THE MONTHLY

CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR.

APRIL, 1852.

Suggestions regarding Suodaq-schools,

'If we would but only take care of children, grown people would generally take care of themselves.'-WHATELY.

ALL plans for affecting human beings morally, however carefully constructed and adapted to their purpose at first, after no long time require thorough revision and readjustment. For mind is always travelling onwards towards its high and distant goal, and unless the devices of which we speak advance with equal step, they are soon found pointing to a different object, and securing different results, from those at which they were originally aimed. One of the most forcible illustrations of this necessity may be discovered in those 'Endowed Schools,' which were established about the time of the revival of learning here, the design of which has been rendered completely abortive by the affectation of carrying it out to the very letter.

In the foremost rank of the numerous institutions which now challenge the regard of those who, with no barren desire for the good of their fellows, would work so as to be assured of the widest and most permanent blessings as the reward of their labours, we unhesitatingly place the SUNDAY-SCHOOL. Not only do the consequences which have already followed its operation entitle it to this distinction; it has in it, when it shall have been brought into true harmony with the spirit and the wants of our age, the promise of good, beyond all that other schemes can show. In two respects especially it commends itself to all who share the practical temper of the times-it is directed against evil, in its most easily assailable form, as it exists in children; and it requires no other

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means than may be found wherever two or three,' in earnest concerning the spread of the kingdom of God, are gathered together.' At the same time there is no amount of learning or tact, of business habit or mental skill of any kind, which may not advantageously be employed in this field.

It is not needful to repeat the truisms which, year after year, continually, are uttered by the advocates of these institutions. But it becomes us, in offering some suggestions with the hope of aiding in the Sunday-school reform which is now proceeding, to point out a fact which may, perchance, exhibit some of those truisms as truths-and as truths of most vital concern for us. All have observed that, at intervals, spontaneous and individual, or, at least, not concerted movements, arise amongst men, which are auguries of the ages that are next to come. Viewed in this light, the selection of education by every sect of religionists, and every political party, now, as the means of attaining its ends, has no trifling significance. Does it not seem to indicate this that small hopes of effects from means addressed to men are entertained? A generation, it must be remembered, may be educated down to any given mark, as well as up towards any standard of intellectual and moral nobleness which may be assumed; and we must, with the deepest sadness, acknowledge that it is easier far to lower whole generations than to elevate some chosen classes of but one. The words of Archbishop Whately will convey to us most stirring truth, if thus we think. We cannot,' he says, 'too much "take thought for the morrow in matters relating to "the kingdom of God and his righteousness;" now children are, emphatically, the morrow of society; and in all that relates to religious and moral training, they are far the more important part of it; for we know that if we "train up a child in the way that he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it." While, on the other hand, it is too often a vain attempt to remedy, by instruction to adults, the want of this early training. If we would but only take care of children, grown people would generally take care of themselves!'

In noting what appear to us to be the prominent faults of the Sunday-school system, as most commonly put into practice, we would not expose ourselves to even the suspicion of captiousness. Solely for the sake of giving a stronger relief to our Suggestions, do we refer to things as they are, or have been; and we speak of facts alone. It is scarcely necessary, except to avoid the very possibility of misconception, to say that as we do not feel ourselves free to censure schools in which these faults exist, we cannot intend to blame those in which they are not found. It must be observed, then, that when these institutions were first established, the education of the poor was the dream of a few warm-hearted enthusiasts alone; whereas now, it is, to some extent, 'an accomplished fact,' or, at least, it cannot be denied, that there is not that all but universal necessity for making it the grand task of the Sunday-school to impart the barest rudiments of knowledge-the art of reading-which there was when Robert Raikes first gathered his classes out of the lanes and alleys of Gloucester. The world has

moved onward since that time; but though, the necessity having ceased, teaching to read is not its characteristic work, generally, the ideal has not been altered. The system is what it was; the work done by it is not. And this, we think, is one principal cause of what is so often complained of-the inefficiency of Sunday-schools at the present day.

Another point we would remark upon is, that these schools are, almost in every instance, looked upon as supplementary appendages to particular congregations. As much astonishment would be occasioned by saying of any congregation, it has no Sunday-school, as by saying it has no preaching. We would not, by any means, insist upon their divorcement, nor imply that the connexion is wrong; but we would insist upon the distinctness of the object of the school, and claim for it a position worthy of the greatness of that object. We would assert its right to stand alone, wherever it can; and would not repudiate prelatical episcopacy for the churches of Christ more warmly than we would the episcopacy, whether ministerial or ecclesiastical, which is now regarded, not as the accidental, but as the normal condition of Sunday-schools.

Along with these, we place the compulsory attendance of the children at religious services designed, in every part, for the edification of adults alone, which to children and teachers alike is worse than a weariness; the great proportion of memoriter learning insisted upon, and particularly the use of catechisms of doctrines; the entrusting of classes, most frequently of the youngest scholars, to teachers not fitted by age, character, or any qualification, for the sole control of children, especially for such a purpose as that contemplated by these schools; and the filling up of the superintendent's time with work that a clerk could do, so completely, that it is impossible for him, whatever his power may be, to exercise it in securing unity of purpose, and preventing distraction of effort, to the unspeakable detriment of the school. Other defects, or mistakes, as we regard them, might be mentioned; but we forbear, and again beg our readers to observe that not in censoriousness do we indicate these, but only to show that, if not in every case, yet in most cases, there is need of such revision and readjustment to their original object, as we spoke of at the outset of these remarks; that 'original object' being, it must be borne in mind, the instruction of the young, 'as the truth is in Jesus,'* all other teaching only subserving to it.

Our first suggestion' relates to the estimation of the Sunday-school as an instrument of doing good.' It must not only be admitted, it must be perceived, that it has a distinct object, and a field and means peculiar to itself. The establishment and the maintenance of one, should be as serious an undertaking as the ministry of the gospel; that is, it both deserves, and requires the same kind of earnestness of

purpose

*We do not forget that there are schools, and very large ones, too, conducted on Sundays, the objects of which differ widely from this. We do not speak of them at all, but of the real Sunday-school, of which these are counterfeits.

and devotedness of heart. We can always, and we always do, dignify or degrade our work, by the spirit in which we perform it. Judas made apostolic labour itself vile; and as George Herbert truly, though quaintly, says of working with God's glory in view

'A servant with this clause

Makes drudgery divine;

Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,

Makes that and the action fine.'

It was not merely for the sake of the converts at Rome that Paul magnified his office. And the teacher who should see the real greatness of his task as distinctly as that apostle apprehended the grandeur of his calling, would discharge its duties in a manner, and with results, such as have scarcely yet been imagined. The truth is, that teaching in the Sunday-school is a ministry of the gospel; and the signs of the times almost justify the expectation that it will be THE ministry in the next generation.

Out of this arises the practical suggestion, that, whenever it is possible, each school should be independent of all congregations. In the majority of instances, at present, this cannot be; and most probably, there will always be some districts so sparsely populated, or in which the people are so poor, that except in connexion with a congregation none could be maintained. It will not be so easy, under these circumstances, to keep alive the apprehension of that distinctness of purpose we have spoken of; but it need not therefore be forgotten, and the more earnestly it is kept before the minds of those engaged, the sooner may the more favourable circumstances be induced. Moreover, in cases where independency cannot be maintained by such means as the use of a room, or building, apart from the place of worship, and the adoption of a plan like that we are about to describe, the best part, if not the whole, of the good we propose might be secured. Some of the reasons for this suggestion will appear in those which follow. Another is, the opportunity afforded for that species of cooperation which would tend to impart a catholicity of tone, and a breadth of view, to the teaching, and to necessitate a vital rather than a dogmatical representation of the gospel; all of which is demanded of the instructors of our days with passionate vehemence, nay, with menace and indignation, and, alas! is rarely bestowed; the very entreaties being scarcely understood. And another, and not one of the least moment, is, that all the arrangements of the school might be made, as foresight or experience should dictate, for the most direct and speedy attainment of its object, without any interfering influences; and this, in the single particular of the time that could then be given to it, would be, both to teachers and scholars, an advantage which those only who have long worked under, or watched the present system, could appreciate.

Further, each school should be under the control and direction of one mind; or if that be not literally practicable (in some cases we can believe it to be even undesirable), a oneness of aim must pervade its entire conduct, and every department. Schools would, as a necessary

consequence, be more numerous, and they would be smaller than they now, in general, are; but they would be real schools of Christ. More remote consequences need not be indicated here. But as this is the suggestion which we especially desire to press upon the consideration of the reflecting and the active, from whom the ministry of the Sundayschool would naturally be supplied, we will develop it into some 'rough draft' of a plan.

The essential feature of the system, according to our suggestion, is, that, instead of a superintendent, engaged chiefly in clerical (and what one might almost call police) duty, there would be a teacher (or more than one, so unity of purpose and management were secured), under whose eye, by whose guidance, everything would be done by all the other workers-sub-teachers or assistants (the name being of no moment now, though in practice it would be of great consequence to have the right one) who would act in subordination to him, and the design which he would keep before them and express by his work; that work being, peculiarly, the instruction of the school, collectively, in the gospel. Let us describe such a school in operation for one Sunday.

It is the hour for beginning the work of the morning, and the children are assembling; each one has a place, and takes it; they are arranged in concentric or parallel benches, on a gallery or sloping floor, the youngest nearest the teacher on the lowest tier, the eldest on the highest; the junior, or assistant teachers, being stationed at the ends of the rows of seats. One of the eldest scholars is acting as clerk at a desk, whence all can be seen, and carefully noting the presence of each child; the teacher, apparently, is distributing friendly greetings and inquiries, for the young faces glow with unmistakable pleasure as they look up and reply; and it is the same with the assistants too. This preliminary business is soon accomplished; a short hymn is sung (it is part singing, we notice, with some gratification), and a brief prayer spoken amidst general silence. Each scholar, from the youngest to the eldest, now opens his book; a little one rises, and reads aloud a simple version of a passage in our Saviour's life; a few questions scattered here and there elicit answers which show that the lesson has already been well conned; and reference is made without hesitation to a large map upon the wall. An older scholar next rises and reads; it is the same incident, but the narrative is fuller; other questions accompany it, glancing wider, and more explanatory information is both called forth and imparted; the little ones are not overlooked, a passing word is uttered for their benefit, and to quicken the attentiveness with which they listen to the story as it is told in terms they cannot yet entirely master. A third time, and in yet completer form,* the narrative, which is not a long one, is read, by a yet older child, and wider questions still are asked and answered.

Some of our readers may not, perhaps, be aware that sets of graduated lessons, from both New Testament and Old, are sold by Varty in the Strand. Although not the best conceivable, they are very well done, and will no doubt provoke some one to try and do better.