, 1874-10-18

come rs popular as the pastor has been in h
Tie part Of tho city in which Mr.. FarkhurBt
just commencing his ministerial work for tt
1 next ycar is ono in which he will be able to 0,
hibit much Of his executive and organizfn
talent, since it is rapidly increasing In populn
tion, while the church eociely ia young, thrift,
and full OF plastic material to be nodded into
very strong and influential organization.
= PRoF. SWINGS WEDNESDAY EVEN
ING LECTURE.
The Wednesday evening p1ayer-mceting 4
the Fourth Presbyterian Church, cornor of Su
perior and Rush streets, wns not so we'll attend
: cd as usual, owing to the rain. The subject O
Prof. Swings lecture MAS "The Sunday
| School, He said
nil read portion OF Ecc1csiastics this oven
ing:
. Remember thy Creator in tho days Of tn,
youth, while the evil days not, nor the year.
draw nigh when thou shalt say, have no pleasure
| Wills the Sun. or the light. or the moon. or th.
stars ho not darkene nor the clouds roturn nftcr the
| rain.
It is always delightful. in Nature, after &C.
we're storm, to sec the heavens remain clear ;
but if, after heavy rain, when Ne Ill rejoice in
the clear sky, clouds come back again, the heart
sinks. The writer says, Romember thy Crea-
tor" before the duck comes, aud the clouds
| come back after the rain.
| In the day when the keepers OF tho house ah4u
| tzemble, and the strong men shall bow themselves,
| those that lcok ont of the windows be darlcncd
And the doors sha 10 shut In the streets, when the
the voice Of the bird. and all the daughters Of music
| shall be brought low.
Aud when they shall BE- afraid Of that which Is high,
and fears shall be in the way, and tho almond tree
/ shall flourish and tbs gra3shoppeE ahau bo burden,
and desire shall fail because man goeth to his long
home, and the mouzners 60 abont the streets.
Or ever the silver cord ba loo4encd, the goldon
bowl be broken, the pitcher bs broken 1t the FOUL
taip or the wheel broken at the cistorn.
Then shall tho dust return to the earth It wa4,
and the spirit shall roturn unto God who gave 1t.
| have read these verses order to bring be-
fore our minds tonight the general idea taught
| in them that youth is tho great period OF edu-
we pass beyond that division of life, to some ex-
tcut, the sun becomes darkeued to us. the light
OF tho moon and starr becomes dimmed and The
! days = little heavier; the clouds begin to
como back after the rain. and the keepers Of tho
house-that is tho arms, the feet, tho whole
nervous syEtem-beglu to tramble, and cannot
do the amount OF work they once did and man.
hood begins to bow ITSELF We become stoop-
shoulderod, and the looking out Of the windows
ts obscured-the eye begins to fail. The whole
chapter s i beautiful summing up OF tho charms
aud the usefulness of youtn-the growing
period, the formation period OF Tue mind and Of
the soul.
The word " Remember is itself poetic
God in the heart, rather than trying to reach
some intellectual conception Of Him, the words
following, ~ In tho days OF thy YOUTH" show
ing its meaning. It is not expected that chill
or q deep thinker would; and hence when the !
rori - remember le used in connection with |
these days Of youth, it means loro rather than |
thought or study. Remember ,sop thy |
Crestor." receive Him with thy heart, is |
ference, too, between remember" and
recollection" Recollection is a mere
intellectual word, and it means simply to keep
in mind past events. Thus you rccollect his
tory ,o out You rem remember your friend
but you remember your mother and your coun-
try And thus the Christian writer, after going
over eleven chapters embracing the various du-
ties Of life, in this last chapter sums them all
days of youth to see to it that his heart becomes
szell filed With the Creator.
Now, if youth bs the great forming period,
and if this remembering the Creator be ono of
spring the life of the Snnday-school- point
% which wish to direct yonr attention tonight.
These tHo simple premises-that we must learn
% lore our Creator, and not be continually
nnkng H;a about am reasoning snt about Hun
earn to lore Him, and must have our
aearts filled with this sentiment in youth
Jul days--form the great basis OF tho
snndar-school,; and this topic think should
:ome before this church this evening and an
,ther evening. It should be- thoroughly IN
that VIC all nlny appreciate tho worth
If tho whole Sabbath-school movemen!,-
avery ono may appreciate his or her relation to
he duty that springs out of it.
This Sabbath-school movement is compara- |
irely new. It is one Of the movements that haze ,
pruag night out of the ben~Tolence of our | t
century. The great maxim revealed in the very t
EARLIEST part Of the Bible is that you should lore
our brother" Where is thy brother ?"-and :
hat great principle runs all through the Bible t
nd seems to grow larger aud larger until the i
'avlor came and died tor tho human race-and | c
lnally Developed itself into this 6unday-scboo1 J
|fe- II is nothing else than the lore of the 9
lder for tho younger.-the outburst of 1oyiug
are, one of the great forms of bepeYoIence.
Our century eoon began to remember that 4
reat principle that you should care for. your =
eishbor. Hence it began to pursuo these
arions paths Of regard for ones feiIow-creature;
began to f1ee slares; it began to visit prisons,
0 see that justice was done-that no one was | y
utfering from, gross cruelty; ii began to think u
the orphan, and OF the deaf and dumb, and to i,
uild asylums for them; it began to think of c
he nnclo.hed in the streets, and founded night =
choois and raEged-schools; aud, following this n
reat principle Of Jeans Christ, that every one !.
|lould love his neighbor, it came straight y
, the ,sunday-school where, the youth t.
ighest form OF truth. even the way Of q
zlvation. So that what We call tho Sunday Z
:hool is founded in one OF the noblost princi- b
leg, not only of the Bible aud of Christianity,
ut Of human nature; and hence the world ~
ould never take it back. The Sunday. school is {:
III OF the beautiful fruits Of high Christian b.
&C
One reason why wish to speak Of it in this y
ay is. that good many have doubted the value e. e.
the sunday-school; and you would infer, es es
'en from the feehloness Of the schools, from 4,
"a ungillingnesa Of teachers to come, and to b.
az, and to work, that that doubt is quite zen m
al. But feel perfectly willing to cootend II
at the Sunday-school is in every sense OF Ct
9 word one OF tho strongest arms Of as ~
liglon,-of Christianity,-fro the rea- q. az
M I have given It takes the heart Is
youth, when it can be shaped. Tint ia its fri
eat secret. But there arc those who hare oD- | 80
'sed Sunday-schools- in other denom- nj
atoms have opposed them, and others have xs Ts
ubted their worth-opposed them On the Ge ;n,
ound that they take the children away from u, Je
cir home-training, Ginning that, as Sunday ~
hools increase, the old 1ome-trainins de- IT,
TIL = |