The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-11-08

| rays OF truth Wnlcn give beauty anu io'eii-
ness to its expanding powers. Besides, in
this way, you will preoccnpy the virgin
soil of the heart. and thus give truth the
vantage ground, before the dark clouds Of
sin and error cast their shadows upon it,
In the second place. religious instruction
should adcance oith the increased capacity Of
tile child. AS soon as the mind is capable
of receiving them, all the great leading
facts and fundamental principles of the
Bible should be inculcated. The child
should be taught the History, Geography,
and Chronology of the Bible; 1t should be
made acquainted with the character of the
leading personages of the Bible; with the
history of Creation, and of the Fall and
Redemption of man; with the evangelical
doctrines of the Gospel; the nature and
obligation of the holy Sacramento; and the
doctrine of future rewards and punish
ment. These great truths lie at the foun-
dation of the religious system of the Bible,
and sustain the same relation to religious
education, that the elementary branches of
cation. And, as with the latter, SO with
the former, first principles should be incul-
Gated as forming the basis of all subse
quent attachments.
In the third place, as the powers of the
mind are still farther developed by increas-
ed age and cultivation, the reason and
ground of those principles should be unfolded
and explained. Religious truth should not
to rest on mere ipss-dirct. The Evidence of
the truth should be brought out and made
clear to the mind. Thus our young people
would become "Iooted and grounded in
ed that in adopting the religious system of
the Bible, they had "not followed cum
nngly devised fables"
But how does the case stand now? Do
the people generally believe in the Bible as
the word of God? Perhaps they do. But
why? Because they have examined the
evidence in the case, and are thereby con-
WINGED of its truth? Nay, verify: small
the Bible simply because their fathers
believed it before them, and taught them
to believe also. Thus the popular faith
amounts to little more than blind credul-
ity. Men give their assent to the truths of
religion, they scarcely know why. And
this accounts, to a large extent, for the
superficial influence of those truths on the
popular mind. 1t accounts also for much
of the skeptcism so rife in the present day,
and the ease with which many persons
throw off all religious restraint. The
great principles of religious truth have
never found Judgment in the depths OF
hold on that truth understandingly and
from conviction. Its real beauty, majesty,
and power, they have never seen nor felt.
Hence it's influence for good has been fee
BILE and short lived.
But who is to give the needed instruc-
tion9 The responsibility rests, first, on the
parent. Some parents fail to do their duty
in this matter, simply for the want of
disposition. But we beg leave to remind
such parents that their indisposition to
this duty is no valid excuse for lis neglect.
In assuming the relation Of Il parent, you
necessarily assume all the responsibilities
that belong to that relation. Nor can those
responsibilities be avoided by any indispo-
sition on your part to meet them. Indeed
| the reasons why parents should give relig
ious instruction to their children, are of
binding force, because the word of God
makes it imperative. God said to his an
cient people, ''These words which | COM
mand thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
and thou shalt teach them diligently
unto thy children, and shalt talk Of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, and when thou
Hest down, and when thou riseth up
Paul says, "Parents provoke not your
children to wrath, but bring them up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord"
In writing to Timothy, he says-"From
child thou hast known the holy Scriptures,
| which are able to make thee wise unto sal
Jesus" Paul also refers to the unfeign-
ed faith that dwet in Timothy's grand
mother Lois, and his mother Eunice," by
whom, doubtless, he had been instructed
in the "holy Scriptures. Besides all this,
the parent can enter into the feelings of
the child as no one else can. The mutual
confidence and sympathy that exists be-
tween the parties, gives the parent great
advantages in this respect. And he is
bound, by every consideration Of love, and
religion, and good citizenship, to see that
his children do not grow up in ignorance
of God, and of the great truths that per
tain to experimental and practical piety.
In fact, every family in which there are
children, should be school for religious
instruction, in which the parents, and es-
pecially the mother, should be the teacher;
the children, the scholars; the Bible, the
text book; with the catechism and such
other books as wisdom and experience may
suggest.
The responsibility Of instructng the
minister. 90 Feed my lambs" said Jesus
to Peter. But what was Peters duty in
this regard, can hardly be less the duty of
Peters successors in the ministry. But
here very serious difficulty confronts us.
We look out upon the congregation to
see the Glands - of the flock, but they are
not present, few only excepted. By
some strange oversight, or something else,
we scarcely know what, parents, in many
instances, allow their children to be absent |
from the public worship of God on the
Sabbath, thus failing to teach them duo
regard for the sanctity Of the Lords day, |
and due reverence for the house and wor
ship of God; thus failing also to bring |
them under the influence of those means
God himself has appointed for their souls
health, and their proper training in Il
knowledge of divine things. The duty of
parents to provide food and raiment for
their children, is not more imperative than !