The Kenilworth Advertiser. — 1890-03-15 (Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England)

DISHONESTY AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE BY A BEDWORTH LAD. Westwood-heath was on Friday afternoon the scene of a dramatic incident, following the discovery of what is to be feared is a rather common form of dishonesty. Thomas Twigger, 18 years old, son of a well-known Bedworth coal dealer 91 that name, was sent with a load of coal to Mr. Clements', also a dealer, at Westwood-heath P.c. Beck, about the time young Twigger arrived in the village, discovered 2i cwt. of coal at the side of the road not far from Gibbet-hill. Suspecting that something was not right, he watched, and presently Twigger came along with* an empty cart and picked up the coal. The policeman spoke to him, and insisted on his going back to Mr. Clements'. Mr. Clements declined to prosecute, but said he should tell Twigger's father of his conduct. The lad then told P.c. Beck he knew his father would kill him, and ran away and jumped into a pit filled with water close at hand. He was followed, a rake was procured, and after great difficulty Twigger was got out. But he had sunk twice, and was unconscious when recovered; indeed he did not regain consciousness until arrival at Coventry hospital, whither he was taken toy P.c. Beck. He remained in the institution all Friday night, and was brought before Mr. Gulson at the County-hall, en Saturday. On the charge of attempting to commit suicide he was remanded till to-day, and as his father became bail, the young man was allowed to return home.  I 3 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL A FAILURE?  Mr. Nye took this question as the subject of his Talk on Sunday afternoon. He started by saying that judged from the hold the Sunday school had upon the population, it certainly was no failure, for one in five of the total population attended it. At the same time, if we take into consideration the highest object of the Sunday school, viz.' to bring children to the knowledge and discipleship of Christ, it can hardly be claimed that it is a success. The fact is that the Sunday school servos so,many other suds that its chief one is often left untouched. To parents it is a place to send their children to in order to got them out of the way and rid them of their presence and of responsibility for their behaviour. To children it is an agreeable way of passing some hours of the one day in the week in which they are at a loss for something to do, and to the Church it is often a mere preserve to prevent the children being kidnapped by other communities. Sunday school teaching was about the hardest work a man or woman could engage in. In the flay school, teachers were expected to know someihing of what they taught and to produce certificates of their efficiency, but not ono in fifty of Sunday school teachers had any but the insi3t superficial knowledge of the Bible and some he know had candidly confessed that it was to them a ( dull book, they could not understand. Mr. Nye said he did not think he should be far wrong in describing the work of many Sunday school teachers as simply hearing hymns, collects, catechism repeated parrot-like, and reading a story week after week. No wonder, then, that the Sunday school conducted on such lines was a failure. It was probable that of the crowds of boys and girls that from seven to nine o'clock that evening would be streaming along the Warwick-road, the majority had been at the Sunday School earlier in the day where they bad been taught Divine truths concerning righteousness, truth, and purity, and yet judging from their conduct and conversation one would scarcely believe it. Now the great mistake had been to look upon the Sunday School as a school simply, a place for informing the mind, whereas the first necessity of a teacher was to reach the heart and gain the affections. The Sunday school worker had no hold upon the fear of his pupils, for the usual sanction of I punishments was out of the question. He could not drive his pupils to Christ. He must lead them, but leading them meant going to Christ himself and not merely showing the way but drawing them after him. The methods adopted in most schools were faulty. Teaching was a very rare gift, and yet anyone was thought good enough to teach in the Sunday school. Classes wore far too small. It was impossible to teach properly whore you had to huddle a lot of children close round you in order that they might bear what you had to say in consequence of the noise of other classes all round. Better far to have few but good teacho43 who should have charge of largo bodies of children. Then most Sunday schools were starved in the matter of accommodation and appliances. They were put anywhere, in dark cellar-like rooms or cold dreary lofts, and were allowed no maps, • pictures, or anything to impress their imagination. Again, teachers as a rule were content with telling their plipils what • they wished them to learn instead of exciting the children's curiosity and inducing them to ask questions. The great secret of all successful teaching is to set the scholar to seek for information. Until you can get him, as huntsmen say, on the scent, you will not succeed in your undeits.king. Mr. Nye said it was a shame and disgrace to the Church that there exited so much rivalry between different congregations as to prizes, treats, etc, which gave children the idea that they were conferring a favour on their teachers by attending any particular school. No wonder that 64 per cont, of our criminal population had been Sunday scholars, and that the majority of the vast army of prostitutes who leavened the population with vice and disease had also passed through what should have been to them the gates of the kingdom of heaven.