The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-06-17
CHILDREN'S DAY.
Interesting Exercises at the Methodist
Episcopal Church.

Interesting Exercises at the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
The authorities of the Methodist EpiSco
pal Church, few years ago, instituted the
festival of " ChidrenS Day." and set apart
the second Sabbath in June as the day on
which it should be annually held. The
original object OF the festival WAS Il double
one: first, to provide a day of enjoyment
for the children; and. secondly, to add to
the educational fund of the church, to which
purpose the collections of the day, or at least
Il portion of the collection of each congre
cation, is expected to be dedicated--eXcept
in cases where the Sabbath school of the
church taking the collection is i'll need Itself
of necessary material when the collections
may be devoted 10 this purpose.
AT the NJ. +. Church of this town the day
has always been marked one, great inter
est being taken in its observance by the
entire church, and last Sabbath WAS no ex-
cepton to the rule, but on the contrary even
more than the usual effort was exerted tt
|
beautifully decorated with flowers for the
occasion, and the entire day given up to the
children.
Ia the morning, Rev. Mr. Avery preached
a sermon appropriate to the occasion, and 4
special service of song and responsive read
| ings by the Sabbath school was held. The
evening service was, however. the attrac
1, i
ures of the festival being reserved for that
time. Upon this occasion the service sur
passed in interest that of any previous year,
and the large and intelligent audience pres
ent was fairly delighted
| The exercises began at s 'clock-at which
hour the church was packed from altar to
gallery-with the opening hymn, 'Wel- |
come Il Happy Throng;' after which Dan
iel Harvey, Esq, offered prayer. The in
| FAINT school, made up of children of tender
years, sang a suitable selection, acquitting
themselves admirably, plainly showing the |
careful training received from their teacher |
| Miss Hattie lort. This was followed by |
recitation, "The Changed Cross" by Miss |
| Lizzie Merritt, daughter OF Mr.. James T.. |
| Merritt, of this town. The selection was |
most admirably rendered. the young lady !
| showing a clear conception of spirit of the |
| author, such as is rar ely found in one so
| young. Your Mission" Il beautiful selec |
| ton, was then sung by Mrs. Lydia tirrcn- |
| field, of Baltimore, in her usual inimitabe |
| style. accompanied upon The organ by her |
| sister Miss Mary Harvey. The school then |
| sang Help a Iittle;" after which the con- |
| gregation invited to do this very thing, |
and urged to its performance by VIM j.
Jones, Esq, III Il few pleasant remarks. |
| The plates were then passed around and the |
| offerings of the people taken. After the
buzz and stir of the passage of the collectors
through the audience had subsidized, Miss |
| Eva Perkins took the place at the organ
and very effectively sang new arrange
ment of the old song, "Tell Me the Old,
| Old Story" This was followed by the reel
tation of "The Healing of Darius Daugh-
| ter" by Miss Carrie Wood, a young lady so |
| pleasing in both person and manners that |
she could not fail in enlisting the interest of
her audience The selection was well rem
| dered and greatly enjoyed by the hearers.
Coming Bye and Bye was then sung by |
| the school, and was followed by duet by |
''Little Ones May Come TO Ne, ;" by Misses |
Bessie Terrell and Lizzie Merritt both Young
ladies with sweet and cultivated voices. /
After another chorus, " Gathering !Iome,'
by the school, " Praise We Jehovah" was
given by request, the audience joining in
the chorus, when the assembly was dis /
missed with the bene,liction by Rev. Mr.. |
Avery, everybody being we'll pleased with |
the evening service.
The Sabbath school was under the direc- |
ton of Assistant Superintendent Henry .
Ninsinger, who led them i'll singing the |
Superintendent, William Torbert, ESQ, be-
ing present, but too unwell to take part i'll !
the service To Mr.. Ninsinger is due the /
credit of the perfection in music reached by |
| the school, he being 4 most interchangeable /
trainer. In consequence of i'll health Miss
Ella Lort was absent from her usual place
at the organ. Miss Eva Perkins, however, |
effectively filled the void
The collections taken morning and even
ing amounted to something over sixty dol
| lars, which is rather in advance of the aver
age collection of this day. The floral deco
ration, planned by Mr.. II. c. Hurn, was
perfect in conception and most artstically |
executed by that young gentleman, aided |
| by the more delicate taste and skill of |
| Misses Maggie Ricketts,, Jennie Ecketts. !
Mamie Ellis, Hattie Lort. Lizzie Walm-
| sley, Mary Harvey, Lizzie Wells, Jane |
| Torbert, Oracle Wells, Sadie Strickland, |
| and Il number of others. Among the gen |
| tlemen aiding by their efforts and taste !
| were Messrs Clinton White, Robert Rick |
etts, Frank NJ. Rawlings, and Geo. Rick
ettS. The main feature consisted OF Il floral |
arch thrown over the front of the pulpit re- |
cess, from which We're suspended baskets |
and designs in flowers of various kinds: at
the base and on each side Of the pulpit We're
distributed growing plants in flower, huge |
bouquets, and flowers in almost all con-
ceivable forms, and in the center of the arch |
stood huge cross Of white flowers, :. most |
striking piece of floral work, making in all |
most beautiful sight. The great wonder |
of all was, where so many flowers came |
from. The general verdict was that the |
festival entirely surpassed all the previous !
efforts in that direction.
Strawberry Festival R,y FIJI,