The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1839-07-13
MISC ELL A N f O y S
Robert Hall's advice to Sabbath
School Teachers

While we insist on the absolute necessity OF an
ocon,int,nce with the word of God we are equal
lv convinced il is but an instrument which like
every other, requires hand to WELD it, and that
imnortant as it is in the order of means, the Spr-
| il IF Christ only can make it effectual, whose
aid ought therefore to be earnestly invoked
for that purpose. Open mine eyes, saith the Psal-
mist, and I shall behold aconderouS things out OF
Win lasO. We trust it will be your care who have
the conduct of the school we are recommending
to the patronage of this audience, to impress on
these children deep conviction of their radical
corruption and of the necessity of the agency OF
the Spirit, to render the knowledge they acquire,
practical and experimental. In Tie morning, Soac
yolr Seed in the epening 1vHhh0d not yoatr hands,
int remember that neither he that SO1ceth, nor he
thai acatercM is anything, ii is God that gireth
the increase. BE not satisfied with making them
read lesson, or repeat prayer. BY every thing
tender and solemn in religion ; by a due admixture
Of the awful considerations drawn from the pros
pect of death and Judgment, with others of more
pleasing nature, aim to fix serious impressions
on their hearts. Aim to produce a religious con-
Germ, carefully watch its progress, and endeavor to
conduct it to prosperous issue. Lead them to
the footstoo of the Savior, teach them to rely, as
guilty creatures, on his merits alone, and to COM
nit their eternal interest entirely into his hands
Let the salvation of these children be the object ;
to which every word of your instructions, every
exertion fyour authority, is directed. Despise
the profane clamor, which would deter you from
attempting to render them serious, from an appre-
henson of its making them melancholy, not doubt
ing for moment, that the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom, and that the path 10 true
happiness lies through purity, humility, and devo-
ton. Mediate the worth of souls: mediate
L. 4h,, tba off m
uncomfortable value and eternal duration. While
the philosopher wearies hmsefwit endless spec
ulations on their physical properties and nature,
while the politician only contemplates the social
arrangements of mankind and the shifting forms
ofpolicy, fix your attention on the individual i'm
portance of man, as the creature of God, and a
candidate for Immortality. Let it be your high
est ambition to train up these children for an I'M
changing condition of being. Spare no pains to
recover them to the image of God; render famil-
lar to their minds, in all its extent, the various
branches of that holiness without which none shall
see the Lord Inculcate the obligation, and en-
deavor to inspire the love of that recttude which
was with God before time began, was embodied in
the person of his Son and, in its lower communi-
cations, will survive every sublunary change,
emerge in the dissolution of all things, and be i'm
pressed, in refugen characters, on the new heavens
ana the neWearln m 1cHicN 0lcelet3 T2SHteoaSHcSS
Pray often with them, and for them, and remind
them of the mconceivable advantage attached toI
that exercise. Accusom them to punctua and
reverential attendance at the house of God insist
on their sanctifcation of the Sabbath, by such a
disposition Of time, as is suitable to a day of rest
and devotion. Survey them with a vigilant and
tender eye, checking every appearance of an evil
and depraved disposition the moment it springs
up, and encouraging the dawn of piety and virtue.
By thus training them up in the ray they should
go, you may reasonably hope that, mden old, they
tcW not depart from it.