Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-06-11
CARE OF THE JUNIORS.
They Require Intelligent Attention and
Must Have IL.

Must Have 1t.
Paper read by Mrs. H. w. Shannon,
before York County Sunday School
convention.
The present has been characterized
as an age of action In all fields or Ia
bor Great as the progress along ma
terial lines has been, no less signih-
cant is the great work Of the church.
Obedient to the Divine command, she
is actively engaged in sending the
Gospel to the uttermost parts Of the
earth. Increasing gifts, numbers OF
missionaries, and appealing calls from
benighted lands, all show that the
spirit of Christ is working in the
hearts Of men. The greatness Of the
Laymen's Movement can already be
seen in its results, and the Home Mis-
sion Movement shows momentum ir-
resistible. Supplementary with these
advances Is the growth Of Sabbath
schools, which is one sinking the deep
shafts with concentrated strength and
equipment to reach and refine the
buried ore. No greater work con-
fronts Sabbath school teachers than
the proper training Of the juniors COM
mitted to their care. To make the
lives of these boys and girls count for
most in church and in state for God
and for man, is the problem before
every teacher. 1t Is my purpose to
show Why and How, the juniors
should be cared for.
Why2 1t Is the awakening period
Of life, in which new possibilities
physical, mental, moral and spiritual
present themselves Milton says,
''The childhood shows the man as
morning shows the day." Those i'm
pulses to conduct and behavior which
last the longest and are rooted the
deepest always have their origin at
this time. 1t is then in these forma
tive stages that the germs Of virtues
or vices, of feelings and sentiments
are first implanted which determine
the character for life. The child is, as
1t were, laid at the gate of a new
world, and opens his eyes upon things
all of which are full of novelty and
wonderment. At first it is enough for
him to gaze, but by and by he begins
to see, to observe, to compare, to learn,
to store up impressions and ideas, and
under wise guidance the progress
which he makes is really wonderful.
Two supreme facts then are reveal
ed in the study of junior life, possibil-
tiles peculiar to this period, and self
activity.
Life is bundle of possibilities and
self activity
There is power enough in a single
stream of water, if harnessed and
curbed, to run the machinery for hun
dreds of enterprises; so there is un-
limited power in young lives trained
for God and His service.
Some one has said there are three
imperative "oughts' which suggest
themselves to the parent and teacher.
First-We ought to recognize each
possibility as it appears. Second-We
ought to know how best to deal with
it. Third-We ought to know how to
stimulate activity to greatest endeav-
ors.
Memory Period.-This unfolding Pc
riod is the time in which the mind is
rendered peculiarly impressionable. 1t
may be termed the memory period"
During the years from to Is mem
ory is very cumulative. The mind is
plastic. capable Of receiving and re-
tanning impressions which are lasting.
1t is the drill period when mechanical
repetition will fix anything perma-
nently, regardless of the child's desire
to learn, and full comprehension is
unnecessary. There are but few here
today, perhaps, who were not COM
PEELED to learn the Shorter Catechism
by heart, and we felt we did not have
heart enough to learn II. At first un-
able to comprehend it's meaning. but
after memoriZing 1t, in the course of
time its full meaning would dawn up
on us. Young boys and girls should
memoriZe the catechism and Bible
verses while young, not only for men
tai development but for spiritual
growth. The soul develops proper
woe. and soul development should be
the object of every teacher who is
imbued with the love of Christ and
His kingdom.
Here it is to be noted that during
these years the desire for reading is
great, and this desire must be salts
fed, surreptitiously If not openly.
There are two plans-a positive and a
negative.
)y the negative process destroy his
propensity for the unwholesome and
by the positive process give him that
literature which satisfieth. The great
lesson of biography is to show what
man can be and do at his best. 1t is
needless to speak of the absolute ne
cessty of good books as an asset OF
character, and unless parents and
teachers do their part in guiding the
youth, there is imminent danger of a
young life being wrecked by false
idols and unwholeSOme standards.
The child who has been given plenty
of we'll selected literature will have no
desire for the corrupt and harmful.
At the head of all literature stands
the Great BiOgraphy-the Book Of
Books. 1t is a series of biographies of
great heroes and patriarchs, prophets,
kings and judges-culminating i'm the
greatest biography of all-the life en-
bodied in the New Testament. How
much have the great examples there
set forth done for mankind. How
many have drawn from them their
best strength, their highest wisdom,
their best nurture and admonition!
May we be given power from the
great Teacher to believe ourselves
and make others believe that THE
law of the Lord is perfect converting
the soul: the testimony of the Lord
is sure, making wise the simple. The
statutes of the Lord are right rejoic-
ing the heart; the commandment Of
the Lord is pure, enlightening the
eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean
enduring forever; the judgments of