Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1861-09-20
SUNDAY SCHOOL ADDRESS.
BY REV. A. A. MINER.

the'AIh yOus Ohllhl NAi1 lOA bAiI l'iA IN
Of looking on your faces. owe more
to you than you to me. The satisfaction
you give me every Sabbath, when | meet
you in my own and neighboring schools,
and look upon your faces, is more than
can express. There is family in the
street in which | live who have a little
boy, too young to have been allowed to
play out of doors formerly, but who is
now old enough to be out, and meet him
very often. He gives me his hand, and
| chat with him. A few days ago l met
him in the street with three or four 9TH
ers. When we came to my house | ask
ed him to 20 in. lie said, / will il
you want me to. Mother said | might if
you asked me- All how this answer
reminded me Of my neglect had new
er asked him before. invited him in.
lie went up into the parlor. A little
book was on the table, containing Scrip
turo readings for every day. He said,
! have such book al home,' and he
held it in his hands while we chatted TO-
gethec, till he started 10 so home, and had
reached the door, when suddenly he said,
Oh here is your book; | bad almost
forgotten it, was pleased with his
simplicity and he taught me lesson,
never to forget to ask little boys and
girls to 90 in; and a useful lesson it is.
One of our ministers wrote to me, re-
Gently, that he had Sabbath School Of
three hundred and seventy-fve pupils;
and when | asked him how it had been
accomplished, he said, We ask the chill
dren in. and they come. And ! remem-
Der what the Master said, Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and will give you rest;' and what he
said to children, Suffer them to come
unto me, and forbid them not, fer of such
is the kingdom of heaven and see
that the Savior asked little children TO
come in. Now, suppose we do so, and
ask the children into our Sabbath Schools |
would they not come? We should soon
pick up those in the streets, and when
we had them there, we would train them
an important thing-and we would
have training days. Even little chile
needs to be trained before it can walk
and if it falls once or twice, it is all the
while learning, getting its muscles into
working order. Such training is need
ed for no child can use its power at
first.
And we need this training as applied
to everything. 1t is discipline TO help
us. There is not perhaps, boy in the
country ten years old who cannot use a
hammer, and hit a nail on the head but
if little girl should try, she could do
nothing. This is not because she is
girl, but because she is not used to dri-
wing nails SO the boy goes to the barn,
and learns to thresh with his father, and
handles his fail with great dexterity;
but let a girl try, and the first blow
would be on her own head, not on the
grain. But give girl her knitting or
sewing needles, and she can use them,
while the boy cannot. The reason is, not
because one is a boy andtbe other a girl,
but because of training. The musi-
elan acquires nmbeness in the use o.
his fingers, in playing on the organ, and {
with infinite ease he sweeps the keys on S
he board before him. Or, 90 into a pic
ure gallery studded with paintings, and n
ook at the pieces there displayed. Per- $
Iaps all look alike to you; but an artist
comes along, and he detects delicacies !
md beauties which you cannot see. And !,
when he tells you there is something |
grand in this picture, and something ma t
estic in that, and something domestic in c
, third, you think he is boasting; but it
5 because his eye is trained to see beau q
les which others cannot see. II
You heard, few months ago, Of the c
youthful commander Of a military com =
,any, who visited Boston, and aslonished /,
be people by the driH of his soldiers p
hat noble young man, the news Of whose J
leath has Just reached us, filled Us with :
Mourning. 1t was superior training that Z
ccomplished this. And so with all drill! Il
t gives skill in the evolutions of the ii
ieId, that, in the CONSERVATION of battle, 81
II may be able to obey with precision -
he orders of their officer. So you come I
o the Sabbath School to be trained for i.
fe. And this is your May muster and n
ad it not been for the rain, it would '
ave turned out well. But we will not ;,
omplain it is well as it is. And this {,
raining which you are getting in the n
abbath School, is the best thing for you. Z
,ome labor for impossibilities. Some c,
re dishonest, and try to appear honest; "