American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1858-07-16

"etei 10 loIHieH, anu unfeSS formed with
reference to morality and christian
virtue, the individual must inevitably
fallinto the errors of sin and wicked
ness. The pen of inspiration confirms
the same truth, I" Train up child in
the way he should go and whom he is
old, he will not depart from it,"
All human wisdom and experience
concur in assigning youth as the sea-
son Tor improvement:--but neglect
this GLORIOUS season; allow the young
to 60 unresfrained on the broad ocean
of life, to encounter the waves of folly
and the quicksands of passion, without
the helm of truth and the guiding star
OF virtue,--prone as mankind are to
evil, you but launch o bark with a
certain knowledge of it's destruction.
"This principle is frequently recog-
nized by men of the world, who 'are
in their generation wiser than the chill
dren of light in carrying out their
own unholy and corrupt schcmngs.-
Cataline, when seeking to undermine
the Liberties of the Roman people, and
the Grecian tyrant when aiming at the
subsection of his country, sought among
the young for the instruments of their
dark and reasonable designs" And in
modern times, it is by an infamous sys-
TEN of education, whereby the mind is
not allowed the exercise Of its free mo.
raj agency, that the Jesuits riot amid
the regal spleEdors, and sway the scep-
tres OF European courts and through
which also, the church of Rome rules
absolutely the destinies of oppressed
millions, over whom her moral despot-
ism is extended. In view of these facts
then, how important is it that the seeds
of a religious education be implanted
in the youthful mind, that it may be
nurtured for eternity.
We may consider this institution in
another view, and wherein consists in
the main its greatest ciliciepcy-it is
powerful auxiliary to the Christian
Church. 1t trains the young immortal
/ for the reception Of Divine truth in
Iriper years. 1T begetS in his bosom a
holy reverence for the sacredness Of
religion; and finally, by the aid of
grace from the one eternal source, it
leads to the piles Of the church with a
balm for every wound, q consolation
for affliction's darkest hour, and hope
lot glorious eternity beyond the re-
iglons of illimitable space. ~. ..
| There as yet another feature of this
institution which should not be passed
Eunnoticed--" its bearings on civil So
ciety, in the prevention of crime. -
Wholesome laws and severe punish
ments are but slow ways of reforming
1.-THE world; the most compendious me.
thod is by early religious education"
says an old writer.
The true idea of civil government is
corresponding in its nature, as the
maxim Is not to enact laws somuch for
the punishment of crime as for its pre-
vention. "Any thing therefore which
has for Its object the suppression of
CRIME, tends to promote the great ends
fof civil government" But tho Sab.
bath School does more than all ,this--
Ilt has higher aim than the mere re-
sstralnlng of the passions& the check
ing OF cruelty and violence 1T seeks
to raise man to his highest dignity-to
Eplace him amid all the onjoyments
flowing from his connection with we'll
regulated civil and social system, and
to assist him in carrying out the design
tor which he was created, the "glori-
flying of him whose image he is."
l. We can but view with feelings Of "a
mazement and delight the moral gran
deur of this institution, when we con-
slider the uniycrsality of its aims. 1t
does not seek to confer it's blessings
upon a single town.. county orState, or
to limit its range to the confines of a
particular nation. No; its "Geld is
the world'-its object the salvation of
all men. "All classes and conditions
are the subjects Of it's comprehensive
beneyolence." Millions are numbered
in its connection and the time is an.
ticipated by the not over sanguine,
when by the indefatigablc exertion of
its sacred energies, it can look down
from the bleak realms of arctic and e.
ternal SHOWS, to the arid plains and the
burning deserts Of the tropics from
where the morning sun first grcets the
eastern hill, to where it sinks to rest
behind the western wave, and behold
the grand and imposing spectacle of
regenerated world.
Such, then, is the Sabbath School.
From its very nature it cannot become
subservient to purposes Of selfish.
ness, or motives Of pecuniary interest.
~ seeks mo yain. glorious dicplay' Of
pride, or pomp, or ostentatiob, but en-!
deavors either to cultivate a selfsheri.