by benches, or classes, and then by a few individual scholars called
upon, so as to ascertain if all have learned it. The time cannot be
wasted by hearing each scholar recite in turn where there are only one
or two teachers. Care should be taken not to burden the young mind. A
small, bright, clear, pleasant Bible truth is best. As the good Dr.
Ryland used to say, "Simplify and repeat: Simplify and repeat,"
remembering that simplicity is not poverty of expression. Learn, also,
how to carry thoughts _into_ a child's mind, and not leave them, as
many do, at the doorway. Aim at Christ and salvation. Let no hymn be
sung which you are not, beforehand, careful to see that the children
really understand. Make every truth clear and simple, and let them act
the lesson out with appropriate gesticulations and motions. When
speaking of God, let them do it reverently, and perhaps by all
pointing their little fingers upward.
Bible stories and anecdotes are generally best and most interesting
for infant-classes. Use the blackboard freely with words and
appropriate figures, for such little ones learn best that which they
learn through the eye. Teach little at a time, but teach that little
well and thoroughly, is a grand motto for the infant-class teacher.
It is of great importance that the children should always feel that
their teachers are the best and happiest persons they ever saw, and
that they are always so very bright and happy because the religion of
Jesus makes them so full of love and joy, and they cannot help its
overflow; and that they consider it the greatest privilege of life
thus to tell their scholars of Jesus, and lead the little children
cheerfully along Zion's road towards the heavenly Canaan.
_Examples of Infant-class Lessons._
_Example No. 1._
The following lesson was publicly taught by Ralph Wells before the
Philadelphia Sunday-School Teachers' Institute, in September, 1867.
and phonographically reported for the columns of _The Sunday-School
Times_. The class was composed of some twenty children:
_The Lesson._
TEACHER.--Look around just for a moment, children, and see
how many people are looking at us. I want you to have one good look,
and then to give me all the rest of your attention. After you have
had your look, I want you to sing a little with me. [The children
face the audience for a moment, smiling, parents and teachers
returning their gaze with fond affection, and shall we not say, with
many prayers that the lesson might be abundantly blessed?]
Now let me see how exactly you can repeat the hymn after me. I will
speak first, and you will follow me:
"Jesus loves me, this I know,"
[Children repeat, in earnest harmony.]
"For the Bible tells me so."
[Children repeat thus, after the teacher, the first stanza.]
TEACHER.--"Jesus loves me." Let us look at this a moment. We
think that praying and reading the Bible, and saying the lesson are
worshipping God; and so they are; but we often forget that in reading
and singing these beautiful Sabbath-school hymns we are worshipping
God, too.
"Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so."
[After the hymn was sweetly sung, the teacher talked very pleasantly
about the beautiful Letter which our dear heavenly Father has sent to
us.] That Letter is the blessed Bible. We are going to have a lesson
out of it to-night. But we cannot understand it unless our Father
sends some one to open our hearts to understand it. We have sung a
verse to him: now we will look to him in prayer and ask him to be our
Teacher. [The class close their eyes, fold their hands, and repeat
the prayer after their teacher.]
Dear Lord Jesus!--We thank thee for the Bible--we thank thee that it
tells us--that God loves us--that he sent Jesus to die for us.--We
thank thee--for all its promises;--that it tells us--if we love
Jesus--and trust in him--we shall go to heaven;--that if we love
Jesus--and trust in him--he will never leave us.--To-night, dear
Father--send the blessed Spirit--to make us attentive--to help us to
find Jesus--and what he would have us to do--and how we can get to
heaven.--O dear Saviour!--sometimes when we try--we find it very
hard--to do right.--Let us never be discouraged--but whenever we
sin--go to Jesus and tell him all--and get his help.--Dear
Jesus--help us to live for thee--to do good while we live--to be a
blessing to all around us--and to show that we love thee--in our
homes--to little brothers and sisters--and to all our companions--at
home--at school--and everywhere.--May we so live--that everybody
shall see--that we are Jesus' little lambs.--Hear our prayer--and
come to-night and be our Teacher--and may our little
hearts--to-night--be given away to Jesus--to love and serve him--as
long as we live.--We ask for Jesus' sake.--Amen.
[This simple petition was offered by the children, as with one voice,
the tone and accentuation of the leader being caught up and carried
by them with affecting earnestness of pleading. One could not but
feel that the exercise was _real_, with both teacher and class.]
TEACHER.--Now sing with me one verse more, children, and we
will take a Bible lesson together. It is new to you, but we sung it
over once this afternoon, and I guess you can sing it now. I will
sing one verse for you, because it is new to you, and then we will
sing it together. It begins with
"Oh, I must be a lover of the Lord!"
Let me sing it for you. [Teacher sings.]
"Oh, I must be a lover of the Lord,
Oh, I must be a lover of the Lord,
Oh, I must be a lover of the Lord,
Or I can't go to heaven when I die."
[The children then sing it with Mr. Wells, and finally by themselves,
clearly, loudly and accurately.]
There is a little sentence of only four words, children, that has
been more precious to me than any other in the world. I wrote it on a
piece of paper years ago, and put it in my pocket-book--here it is,
with little flowers around it--[Producing it and holding it up to the
class.] Would you like me to give you these four words? _Yes,
sir!_ Well, I will write them on the board. [Writes:]
_Christ died for me._
I do not know whether you can read--[the children, quickly
interrupting, read "_Christ died for me_".] Yes, if ever this world
loves Jesus, it will be because these four little words get into
everybody's heart. Try and remember them.
I am now going to read a verse out of our Father's Letter. It is a
sad story. After I read it, I am going to tell it to you in my way;
and after I have told it to you, I am going to ask you, to see if you
can tell me all about it. Then I am going to tell you the meaning;
then the lesson--three things: the story, the meaning, the lesson.
Can you give them to me? First, the--_story_, next, the--_meaning_,
and last, the--_lesson_, [the children say.] Once more, give them to
me.--_Story, meaning, lesson._
I will read it first out of the Bible, for I always want to give you
God's word first; then I will tell it to you. It is in the twelfth
chapter of the Book of Exodus. "Exodus" means the "going out." When
you leave this room you "go out" of it--it is your "Exodus" of the
room. So, in the Bible story, God's people went out. Let me read to
you:
"Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them,
Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the
passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the
blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two
side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall
go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will
pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon
the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the Lord will pass over the
door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses
to smite you."
And it happened just as God said. Now, I do not want to tell you
anything that you can tell me. In the first place, we want to find
out where this took place. Can any of you tell me the name of the
country? [_Egypt!_ shout three or four little voices--to the
surprise even of the teacher, who, as well as the audience, was
repeatedly astonished at the accuracy, promptness, and clearness of
the children's answers.]
The Israelites, or God's people, are spoken of in the lesson. They
are now in Egypt. Let me mark it on the board. Here is _Egypt_,
[drawing a rough outline of the Red Sea, river Nile, and the
Mediterranean; and, proceeding northerly, of Palestine.] Pointing to
the latter, the teacher said, Here is--_Canaan_, one child replied.
Yes! that little girl has it. And what city is this? [making a dot
near the corner of the Dead Sea.] Je-_rusalem!_ [a little boy
finishes the word.] God's people had been dwelling in Canaan; how did
they come to be in Egypt, where we find them in our lesson? Who first
went down to get corn? _Joseph._ Yes. There was no corn in the land.
What do you call it when there is nothing to eat? _Famine!_ a bright
boy replies. Very well, indeed. Who, then, went first to buy corn?
_Joseph._ And who followed him? _His brethren._ What did they go
for?--to keep them from--_Starving!_ That is it, exactly. I like to
hear children answer so well. Can any of you tell me how many
Israelites or Jews there were in Egypt? How many is that? [Writing
the figures 2,000,000 on the board.] _Two million!_ [eagerly
responded a little fellow, who certainly did credit to his week-day
instructors.] Yes, there were probably two million--men, women, and
children. What was the name of the king of Egypt? It begins with
P.--_Pharaoh._ Yes, God said to him, "Let my people--_go_." but
Pharaoh said, "I--_won't_!" Then God said, "I will show him what I
will do. My people shall go, that they may serve me." So God told his
people to get ready that night, when our lesson begins.
What should you think this was? [Drawing a rough figure of the face
of a clock.] _A clock._ Yes. What hour is the hand pointing to?
_Twelve o'clock._ What time of night do you call that? _Midnight._
Yes, at midnight God said he would go from house to house in the land
of Egypt, and every house where he did not see something on the door
he would go in and kill the first-born. Let us make a door, now.
[Drawing the outline of a door.] We won't take time to draw it very
nicely. "Every house where I see something on the door," God said.
What was it he must see on the door? _Blood!_ _blood!_ [Taking the
red crayon, spots of red are dotted here and there over the white
door-posts, representing blood.] Yes; wherever I see the blood of a
little killed lamb on the door, I will not go in and slay the
first-born.
This blood must first be in a--[Drawing an outline of a bowl or
basin,]--_Basin_, the children reply. Yes; and how are you to get the
blood on the door? [Taking the green chalk, and drawing a bush.] Here
is a little bush, called hyssop, something like a huckleberry bush,
and the people were to take that and dip it in the basin, into the
blood, and do what? _Sprinkle it on the door!_ Yes. What part of the
door? (A pause.) L-i-n-t-e-l; what does that spell? _Lintel._
Then, "when I see the--_blood_--on the--_lintel_--and on the
two--_side-posts_--I will not go in and--_kill the first-born_!" Yes.
That was what God said.
I have sometimes thought I could see an Egyptian soldier that night
with his armor on, going up to one of the Israelites and asking,
"What is that you are putting on the door?" "It is some lamb's
blood." "What are you putting it on for?" "Because my God has told me
to." Then with a strut he has turned on his heel and walked away,
muttering to himself, "What a big fool that Jew is!"
But see! the hands on the clock begin to get around. It is now
pointing to--_midnight_. Yes, pretty soon it strikes one--two--three,
up to--_twelve_. And then! Oh! the angel of death went from one house
to another, and in every one that didn't have--_the blood_--on it,
the first-born was--_killed_. Yes! And one wail of woe went up from
Egypt that night. Fathers and mothers, from Pharaoh in his beautiful
palace, to his poorest servant, were weeping and wailing and
lamenting their first-born, slain by the hand of the angel of God.
But some houses escaped. The ones with the--_blood_ on. Had there
been any death in those houses? _No, sir._ Think. What had died? _A
little lamb._ Yes; a little lamb had been killed and his blood put
in--_a basin_. And then--suppose the basin had been set behind the
door, would that have done? _No, sir._ The blood must be sprinkled on
the--_door_, and it most be sprinkled by a bunch of--_hyssop_. Yes;
it must all be done exactly as God had said. Then the door that had
the blood upon it was passed over by the angel, was it? _Yes, sir._
And what was done to the house where there was no blood? What did the
angel do? _Went in._ Yes, and--_slew the first-born_. [Mr. Wells then
called a little boy up to the board, drew a rough sketch of three or
four door-frames, on two of which he used the red chalk, making marks
to represent blood. The boy was then asked, with the class, to point
out which houses the angel would enter, and which pass over, thus
drilling the fact impressively and perfectly into the scholars'
minds, as also the reason for the angel's choice--the _blood_ of the
lamb.]
How do you think I got here? _On the cars._ What drew the cars? _An
engine._ Did you ever see an engine? _Yes, sir!_ (with emphasis).
This summer, where I live, at Tarrytown, a gentleman said to me,
"Don't you want to go down on the track and see the express train go
by to-night?" I said yes: so we went. By-and-by I heard a rumble: it
seemed to come nearer and nearer, and got louder and louder. What was
coming? _The express train._ Yes, it was going to rush by us at
thirty miles an hour. Could we have held out our hands and stopped
it? _No, sir!_ (emphatically, and incredulously). Suppose we had had
you to help us, could we then? _No, sir!_ Well, suppose all the
people in this house had caught hold of the cars?--what then? _It
would have pulled them to pieces!_ [a little girl says]. Well, in a
minute or two I heard a sharp _toot! toot!_--what was that? _The
whistle._ Yes, and the man on the engine put his hand on a little
iron bar and pushed it, and the cars began to go slower and slower
and slower until they stopped. The man put his hand on the right
place, the place of power, the place that made the engine go or stop.
Now, what does Jesus say to us? "Behold, I stand at the door and
knock." Can you tell me at what door Jesus knocks? _Our hearts._ "If
any man," or child, "will hear my voice, and open--_the door_--I will
come in and--_sup with him_." Yes, "and he with me;" and we shall be
saved. But there must be something on the door, or we cannot be
saved, any more than the Jews, if they forgot, or would not, put the
blood on the doors of their houses. What must we have on the door?
_Blood_. Yes. Well, will it do if you cut your finger, and sprinkle
the blood on your house? _No, sir._ Suppose you kill a little lamb,
and put the blood on your front door, will that save you? _No, sir,
no, sir!_ What must the blood be on? _Our hearts!_ Yes, the blood
must be put upon the right place, the place where Jesus knocks, the
place of power. Our hearts then are--_the door_. And what must be
sprinkled on the door? _Blood._
Why did our soldiers go off to the war? _To fight_; yes, and to shed
their--_blood_--for their country. And what does shedding their blood
mean? _They died_--[a little girl answers]. Right; they shed their
blood, they died for our country. Jesus shed his blood, That means
the same as Jesus--_died_; yes; how? _On the cross._ He hung there
for you, did he? _Yes, sir._ And for me? _Yes, sir_; and for us all?
A little girl in a mission-school, named Mary, sat on the front seat,
and when the superintendent was telling about how they hanged Jesus
on the cross, the tears came to her eyes, and when he got to where
they took the hammer and the nails to nail him, little Mary could not
stand it any longer, but she had to get up and go out. In the
afternoon she came back smiling, and the superintendent asked her,
"Mary, where did you go this morning?" and she said, "Oh, teacher, I
could not stand it when you spoke to us about Jesus being nailed on
the cross, for I felt just as if I helped to pound the nails in, and
I went off a little piece from the school, and got down on my knees
and told Jesus that my sins helped to hang him on the cross, and I
asked him to please forgive me for helping to kill him--that I was so
sorry; but now I feel so happy." Jesus forgave her, and to-day Mary
is a little Christian girl.
I have something in my pocket (drawing out a roll) that I want you to
see. Years ago I went thousands of miles away, and I sent on to
Washington and got this paper, It is called a "passport." There is
the great seal of the United States on it, and here is the
Secretary's signature at the bottom. And when I was away, in strange
countries, where I could not speak the language, all I had to do was
to show this paper, and they said, "Let him pass," or something that
meant that, and I was allowed to go on. If I had not had this
passport, I could not have got through. The blood of Jesus must be
our passport. When God sees this blood sprinkled on the door of our
hearts, he will say, "Let him pass," and we will be allowed to go
through this life in safety, and get to heaven when we die. But oh,
how many times we have to use this passport! How often we sin and
need to come to Jesus for forgiveness, and to point to his precious
blood sprinkled on our hearts!
The teacher further continued the lesson, illustrating by pointed and
affecting incidents, briefly recapitulating, and closing with a short
prayer, in which the little ones feelingly joined. The above is all
that need be quoted to give an idea of the style of this successful
teacher of the children.
_Example No. 2._
The following lesson was kindly forwarded to the author, in
manuscript, from London, by the young lady teacher, "S. E. A.," who
has been remarkably successful in public exercises of teaching very
young children.
_A Lesson upon Forgiveness._
Harry and Fred went to school. They had to cross a road to get to it.
A boy used to stand at the crossing with a broom in his hand to sweep
it with; this boy was very rude to Harry and Fred: he used to try and
keep them from crossing the road. Once he took away Fred's books and
splashed him with mud. When the boy saw Harry and Fred running and
making haste, lest they should be late at school, he would be sure to
stop them. In the winter-time he made them walk upon the snow.
Sometimes he held up his broom before their faces and cried out,
"Can't come across, can't come across; you'll be late, you'll have
the stick." Then, again, when they were very early, he would tell
them they were late, and so make them run. At last, one day all the
children of the school to which Harry and Fred went were going to
take flowers to their teacher, as it was her birthday. Henry said
that he would bring a beautiful nosegay, for his papa's gardener was
going to cut him a large one from the green-house for him to take to
school. Well, the morning of the birthday came: the school-children
brought a great many beautiful flowers; Harry and Fred did not come
with the rest; the children wondered where they could be. At last
though, in they came, but no nosegay: they made a bow, said
"Good-morning," and then both looked down on the ground. "Where's
your nosegay?" said a little girl to Harry. "I have not got one," he
answered. How could that have happened? The gardener had cut them a
beautiful large nosegay, and when they left home in the morning for
school they had it with them--what had become of it? Had the boy
taken it away? I will tell you all about it. As they were running
along very fast to get to school in time, all at once they left off
running and began to walk slowly. They were near the crossing, and
they felt afraid of the boy; they need not have been frightened, for
the boy was sitting down on a doorstep crying, with his head resting
upon his knees, and took no notice of them. As they were going past
him, Harry said, "Oh, he will not hurt us; let us stop; I wonder what
he is crying for?" "What is the matter?" said Fred to him. "Mind your
own business," answered the boy; "go on to school." So on they went,
but as they turned away the boy saw the nosegay, and called after
them to come back. "Don't go." said Fred: "he's a wicked boy; we
can't help him." Well, they were going on when Harry looked again and
saw him crying; so he and Fred turned back: then the boy told them
that he was very hungry, that his mother and grandmother were both at
home very hungry and ill, that a policeman had turned him away from
his crossing, and he had not earned any money for three days. Harry
said, "Poor fellow!" and he wished he had a penny to give the poor
boy. Then Harry and Fred looked at their flowers; the boy looked too.
"He can't have our flowers, you know," said Fred; "we want them for
our teacher, she is so kind, and I want to show how much I love her."
So they walked off slowly, and the boy looked after them and the
nosegay as if he would like very much to have it. "I say he does not
deserve to be helped," said Fred. "So do I," said Harry; "and then
these flowers are too good to give to him." However, they did not
feel quite comfortable, and then they remembered a text they had
learned at school the day before--"_If ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses._" That
is, dear children, if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive
us. So Harry said, "Here, Fred! take the flowers to him." Fred took
the flowers, went up to the boy, put them in his hand, and then ran
away. A gentleman soon after gave the boy a shilling for the nosegay,
and I dare say you can guess what he did with it. When Harry and Fred
gave the nosegay to the boy, it made them feel very happy--more happy
than if they had given it to their teacher; and it did the boy good
too: their kindness made all his rudeness go away, and always after
this day he did all he could to please Harry and Fred.
_Tell_ me the names of the boys I have spoken to you about? _How_ did
the crossing-sweeper behave to them? _What_ were they going to take
to school one day? _Why_? _Did_ Harry and Fred take their nosegay to
school? _What_ did they do with it? _Did_ the boy deserve to have it?
_Why_ did they give it to him then? Yes, they gave it to him to show
that they had forgiven him. Sometimes people are unkind to you;
perhaps one day a boy went up to you James, and stole your marbles;
perhaps your big sister one day gave you a slap, Mary. Now, if she
ever slaps you again, or if the boy takes away James's marbles again,
are you to hit them and call them hard names, or to forgive them?
_Why?_ Yes, you should forgive them because God wishes you to do so;
because it will be acting like Jesus to do so; because God will not
forgive you if you do not forgive. Let us think a little about Jesus.
You know that one evening when he was praying in a quiet garden, some
wicked men came and dragged him away; you remember how the soldiers
mocked him, took off his clothes, put on him an old robe, a
make-believe crown made of thorns--dared to be so filthy as to spit
in his face, beat him; and then they put great nails through his
hands and through his feet, and nailed him to a cross of wood, put it
up and let him hang there. How the nails most have torn his
hands!--what great pain they must have given him! You know if a pin
were put through your flesh how the pain would make you cry out; what
then must have been the pain of the nails! And then he did not
deserve this cruel treatment: he had gone about doing good. If any
persons deserved to be punished, those who put Jesus, the kind,
loving Saviour, to death, deserved to be; and Jesus could have
punished them if he had chosen, for he was God's dear Son; but no, he
did not punish them. Instead of that, he prayed for them: he said,
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!" Let us ask
God, the Holy Spirit, to give us a forgiving spirit, and so make as
like Jesus.