New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-07-26
C1vP.UEEYTNGS.

The annual camp-meeting season. which Is
becoming a feature of both our social and
religious life, opened last week at Round Lake,
and will continue through this month and
August at Chatauqua, the Thousand Isles,
etc., successfully. For one or two years THE
TRIBUNE, finding that religious papers were
silent on the subject, has called attention TO
the abuses common at these, places. The OBJ
iect of camp-mectings was, no doubt, good III
the beginning, but it has been greatly per-
verted. The crowds of devotional attendants
were followed each year by larger crowds OF
iders, and worse than idlers; the worsbippers
themselves too often suffered their devotion to
degenerate into q sort Of hystcTical intoXica-
ton. The more staid and rational among
Christians agreed with us that the forced
mixture of fervOr and fun, sanctiiication and
salt-bathing, Irritation and repentance. was
dangerous. Very few men or women, whether
old or young could keep the lines drawn with
decency aud dccOrum, and too few did it.
During the present season we learn that
there has been a most wholesome change
i'm tins respect. The services at Round Lake
are but little emotional in character; they are
rather meetings OF earnest Sunday school teach
struction. Textbooks have been compiled,
regular normal classes are formed; the course
embraces Bible scientific and theOoglc study;
even, we are told, going rs far as instruction
in the ancient Greek and Latin. This latter
item seems to Us supertluOus, as the amount
of knowledge of the ancient languages to be
picked up ny man in fortnight in the
woods is not likely to be very seryiceable in
the saving of souls. The other course is both
rational and wise. The teaching OF children
is the chief means by which the cause of the
Christian religion is to be strengthened, and
ii has long been left too much in the hands OF
young incompetent lads and girls. Now that
tbe adult members of the church arc taxi
ing ND the work and giving up their
one holy day in the year to learn humbly.
prayerfully and thoroughly how to do it,
there is reasonable ground to hope that it
will be properly done.
There are however. two or three practical
points which they should not leave out of
sight Fir.tly, the class which they will teach.
The Sunday scholar is, on ought to be, IL child
| who can receive religious instruction nowhere
else. Children OF Christian parents should be
taught at home. 1t. is by the uncounted
thousands of ignorant little waits which swarm
| in our streets and alleys that these schools
should be principally filed. Secondly, that
ancient Greek or Latin, Old Testament, his
tory or science is not what they need, but the
simple broad truths of Christianity, taught by
man or woman, with strength and tender
ness, to move the heart to their rccep
ton. The teacher who most closely
follows the method of Jesus will be the most
successful in doing this, and to follow that
method he must know how to approach every
phase of human nature, with portion of the
brotherly love, the insight, the infinite SYM
patty of the Great Teacher. hlr. Vincent for
the credit of the change in the camp-meeting
work is attributed to him) does we'll to train
his teachers. to give them system and knowl-
edge of facts. But we hope he does not for
get to teach them that system and knowledge
are but small part of the power which they
must bring to bear on the heavy weight that
| lies ready for them TO lift.