CONCLUSION--BENEFITS OF SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.
Having now brought my sketches to a conclusion, I would here make a few
remarks, before I take leave of my reader. First: the benefits resulting
from Sabbath-schools are not confined to those which are present and
palpable. How often do we hear of children leaving the school, and going
out into the world, without any apparent effect being produced in their
minds; but yet, in the course of time, through the blessing of God, the
most beneficial results have appeared from these instructions.
Not a few instances of boys who have been excluded on account of bad
conduct, but who have been brought to the knowledge of the truth, through
the blessing of God upon the instructions received in the Sabbath-school,
have been laid before the public. And who will say, that in many cases
where there seems no connection whatever between the instruction and the
conversion of the individual, no such connection exists? It is my firm
conviction that a person who has received instruction in a Sabbath-school
is much more likely to receive the truth in the love of it, than is the
individual who has been brought up in complete ignorance of the truths of
the gospel. The heart and understanding of the former may be compared to
the ground broken up, and prepared for the seed; while those of the
latter are like the field through which the plow has never passed, and
the face of which has never been prepared; to sow seed on which is, in
general, to cast it upon "stony ground, where" it is either picked up by
the "birds of the air," or, should it chance to take root, soon "withers
away, because it has no deepness of earth."
Secondly: if no positive good resulted from Sabbath-schools, the amount
of negative good produced would be sufficient to compensate for all the
labor and toil of the teachers, and to warrant their continuance and
support. How much Sabbath-breaking is prevented by these instructions! A
very great proportion of those children who attend Sabbath-schools would,
but for them, be spending their time in running about the streets, and
in profaning the Lord's day; and, by the unholy companionships which they
must form, into how much of profligacy and vice would they be led! Is it
true on the one hand, "train up a child in the way he should go; and when
he is old, he will not depart from it?" Then it is equally true, that if
a child be trained up in the way in which he should not go, when he is
old, he is not likely to depart from it! So that by the prevention of
Sabbath-breaking, and its consequent train of evils, you actually lessen
the amount of crime in riper years. Children _will_ be educated; and if
the _people of God_ do not educate them for _their_ Master, and train
them for heaven, the servants of the _devil will_ not be slow in
educating them _for theirs_, and in training them for hell! I conceive
that none, save the _Tractarians of Oxford, and their party_, will deny
the beneficial moral influence which such Sabbath instruction has exerted
upon our teeming population. Go to the gloomy prisons, and search in the
lonely cells for those wretched beings who through crime have become
their inhabitants, and make the inquiry as to who are the tenants of
those places; and the result of that inquiry will be, an overwhelming
majority stands on the side of the ignorant--of those who never had the
benefits of Sabbath-school instruction. Search into the history of those
poor wretches who people our "Union Houses," and you will find that but
few of them enjoyed the benefits of Sabbath-school instruction. And it
may be relied on as a fact, that in the black catalogue of the annals of
crime comparatively few are to be found who were instructed in
Sabbath-schools. Let Sabbath-schools become universal, let proper
teachers be provided for the children, and let religious instruction of
an orthodox character be instilled into their minds, and next to the
preaching of the gospel, it will do more towards the establishment of the
reign of grace--towards the universal reign of Christ--than any one thing
besides.
Thirdly: let it be known that the immediate, positive results of
Sabbath-school instruction, are incalculable! Scores, yea hundreds,
have, during their connection with them, been soundly converted to God.
Hundreds and thousands date their conversion from the instructions and
admonitions received at those noble institutions; and not a few of the
most devoted missionaries, illustrious divines, laborious commentators,
and translators of the Bible, and most popular preachers of the age, have
been among those very persons who owed--and have rejoiced to own that
they owed--their conversion to Sabbath-school instrumentality.
I cannot take leave of the reader, without adverting for a moment to an
objection which may be raised with reference to the subjects of the
preceding narrative.
Some persons, perhaps, may be ready to say, that in all probability these
brothers would have become what they are, had they never seen a
Sabbath-school. To this objection I answer: That such a position would
prove fatal to all instrumental means of salvation. God could,
undoubtedly, save man without any instrumentality whatever. He _could_,
we say, do this; but such is not God's method of procedure; and we are
therefore justified in believing, that to the various instrumentalities
in operation is the salvation of man attributable: and if so, why should
we deny that God can and does bless the labors of Sabbath-school
teachers, and, through their instrumentality, render Sabbath-schools
channels of salvation to many?
I will only add,--and I rejoice that I am able to do so,--that each of
the brothers is now actively engaged in the work of God. James is the
superintendent and manager of a Wesleyan Sunday-school; and in point of
perseverance, and constancy in the prosecution of duty, he is quite a
pattern. Thomas and George are very acceptable local preachers in the
Wesleyan connection. May they ever be zealous in every good work, and
have grace to continue faithful unto the end.
"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Psalm cxxvi,
6.
"Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days."
Eccles. xi, 1.
APPENDIX.
The following letter has been put into the writer's hands since the
preceding pages were in the press, and will be read with deep interest,
as containing an account of the death of one of the teachers of
T---- street school, from the pen of her brother, James's colleague:--
"My beloved sister entered into the joy of her Lord about half-past
twelve this morning. I sat up in company with Mrs. B. and another
friend--it was a delightful night, there was a calm and cloudless sky,
and the full moon shone in at the window in spite of the blind and
rush-light. I rose at last, and extinguished it, and drew up the blind;
it was a beautiful and a solemn sight! I shall never forget it. Jessy
found it hard work to breathe, and at times, I almost indulged a wish
that she might be speedily released. But I did not dare to pray for life
or death; 'Thy will be done,' was my motto, and all was well. Seeing her
eyes often turned upward, I spoke, and pointed upward,
'Yonder's your house and portion fair;'
she hesitated a moment, and then added,--'M--y tr--easure--and--my HEART
are there.'
"At another time, observing her in great pain for the want of breath, and
at the same time moving her lips in silent prayer or praise, I said,--'As
thy day, so shall thy strength be,' She replied with feeling, 'Yes.' At
another time we understood her to say 'Jesus,' with something like energy
in her voice; but whether in prayer or praise we could not decide, as the
voice was thick, and rather indistinct, although loud, and many words
could not be understood because of this.
"The last word I caught was 'Glory,' and a very appropriate one it was to
bid adieu to this lower world, and enter that which is above. I attempted
to move her head a little, in order to let her see the beautiful moon
once more, as it shone on every part of her, except just the forehead and
eye; when she said, 'Don't bring me back from heaven,' and when we could
not understand her words, we were convinced by the tone of her voice that
pleasure and joy reigned within. Her hands had been for some time down by
her sides; but a few minutes before death she raised them gently up, and
clasping them together, seemed by her motions to commend her soul to
Jesus. O! I shall never forget that scene: there lay the dying saint
before my face,--it was the solemn, still hour of midnight--the calm
serene without beautifully harmonized with the scene within. The virgin
was ready, with her lamp trimmed, and the cry came, 'Behold the
bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him,' The summons was obeyed, and
the faithful servant entered into the joy of her Lord.
"As regards my own feelings, I was without agitation; and that sweet,
sweet peace, which is the peculiar property of the people of God, kept my
heart and mind: but when the spirit had fled I felt a little excitement,
and could have disturbed the house by shouting her dying word, Glory!
"She selected a verse for the funeral sermon; it is the last in the
seventh of Revelation: 'For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.'"
THE END.