The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-06-12

iShness, that there is scarcely room for
sense, if the attempt be made to wedge it
in And then torsooth they find fault with
the Sabbath school systems because there
care net more conversions. 1t would seem
that when Robert Eaikes started the Sab
bath school, Satan trembletl, and to cripple
it has devised the plan of inducing doting
fathers and mothers to close mp the avenues
of the soul by securely hedging in the body.
But, say many parents, we are not com.
petent to teach the children these lessons.
Then why remain so longer? Would it not
be more profitable for time and eternity to
cut short useless morning and indolent
afternoon maps on the Sabbath and apprO-
pirate those hours, as well as part of the
week, to their study? Why do we speak
of our schools and intelligence and SO
proudly compare ourselves with them of the
past? And what becomes of the vaunted
boast of the Protestant faith, if the open
Bible is to us after all a sealed hook?
Again, parents iniure the school by not
requiring their children to attend it until
they are men and women grown The
sooner society is diSabused Of the notion
th:lt Sabbath schools are intended only for
children the better for the world. The glory
of the system is that it turns all to the
study of the Word, and presents Il task
never to be fully accomplished during the
life of man. But the sad practice is that
ut that age when the mind is best able 10
grasp its teachings, when the practical
| Judgment can best weigh facts, when the
heart is tender, the conscience readily con
WINGED, and the will persuaded: when the
story Of creation, the plans of providence
and redemption, the miracles, the divinity
of Christ, the trinity of God, and the obi
! cations of the Christian life, are better I'M
derstood, the larger scholars, with the con-
sent of parents leave the school. 1t cannot
be impossible to induce such to continue
members. When parents have faithfully
interested themselves to inspire in their
children love for Bible study and by their
assistance render it 4 delight and not Il
| task, such scholars will not wish to leave.
! Let fathers teach their grown SONS to re-
main members of the Bible class, and. if
needs be, lead themselves the way. oh,
that something would sweep away the alb
sur,l notion that young men can get too old
to attend the Sunday school. So long us Il
boy goes there he will not be likely to fall
into q; wrong course of life. Those young
men who go a>tray, usually do so after they
have left the school. AT that age, when
they are selecting their avocations for life,
when evil companions allure to sin, when
there is u temptation to drink, when the
forces OF good and evil are locked in deadly
holds, let the truths of the Bible continue
to rain upon the soul in order that the
Spirit of the living God may lead them to
choose the right.
! Then, too, we are passing through criti-
cal period. Although open intidelity may
have been checked, yet a more insidious
rationaiSm seek to tear down the pillars of
| Revelation and erect instead Il temple for
Reasons throne. An Ingersoll. not deny
ing the fact of q God, but asserting the exist
/ ence of has ieaSon'S God, would brush away
ut one sweep the whole fabric of Scripture,
rs tit only for the belief of narrow bigots.
! Such doctrines can do no harm to our youth
! if their minds be filled with Il knowledge of,
and reverence for, that Word. As Il rule,
inidels are not found among persons well
/ drilled in the Scripture, but rather among
/ the boaStng ones, whose zeal is far out OF
proportion to their real knowledge. The
best way to solve the problem of morals
and faith for our young men in the future
! will be To make them enthusiastic members
OF the Bible class
/ Again. Home training has not properly
supplemented the teaching of the school.
/ The error of the day is that parents per-
haps unconSciously, suppose that the train
/ ing of The Sunday school releases them from
/ obligation to pursue independent teaching
of their own. If Robert RaikcS intended
that. or if such is to he the effect of the
great movement of the day, better far had
/ he never have been born, and better had
that system to-day he utterly blotted out
and forgotten Our deepest and firmest rri-
sious ideas, whether drawn from the Bible
or human experience, are associated with
/ Mother and Home. The preaching of the
pulpit come pG,cc1uhy to the conscience;
, and that Of the school enliStS the interest of
mental and moral nature, but such teaching
sinks lowest into the springs of our life,
and entwincs itself most closely about our
being, which is watered by Il mothers tears
and sanctiiicd by her prayers. Good sun
day school work needs 10 be backed up by
good home work. The question Tor us to
/ consider is, while we have gained in knowl-
edge and breadth of thought and in more
ready command of the Scriptures have we
4 not lost in that reverence which springs
! from a real love of the subject learned >
I Despite all our advantages, is there not a
/ lack of that reverence for God and fear to
! break his holy law found among the home
/ trained saints who have passed away"
/ Must we confess that we have gained in
/ learning ut the expense of picty" How else
! shall we account for growing irrevcrence in
I the house of God, the want of respect for
old age, and that Indifference to parental
/ commands so characteristic of the youth of
! the period? We are tempted to smile when
| we read of some of the quaint home scenes
of Scotland in the days of old. But our
disposition to laugh passes away when we
! discover that from the gray haired patriarch
| chieftain down to the youngest of the clan,
/ there is manifest Il complete knowledge of
the Bible, the hymns of old and the West
| minister Catechisrn, the strong meat of their
| church. Let us not he :isiunishcd TO learn
/ that this was the result of home teaching
! and training, earnestly carried out in the
! spirit of the Scriptures: which produced
/ the most striking instances OF sterling chris
| tian character that the world has ever seen.
/ Men and women who knew no standard of
/ right save the Bible, and obeyed no law
save the law of God, whose faith was firm
| that neither want, Ior suffering. nor prison,
nor the stake, could move them when the
| times of adversely came.
| So for us let the standard of morality and
right enforced ut home be that taught in
the Bible, in the Sunday school, and not
! that of the vile literature insidiouSly placed
! in the hands of our youth and read even in
| the sanctity of Christian homes. Let par
ents be warned that whlo they have been
| inattentive and OFT their guard, this willy
/ enemy has sought entrance TO our homes.
! beware of this foe that would destroy the
| distinction between right and wrong, be-
! tween virtuo and immodeSty, merit and
crime. OF what avail is it to teach in the
! Sunday school to honor father and mother,
! If diSobe,lience to parents is in these books
| applallded us heroic and brave! Why tell
OF the sanctity of home when it is proclaim
ed to he more meritOrious to run away
| Why teach not to steal, when the spirit of
communism says we thus get hut our own!
Why say thou Shalt not Kill, " when it is
| Taught that the avcnger who reddens his
| hand in his brothers, blood is Il hero? Why
| enforce virtue and chastity, when the liber-
| tine is cNtullcd as Il worthy and respectable
man" Let parents turn back this black
and poisonous flood; otherwise the teachings
of the pulpit, the SUNDAY school and the
home will alike fail before tie attacks OF
such foe
Lastly. Jet parents in their own lives
| live out the teachings Of the Sabbath school.
! Such is the sureSt way to make them result
| i'll the conversion of the children. No set
of principles is fit to be embraced unless
! they do secure good results in PRACTICE
| Christianity itself ought to be reIldiated
unless it will protlure III the life that change
| which Christ described. We teach that the
found in their effect on their protested pos
SCISSORS. Water will run no higher than its
level, and it matters not what may be
the excellence and purity Of the lessons
taught in the school, children will believe
and profess them only us they see them
! lived out j.. the lives Of their parents
What Il solemn thought that they hold it in
| their power either to completely nullity and
break down those teachings, or to give them
the most emphatic proof by the argument
of unimpeaGhahle lives: letter than the
Lcst teaehing is the siiei. Example OF godly
| fathers ala motherS day by day. | care
| not how deep in sin Il man may sink--aye,
dehased until all that is pure and good has
| left him-hc cannot deny the influences of
| the Christian religion SO long as the exam
pie of Il sainted mother rises III mute APP
peal before him. | care not h2,;' ;iilous
may be the heart ~. sYaye,s the coEscience
or ready to blasphenie may be the tongue, !;
| man can scarcely become an i0tilrl while