
 u while it was yet dark" in her heart; but since the message 
 has come, " The Lord is risen indeed," every flower and but- 
 terfly lias been to the bereaved an object-lesson of the resur- 
 rection. Until the announcement of Christ's rising was heard, 
 the grain gave no promise of a future life; but, after that 
 Paul )>iil the whole doctrine of the resurrection into the "seed 
 that falls into the ground and dies 11 that it may live again. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 11 
 
 Thus hearing and seeing should work together. But while 
 u Ear-Gate " has had a well-trodden path by constant use, 
 " Eye-Gate " has rusted on its hinges in neglect. We wish 
 to speak especially of the way to present Christ to the heart 
 through this much-neglected " Eye-Gate." 
 
 The visions by which God taught his truth were usually 
 more impressive than his spoken messages. The words writ- 
 ten in fire on the wall at Babylon conveyed God's warning to 
 the King's heart more convincingly than spoken words would 
 have done. Dr. Vincent found it hard to get his little boy to 
 eat bread and butter until, one morning, after spreading a 
 slice of bread, he cut it into bread-logs and piled it up in the 
 shape of a house, and then very quickly "down came the 
 house," and all was eaten ! 
 
 Put the " bread of heaven " into object-lessons and visible 
 illustrations, and the many hearts who find it hard to realize 
 the truth they hear will eagerly receive it and understand it. 
 Talk about the power of God's promises in general terms, and 
 it may all be forgotten. Make the picture of a key on the 
 blackboard and write ori it " Promise," and then tell the story 
 of the " key of promise" and Doubting Castle, and you will 
 make the oldest and youngest hearers feel the preciousness 
 and power of God's promises ; or, picture a bunch of keys of 
 different sizes and write a promise on each one, and then you 
 can tell those to whom you speak that God's promises fit 
 every experience of life and unlock every difficulty — and every 
 hearer will grasp and keep the thought. 
 
 Eye-Teaching is Philosophical. 
 
 All of the senses seem to merjye themselves in si^ht. As 
 each of the four fingers is exactly opposite the thumb, so each 
 of the other four senses seems to connect itself with sight. 
 We say of food that we have been describing, " Taste and 
 see /" we say of the fragrance of a flower of which we have 
 been speaking, "Smell and see /" we say of some excellent 
 
12 tHkOUGH T£E EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 singer whose voice we have eulogized, "Hear and see;" or 
 of a gem we have called very smooth, "Feel and see" In a 
 new sense, " It is all in your eye" Whether it be music or 
 perfume, we say, " Come and see ; " whether it be bread or 
 stone, we say, " Try and see" Even of questions in our 
 minds we say, "Let me see;" and if the matter be obscure, 
 a I can't see it." This is because we think by images, by 
 something we can see, or imagine that we see. It is a craving 
 of the mind that makes " the likes " necessary in every kind 
 of teaching. The unknown must be taught by likening it to 
 something that is known ; the unseen must be represented by 
 the seen. 
 
 Modern primers teach the unknown word by placing it be- 
 side the picture of the object it represents. The picture of a 
 dog will aid the little scholar to remember the word "Dog." 
 We used to say, " D stands for Dog ; " rather was it " Dog 
 (the picture) stands for D." Halt" of our childhood knowl- 
 edge comes in rhymes about the " likes." Rev. Dr. M'Cook 
 gives a happy example of this in his work on " Object and 
 Outline Teaching : " 
 
 11 As red as a cherry, as brisk as a bee, 
 As brown as a berry, as tall as a tree, 
 As sweet as a pink, as bitter as gall, 
 As black as ink, as round as a ball," etc. 
 
 Try to teach a child what "red " is without this implied or 
 real object-teach ing, with nothing but words to describe what 
 it is, and the child will have as poor an idea of it as the blind 
 man, who, after a long explanation of this color, concluded it 
 must be "very much like the sound of a trumpet." Hold up 
 the cherry to the child, and the lesson is learned in a moment. 
 This same method follow- us into a completer education. 
 Maps, specimens, blackboards, slates, etc., are found even in 
 the highest grades of teaching. Though a man have spoken 
 his words never fo eloquently, the hearers w;mt him, if pos- 
 sible, to have " something to show for it." A figure is more 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 13 
 
 easily retained than an abstract truth. So deeply grounded 
 is this fact in our nature that we think by figures and pictures. 
 Indeed, language itself is fossil pictures, rather than " fossil 
 poetry," as Emerson calls it. Letters were originally hie- 
 roglyphics, and hieroglyphics are only pictures used as sym- 
 bols. When we add something shown to something spoken, 
 we only add a picture for the eye to a picture for the imag- 
 ination. 
 
 Eye-Teaching Scriptural. 
 
 Dr. Vincent, in the preface to his recent work on " The 
 Church School," says : u The good philanthropists of the last 
 century, in digging that they might build a human fabric, 
 laid bare an ancient and divine foundation." These words, 
 spoken of the modern Sunday-school, are especially true of its 
 eye-teaching. It is not " a new idea," but an " ancient and 
 divine foundation" laid bare for us to build upon to-day. 
 
 The Bible is full of object-lessons taught by God himself, 
 by Christ, and by the inspired writers, with trees, stars, 
 shields, girdles, fruits, birds, pictures, etc., as their texts and 
 illustrations. The broken tree teaches the fate of the wicked, 
 the withered tree that of the idle, the fruitful tree that of the 
 righteous. The a empty vine " teaches us of the unfaithful, 
 the vine of u wild grapes " of the wicked, the vine of " good 
 fruit " of those who abide in Christ. The star represents the 
 Messiah, also those who turn many to righteousness. The 
 rent garment, the rotten girdle, the " naughty figs," etc., are 
 used to represent wickedness and God's dealings with it. In 
 fact, the Bible is an " illuminated missal," as Chapin calls it, 
 in every page full of pictures and object-teaching. 
 
 God himself is our precedent in this kind of instruction. 
 Take, for instance, his teachings of Jeremiah, " What seest 
 thou, Jeremiah?" (Jer. i, 11; xxiv, 3;) or his great object- 
 lesson given to Peter on the housetop at Joppa, (Acts x, 9, 
 etc.) Any one interested in following out this study may find 
 other cases where God himself taught his truth by this method 
 
14 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 of eye-teaching in the following passages, many of which the 
 
 teacher can adapt to his own use : 
 
 Jer. xiii, 1-11, The marred girdle; xviii, 1-6. The potter's vessel; xix, 
 1-11, The broken bottle ; xxvii, 1-11, Bonds and yokes; xliii, 8-10, Stoues 
 in the clay; li, 63, 64, The stone and the book: Ezek. iv, 1-8; Black- 
 board exercise on a tile; v, The hair and the punishment of wrong; xxxvii, 
 1-14, Dry bones; xxxvii, 15-28, Sticks; xlvii, 1-12, Waters; Dan. ii, 31- 
 45, The great image; Gen. ii, 16, It, Teaching the knowledge of good and 
 evil by means of commands associated with a tree; Jonah iv, 4-11, God's 
 pity for the wicked taught with a gourd ; Gen. xxii, 1-14, A dramatic ob- 
 ject-lesson to teach trust in God; xv, 5, 6, Stars; lx, 9-26, Heifer, etc. 
 Moses recognized the blackboard idea when he said of Scripture texts to the 
 Israelites, "Thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy 
 gates." 
 
 The illustrations of eye-teaching in the life of our " Great 
 Teacher" are no less abundant. Wayside wells, mountain 
 lilies, flying clouds, vineyards, harvest-fields, every thing that 
 met his eye, was turned into Gospel, as Midas turned every 
 thing he touched into gold. He even caused a tree to wither 
 away to use it as an object-lesson for his disciples ! Beecher 
 says of this act and others of his object-lessons : 
 
 " As to his condemning the tree, it was not a judicial sen- 
 tence. We are not to suppose that our Saviour summoned 
 the tree into judgment, and argued upon it as if it were a moral 
 being under condemnation or under penalty. No ; the whole 
 plot and plan of the ancient mode of teaching forbids that in- 
 terpretation of it. It is but an acted parable. And this is 
 an important thought, because in many instances in Christ's 
 life the same mode of teaching was resorted to. 
 
 " For example, when he cleansed the temple, undoubtedly 
 the whole act was a parabolic act. He drove out the cattle ; 
 he overturned the money-changers' tables; he commanded 
 those that had doves to take them thence. And the whole 
 was not a mere formal attempt at the reformation of the ad- 
 ministration of the temple, but a series of acts which indicated 
 the purification of religion — the change that was going on. 
 And, as usual, it was a kind of parabolic action. As a parable 
 is a picture in words, conveying not a moral lesson — not 
 a truth narrated — but simply an artificial picture, drawn 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 15 
 
 for the sake of certain moral results which were to flow from 
 it, so certain of Christ's actions were dramatic. They were, 
 as it were, a momentary drama, enacted for the sake of the 
 truth that they would convey. The most impressive one of 
 all these is the Transfiguration, in which, with Peter, James, 
 and John, he went to the mountain, where, while he was 
 praying, they fell asleep. When they awoke they saw two 
 angelic, or celestial personages, standing and talking with 
 him. And his countenance was changed. Then they com- 
 muned with him concerning his coming death. The whole 
 was to those disciples a picture of the event. It was not so 
 much a prophetic representation to interpret it to them as a 
 pictorial representation to fortify their minds, so that when 
 their earthly hopes, which were centered in him, should 
 be dashed, they would be bold, and maintain faith in him. 
 It was a kind of enacted celestial parable, or picture, or 
 tableau. 
 
 " So here, when going in the morning to Jerusalem, Jesus 
 saw the fig-tree and observed that it was in full leaf. Evi- 
 dently it was a prematurely early one. And why should he 
 go to see if there were figs upon it ? Because sometimes a 
 tree bore winter figs, which became ripe in early spring ; and 
 perhaps he might have expected that there would be some on 
 that one which he might glean. But when he came to it, and 
 found that there were no figs, but leaves only, he said, i Let 
 no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever, and let no man 
 eat fruit of thee.' 
 
 " That this was said in a very impressive manner is evident 
 by the fact that when, the day after, the disciples returned 
 that way, they remembered the occurrence, and called his at- 
 tention to the tree. Doubtless he designed that this should 
 be a very solemn instruction to them. 
 
 " But what was the instruction ? They were every day going 
 backward and forward to and from Jerusalem. There he went 
 into the sacred precinct, or into the part of it which was Herod's 
 great porch — the Basilica ? as it was called. There he used to 
 
16 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 teach the people. All around about him were the insignia 
 of Jewish worship, and his very business was to expose the 
 superficialities of life in these things. He was, from day to 
 day, attempting to carry them back to the reality of a relig- 
 ious life, to a deeper moral tone, to a more earnest conscien- 
 tiousness. It was his business to reprehend the self-conceit 
 and moral complacency which passed itself off upon mere 
 superficial observers. And here was an opportunity. Here 
 happened to be, of all the trees that stood in the road on that 
 early spring day, one that had come into full leaf. But when 
 he went up to it he found no fruit on it, but leaves only — 
 nothing but leaves. It was just exactly like those over the 
 other side. All of them were full of leaves, but not one of 
 them — neither priest, nor scribe, nor Pharisee, nor Sadducee 
 — bore any fruit. All of them were clothed with leaves, but 
 none of them were fruitful. Here was a symbol, here was an 
 opportunity of illustrating a fact by a parabolic action. By 
 destroying that tree with a word he could impress upon his 
 disciples that which would be a benefit to them in their teach- 
 ings of men for ever after. And he did it." 
 
 Study the sermon on the mount with a view of observing 
 its eye-teaching. The Emancipation Proclamation has been 
 so written that the snarling of the letters forms a picture of 
 President Lincoln, which seems to lie beneath the writing. So 
 in this sermon on the mount, by the vividness of its local il- 
 lustrations, we see a picture of Christ sitting on the mountain, 
 and pointing with his finger to the objects in sight, as he draws 
 from each its appropriate lesson ; and not only do we see the 
 finger of Christ, but in and under the sermon we find a map 
 of the scenery all about him, with its cities, its trees, its birds, 
 its flowers, and even its weeds, sketched upon it. 
 
 Notice the sermon in this light. Wishing to impress upon 
 the disciples their great responsibility and wide influence, he 
 points them to the city of Safed on the mountains near by, 
 distinctly seen, as the sunlight gilded its walls, and then he 
 says to the disciples, c< Ye are the light of the world, a city 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 17 
 
 that is set on a hill that cannot be hid?'' Matt, v, 14. Then 
 he turns and calls the attention of the multitude to the narrow 
 and wide gates of the city.* Through the narrow gate, which 
 is called " the needle's eye," are passing a few foot-passengers, 
 and a camel now and then enters, but only by bowing down 
 and leaving his burden outside the gate : on the other hand, 
 through the large city gates flows the gulf stream of business 
 and the eager multitude of tradesmen. Christ applies the 
 scene to his sermon : " Enter ye in at the strait gate : for wide 
 is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, 
 and many there be which go in thereat : because strait is the 
 gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few 
 there be that find it." Matt, vii, 13, etc. Beware, O ye rich 
 men ! for you can only enter the kingdom of heaven as the 
 camel passes the needle's eye, by bowing at the gate, and leav- 
 ing your burden behind. 
 
 Then he seems to turn his eyes more to the natural objects 
 about him, and translates their lessons to the disciples. The 
 sparrows that sing among the olive-trees of the mountain at- 
 tract his attention, and he points to them that he may teach 
 the watchcare of Providence : " Are not five sparrows sold 
 for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before 
 God ? Fear not therefore : ye are of more value than many 
 sparrows." Luke xii, 6, 7. Then another flock of birds at- 
 tracts his attention, and he uses them to still further enforce 
 this thought of God's care : " Consider the ravens : for they 
 neither sow nor reap ; which neither have storehouse nor 
 barn ; and God feedeth them : how much more are ye better 
 than the fowls?" Luke xii, 24. Then he weaves the vines 
 and trees, and also the thistles and thorns, of the mountain 
 into a lesson of diligence in showing faith by works : " Ye 
 shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of 
 thorns or figs of thistles ? " The cloud that appears in sight 
 also bears him a message : " And he said, When ye see a cloud 
 
 * We use the familiar explanation of the " needle's eye," although there is 
 division of opinion between this explanation and others. 
 
 2 
 
18 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a 
 shower ; and so it is. Ye hypocrites, ye a n discern the face 
 of the sky and of the earth ; but how is it that ye do not dis- 
 cern this time ? " — the spiritual truth of my mission. Best of 
 all, he impressed the lesson of God's personal watchcare, 
 which he had taught by the sparrows and ravens, by turning 
 to the beautiful white lilies of Palestine that bloomed abun- 
 dantly about him, and saying : Consider the lilies ; observe 
 them carefully ; take their lesson to heart ; read it over and 
 over. Consider the lilies: how abundantly they grow, how 
 prosperously they grow, how mysteriously they grow. Con- 
 sider the beauty of the lilies : Solomon in all the glory of his 
 royal white robe was not arrayed with such beauty as this 
 snowy lily. Wherefore, if God so adorn the grass and flowers 
 of the field, which quickly fade, and are cast with the dry straw 
 and withered herbs and stubble into the oven for fuel, how 
 much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith ! The 
 sparrows are almost worthless, and yet God watches over 
 their lives / the ravens have no storehouse, yet our Father 
 provides their food; the lilies toil not, and yet the Father 
 gives them raiment. And shall not He who takes such care 
 of the fowls in his yard and the plants in his garden much more 
 clothe and care for you, who are the children of his fireside ? 
 As the sibyl wrote her prophecies on leaves, so Jesus has 
 written his truth on the lily blossom, the raven's wing, the 
 ruby grape, the white grain, the passing cloud, the narrow 
 and wide gates, the city of the hill-top, the water of the way- 
 side well, and the fruit of the orchard. The Indians have a 
 legend, mentioned in Hiawatha, that — 
 
 " All the wild flowers of the forest, 
 
 All the lilies of the prairie, 
 
 When oti earth they fade and perish, 
 
 Blossom in the rainbow o'er us : 
 
 'Tis the heaven of flowers you see there." 
 
 Christ, on the other hand, took the heavenly rainbow of truth 
 and put it into the "wild flowers" and "lilies" of earth. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 19 
 
 Sandalphon, the angel of prayer, says the legend, 
 " Gathers our prayers as he stands, 
 And they turn into flowers in his hands." 
 
 The great Teacher shows us how we may take the flowers in 
 our hands and turn them into prayers. 
 
 Were it necessary, it might be interesting to show in this 
 connection how the Tabernacle was a great school for object- 
 lessons, each part of it teaching the people a word of high im- 
 port. As the child in bis primer sees the picture of a house, 
 and learns the word "House" below it the more readily, so 
 God showed the people a bloody altar, and wrote under it that 
 great word, " Atonement ; " he showed them a laver of pure 
 water, and taught them the word " Purity ; " he showed them 
 a golden candlestick, and taught them " Light ; " the lamb 
 was a prophecy of " the Lamb of God ; " the vail, of Christ's 
 flesh. God was teaching the unseen and eternal by the seen 
 and temporal. These altars and lavers, etc., were but "figures 
 of the true." The whole book of Hebrews teaches through 
 these object-lessons. Christ himself was not only a sacrifice 
 for us, but was also a grand visible lesson, illustrating to man 
 how the characteristics of God could be 4C made manifest 
 in the flesh." God gave to men this privilege of seeing Christ 
 in answer to that feeling that made it the intensest longing of 
 the prophets and sweetest memory of the apostles to " see 
 Jesus." The world desired to " behold the Lamb," unsatisfied, 
 like Simeon, until it had " seen God's salvation." The Bible 
 is the greatest text-book and store-house of object-lessons in 
 the world. Every sacrifice and feast of the Old Testament, 
 and every sacrament of the New, is an object-lesson. The Sab- 
 bath is an object-lesson of creation, and also of heaven ; the 
 rainbow after the flood, the moving pillar in the wilderness, 
 and every vision of prophecy, are object-lessons, and the 
 119th Psalm is an acrostic of Hebrew letters. 
 
 Eye-Te aching Adapted to the Times. 
 We need only to refer to the increased amount of black- 
 
20 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 board work in our day-schools, to the large number of maga- 
 zines and papers that have recently introduced illustrations 
 into their heretofore unillustrated pages, to the inscriptions on 
 rocks and fences, the great number of picture advertisements 
 in our papers, and the increasing custom of illustrating lect- 
 ures, to remind our readers that one marked characteristic 
 of this age is an inclination to put things into the mind by a 
 quick concentration on the eye. We must " discern the signs 
 of the times" and keep up with them. We must study times 
 and men. The advertising pages, which are epitomized photo- 
 graphs of the day, and the " Bitters" on stones, u Buchu " on 
 trees, and "Magic Oil" on every thing, notwithstanding their 
 quackery, teach us that this age must be reached very much 
 through the eye. 
 
 With Whom should Eye-Teaching be Used? 
 
 Not with the little children alone by any means, nor with 
 the ignorant simply. Christ used it in teaching the rich and 
 wise Nicodemus. He taught him the greatest truth that man 
 can ever learn by reminding him of the serpent lifted up in 
 the wilderness, and using that as an object-lesson to teach 
 him of redemption and regeneration. Paul was not too old 
 or learned, after he had graduated from " the feet of Gama- 
 liel," to be taught by an object-lesson. "As we tarried [at 
 Cesarea] there many days, there came down from Judea a 
 certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto 
 us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, 
 and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at 
 Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle." Acts xxi, 
 10, 11. God came to teach even the eloquent Peter, not ex- 
 actly with outlines on a blackboard, but with " all manner 
 of beasts in a sheet let down from heaven." The blackboard 
 and object-lesson are as necessary in a school where there are 
 many adults as in an infant-school. All feel the power of 
 this God-given method of presenting the truth to the heart. 
 
through the eye to the heart. 21 
 
 Whence Shall Illustrations be Gathered? 
 
 In answer to this question we give an extract from an ad- 
 mirable address by Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, Jim., on the sub- 
 ject of illustration : — 
 
 " 1. Let them be gathered from the word of God itself. 
 The writers of the seventeenth century used Scripture to 
 illustrate Scripture. Every thing in this book, the Bible, is 
 there by divine choice. There is nothing not intended to 
 be used to illustrate some positive truth. There is nothing 
 so direct in addressing the minds of children as the similes of 
 Scripture. Speaking of the judgment-day, can you find any 
 thino- that more admirably illustrates it than the thief in the 
 night ? Speaking of servants, is there any thing illustrating 
 it more perfectly than the yoke, of which God bears a part? 
 Take the parables, those matchless portions of Christ's own 
 wisdom, which go to interpret the force of every thing in 
 this world. . . . The Old Testament illustrations and quota- 
 tions were used by Christ in his life, on the cross, and we 
 also find them in the Revelation after Christ's ascension. In 
 using illustrations take them from the Bible, and tell them in 
 your own language. Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress' is based 
 on the Old and New Testaments. Illustrations from nature 
 may also be employed. You may have the beautiful parable 
 of Gotthold. A piece of clay was placed by the side of a 
 tea-rose, and when removed it had absorbed the fragrance 
 of the rose. What teaches better than this the relation we 
 bear to Jesus? Take the parable of Jean Paul Richter. 
 Walking in his garden in the morning, he saw the pearly 
 dew-drop on the leaf. In the evening he went out to look 
 at the dew-drop, and found that it had gone. He looked 
 about and saw the rainbow in the heavens. This he used to 
 illustrate the death of little children, and to show how they 
 are transplanted from this beauteous earth to reappear with 
 greater beauty in the heavens. Form your parable from 
 things you see. 2. Keep within the range of the scholar's 
 
22 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 observation. If there is any thing I abhor in a Sunday- 
 school it is a fixture. I have had people tell the same stories 
 which I have heard ever since childhood, and they told them 
 as occurring in their own experience. There's a great dan- 
 ger in telling old stories. 3. Keep within the region of 
 probabilities. Some people tell such improbable stories that 
 the children can't believe them. Be jealous for the truth. 
 4. Some men have a habit of saying things out of place. 
 I knew a man who had a story about noise, and told it on 
 every possible occasion. When in company he would stamp 
 his foot and say, 'There's a noise. O, speaking of noise 
 reminds me of a story,' and then he would proceed with it. 
 Some men thus use every opportunity to make a nail to hang 
 a story on, even if it does not fit into the lesson. 5. Peo- 
 ple hang on to stories too long. When you are done with 
 stories, drop them. Of what use is the scaffold after the 
 building is completed ? " 
 
 Rev, Wm. M. Taylor, D.D., says on the same subject : 
 "There is no faculty more susceptible of development by 
 culture than that of discovering analogies. The study of 
 the sermons of those men who are most remarkable for the 
 pertinence of their illustrations will be of service to you — 
 not by furnishing you with analogies ready-made, but by 
 showing you what treasures are lying all around you. We 
 may paraphrase here the inscription on Wren's monument, 
 and say, l Si illustrationes quoeris circamspice? You will 
 find them every-where — in the talk of the children and the 
 shouts of the school-boys ; on the street and in the store ; on 
 the ship and in the railroad car ; in the field of Nature and on 
 the page of literature. Only compel yourself for a time to 
 look at every thing with the question uppermost, ' What use 
 can I make of that in commending the truth of Christ to my 
 fellow-men ?' and by and by you will have so formed the habit 
 that, unconsciously and without any effort on your part, the 
 finest analogies will strike you." 
 
through the eye to the heart. 23 
 
 Who shall Conduct Efe-Te aching? 
 
 That which is to be given before the whole school should 
 be conducted by the pastor, if he is the best man for such 
 work, or by the superintendent, or by a selected teacher. Let 
 the best workman be selected whatever his position. One 
 may be best in object-teaching, another in blackboard work. 
 In the latter not only skill in using chalk is to be considered, 
 but also and especially ability to talk the subject sweetly into 
 the hearts of those that hear. One may design the exercises 
 and talk about them, having another who is a better artist to 
 do the mechanical work. If there is an artist in the school, 
 enlist his talent for Christ. " God sends us an artist, and he 
 immediately becomes a blackboardist," said an enthusiastic 
 Sunday-school pastor to a new member. And the artist 
 recognized the Master's call to labor, and his heart answered, 
 " Here am I, Lord ; " and from that hour the Sunday-school 
 was the fortunate possessor of consecrated ability, displayed 
 in the matter of exquisitely beautiful blackboard illustrations 
 done in colored crayons. " He spends the whole of every Sun- 
 day afternoon in the exhaustive study of the lesson. When 
 he has it all by heart, he makes a pencil sketch of the design 
 of the picture that he means to furnish us with on the follow- 
 ing Sunday. The first fresh hours of each morning of the 
 week he gives to the work of drawing and coloring the large 
 blackboard illustration so prized by our school ; and he adds 
 the last loving, finishing touches to the whole on Sunday, just 
 before bringing it up to the school." 
 
 Usually a simple outline sketch or word exercise would be 
 better than such a picture, but if God gives you an artist, use 
 him. Why not have a picture for the school on the black- 
 board as well as on the wall ? We cannot, however, empha- 
 size too strongly the fact that object-lessons and blackboard 
 exercises should, as a rule, be very simple, lest the means by 
 which we teach shall draw the attention from the truth to be 
 taught. When Moses and Elias, on the Mount of Transfig- 
 
24 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 uration, divided and diverted the attention of the apostles 
 from Christ, they were removed from eight, and the apostles 
 c * saw no man save Jesus only." Let the object-lessons van- 
 ish if they divert the eye from Jesus ; let the blackboard fall, 
 like Peter, James, and John, to the ground, if it stands be- 
 tween the scholars' hearts and Christ. Amid all these helps 
 let the Sunday-school " hear Him " above all other voices. 
 
 What shall Give us Themes for Eye-Teaching ? 
 
 Three things should usually have weight in selecting a map, 
 story, or object-lesson, or in making a blackboard exercise : 
 1. The lesson of the school or class; 2. The events of the 
 day ; 3, The time of the year. While the lesson should usu- 
 ally be the center of the eye-teaching, yet, at times, striking 
 and special events of the day or the season of the year may 
 suggest other themes that will be impressive. If there is a 
 temperance excitement, exercises on temperance might for a 
 day be better than an exercise on the subject of the lesson. 
 So in time of flowers, fruits, or autumn leaves, the season 
 rather than the lesson may give the eye-teacher his theme. 
 
 Divisions of Eye-Teaching. 
 
 Taking the subject in a comprehensive view, we make the 
 following divisions : 
 
 I. Vivid Description and Alle- 4. Syllable Exercise. 
 
 gories. 5. Word Exercise. 
 
 II. Stories Vividly Told. 6. Phrase Exercise. 
 
 III. Stories Represented. 7. Table Exercise. 
 
 IV. Religious Object-Teaching. 8. Acrostic Exercise. 
 
 V. Map-Teaching. 9. Parallel and Contrast Exerciso. 
 
 VI. Picture-Teaching. 10. Canceling Exercise. 
 
 VII. Blackboard Exercises. 11. Erasing Exercise. 
 
 1. Motto Exercise. 12. Word-Symbol Exercise. 
 
 2. Topic Exercise. 13. Map Kxercise. 
 
 3. Initial Exercise. 14. Outline Exercise. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE £0 THE fiEART. 25 
 
 I. Vivid Description and Allegories. 
 
 "The imagination is second to no other faculty in the 
 human mind in understanding God's word. An illustration 
 is only an appeal to the imagination. Imagination is that 
 faculty which sees the hidden truths. It stands before the 
 violet and sees humility. It looks up at the sun and sees 
 truth. When we have to teach the children so much that can- 
 not be seen, the best way is to bring them up to the truth 
 by things which appeal to the imagination."* 
 
 "The Bible is not a system of theology; still less is it a 
 creed ; but it is a succession of vivid pictures — a true his- 
 tory of Hying, thinking human beings and of God's deal- 
 ings with them. Some have said that Sunday-school teach- 
 ers should not teach geography, history, manners and cus- 
 toms, but only the Gospel. Without these things there is 
 no Gospel. It is impossible to understand God's dealings 
 with any man in the Bible without knowing all about that 
 man's manner of life and surroundings. We must be able 
 to see Abraham sitting at the door of his tent, with his 
 white hair and beard. We must know him as neither more 
 nor less than an Arab sheik, with the intellect of a child, 
 and less knowledge than one of our Sunday-school children. 
 We shall then, and then only, be able to understand God's 
 dealings with him, and what he accomplished by him." f 
 
 A scene may be described with the vividness of an eye- 
 witness if it has been carefully studied with the aid of books 
 and pictures. Judge Jay, of Ohio, in company at Washing- 
 ton, conversing with a lady who had traveled in Scotland, 
 was remarking on objects of interest in that country. The 
 judge described Arthur's Seat, the Carleton Hills, and other 
 places so minutely and graphically, that the lady said to him, 
 " When did you visit Scotland?" He said, "Never:' "How 
 then can you describe its places so vividly?" He replied, 
 " I have studied them carefully in pictures and descriptions." 
 *Rev. S. H. Tyng, Jun., D.D. +Rev. Dr. Duryea. 
 
26 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The scenes of the Bible, if vividly described from a thor- 
 ough knowledge and sympathy with the circumstances, form 
 a picture, a drama, that may properly be classed as eye-teach- 
 ing. If the teacher is talking about Paul on Mars' Hill, let 
 the surrounding scenes be so described that the scholar can 
 put himself in Paul's place and make the scene real. Let the 
 doctrines of the Epicureans and Stoics be so distinctly de- 
 scribed that the application of every sentence shall be felt. 
 If the Good Samaritan be the subject, let the teachers make 
 the scholars feel the very shadow of the rocks on that danger- 
 ous way, and the moisture of the cloth with which the blood 
 is wiped from the arms of the man left half dead. The Epis- 
 tle to the Corinthians may be made as beautiful to the eye as 
 a temple by a thorough understanding of the architecture of 
 Ephesus,/rom which Paul wrote, and of Corinth, to which 
 he wrote. 
 
 In fact, whatever the lesson may be, if all the geographical 
 and historical knowledge connected with it is clustered around 
 it there will be a picturesqueness and vividness that will add 
 greatly to its power. Take the following illustration of this 
 kind of description on the subject of feeding the multitude : 
 
 The incident has its lesson for the pews as well as its en- 
 couragement for the pulpit. Christ might have scattered 
 this heavenly manna, as of old, by the same miraculous power 
 that multiplied it. He chose rather to use human agency, 
 and "gave it to the disciples, and they gave it to the multi- 
 tude." There was a great variety of tastes, talents, and dis- 
 positions among the disciples; but Christ used them all, not 
 merely to distribute the bread, but also to impress its lesson. 
 There was the loving John, the impulsive Peter, the doubting 
 Thomas, the systematic Matthew, the law-loving James, and 
 the others, each with some trait of character peculiarly his 
 own. Sometimes, as I have thought of this incident, I have 
 imagined the different feelings with which the disciples re- 
 
THROUGH THE EtfE TO THE HEART. 27 
 
 ceived the bread and thought of the miracle. John, as he 
 took the loaves, would stand and look with his deep, loving 
 eyes upon Jesus, almost forgetting the multitude as he gazed, 
 " lost in wonder, love, and praise," upon his Master. Impul- 
 sive Peter would seize the loaves eagerly and hurry about, 
 scattering them hastily among the multitude, and, with his 
 emphasis and love of prophecy, proclaiming on every hand 
 that they saw the promise fulfilled, " He shall feed his flock 
 like a shepherd." James, with his love of the old law, would 
 remind the people, as he scattered the bread, that the same 
 power that fed their fathers in the wilderness was feeding 
 them on the shores of Galilee. Systematic Matthew would 
 remind the people how greatly the loaves had been multiplied 
 and how many had been fed ; while Thomas, as he took the 
 bread from Jesus, would press his thumbs into the loaves that 
 he might be assured he was not dreaming, and that he did 
 not hold a phantom in his hand, meanwhile glancing cautiously 
 at the Master, and whispering to his nearest friend, " What 
 manner of man is this ? " 
 
 Christ used all these various talents to get the bread and 
 its lesson to the multitude ; and so to-day the bread which is 
 given to you with Christ's blessing from the written Word, 
 the Spirit, and the Gospel ministry, God expects you to 
 scatter among the multitude in your daily walks, around 
 your firesides, along your waysides, and in your places of 
 business. 
 
 " Give ye them to eat." 
 
 The sermons of Rev. T. De Witt Talmage abound in ex- 
 amples of vivid description of Bible scenes, and may profitably 
 be studied by teachers as models in this respect. 
 
 The plan of representing abstract truths in concrete forms, 
 and personifying the ideal, so beautifully illustrated by the 
 parables of our Lord, and also by the fables of zEsop and the 
 allegories of Bunyan and others, may often be used to great 
 advantage by the Sunday-school teacher. Dr. Eggleston once 
 told a company of children of a house that a king had built 
 
28 THROUGH THE EYE TO tUE HEART. 
 
 with two beautiful windows, two wonderful servants, etc., to 
 which that king sent his son, and the man who lived in the 
 king's house refused to let him in ; in short, making the human 
 body and soul an allegorical house, and describing it in such 
 a way that the children could surmise, before he finished the 
 description, that he was talking of them and Christ's coming 
 for admittance to their hearts. 
 
 Gifts from a Casket. — [This exercise, contributed by 
 Rev. W. E. Huntington, shows very well how abstract truth 
 may be presented in an attractive verbal form.] A speaker 
 addressing a body of children desires to talk of some of the 
 virtues and graces that> should adorn character. Let him 
 tell the children he has some gifts to distribute to them. He 
 has a ring for each finger on both hands. Then, holding up 
 the first finger of his left hand, let him .call the ring for that 
 finger Obedience, for example, and ask the children to repeat 
 the word in unison. A story may be told illustrative of tins 
 virtue. And so on for each finger of both hands. This list 
 may be used for the rings : Obedience, Truthfulness, Cour- 
 tesy, Kindness, Cheerfulness, Humility, Temperance, Love. 
 Calling these virtues rings, and slipping them upon their 
 fingers, in imagination, will prove to be the best way of fasten- 
 ing the lessons to be taught upon the memories of child rer. 
 Their attention may be held more closely by frequently ask- 
 ing them to repeat the names of the rings in concert, follow- 
 ing the order in which they have been given. Then, as they 
 will want to show these gifts to their friends, they must 
 have sandals upon their feet. Call these sandals Courage. 
 Let them repeat this word in a full, clear voice. Show how 
 without these sandals it would be useless to try to wear 
 some of the rings — Obedience and Temperance, for instanee. 
 Then give them a girdle of Christlikeness, showing how, 
 as a girdle binds the garments closely about one, that he 
 may run or work well, so Christlikeness is a comprehensive 
 quality of character that will enable us to live well. Lastly, 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 29 
 
 place the crown of Faith upon their heads. Speak of faith as 
 the highest ornament of character. It links us to God, and 
 therefore ought to be placed above all others, as a crowning 
 grace. Then let the names of the rings, of the sandals, of the 
 girdle, of the crown, be repeated in concert, and the speaker 
 may close by telling his audience of little hearers that these 
 ornaments are of finer stuff than silver or gold, and will 
 not wear out nor tarnish by wearing them every day, but 
 will only grow brighter by use, and that they come from 
 God's casket of jewels — the Bible* 
 
 II. — STORIES VIVIDLY TOLD. 
 
 The great teachers of the race are those who have clothed 
 truth in stories of some kind. iEsop, Bunyan, Beecher, 
 Spurgeon, and a host of others, are examples of this class. 
 A man gave to Christ, as he thought, a troublesome question, 
 " Who is my neighbor ? " It was answered vividly with the 
 story of the good Samaritan. 
 
 Jews regarded with scorn the " publicans and sinners " 
 that had accepted Christ. Jesus taught them their duty by 
 the prodigal's story. Ralph Wells writes : " I asked a young 
 woman upon the street, c What portion of the Scripture did 
 you the most good?' She replied, 'That which does all 
 men good, the parable of the prodigal son. It is so pleasant, 
 so plain! There stands the father with outstretched arms. 
 It is wonderful, the love of Jesus Christ for the sinner !' " 
 Stories vividly told, put on as a garment, are a part of eye- 
 teaching. The teacher should be amply supplied with them. 
 "Where will you go to-day V" said a mother to her little 
 
 * The author has heard the writer of the above form a group of allegorical 
 statuary of the virtues: Yal or, as a true soldier, first set up, and then 
 Knowledge, as a true scholar ; Temperance, as a man of strength and health 
 and manliness ; and so, following with Patience, Brotherly-Kindness, Faith, 
 and Love, making them seem like a group of statues upon the platform 
 around him as he described their characteristics, and giving some incident 
 illustrative of each one after describing it 
 
30 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 girl, " to Aunt Mary's or Aunt Jane's?" She replied, u I will 
 go to see Aunt Jane, for she always has plenty of ginger 
 snaps and keeps them on the lowest shelf." The teacher 
 should have plenty of stories and " keep them on the low- 
 est shelf," so that children can understand them ; a note-book 
 and pencil always with him and a scrap-book at home will 
 easily gather the " snaps." 
 
 This is good advice from a teacher: "Use the pen- 
 cil. It is easy to carry. It aids the memory. It catches 
 and keeps a thousand flitting thoughts. Carry a small 
 blank book. If you see a fact or think a thought that 
 may be of any possible use in the future take note of 
 it. You may not now see of what service it can be, but 
 when interested in a lesson you may glance over the pen- 
 ciled jottings and find one, two, ten helpful illustrations 
 or allusions, the worth of which, in the exposition of 
 your subject, may be invaluable. One fact a day thus 
 taken into captivity will register three hundred and sixty- 
 five a year — so many servitors in your work. Use the 
 pencil." 
 
 Henry Clay Trumbull writes these excellent words about 
 telling Bible stories vividly : " It has been urged by some 
 earnest Sunday-school writer that children should never be 
 trapped into hearing a Bible story, by its recital in homely 
 language, as if it were from another source than the Book of 
 God. But there are two sides to even that question. If a 
 child is disinclined to hear Bible stories, it is not fair to as- 
 sume you are telling him something else when he is sure to 
 find at the close that you have palmed off one of the obnox- 
 ious narratives in another garb. On the other hand, it is em- 
 inently desirable to so clothe the Bible history to children as 
 to give to the persons and incidents thereof a naturalness 
 and reality that is not secured to little folks through the 
 somewhat obsolete forms of our common English version. 
 What would oe wrong for purposes of deception is quite 
 proper for the purpose of elucidation. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 31 
 
 " An incident in ray own experience confirms ray opinion on 
 this point. I well recall the time when I had far more rever- 
 ence for than understanding of the Bible. Scripture charac- 
 ters were to me not only mythical but unintelligible. The 
 difference between Genesis and Euroclydon was by no means 
 clear to my mind. I did not know who Deuteronomy was, 
 nor what was Jehoshaphat. The first dawn of clear day 
 came in this way. My home was by the sea-side, where 
 figures of sailor life were familiar to all. One afternoon a 
 good man came to our Sabbath-school gathering, and, enter- 
 ing the desk by request of the superintendent, commenced 
 to tell a story. He described a sea-shore scene, with a ves- 
 sel in the offing weighing anchor and loosing sail for a voy- 
 age. Vividly, in word painting, he showed a boat putting 
 off from the dock, bringing at the last moment a passenger 
 for the trip, his clambering on to the dock, the start of the 
 vessel, its progress, a gathering storm, danger on the deep, 
 the fright of passengers and crew, a consultation, and the 
 confession of the late-coming passenger that he was a fugi- 
 tive pursued of God for his sin, hence the storm and the peril 
 to all. O how well I remember the new light that burst into 
 my mind when I then recognized the hitherto unreal story of 
 Jonah as a living verity ! I felt as did the boy who at last 
 saw Lafayette through the carriage window, and called out 
 in amazement, ' Why, he's only a man ! ' c Jonah ' had been 
 Jonah to me until that hour. Now he was a man. ' Joppa ' 
 had been Joppa. Now it was a sea-port town. My little 
 brain was almost bewildered with the discovery that the 
 Bible had something in it that I could understand ; but the 
 vail of mystery that had enwrapped it until then went over- 
 board with Jonah when that Sunday-school speaker had him 
 thrown into the sea in the story. The entrance of God's 
 words gave me light just as soon as those words were so 
 stated that they could enter my child-mind. I am confident that 
 I should not have been so profited at that time had the nar- 
 rator announced in commencing that he was to tell us a Bible 
 
32 THKOUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 etory. His course may, I think, be safely commended to 
 many a teacher of the young. 
 
 "At the Newsboys' Lodging House in New York, ten years 
 ago, I heard Mr. Tracy, the then Superintendent, entrap, as 
 some might call it, his motley audience into hearing a Bible 
 story when they would not have listened quietly to his rev- 
 erent reading of the sacred narrative. Commencing the par- 
 able of the prodigal son, he told it in what would have seemed 
 slang phrase to others, but in language which was really the 
 vernacular of those boys. He held their fixed attention as he 
 proceeded, and when their interest was most intense he said 
 suddenly : 
 
 " But, boys, this story is all written out in a book I have 
 here. Let me read you the rest of it. 5 And he opened the 
 Bible and continued the narration, reading and explaining 
 or translating by turn. Who shall say he was irreverent, or 
 caused his hearers to be ? " 
 
 III. — STORIES REPRESENTED. 
 
 Stories that are read may sometimes be a little vivified by 
 using or showing something mentioned in the story. In tell- 
 ing the story of Joseph when he sent the message to Jacob, 
 a piece of brown paper (which will represent parchment) 
 may be cut into a foot square and rolled up as a Jewish 
 scroll, with this letter written upon it, to be read after the 
 scroll is described and the circumstances narrated — Gen. 
 xlv, 9, etc. : 
 
 Egypt, 1706. 
 
 Jacob Israel, — Thus saith thy son Joseph: I am yet 
 alive. Come down tome; tarry not; and thou shalt be mar 
 to me, and I will nourish thee. 
 
 Joseph, Lord of all Egypt. 
 
 This letter should be written with the lines slanting very 
 jmuch, as the slant in Jewish letters indicates love. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE fO THE HEART. 33 
 
 With this story of Joseph the passage from Revelation 
 may be read : " Fear not : I am he that liveth and was dead, 
 and behold, I am alive for evermore." This may be used to 
 show that Joseph was not dead, although unseen ; so Christ 
 is not dead, but " ever lives above." Other analogies may 
 also be brought out — for example, the Lord is our Shepherd, 
 and has also become a King, and we " shall not want." 
 
 The stories of the Bible can often be told with some East- 
 ern or missionary relic to illustrate them, or something re- 
 sembling objects mentioned in the accounts : the parable of 
 the vineyard with a bunch of grapes, Joseph's dream with 
 a handful of wheat, Stephen's death with a pile of stones, 
 Joseph sold for twenty pieces of silver with a handful of 
 coin, the tribute money scene with a pie.ce of money, etc. A 
 preacher, in speaking about the heathen, took a heathen god 
 from his pocket and intensified his words by bringing the 
 simple object into his story at the right time.* 
 
 IV. — RELIGIOUS OBJECT-TEACHING. 
 
 We shall try to answer five questions that are often asked 
 in regard to object-teaching in the Sunday-school: 1. What 
 is religious object-teaching? 2. Why should it be used? 
 3. WJien should it be used ? 4. Where shall we obtain ob- 
 jects ? and, 5. How shall we use them ? 
 
 What is religious object-teaching f We can most readily 
 show what it is by comparing it with the well-known object- 
 teaching of our best day-schools. 
 
 In the day-school an object is presented to the eye — a leaf, 
 a flower, a mineral, a fossil, or a bone — to be studied for its 
 own sake, and the lesson is perfect only when every quality t 
 
 * Rev. J. S. Ostrauder has prepared a box of " Oriental Block Models " 
 that enable the teacher to give at once a cheap, accurate, and vivid repre- 
 sentation, in their real forms, of the tabernacle, temple, Jewish house, 
 wiue-press, and other specimens of Bible architecture. Any part of the 
 Bible that has architectural references may be most effectively illustrated by 
 vhis ingenious arrangement. 
 
 a 
 
34 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 and attribute of the object is known. In the Sunday-school, 
 on the other hand, the object, although it may be any of 
 those mentioned above, is studied as a symbol, a suggestion, 
 a picture of some thought or idea far above itself, and the 
 lesson is perfect when the attention is secured by the object, 
 and the one or two qualities that may illustrate the thought 
 which is being presented are understood. 
 
 We may illustrate the day-school object-teaching by a rec- 
 itation at Dotiieboy's Hall : 
 
 This is the first class in English spelling and philosophy, 
 J^ickleby,' said Squeers, beckoning Nicholas to stand beside 
 him. c Now, then, where' s the first boy ? ' 
 
 " c Please, sir, he's cleaning the back parlor window,' said 
 the temporary head of the philosophical class. 
 
 " ' So he is, to be sure,' rejoined Squeers. c We go upon the 
 practical mode of teaching, Nickleby ; the regular education 
 system: c-1-e-a-n, clean, verb active, to make bright, to scour. 
 W-i-n, win, d-e-r, der, winder, a casement. When the boy knows 
 this out of a book he goes and does it. It's just the same prin- 
 ciple as the use of the globes. Where's the second boy ? ' 
 
 " ' Please, sir, he's weeding the garden,' replied a small 
 voice. 
 
 " t To be sure,' said Squeers, by no means disconcerted. ' So 
 he is. B-o-t, bot, t-i-n, tin, bottin, n-e-y, ney, bottinney, noun 
 substantive, a knowledge of plants. When he has learned 
 that bottinney means a knowledge of plants he goes and knows 
 'em. That's our system, Nickleby.' " 
 
 Although we should hardly give this as a model lesson, 
 yet it illustrates the great characteristics of object-teaching 
 in day-schools. The lesson is perfect when all the qualities of 
 the weeds and the ''winder" are ascertained. When the 
 scholar "goes and knows 'em" they lead to nothing further. 
 Religious object-teaching would lead us to look through 
 the <4 winder 'V to something greater beyond ; it would point 
 us below the roots and above the blossoms of the plants to 
 the Hand that made them. 
 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 35 
 
 The following will exactly illustrate the point we have just 
 mentioned. A boy brought home to his father the teacher's 
 report of l?is standing, which proved to be much below his 
 usual mark. The father asked him why it was, and he replied 
 that he didn't know. The father knew, however, for he 
 had noticed yellow-covered novels lying about the house dur- 
 ing the few days previous. He turned to his son and said, 
 " Empty that basket full of apples upon the floor, and then go 
 out and fill the basket half full of chips." 
 
 The son, not suspecting any thing, obeyed. When he had 
 brought the basket half full of chips the father said, "Now 
 put back those apples into the basket." After half of them 
 had been put in they began to roll off. "Pot them all in; 
 put them in," said the father sternly. 
 
 "I cannot," was the reply. 
 
 " Of course you cannot," said the father. " You said you 
 did not know why you had fallen off in standing. Of course, 
 you cannot fill your mind with useful knowledge after get- 
 ting it half full of that yellow-covered trash you have been 
 reading." 
 
 The boy blushed and went away, but never afterward 
 touched one of those novels. In this object-lesson it would 
 have been a waste of time and an injury to the lesson to have 
 had the boy notice any further qualities about chips than the 
 fact that they occupied the room which belonged to more 
 valuable articles. When the object shown in Sunday-school 
 is so used as to make it more prominent than the truth to be 
 taught, it is exalting a "chip " above a moral precept. As 
 much as a flag is less than the loyalty it represents, so much 
 less than the truth presented should the object appear. The 
 highest* quality of an object used in Sunday-school teaching 
 is that it should be a perfect mirror, itself almost unnoticed, 
 while reflecting some great idea. 
 
 I passed a calm, still lake one starlight night, and beneath 
 its motionless surface there seemed to be " new heavens," the 
 stars were so perfectly reflected in its watery depths, the 
 
36 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE UEAttT. 
 
 evening star shining brightest of all. So the religious object- 
 lesson should reflect heavenly things, the Star of Bethlehem 
 always being most prominent in its teachings and suggestions. 
 
 2. Why should object-teaching be used in the Sunday-school f 
 For the answer to this question the reader is referred to the 
 first pages of this book. 
 
 3. When should object-lessons be used? (1.) Frequently, as 
 the Saviour used them, lest they shall attract too much atten- 
 tion because of their novelty, and because almost every les 
 son maybe made more interesting at some point by their use. 
 (2.) Only when they may be introduced naturally to help the 
 truth; never as a "side exhibition " attached to the truth 
 rather than an incidental illustration of it. 
 
 The younger the scholars, the more frequently should ob- 
 ject-lessons be used. 
 
 But, 4. Where shall we get object-lessons ? Generally, not 
 from the books and magazines. The model exercises given in 
 institutes, books, and papers should be read for the sugges- 
 tions and principles they contain, instead of being literally 
 followed. David in Goliath's hat or Saul's armor would not 
 be more awkward than a teacher often becomes in trying to 
 use, without modification, the object-lesson of another. 
 
 The "How," not the "What," should be the question in 
 our minds as we study the object-lessons of others. 
 
 For finding object-lessons " the field is the world." The 
 good teacher transforms every phase of life into an illustra- 
 tion. As the delicate plate of the photographer catches a pict- 
 ure of whatever is before it, so the teacher who has put his 
 mind into the illustrative mood catches illustrations from every 
 passing event. 
 
 Briefly and rapidly it may be shown how fertile in" object- 
 lessons are the fields in which we all walk, how abundant are 
 the lessons within " arm's length" of every day life. Sitting 
 in my study this very afternoon, let me see how many ob- 
 ject-lessons may be found without leaving the room: First, 
 I will search myself. In my breast pocket I find a letter 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 37 
 
 from one of our Sunday-school editors promising me a sum 
 of money. The promise would be of no value unless it had 
 a name I could trust signed to it. This letter, then, maybe 
 used as an object-lesson to show why we trust in the prom- 
 ises of the Bible : it is because the name of Jesus is signed 
 to them. 
 
 In the same pocket is my Berean D ay-Book, with a space 
 for every day in the year. The future days are blank, the 
 past days not used as well as they should have been. 
 This object will illustrate the Book of Remembrance, (see 
 Appendix.) In my vest pocket is a watch. It may be used 
 as indicated in Appendix. From my pocket I take a hand- 
 ful of coin. It maybe used to illustrate the story of Joseph 
 sold into slavery, of Christ sold by Judas, or any other inci 
 dent of Bible history where money is mentioned. On this 
 two cent piece is the motto " In God we trust," a good object 
 and text for a talk on God's care of our country. I take out 
 my wallet. Here are some railroad tickets. The name of the 
 superintendent signed to them gives me a passport from one 
 place to another. So the name of Jesus gives us a passport 
 to heaven. 
 
 This counterfeit currency and this counterfeit bill also 
 suggest lessons. Sinful pleasure promises to pay us joy " six 
 months after a treaty of peace " between our consciences and 
 sin. 
 
 This life insurance receipt will illustrate the soul's in- 
 surance of heavenly life. Then, this bunch of keys is an ex- 
 cellent illustration of God's promises. Starting with the 
 story of " The Key of Promise," I would say that every one 
 of the promises is a key to lock in some treasure, or lock out 
 some enemy, or unlock some store of heavenly wealth. This 
 watch-key suggests the promise with which we " wind up " 
 our trust every day, u As thy days so shall thy strength be." 
 This trunk key represents the traveler's promise, " Lo, I am 
 with you alway ; " this house key, " Thou wilt keep him in 
 perfect peace whose mind is stayed on theej" this church 
 
38 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 key, " They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength." 
 This key to my post-office box may represent the promise of 
 prayer, by which we receive God's messages, " Whatsoever 
 ye shall ask in my name I will do it ; " this safe key, (if I had 
 one,) "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth ; " this 
 skeleton key that will unlock the church door, house door, 
 bed-room door, and many others, the promises that apply to 
 a great variety of cases : " The Lord will provide ; " " My 
 grace is sufficient for thee." My body may be used as an 
 object-lesson of God's wisdom, for we are all " wonderfully 
 made ; " or it may be used allegorically, as in Eccles. xii. 
 
 Turning now to my desk and its contents, this white paper 
 is an object-lesson, (see illustration in " Seed-Thought for 
 Object-Lessons.") This sheet of red blotting paper may il- 
 lustrate the promise of the "crimson made white as wool." 
 Formerly men could not whiten crimson rags ; from them 
 therefore they must make paper of crimson or some other hue. 
 But Christ can make the crimson stain as white as snow. 
 Here is an ink bottle labeled "Ink," but the ink is no 
 longer there. So some persons bear the label " Christian " 
 when the Christlikeness has all disappeared. Here is my 
 Bible. It maybe used as indicated in "Stories Represented." 
 My pocket looking-glass, which I have just taken from a 
 pigeon-hole, is cracked, and therefore makes a poor reflection, 
 as our professedly Christian hearts, when not right in the 
 sight of God, reflect Christ imperfectly. This photograph 
 of Abraham Lincoln may be used as indicated in the "Seed- 
 Thought for Object-Lessons." 
 
 These four crackers, one in the shape of a diamond, another 
 a cross, another a star, another a heart, given me by one of 
 my little friends, were too sacred to eat, and so here they are 
 in this pigeon-hole. In bringing them home the stamp of the 
 name was accidentally broken out of the cross, and the 
 heart, which had no name, was broken on one side. The 
 star and diamond crackers were perfect. Let me try to 
 ^et a sermon out of these by questioning my little friencl, 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 39 
 
 Alice, who happens to be in my study for a few minutes 
 this afternoon. What are these ? " Crackers." What do 
 you see on this star cracker ? " Dots." What else ? u Let- 
 ters." What do you think the letters spell ? " The name 
 of the man that made it." When do you think the name 
 was stamped on it — when it was soft, or after it was baked ? 
 " When it was soft." If they had tried to stamp it when 
 it was hard, what would have happened ? " They would 
 break it." [Put tne cracker out of sight.] Whose name 
 ought we to have written on our hearts ? " Jesus's." When 
 ought it to be written there — when we grow old, or when we 
 are children ? " When we are children." When is it easiest 
 to love God ? " When we are children." The Bible says 
 if we are good we shall shine as the stars. [Show star 
 cracker.] Now repeat with me, " Shine as the stars for ever 
 and ever." Now, you see this cross cracker looks bad because 
 the name is broken out. We must never lose the name of 
 Jesus from our hearts. And this heart cracker has no name. 
 Could we stamp a name on it now ? " No ; it would break." 
 How sad that any heart should not have a Jesus in it! 
 Christ says that we shall be his in the day that he makes up 
 his jewels. [Show diamond cracker.] Jesus loves those that 
 he saves better than his crown or his throne. They are 
 his jewels. [Incident of the mother of the Gracchi.] 
 
 Here beside my desk is a large calla lily. For its use 
 see "Seed-Thought for Object-Lessons." In the vase with 
 it are some apple blossoms. With them I can illustrate the 
 fostering care of God over children, bringing them up to 
 manhood But these are severed from the tree and are fading. 
 I might use them to illustrate the fifteenth of John. Trailing 
 over my bay window is an ivy which I might use with the 
 same questions as the lesson on the Vine in u Seed-Thought 
 for Object-Lessons." The plants in my hanging basket and 
 flower pots can be used with the story of " The Atheist and 
 the Flower " in " Stories Represented." 
 
 These pictures on my wall — " Bible Trees," Belshazzar's 
 
4:0 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 Feast," "A Flower Scene," "The Key of Promise "—may be 
 used for picture teaching; also, this portfolio of sacred pictures, 
 cut from the illustrated papers of the day. I have not ex- 
 hausted the list, but have said enough to show how abundant 
 are the objects within reach of every teacher. 
 
 Toby Yeck listened to the chimes as to a living voice, 
 and little Nell's friend heard whispers in the flames of his 
 forge. Shakspeare heard Ariels in the breeze. To Byron 
 "every mountain top had found a tongue." To Tennyson 
 every tree is a u talking oak." To Longfellow, " the voice- 
 less lips of flowers " are " living preachers." Whittier says 
 that " such music as the woods and streams sang in his ear 
 he sang aloud." The Sunday-school teacher needs this "open 
 eye and ear," that every bell and flame and mountain-top and 
 tree and flower and stream may be interpreted, and their 
 God-sent messages understood. Like the servant of the 
 prophet, if our eyes were opened we should see the mount- 
 ains and fields full of the messages of God. 
 
 To the writers of the Bible the rolling year was full of 
 object-lessons : seed, blooming flowers, harvests, withered 
 leaves, "snow like morsels" — all these gave subjects for spir- 
 itual teaching. So relics of history, the serpent in the wil- 
 derness, the budding rod, the pillar of cloud and fire, the 
 temple vessels, etc., gave them frequent object-lessons. 
 They found in wayside walls, vineyards, kitchens, shops, 
 and temples, some object on which they could hang the 
 truth. Like them, the teacher should find in the garden, the 
 fields, and the home, object-lessons for his work. For young 
 scholars and infant departments especially objects are in- 
 valuable. There should be a box or drawer somewhere in 
 connection with the school in which missionary relics, historic 
 trophies, and any object that can be used as an object-lesson, 
 may be kept, new ones being constantly added. And yet the 
 best object-lessons will be those that are fresh and suggested 
 by the present need. 
 
 5. How shall object-lessons be prepared and taught? \\\ 
 
>/rv 
 
 V 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 41 
 
 answering this most important question there are three 
 suggestions for the preparation and four for the teaching: 
 
 Preparation: (1.) u Search the Scriptures" by means of 
 the Concordance and other helps for all the Scripture 
 passages that may in any way be connected with the object. 
 
 (2.) The attributes and uses of the object should be ascer- 
 tained by a careful analysis. A teacher who fails to do this 
 may be embarrassed and surprised by unexpected develop- 
 ments at the time of teaching. A true story is told of a 
 Roman Catholic priest, who some years ago entered a pulpit 
 in Germany, carrying in his hand a walnut, his intention be- 
 ing to use it as an illustration of what he was about to say. 
 Holding up the little nut in full view of his crowded audi- 
 ence, he began, in a loud and boasting tone, with, " My 
 hearers, the shell of this nut is tasteless and valueless: that, 
 my friends, was Calvin's Church. The skin of this fruit is 
 nauseous, disagreeable, and worthless : that represents the 
 Lutheran Church. And now I will show you the holy Ap- 
 ostolic Church." Suiting his action to his words, he cracked 
 the nut, and, lo and behold ! to his utter chagrin and discom- 
 fiture the inside contents were perfectly decayed and rotten. 
 
 (3.) Study the analogies between the object shown and the 
 truth to be taught. In 1 Kings xxii, 11, 34, 35, we have the 
 case of an object-lesson that sounded very well, but the 
 analogy failed to hold good. A preacher, using hot and cold 
 air as an illustration, said, " The more you heat the air in a 
 receiver the more room there is to put in more air." An- 
 other preacher announced as his text, " Thou makest my feet 
 like hen's feet," and used the analogy of their clinging to 
 the roost to teach the duty of clinging to the cross. Such 
 mistakes may usually be avoided by preparing the lesson 
 before attempting to teach it. 
 
 Teaching: (1.) By means of careful questions get the 
 scholars to mention the qualities of the object as far as they 
 are to be used. A teacher should expect peculiar answers 
 3,t times, and take them good-naturedly, without being discon- 
 
42 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 certed. A reverend gentleman was addressing a school re- 
 cently, and was trying to enforce the idea that the hearts of the 
 little ones were sinful and needed regulating. Taking his 
 watch and holding it up, he said : " Now, here is my watch ; 
 suppose it don't keep good time — now goes too fast, and now 
 too slow— what shall I do with it?" "Sell it!" shouted a 
 flaxen- headed youngster. 
 
 (2.) Call the attention of the class to the Scripture passages, 
 and. have a part of them, at least, memorized. 
 
 (3.) By questions and explanations make the analogies 
 between the object and the truth clear, and then remove the 
 object from sight. 
 
 Hartley, in his u Pictorial Teaching," gives an amusing ex- 
 ample of confounding truth with an illustration. A teacher 
 was one day explaining to a class of girls the nature of faith, 
 and by way of illustration pointed through the window to a 
 boat which could be seen upon the river. " Look," said the 
 teacher, " at that boat. You can see it, can you not ? " 
 "Yes," said the scholars. "Well, if I were to tell you that 
 there was a mutton pie in the boat under the seat, would 
 you believe me?" "Certainly we should," they replied. 
 " Well," said the teacher, " that is faith." A short time 
 afterward the teacher was again talking to the children on a 
 similar subject, and, asking the question, "What is faith?" 
 was astonished to hear the reply, " Faith, teacher, is a mui- 
 ton pie in a boat" 
 
 (4.) Impress the truth deeply upon the heart, and always 
 close with personal application and prayer. One should 
 always be careful that the truth shall reach the scholar's 
 thoughts more deeply than the object, the latter ever keep- 
 ing its place as a forerunner simply, and crying, " The truth 
 that cometh after me is greater than I." 
 
 Our Boy's Knife. — During the autumn Harry and I 
 were in the woods gathering leaves. Needing a knife, I 
 asked Harry for his, in order to see of what sort it was, and 
 at the same time learn the contents of our boy's pocket. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 43 
 
 He brought out first a piece of apple, then a top and a 
 few bits of string, several marbles, some nails, chalk, candy, 
 slate-pencils, one or two coppers, a piece of paper carefully 
 wrapped, said to have been a school-girl's note, and, last of 
 all, his knife — an article indispensable to most of us, and for 
 wh'ch boys have a special longing. This was its condition. 
 
 The knife was useless to me, although our boy insisted it 
 answered his purpose exceedingly well. 
 
 I expressed surprise. Harry confessed that he traded 
 knives, and he could " come it " over the boys first-rate with 
 that knife. 
 
 Shortly after I asked Harry if his knife would not be a 
 good text for a sermon. He thought not, but promised to 
 listen attentively to any sermon I might preach from such a 
 text. 
 
 On our way home I commenced: First. I am sorry 
 that our boy uses his knife as a means of deception. A lie 
 acted is as great a sin as though spoken ; a practice, I regret 
 to say, common to much older boys and many men. Your 
 knife is outwardly attractive. You willfully conceal its im- 
 perfections, and thus obtain goods under false pretenses. 
 The same principle was put into practice by the " ring" 
 thieves in New York. Many merchants put false labels on 
 their goods, or cover up the defects of a poor article by a 
 perfect exterior. Any deception acted or spoken is wicked. 
 
 " Avoid the least appearance of evil." 
 
 Secondly. Your knife is of use only as it is perfect. If 
 nothing but the handle remained it would be an infant's toy. 
 The broken blades are useful for some purposes. Add one 
 
44 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART 
 
 or more perfect blades, and it is of greater use. Look at 
 this knife. 
 
 Every blade is sharp, clean, and of a different kind. Thus 
 its capacity for use is great, and remains so in proportion as 
 we keep it in perfect order. 
 
 Thirdly. In one sense we are knives. The various traits 
 of character we possess are the blades of this human knife, 
 contained in a case which is the body. As knives vary in 
 form and style, so we vary in features and character. As we 
 bring these various traits to perfection, to that degree will 
 we be useful. 
 
 Let us consider some traits of character, or blades, which 
 we need in this human knife, for with it we must cut our 
 way through time to eternity. 
 
 That you may easily remember, let each letter of the 
 word knife commence the name of these much-needed blades : 
 
 K is the blade of Knowledge. We need knowledge — 
 11 knowledge is power." We need to know about God, our 
 Creator. We obtain this from the Bible, which is God's 
 word. It is our chart on this voyage of life. It is the 
 power of God unto our salvation. It contains words of wise 
 counsel. It teaches God's great law of love to him and to 
 our fellows. It contains maxims for every business of life. 
 It tells us how to live, what to live for, and how to secure 
 imperishable riches and an eternal mansion in the skies. We 
 need a knowledge of self, and of the human family ; of the 
 world, its history, manners, and customs; of science and 
 philosophy. 
 
MllOtTGH THE EYE TO THE HEAM. 45 
 
 N is the NO blade, A small word of vital importance. 
 To learn to use it aright is a hard task. NO at the right 
 time would have saved many a drunkard from hell, made 
 prisons unnecessary, and saved millions of lives and treasure. 
 Always say NO to any promptings of Satan; never to any 
 teachings of God's Holy Spirit. 
 
 I is the blade of Industry — one of the devil's greatest 
 foes. God's plan for man to acquire that which supplies 
 his wants is by WORK. 'Tis industry makes the desert bloom 
 as the rose. It builds cities, spans the world with telegraphs 
 and railroads. One of New York's best merchants remarked, 
 " All that a young man needs in order to succeed is industry ^ 
 economy, and perseverance." He ought to have added some- 
 thing which you will find in the next blade. 
 
 F is the blade of Faith. Faith in God and his word. 
 Faith brings us to the realization of the rich and beautiful 
 promises of the Bible. It makes death a bountiful angel to 
 carry us to a home in heaven. It increases by exercise. We 
 need a faith in self that life will be a success. General 
 Grant's faith conquered rebellion. Professor Morse's faith 
 developed the telegraph. Luther's faith reformed Germany. 
 Read of its mighty triumphs in the eleventh chapter of He- 
 brews. Embrace the faith there taught. Be watchful that 
 this blade is always sharp, and is never broken. 
 
 E is the blade of Example. It must be either good or 
 bad. God holds us accountable for its character. " Let 
 your light so shine before men that they may see your good 
 works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." 
 
 Now look at these five blades : 
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 NO. 
 
 INDUSTRY. 
 
 FAITH. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 May we possess them all ! 
 
4:6 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 V. MAP TEACHING. 
 
 Little need be said in regard to the use of maps, as they 
 have been long and widely used in the Sunday-school. 
 
 It would be an improvement, perhaps, to the present 
 method of hanging maps, if they were all hung at the most 
 central point for the eyes of the whole school, only one being 
 unrolled at a time, that one, of course, being the one which 
 gives the geography of the lesson. Besides this, every teacher 
 should have a portable Atlas * for his own class. Besides their 
 use for ordinary geographical reference, maps may be used 
 for Bible lectures and reviews. In the latter case, by point- 
 ing to the waters, mountains, and towns associated with the 
 last three, or six, or twelve months' study, and asking ques 
 tions as to the events associated with these geographical 
 points, and giving such explanations as may be required, the 
 facts learned will be strongly impressed on the mind with 
 the help of the eye. 
 
 We give the following suggestions for a catecheticaland 
 descriptive Bible lecture, with the map of Palestine. Sub- 
 ject : " From Dan to Beersheba." Show the position of " Dan 
 and Beersheba," and also that the expression means the same 
 in regard to Palestine as " from the Atlantic to the Pacific " 
 in regard to the United States. Divide the school, two Sab- 
 baths before the lecture, into three traveling parties, one of 
 them to go from Beersheba to the Mediterranean coast, and 
 then up the coast to Sidon, and across to Dan, studying 
 all incidents of Bible history associated with any of the 
 places through which they would pass, as Gaza, (Samson, 
 Philip,) Joppa, (Peter,) Csesarea, (Peter, Paul, etc.,) Mount 
 Carmel, (Elijah, Elisha,) Tyre, (Solomon,) Sarepta, (Jesus,) 
 Sidon, Mount Hermon, Damascus, (Paul,) Dan. 
 
 * The little pamphlet Atlas published by Nelson & Phillips is one of the 
 very best in quality and variety, and yet is sold at a very low price. These 
 same maps are bound into Whitney's Bible Geography, which should be in 
 every teacher's library as a help to map teaching. 
 
OF 
 
 PALESTINE. 
 
 "From DAN 
 
 TO 
 
 BEERSHEBA." 
 
 •MT QirAT^CTAmAigr ^ 
 
 or MTTEMPTATION^.JERICHO 
 
 •BETHLEHEM 
 
 
 • GAZA 
 
 WIDTH OF PLAIN 
 SO MILES 
 
 •BEERSHEBA 
 
 BETHABARA 
 
 f\OUTE OF W SEMEN 
 
 CASTLE OF 
 
 ■MACHERUS 
 
48 TftRotfGH The eye to the meaht. 
 
 The second party to go from Beersheba across to the Dea<l 
 Sea, (notice Zoar, Sodom and Gomorrah, Edom, Moab, and 
 Mount Pisgah overlooking the whole ;) then up the Jordan 
 (notice its crossing by the Israelites, its waters parted by the 
 prophet's mantle ; Jericho, a little way from its banks, whose 
 walls fell, waters were healed, etc., the brook Jabbok that 
 flows into it, Jacob's wrestling place) to the Sea of Gali- 
 lee, and coast along its western shore, stopping at Gadara, 
 (demoniac ;) then up to the continuation of the Jordan, 
 through to the waters of Merom to CaBsarea Philippi, (Jesus,) 
 and across to Dan. 
 
 The third party to go through the center of the country 
 from Beersheba to Hebron, (Abraham,) to Bethlehem, 
 (David, Ruth, Jesus,) to Jerusalem, (see Bible Dictionary, 
 etc.,) to Mount of Olives, (Gethsemane, Ascension, David's re- 
 treat, etc.,) to Bethany, (Lazarus, spikenard, etc.,) to Bethel, 
 (Jacob, etc.,) to Gilgal, (Joshua,) to Shechem, (Jacob's well,) 
 stopping to climb Mount Gerizim, (Samaritan temple, bless 
 ings and curses,) and Mount Ebal to Samaria, (God's deliv- 
 erance, etc. ;) to Dothan, (Joseph,) to Mount Gilboa, (Saul, 
 etc..) to Nain, (Jesus.) to Nazareth, (Jesus,) to Cana, (wine,) 
 to Mount Tabor and Mount of Beatitudes; then to the lower 
 part of the Sea of Galilee, and up the eastern coast to Tiberias, 
 (miracles,) Bethsaida, (miracles,) Chorazin, (curses ;) then 
 across the sea, recalling the voyages of Christ and hia apos- 
 tles, (the two storms, two draughts of fishes, etc. ;) then across 
 the country to Dan. 
 
 Teachers and scholars having studied their Bibles and Bible 
 Dictionaries, with their maps, and being prepared to make 
 these three trips, with a knowledge of all the historical asso- 
 ciations, the lecturer, with pictures, relics from the East, and 
 incidents from books of travel, can make these journeys very 
 interesting and instructive. A similar lecture can be made 
 with the map of the Israelites' Journey, called " From Ra- 
 meses to Jerusalem ;" and another on the map of the Journeys 
 of Sjt. Paul, called iC From Damascus to Rome." 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 49 
 
 VI. PICTURE TEACHING. 
 
 When our parlors are full of Bible pictures, aud scarcely a 
 scene in the Bible has not been represented by some master 
 hand, it is strange that Bible pictures have not been used 
 more extensively in Sunday-school teaching. If a school can 
 afford it, the colored pictures on stiff card-board, that are 
 published by our Sunday-School Unions, should be in its 
 " Cabinet for Eye -Teaching /" but if there are not means to 
 secure these, a great many pictures may be borrowed from 
 the homes of those in the Church who have well-furnished 
 walls. An infant-class teacher can make even a familiar pict- 
 ure very useful in securing attention. If the lesson be 
 about " Christ in the Manger," one of the many pictures of 
 that scene will afford the best means of making the lesson 
 clear. In almost every community pictures may be found 
 of the leading events of Bible history.* 
 
 Besides this, every teacher should have his own Picture 
 Scrap-Book. The illustrated papers will frequently give a 
 picture that may be used some time to illustrate Bible truth. 
 One teacher writes thus to the " Sunday-School Journal :" 
 
 "I have a scrap-book in which I am collecting pictures 
 illustrative of the Bible. I buy up every engraving of every 
 sort by which any fact or custom of the Bible may be illus- 
 
 * In the Y. M. C. A. at New York a room has been fitted up, called the 
 Sunday-School Exchange, in which may be found a reference library of all 
 the best works published on the Sunday-school cause, which teachers are 
 free to come and consult. All Sunday-school periodicals are also kept on 
 file ; also a stock of pictures, maps, and objects suitable for illustrating the 
 Bible have been collected, any of which the teacher may have the privilege 
 of renting. 
 
 One of the very best, and by far the cheapest, of helps for picture teaching 
 is the " Bible Roll," by Samuel W. Clark. (Published by Nelson & Phillips.) 
 It comprises twenty-five large views of the tabernacle, temple, Eastern man- 
 ners, customs, etc. The costumes of the priests, the altars, tables, vails, 
 and other parts of the great symbolic tabernacle, are clearly represented. A 
 school cannot spend five dollars in pictures to betier advantage than in se- 
 curing this valuable collection. 
 4 
 
50 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 trated. I find Kelson's cards of great value. Already my 
 scrap-book is an attraction to old and young. I hold an oc- 
 casional 'tea-table talk' with my Sunday scholars as my 
 guests, and the scrap-book makes the time fly. Several 
 times I have taken it with me for use in my class. Xo 
 trouble to 'get the attention' of my scholars." 
 
 It is exceedingly important that the pictures used in Sun- 
 day-school teaching should give correct impressions. We 
 have heard of a picture which represents David in his con- 
 flict with Goliath, as a young man with his hair parted in 
 the middle ! " That, we presume, was to balance him for 
 throwing the stone ! " * 
 
 A child seeing a picture of the ark which had several win- 
 dows, exclaimed, " Why, the Bible says there was only one 
 window ! " 
 
 A story is told of two Scotch lads who knew little of gun- 
 nery and natural history, but were familiar with King 
 James's Bible and with the winged heads that pass for 
 cherubs in painting and sculpture. Going out a gunning 
 together, one of them shot a bird, and the other ran to secure 
 the trophy. Coming near where it had fallen, he found a 
 white owl so sprawled in the grass as to present to his view 
 only a head with staring eyes and a pair of wings attached. 
 Instantly he shouted in dismay : " Ye're in for it now, Jock, 
 ye've shot a cherubim ! " 
 
 Correct pictures will be found the clearest and most popu- 
 lar commentaries on many passages of the Bible, f but incor- 
 rect pictures are much worse than none. 
 
 * M. 0. Hazard. 
 
 f The most valuable and attractive pictures that can be obtained for use 
 in the Sunday-school or Church are the " large colored diagrams " rented 
 and sold by Nelson & Phillips, and the Depositories of the American Sunday- 
 School Union. The sets of especial value for the lessons of 1877 are, 
 " 20. Life and Labors of the Apostle Paul;" " 16. Palestine and its Cities ;" 
 "17. Mountains of the Bible;" "18. Types of Scripture;" "11 and 12. Ful- 
 filled Prophecy;" "8. Literary History of the Bible;" etc., etc. A set is 
 rented for a Sunday for $1 50. Send for a catalogue. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 51 
 
 VII. THE USE AND ABUSE OP THE BLACKBOARD.* 
 
 WHAT'S THE USE? 
 
 is the question that rises to many lips when the blackboard 
 is mentioned. It is at once classed by some among the in- 
 genious works of magic, and considered as an eccentric in- 
 truder among the helps to religions teaching. In order to 
 answer this question, "What's the use?" let us prefix two 
 letters to the last word and notice a preliminary question:— 
 
 WHAT'S THE ABUSE? 
 
 One who is well known in the Sunday-school work writes 
 these well-timed words on the abuse of the blackboard : "I 
 am fully conscious, as all who have thoughtfully observed 
 the course of this line of teaching, I think, must be, that 
 it has been made the victim of most absurd exaggerations 
 and complicated follies. Intended to be the simplest, the 
 clearest, and the most vivid of methods, it has been made 
 by a large class of blackboard delineators a vehicle of the 
 most extravagant imaginations and the most absurdly unim- 
 pressive exercises. What I have always pleaded for in its 
 use, and do now more than ever, is pith, point, clearness, 
 conciseness, the latter especially." 
 
 The chief abuses of the blackboard cluster around the idea 
 of making an exhibition of it rather than an illustration by 
 it. 4C Truth and art should serve each other ; but in the 
 king's palace art must be the servant of his law. When 
 God's law is made the servant of art in Sunday-school 
 blackboarding, no wonder honest natures are disgusted." 
 
 The blackboard is related to the truth that is to be taught 
 as John the Baptist was related to Christ. It should be only 
 
 * All this section equally appropriate to the use of a slate in each Sunday- 
 school class. 
 
52 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 " a voice," itself unnoticed while its message fills all hearts, 
 u preparing the way of the Lord." This thought is embodied 
 in decayed sculpture at Melrose Abbey. Above the beauti- 
 ful stone foliage at the south door is a niche in which an 
 image of Christ formerly stood, and beneath it there is still 
 seen a half-length figure of John the Baptist, looking rever- 
 ently up to the Master above him, and drawing all other 
 eyes to the same place and away from himself. Under it is 
 written, "Ecce Films Dei? (Behold the Son of God.) No 
 better representation of the true mission of the blackboard 
 in the Sunday-school could be given. It must point away 
 from itself to Christ; not leading men to say, "How skill- 
 ful ! " or " How beautiful ! " but rather, " How true ! " * 
 
 Mr. Moody once gave a blackboard exercise in California, 
 in which he contrasted in opposite columns 
 
 THE WORLD'S GIFTS AND GOD'S GIFTS. 
 
 Money. 
 
 Houses. 
 
 Clothes. 
 
 Honors. 
 
 Pleasures. 
 
 Jesus. 
 
 Angels. 
 
 Friends. 
 
 Promises. 
 
 Peace. 
 
 The exercise was made so fully a forerunner and herald of 
 Christ that it resulted in the conviction and conversion of an 
 unconverted teacher who was present. Many other conversions 
 have occurred through the spiritual use of the blackboard. 
 
 " The use of the blackboard for illustrating Bible truths is 
 
 *Be careful always that the full force of the illustration goes to illumin- 
 ate the truth which you are expounding. The foot-lights are studiously 
 vailed from the eyes of the spectators, but they throw a luster on the 
 actor's face. Like them, our illustrations must not draw attention to our- 
 selves, but to the truth we have in hand. "We must not turn them on our- 
 selves, but on the Master and his work. It is as criminal to hide him be- 
 neath gorgeous illustrations as it is to ignore him altogether. "We may and 
 ought to cover our faces before him ; but we must never put a vail, no mat- 
 ter how exquisite may be its texture, over his couutenauce. — Rev. Wm. M. 
 Taylor, D.D. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 53 
 
 condemned by a few of our best thinkers for its materialistic 
 tendencies. It is urged that the use of material objects for 
 presenting truth leads the mind into the errors of material- 
 ism. God did not think so while teaching the Jews the 
 principles of Judaism. He thundered on Sinai that they 
 might hear him in his power and wrath ; but this was not 
 enough ; they had eyes as well as ears, and he wrote his laws 
 on leaves of stone that they might see him in its truths, and 
 then commanded them to c write these words on the posts 
 of their houses, and on their gates.' " * 
 
 In the use of the blackboard the same law holds as in the 
 other departments of Church work, " The letter killeth, but 
 the Spirit giveth life." 
 
 Another class of blackboard abuses arises from incorrect 
 drawing or incomplete explanation. A superintendent, hav- 
 ing drawn what he intended for an eye on the blackboard, 
 asked, "Now, what do you see on the board?" A boy an- 
 swered, " An oyster shell" 
 
 One who cannot draw outlines correctly will do the best 
 and safest work by confining himself to lettering, f 
 
 Sometimes misapprehensions similar to the one just men- 
 tioned occur as much from incomplete explanation as from 
 incorrect drawing, as in the case where a man represented 
 faith by a shield, somewhat resembling a kitchen boiler 
 cover, which was so confusedly explained that one of the 
 scholars, when he was asked, "What is faith?" replied, " A 
 kitchen boiler cover." 
 
 Such answers will sometimes be given when the outline is 
 correctly drawn, as the following illustration will show : — 
 
 * Rev. J. F. Clymer. 
 
 f See " Table of Blackboard Alphabets " in last pages of the book. There 
 are some who secure the benefits of drawing in the presence of the school 
 and avoid the errors of incorrect drawing by making the picture or outline 
 beforehand with soapstone, whose lines can be seen by the speaker, but 
 not by the school, and then at the appropriate time using the chalk rapidly 
 on these lines that are already faintly drawn. 
 
54 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 Says J. S. Ostrander, "Not a great while ago I was present 
 at a large Sunday-school meeting, in which one of our most 
 successful teachers used the board to illustrate the idea of a 
 sacrifice. He drew an altar, and upon it a lamb, around 
 which he drew, with red crayon, representations of the con- 
 suming fire. The whole was well done. The children were 
 pleased and instructed. 'What is this, children?' be said, 
 pointing to the altar, lamb, etc., to all of which correct an- 
 swers were obtained. Finally the simplicity and innocence of 
 a little child was discovered, by the putting of the following 
 question by the speaker: "And what is this? (pointing to 
 the red chalk representation of fire.) After some hesitancy 
 a little voice in the congregation responded, ' I guess they 
 are the feathers of the lamb.' 1 Like a good questioner, the 
 brother received the answer with respect, and proceeded to 
 ' simplify and repeat.' " 
 
 Yet another class of abuses may be included under the 
 term, " complicated follies and false emphasis." Here are 
 several published specimens: 
 
 The Leader's parting wo 
 
 he vow the bier stone hea 
 
 It and the writing 
 n law-book, still 
 
 Teaching when Joshua's 
 hat God is Israel's 
 
 RD 
 
 ,£AIN 
 SEAD 
 
 m 
 
 1 TREE. 
 \ BRANCHES. 
 1U FRTJIT. 
 
 m 
 
 1 MOB. 
 ■' APOSTLES. 
 
 EARTHQUAKE. 
 »i JAILER. 
 J BAPTISM. 
 
 An advertiser tries the mystifying blackboard spelling in 
 announcing his wares, after this fashion : — 
 
 YA3MS3FS. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 55 
 
 Some anonymous writer tries it on the history of 
 Henry VIII. : 
 
 ENRY THE ATHPTT 
 
 ight Defender of the F 
 A CJ a divorc 
 
 I\. k3 6 wives, 
 eads Anne B 
 
 and Cat 
 
 bTJ 
 
 ol I'iyn 
 th -■-•rine 
 
 svar "TV 
 
 e a U f\T? the C 
 
 urch \J JD England. 
 
 The query with which the last-named writer heads his ex- 
 posure of such complicated follies is fitly chosen : 
 
 WAT? 
 
 D 
 
 Apply this question to the following exercises on David and 
 Goliath : 
 
 HILISTINE CHAMPION. 
 
 USILLANIMOUS ISEAELITES. 
 
 LUCKY SHEPHEED-BOY. 
 
 ONDEEOUS AEMOE. 
 
 ICKED- 
 
 EBBLES. 
 
 EOUD GOLIATH. 
 
 IOUS DAVID. 
 
 EOVOKED GIANT. 
 
 EOPHESYING LAD. 
 
 ROMPT ATTACK. 
 
 EONE PHILISTINE. 
 
 EEV AILING CHAMPION. 
 
 ENETEATING SWOED. 
 
 AETED HEAD-AND-BODY 
 
 ANIC STEICKEN HOST. 
 
 uEANS OP VIOTOEY. 
 
 The " Sunday-School Times," commenting on this subject 
 editorially, utters these well-timed words : 
 
 "The real worth of an outline is as a helpful and instruct- 
 ive analysis. If it does not serve in that direction it is use- 
 less. It may, to be sure, be more easily fixed in the memory 
 through an acrostic, or an alliteration ; but of what use is its 
 memorizing when to begin with it is good for nothing ? 
 
 " The true test, then, of a suggested outline of any Bible les- 
 son, or other statement of truth, is in its value apart from its 
 alliterative or acrostical structure. If the outline does not 
 prove to be a good one when words of a similar meaning be- 
 ginning with different letters are substituted for those sug- 
 
56 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 gested in the fanciful plan, the outline is worthless in spite 
 of all the ingenuity displayed in its arrangement. For ex- 
 ample, if the lesson were the story of David and Goliath, it 
 might be well to consider the narrative in study or teaching 
 under the natural divisions of, 1. Goliath's challenge to the 
 Israelites ; 2. Their fear of meeting him ; 3. David's trustful 
 acceptance of the challenge; 4. The ensuing fight; 5. Its 
 issue. This outline might be stated as an aid in securing 
 attention, or in memorizing the divisions : 
 
 CHALLENGE BY GOLIATH. 
 OWARDICE OF ISRAEL. 
 OURAGE OF DAVID. 
 ONFLI0T OF CHAMPIONS. 
 OMPLETE VICTORY. 
 
 This outline is certainly quite as good without the alliteration 
 as with it. Many sensible teachers would prefer to use it in the 
 less fanciful form, while others would find it practically more 
 helpful in its alliterative statement. In this case the outline 
 is first secured; then the alliteration is sought. A more 
 common way with blackboardists seems to be to pick out a 
 letter and see how many phrases ingeniously drawn from the 
 lesson may be strung on it." 
 
 The rule in blackboard lettering should be, As large let- 
 ters give emphasis and prominence, they should never be used 
 except where they make up an important syllable or word or 
 phrase that needs to be emphasized, or when they may legit- 
 imately help the memory in an initial or acrostic exercise 
 without destroying the logical outline of the lesson, 
 
 [Erasing " Ab," and leaving the question as at first, 
 "What's the use?"] 
 
 Let us now notice the simple and practical uses of the 
 Sunday-school blackboard : 
 
 
 By printing this brief word any one can collect the atten- 
 tion of an audience in a moment, or by simply raising a piece 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 57 
 
 of chalk to the blackboard without making even so much as 
 a dot. 
 
 1. The first use of the blackboard, then, is 
 
 TO COLLECT ATTENTION. 
 
 A lady unfriendly to the Sunday-school said to a little 
 girl who attended it, "Do you have to pay any thing at 
 Sunday-school?" The child answered, " No — yes, we do; 
 we have to pay attention^ This Sunday-school tax of at- 
 tention is one of the hardest taxes to collect, but it can be 
 quickly and effectually done by the simplest touch of the 
 chalk to the blackboard. 
 
 In Congress or Parliament it is an important thing to 
 "catch the eye" of the presiding officer at the right mo- 
 ment. The ingenuous and varied signs along the street, 
 above the stores, are also earnest efforts to " catch the public 
 eye." The blackboard accomplishes this in religious teaching. 
 
 Its power to attract attention may be easily verified by 
 taking up a newspaper and finding what style of advertise- 
 ments first arrest the eye. It will be those most resembling 
 the blackboard. So also of advertisements on rocks and 
 fences. 
 
 2. The Rev. Geo. A. Peltz recommends the use of 
 
 THE BLACKBOARD AS A BULLETIN. 
 
 " Use it for special announcements. Much time is unnec- 
 essarily wasted in calling attention to the various matters 
 connected with the economy of the school. The proper use 
 of the blackboard here will greatly aid order and quiet. For 
 example, how suggestive would be the display of a board 
 neatly lettered, as follows : 
 
 NEXT SUNDAY 
 
 MISSIONARY COLLECTION 
 
 FOR 
 
 HEATHEN LANfiS. 
 
 FREELY GIVE ! FREELY GIVE ! 
 
58 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 3. A third use of the blackboard is 
 
 TO AID THE MEMORY. 
 
 Three words represent the laws of successful memorizing — 
 interest, attention, exercise. All these laws are pre-eminently 
 fulfilled in blackboard illustration. When a pastor or super- 
 intendent lifts the chalk to the blackboard interest is awak- 
 ened, attention is secured, and the mind is exercised in curi- 
 osity as to what is coming next,* and what is to be the mean- 
 ing of the completed work. Each word written on the 
 blackboard is written at the same moment upon the memory 
 of those who follow the movements of the chalk. 
 
 Like the new "letter writer," the blackboard allows us to 
 write many duplicate copies of our message at once, as many 
 as there are minds present. A symbol or picture drawn upon 
 the blackboard is drawn also at the same time upon the mem- 
 ories of all who are following the artist ; so that from the 
 blackboard as a negative, copies are printed upon every mind. 
 Tyndall once said that were he lecturing on gravitation, and 
 should say to his hearers, " I hold a marble in my hand, and 
 were I to release it the power of gravitation would instantly 
 draw it to the earth," he would not feel that he had produced 
 the desired impression upon his auditors until he had actually 
 permitted the marble to fall to the floor, and thus availed 
 himself of the co-operation of the senses in immediate con- 
 nection with the definition of science, for the purpose of 
 stamping its impress indelibly upon the memory of the 
 
 * The point here hinted at is the chief objection to the new plan of sten- 
 ciling letters on the blackboard by pulveriziug chalk and using it as ink is 
 ordinarily used with stencils. This plan would afford more perfect letters 
 than are usually formed on blackboards ; but, as the stenciling would need 
 to be done before the school session opened, this memory law of exercise 
 and curiosity would have to be sacrificed, and the loss would be more than 
 the gain. However, in such elaborate exercises as must be put on in ad- 
 vance, which should be much less frequent than exercises wrought out 
 before the eyes of the school, the stencil might profitably be used by those 
 who have no skill in lettering. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 59 
 
 audience. Even spoken illustrations or word-pictures show 
 this same quality in a less degree. Dr. Guthrie, in his early 
 ministry, held a Bible-class of young people on Sabbath even- 
 ings, in which he spoke more illustratively of Christian truth 
 than he felt at liberty to do in preaching. 
 
 He soon found that these informal and illustrated talks 
 were much better remembered than his less illustrated ser- 
 mons, and that the people remembered best the truths that 
 were pictured in an illustration. From this experience he 
 was led to use illustrations far more abundantly in preaching 
 and writing, and made himself one of the most popular and 
 successful of preachers and authors.* 
 
 When the picture summoned before the eye is not imag 
 inary, but real, the impression on the memory is much 
 stronger, and hence blackboard illustration becomes the king 
 of mnemonic helps. 
 
 FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS. 
 
 Forget that sentence if you can. 
 
 4. Another simple use of the blackboard is 
 
 TO EXPLAIN THE TRUTH. 
 
 A Sunday-school had been studying the parable of the 
 two houses, one built on the rock and the other on the sand. 
 Most of the scholars were familiar with the story, but had 
 not realized it. The outline of the two houses was then put 
 before the eyes of the school and the parable was then ex- 
 plained. A thrill of new interest was felt, and one expressed 
 the feelings of all when he whispered, " O, I see ! " 
 
 When a general is mapping out a campaign he draws his 
 
 * By awakening and gratifying the imagination the truth finds its way 
 more readily to the heart and makes a deeper impression on the memory. 
 The story, like a float, keeps it from sinking ; like a nail, fastens it to the 
 mind; like the feathers of an arrow, makes it strike; and, like the barb, 
 makes it stick. — Guthrie. 
 
60 Through tee eye to the heart. 
 
 plans and locates his armies by pins. When an architect 
 wants to explain a building his pencil and paper do most of 
 the talking. In a village in India, it became necessary in the 
 course of some engineering operations to transport an enor- 
 mous mass of metal, weighing several hundred tons, from 
 one part of the town to another. Ordinary means were out 
 of the question ; and as the engineers found themselves un- 
 able to devise any process, they did the next best thing, and 
 wrote to other engineers in England, who were constantly su- 
 pervising such work. The latter, instead of writing out nice 
 large pages of foolscap, beautifully embellished with Greek 
 letter formu Ice and red ink, quietly waited until the next big 
 piece of metal which they had to transport offered a favorable 
 opportunity. Then they prepared a camera, and photo- 
 graphed every step of the operation, together with all the 
 tools and appurtenances, and forwarded the prints from the 
 negatives to India. These the engineers in the far-off coun- 
 try followed, and with little difficulty accomplished their task. 
 The blackboard may be used with like helpfulness in the 
 Christian warfare, and in the building of character to explain 
 the unknown. 
 
 Take the parable of the sower. To represent the different 
 fields in which the seed (the word of God) is sown by the 
 sower, (the Christian,) draw first the outline of an ear for the 
 wayside. Below it write the fate of the seed — "Devoured." 
 Above write the name of the devourer, u Satan." Then 
 draw two distorted and shriveled hearts. On one write 
 "Stony;" below it, "Withered;" above it, "Weak Faith." 
 On the other write "Thorns;" below it, " Choked ;" above 
 it, " Temptation." Then draw a full heart, and write on it 
 "Good Ground;" above it write "The Holy Spirit," and, 
 below, " Received the Seed," " Bore much Fruit." 
 
 "If your lesson is on the 'Gadarene Demoniac,' draw an 
 ancient tomb with a broken chain beside it. If on the ' Ten 
 Virgins,' draw ten lamps, live burning, and five gone out. If 
 on death, natural or spiritual, draw two or three graves. If 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 61 
 
 on c Christ, the Light of the World,' draw the rising sun 
 shining upon a house with closed blinds. Such parables as 
 4 The Builders,' 'The Friend at Midnight,' and some others, 
 suggest their own pictures. The cave where Elijah heard 
 the still small voice may be represented by a dark spot look- 
 ins: like a cave on the side of a mountain. 
 
 A striking instance of the value of the blackboard as a 
 means of explanation was seen in the lesson on Gideon's 
 Victory, prepared by the famous war correspondent of the 
 " Boston Journal," Mr. C. " Carleton " Coffin, for the " Con- 
 gregationalist " in 1875, in which he introduced a map of the 
 scene that was self-explanatory, and showed more to the 
 
 JEZREEL / 
 O 
 
62 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 eye in a moment than an hour's teaching could have shown 
 through the ear. Most lessons might be thus lighted up and 
 explained by using the blackboard or slate, presenting a map 
 of the scene or some other exercise. 
 
 A very interesting lesson may be made from the c Mustard 
 Seed ' by drawing in colors a tree, full size (enlarge from Bible 
 dictionary) of the mustard-tree, and by its side a dot, repre- 
 senting the seed. An old-fashioned well on one side, on the 
 other the name ' Jesus,' may furnish an introduction to a talk 
 about the 'Living Water,' and so on indefinitely." 
 
 When the eastern plow, or the stones with which grind- 
 ing was done, or the altar, or candlestick, or any other arti- 
 cles of household or temple use are mentioned, whose outlines 
 are simple, they will be better understood than by any word 
 description if a Bible dictionary is examined and the outline 
 is sketched on the board. 
 
 5. Another practical use of the blackboard is 
 
 TO CONDENSE THOUGHT. 
 
 When we wish a message or resolution condensed into the 
 fewest possible words, we say, "Please put it in writing." 
 When we send messages by telegraph, knowing that there is 
 an extra charge for more than ten words, we learn how much 
 can be said in ten words. " Blackboarding " is Sunday- 
 school telegraphy, the blackboard being the battery, the 
 crayon the key. One who uses the blackboard learns to put 
 outlines, facts, and thoughts in the briefest and fewest words. 
 How impressive (more than any longer message could have 
 been) was that telegram, sent by a man who had escaped 
 from the wreck of the Atlantic, near Halifax, to his partner 
 at New York : 
 
 •■ * e ■ ■ * € •■ * e - t e •• * - 
 
 s ^rv ed: 
 
 A contrast is to be expressed between good and evil, or be- 
 tween joy and sorrow. Half an hour would do it in spoken 
 words ; put them in opposite colors or positions on the black- 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 63 
 
 board and the contrast is at once apparent. A wrong idea is 
 to be presented and overthrown. How much a long argument 
 may be condensed by writing the wrong idea upon the black- 
 board, and then destroying it with the eraser to make room for 
 writing the truth, or by canceling it with the truth written 
 over it ! 
 
 In the story of the feeding of the five thousand, the word 
 translated " ranks " means, in some cases, flower-beds. This 
 suggests a concise picture of God's care over us, as follows 
 (remembering that " they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and 
 by fifties ") : 
 
 God's Garden. 
 
 6. Another simple use of the blackboard is 
 
 TO EMPHASIZE TRUTH. 
 
 God might have sent a spoken message to Belshazzar by 
 the lips of Daniel, but was it not more terribly impressive 
 when the letters of fire flashed upon the king's eyes from the 
 wall: 
 
 "mene, mene, tekel, upharsin?" 
 
 With a palace wall as a blackboard and crayons of fire the 
 divine hand inscribed the king's death-warrant. The philos- 
 ophy is the same on which the blackboard teaching of to-day 
 is based. 
 
 Tn what essential particular does the Divine teacher's 
 method of instructing Peter in a world embracing charity by 
 a vision-sheet full of beasts, differ from a Christian superin- 
 tendent's method of impressing his school by some simple 
 symbolical outline on the blackboard? What message of 
 Christ was more impressive or successful than the unknown 
 
64 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 words he wrote on the ground, with the sand for his black- 
 board and his finger for a crayon? Before the power of that 
 eye-sermon in the sand his whole audience of hypocrites fled 
 away. 
 
 There is a great emphasis in putting the truth, whether on 
 board or paper, "down in black and white." 
 
 BEHOLD. I STAND AT THE DOOR AND 
 
 KNOCK!" 
 
 This message will be photographed in an instant upon the 
 heart and memory, and cannot be forgotten. 
 
 Various degrees of emphasis are indicated by the size and 
 position of words. A word in large capitals or a word hav- 
 ing a whole line is made especially emphatic, as seen in the 
 following : 
 
 "WHATSOEVER 
 
 THE LORD 
 
 H J± T H SAID UNTO 
 
 THEE, 
 
 DOP 
 
 " Whatsoever," " thee," and " do," are made emphatic by 
 position; "the Lord," by size of letters. 
 
 Emphasis, with pleasing variety, also, may be secured by 
 the judicious use of colored crayons. While yellow and 
 w r hite are the only colors that are clear and distinct when 
 used alone, every color may be brought out by making block 
 letters, in which two colors are used in appropriate combina- 
 tions, as blue with white, yellow with green, blue with light 
 brown, blue with red, and in general a light color with a 
 dark one. Several patterns of block letters will be found in 
 the " Table of Blackboard Alphabets " in the last pages of 
 the book. 
 
 7. Another practical use of the blackboard is to 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 65 
 
 REVIEW THE LESSONS, 
 
 to draw from the scholars the information already imparted 
 to them by their teachers. In most cases the exercise should 
 not be written or printed on the blackboard before the time 
 when it is to be used, except, perhaps, a few catch- words and 
 initials. Questions should then be asked, and the answers 
 briefly indicated with the chalk, until the exercise is com- 
 plete. Lines, dots, and letters will often be sufficient to bold 
 the attention and impress the thought. Difficult exercises 
 must generally be made before the school session; but all 
 that can be drawn from the scholars by questions, and read- 
 ily delineated or printed, should be left to the time of using 
 the exercise. This will allow one to take advantage of curi- 
 osity, which loves to witness the creation of a thing. 
 
 In an acrostic exercise, the acrostic letters may sometimes 
 be put on beforehand ; in a table exercise, the outline of the 
 table ; in a canceling or erasing exercise, that which is to be 
 canceled or erased ; in a map exercise, the simple outline 
 without the points of interest indicated. 
 
 In this book the exercises are usually given as they would ap- 
 pear when completed. It is intended that each exercise should 
 be developed, by questions, point by point. The following 
 
 Review op the Life of Christ, 
 
 Did 
 
 Said, 
 
 Make the deaf heab. 
 Make the dumb speak. 
 Cast out evil spibits. 
 grive sight to the blind. 
 
 "We MUST beab good FauiT." 
 "Love one anotheb." 
 "grod looks at the heabt." 
 "She hath done what she could." 
 
 ( The kiss op Judas. 
 Suffered J ^er's Denial. 
 
 
 Scourging with stripes. 
 The death op the cross. 
 
66 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 taken Iroin the " Sunday-School Chronicle," will show the 
 development of a blackboard exercise. The process would 
 be essentially the same for the review of one lesson, or a 
 month's work as for a quarter's, as in this case. First, the 
 superintendent asks, " About whom have we been studying 
 these three months ? " He prints the answer, " Jesus." 
 Then he says, " We want to recall what he c did,' what he 
 1 said,' and what he ' suffered.' " Accordingly he prints these 
 three words in the relative positions indicated. " Now, 
 what did Christ c do ' in the lessons we have studied f" From 
 one and another the various answers come, helped, perhaps, 
 by a hint or two from the superintendent. "Now, what 
 were some of the sweetest things that Jesus 'said' in 
 these lessons ? " The answers are epitomized into the 
 fewest words on the blackboard. So also with the third 
 point. Each answer under all three points is explained, il- 
 lustrated, and enforced, and appropriate songs are interspersed 
 to vary the exercise. 
 
 The method of conducting the blackboard reviews of single 
 lessons may be illustrated by the following on the lesson of 
 "Paul and Silas in Prison," Acts xvi, 22-34. [Unless a 
 blackboard is very large both sides will be needed for this 
 exercise :] 
 
 GOD 8AYES 
 
 fPERIL 
 
 ■Israel in Egypt. 
 
 -Daniel and three worthiea 
 
 -Apostles in prison. 
 
 FROM< 
 
 I N I ^ — All who believe in Christ. 
 
 IN HOMEFULS. \ 
 
 Noah — "Come thou and thy 
 Abraham — "Teach his 
 Joshua — "As for me and my 
 ( Jailer — u Saved, and thy 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 67 
 
 JSONG 
 
 — Jehoshaphat. 
 -Paul and Silas. 
 -The Reformers. 
 
 BY 
 
 n 
 
 thy work, 
 "What iirast I doP 
 
 1. Do thyself no harm by rejecting 
 
 2. Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 
 3. Sing, pray, work, for 
 
 At the beginning of the review nothing is upon the board 
 except the words, " God saves," " From," " In," " By." The 
 superintendent says, "In this lesson we see God's power to 
 save both his followers and his enemies. What did God save 
 his apostles from ? " " Yes, from prison, or in general, from 
 'peril.'" (Prints it.) "Mention some other instances in 
 which God rescued his people." The answers include " Is- 
 rael in Egypt," " Daniel," " Three worthies." These, with 
 " apostles," are written as indicated. The superintendent 
 impresses the thought of God's care and power to help. 
 " But God saved some in that prison who were not his fol- 
 lowers. Who ? From what ? " " Yes, from l sin.' (Writes,) 
 Who else does God save from 'sin?' (Writes reply,) All 
 who believe in Christ." Illustrates what it is to believe in 
 Christ. " Was any one saved from sin but the jailer ? " " Yes, 
 God saved a ho?neful, as he has done so often in Christian 
 history." (Write "homefuls.") " Now mention some other 
 cases in the Bible where a whole household served the Lord." 
 The cases of "Noah," "Abraham," and "Joshua," are men- 
 tioned, and with the "jailer" are written on the blackboard 
 with the indicated texts. The superintendent asks, " What 
 means that were used in the prison does God often use to save 
 men ? " Writes down the answers, " Song," " Prayer." The 
 case of Jehoshaphat and the songs of the Reformation are 
 used as illustration and noted on the blackboard. " What 
 
68 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 two kinds of prayers are we to use ? " (For ourselves and 
 for others.) "I will write one of each." (Writes, " Lord, 
 save me," and " Revive thy work.") " Now comes the prac- 
 tical question for us, as well as the jailer, What must I do ? " 
 The three points are written, then emphasized and illustrated 
 for both Christians and the unconverted. The blackboard is 
 especially valuable for Quarterly Reviews. The most satis- 
 factory plan we have known to be successfully and continuous- 
 ly employed is one originated by Rev. J. H. Vincent, and used 
 in the Piainfield (N. J.) Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school, 
 James M'Gee, superintendent. A large sheet of lapinum, or 
 blackboard cloth, about nine feet by four, has been nailed to 
 the wall, back of the desk, at a cost of less than ten dollars, 
 and set apart wholly to the Quarterly Review, leaving the 
 other blackboard of the school for other use. This black- 
 board cloth has been ruled, as on the following page. 
 The top column across the page contains the number of the 
 quarter and the numbers of the lessons from I to XII. The 
 first column down the page indicates the points in each lesson 
 that are to be reviewed. 
 
 In the second column down the page we see the applica- 
 tion of this plan to the first lesson of the third quarter of 
 1876, as found in the "Berean Question Book." The expla- 
 nation of this column will show the application of the plan 
 for any lesson and with any question book or lesson leaf. 
 The question is asked, " What is the title of the lesson ? " 
 The answer is given by the school, "David's charge to Solo- 
 mon," which is indicated on the blackboard only in initials 
 as a help to memory, " D. C. S." Then the question in 
 regard to topic is answered, "Ministry to God divinely 
 appointed," which is epitomized in the letters, "M. G. 
 D. A." The golden text, "Know thou the God of thy 
 father, etc.," is indicated by its first word. The outline, 
 "Ministry to God Appointed" — 
 
 1. As to what men shall do ; 
 
 2. As to how men shall do, 
 
m 
 
 X 
 
 — * 
 
 2 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 Z3* 
 
 CD 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 c 
 
 5" 
 
 CD 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 en 
 
 o 
 
 o_ 
 
 CD 
 
 3 
 
 —1 
 
 CD 
 
 X 
 
 ft* 
 
 CO 
 
 Topics or Central 
 Thoughts, - 
 
 CD 
 CO 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 IE 
 
 30 
 O 
 
 •O 
 
 >- 
 DO 
 
 —1 
 
 m 
 
 po 
 
 
 CD 
 OB 
 
 o ^ en 
 
 *5 
 
 o 
 
 b 
 
 on 
 
 HH 
 
 
 
 Wopp 
 
 P9 
 
 o 
 
 5° 
 
 era 
 
 U 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <1 
 J-H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 HH 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <l 
 g 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1— 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 B 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 HH 
 HH 
 
?0 THROtTGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 is repeated and epitomized in the same way, and also the 
 " doctrine " of the lesson, " God a sovereign." A few mo- 
 ments are given to some extra drill on the Catechism, the 
 books of the Bible, or some other subject, for which the re- 
 maining column is used. The other blackboards are used for 
 pictorial or other exercises on each lesson in addition to this 
 memory drill. 
 
 On the second Sunday the second lesson is developed 
 in the same manner, and the first is reviewed. This re- 
 view of all the preceding lessons of the quarter occurs every 
 Sunday after the drill on the new lesson, and is necessary to 
 a thorough Quarterly Review. 
 
 To give variety in the appearance of the exercise, on some 
 quarters, twelve books are represented as standing on a shelf, 
 and the initials as above are put on their backs, each book 
 representing a lesson. 
 
 Twelve picture frames might be drawn for a still further 
 change, or a pillar with twelve stones, or a road with twelve 
 milestones, the details being essentially the same in each 
 case. 
 
 The blackboard, then, is of great value in the Sunday- 
 school for winning attention, helping memory, making an- 
 nouncements, explaining truth, condensing thought, empha- 
 sizing ideas, and reviewing lessons. 
 
 What to Take Out of a Lesson for the Blackboard. 
 
 Those who are unaccustomed to the use of the blackboard 
 may not know at first what should be taken out of a lesson 
 and put before the eye. The parts to be thus used are usually 
 lit her the central thought, the Golden Text, the great doctrine, 
 the prominent duty, the outline, or the warning, of the lesson. 
 When " what to use " has been searched out, then the " how 
 to use it " should be considered, — whether to make it an out- 
 line picture, or an acrostic, or what form will best emphasize 
 the point to be taught, explain its meaning, and impress it on 
 the memory, with due regard also to pleasing variety. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 71 
 
 Materials Wanted. 
 
 A large revolving blackboard is, of course, the best.* It 
 affords a great advantage in that the exercise on one surface 
 may front the school during the lesson, and another exercise 
 may be held in reserve on the hidden side for the closing 
 review. Often it is well to have a simple exercise on the 
 front, such as a motto, or a word exercise ; a symbol exercise 
 or outline exercise being kept on the reverse side until the 
 other has been used. Some carpenter interested in the school 
 will sometimes make such a blackboard at a low price, but its 
 great usefulness will be an ample reward for an extra effort 
 to obtain it. Those who are building new churches should 
 put in a fine wall blackboard. If neither of these can be had, 
 a poor one is far better than none. Then a good eraser, a 
 long, stout rule, a good pointer, and a box of mixed crayons, 
 will make an outfit. White crayons should generally be used, 
 but other colors sometimes add greatly to the variety and 
 strength of expression. By gaslight yellow crayons are most 
 distinct. Use round chalk for writing, square chalk for print- 
 ing. " Bear on ! Speak loud to the eye ! " A free and off- 
 hand way of writing and printing should be cultivated. 
 
 The blackboard excels nearly all other forms of illustration 
 in convenience, availability, and cheapness. Description and 
 allegories require more time to reach the heart through the 
 ear than the blackboard to reach it through the eye. " Ob- 
 jects " for object lessons are shown but once, while the black- 
 board may be used again and again for an indefinite time. 
 Pictures have one unchanging surface, while the blackboard 
 gives opportunity for fresh and varied illustrations. Maps 
 are purchased at considerable expense, and many schools can- 
 not supply themselves with a sufficient number for a thorough 
 
 *By far the cheapest method of getting a blackboard is to buy one or two 
 yards of " Blackboard Cloth," for one or two dollars, and hang it upon the 
 wall or uail it upon an easel. Many prefer it even to the best black- 
 boards. It is manufactured by "The Silicate Slate Company," corner of 
 Church and Pulton Streets, New York, and sold by many book-sellers. 
 
72 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 study of Bible geography. Blackboard maps may present 
 the towns, rivers, and mountains mentioned in the lesson 
 more prominently than any published maps would do it. 
 
 How to Make Letters.* 
 
 " The plainest letter is generally the best, and one of the 
 easiest styles of letter to make is called the block letter. 
 
 u How are they made f If the word or sentence is to be 
 written on a straight line, place the ruler against the board, 
 and draw the crayon faintly on each side of it ; that will 
 make two parallel lines three inches apart, thus : 
 
 "Next, lower the rule, say three fourths of an inch, and 
 rule again, thus: — 
 
 "The upper and lower spaces enable you to make the top 
 and bottom of the lines even and of the same size. 
 
 " Say the word to be 
 written is L-O-V-E. 
 Remember that the 
 parallel lines just ruled 
 always make the top 
 and bottom of the let- 
 ters, and to complete 
 them the down lines 
 only have to be made. 
 a See diagram. The 
 
 Table of Blackboard Alphabets" in 
 
 EMS 
 
 'fflSffi 
 
 ♦For further varieties of letters see 
 • losing pages of the book. 
 
 Charles B. Stout says that a blackboard should not be black at all. 
 11 Boards colored a sea-green," he says, " are very agreeable to the eye, and 
 afford a fine ground for chalk and crayon. On boards of a delicate sky-blue 
 the chalk shines with almost dazzling whiteness." 
 
 Manufacturers of blackboards say that while this is so when a Uueboard 
 is new, it soon becomes blurred, and is then less distinct than the black. 
 If one should use the blue it would doubtless be necessary to v\ ash it before 
 each use, and frequently renew the liquid slating or coloring. 
 
^fiROUGIt THE EYE TO TfiE HEART. 73 
 
 heavy lines show the down lines. Letters made with one 
 colored crayon and shaded with that of another color are 
 very prominent ; for instance, a yellow letter shaded with red. 
 Be careful to make the shading on the same side of each 
 letter. 
 
 " Another way to make showy letters is to make them re- 
 gardless of proportion, in all sorts of irregular shapes ; see 
 the word Divine in the diagram. The letters look best shaded. 
 
 " To write words in a semicircle, make guiding lines by fast- 
 ening a piece of crayon to the string ; with the left hand 
 hold the string against the board, and with the right hand 
 describe the circle. (See diagram on p. 72.) 
 
 " Broad letters made with the side of the crayon show well. 
 See the word Peace, 
 
 " Letters written as in the word Purity are not difficult to 
 make. 
 
 " Use the string in making letters *with curved lines. See 
 the word Good. 
 
 " A bold, vigorous stroke always looks better than a weak, 
 timid one, even though not so true." * 
 
 " Any man who has influence enough to receive the votes 
 of any company of men and women to be the superintendent 
 of their Sabbath-school has ability to use the blackboard if he 
 only has willingness to use it in this simple, unostentatious way. 
 
 " The plainest sort of a man, with the lesson in his head 
 and heart, baptized with the spirit of self-forgetfuiness, whose 
 only aim is to impress God's truth on youthful hearts, will do 
 more with his rudest chalkings than the skillful blackboardist 
 with his perfect diagrams, but without his Ghristly spirit and 
 aim. 
 
 " Here, at least, heart is greater than art? f 
 
 THE SLATE. 
 
 To the individual teacher the slate is as helpful as the 
 blackboard to the pastor or superintendent. All that may be 
 
 * J. B. Phipps, in "The Normal Class." f Rev. J. F. Clymer, 
 
74 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 -c-Ucfi-c- 
 
 cz.C£/z€*C<tJ 
 
 r ^dsU4 
 
 said of the advantages of the blackboard to the school may- 
 be said of the slate in regard to the class. Every teacher 
 who can write a plain hand, even though unskillful with the 
 pencil, may use the slate with great profit. 
 
 If the lesson is descriptive, 
 make a frame by drawing four 
 lines, and then put within it the 
 objects mentioned in the lesson — 
 straight marks for people, squares 
 for houses, crosses for trees, and 
 acute angles for mountains. 
 These, with the imagination of 
 the class, will make a picture 
 which will fix a lesson in the 
 mind so that it will never be for- 
 gotten. 
 
 It would be a profitable investment for a Sunday-school to 
 buy for all its teachers silicate slates large enough to give a 
 foot square of surface when opened, and have the superintend- 
 ent in the teachers' meetings suggest maps, outlines, etc., for 
 the teachers to use on their slates in their classes, in addition 
 to what might be held in reserve for the general blackboard. 
 
 The blackboard exercises given in this book may be used 
 with equal appropriateness on a teacher's slate. 
 
 Every scholar also should have a slate to make a map of 
 the scene of the lesson, written answers to special questions 
 given out on the previous Sunday, written epitomes of the 
 home readings or some other part of the lesson, etc. 
 
 A Classification / 
 
 of blackboard exercises will now follow, arranged in a nat- 
 ural order from the simplest to the most difficult, from the 
 simplest motto to the more elaborate outline exercise. Enough 
 are given under each class to show distinctly what we mean 
 by its name and to suggest many others. 
 
 1. The Motto Exercise. — The simplest form of black- 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 75 
 
 board exercise is to write or print the Golden Text, or a 
 religious precept or proverb, or some motto or watchword, on 
 the blackboard. By breaking it up into short lines, empha- 
 sizing important words by colors, large capitals, and a posi- 
 tion by themselves, such mottoes are often made very impress- 
 ive. The following is a good illustration of the arrangement 
 of a motto on the blackboard : 
 
 "The Lord" "healeth" "thee" ® 
 stand out prominent, both on ac- 
 count of position and size. " Heal- 
 eth " should be in red, to suggest 
 the cleansing blood, and " thee " in 
 white, to represent "white as 
 snow." 
 
 Even the writing of a simple 
 precept on the blackboard about 
 which you wish to speak impresses 
 that precept on those who are 
 listening as no emphasis or repeti- 
 tion can do. 
 
 AM 
 
 THE LORD 
 
 THAT 
 
 HEALETH 
 
 THEE. 
 
 MUCH WITH GOD, MUCH LIKE GOD. 
 
 Such a motto can be illustrated by the story of " that dis- 
 ciple whom Jesus loved," or by the story of Moses on the 
 Mount, and enforced with such passages as, " We shall be 
 like him, for we shall see him as he is," and, " We all, with open 
 face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
 changed into the same image." The following exercises are 
 only suggestive of a multitude of others : 
 
 TRUST YE IN THE LORD FOREVER : 
 
 FOR IN THE 
 
 LORD JEHOVAH 
 
 IS EVERLASTING STRENGTH. 
 
 Isa. xxvi, 4, 
 
w 
 
 TfiftOUGH TfiE EYE TO THE H.EART. 
 
 " Ingenious little children sometimes tell you how, with a 
 few letters, they can spell a very large word. With three 
 letters I can spell bereavement. With three letters I can 
 spell disappointment. With three letters I can spell suffering. 
 With three letters I can spell death. With three letters I can 
 spell perdition. S-i-n — Sin. That is the cause of all our 
 trouble now. That is the cause of our trouble for the future." 
 
 " Sin " being printed very large, across it, in another color, 
 may be written the words in italics; above it may then be 
 
 written, " Christ will save us from ," and on either side, 
 
 84 No in heaven." 
 
 II. THE TOPIC EXERCISE. 
 
 Next to the motto exercise in simplicity comes the topic 
 exercise, which consists in putting the divisions of an address, 
 or the analysis of a lesson, or the prominent points of a story, 
 upon the blackboard, one after another. For example, 
 " Christ's Miracles of Raising the Dead," by Rev. W. B. 
 Wright : 
 
 I. Jairus' Daughter — from her BED. 
 II. Widow's Son— from his BIER. 
 III. Lazarus— from the TOMB. 
 
 This exercise illustrates the increasing wonder of the three 
 miracles on the dead; one raised just after death from her 
 "bed ;" another. a few hours after death from his "bier," as 
 he was " carried forth ; " and a third from the " tomb," where 
 he had "lain four days already." 
 
 JESUS OUR DAVID. 
 
 The Shepherd Bag. 
 Five Pebbles. 
 The Sling. 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 (1 Tim. i, 15; John iii. 10; I pa. 
 *j Mi, 5; 1 Pet. ii, 24; John iii, 86. 
 
 The Holy Spirit. 
 
 VICTORY THROUGH CHRIST. 
 
 B. F. J. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 77 
 
 3. Initial Exercise. 
 Next in natural order comes the Initial Exercise, by which 
 several important words in the lesson beginning with the 
 same letter are united together with that letter. For example: 
 
 R 
 
 From Sin to God. 
 
 [NED /^NJ IN— Separates from God. 
 
 Mi AVIOUR — Restores to God. 
 ^ r -Teaches. 
 
 E 
 
 GENERATED P^I lUll ) -Reproves. 
 
 Comforts. 
 
 phut 5 
 
 This exercise may be illustrated by the familiar story of 
 Curtius and the chasm at Rome, and other stories of men who 
 have given their lives for country or friends. Another ex- 
 ample of this kind : 
 
 JL±i± 
 
 R 
 
 The Prodigal. 
 
 ashness. 
 
 nin. 
 
 ebellion. 
 
 epentance. 
 eform. 
 
 Lost, Ql ought, T3estored, 
 
 oves, Uecured, JL\ejoiced over. 
 
 4. The Syllable Exercise. 
 Next in natural order are those exercises in which several 
 words are bound together by a common syllable. For example: 
 
 The Pathway of Jesus. 
 
 mLEHEM-Manger. 
 ABARA -Baptism. 
 ESDA— The troubled waters. 
 ANY— "How he loved him;' 
 SAID A— Multitude fed. 
 PHAGE— Hosanna. 
 TOLD, 
 JEVE, 
 BORN AGAIN." 
 
 WILL YOU GOP 
 
78 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 "Behold" Jesus at Bethlehem in the manger — the Prince 
 of heaven wrapped in swaddling-clothes, paying the ransom 
 of your soul ; Behold a dove descending and a voice from 
 heaven, at Bethlehem, saying, " This is my beloved Son;" 
 " Behold how he loved him" at Bethany; Behold the 
 cripple saved at Bethesda, the multitude fed at Bethsaida; 
 * Behold thy king cometh (from Bethphage) amid palms and 
 i.osannas." Believe in this Christ and you shall be u born 
 again," and have a Christmas and Bethlehem in your own 
 heart ; you shall be baptized into Christ, raised from the death 
 of sin, fed with angels' food, and your heart filled with " Ho- 
 saunas." " Will you go" in this pathway with Jesus ? 
 
 5. The Word Exercise. 
 
 This class includes exercises, in which two or more pas- 
 sages or statements are bound together by a common word. 
 For example : 
 
 What will you have? — (See Prov. xxiii, 29.) 
 
 THEY THAT t sTe y k L0N m g i a I e th d e WINE, 
 
 \\ II A 1 A* <& iiA -^^UKDNKSS OF EYES. 
 
 willII fl IIP y 'sssr* 
 
 SAMPLE ROOM 
 
 The words "What will you — (have)" are not to be writ- 
 ten until after all the others havebeen written and spoken 
 of. Illustrations for this exercise may be taken from the 
 following 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 79 
 
 "Specimens of the Work Done Inside." 
 
 A young man in prison had such a strong thirst for intox- 
 .cating liquor that he cut off his hand at the wrist, called for 
 a bowl of "brandy in order to stop the bleeding, thrust his 
 wrist into the bowl, and then drank the contents. 
 
 A wife was dangerously sick and her husband went for 
 her medicine. On the way home he stopped to drink with 
 a friend ; one glass led to others ; after a long time he came 
 home stupefied with drink, and threw himself upon the bed 
 where the helpless wife was lying in mortal agony. He 
 woke at midnight, startled by a terrible thunder storm that 
 was raging, and found his wife cold in death at his side. 
 
 In a village near Boston, an old man, the slave of appe- 
 tite, endeavored to get some liquor as a medicine, being 
 unable to get it as a drink. He said he needed it on account 
 of trouble with his feet. Being suspected, he was told he 
 could use it in the drug-store, but could not carry it away. 
 He poured it into his boots, and was seen a few minutes later 
 behind a fence, greedily drinking the liquor from his boots. 
 
 Nay, more, a slave of this habit, unable to buy any liquor, 
 stole and drank the spirits with which a corpse had been 
 bathed a few hours before ! 
 
 6. Phrase Exercise. 
 This class comprises those exercises in which a common 
 phrase binds together several passages. For example : 
 
 Elisha's Defenders. — 2 Kings vi, 16. 
 
 "THE LORD OF HOSTS IS WTHpiT TT^J 
 " THEY THAT BE VV i. i. H U U 
 
 ARE MORE THAN THEY 
 
 THAT BE 
 
 WITH THEM." 
 
 « IF GOD BE FOR US 
 
 WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?" 
 
80 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 When London was shaken with the great earthquake, and 
 houses were falling on every side ; when the ground rocked 
 like the sea in a storm, and men cried for mercy, thinking 
 the end of all things had come, Wesley gathered his little 
 band of Christians in their chapel and read calmly to them, 
 as they responded in many a deep and fervent amen, the 
 Forty-sixth Psalm : " God is our refuge and strength, a very 
 present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though 
 the earth be removed," etc. 
 
 The expression "The Lord was with " is associated 
 
 with Joseph, Moses, Daniel, David, etc. These also may be 
 grouped into a phrase exercise, and the application made to the 
 passage " The Lord of hosts is with us." In the pit where 
 Joseph was cast, the basket-cradle of Moses, the den of lions, 
 and the other places of trial in the lives of those mentioned / 
 God was with them. 
 
 7. Table Exercise. 
 
 This class comprises those exercises in which several pas 
 sages or thoughts are grouped into some sort of a table 
 For example : 
 
 Blessing and Cursing. —Having told the school to find 
 in the Bible, during the previous week, six things that God 
 hates, and eight things that God blesses, hinting, if necessary, 
 that somewhere in Proverbs and Matthew the information 
 may be found, put on the board, before the opening of the 
 school, what is below except the words which follow the fig- 
 ures in each row. These should be drawn from the school 
 by questions, when the blackboard exercise is explained, 
 near the close of the session : 
 
 THUS SAITH THE LORD 
 
 I Hate- 
 
 fl. A proud look. 
 2. A lying: tongue. 
 8. A wicked hand. 
 4. A wicked beart. 
 6. Mischievous feet 
 6. A false witness. 
 
 #w. vi, 1G-1& 
 
 Blessed abb the- 
 
 ' 1. Poor in spirit. 
 2. Mourners. 
 8. Meek. 
 
 4. Truth-hungry. 
 
 5. Merciful. 
 
 6. Pure in heart 
 
 7. Peace-makers. 
 
 8. Persecuted. 
 
 Matt, v, S-1Q. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 81 
 
 Below the first group write, "They shall call on the rocks and 
 nills to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb." Under the 
 other, " These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever 
 he goeth." 
 
 The first verses of the First Psalm may be used above these 
 groups at the close, giving the present condition of things, as 
 the passages below give the future: 
 
 "BLESSED 
 
 Is the man that walketh 
 
 NOT BUT 
 
 In the Counsel His delight is 
 
 of the in the 
 
 Ungodly, Law of the Lord." 
 
 (Those things hated.) (Those things blessed.) 
 
 Gospel Idea of a Man. 
 Faith. 
 Virtue. 
 Knowledge. 
 (" Add.") Temperance. 
 Patience. 
 
 Brotherly Kindness. 
 Charity. 
 
 Total—A TRUE MAN. 
 
 God is not satisfied with pet virtues ; with good temper- 
 ance men who have no brotherly kindness; with faith in 
 those who have not charity ; with virtue, but not according 
 to knowledge. We are to " add" these together, having the 
 faith that mounts up on wings as eagles, the virtue that 
 shall run and not be weary, the patience that shall walk and not 
 faint, the brotherly kindness that beareth all things, and the 
 charity that never faileth. 
 6 
 
82 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 8. The Acrostic Exercise. 
 
 The acrostic exercise binds several passages or points to- 
 gether by their initial letters being formed into the impor- 
 tant word of the lesson or address. For example : 
 
 Jesus in the Temple. 
 
 OUR; Found, 
 Arguing, 
 Iemple, 
 
 HOW THAT YEi lefl ™ ? _ 
 ( sought me ? 
 
 JJNGAGED, (in Father's business.) 
 
 Jlleturned. 
 
 The word "Our" and the acrostic letters "Father" in 
 red, and the rest in white. 
 
 Watchfulness. 
 
 WATCH 
 YOUR 
 
 W ORDS, 
 
 Actions, 
 Ihoughts, 
 (jompany. 
 Hearts, j. & watt. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 83 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 LLO 
 
 ME, 
 
 To HEAR, 
 OBEY, 
 IMITATE. 
 
 ^ 
 
 "Follow Me." (Luke ix, 51-62.) 
 
 o onstantly, 
 jllumbly, 
 Jlxeverently, 
 jl mmediately. 
 
 k5 UPREMELY, 
 
 _L RUSTINGLY. 
 
 Fred. C. EUiott. 
 9. Parallel and Contrast Exercises. 
 
 This division includes those exercises where different pas- 
 sages or thoughts are arranged to parallel or contrast with 
 each other to show similarity or antitheses. 
 
 It is useful to set before a school " life and death, blessing 
 and cursing," to bring out the contrasts in the life of Christ 
 and in Christian character, etc. 
 
 The Two Temptations. 
 
 EDEN. WILDERNESS. 
 
 THE SECOND ADAM. 
 
 1. EAT— 
 
 2. ALL THESE KINGDOMS. 
 
 3. CAST THYSELF DOWN. 
 
 "Get to kid no." 
 
 CAME AND 
 
 DROVE HIM FORTH. | MINISTERED UNTO HIM. 
 
 Satan is the same shrewd tempter in the wilderness as in 
 Eden. He first tries appetite, then ambition, and then per- 
 verts the word of God. The father of lies said to Adam, " Ye 
 shall be as gods." See him who was to be " as gods " sneak- 
 ing in the bushes. He said to Christ, " I will give you all 
 the kingdoms of the world," when he did not own enough to 
 rest his foot on. Temptation comes to-day, first to appetite; 
 then, for the power of wealth or fame, we are urged to 
 wrong-doing j then we are tempted to " cast ourselves down " 
 
 THE PIEST ADAM. 
 
 1. EAT— 
 
 2. YE SHALL BE AS GODS. 
 
 8. YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE. 
 
 " I hid mvse 
 
 }» 
 
 V ANGELS 
 
84 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 into soul-dangers, and even into eternity unprepared, and 
 trust to God's angels. Cancel the three temptations with 
 "It is written" 
 
 10. Over-chalking or Canceling Exercise. 
 
 Very many impressive exercises may be made by canceling a 
 word or sentence with a better or brighter one. For example : 
 
 The Pre-eminence op Jesus, at the Transfiguration. 
 
 1. Law — Moses. 
 
 2. Prophets — Eltas. 
 
 3. Gospels — John. 
 
 4. Epistles — Peter and James. 
 
 Write in some brightly-colored chalk, " Hear ye him " 
 over the first row, after talking about it as it stands ; then 
 write " JESUS ONLY" over the other row. 
 
 Instead of the books we shall see " Hear ye him ;" instead 
 of the men, " Jesus only." As we look upon the mount, 
 Peter and James and John are on their faces; Moses and 
 Elias have faded out in the brightness of Christ's glory, and 
 we " see no man save Jesus only" Below the above exercise 
 print as follows : 
 
 iiMoT WHAT THEY g£ 
 
 Write in red chalk, over the parts opposite " Look," the 
 following, to cancel the error, "to Jesus only." So, after 
 " Hear," the following, " ye him." 
 
 First, the exercise standing as it is above, show how we 
 measure and plan by those strange yard-sticks and mirrors 
 "What they think" and "What they do" and how we 
 always have a hand to the ear for "What they say" Then 
 cancel these errors, and let the revised exercise read, " Look 
 to Jesus only " — " Hear ye him," 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 85 
 
 The Oil Increased. 2 Kings iv, 1-7. 
 
 I. Write on the board the words WIDOW, ELISHA, 
 MIRACLE, as the three points of importance in the lesson. 
 II. Show the condition of the widow. It was of Afflic- 
 tion, Debt, Poverty, Slavery. [As each word is given by the 
 school write it down.] III. What the woman did. She told 
 Elisha.; asked his help; believed his word; obeyed his com- 
 mand. IV. Next illustrate the process of the miracle. 
 Door was shut ; oil was increased ; vessels filled ; debt paid. 
 V. Now, its spiritual application. The condition of the widow 
 is the condition of all. [Either write this word over the 
 word widow, or erase it, and substitute for it.] So, what 
 she did to Elisha, we may do to JESUS. [Substitute Jesus 
 for Elisha, or chalk the word over it.] The miracle is a type 
 of Salvation. [Substitute or over-chalk as above.] 
 
 UA/M/r 
 
86 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The words All, Jesus, Salvation, may be written with large, 
 square chalk, one inch in diameter, or with the flat side of 
 an ordinary crayon. Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. 
 
 Meaning of the Cross. 1 Cor. i, 23; Acts xviii, 1-11 • 
 
 1 Cor. 1-23. 
 
 1. Draw a cross about the center of the board. 2. The 
 three classes of which the lesson speaks. Write in yellow, 
 Jews ; in blue, Greeks; in white, Believers. Below, as in the 
 diagram, the word SEEKING. 3. Now, what were the Jews 
 seeking? A Sign, [yellow.] The Greeks ? Wisdom, [bine.] 
 Believers? Salvation, [white.] 4. Next write, as in the dia- 
 gram, FIND. The Jews found in the cross — Stumbling- 
 block, [yellow.] The Greeks, etc. 5. Finally, the result. 
 Write, in heavy chalk, over one side, Perish ; on the other, 
 Saved. Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. 
 
f fiROUGEt THE EYE TO THE HEART. 87 
 
 11. The Erasing Exercise. 
 
 Similar to the canceling exercise is the erasing exercise, in 
 which the eraser is used to rub out one word, or passage 
 sometimes, in order to substitute another. 
 
 Loving Jesus. 
 
 George A. Peltz gives a very striking exercise of this class. 
 At first on the board there is this sentence : 
 
 "WHY DO I LOYE JESUS?" 
 
 After talking a little of this to those who love Jesus he rubs 
 out " Why," and "Do I love Jesus?" is his next point. Then 
 he rubs out " Do " and the interrogation point, and " I love 
 Jesus" stands before the school. Then "I" is rubbed out, 
 and the exhortation " Love Jesus " remains. Then " Love" 
 is erased, and "Jesus" is the only word the children see, 
 which suggests the passage, " They saw no man save Jesus 
 only." 
 
 How to be Happy This Year. 
 
 For New Year's Day the subjoined exercise may be em- 
 ployed. Print on the board — 
 
 A NEW YEAE. 
 
 Ask the children, " What was the first thing you said this 
 morning ? " (" A Happy New Year.") " What did you hear 
 those words with?" ("Ear.") Rub out " Y." Then, "What 
 do you do with the ear ? " (" Hear.") Put on " H " before 
 " ear." " Now how shall we make the new year a happy one ? 
 If we are not Christians what must we have to be happy?" 
 ("A New Heart.") Add "T," and finish the talk with the 
 words before the eyes of all — 
 
 "A NEW HEART. 
 This is given briefly, by memory, from "The Blackboard." 
 
88 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART, 
 
 1. Write GOD as the beginning. Next, SERVE GOD. 
 "The TIME." When? YOUTH. 2. Reasons. [Write each 
 word as the reason is announced.] Youth is the Best time ; 
 develops character. It is the Easiest time. It is a Glad 
 time ; early conversions are happy conversions. Important, 
 as the period when habits are formed. Noblest, more honor- 
 able to give God the bloom of life. 3. Erase all of the col- 
 umn of words except the initials, and show the duty. Begin 
 to Serve God. 4. Write at the foot of the column, NOW. 
 The moment when we should begin to serve God. 
 
 Rev. J, L. Hurlbut. 
 The following incident may be used for illustration : 
 Richard Walter was on his way to school with his slate and books neatly 
 strapped in a bundle, when he felt a hand resting on his shoulder, and turn- 
 ing around he saw a gentleman who said: "I see you have a slate in your 
 bundle; I suppose you have an arithmetic too. What do you cipher in?" 
 "Long division," said Richard. "Will you let me try to work a question 
 in long division on your slate ?" the man asked. Richard looked at him in 
 astonishment, and scarcely knew what answer to make. However, Richard 
 thought that lie would Bee what the man would do. and he unbuckled his 
 bundle, and handed slate and pencil to the gentleman. The stranger took 
 
Through the eye to the heart. 89 
 
 them, and, stepping to the side of the path, figured away in silence for a few 
 minutes. By the time he had finished some other boys came along, and 
 stopped to see what was going on. '• Good morning, boys," said the gentle- 
 man. " Here's a question in long division I've been trying to work out. and 
 I want you to see if it's right." Richard took the slate, while the boys 
 .ooked over his shoulder at these figures : 
 
 29)384,605(12,572 
 29 
 
 74 
 
 58 
 
 166 
 145 
 
 210 
 203 
 
 75 
 38 
 
 17 
 
 "Wrong!" "Wrong!" "It is wrong! " shouted several voices at once. 
 "Where is it wrong?" asked the gentleman. "Why," said Richard, "you 
 made a mistake almost at the very start. Nine from eighteen leaves nine, 
 you've seven." "Is that the only mistake?" said the man. w That is all 
 I see," said Richard. "I guess the rest is all right," said another boy. 
 "Work out the question yourself, and let me see the result," said the gentle- 
 man to Richard. When he had done it the gentleman said : " Tour quotient 
 is 13,262, and is right. Mine was 12,572, and is wrong; and the boys were 
 all wrong in saying that the only mistake was that made in the beginning, 
 for as that was wrong every thing that followed it was wrong. Those figures^ 
 though right in themselves, gave me a wrong answer because of the error 
 
 IN THE BEGINNING. 
 
 Christian Growth. 
 Mr. C. B. Stout, of New Jersey, makes an excellent address 
 on Christian work and growth on the following plan. He 
 first writes " Go," and speaks of the importance of going 
 somewhere. Then he adds " Right," making " Go Right," 
 and speaks of that. Then he adds " On," which makes " Go 
 Right On," his third point. After developing that thought 
 he writes " Working," and his fourth point is 
 
 GO 
 
 RIGHT 
 ON 
 
 WORKING. 
 After emphasizing this he erases all except the initials, leav- 
 ing the exhortation, " GROW." 
 
90 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 12. Word-Symbol Exercise. 
 This class includes all those exercises in which passages oi 
 Scripture or other words are shaped into symbols of Bible 
 truth, as crosses, stars, plows, shields, ships, roads, etc. For 
 example : 
 
 The Precious Cross. 
 
 H E 
 
 I S 
 
 PRECIOUS 
 
 BLOOD 
 PROMISES 
 FAITH 
 
 TO YOU 
 THAT 
 
 BELIEVE. 
 
 See 1 Pet. i, ii ; 2 Pet. i. First and last, Christ is " pre- 
 cious " to all that believe. His " blood " is precious, and also 
 the " promises " and " faith " by which we claim and apply it 
 to our hearts. The whole forms the " precious " cross. It 
 would be well to ask on the Sunday previous to the use of 
 this that the scholars should find every thing that Peter calls 
 " precious." Then write only u Precious " on the board before 
 the school, getting the remainder from the scholars. The cross, 
 as it is the most prominent symbol of our holy religion, is 
 often formed in a way similar to that just indicated, in black- 
 board exercises, as the following examples will show : 
 
 Thou 
 
 shalt 
 cal 1 
 HIS 
 
 * Believe on T p^r an 1 thou shalt " Come unto Tl/T 17 and be saved." 
 
 the L O R D J hb l) be save d. m " My son, give IVl l!i thine heart." 
 
 I love 
 them 
 that 
 love 
 
 for he <fc they 
 
 shall that 
 
 save • seek 
 
 H IS ME 
 
 Fcople e a rly 
 
 rom shall 
 
 their find 
 
 si N8. J. S. Ottrander. MLC. liev'dfrom I.W, C 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 91 
 
 The Yoke op Christ. 
 
 come unto me allyethat labok and are 
 
 My Yoke is Easy. (Matt, xi, 30.) 
 I place first upon the board the two IPs. I am about to 
 address you and you, each of you. I want the ears and eyes 
 of all. We are carrying burdens, guilt, sin, weighed down 
 under the wrath of God. We are tired of sin, a burden ; we 
 are heavy laden. Jesus says, " Come unto me," etc. Will 
 you come ? He will tell you how to get rid of this load. He 
 will teach you. He says, "Learn of Me" How ? Why ? 
 You want rest. "I will give you rest" How ? " Take my 
 yoke upon you" How can we get rest by taking another 
 yoke upon us ? His yoke is easy. We bear the yoke. Christ 
 bears our sins, etc. " Cast thy burden on the Lord," or 
 Jesus, often. "Great peace have they that love thy law;" all 
 joy, etc. Burdens light ; " These light afflictions," etc. The in- 
 vitation, " Come unto ME all ye that labor and" etc. The 
 owner brings the yoke, and the oxen come tinder it. They 
 assist in reaping the fields, and in winter live on the harvest, 
 etc. Sometimes we see one ox lying down and the other 
 standing, both joined to one yoke, one ready for work* the 
 
M 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 other at case. So Christ waits for the idle Christian. " Wo( 
 unto them that are at ease in Zion." — J. S. Ostrander. 
 
 The Milestones of the Narrow Way. 
 
 In the city of Rome distances were measured by milestones 
 that counted in each direction from the golden milestone in 
 the public square. So all along our way God puts up the 
 milestones of the promises, beginning with the Golden Mile- 
 stone of Conversion. 
 
 Make the outline of a road, with milestones, each formed of 
 the words of a promise. 
 
 13. The Map Exercise. 
 
 This class includes simply geographical outlines and maps 
 on the blackboard. Whenever the geography of a lesson is 
 to be brought out, no means is more useful than a blackboard 
 outline, on which the scholars can direct the blackboard de- 
 lineator in marking the 
 prominent points. 
 
 A map whose con- 
 struction the eye has wit- 
 nessed will be retained 
 more readily and vividly 
 in the mind than one far 
 more elaborate displayed 
 when complete. The lack 
 of exactness and finish 
 will be more than com- 
 pensated in the distinct- 
 ness and impressiveness 
 attained. 
 
 The outline here pre- 
 sented will be a conven- 
 ient form of carrying 
 the shape of Palestine 
 in the memory. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 93 
 
 The plan we have just given and described is designed sim- 
 ply to afford the teacher an easy mode of drawing an outline 
 of Palestine ; but when one has thus been made, only one or 
 two points in the country, those that are to be connected with 
 the lesson, should be brought out, and no irrelevant parts of 
 the map delineated. We insert two most excellent illustra- 
 tions of this, which have been contributed to this book-by Mrs. 
 Samuel W. Clark. The first is on 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 Saul's Conversion. 
 
 In connection with this 
 •D. journey from J. (Jerusa- 
 lem) to D. (Damascus) 
 the story of Saul's per- 
 secuting spirit, the light, 
 the voice, the blindness 
 with which he entered 
 Damascus, and the other 
 interesting incidents of 
 his conversion, may be 
 described. Some writer 
 has said of this scene that 
 "Christ himself stood as 
 lipilll ,' S sentry for his little Church 
 
 llllJl Jj t £ at Damascus, and saved 
 
 it from its bitterest perse- 
 cutor." 
 
 The following Sabbath 
 the map was continued and enlarged to include a part of 
 Paul's first missionary journey. 
 
 Paul, the First Missionary. 
 
 A careful reading of the Scripture narrative (Acts ix-xiii, 
 
 13) will give the journey indicated upon this map. A. is An- 
 
 tioch in Syria, S. is Seleucia, Sa. is Salamis, Ph. is Paphos, 
 
 P, is Perga, A. P. is Antioch in Pisidia, and I. is Iconium. 
 
u 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 
 A study of the history will enable the teacher to tell the story, 
 not in stereotyped phrases, but as an interesting narrative of 
 a* p. 
 
 >D, 
 
 travel. As the history of Paul is continued on following Sab- 
 baths, the new countries may be added and the three journeys 
 kept distinct by three different colors of chalk. Only a little 
 will be added to the map at once, and that thoroughly ex- 
 plained, so that at the close a life-long remembrance of Paul's 
 wanderings will be secured. An interesting exercise may be 
 conducted with this map, such as is suggested on pages 58, 
 59. The school may be divided into sections, each of them 
 having one of Paul's journeys, on which they are to prepare. 
 Then beginning with the map, as on page 130, the line may 
 be increased and the places added, one after another, until all 
 the journeys of Paul are completed, and he has " finished his 
 course." Appropriate selections of Scripture, hymns, recita- 
 tions, and readings will add to the interest of the exercise. 
 The whole may be named, " From Damascus to Rome," 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 95 
 
 Dr. M'Cook, in a map which he made upon the blackboard 
 at an institute in Philadelphia, took the Sea of Galilee as a 
 unit of measure, and about one length above it placed Lake 
 Merom ; about six lengths below, measuring by the eye sim- 
 ply, the Dead Sea, making a crooked line to connect them, 
 as the Jordan, with small streams branching out from it at 
 appropriate places ; about three lengths to the left of the Sea 
 of Galilee he made Mount Carmel, and then slanted the line 
 inward above and outward below, and, after a few additions 
 of mountains and towns connected with the locality he de- 
 sired to speak of, the map presented a very good representa- 
 tion of Palestine. If a variety of colors are used for water, 
 shore, mountains, towns, rivers, etc., it will add greatly to 
 the clearness and beauty of the map. 
 
 If the scholars can be induced to reproduce these maps from 
 memory on their slates at home, and afterward bring them to 
 their teachers, it will fix them yet more clearly in their mind. 
 
 Sometimes it is well to make a local map without the 
 outline of the country as its frame-work, as the following for 
 Christ at Jacob's Well. 
 
 ******** 
 
 VALY. OF NABLUS. JO T S E ™ S J 
 
 NABLUS 
 
 JACOBS WELL 
 
 Af T .GE 
 
 ^K*^m**0&0f * 
 
96 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 14. The Outline Exercise. 
 
 Last and best of all is the outline exercise — outline drawings 
 for the illustration of truth. 
 
 Most of the outlines are only the putting into chalk of Bible 
 metaphors and similes. Those of this kind are by far the best, 
 and seldom is it well to represent any other outlines on a Sab- 
 bath-school blackboard. We might make one important 
 exception in favor of the religious symbols of the Church, 
 which are given in the Appendix. They offer a wide range 
 for appropriate outline exercises. As a rule, elaborate out- 
 lines are not desirable, although a school that has an excel- 
 lent artist may as properly have a beautiful picture on one 
 side of its blackboard as on its wall. In almost every case 
 the simplest outlines, drawn at the time of explanation, with- 
 out special effort at ornament or perfection, are the best. 
 
 From the Cradle to the Coffin. 
 
 Mr. Stout makes a very impressive lesson with a simple line: 
 
 0| 1 | C 
 
 He tells the schools that the line they see is the picture of 
 every human life from the cradle to the coffin. Every one 
 that hears him is at some point on that line. They all wish 
 that point may be nearer the first " C " than the other, but it 
 may be very near the last, etc. The same excellent speaker 
 makes an impressive exercise for teachers by making two u Cs" 
 as above, and then connecting them by a curve, saying, " The 
 teacher's orbit should be from the closet of prayer to the 
 class;" and then, making another curve from the second "C" 
 back to the first, he adds, u and from the class to the closet." 
 
 Another very simple exercise comes to us from the an- 
 cients : 
 
 " Pythagoras used the letter Y as a symbol of human life. 
 4 Remember,' says he, c that the foot of the letter represents 
 infancy, and the forked top the two paths of virtue and vice, 
 
THEOUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 97 
 
 one or the other of which people are to enter upon after 
 attaining the age of discretion." 
 
 Another exercise as simple as that just mentioned is to rep- 
 resent with two lines, meeting at right angles, the coming 
 together of 
 
 Philip and the Eunuch. 
 
 After the story of their journeys and meeting is told, when 
 the separation is mentioned, continue the lines so that they 
 will form a cross. 
 
 The Treasurer of Candace found the cross as Philip 
 " preached unto him Jesus " from the fifty-third of Isaiah. 
 When the Christian is willing to obey the leadings of the 
 Spirit, and the awakened one is desiring to know the way, 
 God's providence will bring them together, and both shall be 
 blessed. " Jesus in the Old Testament," u Drawing near 
 to those we would benefit," "Preaching Jesus to single hear- 
 ers by the roadside and fireside," and other such topics, may 
 be presented from this story and outline. 
 
 The First Love Lost. 
 
 Another simple exercise 
 is the accompanying star 
 cross, that may be used 
 i ) ~ with the letter to the Church 
 at Ephesus in Rev. xi. There 
 are seven stars, the angels of the seven 
 Churches, and one of them is falling for 
 lack of love. The Church at Ephesus 
 had a grand record in some respects — 
 works and labor and patience, indig- 
 nation and punishment for evil-doers, en- 
 durance, and other virtues, but all was in 
 vain for lack of love: "I have somewhat 
 against thee because thou hast left thy first love." A similar 
 failure is described in 1 Corinthians xiii. 
 7 
 
 lir& 
 
98 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The Sea-Path. (Exod. xiv, 9, 19-22, 27.) 
 
 MOUNTAIN. 
 
 EGYPTIANS. israel. SE A 
 
 MOUNTAIN. 
 
 Describe the situation of Israel. The enemy behind, mount- 
 ains on either side, the sea in front. But God opened a path 
 through the sea. Israel went over. The Egyptians were 
 drowned. The Egyptians trusted in their horses and chari- 
 ots, Israel trusted in God. " Some trust in chariots" etc. 
 Psalm xx, 7. 
 
 Use the map not only historically, but also to show that 
 when God bids us " go forward " he always clears our way 
 as we go. " Though we pass through the waters, they shall 
 not come nigh us." "Though a host should encamp against 
 us, in God shall we be confident." 
 
 The Wandering Path. 
 
 An excellent illustration of the going forward and back- 
 ward, the faithfulness and faltering of many Christians, may 
 be made by drawing the crooked line of the journey of the 
 Israelites through the wilderness, marking not only prominent 
 places, but also, at proper points, "Manna," "Brazen serpent," 
 "Water from the rock," "Fowls from the heavens," to indi- 
 cate God's goodness; and such passages as these, at other 
 places, when they begin to turn back, " Much discouraged," 
 "Longing for flesh-pots," "Rebelling," "Golden calf," etc., 
 to represent not only the historical facts, but also our prone* 
 ness to wander.* 
 
 °A concert exercise on this journey, entitled "The Christian Pil- 
 grimage," has been prepared by the author of this book in connection with 
 Dr. Eben Tourje'e. The circulars are used both for concert and praise 
 meetings, and are published by Eben Shute, 40 Winter-street, Boston, Mass. 
 Price, $1 50 per hundred. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 99 
 
 Satan and the Saviour. 
 
 The following exercise is contributed by Rev. J. M. Free- 
 man, and fully explains itself: 
 
 ATAN, 
 
 THE 
 
 ERPENT 
 
 BROUGHT 
 
 WE HAVE A 
 
 L °P K JAVIOUR 
 
 LIVE i?/ WHO BRINGS 
 
 ALVATION 
 
 Infant Class Blackboard Lesson : * 
 Visit of the Wise Men to Bethlehem — Matt, ii, 1-12. 
 
 ^-jjEIR GTJlbg QtfB G-TJID^ 
 
 TO JESUS. 
 
 * In using this exercise the teacher can refer to several passages which 
 speak of the Bible as a guide, as, for instance, Psalm cxix, 105 ; and for the 
 reverse refer to Pro v. xxiii, 26, and parallel passages. 
 
100 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 [Reverse.) 
 
 GOLD, 
 
 Frankincense, 
 Myrrh. 
 
 our G-i^y 
 
 OUR 
 
 HEARTS. 
 
 —D. 13. II. 
 
 Temperance Exercise. 
 
 Temperance 
 
 tfOUO? 
 
 !] BITES 
 STINGS 
 KILLS 
 
 — Mrs. Samuel W. Clark. 
 
 Water and Rum. 
 Draw a water pitcher and rum bottle, and make on them 
 
 the following acrostic exercises : 
 Watchful, 
 Active, 
 Truthful, 
 Excellent, 
 Rich. 
 
 Rascality, 
 Uncle.inness, 
 lTlurder. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 101 
 
 Satan's Spider- Web.* 
 
 1. Draw in advance the web, covering the whole board. 
 
 2. Write in each compartment, in order, Bad Company, 
 Bad Habits, Bad Tempers, Lying, Dishonesty, and Irreligion, 
 and as each is written, in presence of the school, show its 
 danger and evil influence. Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. 
 
 Salvation of the Prodigal. Luke xv, 1 1-32. 
 
 | Ingratitude, 
 "j Selfishness. 
 J Wickedness. 
 (P/y — I Want. 
 ^ H Woe. 
 
 v v\>° I Honors. 
 
 ^V [ Receives. 
 
 > _| Pities. 
 
 j Sees. 
 
 _J Watches. 
 
 ,x ; j Confesses. 
 
 <§T __| Seeks. 
 _J Starts. 
 
 | Kesolves. 
 
 I Thinks. 
 
 | Displeased. 
 
 j> — | Unkind. 
 <£X — | Fault-finding. 
 4^ | Jealous. 
 
 * May be easily adapted to lessons on 1 Kings xii, 25-33 ; 2 Kings v, 
 20-27 ; 2 Kings xvii, 6-18. 
 
102 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 1. The steps of the Prodigal away from his Father. 
 
 2. The steps of the Son back to the Father. 
 
 3. The steps of the Father toward the Son. 
 
 4. The steps of the Brother away from his Father. 
 
 The prodigal counted on a father's frown and a servant's 
 place, and a life of hard service at his home ; but instead of 
 the frown the father cut short his confession with loving em- 
 braces, and before he could ask for a servant's place the 
 father called for the ring and best robe ; instead of the serv- 
 ants' table he sat down to the fatted calf at the father's side ; 
 instead of being hurried into the fields to work they began 
 to be merry with his " welcome home." — Anonymous. 
 
 The following Normal Class Paper of Rev. Dr. Vincent 
 might be used as a concise outline for discussing, in a teach- 
 ers' meeting or convention, the whole field of illustration 
 treated in this volume : 
 
 The Laws op Illumination. 
 
 1. There is great power in the Light. 
 
 [It arrests attention. It holds attention. It intensifies attention. 
 It rewards attention.] 
 
 2. There is such a thing as putting light into lessons. Lesson illumina- 
 tion is very important. 
 
 3. A definition. 
 
 Lesson illumination is the employment of those elements in teaching 
 by which the delighted attention of the pupil is attracted toward 
 a lesson, and its instructions rendered more clear to his under- 
 standing. 
 
 4. Peculiarities of the pupil to be understood in attempting to attract him 
 to a lesson. 
 
 1. The pupil delights in seeing. 
 
 2. The pupil delights in imagining. 
 
 3. The pupil delights in comparing. 
 
 4. The pupil delights in knowing. 
 
 6. Means of illumination adapted to the pupil's peculiarities. 
 
 1. The sight. 
 
 Objects, diagrams, maps, pictures, action. 
 
 2. The imagination. 
 Word-pictures, stories. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 103 
 
 3. Comparisons. 
 
 Similes, metaphors, parables, types, symbols, analogies. 
 
 4. Knowledge. 
 
 History, science, art, travels, Biblical truths. 
 The laws of illumination. 
 
 1. The best light to shed on a Bible lesson is Bible light. 
 
 The teacher should therefore make a large use of Bible facts, nar- 
 ratives, parables. 
 
 2. To use Bible-light in illuminating a lesson, the teacher should be 
 
 very familiar with the history, geography, poetry, manners, and 
 customs of Bible times, etc. 
 
 3. The teacher should use freely and wisely the facts of every-day 
 
 life, with which his pupils are most familiar. 
 
 4. Illustrations are multiplied by the habit of observation. 
 
 5. The teacher should study the masters of illustration m books, 
 
 in sermons, essays, etc. 
 
 6. He should keep scrap-books for the preservation of illustrative 
 
 material. 
 
 7. He should acquire facility in the use of illustration by patient 
 
 and constant practice. 
 
 8. The teacher should use illustrations for the better teaching of the 
 
 lesson, never to fill up time, to amuse the class, or to display his 
 genius. 
 
 9. He should not use too many illustrations. 
 
 10. He should, by an apt illustration at the beginning of the lesson, 
 
 excite the curiosity of his pupils, and thus lead them to solf- 
 activity in study. 
 
 11. He should remember that the best illustrations are those which 
 
 come spontaneously while he is endeavoring to make clear tc 
 his pupils a truth which is clear to himself. 
 
 12. He should remember that in word-picturing the pupil will acquire 
 
 no more vivid view of the lesson than the teacher himself pos- 
 
 13. He should never unnecessarily use visible and material things to 
 
 illustrate spiritual truth. 
 
 14. He should converse much with children and plain people during 
 
 the week on the subject of the lesson. 
 
 15. To live a godly life is the best way to light up a lesson that a 
 
 teacher can possibly employ. 
 
 16. He should always do the very best in his power, and trust results 
 
 with the Master whom he serves. 
 
104 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 Thus we have spoken of the seven departments of eye 
 teaching. They should ever be as the seven golden candle- 
 sticks of Revelation, not attracting the eyes of men to them- 
 selves, but only revealing the glory of Him who cried from 
 their midst, 
 
 "I am Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and the End- 
 ing, The First and the Last." 
 
 PATMOS. 
 
BLACKBOARD EXERCISES 
 
 AND 
 
 OBJECT ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FOR THE INTERNATIONAL LESSONS OE 
 
 1877. 
 

SEED-THOUGHT FOR OBJECT ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 •++0- 
 
 The Fan and Sibte. Luke iii, IT; xxii, 31; Acta xiii, 1-13. 
 
 The sieve is used, of course, to sift out the good flour, and leave only the 
 useless bran, and so the devil desires to sift out all that is good in us and 
 leave only what is bad. The fan, in Eastern countries, on the other hand, 
 is used to fan away the chaff, and leave only pure wheat, (see Bible Dic- 
 tionary,) and so Christ would purge us of "the chaff" of our natures and 
 leave only "the wheat of our highest virtue." Satan can only "desire " to 
 sift us; Christ can only "pray for us " that we may come to his purging — 
 the decision is our own. 
 
 Having a fan and sieve, with these seed-thoughts an interesting object- 
 lesson may be given. See also Psa. i, 4; Isa. i, 25. 
 
 The Watch 
 
 has been used in various ways for object-lessons. There are three excellent 
 lessons that may be taught with it : 1. The world shows evidence of a 
 Creator and Preserver. Show the intricate machinery and the wonderful 
 workings of the watch. These could not become so by chance or accident. 
 Some one made them with a purpose. Find by questions that the watch 
 would cease to tick if it were not wound up and cared for, and teach the 
 lesson of God's preserving care. 2. The heart must be right if we would 
 have the life right. Show that it is of no use to fix the hands simply ; the 
 main-spring must be right, and then the hands will keep right. So in us the 
 relation of heart and hand. 3. We are immortal. This truth has been 
 taught to very small children by a watch taken out of its case, and the chil- 
 dren led to notice that the watch still ticks, although out of its case. Then, 
 the case being put out of sight in one hat and the watch in another, they 
 are led to notice that they can still hear the ticking, although it is unseen as 
 well as separate from its cause. So the body is only the case of the soul, 
 which can live after the separation by death. 
 
 A PHOTOaRAPH 
 
 may be used in this way : After general questions, bring out the fact that it 
 \s made by the sunshine in the dark camera, with somebody before it. 
 Afterward show that from the darkness of repentance, when the Holy 
 G-host shines upon our hearts and Christ stands before them, they come forth 
 in the likeness of Christ. 
 
108 THROUGH TfiE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 Miss M. I. Hanson, Instructor in Object Teaching in the Massachusetts 
 State Normal School at Salem, also the teacher of an infant class, has con- 
 tributed the three following religious object-lessons for this work : 
 
 1. Pure Hearts. 
 
 I take for my objects three paper hearts, one perfectly white, another 
 with blots of ink on it, a third nearly covered with ink. I get from the 
 children the statements that one heart is white, or pure, the others have 
 blots of ink on them ; then speak of their own hearts : are they like the 
 pure white one, or have they blots on them ? Get the statement that their 
 hearts have blots of sin on them; mention different sins (little wrong 
 words, deeds, thoughts, and looks) which make these blots on the heart ; 
 then also that the more wicked the heart the blacker. Then, going back to 
 paper hearts, ask how to get the ink blots off. Children say, "By wash- 
 ing;" then, speaking of their sin-blotted hearts, ask what will cleanse 
 them; will water? Get the statement, "Blood of Jesus Christ." Then 
 have written upon the blackboard these sentences: "We have blots of sin 
 on our hearts ; " " The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from 
 all sin." 
 
 Now the heart is cleansed by the blood of Christ, does it seem like the 
 pure white heart? What does the Bible say of those that have pure 
 hearts? Write on the blackboard, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for," 
 etc. Speak of appearing before God on the last day with a sin-blotted 
 heart, and, without daring to see him, hearing him say, "Depart," etc. Then 
 speak of appearing before him with a heart cleansed by Jesus' blood, and 
 looking upon him with joy unutterable as he says, " Come, ye blessed," etc. 
 Then ask if any want their hearts cleansed ; if they know where to go for 
 this wonderful blood that can take away sin. No man can give it. Chil- 
 dren answer, "Pray for it." Ask if any would like to ask Christ now for hip 
 cleansing blood, then close with a prayer for pure hearts. 
 
 2. Clean Hands. 
 
 " Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? " " He that hath clean 
 hands and a pure heart." 
 
 I take for my object the hands of the children — tell them to stand and 
 hold up their hands — get from them various uses of hands ; also draw from 
 them the term "clean," as usually applied; then show that God calls those 
 hands clean which are put to a good use. Have children mention numer- 
 ous good things which their hands can do, and write them on the black- 
 board ; then show that hands which look very clean to us may be very un- 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 109 
 
 clean in God's sight, because he knows whether they have been doing 
 right or not. Then ask what God says of those who have clean hands. 
 Have the verse repeated, and write it on the blackboard. 
 
 The Tongue.— Text : James iii, 8; Mark x, 27; Acts xiii, 1-13. 
 
 Lead the children to say we use our tongues to speak both good and 
 wicked, kind and unkind words. To give an idea of control, refer to the 
 wild caprices of a colt, how impossible it is to use him until he has been 
 tamed. Tell the story of a boy whose tongue was always running into 
 wicked speeches. It needed to be tamed. A colt cannot be tamed without 
 a bridle, a tongue cannot be tamed without Christ's help. 
 
 Who of you have promised yourselves not to say wrong words ever again ? 
 Did you keep your promise ? No. Why not? Our tongues said the word 
 before we knew it. So it seems that you need some one to watch and tame 
 your tongues for you ; you do not seem able to do it yourselves. The Bible 
 says you cannot do it yourselves. Let me read : (James iii, 8.) Who will 
 help you ? Can you do it then ? Let me read again from the Bible: (Mark 
 x, 27.) Print the latter text upon the blackboard, and require the children 
 to read. 
 
 The Withered Leaf. 
 
 Rev. Alfred Cookman preached his last sermon, with a withered leaf in his 
 nand as an object-lesson, on the text, " We all do fade as a leaf." By col- 
 lecting, with the Concordance, all the passages in the Bible on the leaf, and 
 ascertaining its natural history and attributes, many very excellent lessons 
 may be drawn from it. 
 
 The Magnet Lesson. 
 
 Rev. E. P. Hammond gives a very effective lesson with the magnet, trying 
 it first with an old spike, and finding it unable to draw it — illustrating the 
 difficulty of moving those who have lived long in sin to love Christ. He 
 then puts the magnet among a lot of tacks, which quickly fasten upon it, 
 illustrating the readiness with which the children come to Jesus, and not 
 only that, but also draw others by the love of Christ within them. Putting 
 the magnet here again among the tacks, he shows how those tacks which 
 adhere draw others and hold them. Many beautiful lessons may be drawn 
 from the magnet by experiment and study. 
 
 The Yine. John xv, 1-10. 
 This has been effectively used by G. E. A. Moore, of St. Louis, and others. 
 A. knife, opened, is extended to the vine to cut it. " Shall I cut it ? " " No." 
 " Why? " M It would kill it." " Would it bear fruit if cut off? " " No." 
 M No more shall we except we abide in Christ." 
 
110 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The taking away of the nipped grapes that others may be larger, the kind- 
 ness of purging, the destruction of the useless, the sap that gives the branches 
 iHfe as Christ gives us life, these and many other points may be brought 
 out by the teacher, after studying the vine, the passage referred to and others 
 regarding the " empty vine," M wild grapes," etc., and then questioning the 
 scholars. 
 
 The Lily. 
 
 Take a large white lily in full bloom, and read, as you hold it before the 
 school, Matt, vi, 28-33. Then ask the school to "consider," (that is, pondei 
 over and over again, as the original signifies,) to tt consider the lilies," and 
 learn three lessons : 1. A lesson to doubt and skepticism — " Consider the 
 lilies how they grow," how mysteriously they grow. Thus critical skepti- 
 cism, that will not believe any thing it cannot understand, is rebuked. Show 
 how " curiously and wonderfully made " are the lilies. 2. A lesson to 
 human pride — " Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." 
 Central Park is not as grand as Yosernite. The best wax bouquet is not 
 equal to a garden. 3. A lesson to " little faith " — " Consider the lilies how 
 prosperously they grow without toil or spinning, and shall not God much more 
 care for us? " Find in the Concordance other references to the lily, and also 
 ascertain peculiarities of Eastern lily from Bible Dictionary 
 
 " A father giveth good HOW MUCH MORE WILL 
 
 gifts to his children." 
 "God clothes the lily 
 
 of the field." - - - 
 
 GOD Care™ US! 
 
 Although we have not yet spoken about the blackboard, we insert the 
 above as a companion exercise for the object-lesson on the lily. Generally 
 the blackboard and objects should be used together. 
 
 The Tares. A Bunch op Wheat with a Bunch op Weeds. Matt, xiii, 
 24-30. Text: Matt, xiii, 30; Acts xiii, 1-13. 
 
 Point : Now is the day of grace— afterward will be the time of reckoning. 
 
 I. Comparison between wheat and tares. Let the teacher show some 
 stalk3 of wheat and some worthless weeds, each with the roots. Children 
 point to each kind, and give the name. Which has done some good work ? 
 What will the wheat do for people ? Give them life and strength. What 
 good have the weeds done? Sometimes weeds make poison, which gives 
 people much trouble. Do the wheat and the tares grow in the same or in 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. Ill 
 
 different fields? The tares grow among the wheat. Upon which does 
 God's suu shine the brightest? etc., etc. The whole subject maybe de- 
 veloped in this line by the teacher or superintendent. (Selected.) 
 
 The Dew-Drops and Rain-Drops. 
 
 Take a bunch of flowers into the school with dew or rain drops upon 
 them. Then tell these two stories: A little rain-drop the other day, before 
 the rain, was looking down from the sky, and its little heart felt sad to see 
 how withered and dry all the flowers and the grass seemed to be. Then it 
 said, "Though I am only a little drop, I will go down and kiss that weary 
 and dusty blade of grass." So it came, and the grass looked up and smiled. 
 Another drop, when it saw how much its brother had done, said, "Well, I'll 
 go, too, and kiss that fading violet" It came, and the violet rejoiced. Then 
 the other drops said, "Let us go too." And down they came, one after 
 another, until there was a shower that made all the gardens laugh for joy. 
 So our little words and deeds may make others happy. (0. J. L.) 
 
 The following was given by Rev. E. L. Hyde, at a Band of Hope meeting, 
 on the same object : " Children, what did you see on the grass this morn- 
 ing that sparkled so ? " " Dew." Then get the children to tell what makts 
 clouds, snow-flakes, etc. Call the snow " The dew-drop's cousin" or, as a 
 little child called it, "Rain all popped out white." Then, " What makes 
 the engine go ? " " Steam." " What besides fire does it take to make 
 steam? " u Water." " Yes, and the water is made of a great many little 
 drops. Each of them is a little fairy giant, and they say to each other, 
 'Let's make it go,' and then they bend all their little shoulders against the 
 sides of the boiler, and push, and you hear the sound, 's-s-s-sh,' and the 
 wheels begin to roll, and away it goes. So each of you has power to do 
 something in pushing for the right. The smallest can ' push a pound.' " 
 
 Power op Prayer. 
 
 A revolutionary sword may be used as an object-lesson. We keep it only 
 as a curiosity to remember what it did " in our fathers' days, in the times 
 of old," but not as the sword of the Spirit; (this maybe drawn on the 
 board.) It should not hang up as a relic, reminding us of three thousand 
 slain in one day at Pentecost, but unused at present. It still has the pen- 
 tecostal temper in its blade. Or use some Continental currency as a contrast 
 to God's promises, which are never at a discount, never out of date, never 
 curiosities of a departed government, but always "Yea and Amen in Christ 
 Jesus." 
 
 Renewed in Christ. Acts xxvi, 6-20. 
 
 Taking a bunch of old rags, and also some fine writing paper, use them 
 with the following story from The Sunday-School Times, by Dr. Todd: 
 
112 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The Queen Was riding out in her grand carriage, the horses toss ng their 
 plumes as if they felt themselves a little better than common horses, and the 
 footmen all decked out in red, feeling that they had something royal about 
 them. The Queen had always had every thing she wanted, and so was 
 quite miserable because she could not think of a want to supply, or a new 
 place to visit. 
 
 At last she bethought her that they had just been building a new paper- 
 mill a few miles out of the city. Now she had never seen a paper-mill, and 
 so she determined to stop a little way off, there leave her carriage, and walk 
 in, not as a queen, but as an unknown, common lady. She went in alone, 
 and told the owner she would like to see his mill. He was in a great hurry, 
 and did not know that she was the Queen. But he said to himself, 4i I can 
 gratify the curiosity of this lady, and add to her knowledge ; and though I 
 am terribly hurried, yet I will do this kindness." He then showed her all 
 the machinery, how they bleach the rags and make them white ; how they 
 grind them into pulp; how they make sheets, and smooth them, and dry 
 them, and make them beautiful. The Queen was astonished and delighted. 
 She would now have something new to think about and talk about. 
 
 Just as she was about leaving the mill she came to a room tilled with 
 old worn-out, dirty rags. At the door of this room was a great multitude 
 of poor, dirty men and women and children bringing old bags on their backs 
 filled with bits of rags and paper, parts of old newspapers, and the like, all 
 exceedingly filthy. These were rag-pickers, who had picked these old 
 things out of the streets and gutters of the great city. 
 
 " What do you do with all these vile things? " said the Queen. 
 
 "Why, madam, I make paper out of them. To be sure, they are not very 
 profitable stock, but I can use them, and it keeps these poor creatures 
 in bread." 
 
 M But these rags 1 Why, sir, they are of all colors, and how do you make 
 them white ? " 
 
 "0, I have the power of taking out all the dirt and the old colors. You 
 see that * scarlet ' and that ' crimson,' yet I can make even scarlet and crim- 
 son, the hardest colors, to remove and become white as snow." 
 
 '•Wonderful, wonderful! " said the Queen. 
 
 She then took her leave, but the polite owner of the mill insisted on walk- 
 ing and seeing her safe in her carriage. When she got in and bowed to 
 him with a smile, and he saw all the grand establishment, he knew it was 
 [the Queen. 
 
 "Well, well! " said he, " she has learned something at any rate. I wish 
 iit may be a lesson in true religion." 
 
 A few days alter the Queen found lying upon her writing-desk a pile 
 #f the most beautiful polished paper she had ever seen. On each sheet w r ere 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 113 
 
 the letters of her own name and her own likeness. How she did admire it ! 
 She found, also, a note within, which she read. It ran thus : 
 
 11 Will my Queen be pleased to accept a specimen of my paper, with the 
 assurance that every sheet was manufactured out of the contents of those 
 dirty bags which she saw on the backs of the poor rag-pickers? All the 
 filth and the colors are washed out, and I trust the result is such as even a 
 queen may admire. Will the Queen also allow me to say, that I have had 
 many a good sermon preached to me in my mill? I can understand how 
 our Lord Jesus Christ can take the poor heathen, the low, sinful creatures 
 every- where, viler than the rags, and wash them and make them clean ; and 
 how, l though their sins be as scarlet, he can make them whiter than snow; 
 and though they be red like crimson, he can make them as wool.' And I 
 can see that he can write his own name on their foreheads, as the Queen will 
 find her name on each sheet of paper; and I can see how, as these filthy 
 rags may go into the palace and be ever admired, some poor, vile sinners 
 may be washed in the blood of the Lamb, and be received into the palace 
 of the great King in heaven. The Mill Owner." 
 
 Living Water.* 
 
 The following may furnish suggestions to be used with a fountain or a 
 glass of water if the circumstances mentioned cannot be realized: 
 
 "Whosoever drinketh of this water" said Jesus, "shall thirst again; but 
 whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but 
 the water that I shall give shall be in him a well of water springing up into 
 everlasting life." 
 
 Here Christ represents the gift of the Spirit as "living water," which, 
 satisfies our longings as nothing else can do. While at every well of earthly 
 pleasure we must day after day draw again and again for a temporary grati- 
 fication of our thirst for happiness, lie who takes into his heart this " fount- 
 ain of the indwelling Spirit" shall "never thirst" for other draughts, but 
 "with joy shall he draw water out of the wells of salvation." And "every 
 one that thirsteth may come to these waters " and be satisfied. " Ye weary 
 and heavy laden" with long years of constant effort to draw up happiness 
 from other wells, say to the Master to-day. "Give me of this water, that I 
 thirst not, neither come hither to draw." And not only will the Spirit of God 
 save us from the feverish "thirst" of human life, but he will also be in us "a 
 well of water springing up into everlasting life." 
 
 Yesterday I went for meditation to our beautiful Lindenwood Cemetery. 
 After passing the gate I stopped a moment to look at the Soldiers' Monument, 
 man's fitting tribute to the brave. But a few steps further on I paused in still 
 greater admiration before a new monument— God^s monument to the Christian, 
 
 * See Frontispiece. 
 
 9 
 
114: THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 Man's chisel never wrought so beautifully! Human bands never ar- 
 ranged such diamonds and pearls in so stately a pillar of silver! 
 
 The monument bore no name and no epitaph, but it stood in its matchless 
 oeauty amid the tombstones and monuments as God's tribute to those 
 whose " names are written in heaven." Many of you have seen it — the 
 monument of ice through which the fountain unceasingly sends its water 
 into the air. All through the winter the fountain has defied the cold and 
 sparkled daily in the sun. Glorious picture of the true Christian ! What 
 though the snows and frost of the world's coldness gather about him, there is 
 " in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life " that cannot be 
 frozen, and his joy and singing leap above all temptation and " rejoice ever- 
 more." What though death with his chilly hand touch his body and make it 
 icy with death, there is " in him a well of water springing up into everlasting 
 life" and, like the fountain, rising triumphantly above the ice around it, the 
 "living water" of our hearts rises to the better life: the fountain must rise 
 as high as its source. Rude and playful boys stained the icy monument 
 with the mud of their feet and marred it with their axes, but still the 
 sparkling stream threw its jewels into the sunlight. Men may persecute 
 and revile the Christian and speak all manner of evil against him, but above 
 it all leaps the "living water" of his inward joy aud shouts " Blessed. v 
 
 The aperture through which the water rose I saw filled up with a block 
 of ice, and for a little time the stream was repressed; but very soon it cut its 
 way out, and rose with its triumphant joy into the air again. 
 
 The grave may endeavor to bind down the Christian's spirit with its 
 clods; the " living water that springs up into everlasting life" shall break 
 through them and cry, " grave, where is thy victory ? " 
 
 In this monument of ice and snow I saw God's sculpturing of the prayer, 
 " Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow ; " God's chiseling of the 
 promise, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." 
 
 And then, as I thought of the " everlasting life " and the " glorified 
 bodies " of the saints in light, I saw the monument transfigured to a 
 heavenly meaning, and heard a voice, the voice of my hope, saying, "Who 
 are these in white robes, and whence came they?" And then I saw in it 
 another picture of the overcomer made " a pillar in the temple of his God." 
 
 If I should wish for any monument to rise in memory of my life besides 
 that best of all monuments, " The good we have done," I should ask that in 
 the purest marble such a monument should be represented, and, through and 
 above it, should play a fountain, and on the marble should be cut: "T?ie 
 water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of wakr springing up into 
 everlasting life." [This may be used to illustrate 2 Kings ii, 13-25.] 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEABT. 
 
 115 
 
 TOPIC EXERCISES. 
 
 Paul at Corinth. Acts xviii, 1-11. 
 
 SEEST THOU A MAN 
 
 DILIGENT in BUSINESS 
 
 [Two Departments.] 
 
 | My Earthly Business. 
 
 HE SHALL STAND BEFORE j thE^KINO- 
 
 First print only the words "Diligent in business," as de- 
 scriptive of Paul's industry. Then call attention to the two 
 kinds of business God gives to every man and write them on 
 the board. Note that in both departments a man should be 
 u fervent in spirit," and in both also should "serve the Lord." 
 Write above all these, " Seest thou a man." Illustrate with 
 Joseph, Daniel, Mordecai, Paul, and others, that such men 
 " stand before kings" on earth and before the King in heaven. 
 (Write last line.) 
 
 Gehazi, the Leper. 2 Kings v, 20-27. 
 
 G-EHAZI'S SIN. 
 
 ORIGIN, 
 
 G-en. iii, 6. 
 
 DECEITFULNESS, 
 
 Prov. xvi, 25. 
 
 MISERY, 
 
 Isa. lvii, 20, 21. 
 
 PROGRESS, 
 
 James i, 1. 
 
 INJURY, 
 
 Eccl. ix, 18. 
 
 DISCOVERY, - 
 
 Num. xxxii, 23. 
 
 PUNISHMENT, - 
 
 Gal. vi, 7. 
 
116 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 1. Write on the board the Scripture references, leaving 
 the words opposite to each to be written as they are read in 
 order. 
 
 2. Let one half the school read one verse, the other the 
 next in concert. Or let one class read each verse in concert 
 from their Bibles. 
 
 3. As each verse is read explain the reference, and write 
 the explanation in one word upon the board. 
 
 Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. 
 
 The Call of God. Acts xxvi, 6-20. 
 
 1. Write "The call" and its live elements, omitting for 
 the present the words " To You." 
 
 2. Then "The Answer" and its characteristics. 
 
 3. Then make the application : "The Call," "From God," 
 u To You." Your answer ! Shall it be like that of Saul ? 
 Illustrate by the call of God to Samuel. 
 
 Rev. J. L. Hurlbut, 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 117 
 
 Paul at Ephesus. Acts xix, 1-12. 
 
 THE HOLY SPIRIT, 
 
 LIKES 
 
 WATER, is free. 
 FIRE, is purifying. 
 "WIND, is powerful. 
 RAIN, is abundant. 
 
 A VOICE, speaking. 
 A DOVE, gentle. 
 OIL, joyous. 
 DEW, refreshing. 
 
 ASK, and ye SHALL receive. Luke xi, 9, 13. 
 
 Write on the blackboard at first only "The Holy Spirit 
 
 like " and ask, " What is the Holy Spirit compared to in 
 
 the Bible ? " As the symbols are given ask, u Why is the 
 Holy Ghost like water?" c Why is the Holy Ghostlike 
 fire ? " etc., etc., writing down beside the symbol the point of 
 resemblance, repeating appropriate Scripture, and illustrating 
 or enforcing each point. The following Bible passages may 
 be used with these symbols : 
 
 Water. John vii, 37-39; Matt, xxviii, 19. Fire. Acts ii, 
 1-4 ; Isa. iv, 3, 4 ; 1 Thess. v, 19; John xvi, 8-11. Wind. 
 Acts ii, 1-4 ; 2 Tim. i, 7 ; Eph. iii, 14, 16 ; 1 Thess. i, 5 ; John 
 iii, 8. Rain. Zech. xii, 10. Voice. Heb. iii, 7-9; Acts i, 
 16 ; xxviii, 25 ; Matt, x, 20 ; John xvi, 13. Dove. Matt, iii, 
 16 ; Gal. v, 22. Oil. 1 Sam. xvi, 13 ; John xiv, 26 ; Isa. xi, 2. 
 Dew. Rom. v, 5 ; John vi, 63. 
 
 To this exercise the following may be added as Christ's 
 promises in regard to the Holy Ghost : 
 
 WILL COME TO 
 WILL guide 
 
 WILL EEPKOVE 
 WILL SHOW 
 WILL TEACH 
 WILL COMFORT 
 WILL DWELL WITH 
 WILL ABIDE WITH 
 
 Paul before Felix. Acts xxiv, 10-25. 
 PAUL PREACHED 
 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS, I TEMPERANCE, I JUDGMENT. 
 
118 THROUGH THE EYE TO TEtE fiEAM. 
 
 ( HEARD, 
 ^_ T T ^ TREMBLED, 
 FELIX < POSTPONED, 
 PROMISED, 
 
 V DIED UNSAVED. 
 
 AHE YOTJ SAYINGS :- 
 
 HOLY SPIRIT GO THY WAY? 
 
 THE CONVENIENT SEASON IS 
 NOW. 
 
 Each of these points should be developed, as in preceding 
 exercises, by questions, and then written or printed. Then 
 illustrate with the following incidents : 
 
 An ocean steamer went down with all on board. A clock was washed 
 ashore which had stopped at eleven o'clock, showing the hour when the 
 vessel sank. This story can be told, and then, looking to a clock or watch, 
 the moment may be noted, with the remark, " Perhaps, at this moment, 
 some one of you is deciding the question of your whole eternity.' 1 
 
 "I saw yesterday a park in which they were felling all the trees, and yet 
 there were the poor crows building on elms that were marked to be cut 
 down. T thought to myself: ' You foolish birds, to be building your nests 
 there, for the woodman's ax is ringing all around, and the tall elms are 
 tumbling to the ground.' We are all apt to build our nests upon trees that 
 will be cut down." 
 
 Paul's Autobiography. Acts xx, 17-32. 
 
 SERVING THE ( humility, 
 < Many tears, 
 LORD WITH (Many trials 
 
 fFully, 
 TEACHING^ p^" 7 ' 
 
 vFrom house to house. 
 
 !To Jews and Greeks, 
 Of repentance, 
 Of faith. 
 
 WARNING 
 
 Night and day, 
 With tears. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 119 
 
 r To Jerusalem, 
 To bonds and afflictions, 
 GOING^ Never to return, 
 
 Unmoved by outward trials, 
 ^ Ready to live or die. 
 These points can all be developed, by questions, from the 
 lesson, and illustrated with incidents from Paul's life. The 
 application should point to "serving the Lord," "testifying," 
 and " teaching " like Paul. 
 
 Between twenty and thirty years ago three little English boys were amusing 
 themselves together in a wood-lodge one summer afternoon. Suddenly one of 
 them looked grave, and left off playing. "I have forgotten something," be 
 said; " I forgot to say my prayers this morning ; you must wait forme." 
 He went quietly into a corner of the place they were in, knelt down, and rev- 
 erently repeated his morning prayer. Then he returned to the others, and 
 was soon merrily engaged in play again. This brave boy grew up to be a brave 
 man. He was the noted Captain Hammond. He was a faithful servant to 
 his earthly sovereign, but, better still, a good soldier of Jesus Christ, never 
 ashamed of his service. 
 
 Glorious Madness. 
 Prayer Answered. "Thou art mad." 
 Conversion Declared. " Beside thyself." 
 Self-Sacrifice. " Beside himself." 
 Full of the Holy Ghost. " Full of new wine." 
 
 "NOT MAD, 
 
 BUT WORDS OF TRUTH AND SOBERNESS." 
 
 Rhoda was thought to be " mad " for telling of prayer an- 
 swered ; Paul was thought " beside himself " when he nar- 
 rated his conversion; Christ was thought "beside himself" 
 in " working for others" when he needed rest and food ; and 
 the apostles were thought to be in the madness of intoxica- 
 tion when they were filled with the Holy Ghost, These same 
 things are called madness to-day, but our experience answers 
 in the words of Paul, " We are not mad, but speak the words 
 of truth and soberness." All these things are based on reliable 
 evidence and trustworthy experiments. They are proved facts, 
 
120 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 Bible Arithmetic. 1 Kings xviii, 36-46. 
 
 1 + God > 450 + Baal. 
 
 Gideon's 300 + faith > 150,000 Midianites. 
 
 12 apostles + faith = world redeemed. 
 
 The arithmetical sign >, it will be remembered, means 
 a greater than." The smallest numbers, added to God or to 
 faith, are greater than all that can be against them, as in 
 the case of Elijah triumphing over four hundred and fifty 
 priests of Baal. Gideon's- victory illustrates the same point, 
 as also the present extent of Christianity through the efforts 
 of Christ's little army of twelve men plus faith. 
 
 God's Mercy and Might. Nahum i, 1-13. 
 
 "MIGHTY TO SAVE." 
 nir i nnnm ( MERCY-" Slow to anger." 
 I HE UnD Si MIGHT-" Great in power." 
 
 I JUSTICE-" Will not acquit the wicked." 
 UST, AND YET THE 
 USTIFIER OF HIM THAT BELIEVETH. 
 
 Two brothers started to go West to seek their fortune. One had money, 
 the other had not. When they got to the frontier the one without money 
 murdered the other, and, taking his money, fled to California. Doctors took 
 the head of the murdered man and preserved it in alcohol. No proof of 
 the murder could be found. No one was present when the deed was done. 
 The brother was accused, but declared his innocence. No one was there 
 but he and God. He was brought before jury and judge, and declared his 
 innocence. The dead face of his brother was brought into court. He 
 gazed on it, he fainted and fell to the floor, and confessed his sin. There is 
 a time when all these unconfessed sins will come in before us, tramp, tramp, 
 tramp, till they all come back. 
 
 Paul's Deliverance from Shipwreck * Acts xxvii, 33-44. 
 
 "I remember," says Dr. Fowler, " once standing by the 
 
 BUrging billows all one weary day, and watching for hours a 
 
 ♦Captain John Cochnan, in the course of a* discussion in the New York 
 Evening Post with Mr. (i. W. Blunt, has furnished a new version of Paul's 
 narrative of his voyage and shipwreck, which we think will edify many of 
 
 J 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 121 
 
 father struggling beyond in the breakers for the life of his 
 son. They came slowly toward the breakers on a piece of 
 wreck, and as they came the waves turned over the piece of 
 float, and they were lost. Presently we saw the father come 
 to the surface and clamber alone to the wreck, and then saw 
 him plunge off into the waves, and thought he was gone ; 
 but in a moment he came back again, holding his boy. 
 Presently they struck another wave, and over they went; 
 and again they repeated the process. Again they went over, 
 
 our readers. We reproduce it, with Capt. Codman's own paragraph of com- 
 ment at the end : 
 
 " 1. And when they had concluded to ship us to Italy, they turned Paul 
 and the other prisoners over to a corporal of marines, named Julius. 
 
 " 2. And going on board of a ship belonging to Adramyttium we cast 
 off from the wharf and made all sail, keeping close in to the Asiatic shore. A 
 Macedonian gentleman by the name of Aristarchus was a cabin passenger. 
 
 11 3. Next day we touched at Sidon. Julius was very polite to Paul, and 
 gave him a day's liberty to go ashore and be treated by his friends. 
 
 " 4. We got under way again and beat up along the Cyprus shore with the 
 wind dead ahead. 
 
 " 5. We got a fair slant over the sea of Silicia and Pamphylia and then put 
 into Myra. 
 
 " 6. There the corporal found an Egyptian ship hailing from Alexandria, 
 bound to an Italian port, and he shifted us and our dunnage over to her. 
 
 " 7. She was a slow old tub, and after a long passage we just fetched 
 Cnidas, and as we could not weather Crete we ran down to leeward of it 
 till we made Salmone. 
 
 "8. Hauling up on a taut bowline so that we just passed to windward of 
 it, we ran into Pair Haven, not far from Lasea. 
 
 k< 9. Now, d'ye see, we had made a long voyage of it altogether, and as it 
 looked squally ahead and there were signs of bad weather, Paul called all 
 hands aft. and says he: 
 
 "10. 'Shipmates, this looks like a bad business; and if we keep on it 
 looks to me as if this ship and cargo will come to grief, and may be we'll lose 
 the number of our mess.' 
 
 "11. But the corporal thought that the skipper and the owner knew more 
 about these things than Paul. 
 
 11 12. And so, everv fellow having something to say about it, the majority 
 concluded that, as this was not a very comfortable place to winter in, they 
 had better heave up the anchor and sail for Phenice and winter there. That 
 
122 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEAfcT. 
 
 and Again the father rescued his son. By and by, as they 
 swung nearer the shore, they caught on a snag just out be- 
 yond where we could reach them, and for a little time the 
 waves went over them there till we saw the boy in the 
 father's arms, hanging down in helplessness, and knew they 
 
 is a Cretan port and has two channels, one to the northwest, and the other 
 to the southward and westward of it. 
 
 " 13. And so, when a light southerly breeze sprang up they got under 
 weigh and kept along the Cretan shore, 
 
 " 14. But soon the wind hauled round to the northward and blew great 
 guns. 
 
 " 15. As soon as the gale struck us and we found she would not lay up 
 to the wind, we up helm and scud her before it. 
 
 11 16. And getting under the lee of Clauda we had hard work to get the 
 boat we had been towing alongside. 
 
 "IT. But they finally hoisted her up to the davits and passed a belly- 
 lashing around the old ship to thrap her together. And then we got out of 
 shoal water, having clewed up and furled every thing, and let her run before 
 it under bare poles. 
 
 " 18. Coming on to blow harder, and a heavy sea on next day, they hove 
 overboard some of the cargo. 
 
 " 19. Next twenty-four hours coming in hard gales and sea increasing, 
 all hands and passengers turned to and hove overboard all the gear lying 
 about decks. 
 
 " 20. Weather so thick that we could not get a meridian altitude of the 
 sun, nor a lunar observation for several days. Gale still continuing, chances 
 look pretty bad. 
 
 "21. In the meantime Paul had not given any more advice, but now he 
 called the officers together on the poop and said : ' Well, gentlemen, you 
 had better have taken my advice and laid quietly at your anchor in Crete, 
 and then it would not have been a case of general average. 
 
 "22. ' Still, keep a stiff upper lip, and believe me now when I tell you 
 that whatever may happen to the ship, all hands will be saved. 
 
 " 23. 'For the angel of the Lord stood alongside of rny bunk to-night, 
 
 "24. 'And said, "Don't you be afraid. Tou are bound to get to Cesar, 
 and on your account the whole crew and all the passengers shall be taken 
 care of." 
 
 " 25. ( So. gentlemen, don't give up the ship yet, for I believe the Lord 
 will do as he said. 
 
 "26. ' However, there is no doubt but we shall finally lose the ship.' 
 
 "27. After knocking about in heavy gales for fourteen days, just about 
 
THKOUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 123 
 
 must be saved or soon be lost. I shall never forget the gaze 
 of that father. As we drew him from the devouring waves, 
 still clinging to his son, he said, ' That's my boy ! that's my 
 
 eight bells on the first watch the lookout on the forecastle thought the water 
 was shoaling. 
 
 11 28. So they hove the lead and got twenty fathoms. Next cast they 
 got fifteen. 
 
 " 29. Then to keep her from pounding on the rocks they let go four an- 
 chors over the stern, and held on for daylight. 
 
 " 30. Some of the crew thought it would be a good chance to desert when 
 they had the boat down in the water pretending to run out a stream and 
 kedge anchor forward. 
 
 "31. Paul told the corp ral and the marine guard that these lads must 
 come on board again, or else nobody would be saved. 
 
 "32. Then the marines cut the boat's painter and let her go adrift. 
 
 " 33. At daybreak Paul ordered the steward to serve out rations, for no- 
 body had eaten any thing for fourteen days. 
 
 11 34. ' So I advise you to attend to your mess, for nobody shall lose a 
 hair of his head.' 
 
 " 35. When he had said this he set the example, thanking the Lord, and 
 eating his own grub. 
 
 * 36. That made them all lively, and they made a hearty breakfast. 
 
 11 3*7. The whole muster-roll was 276 all told. 
 
 "38. And when they had knocked off breakfast they hove overboard the 
 rest of the cargo. 
 
 " 39. At daylight they could not make out the land, but a creek made up 
 inland which they thought might make a good harbor. 
 
 "40. And when they had hove up the anchors, they slacked up the rud- 
 der braces, let fall the mainsail, and run her head on to the land. 
 
 "41. But she got caught in an eddy that slewed her around so that her 
 bows got hard and fast aground, and her stern was knocked to pieces by 
 the sea. 
 
 " 42. The marines wanted to knock the prisoners in the head to keep them 
 from swimming ashore and escaping. 
 
 "43. But the corporal, out of regard to Paul, put a stopper on them, and 
 ordered all who could swim to strike out for the shore. 
 
 "44. And those who could not, got on to hen-coops, planks, and gangway 
 ladders. The long and short of it was that every body got ashore safe. 
 
 "As this is a purely historical narrative, lam sure that no one will ac- 
 euse me of an irreverent application of Scripture. Indeed, lam seriously 
 inclined to think that in a Bethel church my version would carry more con- 
 
124 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 boy ! ' and half frantic, as we dragged them up the bank, he 
 cried all the time, 4 That's my boy ! that's my boy ! ' And so 
 I have thought, in hours of darkness, when the billows roll 
 over me, the great Father is reaching down to me, and taking 
 hold of me, crying, ' That's my boy ! ' and I know I am safe." 
 
 viction of truth than that clothed in the old English style of men unac- 
 quainted with the language of the sea. 
 
 11 By reference to his G-reek Testament, the careful editor of the ' American 
 Coast Pilot ' will be forced to admit the general correctness of the trans- 
 lation. It is mainly because the old one has been the work of landsmen 
 that other seamen besides ' G-. W. B.' have ridiculed St. Paul's claim to sea- 
 manship. A careful study of the chapter will show, however, that, consid- 
 ering the lack of charts, compass, and ' Coast Pilots,' these ancient mari- 
 ners did as well as could be expected under the circumstances, and if they 
 had taken the advice of Paul they would have fared still better. By neg- 
 lecting it, in the first place, they lost their ship, but by finally obeying him 
 they saved their lives. The 29th verse is frequently seized upon like a bone 
 by nautical critics. Even Fenimore Cooper makes Captain Truck call the 
 maneuver there spoken of, 'lubberly.' I differ entirely with these com- 
 mentators. The ships of those days were the prototypes of some still in 
 use in the Levant — somewhat less handy in their rig, but much the same in 
 the build of their hulls, their stems and sterns being nearly alike. Their 
 anchors, like many still in use, were of wood, with heavy stones lashed to 
 their shanks and flukes. They could be dropped from the stern as well as 
 from the bows, as is still often done by these Mediterranean craft, and 
 thus they are brought up more exactly at their anchorage than they can 
 be by the process of rounding to. 
 
 il I think it quite sufficient in the present article to explain the meaning 
 of this text without adducing from others direct proof of the seamanship of 
 St. Paul, which may be derived from this chapter and others of the Acts." 
 
 ' One Sunday Father Taylor, the sailor preacher, attempted to give to his 
 S:iilor congregation an idea of redemption. He began with an eloquent de- 
 scription of a terrific storm at sea, rising to fury through all its gradations; 
 then, amid the waves, a vessel is seen laboring in distress, and driving on a 
 lee shore. The masts bend and break, and go overboard; the sails are 
 rent, the helm unshipped ; they spring a leak ; the vessel begins to fill, the 
 water gains on them ; she sinks deeper, deeper, deeper, deeper ! He bent 
 over the pulpit, repeating the last words again and again ; his voice became 
 low and hollow. The faces of the sailors, as they gazed up at him with 
 their mouths wide open and their eyes fixed, I shall never forget. Sud- 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 125 
 
 The Sea, 
 The Ship, 
 
 tt - o n. * 
 
 - The World. 
 
 - The Ohurch. 
 The Voyage, - Stormy. 
 
 BUT 
 
 The Lord is with us, we shall 
 
 reach the haven of rest. 
 
 -*-~o--*- 
 
 God's Army in the Air. 2 Kings vii, 12-20. 
 
 ENCAMPETH ROUND ABOUT 
 
 t=xD 
 
 CCS 
 
 c=> 
 
 CUD 
 OLD 
 
 GOD'S 
 
 AT 
 
 MAHANAIM, 
 JERICHO, 
 DOTHAN, 
 SAMARIA, 
 
 HOST 
 
 DEFENDED 
 
 JACOB. 
 JOSHUA. 
 ELISHA. 
 THE CITY. 
 
 CD 
 
 CO 
 
 
 [See Gen. xxxii, 2 ; Josh, v, 14 ; 2 Kings vi, 8-18 ; vii, 12-20.] 
 Jonah at Nineveh. Jonah iii, 1-10. 
 
 IF WE DO NOT REPENT 
 
 NINEVEH ( Shall rise Tip 
 ^ O U> O TVT } in judgment and 
 
 ov ^ ^ x 1 condemn 
 
 GOMOREAH ( 
 
 Because we sinned against 
 
 «iifii iiiei 
 
 denly stopping and looking to the farthest end of the chapel, as into space, 
 he exclaimed, with a piercing cry of exultation, " A life-boat ! a life-boat !" 
 Then looking down upon his congregation, most of whom had sprung to 
 their feet in an ecstasy of suspense, he said in a deep, impressive tone, and 
 extending his arms, " Ghrist is that life-boat!" 
 
126 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The Gospel as Preached by Paul. Acts xiii, 26-41. 
 
 Jesus 
 ascended « 
 to 
 
 r Prepare a place for 
 Send the Comforter to 
 
 His 
 
 I Pray to the Father for f people. 
 I Be a King over J 
 
 An 
 B 
 
 C 
 
 have sinned, 
 eh old the Lamb. 
 ome unto Me. 
 
 The A B C of salvation as Paul preached it and as Christ 
 gave it was, "All have sinned;" then "Behold the Lamb," 
 the bleeding substitute who takes the punishment of our 
 sins ; then come to Christ and be saved. The purpose of 
 Christ's ascension was to descend more fully and closely into 
 human hearts. As Macdonald expresses it in " David Elgin- 
 brod," " The Lord took himsel' frae the sicht o' them 'at lo'ed 
 him well that he might hide himseP in their verra hearts." 
 The following will illustrate the death of Christ for us: 
 
 More than three hundred years before the birth of Christ, according to 
 the fable, the ground in the middle of the Forum, in Rome, suddenly opened 
 to a great breadth and depth, it was supposed by the violence of an earth- 
 quake. As the earth continued to gape, making a chasm much too wide 
 and deep to be filled up, the Roman citizens became terrified, and rushed to 
 consult their Augurs, or prophets. 
 
 These Augurs returned the answer M that the chasm would never close 
 until that wherein the strength and power of the Roman people chiefly con- 
 sisted was flung into it." There was great consultation and much doubt as to 
 what this answer could mean, until at last a young man started forth from 
 among the people and demanded whether Rome possessed any thing more 
 valuable than a/rms and valor ? He then armed himself completely from 
 head to foot, and, mounting his horse, he spurred him on, and both horse and 
 rider leaped into the pit and were swallowed up in it. The story declares 
 that this act of self-devotion saved the city, for the ground immediately 
 closed up again as it had been before 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 127 
 
 INITIAL EXERCISES. 
 
 Elijah at the Brook Cherith. 1 Kings xvii, 1-16. 
 " Give ^^^ ROOK CHERITH FOR WATER. 
 
 us I Bread 
 
 this day I Brought by 
 our mJH 1RDS 
 
 DAILY BKEAD," | "^ARREL WITH A LITTLE MEAL, 
 the I l UT ENOUGH 
 
 heavenly 4 BECAUSE OF GOD'S 
 
 bread. Jha#LESSlNG. 
 
 [See also object illustration on " The Lily " in first section 
 of Appendix.] 
 
 A poor widow and her little child were sitting together in great want, 
 both feeling the pinches of hunger, and the child looked up into the mother's 
 face and said : 
 
 M Mother, God won't starve us, will he ? " 
 "No, my child," said the mother, "I do not think he will." 
 "But, mother," said the child, "if he does, we will still praise him as 
 long as we live ; won't we, mother ? " 
 
 God's care for us is so great that he has given his only Son to save us. 
 Illustrate this by the story of a hen who defended her chickens with 
 great courage from the attack of a hawk, but a moment after she had killed 
 the hawk she herself died of wounds and exhaustion. So Christ died to 
 save us. " All this God did for thee ; what hast thou done for him ?" Do 
 you praise him for his care by living a Christian life ? 
 
 Paul in Melita. Acts xxviii, 1-10. 
 
 AVED FROM 
 
 TRIFE OF FOES; 
 
 AVED FROM 
 
 TORM; 
 
 HOOK OFF THE 
 
 HAKE OFF EVIL HABITS. 
 AVED THROUGH CHRIST. 
 
 The power of Christ to keep us, as he did Paul, may be 
 illustrated with the following extract from Mr. Moody: 
 
 "In Psalm cxxi it is written, 'Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall 
 neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper.' If he is our keeper, 
 can any thing hurt us? Keep this in your hearts, that Christ is able to 
 
128 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 save you. He is not only able to light you upon the way, but he is able to 
 keep you from this night and from this hour, until he presents you before 
 the throne without spot and without blemish. Don't tell me he doesn't 
 have the power to keep you. He has. That is what Christ came into the 
 world for, to keep sinners. Some men have an idea when they get con- 
 verted that they have got to keep Christ and themselves too. It is all 
 wrong. I remember one time my little girl was teasing her mother to get 
 her a muff, so one day her mother brought a muff home, and, although 
 it was storming, she very naturally wanted to go out, in order to try her 
 new muff. So she tried to get me to go out with her. I went out with 
 her, and I said, ' Emma, better let me take your hand.' She wanted to 
 keep her hands in her muff, so she refused to take my hand. "Well, by 
 and by she came to an icy place, her little feet slipped, and down she went. 
 When I helped her up she said, 'Papa, you may give me your little finger.' 
 • No, my daughter, just take my hand.' 'No, no, papa; give me your little 
 finger.' Well, I gave my finger to her, and for a little way she got along 
 nicely, but pretty soon we came to another icy place, and again she fell. 
 This time she hurt herself a little, and she said, 'Papa, give me your 
 hand,' and I gave her my hand, and closed my fingers about her wrist, and 
 held her up, so that she could not fall. Just so God is our keeper. Is 
 there a man here who can't go by a saloon without wanting to go in ? Just 
 let him throw himself upon the Lord, saying, ' Lord, Jesus, keep me.' " 
 
 «+♦<•■ 
 
 WORD EXERCISES. 
 
 The Lamentation of Amos. Amos v, 1-15. 
 
 Not Bethel's idols. 
 
 Him (God) he will be FOUND of thee. 
 
 Ye me and ye shall LIVE. 
 
 Good and not evil. 
 
 And ye shall find. 
 
 HIM 
 
 that maketh " HE THAT 
 
 stars, 
 morning, SEEKETH 
 
 night, 
 
 waters, FINDETH." 
 
 strength. 
 
 In reviewing this lesson first write the warning of Amos, 
 iC Seek not Bethel's idols." Then the prophet's exhortation, 
 " Seek him that maketh," etc. Then the promise, " If thou 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 129 
 
 seek him," etc. The result is not only to find him but to 
 " live " in him, " Seeking good, not evil." Illustrate seeking 
 and finding Christ. 
 
 Paul at Athens. Acts xvii, 22-34. 
 An infidel was one day troubled in his mind as he sat in 
 his room alone, while his little Nellie was away at Sunday- 
 school. He had often said, " There is no God," but could 
 not satisfy himself with his skepticism, and at this time he 
 felt especially troubled as thoughts of the Sunday-school and 
 of the wonderful works of creation would push their way 
 into his mind. To quiet these troublesome thoughts he took 
 some large cards and printed on each of them, " God is no- 
 where" and hung them up in his study. [Print it on the black- 
 board,] 
 
 "GOD IS NOWHERE." 
 
 Nellie soon came home, and began to talk about God ; but 
 her father pointed her to one of the cards, and said, "Can you 
 read that?" She climbed a chair and began eagerly to spell 
 it out : " G-o-d, God, i-s, is, n-o-w, now, h-e-r-e, here ; God is 
 now here. Isn't that right, papa ? I know it is right — God 
 is now here" The man's heart was touched, and his infidel- 
 ity banished, by the faith of Nellie, and again the prophecy 
 was fulfilled, " A little child shall lead them." 
 
 Let the blackboard delineator then put a line under " now " 
 to make it a separate word and also to emphasize it, and then 
 teach the school from this motto and story that " God is not 
 far from every one of us " in all that we do and say and think. 
 
 O LORD, THOU ART 
 
 TO FORGIVE, 
 
 TO KEEP PROMISES, 
 
 TO GUIDE, ' 
 FOREVER, 
 
 NEAR 
 
 By the blood of Christ. 
 
 [See Rom. viii, 1 ; 2 Cor. i, 20 ; Heb. viii, 8 ; John xvi, 23.] 
 
 9 
 
130 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 A missionary visited a poor old woman living alone in a city attic, and 
 whose scanty pittance of half a crown a week was scarcely sufficient for 
 her bare subsistence. He observed in a broken tea-pot that stood at the 
 window a strawberry plant growing. He remarked from time to time how 
 it continued to grow, and with what care it was watched and tended. One 
 day he said, " Your plant flourishes nicely ; you will soon have strawberries 
 upon it." " 0, sir," replied the woman, " it is not for the sake of the fruit 
 that I prize it, but I am too poor to keep any living creature, and it is a 
 great comfort to me to have that living plant, for I know it can only live by 
 the power of God ; and as I see it live and grow from day to day, it tells 
 me that God is near." 
 
 Elijah at Horeb. 1 Kings xix, 8-19. 
 
 WHAT DOESTTHOU HERE? 
 
 IN PRAYER TO 
 
 INTO THE WORLD AS A YOICE FOR 
 
 TO ANOINT MEN KINGS UNTO 
 
 TO ROUSE OTHERS TO WORK FOR 
 
 CONFIDENTLY IN THE STRENGTH OF 
 
 GOD 
 
 Develop these five points in God's command to Elijah, 
 and then apply them to the class or school. The following 
 fragment from Mr. Moody will be appropriate as an illus- 
 tration : 
 
 11 Elijah had a mighty power with God. He could look up to heaven so 
 that it should not rain for three years and six months. He stood before Ahab 
 in the power of prayer. Undoubtedly he had read that God would withhold 
 rain if his people turned away from him, and he prayed that it might not rain. 
 Then it was his prayer that brought that cloud out of the sea that covered all 
 Palestine. Yet we find him under that juniper-tree with his head bowed 
 down like a bulrush, and he prayed, " Lord, take away my life, for I am 
 not better than my fathers." The Lord liked him too well to answer that 
 prayer. If that prayer had been answered we would not like to tell the story 
 to our own children. Was it not better that he should go to heaven in a char- 
 iot of fire? He prayed for death and didn't get it. He never tasted death. 
 God loved Elijah too well to answer that prayer." 
 
 There is room in the Church, and need, for all manner of workers. Open 
 your watch; your eye falls on jewels there. But the sparkling jewels can- 
 not say to the modest coil of steel beside them, "We have no need ot thee," 
 for that is the mainspring. And the mainspring cannot say to the tiniest 
 cog-wheel, "We have no need of thee," for without it the works stand 
 still. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 Gbhazi's Sin. 2 Kings v, 20-27. 
 
 131 
 
 riOVETOUSNESS 
 UORKUPTS THE SOUL. 
 
 IS IT A TIME TO 
 
 { 1 < c 
 
 IICiIjEiI V H s 
 
 MONEY 
 
 GARMENTS 
 
 OLIVEYARDS 
 
 VINEYARDS 
 
 SHEEP AND OXEN ft 
 
 ? 
 
 TRUTH BETTER THAN RICHES. 
 
 Bible illustrations of this same truth: "The Rich Fool," 
 with his "much goods laid up for many years;" Ananias 
 and Sapphira ; Demas, who " forsook " Christ, " having loved 
 this present world'" Achan and the wedge of gold; the 
 Gadarenes, who " besought Christ to depart out of their 
 coasts" because they loved the presence of a few swine 
 more than the presence of Jesus to save men ; the people of 
 Malachi's day, when the temple was lacking in its tithes and 
 offerings. This selfishness may also be strikingly presented 
 by telling the story of Peter "warming himself" when 
 Christ was being mocked and derided at the other end of 
 the hall. Then write: "HE STOOD BY THE FIRE 
 AND WARMED HIMSELF." 
 
 Review of Paul's Early Ministry. See Col. iii, 20. 
 
 WHAT AND HOW TO 
 
 WHATSOEVEE YE 
 
 1. Reproving sin. 
 
 2. Testifying for God. 
 8. Bearing persecution. 
 
 4. Helping the needy. 
 
 5. Observing ceremonies. 
 t>. Mission work. 
 
 7. Sinking sacred songs. 
 
 8. Studying the Bible. 
 !• Worshiping G-od. 
 
 10. Transacting heavenly business. 
 
 11. Seeking the Holy Ghost. 
 
 12. Opposing public evils. 
 
 13. Teaching God's truth. 
 
 ons, 
 ervants. 
 
 Heartily noT as S 
 
 As unto the Lord, 
 
 GOD-PLEASERS. 
 
 Not as unto men, 
 NOT MEN-PLEASERS. 
 
132 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 This plan for review is very simple, but with skillful ques- 
 tioning and illustration may be made very complete and in- 
 teresting. The superintendent says, u This quarter's lessons 
 tells us ' what and how to do.' (Write it.) First, let us find 
 what they tell us by example and precept to do." " What 
 is done in the first lesson?" The answer will be in sub- 
 stance, if not in words, "Reproving sin." (Write it.) " How 
 can we reprove and discountenance sin ? " " Various an- 
 swers given and the right ones emphasized, the others cor- 
 rected. " Now what was done in the second lesson ? " By 
 a similar development each point of the thirteen indicated is 
 brought out and written. When " What is to be done " has 
 been shown, then " How to do" is developed from the review 
 golden text, and "heartily," "as unto the Lord," etc., are 
 written and enforced. The thought of doing every thing 
 with a thought of God may be thus illustrated : 
 
 La Fontaine, chaplain in the Prussian army, once preached a very earnest 
 and eloquent sermon on the sin and folly of yielding to a hasty temper. 
 The next day he was accosted by a major of the regiment with the words: 
 
 "Well, sir, I think you made use of the prerogatives of your office to 
 give me some very sharp hints, yesterday." 
 
 "I certainly thought of you while I was preparing the sermon," was the 
 answer, " but I had no intention of being personal or sharp." 
 
 "Well, it is no use," said the major; "I have a hasty temper, and I can- 
 not help it, and I cannot control it. It is impossible." 
 
 And still adhering to this opinion, after some further conversation he 
 went his way. 
 
 The next Sabbath La Fontaine preached upon self-deception, and the vain 
 excuses which men are wont to make. 
 
 " Why," said he, "a man will declare that it is impossible to control his 
 temper, when ho very well knows that, were the same provocation to happen 
 in the presence of his sovereign, he not only could, but would, control him- 
 self entirely. And yet he dares to say that the continual presence of the 
 King of kings and Lord of lords imposes upon him neither restraint nor 
 fear!" 
 
 The next day his friend, the major, again accosted him. 
 
 " You were right yesterday, chaplain. Hereafter, when you see me in 
 danger of falling, 'REMIND ME OF THE KING.'" 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 133 
 
 Eltsha and Ahab. 1 Kings xviii, 5-18. 
 
 TROUBLE- 
 
 HE THAT m"n/"\TT"nT TT^TH ISRAEL 
 
 THE WICKED ARE LIKE A \-f I I I kf U D SEA. 
 
 THE LO^cD SHALL I I L \J U ±J Lj JJj THEE. 
 
 GOD BRINGS 
 
 TO SIN NOT PEACE, BUT A SWORD. 
 
 TRUTH TURNS THE 
 
 If ye were of the TT7 A T\ T TV 
 
 The 11/ I I I would love his own ; 
 
 But because ye are not of the 11/ I % 
 
 But God hath chosen you out of the III 11 
 
 Therefore the If \J JLL.UJL/ hatethyou. 
 
 Upside down. 
 "HE STIEEETH UP THE PEOPLE." 
 
 Results op Disobedience. 2 Kings xvii, 6-18. 
 
 "BECAUSE THEY OBEYED NOT 
 
 THE VOICE OF THE LORD;"— 
 
 JESUS CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE THAT 
 
 WHICH WAS 
 
 ADAM AND EYE f AM |W1 EDEN. 
 
 ANTEDILUVIANS If 1 III I LI ™. 
 
 ESAU I % BIRTHRIGHT. 
 
 ISRAEL % FREEDOM. 
 
 ALL ARE llUU 1 Without Christ. 
 
 MAY 
 
 BE 
 SAVED. 
 
 YOU 
 SAVED? 
 
 CHRIST IS SEEKING 
 
 YOU 
 
 ARE IUU SEEKING HIM? 
 
 Take three pieces of muslin or paper, one black, another blood-red, and 
 another white, and cut them into three leaves of equal size. Put them into 
 some small blank-book cover, and fasten them in so that the first leaf shall be 
 black, the next red, the next white. Use it in telling and applying this incident. 
 An old preacher was accustomed to walk often in his garden with a little 
 book in his hand. His friends wondered what there was about the book 
 that made it so interesting. They found it had but three leaves, and nothing 
 written or printed on either of them, yet his face changed from sadness to 
 joy as he turned it over. The first page was perfectly black, (show it,) the 
 next red, (show it,) the next white, (show it.) At length he told them its 
 
1 THE BIBLE. 
 
 134 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 meaning. The black represented the guilty and sorrowful days of his sin, 
 and no black was deep enough to picture it ; the red reminded him of the 
 cleansing blood, and the white, of his heart cleansed by the blood. Notice 
 especially that when you turn the second page the black is all under the red, 
 so when then the atonement is applied to our hearts " the past is all under 
 the bloods " Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as 
 snow." 
 
 This might be used also with Acts xvi, 22-34 ; xxvi, 
 6-20. 
 
 The Bible-keading Bereans. Acts xvii, 1-14. 
 
 SEARCH 
 UNDERSTAND 
 LOYE I 
 
 REJOICE IN I 
 
 MEDITATE UPON 
 LIYE UP TO J 
 
 IGoest — it shall lead 
 Sleepest — it shall keep } Thee. 
 
 Awakest — it shall talk with 
 
 Draw a large, open Bible, and on its two pages write the 
 words above. After impressing these points, draw a heart 
 aronnd the Bible to illustrate the importance of putting it 
 into the heart. 
 
 Tell the following story, with a Bible at hand to show at the appropriate 
 time. After the story explain how the Bible fulfills the dream. 
 
 Mary was sleeping. An angel came and laid under her hand a beautiful 
 book. Then he said softly, " This is the lamp to guide you in darkness, the 
 curtain to cover you from danger, the word of promise to keep you safely while 
 you sleep, and the sweet voice to talk to you when you are awake." Then 
 the angel kissed her, and sped away on his wings of light to his home be- 
 yond the stars. Mary awoke. It was only a dream, yet it seemed as if an 
 angel had really talked with her in her sleep; and ever since she has loved 
 (taking up the Bible) her precious Bible as the word of God more than ever 
 she loved it before, for the u beautiful book " which the angel laid under her 
 hand was the Bible, and it is indeed a "guide," a "curtain," a protector, 
 and a "sweet voice " to cheer us. 
 
 Read in connection with the blackboard exercise, John 
 v, 39; Luke xxiv, 45 ; Psa. cxix, 140; Jer. xv, 16; Psa. i, 2 ; 
 Josh, i, 8 ; Prov. vi, 20, 22. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEAET. 
 
 135 
 
 Paul Before Agrippa. Acts xxvi, 6-20. 
 GEIPPA believed with the head. 
 
 MAQT persuaded to bs a Christian. 
 LIVlUOl— BUT LOST. 
 RE YOU 
 
 LTOGETHEE 
 
 £t 
 
 I ^Jh/L 
 
 PERSUADED 
 
 that 
 
 NEITHER DEATH 
 OR LIFE 
 
 Shall be able to separate me from the love of God." 
 Believest thou? 
 
 This should be written and developed one line at a time, 
 until at the close of the exercise it has the appearance indi- 
 cated above. 
 
 -+♦** 
 
 PHRASE EXERCISES. 
 
 Paul at Jerusalem. Acts xxi, 27-39. 
 BAD MEN CRIED 
 
 ABEL, 
 
 D JOSEPH, 
 MOKDECAI, 
 DANIEL, 
 PAUL, 
 CHEIST, 
 
 rv 
 
 ngl 
 
 AM I SATING, 
 
 "Away with. Christ?" 
 
 OR, 
 
 "Away with. SinP" 
 
 Write at first only "Bad men cried, Away with the right- 
 eous." Write "Abel ' : as above, and give the story of Cain's 
 hatred. Then M Joseph " in the same way, and each name, 
 with the story of his persecution, down to Christ. Then 
 write the application, "Am I saying, Away with Christ? or, 
 Away with sin ? " 
 
136 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The Yoke Broken. Acts xv, 22-31. 
 WHEN 
 
 G-OD'S WILL 
 
 Forms and Ceremonies, 
 Heartless Rules. 
 Superficial Questions. 
 
 YOKE OF BONDAGE. 
 
 " Necessary Things f* 
 
 L0VE8&. 
 
 COD'S 
 
 2H3T BURDEN. 
 
 IS OUR 
 
 Law |1 
 
 WE ARE 
 
 But noble slaves. I God's free children. 
 
 The Shunammite's Son. 2 Kings iv, 25-37. 
 
 IS LIGHT. 
 
 IT IS 
 
 IS IT WELL 
 
 With the dead? 
 With the living? 
 With thee? 
 
 a ■ ■ ■ 
 
 Living or dying, you are the Lord's." 
 
 The following poems may appropriately be repeated with 
 this exercise as illustrations : 
 
 "Who plucked that flower? " said the gardener 
 As he passed through the garden. 
 His fellow-servant answered, " The Master," 
 And the gardener held his peace. 
 
 The baby wept : 
 The mother took it from the nurse's arms, 
 And soothed its griefs and stilled its vain alarms, 
 
 And baby slept. 
 
 Again it weeps ; 
 And God doth take it from the mother's arms, 
 From present pain and future unknown harms— 
 
 And baby sleeps. 
 
THROUGH THE EYJS TO THE HEABT. 137 
 
 Paul Sent to Macedonia. Acts xvi, 1-15. 
 
 II MM 
 
 CHEIST C a + WnrA PA ^L 1 IT ART AT hAAH To Macedonia. 
 
 I HAVE oCl U THEE \\\ J 1 1 1 L I\l 1 1 1 1 1 I U To Christian work. 
 
 HAVE Mi uuiuiu THEE 
 YDIA 
 HAVE I 
 
 LYDIA Set before Christ 
 
 To S^ heart ? 
 
 "My son, give me thine heart." 
 
 "Not yet," said the little boy as he was busy with his trap and ball; 
 " when I grow older I will think about it." 
 
 The little boy grew to be a young man. 
 
 "Not yet," said the young man; "I am now about to enter into trade; 
 when I see my business prosper, then I shall have more time than now." 
 
 Business did prosper. 
 
 " Not yet," said the man of business; "my children must now have my 
 care; when they are settled in life I shall be better able to attend to re- 
 ligion." 
 
 He lived to be a gray-headed old man. 
 
 " Not yet," still he cried ; " I shall soon retire from trade, and then I shall 
 have nothing else to do but to read and pray." 
 
 And so he died. 
 
 *~* 
 
 ACROSTIC EXERCISES. 
 
 The Sin of Jeroboam. 1 Kings xii, 25-33. 
 
 "Behold your gods!" 
 
 CoVETOUSNESS, 
 
 _a.ppetite, 
 Love of fame, 
 Vices, 
 
 Earthly wealth, 
 Sinful pleasures. 
 
 First print upon the board only the acrostic letters <4 C, 
 A, L, Y, E, S," and then write above them Jeroboam's words, 
 " Behold your gods ! " Show the folly of calf-worship and 
 all idolatry. Then ask what idols are worshiped in Chris- 
 tian lands to-day, and in substance the answer will doubtless 
 
138 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 be, * covetousness," " appetite," etc., as above. Let each be 
 written down and illustrated, and the folly and wickedness 
 of worshiping these in place of God duly enforced. 
 
 The Gospel at Antioch. Acts xiii, 26-41. 
 
 UOD DELIVERED ISRAEL. 
 Led HIS PEOPLE TO CANAAN. 
 
 Aided them to conquer and keep it. 
 
 JJavid was given as their leader. 
 
 JL he promise of Christ 
 
 J-ii his condemnation, prophecy 
 
 D e«ve ri n g hi mto J prophecy > F U 1 H J 1 G (1 * 
 
 JLn his burial, prophecy 
 
 li o less in his resurrection, prophecy 
 
 VJod justifies and forgives all who believe in Christ. 
 
 Oave me, Jesus, save me now. 
 
 The prophecies fulfilled are in order, Psa. cxxxii, 11 ; Isa. 
 liii, 5 ; liii, 8 ; liii, 9 ; Psa. xvi, 10. 
 
 The following acrostic is also appropriate to the lesson : 
 
 "Ci Promised 
 
 j: all of Redeemer 
 
 Adam ° f 
 
 Man 
 
 Lost Invites 
 
 T Sinners to 
 
 J-JIFE ETERNAL. ENTER INTO 
 
 THE PARADISE OF GOD. 
 
THROUGH THE EVE TO THE HEART. 
 
 139 
 
 Promise op Revival. Hosea xiv, 1-9. 
 
 RETURNING TO GOD, AND \ 
 
 ECONSEORATION. 
 
 xLarnest prater. > Conditions. 
 
 Vain idols abandoned. J 
 
 Infinite healing and love. 
 Vine-like growth in christ. v 
 
 A >Results, 
 
 A. LILY'S BEAUTY. 
 -LEBANON'S STRENGTH. 
 
 insr zmzie is TiEarsr help: 
 
 Power op the Word. Acts xix, 17-28. 
 
 PUT OFF 
 
 Slothfulness, 
 
 Intemperance, 
 
 No HAPPINESS, 
 
 Fear op man, 
 Uncleanness, 
 Love op money, 
 IV o PEACE, 
 Envy and hatred, 
 Speaking evil, 
 Self, 
 
 Rom. 
 
 xii, 
 
 11 
 
 
 Luke xxi, 
 
 34. 
 
 Psa. xlii, 
 
 11. 
 
 Gen 
 
 . x^ 
 
 ,lf 
 
 Gal 
 
 •▼» 
 
 19. 
 
 Heb. 
 
 xiii 
 
 ,5. 
 
 Gen. 
 
 xii 
 
 ,8 
 
 
 Lev. : 
 
 rix, 
 
 IS 
 
 . 
 
 Eph. 
 
 iv, 
 
 29. 
 
 Matt, xvi, 
 
 24 
 
 
 PUT ON 
 
 Repentance, Luke v, 20 
 
 Indwelling Christ, 
 
 GrOOD COMPANY, 
 
 Humility, 
 
 Temperance, 
 
 Earnestness, 
 
 Offerings, 
 
 Usefulness, 
 
 Sincerity, 
 
 New love, 
 
 Gal. ii, 20. 
 Psa. cxix, 63. 
 
 1 Pet. v, 5. 
 
 2 Pet. i, 6. 
 2 Pet. iii, 14. 
 1 Cor. xvi, 2. 
 
 Mic. vi, 8. 
 
 Eph. iv, 24. 
 
 John xv, 12. 
 
 Efforts for others, John i, 40, 41. 
 Spirit of God, Acts ii, 3. 
 
 Saviour's likeness, j g^f Ii** 
 
 In illustrating temperance use the following: 
 
 Take such a jug as is ordinarily used for strong drink, and break the bot- 
 tom out; then use it with this story: Dr. Tyng met an emigrant family 
 going West. On one of the wagons there hung a jug with the bottom 
 knocked out. ""What is that?" asked the doctor. "Why, it is my Taylor 
 jug," said the man. "And what is a Taylor jug? " asked the doctor again. 
 " 1 had a son in General Taylor's army in Mexico, and the general always 
 told him to carry his whisky jug with a hole in the bottom, and that's it. 
 It is the best invention I ever met with for hard drinkers." 
 
140 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 "Search the Scriptures." John v, 39; Acts xvii, 11 
 
 SEARCH the I Psa. cxix, 24; John v, 39; 
 CRIPTURES j 1 John ii, 12, 13. 
 
 JuARNESTLY, Josh, i, 8; Psa. cxix, 18. 
 
 Anxiously, John xx, 31 ; Psa. cxix, 9. 
 
 IbEGULARLY, Acts xvii, 11; Psa. i, 2. 
 
 Uarbi 
 
 (JMBLY. Luke xxiv, 45; James 1, 22. 
 
 AREFULLY Luke xxiv, 27: 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17 
 
 Hi 
 
 "How Shall I Work?" 
 
 L ooking to Jesus. 
 O rderly. 
 
 V aliantly. 
 I n hope. 
 
 N ever doubting. 
 
 G lorifying God. 
 
 L iving near the Cross. 
 
 Y ielding all to Christ. J. B. Phippe. 
 
 Giving to God. 
 
 1. HOW 
 
 1 
 
 re G ularly, 
 will I ngly, 
 de Voutly, 
 lib B rally, 
 
 UNTO THE 
 
 2. WHY 
 
 Ij oves the giver, 
 O rdains the possession, 
 R e wards the act, 
 D emands the duty. 
 
 & S. Times 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 141 
 
 PARALLEL AND CONTRAST EXERCISES. 
 
 Paul Encouraged by Christ. Acts xxiii, 11. 
 
 WHEN 
 
 Paul 
 was 
 
 I 
 
 am 
 
 in trouble and 
 in duty. 
 
 "THE LORD 
 
 will 
 
 stood 
 
 by 
 him." 
 
 stand 
 
 by 
 
 me. 
 
 SAYING, 
 
 "Be of good 
 
 cheer." 
 
 "Testify of 
 
 me/ 
 
 JLet not your heart be troubled: 
 
 YE BELIEVE. 
 
 First develop and write, " When Paul was in trouble and 
 in duty, the Lord stood by him, saying, 'Be of good cheer,' 
 etc." After describing the scene in the experience of Paul, 
 write and apply the thought, " When I am in trouble and in 
 duty the Lord will stand by me, saying, c Be of good cheer, 5 
 etc." The following words of Mr. Moody will illustrate this 
 exercise : 
 
 " I tell you when I read the life of Paul it makes me ashamed of the 
 Christians of to-day. Look at what he has done ; see how he has suffered. 
 Four times was he beaten ; forty stripes save one received he on his bare back. 
 If we should get one stripe what a time there would be — what books writ- 
 ten about it — yet with Paul it was a common thing to be beaten. What 
 would be Paul's answer to those who should say to him, ' You have suf- 
 ered a good deal ; you have been beaten four times before, and now they 
 are going to strip your back bare. What are you going to do? Why don't 
 you go to some safe place until this thing blows over?' What does he 
 say ? 'I do this one thing— I press toward the mark for the prize of the 
 high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' He never complained. The devil 
 got his match when he got hold of Paul. Why, neither angels, nor princi- 
 palities, nor powers, were able to separate him from God. Yery few you 
 will find who are working for him to-day ; very few are striving for a 
 crown. They are taking the name, but leaving the work for others. Once 
 Paul was stoned, and left with his head all bruised — left for dead; but he 
 leaps in the race-course again, and I think I can see him as he goes on 
 
142 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEaRT. 
 
 preaching the word with his head all bruised. Then he went to Corinth, 
 and for eighteen months he preached the word, without price and without gain, 
 and after he had labored among the Corinthians for a time, how did they 
 pay him ? Why, they gave him thirty-one stripes. One man like Paul of 
 Tarsus is worth more than all the mighty men of the world. You may 
 talk of Alexander making the world tremble ; of Napoleon, who gained so 
 many victories ; but the little tent-maker of Tarsus did more than they 
 ever did. He had got his treasure in heaven ; he had laid his treasure up 
 yonder. Three times was he beaten with rods ; once was he stoned — ' in 
 perils of waters, in perils of robbers, and in perils by mine own countrymen ' 
 — yet none of these things turned him from serving the Lord G-od. "Would 
 to ij£d the Church people were as earnest in their work as he was, and cared 
 as lSle for worldly reward as he did. But the people of to-day are always 
 looking to see what the newspapers say when they do a good thing. The 
 world didn't think much of Paul. His name was cast about from town to 
 town. Yet he said he counted every thing done as done for Christ. And then 
 we find that the governor of Damascus wanted to apprehend him, and how 
 some of his friends let him down in a basket through a window in the wall. 
 Look at him as he comes down in that basket, and away he goes with 
 the glad tidings. You can't stop him. That is the spirit we want to take 
 in our workings for God. Let nothing daunt us, but in all things — under 
 all circumstances — stand up boldly for him. Then he goes over into Phil- 
 ippi and gets into prison. Ah, how much we would have murmured at that ; 
 and I can imagine it was the time for worship, and after they had prayed, God 
 responded to his amen, and the prison shook, and their bonds were loos- 
 ened. 0, my friends, praise God in the prison as well as out of it. Praise 
 the Lord at all times. Paul rejoiced in persecutions. He was glad to do so. 
 Look at him in Rome. There he was to be beheaded. His head was to be 
 laid upon the guillotine and to be taken off. Go ask him if he is sorry for 
 what he has done for the Son of God. Hear what he wrote to his friends : 
 'I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ 
 Jesus.' 
 
 " ' Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father 
 of mercies, and the God of all comfort ; who comforteth us in all our tribu- 
 lation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by 
 the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the 
 sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth in 
 Christ.' 
 
 " ' Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which 
 hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope 
 through grace, comfort your hearts and stablish you in every good word 
 and work.' " 
 
THKOUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 143 
 
 Elijah Translated. 
 
 GOD TOOK 
 ELIJAH I CHRIST 
 in a chariot of 
 FIRE, I CLOUD, 
 But left 
 Double portion of his spirit I Power of Holy Spirit 
 tliat his work might 
 be continued by 
 ELISHA. I US. 
 
 HAVE I RECEIVED CHRIST'S SPIRIT-MANTLE? 
 [See also object illustration of " The Watch," and " The 
 Living Water," in first section of Appendix.] 
 
 Elijah and the Prophets op Baal. 1 Kings xviii, 19-29. 
 
 "choose ye." 
 
 if 
 
 THE LOED 
 
 W 
 o 
 
 The Baal 
 
 of 
 
 Fame, 
 
 Wealth, 
 
 Pleasure, 
 
 Be GOD, 
 
 BE 
 
 GOD, 
 
 CTD 
 
 FOLLOW HIM. 
 
 Archimedes was so intent upon drawing his mathematical schemes, that, 
 though all the city was in alarm, the enemy having taken it by storm, and 
 the streets being filled with dead bodies, the soldiers came into his particular 
 house, nay, entered his very study, and plucked him by the sleeve, before 
 he took any notice of it. Even so, many men's hearts are immersed 
 and drowned in earthly cares, thoughts, projects, or pleasures, that death 
 must come to their very houses, yea, and pull them by the sleeve, and tell 
 them its errand, before they will begin to awake and come to a serious 
 consideration of tilings more important. 
 
144 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 Elijah and His Sacrifice. 1 Kings xviii, 36-46. 
 
 In a village near the sea-coast in the south of England there 
 lived, a year or two ago, an old man, by trade a shoemaker. 
 I often looked in upon him as he sat at his stall, making or 
 mending shoes, and had many interesting conversations re- 
 specting the state of his soul, but generally came away dis- 
 heartened and sad, for he was built up in self-righteousness. 
 One day, after a long conversation with him, I perceived 
 that all I said was of no use, and, pausing for a moment, 
 lifted up my heart in prayer to God that he would help me 
 to set forth the truth so as to strike upon the conscience of 
 this poor, perishing sinner. With my cane I slowly drew a 
 line on the sand of the cottage floor, and, looking up, said, 
 " Do you see that line ? " He had watched my action, won- 
 dering what I was about, and answered, " Yes, sir." " Well, 
 then, mark me, said I: 
 " On this side of that line is : On the other side is : 
 
 DEATH, 
 
 LOST, 
 
 HELL, 
 
 DARKNESS, 
 
 DAMNATION, 
 
 MISERY, 
 
 SATAN, 
 
 LIFE, 
 
 SAVED, 
 
 HEAVEN, 
 
 LIGHT, 
 
 SALVATION, 
 
 HAPPINESS, 
 
 GOD. 
 
 On Which Side Are Yott ? " 
 
 I paused, perceiving that I had at length caught his atten- 
 tion. His fixed look and earnest, solemnized manner proved 
 that he understood and felt what I had been saying ; and on 
 my repeating still more strongly, " Ox Which Side Are 
 Yon ? " he slowly replied, " On the Lost Side." " I am not 
 sorry to hear you say so," I continued. u These are the first 
 words of truth concerning yourself that I have heard you 
 utter; and as you are on the lost side, there is only one 
 other side on which you can be, and that is the saved. Al- 
 together lost now, you may be at once and forever saved by 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 145 
 
 believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. To believe in Jesus is 
 to step across the line at once : or rather, the lost sinner that 
 trusts in the Lamb of God is translated by himself out of the 
 power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son. No 
 effort of yours — no works, no good resolutions, no good 
 prayers — can translate you from fitness for hell to fitness for 
 heaven. Christ alone can do that, and when with earnest 
 cry we ask him he will not refuse. His words are, a Him 
 that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out." The old 
 shoemaker found this true by blessed experience, and now 
 he has gone to be forever with the Lord. On which side of 
 the line are you f 
 
 Paul's Account of His Conversion. Acts xxvi, 21-29, 
 ARE YOU 
 
 DISOBEDIENT TO THE HEAVENLY VISION? 
 
 PAUL HAD I WE HAVE 
 
 11 LIGHT ABOVE THE BEIGHTNESS OF THE SUN." 
 
 PAUL HEARD 
 
 An Audible Voice 
 
 from Heaven. 
 
 How shall we escape, if— 
 
 [See object illustrations " The Photograph," and " Re- 
 newed in Christ," in first section of Appendix.] 
 
 WE HEAR 
 
 THE BIBLE'S 
 THE CHURCH'S 
 THE HOLY SPIRIT'S 
 
 Paul at Ltstba. Acts xiv, 8-26. 
 
 GOD 
 
 created man 
 
 "A little less than DIVINE:" 
 
 recreated man as 
 
 "SONS OF GOD." 
 
 WE SHALL BE 
 
 LIKE CHRIST. 
 
 THE DEVIL 
 
 promised, 
 
 "YE SHALL BE AS GODS." 
 
 FULFILLMENTS. 
 
 1. Adam and Eve hiding in bushes. 
 
 2. Proud Babel builders scattered. 
 
 3. Proud Nebuchadnezzar eating 
 
 grass. 
 
 4. Pope stripped of power. 
 
 5. A haughty spirit falling. 
 
 WHOSE PROMISES WILL YOU ACCEPT? 
 10 
 
146 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 Turning to the Gentiles. Acts xiii, 42-52. 
 
 SOME 
 
 Gathered to hear. 
 Continued in grace of God. 
 Were glad and glorified God. 
 Tilled with the Holy Ghost. 
 Believe and receive 
 Eternal life. 
 
 OTHERS 
 
 Spake against these things. 
 Contradicting and blaspheming. 
 Were rilled with envy. 
 Stirred np hatred 
 Expelled the apostles. 
 " Judge yourselves unworthy of 
 everlasting life." 
 
 THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION: 
 Whom shall I fear? 
 
 Paul's Four Crowns. 2 Tim. iv, 1-18. 
 
 OF LIFE. Rev. ii, 10. 
 OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 2 Tim. iv, 8. 
 OF REJOICING. 1 Thes. ii, 9. 
 OF GLORY. 1 Pet. v, 4. 
 
 TWO CERTAINTIES. 
 
 Sin when it is 
 .FINISHED 
 
 Bringeth forth. 
 DEATH. 
 
 (James i, 15.) 
 
 Be E»ithful 
 XJ N T O DEATH 
 
 And I will give thee a 
 CRCTvVN OE LIFE. 
 (Rev. ii, 10.) 
 
 DEATH OR LIFE-WHICH? 
 
 -♦•♦- 
 
 OVER-CHALKING EXERCISES. 
 
 Gehazi's Mistake. 2 Kings v, 20-27. 
 
 I SHALL BE SATISFIED 
 
 I A Im/I famous, 
 
 h\ fl POWERFUL, 
 j 11 -"-■- AT REST, 
 
 11 \ If L A MILLION, 
 
 I Mil en 
 
 Cancel "Am rich, famous, powerful, at rest," with " Awake 
 in his likeness." Cancel the four words after "Have " with 
 
 WHEN I 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 147 
 
 "Christ." Then write just beside u Satisfied " on the left, 
 " It," and on the right, " My longings as nothing else could 
 do," so that the prominent passages before the eyes at the 
 close shall be, " I shall be satisfied when I have Christ, and 
 when I awake in his likeness," and also, " It satisfied my 
 longings as nothing else could do." Then, for the benefit of 
 the young, add at one side, "Satisfy us early with thy 
 mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." 
 
 The Shunammite's Son. 2 Kings iv, 25-37. 
 
 Place the two names Gehazi and Elisha in contrast. 
 Write what Gehazi did, and show the cold, dead, formal serv- 
 ice. Then the result, write over all in bold, heavy letters, 
 Failure. Next, JSlisha, his conduct and manner, and the 
 result, Success. Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. 
 
 Gehazi, the Leper. 2 Kings v, 20-27. 
 
 Print the word GOD, putting the letters a short space 
 from each other. Between and D put L, making " GOLD," 
 which Gehazi worshiped in place of God. The root of this 
 
148 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 idolatry is greed. Put REE over OL, making GREED. 
 The result of GehazPs sin, as of every sin, is grief. Put I 
 in place of the first E, making GRIEF. Each point should, 
 of course, be developed by questions, illustrated also, and 
 then adapted to the school or class. Rev. J. H. Vincent. 
 
 Naaman, the Leper. 2 Kings v, 1-14. 
 
 
 MpIiljS 
 
 
 C °Z^ 
 
 "' -' >^" : ' j *' 
 
 ^M 2 
 
 Co>YsV.O.O 
 
 pT V > 
 
 
 / D ect 
 
 / 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 15^ 
 
 XJjjiilSf <^I 
 
 SII 
 
 
 mm§mmm 
 
 Djlll^ul 
 
 
 p^Wrmli|ii 
 
 tarn 
 
 1. Concerning Naaman: show four desirable facts about 
 him. Then, covering all, write LEPER. 
 
 2. Concerning Leprosy: show six characteristics of this 
 disease. Then over the word Leprosy write SIN, and show 
 some characteristics of that disease. 
 
 3. Concerning the Cleansing: Show what it required. 
 Then over the word Cleansing write SALVATION, an 
 make the application. Rev. J. L. Hurlbut 
 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 149 
 
 WORD-SYMBOL EXEROISE. 
 
 The Apostle's Cross, 
 infirm- 
 
 ITIES, 
 DISTR- 
 ESSES, 
 
 PERSECUTIONS, 
 
 REPRO- 
 ACHES, 
 NECES- 
 SITIES, 
 F O K 
 
 CHRIST'S 
 SAKE. 
 
 The apostle says : " God forbid that I should glory save in 
 
 the cross," and also, "I glory in infirmities, . . . for Christ's 
 
 sake." 
 
 The Easter Cross. 
 
 HE IS 
 NOT 
 HERE. „ 
 
 EASTER MORNING. 
 
 HE IS 
 
 RISEN 
 AS HE 
 SAID. 
 
 MY LORD 
 AND MY GOD. 
 
 W. H. Sutton, of Jersey City, used an acrostic cross at a 
 convention in that State. He said : "I want to give you six 
 reasons why Christ is the BEST FRIEND." 
 
 He illustrated this in the usual manner of blackboard 
 representation — 
 
 The Best 
 
 F 
 
 R 
 I 
 E 
 
 K 
 D 
 
150 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 He told appropriate stories to fill out these different capital 
 letters. The first, expressing the conclusion that he was a 
 faithful friend ; the second, that he was our Rescuer, our 
 Redeemer ; the third, our Intercessor ; the fourth, our ever- 
 lasting friend , the fifth, he is always near us ; the sixth, he 
 died for us. 
 
 "Now, scholars, you can carry these conclusions in your 
 mind. If I had not a blackboard I would take some other 
 method : I might take my fingers, so that the illustration 
 would come with a word on each finger. Dividing the sub- 
 ject in this way will help our scholars to carry home with them 
 the thought that HP] IS OUR BEST FRIEND." 
 
 The Life of Christ. 
 
 ■ &• 
 
 JSLORY 
 
 DYING. 
 
 SUFFERING. 
 CLAIMING TO BE DIVINE. 
 SAVING A PUBLICAN. 
 
 TEACHING. 
 
 WORKING. 
 
 CLEANSING. 
 
 CONQUERING. 
 
 APPROVED. 
 
 QUESTIONED. 
 
 WELCOMED. Rev. S. M'Gerald. 
 
 This cross was used for a review of the life of Christ, hut 
 may also be used to illustrate the thought that not that dark 
 Friday alone, but the whole I'fe of Christ, was a crucifixion. 
 At Bethlehem he nailed himself to the cross of a human life. 
 Every tear shed over Jerusalem and at the grave of Lazarus 
 was a drop of blood from one who was being crucified ; every 
 sigh and groan came from a heart pierced with a terrible 
 spear. 
 
 The two expressions, " Christ's sufferings " and u Our salva- 
 tion," may be made into a cross, the "S" being at the center. 
 
THHOUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 151 
 
 Use the following with Paul's Shipwreck, Acts xxvii, 
 33-44. 
 
 
 we' O 
 
 ONYfiMSiN 
 
 AN ^ 
 
 HIM 
 
 PURIFIETH"^ HIMSELF 
 
 Illustrations from incidents of sea-life will be appropriate, 
 and songs about sailing on the sea of life — " Clinging to the 
 Rock," "Land Ahead," "Homeward Bound," etc. In the 
 midst of a storm at sea, when the vessel was expected to go 
 
152 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 down in a few moments, a sailor came up to a man who 
 seemed very calm, and said, "Are you not afraid? the anchor 
 has given way." " But," said the other, " I have an anchor 
 to the soul, sure and steadfast." 
 
 The four word-symbol exercises following — The Christian 
 Heart, The Shield of Faith, The Prize of Our High Calling, 
 and The Key of Promise — are all by Rev. R. L. Bruce, of 
 Stoneham, Mass. They are so clear in their meaning that 
 they hardly need any explanation, but will repay a careful 
 study with many fruitful suggestions. 
 
 "Love is the Fulfilling of the Law." Rem. xiii, 8-14 
 
 -rHoUSH/VLILOVEtrtEWKU HTGob, 
 
 >TTTTTTT TTT TTTINE HEAR\ 
 
 VSOUL 
 
 STRENGTH 
 
 iiiiuiimiilLLllilMiND 
 
 hUD THQU SHALT 
 UNtTHY ^EIGtjBOR 
 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 153 
 
 The Shield of Faith. 
 
 [See 2 Tim. iv, 1.] 
 
154 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 " Let no Man take thy Crown." 
 
 muJM 
 
 TO RIGHTEOUS 
 AESS SHALL 
 MINI AS AW^ 
 
 ySTffRS FOR EVER 
 
 AND 
 Wf ■ 
 
 see: 
 
 THAT 
 "* NO 
 ■\VSf MAN THOU 
 
 sHML.r Tfl b Ef Mlt 
 
 iWK 10R\) I 
 
 ^CEFORTH THERE IStf/DUp £J 
 M W.Xl FAITH FUL UNTO Df "**&$ 
 
 :eacr( 
 
 ■ I 
 
 Reprize of our high callirf 
 
 [See 2 Tim. iv, 8.] 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 155 
 
 The Ret of Promise. 
 
 [See Acts xxvi, 21-29.] 
 
156 
 
 Through the eye to the heakt. 
 
 OUTLINE EXERCISES. 
 
 Jesus, King of Kings.* 
 
 Q ^ ^ 
 
 Where will Jesus be King forever ? In heaven. Yes, and 
 on earth, too. Let the teacher show pictures of the tive 
 races of men, and name each one ; tell that each will call 
 Jesus King. Develop the above characteristics of the King. 
 
 Love Fulfills the Law. 
 
 lo 
 
 VE 
 
 How many Commandments did God give to the Israelites 
 by Moses? Into what one word did Jesus put .them all? 
 (Let the teacher curve the two outside lines and make a heart.) 
 
 God wrote Ten Commandments on stone tables; but where 
 does he write this commandment to love? On the fleshy 
 tablets of the heart. 
 
 Let each child be given a piece of paper with the word 
 Law written in large letters on the one side, and on the 
 other side Obey your parents. 
 
 Obey the laws of your country. 
 Obey God's voice. 
 
 The Widow's Oil Increased. 2 Kings iv, 1-15. 
 Point. Only through grace given us by God can we live 
 righteously. 
 * The exercises on this and four following pages are by Mrs. W. F. Crafts. 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 157 
 
 Synthetic Steps Developing the Point. 
 
 1. By Elisha's help the widow satisfied her creditor. 
 
 2. Through the gift of the Spirit we are enabled to please 
 God. 
 
 Method in Detail. 
 
 First Step. What name do we give to a woman whose hus- 
 band has died ? The Bible tells us of a widow who owed 
 some money to a man. She was poor. Could she pay the 
 debt ? Because she had no money to give the man he said, " I 
 will take your two sons and they shall be my slaves." That 
 poor widow went to Elisha, a man whom God had made very 
 wise, and she told him all her trouble. I will read to you 
 from the Bible what Elisha and the widow said to each other. 
 (2 Kings iv, 2.) What one thing had she that she might sell 
 and get money? Could she have gotten enough money in 
 that way to pay her debt ? No, rna'am. God helped Elisha 
 to make a way for the widow to pay her debt ! You may all 
 think a moment how it was done, but I shall not ask you to 
 tell me. Now I will tell you. Elisha told the widow to go 
 to her neighbors and borrow many empty cups and jugs, to 
 set them in her house, to take her little pot of oil, and to pour 
 the oil from it into the many jars. (Let the teacher take in 
 her hand a small vessel of water and place several empty jars 
 in sight, saying, We will try to do as the poor widow did, 
 that is, to fill these many empty jars with what is in the little 
 cup ; but I will use water instead of oil. Teacher pours the 
 contents of the cup into one jar which is not then filled. 
 Children led to observe this. How could doing so help the 
 poor widow ? (Children speculate.) Would it not be very 
 strange if, as fast as I should pour water out of this cup more 
 should come in, itself, until there would be enough to fill all 
 of these empty jars ? 
 
 The widow did as Elisha had told her, and began to pour 
 the oil from the little pot, and the oil kept coming and coming 
 
158 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 until the jars were full ! How would this oil help the widow 
 to pay her debt? She could sell it. Who of you would like 
 to hear me read the story of the widow from the Bible? 
 (This is desirable if there is time. Put the objects out of 
 sight.) 
 
 Second Step. What does God do for you ? " He gives us 
 breath all the time, fruit to eat, bright flowers to see. He 
 makes things grow so that we may have things to eat and 
 clothes to wear." I think of something greater than these. 
 He has given his dear Son to die for us, so that we can go to 
 heaven. We all owe God a great debt of love. God does 
 not ask us to pay him, but what kind of acts does he want us 
 to give him ? Loving right acts. Listen, each child, if what 
 I tell you is true. Some time you have promised yourself 
 and mamma that all through the day you would not do a 
 naughty act. For an hour or so you did very nicely, then you 
 seemed to lose your good spirit and did wrong. All who 
 thiuk this is true may raise their hands. I think you are 
 somewhat like the widow. She did not have oil enough of 
 her own to fill the jugs, and you have not enough good spirit 
 to fill all the days with loving right acts for God. Let the 
 teacher now draw on the blackboard seven little jugs and say, 
 Here is a little jug for each day in the week ; let us place the 
 letters for each day under them. (See chart.) Now I will 
 
 draw a picture of the heart 
 from which we are to fill each 
 day, (pointing to jugs,) full 
 of loving right acts for God. 
 (See chart.) Could the wid- 
 S M T W T F S ow fill all of the empty jugs 
 with only the oil she had put into her little pot ? Neither can 
 we, dear ones, fill all our days with the little good spirit we may 
 put into our hearts. But if we pray to God he will give us 
 more and more of the Holy Spirit until we shall be able to fill 
 all our days with loving right acts. I will read you what God 
 has promised about this. (Teacher, read Matt, v, 6, from 
 
 \F 
 
 OQOOOdi 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 159 
 
 the Bible ; print same on blackboard. Children, read it in 
 concert.) 
 
 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 
 righteousness, for they shall be filled. 
 
 The Waters Healed. 2 Kings ii, 19-25. 
 
 Golden Text: John iii, 16. 
 
 Point To teach that although Jesus came to give life to 
 all, he may be made the " savor of death unto death." 
 
 Synthetic Steps Developing the Point. 
 
 1. According to our own acts a blessing will yield either 
 joy or pain. 
 
 2. Elisha was the cause of life to some but death to others. 
 
 3. Unbelief in Jesus, who came to give life, will yield death. 
 
 Method in Detail. 
 
 First Step. (Let the teacher show some object intended to 
 bring comfort or pleasure which through abuse was made to 
 yield pain : For instance) : Here is a little saw ; it belongs t > 
 a set of tools which I gave to a dear little boy, thinking he 
 would be made very happy, but in a short time he had cut his 
 finger with the saw, which caused him pain. Did the saw- 
 make the boy sad or glad ? Was it the fault of the saw that 
 it did not make him happy ? What was the trouble ? He did 
 not use the saw right. Can you remember something given to 
 you to bring you pleasure which only gave you trouble, be- 
 cause you did not use it right ? (Permit a few replies. Print 
 on the blackboard the first two sentences of the chart, and ask 
 the children to read them.) 
 
 Second Step. You learned last Sunday about two men. 
 Who can tell their names? Which was the wiser? How 
 much wiser? In the country where Elisha lived the water 
 in the streams had nearly dried up, and what was left became 
 very bad, so that the plants would not grow. As nothing 
 would grow, what would happen to the people? Some of 
 
160 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 the men in that country knew that Elisha had been made 
 wise like Elijah, so they thought they would ask him to heal 
 the water. Elisha told them to bring a new jug with salt in 
 it ; then he went to where the waters began and threw in the 
 salt, asking God to help him heal the waters, and so God did. 
 After that the plants grew, and the land was beautiful and 
 green. Would the people die now ? Who was the cause of 
 giving them life? Elisha. Why? Because he healed the 
 waters. 
 
 Just after Elisha had healed the waters he was passing 
 along the road, when many persons came out and said very 
 ugly words to him. He asked God to punish them, and out of 
 the woods near by God sent two bears. What do you think the 
 bears would do ? Kill them. Yes, they tore in pieces forty- 
 two of those bad people. Who was the cause of their death ? 
 Elisha. Had he given death when he had healed the waters ? 
 No, life. All say after me, Elisha gave life to some, but death 
 to others. Whose fa*ult was it that he gave death to some? 
 It was the fault of the wicked people themselves. When I 
 think of Elisha giving both life and death, I think, too, of this 
 little saw which will either give joy or pain according to 
 the way it is used. To whom does the saw give pain ? To 
 whom did Elisha give death ? 
 
 TJiird Step. God sent his own dear Son into this world to 
 die, that by his dying we might have a home in heaven. 
 Some people do not care about this ; others say, " Jesus is our 
 best friend." God has said those who do not love Jesus shall 
 have sorrow and pain forever. To whom does Jesus give 
 joy? What two things will this little saw give? (showing 
 it.) Will it give joy or pain to you ? Joy, if we use it right ; 
 pain, if we use it wrong. What two things did Elisha give ? 
 Life and death. Whose fault was it that he gave death ? 
 
 Little ones, Jesus came into this world to give us all heav- 
 enly joy; but because some people will not believe what he 
 promises he gives them everlasting sorrow and pain. If you 
 would get sweet joy from Jesus instead of pain, what must 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 161 
 
 you do? Remember, my dear little children, that it rests 
 with you whether Jesus will be life or death to you. He 
 wishes to be life ; but you must choose. (Teacher, here read 
 the Golden Text from the Bible, print it upon the blackboard, 
 and require all the children to read it together.) 
 
 The Heart Vineyard.* 
 
 Draw heart, surrounded by hedge. Inside heart, a vine, etc. 
 Ask what a vineyard is; what the vineyard is we each are to 
 cultivate for God. Answer being given, write Vin. of Ht. 
 Draw out of scholars what the Vine in our heart is ; then 
 what the fruits are. Ask what a hedge is. Used to keep out 
 wild beasts ; God surrounds our heart with hedge of Bible 
 truth to preserve the vineyard from the devil, who goes about 
 like a roaring lion, seeking, etc. Show that we must open the 
 hedge ourselves before he can get in. Then wipe off lower 
 end of heart to illustrate our giving admittance to the Adver- 
 sary. Let the blackboard eraser represent the devil, who 
 enters through the opening, erases the vine and fruits, and 
 fills the heart with SIN, which write in large letters. Ask 
 which the scholars wish to have in their hearts, the Vine or 
 the Devil ? See Isa. v, 4. — Rev. J, M. Durrell. 
 
 A similar use of the outline heart was made in an address 
 of Rev. A. H. Brown in New Jersey. He began by drawing 
 a semi-heart-shaped line on the blackboard, and then said : 
 By means of that chalk-mark I lay hold of the faculties of 
 your minds. Adults though you may be, I have gained your 
 attention, and you are penciling the thought upon the retina 
 of the eye, which is soon to be transferred to the mind's 
 retina. I have excited your curiosity. But what have we 
 here ? Mr. Chairman, if you will permit me I will take a 
 little liberty this afternoon, I will imagine this audience is 
 an audience of children. If I were at home I would ask my 
 scholars or class some questions, but I will forego these ques- 
 
 * May be used with 1 Kings xxi, 4-14 
 11 
 
162 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 tions to-day. We have here the outline of a heart marked 
 on the blackboard — a mighty force-pump within us which is 
 sending the bright-red current through our whole system 
 even to the extremities : the hand, the face, are made beau- 
 tifully red by this blood, even the hair is vivified by it. 
 When I was a child I saw a little boy playing with his sister. 
 They did not agree very well, and the little boy took a flat- 
 iron and threw it at her. It laid her in death. What was it 
 that caused that boy to throw the flat-iron ? Was it the blood 
 in the hand? Little Charlie was out playing. His poor, sick 
 mother wanted him to come in. She called him, " Charlie, 
 come in." " I won't." The mother, enfeebled by disease, 
 shut the window and retired. After awhile, Charlie, tired 
 with his playing, came in. He retired for the night. During 
 the night his heart pained him. He thought of the word he 
 told his mother, and said, " I will ask her to forgive me." In 
 the morning he ran to the door of her chamber and knocked, 
 but there was no answer. He went up to the bed and cried, 
 "Mother! mother!" No answer. "Mother! mother! mother!" 
 No answer. The white hand lay on the coverlet, and he took 
 hold of it to waken his mother, but she was dead. His heart 
 was wrung with agony as he cried, a O mother! mother! I 
 am sorry that I said, 'I won't.'" What was it that made 
 little Charlie tell his mother, "I won't?" Wad it the blood 
 in the lips ? No, it was sin, sin in the heart. This " sin " I 
 write with the charcoal. Why? Because it soils. Sin 
 soils. You can never play with sin, children, without pol- 
 luting yourselves. Remember that sin pollutes even if you 
 touch it. Now, we have sin in the heart. We don't want 
 it there, and how shall we get it out? You cannot rub it 
 out. By attempting to do so you only make the matter 
 worse. I turn to God's word — to the first Epistle of St. 
 John — and I read, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from 
 all sin." Let us write that there. I take a piece of red 
 chalk, and write over the letters in the heart, "The Blood 
 of Jesus." I cover the word sin all up, and it takes it all 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 163 
 
 away. It washes it all out. Nothing else can do it. "There 
 is no other name under heaven given to men whereby they 
 may be saved." Now, children, if you want to do right and 
 not to do wrong, you have only to get Jesus in your heart 
 first. 
 
 No Room for Christ. (Eccles. xii.) 
 Another heart outline may be made as follows : Draw a 
 house, seemingly dilapidated and old. Above the house a 
 few stars and the moon with many clouds. Then bring out 
 the meaning of Solomon's allegory of the old man as a house 
 and its surroundings : 
 
 11 The keepers " — Hands. 
 
 "The strong men" — Legs. 
 
 "Grinders"— Teeth. 
 
 11 Windows " — Eyes. 
 
 "Music " — Voice. 
 
 " Almond tree " — White hair. 
 
 "Desire " — Appetites. 
 
 " Silver cord " — Nervous mat- 
 ter in the spine. 
 "Golden bowl "—Skull. 
 "Pitcher and wheel " — Lungs. 
 "Fountain and ) fl 
 
 Cistern "— ) 
 "Long home" — Grave. 
 
 Around the house make the outline of a heart. To this 
 house that God built for his own dwelling Jesus comes and 
 knocks. Our hearts should be like the cottage at Bethany, 
 always open to the Saviour. He comes and knocks. Shall we, 
 like many, open to him and " sit at his feet," or, like the 
 Church of Laodicea, let Jesus stand without and knock ? 
 Print "No Room for Jesus" across the picture, and after 
 showing the ingratitude of such a course, erase " No " and 
 leave it "Room for Jesus." Write also the motto within the 
 heart outline: "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I 
 might not sin against thee." 
 
 The Heart Made Right. 
 We have compiled the following from an exercise of Dr. 
 Vincent's and one by C. B. Stout : 
 
 HoiLESS. 
 
164 TflHOtJGtt THE EYE TO THE fiEAfcT. 
 
 Jesus meets a leper : " helpless," because his disease is be- 
 yond medicine ; " hopeless," because there is little chance of 
 recovery; "homeless," because even in sickness he is banished 
 from his home, and none of his dear ones can administer to 
 him. See, for further particulars, Bible Dictionary. Let a 
 heavy straight line represent a leper. Jesus comes across 
 him: intersect the first line so as to form a large white cross. 
 Rub out "Less." Jesus' coming brings "Help, hope, home." 
 The cross brings the same to us. Talk about the ancient 
 shame of the cross, and how it became glorious. Then ascer- 
 tain by questions that it is the symbol of Faith, and print an 
 "F" on the board; then put a semicircle at the bottom, to 
 make it into an anchor, and ask the children what is thrown 
 out in times of danger to hold the vessel ; ascertain that the 
 anchor is the symbol of Hope, and print an "H" below the 
 F ; then from the top of the cross carry lines in both direc- 
 tions to the hooks of the anchor, making a heart which in- 
 cludes an anchor and a cross. The heart is the symbol of 
 Love. Write "L;" then show that Love means Charity, and 
 you have " F, H, L "—Faith, Hope and Charity, and as the 
 heart is greater than the cross or anchor, so the greatest of 
 these three qualities of heart is Charity, which includes both 
 the others: "It hopeth all things, believeth all things." In- 
 stead of a heart "Helpless, homeless, hopeless," and cursed 
 jrith the leprosy of sin, we have now a heart with Faith, Hope, 
 and Love filling it, Illustrate each step in the exercise.* 
 
 The Scroll of Wisdom. 
 
 The following is another specimen. Make an opened 
 scroll held by two hands. Across the right hand print 
 "Length of Days;" across the left, "Wisdom and Honor." 
 On the middle of the scroll, "Happy is the man that find- 
 eth Wisdom." 
 
 * Almost every religious subject has some excellent illustrations in " Fos- 
 ter's Cyclopedia of Illustrations." 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 165 
 
 The Gospel Ship. 
 Draw an outline of a ship. Mark its sails " Faith," its 
 lower edge " Works, ballast," its working rigging " Prayer," 
 its prow " Perseverance," which is cutting through waves 
 marked "World," "Flesh," "Devil ;" the rudder is marked 
 " Love of Christ," and the bands that unite it to the ship, 
 " Nothing shall separate us." The flag at the stern is a red 
 cross on a white field, the halyards marked, " I am not ashamed 
 of the Gospel of Christ." At the masthead is a signal flag 
 (suggested by Nelson's) with the inscription, " God expects 
 every man to do his duty." On the stern of the vessel are 
 the name and place of building : " Gospel Ship — Heaven." 
 The anchor is formed of a text thus divided : Cross bar, " If 
 any man sin — ; " upright, " We have an Advocate with — ; " 
 claws, " The Father." This exercise is taken mostly from a 
 sermon of Rev. T. De Witt Talmage. Acts xxvii, 14-26. 
 
 The Promises — Our Mountain Tops. 
 Taking Bible geographies or Bible dictionaries to get the 
 general outline and shape of the following mountains, draw 
 them and connect them together, as if a group, with the in- 
 scriptions indicated written upon them. Sinai — " Draw nigh 
 unto God, and he will draw nigh unto you." (Incident of 
 Moses.) Moriah — "God will provide." (Isaac.) Horeb — 
 " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on 
 thee." (The " still, small voice.") Carmel — " Whatsoever ye 
 shall ask in my name I will do it." (The little cloud.) Zion—- 
 "They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion that can- 
 not be removed, but abideth forever." JSTebo — " There remain- 
 eth therefore a rest to the people of God." (Moses' view of 
 Canaan.) Olivet — " Him that cometh to me I will in nowise 
 cast out." (The woman that was a sinner and had " much 
 forgiven" at Bethany.) So these promises lift us above the 
 dead level of earth " quite to the verge of heaven," 
 
166 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The Straight Road and its Monuments. 
 
 Draw a straight line on the board to represent an ideal life • 
 journey. Speak of the actual life of most men as crooked, 
 which might be represented by a crooked line, drawn to con- 
 trast with the straight one. The straight one is to represent 
 the length of a life of threescore and ten years. Draw at the 
 proper distance for ten years of age the representation of the 
 marble milestone : marble, because of childhood purity, for this 
 is the age when responsibility begins. Under it the Bible, as a 
 guide in the straight road, to be taken up by the pilgrim-child 
 as it passes this boundary. At the proper distance for twenty- 
 five years of age represent the silver milestone : a clear, ring- 
 ing life at this age, as solid and shining in virtue as silver. 
 Beneath it represent a sword — the sword of the Spirit — which 
 now must be wielded. At the proper distance on the line for 
 sixty years of age, draw with yellow chalk the golden mile- 
 stone ; under it a pen : golden because it is the harvest time. 
 A pen there for writing the record of his life upon a scroll, 
 which can be figured at the end of the line, to indicate that 
 the life is finished and its record of good deeds left for others 
 to read as they journey. Better than a gravestone. — W. JS. 
 Huntington. 
 
 The Two Paths. 
 
 The figure of life as a journey, just used, is one of the most 
 frequent figures of the Bible. In many places it represents a 
 right course of life in contrast with a wrong one, under the 
 simile of two " ways," two " paths," etc. 
 
 Draw the simple outline of two roads branching out from 
 a common corner, to the right and left. A little way below 
 the left-hand path, at short intervals, put up the warnings 
 found in Proverbs: " Avoid it;" "Pass not by it;" "Turn 
 from it ; " " Pass away." Just at the entrance put the other 
 warning, " Enter not." Along the left-hand road write, "The 
 way of the wicked is as DARKNESS," (the word "dark- 
 ness" at the end of the path.) By the side of the way put the 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 167 
 
 warning, " Go not," and also the words, " The end thereof," 
 with a hand pointing to the end where are the words, 
 " DeSth." 8 "* " O n one s ^ e °f tne wa y write, " Bread of wick- 
 edness," "Wine of violence." Near the entrance of the right- 
 hand way write, { " JB£ii£? Vw» Through the midst of the 
 way write, u The way of the just is as the SHINING 
 LIGHT," ("light" being near the end of the way.) Beyond 
 it write, " PERFECT DAY." By the side of this path write, 
 "Still waters" " Green pastures," indicated by a few simple 
 lines and appropriate colors. Make a winding line leading 
 across the way, and mark it "Jabbok," as the wrestling- place of 
 prayer. Make also a lane across to " The Way of the Wicked," 
 by which any can cross who will. On the other side make 
 a lane leading into "By-path Meadow" and "Doubting 
 Castle," (simply outlined.) Other parts of the Bible and 
 Pilgrim's Progress may also be used with this outline. At 
 the corner print " CHOOSE YE." Below the outline write— 
 
 WALK m TT T71 WAT. 
 OBEY \ H h, TRUTH 
 LIVE JL JL1 JLU LIFE. 
 
 Along the left-hand path, to represent the gradual increase of 
 sinful habits, use the thoughts of the First Psalm : " Walketh 
 with unrighteous;" "Standeth with sinners;" "Sitteth with 
 
 scorners." 
 
 The Love op Money. 
 
 Tell the story of Gehazi's sin. Have the text repeated, 
 "The love of money is the root of all evil" 
 
 Not money itself— we must have that and serve God with 
 it. Earn it ; get it honestly ; all you can, and use it for God. 
 Little children can do that. The love of it, coveting it, is the 
 evil root which produces only thorns. Did you ever see a 
 thorn-tree — every branch with great needle-points sticking 
 out in &11 directions? (If you can, show a large thorn or 
 branch of a thorn-tree.) Draw on the board a ragged root, 
 as if growing deep in the soil, write on its several parts, 
 
168 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 "Love of money," " Root of evil." Above ground, make the 
 branches sharp with thorns, writing on each branch as you 
 question class, names of Gehazi's sins: "Coveting," "Lying," 
 "Stealing," "Idolatry," "Profanity." (With colored crayon 
 you can make a picture which, with forcible words, will make 
 an enduring impression.) The verse says of money, "Some 
 have coveted after and pierced themselves through with many 
 sorrows." Did you ever get a splinter or thorn in your flesh ? 
 Suppose you did not tell mother lest she hurt you in taking 
 it out, how it would fester and throb with pain ! So the 
 wounds of thorns from the evil tree of this wicked root. A 
 Jewish soldier, Achan, once saw and coveted and stole a royal 
 garment, some silver, and a wedge of gold. He buried them 
 under his tent, but God brought it all out, and said that his 
 tent and all that he had must be burned with fire, and he be 
 stoned to death. A man and his wife once kept back part 
 of the money they had promised to God. How their hearts 
 were pierced by his hand, for at the very door where they 
 lied to him they both fell dead ! 
 
 Who betrayed Jesus Christ? For how much? How ought 
 we to hate a sin that sold the dear Saviour. Are children ever 
 tempted to covet, lie, or steal ? Is it wrong to wish for a 
 marble, a knife, a doll's dress or hat, hide it away and then 
 keep it for our own ? (Get remarks from the children upon 
 such temptations.) Is it right to take a penny from papa's 
 pocket, or a nickel from mamma's drawer? Are little sins as 
 black in God's sight as big ones ? Do people begin to sin by 
 doing some terrible wrong ? How do they learn? Years ago, 
 in the State of Kentucky, a man was hung for highway rob- 
 bery and murder. Before he was taken out of the jail a 
 minister said, " How did you ever come to do such awful 
 things?" "O," he said, "it was just as easy. I know the 
 very hour I began. When I was a little boy a peddler came 
 to our house and I stole a paper of pins, and my mother hid 
 them for me; I went on stealing, and here I am." Show in 
 Conclusion how we may be kept from sin. — Faith Latimer, 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 169 
 
 Elijah Fed by Ravens.* 
 
 A tree is rudely drawn, a line or two is made for ground, a 
 perpendicular line beneath the tree represents the prophet, 
 and four or five double curves represent the coming ravens in 
 the familiar way in which children represent flying birds. 
 These parts will be added, one after another, as they are de- 
 scribed. This motto may be written above them, GOD SUP- 
 PLIES OUR DAILY WANTS, and below 
 
 ELIJAH B GOD, 
 
 I MUST DO bO. 
 
 The Poor Widow. 
 The story of the widow's poverty, and also of her bereave- 
 ment, are represented by the rude outline of a gate in a wall 
 of square stones, with the simple outline of a cottage just 
 inside, and two perpendicular lines to represent the widow 
 gathering sticks when she met the prophet. As the story is 
 told the outline is made step by step, and on the board are 
 the words, 
 
 f^\ {~\~T\ Cares for the Poor. 
 \JT\JA-J Helps in Sorrow. 
 
 The Answer by Fire. 
 For the " answer by fire " on Carmel the outline of a 
 mountain is drawn, with two altars, a fire blazing on one only. 
 At its sides the trenches are represented by simple curves, 
 and the prophet by a perpendicular line 
 
 The Answer to Prates 
 is represented by the sketch of a mountain top and a little 
 cloud out over a simple representation of the sea, a perpen- 
 dicular line representing the servant as he looks toward it, 
 
 * This page from Mrs. & W. Clark, 
 
170 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The Devil's Chain. 1 Kings xvi, 23-34. 
 Draw a chain with four large links, and in them write the 
 four words, "Omri, Ahab, Jezebel, Baal." Below the chain 
 write, " To bind Israel in sin." The chain should first be 
 drawn, and these names of evil power developed by questions 
 and written down. Show the injury to national life that 
 comes from having godless rulers, as illustrated by France 
 in the " Iieign of Terror," when it was ruled by infidels who 
 abolished the Sabbath and declared Reason their god, but 
 were compelled by the terrible results of such idolatry and 
 Atheism to restore the observance of the Christian religion. 
 
 Four Steps in Crime. 1 Kings xxi, 4-14. 
 Make outline of four steps, then ask what were Ahab's 
 "four steps in crime" (With these four words at the top of 
 the blackboard.) Put the answers on the successive steps : 
 "Envy," (highest step,) then " Covetousness," "Perjury," 
 M Murder." Below write, " Vineyard Gained— Soul Lost." 
 
 Six Steps of Christ. See Acts xiii, 26-41. 
 Draw six steps. On highest, " Christ being equal with 
 God ;" on next lower, " Made himself of no reputation ;" next, 
 "Took form of servant;" next, "Made in likeness of men;" 
 next, " humbled himself;" next, u death on the cross." Then 
 write from bottom of the blackboard upward to top of steps, 
 " Wherefore God hath highly exalted him." 
 
 The Word, a Sword. 
 Draw the outline of a two-edged sword with wide blade ; 
 on the blade print " TI a E sWORD against;" and opposite 
 the point of the sword write, developing the points from 
 scholars by questions, 
 
 1. SPIRITUALISM. 
 
 2. BAD BOOKS. 
 
 3. BAD PAPERS. 
 
 4. ALL IDOLS. 
 
 5. SINFUL BUSINESS, 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 171 
 
 God brings ) ™q q-qx j not peace, 
 
 We should bring ) \ but a sword. 
 
 The ungodliness and wickedness of spiritualism, bad liter- 
 ature, and dishonest business, can be abundantly illustrated 
 from the evils of the day of which these are the roots. 
 
 Saul's Conversion. Acts ix, 1-8; xxvi, 6-20. 
 
 Draw a large square to represent Damascus, and a little 
 square within to represent the feeble Christian " Church." 
 (Write " Church.") Leave a small open space in the large 
 square to represent the city gate. A little beyond it write 
 " Saul," and describe and develop his furious hate and haste 
 as he came to crush that little Church. (Write beside "Saul," 
 " Breathing out threatenings.") Between Saul and Damas- 
 cus write " Christ," and after the story has been developed, 
 write " Conquered " between " Christ " and " Saul," and " Pro- 
 tected " between " Christ " and the little " Church." Having 
 written " Breathing out threatenings " beside the word " Saul " 
 at first, complete it thus, 
 
 reathing out threatenings." 
 
 ehold, he prayeth. 
 There is no way to account for the marvelous turning about 
 in Saul's course of life from that day forward except by re- 
 ceiving Paul's account of his change of heart through Christ. 
 
 B 
 
 Paul at Cesarea. Acts xxi, 8-15; 2 Tim. iv, 1-8. 
 
 PAUL, YOUNG—*' I AM 
 
 PAUL, THE AGED— "I AM NOW 
 
 A 1 
 
 BE YE .XA.LSO 
 
 » 1 
 
 TO DIE." 
 
 TO BE OFFERED." 
 
 FOR DEATH. 
 
 Below these words make the grated windows of jails, and 
 chains, whips, etc., and across them print the words, " None 
 of these things move me." Stories of brave martyrs will 
 furnish abundant illustration of this point. In telling the 
 story of Agabus and the girdle in a primary class, it will add 
 
172 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 greatly to the impressiveness if the teacher imitates the act 
 of Agabus and actually binds some one with a girdle. 
 
 The Death op Elisha. 2 Kings xiii, 14-21, 
 Draw a bow and print on it, 
 
 OUR "Q ow > 
 
 THE JDlBLE. 
 Then make the following acrostic exercise below : 
 
 All have sinned. \ OF THE LORD'S 
 
 Return unto me. 
 Redeemed by the blood. 
 Old things passed away 
 
 DELIVERANCE 
 
 FROM 
 
 Weakness made strong. \ THE PJ YRI ^ 
 
 Strength made perfect. / OF kjIN. 
 
 Paul and the Bigoted Jews. 
 Draw a large door with a bar across it, and over it write 
 " Hypocrites, bigots, persecutors ;" on it, " Shut up the king- 
 dom of heaven against men." Beside the door put Christ's 
 eight-fold " woe " against hypocrisy : 
 
 For closing the gate of heaven to others. 
 
 For hypocrisy. 
 
 For proselyting fanaticism. 
 
 For blind evasion of oaths. 
 
 For neglecting justice, mercy, and trtith. 
 
 For inward corruptions. 
 
 For intemperance. 
 
 For mock repentance. 
 
 Jehu, the King. 2 Kings x, 20-31. 
 Draw a wide road branching off into two : one broad, to 
 the left; and one narrow, to the right. In the broad branch 
 write, " He departed not from the sins which he condemned." 
 In the narrow road write, " He took no heed to walk in the 
 law of the Lord." Above the roads print : 
 
 Inconsistent TTTT^r^TP . 
 NEXCUSABLE J U U VJrJtjJ . 
 TTTflTT J JUDGEST ANOTHER; 
 LUU ] CONDEMNEST THYSELF; 
 
 DOEST THE SAME THINGS, 
 
THROUGH THE E^TE TO THE HEART. 173 
 
 See Romans i, 20; ii, 1-3. Apply the lessons to those who 
 to-day judge and condemn and criticise Christians, but "do 
 the same things" they condemn, and thus play the part of 
 Jehu as inconsistent judges. Show that the very criticisms 
 made upon Christians display such a knowledge of Christian 
 duty as makes the "judge " himself inexcusable for neglect- 
 ing those duties. 
 
 Paul at Athens. Acts xvii, 22-34. 
 Draw the outline of a large altar with the words upon it, 
 "To the unknown God." After reviewing the first part of 
 the lesson, erase " To the unknown," and develop the follow- 
 ing around the word " God," as the substance of what Paul 
 told them and us of God : 
 
 "IN THE BEG-INNING- 
 
 "He was before} I i \ i l lighted l™^ wm?TTi 
 all thing." J Ur Vj JJ SS^S? } The W0RLD ' 
 
 MADE 
 
 CROWNED f JV_L_A_JN • 
 INSTRUCTED I 
 
 K.EDEEM.ED 
 cc 
 
 By THE "LAMB of GOD 
 
 Slain from foundation of the world." 
 
 [See Object Illustrations on " The Watch " and " The Lily 
 in the tirst section of the Appendix.] 
 
 The Gospel Trumpet. 
 Make the outline of a trumpet and inscribe on it, " Go ye 
 into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." 
 On the flag that hangs from it, " The blood of Jesus Christ 
 cleanseth from all sin." — E. L. B. 
 
 The Frightful Roll. 
 
 It is recorded of Luther, that during a serious illness the evil one seemed 
 to enter his sick room, and looking at him with a triumphant smile, unrolled 
 
174 
 
 T&ROtfGtt T&E EYE TO T£E HEART. 
 
 a vast roll which he carried in hia arms. As the fiend threw one end of it 
 on the floor, and it unwound itself with the impetus he had given it, Lu- 
 ther's eye3 were fixed on it, and to his consternation he read there the long 
 and fearful record of his own sins, clearly and distinctly enumerated. There 
 stood before his very eyes " the sins and offenses of his youth," and all his 
 " transgressions in all his sin." 
 
 There they were in letters as black a3 he felt his sins to be, and as plain 
 as they would be if God should u set them before him in the light of his 
 countenance." "His heart failed him " as he looked. The stout heart 
 which never quailed before man — the firm, honest eye, which could look 
 cardinals and bishops, princes and palatine, in the face — did quail before 
 that ghastly roll. " His sins took such a hold upon him that he was not 
 able to look up." 
 
 Suddenly it flashed into his mind that there was one thing not written 
 there. He said aloud: "One thing you have forgotten: 'The blood of 
 Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin," 1 and as he said this the 
 "Accuser of the brethren," and his heavy roll of "lamentation and mourn- 
 ing and woe," disappeared together. 
 
 In using this incident a scroll would, of course, be drawn 
 and used as suggested by the story, with the incident for il- 
 lustration. 
 
 
 Peter. 
 
 Acts 
 
 x, 1-2C 
 
 . 
 
 PETER. 
 
 FISHERMAN, 
 
 
 SHEPHERD, 
 
 
 MA 
 
 RTY 
 
 R. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *, 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 175 
 
 The Crown oe Life. 
 
 Make an outline crown with the word "Life" upon it, the 
 rays diverging from it downward shining through the words 
 "Tribulation," "Persecution, "Distress." Underneath, a 
 sword, on the hilt of which is written "Z?e;" on the blade, 
 " thou faithful ;" on the guard, "unto death" — Selected. 
 
 Or make Naaman's leprosy the occasion of contrasting the 
 earthly and heavenly crown, as below : 
 
 ^* TH iy V> VE *^ 
 
 MPURE. W^TH 
 
 PURE WITH 
 
 GLORY 
 
 CLINGS 1 // POISONS. FOR GOOD^DEEDS. 
 — WASH ! — WORDS FITLY SPOKEN 
 AND BE THOU CLEAN. BE THOU FAITHFUL! 
 
 [See 2 Kings v, 1-14. 
 
 2 Tim. iv, 1-8 ] J. B. P. 
 
 "THE L/V/AG WAT£i\ 
 
 Mil; S^WfS^ AND 
 
 ^T7 
 
 [See 1 Kings xvii, 1-16.] 
 
 Anon. 
 
 If 
 
 any man thirst, let him come unto ME and DRINK." 
 
176 
 
 THROUGH THft EYE TO THE BEAM 
 
 [See Acts xvi, 1-15.] 
 
 The Shield of Faith. 
 
 Anon, 
 
 The following exercises,* by J. B. Phipps, of Baltimore, 
 can readily be understood by all : 
 
 Vt GOO ^.TO^SNVICIVU 
 
 0>it *COME SIN AND TEMPr^ 
 
 <* X JH 
 
 
 Victory ! f\eVv Af\D ! 
 
 THROUGH OUR \_ORD -itSUS ChR\ST 
 
 [See 2 lira, iv, 1-8.] 
 
 ♦The four exercises following this, and one in the center of page 175, are 
 also by Mr. Phipps, who has for several years prepared the admirable 
 blackboard exercises of the " Sunday-School Journal," 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 177' 
 
178 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 [See Acts xxvii, 14-26.] 
 
 [See 2 Kings v, 20-27 ; Acts xix, 17-28.] 
 
 [See Acts xix. 1-12.] 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 179 
 
 (Condemned. 
 
 Rejected. 
 
 Oppressed. 
 
 ^ % 
 
 Owned 
 Worshipped. 
 Near the throne. 
 
 ROW 
 
 [See Acts xiii, 26-41.] 
 
 ^♦^ 
 
 The Gate of Prayer. 
 
 [See 1 Kings xviii, 36-46 ; 2 Kings iv 3 25-37.] 
 
180 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 H 
 
 < 
 
 P 
 
 W 
 
 - 
 
 w 
 
 H 
 
 W 
 W 
 
 ■ 
 
 © 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 181 
 
 The Christian's Monument. 
 
 The Christian's monument, as in the Catacombs, may be 
 inscribed " Vivit" for " He lives" in a better and truer sense 
 
 ©OK 
 
 '{ 
 
 a 
 
 Lifted Higher 
 
 DEC 26 T ." 
 
 Natal is Dies 
 
 WOT 
 
 Ctf/j>/ST//7/V 
 
 than ever before. The day of death among the early Chris- 
 tians was marked on the grave-stones "JVatalis dies" u the 
 day of birth." A dying girl, just before her death, looked 
 
182 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 upward and said softly, "Lift me higher! lift me higher !" 
 Her parents raised her up with pillows ; but she faintly said, 
 " No, not that ; but there!" again looking earnestly toward 
 heaven, whither her happy soul fled a few moments later. On 
 her grave-stone the words are carved, " Lifted higher." 
 
 A German infidel had taught his family that man dies as the 
 beast dies, and has no immortality. His daughter, dearly 
 loved by her father, died. The custom in Germany is to put 
 on the grave-stones at the top, " Hier ruhet in Gott" " Here 
 rests in God ; " but, knowing he had not believed in immor- 
 tality, those who made the stone came to him and asked what 
 they should put on. He struggled in his thoughts for a few 
 moments and then said sadly, " Write Hier ruhet in Gott" 
 Death had conquered his philosophy. "Him that overcometh 
 will I make a pillar in the temple of my God." 
 
 Our Monument op Victory. 
 Another exercise with a similar monument : make a pict- 
 
 ure of Bunker Hill monument. 
 Near the top picture on its face 
 a cross, with "Jesus" written 
 at the center. Around it put 
 the words, "In this sign con- 
 quer." Below, in large letters, 
 " Thanks be unto God that giv- 
 eth us the victory through our 
 Lord." Here picture the mono- 
 gram of Christ, if familiar, other- 
 wise write the words, "Jesus 
 Christ." Below or beside the 
 monument make this banner : 
 
 This exercise may be used very appropriately in connec- 
 tion with the altar inscribed " Jehovah Nissi," {My Ban- 
 ner]) which Moses raised upon a hill 9 after Amalek had been 
 put to rout. (Exod. xvii, 8-15.) 
 
 WHEN I CRY UNTO 
 
 THEE, 
 
 then shall mine enemies 
 
 TURN BACK; 
 THIS I KNOW, 
 
 For GOD is WITH ME. 
 
THROUGH TflJB EYE TO tfHE HEART. 
 Gehazi, the Leper. 2 Kings v, 20-27. 
 
 183 
 
 1. Draw in advance the picture of a set of stairs, and let 
 it stand (with no words written about it or on it except 
 
184 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 " Gehazi's steps in sin,") in presence of the school during the 
 study of the lesson. 
 
 2. Then show what those steps were: the thought ; the in- 
 tention ; the getting money by fraud ; the perversion of his 
 privilege and power as a servant of the prophet, which was, 
 perhaps, the greatest crime ; the stealing, and the attempted 
 lying. Write each word, as the thought is presented, on the 
 steps. 
 
 3. But when one has taken steps in sin of his own accord, 
 there are results which follow by a natural consequence and 
 cannot be avoided. Write " Where they led." Then on the 
 lower six steps, successively, the six italicized expressions be- 
 low, illustrating each by incidents of the downward course 
 of vice and sin: Guilt, the defilement of character; Dis- 
 covery ; Leprosy ; Lost Privilege — he might have succeeded 
 Elisha, as Elisha had succeeded Elijah ; Tainted Blood, "thy 
 seed after thee." Finally, a Lost Soul. 
 
 4. Sum up what the lesson teaches about sin. 
 
 Rev, J. L. Hurlbut. 
 
 Salvation ijy Faith and Prayer. Acts xvi, 22-34. 
 
 -\a£CE\M£ SKtilKf urn 
 V^VVLUB NL11Q CHRIST 
 
 iRPOSfc 
 
 >— 
 
 .;..- WA 
 
THROtfGfi: THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 185 
 
 1. Write at the foot of the board SIN, the natural condi- 
 tion of every one. At the head SALVATION, the aim 
 which all need to seek. 
 
 2. Draw the ladder with its six steps, beginning at the 
 lowest and explaining each one. 
 
 3. Then show how PRAYER runs through every step, 
 and should accompany all. Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. 
 
 The Call of Christ. Acts xxvi, 6-20. 
 
 1. Draw in the center of the board a star; write on it 
 JESUS, and around it illuminating rays. The star and rays, 
 yellow ; the name, blue, shaded with purple. Let this -re- 
 main in the presence of the school during the lesson. 
 
 2. Show the traits of Christ which this lesson discloses, 
 and write them, one opposite each point of the star. [White 
 chalk.] 
 
 3. Present the duties which this shows us in relation to 
 Jesus : to listen to his words ; answer his voice ; trust, obey^ 
 confess him. [Red chalk, shaded with blue.] 
 
 Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. 
 
186 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE 3EART. 
 
 Saved Through Christ. (Heb. iv, 13-16.) 
 The following exercise, contributed by Rev. J. S. Ostrander. 
 illustrates at once several of the classes we have mentioned : 
 
 The first thought to be impressed is, " All things are naked 
 and open to the eye of Him with whom we have to do." The 
 outline of an eye is made, and opposite is printed the word 
 " Us." The rays from the eye pass to the top and bottom, 
 and also to intermediate points of the word, because God sees 
 us and knows us altogether. Then the words u Judges," 
 " Excludes," " Searches," " Unvails," " Sees," are written one 
 below another between the eye and the word " Us," each of 
 them developed by questions and then explainer!. But we 
 have u a High Priest, Jesus." Erase the words just written, 
 except their first letters, and the word " Jesus " will remain. 
 Then notice, God sees us through Jesus. Write " J " and 
 " T " before and after " Us," and then it will be, God sees 
 us just through Jesus. Illustrate this thought by the 
 following incident : 
 
 Little Alice was one of my Sabbath-school scholars — a fair- 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 187 
 
 haired, blue-eyed little girl, whose beautiful face and sweet, 
 winning ways made her a favorite with all. Methinks I can 
 see now the soft, tender look of her mild eyes, fixed so ear- 
 nestly upon me, as I endeavored to impress upon her open- 
 ing mind the Gospel plan of salvation. 
 
 One day I said to her : " Alice, what will you do when you 
 die, and are called upon to stand before the judgment-seat of 
 God, to answer for all the sins done here upon earth ? " 
 
 Her face glowed with emotion as she answered, u Christ 
 died for sinners ; I will hide behind him. God will not look 
 at me ; he will look at Christ." 
 
 Beautiful thought, to hide behind Christ, to lose ourselves 
 in him, and, casting aside our own impure works, to rest 
 solely and entirely upon his finished work for salvation ! 
 
 Illustrations of the thoughts that God sees, unvails, searches, 
 judges, excludes, may be found in the following incidents of 
 Scripture: 2 Kings v, 20, etc. ; Josh, vii, 1, etc. ; Acts v, 1, 
 etc. ; Matt, xxvi, 6-25. 
 
 Christ The Door. — The Blackboard, (with changes, etc.) 
 
 "I AM HE 
 
 " NO MAN COMETH 
 TO THE FATHER 
 BUT BY ME." 
 
 LlFK. 
 
 Salvation, 
 appinbss. 
 
 HAVEN. 
 
 "KNOCK, 
 
 AND IT SHALL 
 BE OPENED l T N 
 TO YOU." 
 
 At the beginning of the exercise <c Now V should be written 
 on the door in the center, and " Come unto me " on the steps. 
 
188 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 At the close erase " Now," and" write " Too late " on the door, 
 and " Depart from me " on the steps. 
 
 Another exercise can be made with the door by letting it 
 represent the door to our hearts. In place of the passage " I 
 am the door," etc., write "I stand at the door and knock." 
 At one side write " Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ; and 
 the King of glory shall come in." On the door write " To- 
 morrow ;" on the steps write " No admittance except on 
 business." Read the passages on the heart's entrance. Sing 
 * Let the good angels come in," and let some one read or 
 Bpeak the following : 
 
 To-Morrow. 
 
 Lord, what am I, that, with unceasing care, 
 Thou didst seek after me — that thou didst wait, 
 Wet with unhealthy dews, before my gate, 
 
 And pass the gloomy nights of winter there ? 
 
 strange delusion that I did not greet 
 
 Thy blest approach ! and 0, to Heaven how lost, 
 If my ingratitude's unkindly frost 
 
 Has chilled the bleeding wounds upon thy feet I 
 
 How oft my guardian angel gently cried, 
 
 M Soul, from thy casement look, and thou shalt see 
 How He persists to knock and wait for thee I " 
 And ! how often to that voice of sorrow, 
 
 " To-morrow we will open," I replied, 
 And when the morrow came I answered still, u To-morrow." 
 
 Christ in All the Scriptures and in All Time. 
 
 I. Christ is in all time, before all time, and after all time : 
 " From everlasting to everlasting." " He was before all 
 things," " and his throne is for ever and ever." He is " Alpha 
 and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the 
 last." The hour-glass representing time, all above it repre- 
 sents the eternity " before his works of old ;" all below it that 
 which shall be when " time shall be no longer." 
 
 II. Christ in " all the Scriptures." Luke xxiv, 27. On the 
 upper border of the hour-glass, which indicates the beginning 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 189 
 
 ff Ffjom Everlasting" 
 
 SiiliWi^lJii 
 
 
 $£t* 
 
 of time, begins the Bible record. The heavens and the earth 
 have only one verse / then the earth at large only forty-four 
 
 verses, and from 
 that point the his- 
 tory narrows itself 
 to the Messianic; 
 line. Seth, Noah, 
 Abraham, (first 
 covenant,) Judah, 
 David, (second 
 covenant,) Mary, 
 and then JJSSUK 
 The symbols on 
 the one hand, and 
 the prophecies on 
 the other, also point 
 toChrist. Thus the 
 entire Old Testa- 
 ment narrows from 
 11 the heavens and 
 the earth " to the 
 little manger at 
 Bethlehem. But 
 when Christ comes 
 it broadens: " Je- 
 rusalem, Judea,and 
 Samaria, the utter- 
 
 N& DAVID 3 
 
 J1/^RM0STP^\ . 
 
 ANDTHE 
 
 NEW EARTH 
 
 TO EVERLASTING 
 
 THY THRONE 
 
 O God is 
 
 FOREVER AND EVER 
 
 most parts of the earth." Acts i, 8. 
 
 At the end of time (lower rim) "his dominion shall be 
 from sea to sea." And when " time shall be no longer," the 
 " new heavens and the new earth," corresponding with 
 " heavens and earth " at the top. 
 
 " Because he never comes, and stands, 
 And stretches out to me both hands ; 
 Because he never leans before 
 The gate, when I set wide the door 
 
190 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 At morning, or is never found 
 
 Just at my side when I turn round, 
 
 Half thinking I shall meet his eyes, 
 
 From watching the broad moon-globe rise — 
 
 For all this shall I cease to pray, 
 
 And let my heart grow hard, and say : 
 
 ' He perished, and has ceased to be ; 
 
 Another comes, but never he ? ' 
 
 Nay, by our wondrous being, nay ! 
 
 Although his face I never see 
 
 Through all the infinite To Be, 
 
 I know He lives and cares for me." 
 
 The symbols and metaphors of the Bible may be outlined 
 on the board, or used as symbol exercises, and the following 
 table may also suggest many exercises to the thoughtful 
 teacher, both for this division, " Outline Exercises," and also 
 for " Symbol Exercises : " 
 
 Table of Symbols, 
 partly of new, partly of primeval significance. 
 
 The Hieroglyphical Language of the Universal Church 
 during the early ages. 
 
 Heaven is symbolized by the segment of a circle, some- 
 times of pure blue, sometimes edged with the thin colors of 
 
 the rainbow. 
 
 The Universe by a globe, usually of deep blue*** 
 God the Father by a hand issuing from the preceding 
 symbol of Heaven, Ezek. ii, 9 ; viii, 3. 
 
 God the Son by the monogram formed of the 
 initial letters of the name Christ in Greek; also by 
 the Cross, although this was more correctly the 
 symbol of salvation through the atonement; also by a rock, 
 1 Cor. x, 4 ; Exod. xvii, 6 ; also by a lamb, Isa. lvii, 1 ; fre- 
 quently with a glory and carrying a cross ; also by a pelican, 
 Psa. cii, 6 ; also by a vine, John xv, 1, etc. ; also by a lamp 
 or candle, as " the light of the world," John ix, 5 ; also by a 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 191 
 
 fish, suggested by the word IxQv?, frequently found in the 
 Catacombs, acrostically formed from the initial letters of the 
 titles of Our Saviour, 'iTjoovg XQiorog Qeov vidg 2om)p — Jesus 
 Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour. 
 
 God the Holy Ghost by the dove, usually bearing the 
 olive branch ; also by water issuing from the beak of the dove, 
 or rising as a fountain from a vase, as the " well of water 
 springing up into everlasting life," John iv, 14 ; also by a 
 lamp or candlestick, seven of which ranged to the right and 
 left of the altar in the old mosaics, signify the gift of the 
 Spirit. Rev. i, 12 ; iv, 5. 
 
 The Holy Trinity by the three-colored rainbow encircling 
 our Saviour, the visible form or image of the Deity, and who 
 sometimes is represented seated upon it, Ezek. i, 28 ; Rev. 
 iv, 3 ; also by three beams of light radiating from the head 
 of Christ ; also by the extension of the thumb and fore and 
 middle fingers of our Saviour's hand, as held up in the 
 western form of giving the benediction. 
 
 Paradise by a mountain, in conformity with the traditions 
 of almost all nations. 
 
 Satan by the serpent. 
 
 The Obedience and Atonement of Christ by the cross, 
 sometimes plain, sometimes richly gemmed, occasi onally with 
 roses or flowers springing from it. 
 
 The Course op Human Life by the sun and moon. 
 
 The Church, in her general character, by a mountain, as 
 typified by Paradise, and in allusion also to Dan. ii, 34. 
 
 The Church Militant by a female figure standing, with 
 her hands raised in prayer ; also by the vine as " brought out 
 of Egypt," Psa. lxxx, 8 ; Isa. v, 1, etc. ; also by a vessel in 
 full sail — an emblem originally heathen, but naturalized and 
 carried out in the most minute and fanciful particulars by the 
 Latin Fathers. 
 
 The Church Triumphant by the New Jerusalem, the city 
 of the Apocalypse, Rev. xxi and Ezek. xlvii — frequently 
 identified with the original palace in Eden. 
 
192 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 The Two Covenants, the Old and New Testaments, by 
 the " Wheel in the Middle of a Wheel," Ezek. i, 16. 
 
 The Sacrament op Baptism, by water poured out on the 
 cross by the dove. 
 
 The Lord's Supper, by ears of corn or loaves, and grapes 
 or vases of wine. 
 
 The Apostles, by twelve sheep or lambs, usually repre- 
 sented issuing from the cities of our Saviour's birth and death, 
 Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and approaching a central lamb, 
 figurative of Christ, standing on the Mount of Paradise. 
 
 The Evangelists, by the four mystic animals described 
 in Rev. iv, 1 ; Ezek. i, 10, and x, 14, the angel being usually 
 assigned to St. Matthew, the lion to St. Mark, the ox to St. 
 Luke, and the eagle to St. John : also by the four rivers issu- 
 ing from the Mount of Paradise, " to water the earth," Gen. 
 ii, 10. 
 
 The Faithful, by sheep as under the charge of the Good 
 Shepherd, Christ, John x, 14 ; xxii, 15, etc. ; also by fish, as 
 caught in the net of the Gospel, Matt, xiii, 47 ; Mark i, 11 ; 
 Ezek. xlvii, 9, and new-born in baptism ; also by doves 
 other birds, designs of a loftier and purer element, either 
 eating grapes or ears of corn as figurative of the Eucharist, 
 or drinking from the vase and fountain, emblematical of 
 Christ, or holding branches of olive in their beaks and re- 
 posing on the cross : also by stags at the well or water brook, 
 Psa. xlii, 2 ; also by date trees or cedars, trees of righteous- 
 ness planted by the waters and bearing fruit in their season, 
 or Psa. i, 3; xcii, 12; Isa. lxi, 3; Jer. xvii, 8; also by 
 little children or genii sporting among the vine leaves, or 
 plucking the fruit, and after death, with the wings of Psyche, 
 or the butterfly. 
 
 Sanctity, by the nimbus, a circlet of glory round the head, 
 a most ancient symbol, being common to the religions of India, 
 Persia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, from the latter of which it 
 was adopted by the early Christians. 
 
 Faith, by the various symbols of the faithful just mentioned, 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 193 
 
 Hope, by the anchor, Heb. vi, 19. 
 
 Charity, by a heart. 
 
 Purity, by the lily. 
 
 Incorruptibility, by the Rose of Sharon. 
 
 Watchfulness, by the cock. 
 
 Victory, by the palm branch, Rev. vii, 9, or wreath or 
 crown such as was given to the conqueror in the arena, 1 Cor. 
 ix, 25, etc. 
 
 Peace, by a branch or leaf of olive, borne by the dove, 
 symbolical either of the Holy Spirit or of the believer, accord- 
 ing to circumstances. 
 
 The Resurrection, by the phenix and the peacock, which 
 latter loses its beautiful plumage in winter and recovers it 
 in the spring. 
 
 Eternity, by a ring or circle of peace, glory, etc., accord- 
 ing to the emblematical import of the material of which it is 
 composed, and within which are frequently inserted the sym- 
 bols of our Saviour, the Church, etc. 
 
 Eternal Life, by the mystic Jordan, the "river which 
 maketh glad the city of God," formed by the junction of the 
 four evangelical streams, descending from the Mount of Para- 
 dise, and in which souls, in the shape of little children, are 
 sometimes seen swimming and sporting, precisely as they 
 figure in the mystic Nile, in the tombs of the Pharaohs. 
 
 The above table, taken from " Sketches of the History of 
 Christian Art," an excellent work written by Lord Lindsey, 
 is a complete alphabet of the art language of the early Church. 
 In almost every case the symbols are derived from the Bible, 
 and form a real alphabet for the eye-teaching that was then 
 so common. 
 
 These symbols were grouped in countless combinations, as 
 we combine letters in words. A hand and the symbol of 
 heaven meant " Our Father in heaven." Any of the sym- 
 bols of Christ with Alpha and Omega on its right and left 
 meant that Christ was " the First and the Last." The fish 
 Bymbol and the lamb together indicated his divinity and sac- 
 13 
 
194- THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 rificial character. Faith, hope, and charity, the cross, anchor, 
 and heart, were sometimes mingled. The ring of eternity 
 with the symbol of God or Christ or the Church within, indi- 
 cates the eternity of that included. In the paintings, sculpt- 
 ure, inscriptions, votive offerings, these symbols were con- 
 stantly combined into significant forms. In our language 
 to-day these symbols still linger as metaphors. 
 
 This table may serve, with a little throwing out of fanciful 
 and useless symbols, and with the symbolism of the tabernacle 
 added, as an alphabet for the eye-teacher in object and black- 
 board teaching. A careful study of the table will suggest 
 many useful exercises to be made by modifications and com- 
 binations. To complete the eye-teacher's alphabet we add 
 the symbolism of color, as it has been beautifully brought out 
 di connection with the twelve colors of the heavenly wall, in 
 Rev. xxii, 19, 20. 
 
 1. Jasper, (crimson,) passion, suffering. 
 
 2. Sapphire, (blue,) truth, calm. 
 «3. Chalcedony, (white,) purity. 
 
 4. Emerald, (green,) hope. 
 
 5. Sardonyx, (mixed color,) tenderness and pain and puri- 
 fying. 
 
 6. Sardius, (blood-red,) love, including anguish. 
 
 7. Chrysolite, (golden green,) glory manifest. 
 
 8. Beryl, (serenest blue,) bliss. 
 
 9. Topaz, (flame,) joy of the Lord. 
 
 10. Chrysoprase, (azure,) peace that passeth understanding. 
 
 11. Jacinth, (purple,) ) r r . , 
 
 „„ . , , V x f promises of future glory. 
 
 12. Amethyst, (purple,) ) r b J 
 
 Of course, only a part of these colors can be used by the 
 blackboard delineator, and he cannot always use them with 
 their appropriate symbolism ; but colors have always been 
 types, and some understanding of their import is almost a 
 necessity to any one who would use the blackboard successfully. 
 
 The symbolism of color is still more exhibited in Mrs. Jame- 
 son's " Legendary Ait." 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 195 
 
 Table of Blackboard Alphabets for Lettering. 
 
 ABCDEFGHIJKLM 
 
 NOPQRSTUVWXYZ 
 
 ABCDEFGHIJKLM 
 NOPQRSTUVWXYZ 
 
 abcdefghijklmnopq 
 
 rstuvwxyz&, ;:.!?' 
 
 12 34567890 
 
 F8HIJKLHD 
 
 IFORSTU 
 
 tfiifi 
 
 M 
 
 11 
 
 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.,j;I? , ~ 
 
 .A. IB ODE3PGHIJKL 
 
196 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 -A. IB CDEFG 
 
 h: i a" k: Xj im: isr o 
 
 F QRSTTJV 
 "WXTZ.,;:!?' 
 1234567890 
 
 a b ede f gli t j'k lniflo () q r s t 
 
 ABCDEFGHIJKL 
 M NOPQRSTUVW 
 XYZ.,;:-?!'i23456789o 
 
 BCDEFGHIJKL 
 
 I©PlESfl¥W 
 XYZ1 2:H5078JM> 
 
THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 197 
 
 AB CDBFGHIJK 
 LM N OPQ, RSTU V 
 "WXYZ1234567890 
 
 A B 
 
 t t t * 
 
 QMTDVWXY 
 
 ABCDEFGHIJKL 
 MNOPQKSTUVW 
 XYZ&1234567890 
 
 *1M .,;:?!'-1 2340'B7$ 
 
 I JUJLII 
 IQPQBST8VVIU 
 
198 
 
 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 
 
 ABCDEFGHIJK I, H 
 NOPQRSTUVWXY 
 
 Z.,$:'-!?1234567890 
 
 & : 'f € § « | # i 1 1 f f Iff 
 
 9 • f 4.S f f « v w J f » 
 
 ABCDEFGHIJKLMN 
 OPQRSTU VWXYZ 
 
 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU 
 VWXYZ&?!1234567890 
 
 abcdefghij klmn 
 op q_:rst"u.vw:xyz& 
 
 .,;:?!'-1234567890 
 
 Note. — For farther varieties in lettering, or for minute directions in regard 
 to it, one should examine "The Art of Lettering," by A. P. Boyce, published 
 by A. Williams & Co., Boston, or "The Sign Painter's Manual," one or the 
 other of which is owned by every Bign painter. Printing offices, also, will 
 afford further alphabets if desired from their catalogues of type foundries. 
 
INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE 
 
 INTERNATIONAL LESSONS FOR 1877. 
 
 The second passage of Scripture referred to in each case is the Golden Text for the day. 
 
 LBssoisrs. 
 
 The Kingdom of Israel— First Quarter, 1877. 
 
 1. The Kingdom Divided. 1 Kings xii. 12-20. Golden Text: 1 Kings xii, 8; Psalm i, 1. 
 
 Pages 80, 81, 83, 87, 96, 101, 160 
 
 2. The Sin of Jerobo.am. 1 Kings xii, 25-33. 1 Kings xiv, 16 101, 187, 178 
 
 3. Omri and Ahab. 1 Kings xvi, 23-34. 2 Tim. iii, 13 170 
 
 4. Elijah the Tishbite. 1 Kings xvii, 1-16. Job v, 20 127, 169, 175 
 
 5. Elijah and Ahab. 1 Kings xviii, 5-18. Josh vii, 25 183 
 
 6. Elijah and the Prophets of Baal. 1 Kings xviii, 19-29. 1 Kings xviii, 21 143 
 
 7. Elijah and his Sacrifice. 1 Kings xviii, 36^6. 1 Kings xviii, 24 i 52 ' 1 ^ g ^ ^ 
 
 8. Elijah at Horeb. 1 Kings xix, 8-18. Job xxiii, 6 116' 130^ 165 
 
 9. The Story of Naboth. 1 Kings xxi, 4-14. 1 Kings xxi, 20 37, 76, 170 
 
 10. Elijah Translated. 2 Kings ii, J-12. Gen. v, 24 37, 143, 181 
 
 11. The Spirit on Elisha. 2 Kings ii, 13-25. 2 Kings ii, 15 113, 117, 159, 175, 178 
 
 12. Review, or Lesson selected by the School. Psalm lxxv, 7 46, 6S, 69, 144, 165, 166, 167 
 
 The Kingdom of Israel— Second Quarter, 1877. 
 
 1. The Oil Increased. 2 Kings iv, 1-7. 2 Cor. ix, 8 26, 63, 85, 110, 156 
 
 2. The Shunammite's Son. 2 Kings iv, 25-37. Matt, xv, 28 136, 147 
 
 8. Naaman the Leper. 2 Kings v, 1-14. Psalm li, 7 j 75 ' ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 4. Gehazi the Leper. 2 Kings v, 20-27. Prov. xv, 27 j 146 "H7 m rrl IS* 
 
 5. Elisha at Dothan. 2 Kings vi, 8-18. 2 Kinsrs vi, 16 79, S3', 12s', 153,' 176' 182 
 
 6. The Famine in Samaria. 2 Kings vii, 12-20. Luke xviii, 27 125 
 
 7. Jehu the King. 2 Kings x, 20-31. 2 Kings x, 31 172 
 
 8. Jonah at Nineveh. Jonah iii, 1-10. Matt, xii, 41 31, 116, 125 
 
 9. The Death of Elisha. 2 Kings xiii, 14-21. Heb. xi, 4 21, 107, 182 
 
 10. The Lamentation of Amos. Amos v, 1-15. 1 Chron. xxviii, 9 128 
 
 11. The Promise of Revival. Hosea xiv, 1-9. Hosea xiii, 9 11, 36, 37, 88, 97, 139, 155 
 
 12. The Captivity of Israel. 2 Kings xvii, 6-18. 2 Kings xviii, 12 101 , 133, 135 
 
 13. Review Lesson, (with Nahum i, 1-13.) Nahum i, 3 i JeV^f 'S "^ ^ 
 
 Studies in the Acts-Third Quarter, 1877. 
 
 1. Panl at Cyprus. Acts xiii, 1-13. Acts xiii, 12 93, 94, 107, 109, 110, .173 
 
 2. Paul at Antioch. Acts xiii, 26-41. Acts xiii, 32 126, 138, 150, 170, 179 
 
 3. Turning to the Gentiles. Acts xiii, 42-52. Matt, xii, 21 146 
 
 4. Paul at Lystra. Acts xiv, 8-20. Jer. x, 10 145 
 
 5. The Yoke Broken. Acts xv, 22-31. Gal. v, 1 91, 136 
 
 6. Paul sent to Macedonia. Acts xvi, 1-15. 2 Cor. ii, 12 137, 161, 163, 176, 1S7 
 
 7. Paul and Silas in Prison. Acts xvi, 22-34. Psalm xl, 3 66, 153, 161, 184 
 
 8. Thessalonians and JBereans. Acts xvii, 1-14. Acts xvii, 11 98, 134, 140 
 
 9. Paul at Athens. Acts xvii, 22-34. 1 Tim. ii, 5 26, 107, 129, 173 
 
 10. Paul at Corinth. Acts xviii, 1-11. Rom. xii, 11 86, 115 
 
 11. Paul at Ephesus. Acts xix, 1-12. 1 Thess. i, 5. 117, 178 
 
 12. Power of the Word. Acts xix, 17-28. Heb. iv, 12. 108, 139, 161, 170 
 
 13. Paul at Miletus. Acts xx, 17-32. 2 Cor. iv, 5 : 118, 
 
 14. Review, or Lesson selected by the School. Col. iii, 23. . . . -j 42 ' ^^ isi^^iil' 1$& 
 
200 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Studies in the Acts— Fourth Quarter, 1877. 
 
 Paul at Cesareu. Acts xxi, S-15. Acts xx, 24 Pajre 171 
 
 Paul at Jerusalem. Acts xxi. 27-39. John xv, 20 105, 149, 177, 180 
 
 Paul and the Bigoted Jews. Acts xxii. 17-30. Matt, xxiii, 13 172 
 
 Paul before the Council. Acts xxiii, 1-11. Acts vi. 10 141 
 
 Paul before Felix. Acts xxiv, 10-25. Acts xxiv, 25 100, 117 
 
 Paul before Agrippa. Acts xxvi, 6-20. Acts xxvi, 19 -j 29 ' ^ i^ 135^145 m Yi 
 
 Almost Persuaded. Acts xxvi, 21-29. Acts xxvi, 28 88, 89, 119, 155 
 
 Paul in the Storm. Acts xxvii. 14-26. Psa. Ivi, 3 123, 124, 125, 163, 165 
 
 The Deliverance. Acts xxvii, 33-44. Psa. cvii, 30 151. 1 7S 
 
 Paul in Melita. Acts xxviii, 1-10. Rom. i, 14 99, 100. 127 
 
 Paul at Rome. Acts xxviii, 16-31. Rom. i, 15, 16 14-16, 163, 172 
 
 Paul's Last Words. 2 Tim. iv, 1-8. 2 Tim. iv, 7 -| f^ 9 ^ 1 ns^fc Ysi 
 
 Review, or Lesson selected by the School. Phil, iii, 8 j ^ 5 U1^L66? 167,' m 
 
 

YB 45219