Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1824-10-19

that vice which ignorance naturally Eos-
tiers, they are institutions noble as The
sacred charity winch gives them oilgln,
+. and valuable as the blessings which
they are the means OF dispensing.
l here are Plumbers IL every con.mu.
nifty whom the pinchIng erlpe OF perjury
has deprived even of the opportunty of
receiving instruction in The y, bic Tree
schools. There are nun,hers-yss, and
numbers that have not gent beyond child
booG-who are compelled to toll during
the week Tor srbsistenc numbers who
rise up early and lie down late, who lite
rally expend The labor OF their bend and
the sweat oil their brow, to scrape toge-
Their the niggardly farlhngs which clothe
them in rags and feed them with the
coarsest bread.
10 beings OF this wretched classic
children thus doomed to the mos, toll
some,ol labors when they might have
expected the caresses OF paternal iond-
ness--,o children who thus be. ONE
slaves al an age in which m3of hut
the nesiliBgs oi a mothers soiitl5ute---to
beings who thus starye their minds IN
order to keep their bodies from the dust,
Sunday schools proffer the npporlonity
and tender the snvrsiion Of Irstruo ION.
They seek the tamished sufferer in ihe
meanest novels of poverty and The ,ow-
] est Carnivals ri Nervousness. They
take Inn from hauAts whittier human ma.
ture repairs but To degrade itself, and
lead him to aspot IN which ph,lanthropic
youth volunteers in the cause OF ciris.
tlan charity, have assembled to divest
ignorance OF lis gloom and penury Of Us
wretchedness. No employmee, can ho
more godlike, as well as more bench.
cIal, than that OF seeking Tor the children
OF lection, in order to pour IN upon
their minds the Frightening beam!ets OF
knowledge.
( Bn, when Sunday schools are viewed
as the fountains OF religious instruction,
their importance swels before us aud
stretches onwardto eternity. There are
thousands now possessing the faith as il
is in Jesus, and enjoying the hope ota
blisstul immorsIlty, who, had il not
been for Sunday schools, would have
lived bul to blsspheme the Creators sw.
| ful name, and to draw down on them.
selves their Creators eternal maledic-
! ton. Who can doubt that at this very
moment heaven contains many a ran.
somed saint who bends 10 an etstacy Of
10Y before che throne Of his God, and ex-
presses his gratitude for the grace which
| led HIM to a Sunday school!
! Yes, thc Sc ins,iutons are Nurseries
for paradise. They take the infant cres-
ture almost before actual guilt hes been
added to original sin, and Undue his ten-
der mind with the principles and truths
OF religion. They guide his Steps to
Calvary, and point his eye to Calv.ry's
collation. they teach him 10 solicit of
heaven that grace which ia never SID, cree
iy solicited in vain. They initiate bin
into the mysteries OF that scheme OF re-
demetlon which is a monument blending
IN it-elt Whatever Is ~oDderous, whatever
is splendid, and whs,eyer IS holy IN tho
character of God. 10 one word, they
make him a par,akcr of the Religion OF
Christ--a religion IN which our duties
! refine into privIicges-s religion whose
blessings cheer the present life, and
whose promises lay mold on inmortsli-
ty.
| If such be the effects of Sunday
schools, are they NOT cn'ltied to high
rank among the means If grace Op.
they have trained TO holiness, add ush
ed into glory, many OF thnse seraphs
whose notes are now ming ing with 20
song Of Moses and the Lamb. r y
contributed largely to people the m j.
sion. Of the New Jernsalem.-They have
assisted in extending the boundaries Of
the Redeemcr's dominiops, and IL bright
ching the glory Of the Redeemer's tri-
umphs.
Let II not be thought that overvaluo
the exertions of these institutions. Mo-
overva!ue the worth OF SOU which no
yer dies-unless | could overrste tho
importance of an eternity which never
ends.
| 1t is difficult to eradicate settled ha.
bits. 1t IS difficult TO convince the har-
dened offender Of bis guilt, and to mois-
ten bis eye with the tear OF penilencs.
But when the mind is young and its
texture palliable: when il mas MOI vet
been trammelied with customs which
grow stronger as they grow older, then
! it is more easy TO mellow the heart with
a conviction OF sin and lead the sorrow
ing soul to the exercise Of faith in an
In,ercessor's merits. Sunday schools
thus pre-occupy the ground before inf