Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-01-15
Sunday School Concert.

sunday SCHOOL concert.
The annual concert Of the Sunday School
connected with Rev. Mr.. Lords church in
this Village, occurred last Sabbath evening.
The Hall was crowded to its full capacity by
an interested audience, many outside of the
ordinary congregation being in attendance.
The exercises of the evening were exceedingly
interesting, and the singing by the choir and
children, under Mr.. Hopkins direction, was
especially excellent. The Superintendent,
Mr.. Hopkins-who deserves great praise for
the energy, persistence, faithfulness and
Christian zeal he has always exhibited in
performing the duties of his office, read
very valuable report of which we need not
speak further. we give it entire below.
DR.. Clement, Of Norwich, who occupied the
pulpit in the morning, and Mr.. Storrs also
made interesting remarks. The school was
never in a more prosperous condition than at
present.
MR.. HoPKINss REPORT.
The Sabbath School is so much one of the
permanent institutions of our time, and a sub
iect SO familiar to our minds and intimate
ly associated with our our idea of the Church,
the study of Gods word and the training of
children for the skies, that we find it difficult
to realize but what its life is long as that of
the Church-that from the time of the apos-
ties until now it has been the handmade of
the Church in its work for the redemption of
the world. Though the facts upon these
: points are within easy range of all who have
the desire to know them and NAV not be of
interest to many who hear me, have never
theless thought it worth while to give them
for the of the younger persons present.
And when they shall know them | doubt
not the Sabbath School will seem to them as
to me, like the stone which the Babylonian
king saw in his dream. . Cut out of the
mountain without hands ''-comincnced as
it was in such weakness and obscurity, and
grown soon to such influence and power.
Its history is briefly this. In 1927 M
tin Luther organized several schools IN Ger
religious, were instituted that the children
8 might thereby be better able to read the
Scriptures" How long these schools re-
manned. | cannot tell you. Toward the close
of the 10th century school was organized
in the cathedral Mt Milan. In 1868, a good
and pious curate in Catterick, Yorkshire.
was fanatcal as to think that the children
of the poor might be taught something, and
SO he met them in the church an hour before
afternoon service. and taught them in NOR
she taught reading and writing. About the
same time Miss Harrison, friend of the
curate and his wife, having seen their school
and witnessed its workings, started one in
her own kitchen. She proved so popular
that her room soon became too small for her
whole school at once, and she was obliged to
have a succession of schools all in the same
day. In this way she spent nearly the whole
: Sabbath excepting when in attendance ut
fobn Sha cd bar lis nj
shorter catechism, and also taught them
hymns.
But the modern Sunday School, having for
its object the spiritual improvement of its
members and their instruction in the way
? of life, is generally attributed to Robert
| Raikes, of Gloucester, England. Noticing
the ignorance and indecency of the children
which thronged the streets, he in 17Sl en-
ployed several women and set them to teach
; ing, in different parts of the town, such chill
dren as he should send them. For their ser
I vices he stipulated to pay shilling day.
One Of his teachers said of her work and her
compensation, - it is but little they pays me,
and it is but little | teaches them Poor
woman. She little dreamed what n super
structure was to be reared upon the founda-
ton which she and her companions were
then laying. The enterprise grew in favor,
E and in the next two wears schools had sprung
who like some of our teachers was an editor
and publisher, printed an article upon the
: subject of Sabbath Schools. And this it j.
, said, was the real commencement Of the Sab
bath School movement Among the most
prominent of Mr.. Rakes' adherents in his
, noble work, was a young Quaker, who when
eighteen years of age established a school, in
:, which he had ninety scholars, and taught
them himself About thirty years later this
I nv IN
this country. and died here in 1898
In 1885 a London merchant. named VIM.
; Fox, organized the % Society for promoting
Sunday Schools in the British Dominions, :
t and in 1856 it was estimated that there
t were $50 900 children in the Sabbath Schools
in Great Britain. In 1861 there were in
Great Britain and Ireland $40 900 teachers
and 3 900 900 pupils in the various schools.
! Think of tin eighty years-within the
lifetime of many single pcrson-this work
commenced almost without cause purpose,
n carried to such success But this is only
: the European side Of it. In order to get a
; full appreciation of the magnitude of the
work we must also look at the american
o aspect of it.
f We have bare mention of the fact that a
e school on the Sabbath was established in
Roxbury, Mass, about the year l674 In
1856 Bishop Asburv, of Virginia, established
Il
in 1871 the first school was instituted in
Philadelphia. In Appleton's Encyclopedia
- it is stated that, in the year 1913, a poor
African woman named Katy Ferguson, with
) out knowing any thing OF Robert Raikes OF
y of Sunday Schools, started the first one in
), New York city. Think for moment of the
A teeming thousands who now attend the Sab
bath Schools of that great city-of their fine
- rooms, their hymns and music, and then OF
d this humble black woman, and the utter
of contrast scarcely be greater? 1t il
) and two put ten thousand to flight
re The first exclusively religious school il
,e Massachusetts, was commenced by Young
lady, at Beverly, in 1905. The first schoo
in connection with any church was began al
5 Pittsburgh Penn, in 1909 From this tim,
d forth the Sabbath School enterprise became
It one of rapid growth and extension The
organization of the first school in Vermont
= seems to lie between Greensboro and Middle
70 bury One was started in each of these
% towns in 1873. Which was first is moi
IT known Both were under the auspices o
n our denomination. The pupils in our schools
now number over II 900. The Greensboro
:, school was commenced under the superin
tendence Of Col. Washburn, who was sub
IS sequently teacher in this school In 1SIt
'. the New York Sunday School Union wa.
y, formed and eight years after the Amer lear
" Sunday School Union. In 1861 it was es
v timared that there were in the United State,
1t 1000, 900 Sunday School pupils, and at thi,
l. day it is believed the number cannot be lcss
than 900 600 Wonderful results from the
- most bumbl and obscure arenciaS Glori