The First Fifty Years of the Sunday School

THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

OF THE

S U N D A Y S C H O O L .

W . H . W A TSO N ,

One of t be Secret a rzes of ﬂ u Sun day Scﬁool

CA VEN U B R A R! ! NO X CO LLEGE TO R O N TO

LON DON

SU N D A Y SC H L N I N 6 O L D B A I L E Y O O U O , 5 , .

P R EF A C E.

UPON occasion Sunda Sch o ol Union in the of the y , the

1 853 n n n year , celebrati g the Jubilee of that I stitutio , its history to that period was recorded in a volume prepared

one and by of the Secretaries published by the Committee,

” THE F THE H L entitled HISTORY O SUNDAY SC OO UNION .

A desire had been expressed for a Second Edition of

and in n for n that Work , prepari g a complia ce with that request the Author discovered that the papers read at the Sunday School Convention of 1 862 contained a large amount of information relative t o the progress of the Sunday- school system which had not any conn ection

o n with the hist ry of the Sunday School Unio .

He was therefo re led t o consider whether a volume devoted t o the narrative of the o rigin and progress of the

Sunday- school system during the ﬁrst ﬁfty years o f its

in w n o f n history, hich the proceedi gs the Su day School

Union should be recorded only so far as they materi ally

n o i ﬂuenced that pr gress , might not be the most convenient P i REFACE. v.

o n m de of preservi g the memory of the facts which, under

n v n n the guida ce of Di i e Provide ce, have resulted in the

s so - e tablishment of wide spread and beneﬁcial agency .

n o n The prese t v lume is the result of that co sideration , and is n ow submitted to the perusal especially of the

i n i n n friends of the religious tra g of the you g, with the hope that it will excite gratitude to the Author of all

u Good, who has so wonderf lly guided and blessed the thoughts and actions of His servants, and made them so extensively useful . Should thiscontribution to the history of Christian

efforts since Robert Raikes commenced the present

- Sunday school system meet with acceptance, it will

probably be followed by another volume, devoted more especially to a fuller detail of the manner in which the Sunday School Union has sought to extend and improve

that system . T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S .

H TER C A P I .

Early e ffort s fo r t h e mo ral and re li gi o us training o f t h e yo un g

HA T C P ER II .

Th e n e e c ua mo a and e ous co nd on o f En and s o i t ll t l , r l, r ligi iti gl h rtly pre vious t o t h e e stabli shme n t of Sunday schoo ls

H T C A P ER III .

h i s me n o f un da sc o s b M r R o e r R a k s T e e stabl h t S y ho l y . b t i e

HA T C P ER IV .

Th e fo rmatio n o f t h e Sun day Scho o l So ci e ty and e stablishme nt o f t h e Sto ckpo rt Sch oo l

HA TE C P R V . — J o se ph Lancaste r Th e B ritish and F o re i gn Scho o l So cie ty

D r B e —Th e N a ona So c e fo r omo n t h e Educa on . ll ti l i ty Pr ti g ti o f t h e Po o r in t h e Prin cipl e s Of t h e Establishe d Church Th e R e ligio us Tract So cie ty

A R C H PTE VI .

R v R o w and Hi ll—O e n n o f t h e ﬁ s Sunda sc o o in London e . l p i g r t y h l

M r T o mas Cran ﬁe ld . h I TABLE OF CONTEN TS . V .

C HA PTER V' H . PA GE — I n tro ductio n o f t h e Sunday scho o l in to Sco tland Oppo si ti on o f t he civi l and e ccle siasti cal autho ri tie s

C HA TER P VIII . — I n tro ducti o n o f t h e Sun day scho o l i n to Wale s C o nse q ue n t de man d

fo r co i e s o f t h e Sc u e R e v T o s C a e s—F ma o n p ript r . h . h rl or ti o f t h e B riti sh and F o re i gn B i bl e So cie ty

C HA TER P IX .

M r W B Gu n e —F m a n f t h unda n . o o o e S Sc o n . . r y r ti y hoo l U i

Mr am N i b —M r T o mas T om s n e s s e t . o . J h h p .

C HA TER P X .

Th e e xte nsio n o f t h e Sunday scho o l t o A me ri ca

C HA TER P XI .

In tro ductio n o f t h e Sunday scho o l into Ire land

T C HA P ER XII .

First publi c me e ting o f t h e Sunday Scho o l Uni on

H C A P TER XIII .

Effo rts fo r t h e pro mo tio n o f ge n e ral e ducati o n

C HA TER P XIV .

’ M r B ou am s an fo r t h e omo o n o f e ne a e duca o n . r gh pl pr ti g r l ti

C HA TER P XV .

F o rmati o n o f t h e A me ri can Sunday Scho o l Unio n or N T T TABLE CO EN S. ii v .

C HA TER P XVI .

Th e e stablishme n t o f I n fan t scho ol s

HA PT R C E XVII .

Se nio r cl asse s in Sunday scho o ls

HA TER C P XVIII .

Th e J ubile e o f Sunday scho ols- Con clusion

THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS OF THE SUNDAY S H L C OO .

CHAPTER I .

Ear/y cf orls f or t he moral and re ligious t raining

1 1 6 of { young.

AMONG the various subjects which occupy the at tention o f n one the reﬂecti g mind , there is, perhaps, no more in teresting than that which refers to the origi n and

in n gradual progress of events the atural , the political ,

IVe and the moral world . behold the mighty river

n : rolli g its ample ﬂood towards the ocean in its course , it be aut iﬁe s and fertilizes the lan d through which it

: n passes by its age cy, that which would otherwise be a barren desert is c o nverted into a fruitful ﬁeld and

n o furnishes food for millio s b th of man and beast .

n n The traveller, anxious to exami e the spri g whence this

n t o blessi g proceeds , traces the stream upwards its

n n his source ; and, after a lo g and pai ful journey,

h n curiosity is gratiﬁed . He t e perceives how apparently

n n in i sig iﬁcant its early course is the stream , which ,

n as n n wideni g it proceeds , at le gth confers blessi gs so varied and extensive . Such al so is the feeling with which we examine the progress of a mighty empire, that overruns the whole

n a n civilized world, and bri gs lmost every known ation t 4 3 B 2 THE FI RST FIFTY YEARS i o s nt ubjection to its authority . The historian traces back the steps by which it advanced to its power

he ﬁnds the limits within which that power Operates,

t h e gradually contracted , and authority, much more ] mildly exercised ; til , at length , he reaches the time

when a few hardy men , perhaps of doubtful character,

u n nder an able chief, fou d themselves a home in a fe w

temporary dwellings, erected by them on that spot which after a fe w centuries became the metropolis of

the world . A curiosity of a similar kind is awakened with respect to the master minds to whom we are indebted for so

much of our knowledge . While we admire the extent

n of their acquirements, and the readi ess with which their

mental treasures are brought out to enrich the world, we are naturally desirous of ascertaining the process by which these stores have been accumulated ; an d our delight is great when we become acquainted with the ﬁrst feeble efforts of that intellect whose matured power holds

nations in voluntary subjection .

In looking around upon society, at the present period, we can scarcely avoid being struck with the existence of numerous institutions designed to promote the moral and

n spiritual welfare of mankind . These institutio s employ — an extensive agency they raise considerable funds , and

- exert a wide Spread inﬂuence . Their existence and

but prosperity are not dependent on worldly power, are

n and the result of voluntary Christia exertion, they are

n an produci g amount of good which deﬁes calculation .

n Their origi , however, was obscure ; their progress has be e n gradual ; and it affords a ple asing e mployme nt t o TH H L OF E SUNDAY SC OO . 3

e h the mind which sympathiz s wit their objects, to trace

and back their progress, to contemplate the insigniﬁcant ff commencement of these benevolent e orts . Among such institutions there is no one which has a

greater claim to attentive regard, than the Sunday

o n n u n i scho l , desig ed to trai p the risi g generation n the

n d k owledge of Go . The mode by which this object is

n n attai ed is very simple . Individuals i ﬂuenced by love

S and n for n to the aviour, concer the welfare of the you g,

’ da gather them together on the Lord s y , to unite in

v W of God de otional exercises, to read the ord , to receive

e n n xpla ations of that word, and to atte d public worship . It is impossible for anyone t o d o ubt that such a disciplin e

n n must be highly be eﬁcial to the youthful mi d . The Di vin e Word en courages us t o believe that the Holy Spirit will make it effectual to the spiritual and eternal beneﬁt o f the soul ; and experience has borne testimony

T o to its blessed results . w millions and a half of the rising generation of our land are enj oyi ng the beneﬁts of

h t h e a o f t is system, under c re more than three hundred thousan d gratuitous teachers ; while it is gradually

n n maki g its way i to other countries, and extending its i nﬂ uence througho ut the earth .

But if we trace back this noble stream to its source, we shall ﬁ nd that it afforded but little prospect of

n i attaining its present mag itude . The or gi n of Sunday

oo n an n of sch ls prese ts illustratio the fact, which has

n been ofte noticed , that the supposed inventions of later days , are but the development of ideas enter t ain in n n e d ages lo g si ce past, but which have either

e e all c ie out ac ua ra t i not b n at arr d into t l p ce , or B g 4 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS have failed at that period to exert any permanent

- n nd and wide spread inﬂuence . The origi ator of Su ay

v . o schools appears to ha e been St Charles Borrome ,

Archbisli O e of Cardinal and p of Milan , and neph w Pope

1 584 a e of Pius IV. He died in the year , at the early g

- si x v in n n forty , of a violent fe er caught the eighbouri g

“ R e v. . . mountains . The J C Eustace, in his Classical ” t h 1 44— 1 7 . . 1 46 Tour Through Italy, edition , vol , pp , f Says o him, It was his destiny to render to his people those great and splendid services which excite public

m s applause and gratitude, and to perfor at the ame

time those humbler duties which , though perhaps more

u and meritorious, are more obsc re, sometimes produce

more obloquy than acknowledgment . Thus, he founded

schools, colleges, and hospitals , built parochial churches, most affectionately attended his ﬂock during a destructive

pestilence, erected a lazaretto, and served the forsaken

n m victims with his own hands . These are duties u co

mon , magniﬁcent, and heroic, and are followed by fame f and glory. But to re orm a clergy and people depraved

v and almost barbarized by ages of war, in asion, internal

v n dissension, and by their concomitant e ils, fami e, pesti

n m : n lence, and ge eral isery to extend his i ﬂuence to

n n t h e every part of an immense diocese, i cludi g some of

v i n wildest regions of the Alps, to visit every illage

person, and to inspect and correct every disorder, are

f ff . o ﬁces of little pomp , and of great di iculty Yet, this laborious part of his pastoral charge he went through

with the courage and the perseverance of an apostle,

n and so great was his success, that the diocese of Mila ,

(the most extensive perhaps in Italy, as it contains at or THE suNDAY scn oot .

850 s c least pari hes, ) became a model of decen y, order, and i n regularity, and this respect has excited the

v m admiration of e ery i partial observer. The good effects of the zeal of St . Charles extended far beyond

s the limits of his diocese, and most of his regulation h for the reformation of his clergy, such as the establis

&e . ment of seminaries, yearly retreats, , were adopted by the Gallican church, and extended over France and

n Germany. Many of his excellent i stitutions still remain, and amongst others, that of Sunday schools and it is bo t h novel and affecting to behold on that day (Sunday) the vast area of the cathedral ﬁlled with

t wo children, forming grand divisions of boys and girls, ranged opposite each other, and then again subdivided

n n a e i to classes accordi g to their g and capacities, drawn

w s up bet een the pillars, while two or more instructor attend each class, and direct their questions and explana

n tions to every little i dividual without distinction . A clergyman attends each class, accompanied by one or

for for more laymen the boys, and the girls by as many matrons . The lay persons are said to be oftentimes of

in ff the ﬁrst distinction . Tables are placed di erent

for n . recesses writi g This admirable practice, so bene

ﬁ cial an d so edifying , is not conﬁned to the cathedral , or even to Milan . The pious Archbishop extended it to

v n in e ery part of his imme se diocese, and it is observed h all the paroc ial churches of the Milanese, and of the n n f eighbouri g dioceses , of such at least as are su fragans

’ of hlﬂ anf

St ou li t on o . . A m re recent traveller (Rev J g , Scenes in n an s h Ma y L ds, with their ays, that e 6 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS was very an xious to ascertain whether the same practices “ still prevailed . They do ; and not only did we see the classes assembled in the churches, but in one or two

a - c ses there were school rooms with forms placed, and

’ n a Z A n lais the children gatheri g so completely g , that a Christian friend and Sabbath school teacher who aecom

anie d p me, observed, he could fancy himself at home, ” about to enter on his accustomed toils .

’ These schools are held from two to four o clock in the

n n after oo , and are closed by the pastor with a catechetical

n of discourse . The books used contain an expla ation ’ n the creed , the commandme ts, the Lord s prayer, and the

an n sacraments, and have sometimes annexed accou t of the festivals , fasts, and public ceremonies . Had these institutions extended beyond Milan and its neighbour hood into other countries, Borromeo might have been justly considered the founder of the Sunday school

n t system . This was not the ease . His example was o followed beyond the immediate circle in which it had arisen ; and the Sunday afternoon catechetical exercises in the Romish or in the Protestant church cannot be at all

e identiﬁed with the mod rn Sunday school . There may have been individuals occasional ly gatherin g together ’ young persons for religious in struction on the Lord s

of day. This was done by the Rev . Jos . Alleine, author

“ n 1 688 the Alarm to the U converted, in ; by Theo

hilus t 1 763 n p Lindsey, of Cat erick , in ; by Miss Harriso ,

in 1 65 at Bedale, 7 and by Miss Ball, at High Wycombe, in 1 76 9 ; and probably by many others whose names “ have not been re corde dﬁ But all these were isolated

n on a az ne 1 856 . 1 40. U i M g i , , p OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 7 effo rts ; the inﬂuence of which ceased with the removal

n 1 0 o . 8 of the parties rigi ating them About the year 7 , t h e idea of thus beneﬁting t h e rising generation appears to have occurred to individuals residing in different localities . The Rev . David Simpson, M . A . , minister of

Maccle sﬁe ld Christ Church , , opened a school there in 1 8 77 . It seems to have been principally designed for

o - instructi n on the week day evenings , but on Sunday those scholars who could not conveniently attend the

- n n week day eve i g schools, were, together with those

ho u sc lars who did, ta ght to spell and read, and the whole of them were regularly taken to church every Sabbath day . The teachers employed were paid teachers, and

n 1 86 this system of ma agement continued until 7 , when

Mr . Simpson gave up the schools into the hands of the committee for the Sunday schools . In 1 796 paid teachers were entirely discontinued, and a new system

n of co ducting the school commenced under Mr. Simp ’ ! son s sanction and auspices . B ut it would be incorrect to assign the origination of the present Sunday school system to any of these praiseworthy effo rts . Had not Divine Providence raised up some other instrumentality, the work would not have

n n bee do e . They, however, prove in what direction the

n n n mi ds of Christian men were tur i g, and they prepared the way for the apparently accidental occurrence which was to commence the systematic and general instruction ’ of the young on the Lord s day.

’ un a Te h i a ine 42 c oo ac e s a 1 8 . 1 1 4. S d y S h l M g z , , p 8 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER II.

he int e llect ual moral and re li ions condit ion o En land T , , g f g l short lgp reoious t o t he est ablishment of Sunday schoo s.

F OR BE E , however, proceeding to detail the circumstances c onnected with the introduction of the Sunday school

n n t o system i to E gland , it may be desirable take a

o retrospective view of the intellectual , moral, and religi us con dition of E ngland shortly previous to the establish

n n ment of Sunday schools . A great cha ge will be fou d

n l to have taken place, a cha ge which wil be universally

n admitted to be for the better, and the subseque t narra ti ve will show that the change must be in a great degree attributed to the establishment and progress of that h Sunday school system, the origination of w ich we

n t . ca not but attribute to that good man, Rober Raikes

n m The history of E gland, for so e years prior to that event, presents a very painful picture as it respects the intellectual cultivation of the people . The two uni v e rsit ie s of Oxford and Cambridge were then the places where those who were to be the governors and in st ruct ors of the people completed their education ; and it will be readily perceived that the discipline exercised B ut there would inﬂuence all their previous studies . ,

“ says Dr. Swift, I have heard more than one or two persons of high rank declare they could learn nothing

1 0 THE FIR ST FIFTY YEARS

the ﬁnest genius . The statutes require that he

n n n n and should tra slate familiar E glish phrases i to Lati , now is the time when the masters show their wit and jocularity. I have known the questions on this occasion to consist of an inquiry into the pedigree of a race ” horse . It could not be expected that the examination ul wo d be very strict, as the examiners were chosen by the candidate himself from among his friends , and he was expected to provide a dinner for them after the exami na tion was over. Lord Chesterﬁeld, in his Essays, speak i n i n of g the character a country gentleman, satirically r m obse ves, When I took away my son fro school, I

v resol ed to send him directly abroad, having been at ” Oxford myself. These facts will gi ve some idea of the training to w which the upper classes of society ere subjected, and w u ill show how little, intellectually, co ld be expected from it. With respect to the middle and lower classes

i n of society, the educational institutions founded prior ages had become the subject of great abuse, and had m been, in a great degree, diverted fro the objects for which they were designed, while the parochial charity schools afforded but a modicum of instruction to a very

i small port on of the population . It will not be thought surprising that the moral condition of the people was not more satisfactory than

n their intellectual . It would, perhaps, be u fair to rely on the pictorial representations of Hogarth , or on the

a l n ﬁctitious n rratives of Smo lett and Fieldi g, because it may be apprehended that their desire to produce effect may have led them into exaggeration, if not into XY H OF THE SUND SC OOL . 1 1

r c . ca i ature Still , the probability is that those works would n ot have attained their celeb rity h ad they n ot gi ven some thing like a fair representation of the existing manners of the people . Had their pictures of the grossness and

n ow vice which characteriz ed the period under review ,

n been destitute of truth , surely the feeli gs of the nation wo a n b uld have revolted gai st such exhi itions, the only justiﬁcation for which was to be found in their general

B ut n truthfulness . without dependi g too much on this

v n i n n e ide ce , there are, additio , facts on record which show most conclusively that ignorance and vice were closely associated . To refer again to Oxford . Lord Eldon stated that he had seen there a Doctor of Divmit y so far the worse for a convivial entertainment that he was un able to walk home without leani ng for support with

v n his hand upon the walls, but ha i g, by some accident, f staggered to the Rotunda of the Radcli fe Library,

n rot e c t e d b n which was not the p y a raili g, he continued

o n to g round and round, wonderi g at the unwonted

n n length of the street, but still revolvi g and supposi g he — went straight, until some friend perhaps the future chancellor himself— relieved him from his embarrassment

n and set him o his way. Even where there might be no

such excess as this, the best company of the day would

n o devote a lo g time to the circulati n of the bottle . With

n such examples before them , it is not surprisi g that drunkenness should be found to prevail amongst the

In 1 36 lower classes . the year 7 , there were in London

207 447 551 f - 5975 inns , taverns, co fee houses, alehouses,

86 5 - e m n and 9 brandy sh ps, aki g a total of The population at that time was about In a century 1 2 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

1 8 35 h ad afterwards , , the population advanced t o but the number of houses where intoxicating — liquors were sold h ad gi e at ly diminished not then 5000 u exceeding ; so that, in proportion to the pop lation, there were at the former period nine times as many such

places open as at the latter. Another feature of the period of English history

shortly previous to the establishment of Sunday schools,

was the prevalence of gaming . It was discountenan ced r by both the second and third Geo ges, but ﬂourished

n a notwithstandi g . There is one c se recorded of a lady

1 n 0 0 . who lost guineas at one sitting, at Amo g ’ ’ o a nd the men, Br okes Club White s are mentioned as

more especially the seats of high play . Mr . Wilberforce

n as n comi g up to London, a you g man of fortune,

’ w won says The very ﬁrst time I ent to Boodle s, I ” - twenty ﬁve guineas of the Duke of Norfolk . Many in that age were the ancestral forests felled and the go odly

v lands disposed of to gratify this passion . The disco ery of a new game in the last years of the American war tended greatly to diffuse the spirit of gaming from the higher to

the lower classes . This was the E . O . table, which was

thought to be beyond the reach of law, because not dis

t in t l . 1 82 c y speciﬁed in any statute In 7 , a bill was brought

n a n an in, providi g severe penalties gai st this or y other

i n n . b ll new game of cha ce The passed the Commo s, but the session closed befo re it had got through the House of

u Lords . In the debates upon this s bject, Mr . Byng , the m on ember for Middlesex , stated that in two parishes ly

2 . . n of Westminster there were 96 E O . tables A other

n a member stated that E . O . tables might be fou d at lmost on THE . SUNDAY, SCHOOL 1 3

every country town . Servants and apprentices, it seems,

in were drawn in to take part these games, cards of direction to them being often thrown down the areas of

t he the houses, and comers in were allowed to play on h . w o Sundays as freely as on other days Sheridan, ,

x from his own private life, could not be e pected to view w the new bill with any great favour, said against it ith

“ . 0 some truth, that it would be in vain to prohibit E . tables while a more pernicious mode of gaming was — countenanced by law h e meant the gaming in the ” lottery . Private lotteries were, indeed, prohibited, but State lotteries had long been ranked amongst the ordinary

“ sources of revenue . This lottery madness , as it has been truly termed , was , it seems , indulged in by night as well as by day. A traveller to London in 1 775

n w observes, that he could not help looki g ith displeasure at the n umber of paper lanthorns that dangled before the ’ oﬁi ce s i n doors of lottery , cons deri g them as so m any f n out o alse lights hu g to draw f ols to their destruction .

a e If we inquire further into the moral habits of that g , the result will be such as might be expected fro m the

v n n n n pre ale ce of such ill practices as dri ki g and gami g.

r We may guess the customary n ature of the talk and songs after dinner when we find that in great houses the h c aplain was expected to retire with the ladies . But in many c ase s we fi nd this wan t of moral refi nement extended

v n o d e e t the latter. Sir Walter Scott recor s that his gran d- aunt applied to him i n his young years to obtain for

n her perusal the ovels of Mrs . Afra Behn, some of the

o i n . m st licentious the language Scott, though not without

o w some qualms , c mplied ith the request. The volumes 1 4 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

w u n “ ere, however, speedily ret r ed . Take back your

” “ . . u bonny Mrs Behn , said Mrs Keith , and if yo will ” w vi ut . n t follo my ad ce, p her in the ﬁre But is it o a ” n n “ stra ge thi g, she added, that I, a woman of eighty,

s n itting alo e, feel myself ashamed to look through a book

a o for which, sixty years g , I have heard read aloud the amusemen t of large circles of the best company in “ London d In those days, also, the high roa s leading into London

r were infested by robbe s on horseback, who bore the

n ame of highwaymen . Private carriages and public

in conveyances were alike the objects of attack . Thus, f 1 5 . o 77 , Mr Nuthall, the solicitor and friend Lord

n his w Chatham , returni g from Bath in carriage ith his

wife and child, was stopped and ﬁred at near Hounslow,

t h e o f and died of the fright . In same year, the guard

i n n the Norwich stage was killed Eppi g Forest, after he had himself shot dead three highwaymen out of seven

fe n that had assailed him . Nor were such examples w a d t far between ; they might, from the records of that ime,

be numbered by the score, although , in most cases, the

loss was rather of property than of life . Horace Walpole,

v n writing from Strawberry Hill , complains that, ha i g

for o now lived there in quiet thirty years, he cann t stir a mile from his o wn house after sunset without one or

n two servants armed with blu derb usses . But what is

us n most important to , as illustrati g the general state of

n of morals, is the astonishi g fact that some the best writers of the last cen tury treat these acts of outrage as

t h e n subjects of jest and almost o f praise . It was to e in ce rtain circle s t o de pi c t t he highwaym e n as daring and OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 5

“ generous spirits, who took to the road, as it was termed , — un der the pressure of some momentary difﬁcult ie s the

n ge tlefolk , as it were, of the profession , and far above the common run of thieves .

n But it may be asked, Were there not some controlli g religious inﬂuences at work t o counteract these results of

n an d ? ignora ce immorality Doubtless there were, but

n . N w who to a lame tably small extent John e ton, ’ Woolnot h s laboured at St . Mary , Lombard Street,

declared that when he came to that church, he was nearly,

if not quite, the only clergyman in the City of London

v wh o preached the gospel . This may ha e been like the ” n “ despairing la guage of Elijah, I only am left alone ; and yet it could not have been used if t h e religious n w character of the clergy had not falle very lo . There

v n . is other e idence to this lame table fact Dr. Thomas w Ne ton , Bishop of Bristol , thus complains of the neglect of duty on the part of the cathedral clergy Never l was Church more shamefully neg ected . The Bishop h as several times been there for mon ths together without

n o r n seei g the face of dean prebendary, or anythi g better ’ n n n n tha a mi or ca o . And as, in some cases, there were

n n ma u disguised eglects of duty, so in others we y trace

on n its jocular evasi . On one of the prebe daries of

o n n R chester Cathedral di i g with Bishop Pearce, the

” “ o . S. Bish p asked him , Pray, Dr , what is your time of

” ” “ n ? reside ce at Rochester My lord , said he, I reside

” ’ there the better part of the year . But the doctor s

n n and mea i g, also the real fact was , that he resided at

Rochester only during the week of the audit . Among

t h e a a e e e e x e c e d a co e s ond n l ity, s might hav b n p t , rr p i g 1 6 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS n eglect of church ordinances was too often found . Bishop Newton cites it as a most signal and unusual instance of religious duty, that Mr . George Grenville “ regularly attended the ser vice of the church every

n Sunday morni g, even while he was in the highest ofﬁces . Not only was Sunday the common day for d cabinet councils and cabinet inners, but the very hours of its morning service were frequently appointed for political interviews and conferences . Nor was the state of religion more satisfact ory amongst those who did not conform to the Established Church . The successors of the Puritans had sadly fallen away from the fervour and

i and soundness of the religious princ ple of their ancestors, from many of their pulpits the doctrines of Socinian ism were preached, while the minutes of the Methodist

f 1 65 n Con erence, in May, 7 , co tain the following entry Do not our people in genei al talk too much and read ” too little ? They do . The preceding illustrations of life and manners in the age immediately preceding the introduction of the

y Sunday school system , are chieﬂ gathered from the

’ concluding chapter of Lord Mahon s History of Eng 1 1 3 land, from 7 to His lordship had previously given a n arrative of these fearful events which may not u t n nfairly be at ributed to the debased i tellectual , moral , 1 780 and religious condition of the nation when, in June, ,

e under the pr tence of a regard to the Protestant religion, t numerous Roman Ca holic chapels , the residence of

v Sir George Sa ille, in Leicester Square, of Lord Mans

ii i ﬁeld , Bloomsbury Square, and the gaol of Newgate, which had cost were gutted and destroyed .

1 8 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S

CHAPTER III .

est ablishment of Sunday Schools by

Mr . R bert R ai e o k s.

IN 1 78 1 no the year , an individual, of great note in

society, went one morning to hire a gardener i n the

in suburbs of the city which he dwelt, where the lowest

of the people, who were principally employed in the pin

manufactory, chieﬂy resided . The man whom he went

to hire was from home and while waiting for his return,

he was greatly disturbed by a troop of wretched, noisy

s boys, who interrupted him , a he conversed with the ’ man s wife on the business he came about. He inquired

n a whether these childre belonged to that p rt of the town,

“ ” . !sir and lamented their misery and idleness Ah , u w said the woman, co ld you take a vie of this part of

the town on Sunday, you would be shocked indeed ; for

then the street is ﬁlled with multitudes of these wretches,

who , released on that day from employment, spend their

and n time in noise and riot, playing at chuck , cursi g and swearing in a manner so horrid as to convey to any serious mind an idea of hell rather than any other ” u place . This conversation s ggested to Robert Raikes, of Gloucester—for he was the individual—the idea of ’ attempting to stop this profanation of the Lord s day ” the word “ try was so powerfully impressed on his N OF THE SU DAY SCHOOL . 1 9

mind as to decide him . at once to action ; and many

“ years afterwards he remarked to Joseph Lancaster, I can never pass by the spot where the word ‘ try ’ came so n n powerfully i to my mi d, without lifting up my hands and heart to heaven in gratitude to God for having put ” such a thought into my head .

The particular mode adopted by Mr . Raikes to

n u accomplish his object was as follows . Havi g fo nd fo ur persons who had been accustomed to instruct

n n children in reading, he e gaged to pay them one shilli g

for n n each , receivi g and instructi g such children as he should send to them every Sunday. The children were

n to come soon after ten in the morni g, and stay till twelve ; they were then to go home and return at one ;

n and, after reading a lesson, were to be co ducted to church . After church, they were to be employed in

m - repeating the catechis till half past ﬁve, and then to be

i n dismissed, with an j unction to go home quietly, and by no means to make a noise in the street. Such was the humble commencement of the Sunday school system . The contrast between the school just

- described, and a well conducted school of the present

so day, is great, that the resemblance can scarcely be perceived. We look in vain for the infant class, design ed to convey even t o babes the elements of religious knowledge : we fear there could not be any systematic in struction in the Scriptures imparted to the children more advanced in age ; much less should we

ff an o f expect to ﬁnd, in these early e orts, y pr vision or

n of n u n the i struction youths growi g p into ma hood .

and n s s The pious e lightened uperintendent and ecretary, oz 20 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S with their devoted band of voluntary and gratuitous w n teachers, ere also wanti g ; nor would the most diligent i nquiry have discover e d a lending library attached to

of n any of these schools, for the use the scholars duri g the week . ! Still the effect produced by these efforts was consider

in . Mr. able Raikes states, a letter to Colonel Townley, a gentleman in Lancashire, who had made inquiries relative to these ne w institutions It is now three years since we began ; and I wish you were here, to ff make inquiry into the e ect. A woman who lives in a

a o lane where I had ﬁxed a school, told me, some time g , a that the pl ce was quite a heaven upon Sundays, com pared to what it used to be . The numbers who have

so learned to read, and say their catechism, are great that I am astonished at it. Upon the Sunday afternoon

s —a the mistresses take their cholars to church, place into which neither they nor their ancestors ever entered with a view to the glory of God . But what is more

ra amufﬁns extraordinary, within this month these little g have in great numbers taken it into their heads to frequent the early morning prayers which are held ’ every morning at the cathedral, at seven o clock . I believe there were near ﬁfty this morning. They assemble at the house of one of the mistresses, and walk before her to church, two and two, in as much order as ” a company of soldi ers .

Two years had scarcely elapsed, when Robert Raikes invited some friends to breakfast ; the window of the room where they were seated opening into a sm all in s row garden, and there were beheld, sitt g on eats, one OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 21

d above another, the chil ren of the ﬁrst Sunday school , b t he neatly dressed . They were purposely exhi ited to

in breakfast party, to interest them the design, but so

little were the momentous consequences then appreciated,

that a !uaker lady rebuked Mr. Raikes in these words,

“ Friend Raikes, when thou doest charitably, thy right ” hand should not know what thy left hand doeth . The fair !uaker might have forgotten that there is another “ text, which says , Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works, and glorify your

Father, which is in heaven For three years the Sunday schools gradually e x ’ t ended in Mr . Raikes neighbourhood, to which they

were then conﬁned, and several clergymen contributed

to the success of the scheme by their personal attentions .

n The position of Mr. Raikes, as proprietor and pri ter

“ n him of the Gloucester Jour al , enabled to make public this new scheme of benevolence ; and a notice

n . 3 1 783 n i serted in that paper, on Nov , , havi g been

n copied into the Lo don papers , attention was soon drawn

to the subject. The application we have referred to

n one and from Colonel Tow ley was of the results ; , at

in his request, the letter of Mr . Raikes answer, from

which we have made an extract, was inserted in the “ ’ ” 1 Gentleman s Magazine for 784. Thus the idea of f Sunday schools was widely di fused, and several were

n n ope ed in various parts of the ki gdom .

In a letter, addressed by Mr. Raikes to Mrs . Harris, 5 1 8 of Chelsea, under date November , 7 7, he gi ves the following particulars as to the manner in which the

’ Ma m 1 1 un a c oo eac e s az e 84 . 22 S d y S h l T h r g , . p . 22 THE FIR ST FIFTY YEARS

—“ schools established by him were conducted I e n de avour to assemble the children as early as is consistent — with their perfect cleanliness Our indispensable rule ’ u the ho r prescribed in our rules is eight o clock, but it

- is usually half after eight before our ﬂock is collected . w T enty is the number allotted to each teacher, the sexes kept separate . The twenty are divided into four classes ;

an n the children who show y superiority in attai ments,

are placed as leaders of the several classes, and are

employed in teaching the others their letters, or in hear

ing them read in a low whisper, which may be done without interrupting the master or mistress in their

and business, will keep the attention of the children

engaged, that they do not play or make a noise . Their attending the service of the church once a- day has to ffi me seemed su cient, for their time may be spent more

i n proﬁtably perhaps receiving instruction, than in being present at a long discourse , which their minds are not yet able to comprehen d : but people may think differently i f if on this point . The stipend to the teachers

here is a shilling each Sunday, but we ﬁnd them ﬁring,

and bestow gratuities as rewards of diligence, which may

make it worth sixpence more . It had some times been a difﬁc ult task to keep the children in proper

b u order, when they were all assem led at ch rch, but I

now sit very near them myself, which has had the effect

n of preservi g the most perfect decorum . After the

sermon in the morning they return home to dinner, and

- an d meet at the schools at half after one, are dismissed

at ﬁve, with strict injunctions to observe a quiet be

u e e . havio r, fr from all noise and clamour B e fore the OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 23

u in business is beg n in the morn g, they all kneel down w di hile a prayer is read, and the same before smission

n in the eveni g. To those children who distinguish

s be themselves as examples of diligence, quietnes in

v o om ha iour, bservance of order, kindness to their c

n o &c . & c . pa i ns , , , I give some little token of my regard, as ar a pair of shoes if they e barefooted, and some who are very bare of apparel , I clothe . This I have been

n enabled to do in ma y instances, through the liberal m support given me by y brothers in the city . By these means I have acquired considerable ascendancy over the minds of the children . Besides, I frequently go round to their habitations , to inquire into their behaviour at

n s home , and into the conduct of the pare t , to whom I

and t he give some little hints now then, as well as to

’ children . It is that part of our Saviour s

‘ am character which I imitating, He went about doing ’ good . No one can form an idea what beneﬁts he is

n capable of renderi g to the community, by the con

“ Y ou descension of visiting the dwellings of the poor.

- may remember the place without the South gate, called ’ Littleworth ; it used to be the St. Giles of Gloucester . By going amongst those people I have totally changed

n their ma ners . They avow, at this time, that the place is quite a heaven to what it used to be . Some of the vilest of the boys are now so exemplary in behaviour, ” that I have taken one into my own service .

A question has been raised, as to whether the idea, l from which such great resu ts have followed, originated

him . with Mr . Raikes, or was suggested to by the Rev

’ - a a ne 1 831 . . 61 7 620. Sund ay S chool Te achers M g zi , pp 2 4 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

’ In Mr. Stock, curate of St. John s, Gloucester . a letter,

2 1 88 . dated February , 7 , Mr Stock makes the following

n statement Mr. Raikes meeti g me one day by

accident at my own door, and, in the course of conversa

n n tio , lamenti g the deplorable state of the lower classes

n of manki d, took particular notice of the situation of

n the poorer childre . I had made, I replied, the same and observation, told him , if he would accompany me e into my own parish , we would mak some attempt to h remedy t e evil . We immediately proceeded to the

business, and procuring the names of about ninety

n n children, placed them u der the care of four perso s, for

n a stated number of hours on the Su day. As ministe r

su e rin of the parish, I took upon me the principal p ” - n tendence of the schools , and one third of the expe se .

Mr . Stock adds, The progress of this institution through

n the ki gdom , is justly to be attributed to the constant m representations which Mr . Raikes ade in his own

t h e n paper (the Gloucester Journal), of be eﬁts which he ” perceived would probably arise from it. This state ment is not inconsistent with that which has been already

given ; it by no means follows , that the idea had not

already occurred to Mr. Raikes, previously to this inter

Mr. . n view with Stock There can, i deed, be no doubt

n that such was the case, so disti ctly did Mr . Raikes

repeatedly refer to the circumstance . The Rev . Dr .

n Kennedy, of New York , in addressi g the State Con

e nt ion v of Sabbath school teachers , held at Newhaven ,

“ n 1 858 in Co necticut, in June, , said , Many years ago,

so f n one of the older citie E gland, two men might have

Penn c o e a vol. 21 . 37. y Cy l p di , , p

26 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

n he ? poor childre employed Sir, said he, the

v n in change could not ha e been more extraordi ary, my opinion, had they been transformed from the shape of wolves and tigers to that of men . In temper, disposi u ff tion, and manners, they co ld hardly be said to di er from the brute creation , but since the establishment of

Sunday schools, they have seemed anxious to show that i u they are not the ignorant, lliterate creat res they were before . They are anxious to gain the favour and good opinion of those who kindly instruct and admonish them .

They are also become more tractable and obedient, and ” ff less quarrelsome and revengeful . The good e ects of the care be st Owe d on the scholars were also seen in their

f . amilies One boy, the son of a journeyman currier of dissipated habits, after being some time in the school, told Mr . Raikes that his father was wonderfully changed,

l off and had eft going to the alehouse on a Sunday.

in n Soon afterwards Raikes met the father the street, a d expressed the pleasure he felt in hearing of the change ” in his conduct . Sir, said he, I may thank you for “ ” “ it . Nay, said Raikes, that is impossible ; I do not

” “ ” recollect that I ever spoke to you before . No, sir, “ he replied, but the good instruction you give my boy, he brings home to me, and it is that, sir, which has ” induced me to reform my life . Many years afterwards,

- as Raikes, on a week day, was entering the door of the cathedral , he overtook a soldier, and accosting him , said

n it gave him great pleasure to see that he was goi g to a.

“ ” “ place of worship . Ah l said he, I may thank you

” “ “ ’ for . that Me l said Raikes, why, I don t know ” ”

e . that I ver saw you before Sir, replied the soldier, HE or T SUNDAY SCHOOL . 27

when I was a little boy I was indebted to you for my

ﬁrst instruction in duty. I used to meet you at the

n v morni g ser ice in this cathedral, and was one of your

Sunday scholars . My father, when he left this city, took me into Berkshire, and put me apprentice to a

d n shoemaker . I use often to thi k of you . At length I went to London, and was there drawn to serve as a

- t o militia man in the Westminster Militia. I came h Gloucester last nig t with a deserter, and took the

n v opportu ity of coming this morning to isit the old spot, ” o s and in hopes of once m re eeing you .

In the autograph collection of Mr . Charles Reed,

F there is a letter of Robert Raikes to the Rev .

Mr . Bowen Thickens, Ross, Herefordshire, dated June 2 t h 1 88 —“ At 7 , 7 , in which he says Windsor the ladies of fashion pass their Sundays in teaching the fpoore st children . The !ueen sent for me the other day to give Her Majesty an account of the effect observable -ou the

n ma ners of the poor, and Her Majesty most graciously said that she envied those who had the power of doing good by thus personally promoting the welfare of society in gi ving instruction and morals to the general mass of

n the people ; a pleasure from which, by her situatio , ” sh e was debarred .

Th e un a Szh ool J ub ee 1 831 . 1 7. S d y il , , p 28 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

I CHAPTER V.

The f ormat ion of t he Sunday School Socie t y and

est ablishment o t he f St ockp ort School.

1 85 . In the year 7 , William Fox , Esq a deacon of the

Baptist Church, in Prescott Street, London, formerly a w merchant in that city, and after ards of Lechlade, in

n n Gloucestershire, feeli g deeply i terested in the general

n education of the poor, and believi g that this new system ff a orded the means of promoting that object, entered

n w . i to correspondence ith Mr Raikes on the subject . He had long felt compassion for the indigent and ignoran t

o poor, and had opened a scho l at his own expense in the

- on- - village of Clapton , near Bourton the Water. He found it impossible to extend the advantages of daily instruction to a circle sufﬁ ciently extended to satisfy his desires, yet feared it would be almost as impossible to teach children to read by their attendance at schools

v l only one day in se en . To his great de ight he fo und himself mistaken in this particular, and to him was assigned the honour and the happiness of devising a scheme that greatly facilitated the wide diffusion of in struction o n the simple and efﬁcient plan of Sunday ’ school teaching . In Raikes reply to his ﬁrst letter, he

h e observed, that too at ﬁrst expected but little from the attendance of the children on Sundays only, but that it OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 29 had been highly importan t by excit ing in them and their

e parents a desir to gain further instruction, and that many were found giving the teachers a penny a week to allow the children to read to them on a week- day in the

n i tervals of labour. At this time also Mr . Raikes com

muni at . c e d to Mr . Fox the following interesting fact “ An attempt had been made to establish Sunday schools in the Forest of Dean among the children of the colliers , a most savage race . A person from Mitchel Dean called

a n upon Raikes to report the progress of the undert ki g,

n and observed, We have ma y children who three months ago knew not a letter from a cart wheel who can ’ n now repeat hymns in a man er that would astonish you . ’ at t s Some were so much delighted with Dr. W s little hymns that they could repeat the whole work . Several could read in the Testament , and some repeated whole

f n chapters . The e fect on their man ers was equally

n a pleasi g . At the public ex mination one of the con duct ors - n of the school pointed to a very ill looki g lad,

1 3 roﬂi at e about , and said, that boy was the most p g lad in this neighbourhood . He was the leader of every kind of mischief and wickedness . He never opened his lips without a profane or indecent expression : and now he is

- become orderly and good natured, and in his conversa ’ o n t h tion has quite left ff profa eness . All e children

conducted themselves in an orderly manner, and several

h m h e of them , amongst w o was the y just mentioned,

in n n a joined si gi g hymn, to the great delight of their

r u benefactors . These children had no other oppo t nities ” than what they derived from their Sabbath instruction .

“t — Th e un a c oo J ubi ee 1 831 . 1 7 1 8. S d y S h l l , pp , 30 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

7t h 1 8 5 . On the September, 7 , Mr Fox succeeded in forming t he Society for the Establishment and Support of Sunday Schools throughout the Kingdom of Great ” Britain . Mr . Jonas Hanway, Mr . Henry Thornton,

. u co and Mr Sam el Hoare, who became treasurer, operated in the formation of this new institution ; and it immediately received considerable encouragement and

n support. In the ﬁrst report of the committee, in Ja uary, 1 86 7 , they stated that they had established ﬁve schools in the neighbourhood of London, and had received

6d. subscriptions to the amount of £987 os. At the m eeting at which this report was presented, letters approving the object of the Society were read from the

f B ish o ~ of Bishops of Salisbury and Llanda f. The p

Chester (Dr . Porteus) also recommended the formation of Sunday schools in his extensive diocese . The poet

Cowper, in a letter to the Rev . John Newton, dated

2 1 4 . i n 4t h 8 . September , 7 , and the Rev J Wesley, a

a d J letter to the Rev . Rich rd Rodda, Chester, ated une 1 t h 1 85 7 , 7 , also stated their conviction of the beneﬁts to be expected from these schools . The great impediment to the prosperity of these ne w institutions was the expense of hiring teachers . It 1 86 1 800 appears that, from 7 to , the Sunday School

Society alone paid upwards of for this purpose .

1 784 1 . 6d. At Stockport, in , the teachers were paid s every Sunday for their services ; but by degrees gra 1 94 t uit ous teachers arose ; so that, in 7 , out of nearly

: thirty, six only were hired the rest voluntarily put themselves under the direction of the visitors . The beneﬁcial effects were soon apparent ; and from that L OF THE SUNDAY SCHOO . 31 time t he number of scholars and teachers, and the amount of subscriptions, regularly increased . In a few years hired teachers were wholly relinquished iii the

Stockport school . Gradually the system of hiring gave way almost universally to the employment of gratuitous teachers ; by which means a great obstacle to the extension of the system was removed . To remunerate the present number of teachers, at the rate paid to those in the l I s. 6d. u Stockport school, of each Sunday, wo d amount, if the number of teachers be estimated at to nearly per annum . The idea of conducting these in stitutions by unpaid teachers is said to have originated in a meeting of zealous Wesleyan ofﬁce

n bearers, one of whom, when the others were lamenti g “ ’ that they had no funds for hiring teachers, said, Let s ” do it ourselves .

' t o which The Stockport school, reference has thus been made, deserves a more extended notice . It was 1 84 formed in 7 on a broad and liberal basis, and was conducted by a committee under the patronage of the

' diﬂ e re nt clergy, and the ministers of congregations . 1 1 t h 1 84 The rules published November , 7 , declared that “ the town should be divided into six parts ; that there should be at least one school in each part ; that two

subscribers should visit each school, and report to the committee ; that the scholars should attend from nine to

n and twelve in the forenoo , from one to the hour of

worship in the afternoon, when their teachers should

conduct them to church or chapel, and then return to

e o on ensus 1 851 uca on . 78. R p rt C , , Ed ti , p 32 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

’ school again until six o clock . The teachers to be paid

n and one shilli g and sixpence per day, that the children of Protestant Dissenters should, if possible, have masters of their own persuasion, and choose their own mode of ” n catechisi g.

fe w For a years this plan succeeded, and much good was done ; but by degrees the attention of some of the visitors relaxed, and many of the teachers appeared rather to continue their services for the purpose of securing the triﬂing emolument to which they were thereby entitled than from zeal to promote the object of the institution . In one of the schools thus established ’ t h e t e ache rs f some of o fered their services gratis, and gradually the admission of gratuitous teachers became a

n fundamental principle . The ﬂourishi g state of this school beyond t h e rest rendered a greater supply of books requisite, added to which an increase of rent, with other expenses, occasioned a demand beyond its propor i tion of the public subscript on . These circumstances led to the formation of this school into a separate institution independent of the rest, agreeing with them in the — general object, the mode of instruction, the books in 1 94 use, and the subjects admitted . In the year 7 , a

n separate committee published a report, entitli g the ’ n The Me t hodist s Sunda institution, by way of disti ction , y School; most of its promoters and activ e supporters

n being of that denomi ation . That report stated the

number of scholars to be 695. Year by year witnessed large additions of scholars and teachers ; and on June

1 5t h 1 805 u The St ock ort , , the fo ndation stone of p

n Sunday School was laid. The buildi g cost nearly

A 34: THE FIRST FIFTY YE RS Although so large a measure of success had attended the efforts made to extend the beneﬁts of Sunday- school

n i struction throughout the country , it is remarkable that

his before Mr . Raikes went to rest, the schools established

n in the city of Gloucester became entirely exti ct . But

h n in v it so appe ed , the pro idence of God, about the

1 8 1 0 n m e n year , that six you g , impressed with the

an d n i m necessity value of such i stitut ons, banded the

n selves together, and resolved, in the stre gth of the

e Almighty, that they would reviv the good work there . They applied to the ir minister for leave to do so N

he said, the children will make too much noise . They ” of “ then applied to the trustees the chapel . No, they

“ so n said, the children will soil the place, that we can ot ” let you have it . They applied to the members of the

' “ n . ou church to rally rou d them No, they said, y

n o n will ﬁnd childre , no teachers, and no money to pay ” n expenses . But these six you g men , intent upon their

n ot . n work, were to be thus discouraged Accordi gly

they met around a post, at the corner of a lane, within

n twe ty yards of the spot where Hooper was marty red,

and n there , taki g each other by the hand, they solemnly

o resolved that, come what w uld , Sunday schools should

re - in n be established the city of Gloucester . Accordi gly

n an d they entered into a subscription amo gst themselves, although all the money they could raise was ﬁfteen

n and shilli gs, with that they set to work, formed the ﬁrst

s n in . chool , with u paid teachers, that locality Five of

n n n these you g men have lo g si ce gone to their reward,

t he i o sixth still survives n the person of the Rev . J hn

Adey, pastor of the Congregational Church , Bexley OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 35

Heath, Kent. That illustrious lady, the late Countess

n n inst it u of Hunti gdo , appreciated the value of these

n an d re - tio s , for, by her will, prior to the establishment

n v of Su day schools in Gloucester, she pro ided that the

n n t he o premises adjoi i g chapel there, sh uld be devoted

n v to the purposes of a Su day school, if e er the zeal and love of the members of the church meeting in that

o chapel should lead to its formati n . THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER V .

— J osep h L ancast er The B rit ish and F ore ign School

Socie t —Dr B e ll—The N at i onal Socie t or P r y . y f o mot ing t he E ducat i on of t he P oor in t he P rincip les of

t he Est ablished hur h The R eli i T C c g ous ract Socie t y .

THE narrative contained in the preceding chapter would

” be imperfect if reference were not made to the interest

on n excited the subject of educatio generally, as a result ’ f n for of Mr . Raikes e forts . The pri cipal agencies the education of the poorer classes at that period were what

n are called Charity schools, in which elementary i struo

fe w tion was given to a children , who were clothed

n for uniformly. These i stitutions did but little the masses

and n of the people, could exert but very little i ﬂuence . Pop ular education mav be said to be almost entirely the creation of the present century. The records and the recollections which describe society so recently as ﬁfty

n and im years ago, bear testimo y to a state of ignorance morality so den se and general that if any member of the present generation could he suddenly transported to that earlier period, he would probably be scarcely able, not

n n n n withsta di g ma y abidi g landmarks, to believe himself

n n n in E gland, and would certai ly regard the cha ge which half a cen tury has witnessed - in the manners of s the people as but little hort of the miraculous . OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 37 Comparison is scarcely possible between the groups of — gambling, swearing children no unfavourable example

— in of young England then whom Raikes of Gloucester, 1 f 1 78 with di ﬁculty collected in the ﬁrst Sunday school, and any single class of the scholars who now gather with alacrity and even with affection round their

teachers .

P o ular Da School e 1 96 The p y epoch dat s from 7 , when t h e i youthful !uaker, Joseph Lancaster, began in h s ’ father s home i n Southwark to instruct the children of

n n the poor. E thusiastic in his calli g, and benevolent to

n n rash ess in his dispositio , he assumed towards his scholars more the character of g uardian than of master ; easily remitting to the poorer children even the scanty

n n h n pitta ce charged , and often fur is i g with food the N most distressed . o wonder that his scholars multiplied with great rapidity : they numbered 9 0 ere he was

i f a n e ghteen years old, and a terw rds came pouri g in upon ” “ in 1 98 him like ﬂocks of sheep, till 7 they reached as many as In his perplexity how to provide

fﬁ n su cient teachers , he, accordi g to his friends, invented ,

n f or, accordi g to his enemies, derived rom Dr . Bell, the plan of teaching younger children by the elder . This,

monit oriozl the plan, attracted much attention ; its sim

licit p y and economy procured for it extensive favour. Lancaster absorbed in the idea of educating all the youth of Britain on this system, lectured through the land with great success —obtained the patronage of — — royalty e stablished schools and raised considerable

u B ut f nds . he was not the man to guide the move d ment he had originated ; ardent, visionary, estitute of 38 THE FIR ST FIFTY YEARS

worldly prudence, the very qualities which made him so

successful as a teacher, and a missionary in the cause of

education , rendered him incapable as an administrator . His affairs became embarrassed ; he himself was tossed

about through varied troubles, passing from a prison to

prosperity, and then again reduced to bankruptcy, until , 1 8 1 8 in , he departed for America, where, after twenty ff years of su ering, brightened by some intervals of

n prosperity, but none of prudence, his life was termi ated 1 838 in , by an accident in the streets of New York .

n Ten years before he quitted E gland, the development m of his syste was committed into abler hands, the

s n n prominent re ult of which proceedi g was the foundatio ,

1 808 n n in , of The Lancasterian I stitution, for promoti g

Of the education the children of the Poor, but which, a

n few years afterwards, received its present desig ation of ” “ D RE L E THE BRITISH AN FO IGN S CHOO S OCI TY . 1 2 In 79 , six years before the monitors of Lancaster

uve nile began their labours, the experiment ofj instructors

was successfully commenced in India, where Dr. Bell , h then superintendent of the Military Orp an School,

u u Madras, nable to induce the sher there to teach the l younger children to write the a phabet in sand, was led

u him to s persede by a boy of eight years old, whose f services proved so e ﬁcient, that the doctor generalizing

n from this instance, and consideri g the plan to be of

a almost universal pplication, ardently developed his idea ; 1 96 and on his return to England in 7 , urged warmly the adoption of his system as the most effectual means of

rapidly extending popula r instruction . Andrew Bell

O os e h a “ was the very pp it of Josep Lanc ster, in all, except or THE s HOOL SUNDAY C . 39

a common enthusiasm for instruction on the “ mutual

“ ” or monitorial system . A Scotchman (the son of a barber at St . Andrews , ) his career was just as much ’ n distinguished by i variable prudence, as was Lancaster s by constant though benevolent improvidence . On leav in 1 4 w - g college in 77 , at the age of t enty one, Bell went to America , and spent his next ﬁve years as a tutor in

n 1 78 1 n Virgi ia, whence, in , he returned to E gland,

n f havi g su fered shipwreck on his passage . He now took

n m n orders in the E glish church, and became the i ister

n of the Episcopal chapel at Leith . Applyi g for a ’ i n n Doctor s degree Divi ity, he received instead, from

n n one in n the U iversity of St . A drews, Medici e . In

1 87 for 7 he sailed India, where he was appointed chap lain to ﬁve or six regiments . On the foundation of the

Military Orphan Asylum, he became its honorary super int e nde nt , and it was in this capacity that he made his ” n experiment in mutual i struction . The result of this experiment he published after his return to E ngland and made strenuous efforts to procure the general adoption 1 80 1 of his scheme . In he became rector of Swanage, Dorsetshire ; in 1 808 the master of Sherbourne Hospital ; in 1 8 1 8 a prebendary of Hereford Cathedral ; and sub in 1 832 sequently, one of Westminster . He died , bequeathing his large fortune of prin cipally to the Educational Institutions of his native country. It

in AL C is, however, connexion with the NATION SO IETY

f . n that Dr. Bell is chie ly known The Lancasteria schools have always been established on an unsectarian

n basis, no peculiar religious tenets being i culcated ; the ” “ u t e nl Bible, witho t no or comment, being the o y 40 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

o religious scho l book . Early in the history of these schools this plan appeared to many churchmen unsat is

v Of factory, the distincti e doctrines the Church of England being thus unrepresented ; and a scheme was

n e w m formed to organize, according to the ethod , exclu

sive l y Church schools . This led to the establishment in 1 8 1 1 of the NATIONAL S OCIETY FOR PR OMOTING THE EDUCATION or THE POOR I N THE PR INCIPLES OF THE ! STAB L ED E ISH CHURCH . The extensi on of education amongst the people thus

d c commenced by the establishment of Sun ay s hools, and

f an d aided by the ef orts of Lancaster Bell, led in the providence of God to the formation of one of those catholic and useful institutions which arose about the

n n n n and comme ceme t of the prese t ce tury, have proved

so great a blessing. The institution t li us referred t o

THE EL G OUS R C C was R I I T A T SO IETY, which , from a

n n ! humble commencement, has attai ed a positio of com

nf i t manding i luence . In one of its early addresses is “ h stated, that thousands who would ave remained grossly

n illiterate, havi g through the medium of Sunday schools,

n been enabled to read, it is an object of growi g import an ce widely to diffuse such publications as are calculated

v In to make that ability an unquestionable pri ilege . T

n “ a subsequent publicatio , the Committee stated, that it became necessary to provide for the exercise of that

n n growi g ability which children were rapidly acquiri g, to lead their minds to subjects calculated to please and

’ k n m . The se ske tche s of L ancaste r and B ell are ta e fro Mr Horace Mann s ve ry h e n of 1 851 uca i n - i nt e i t i n nd inst uc ve e o on t e sus o . 1 5 1 7. e s g a r ti r p rt C ; Ed t , pp

van e ca a a ine J u 1 799 . 307. t E g li l M g z , ly, , p

42 THE FIR ST FIFTY YEARS would be necessary for its regulation . On the next morning an adjourned meeting was held at the same h time and place, at which Mr . Hill presided ; w en the

s t u and a proposed rule were brough p adopted, and Committee and Officers appointed for t he ﬁrst ye ar ;

r Hu he s e t he s c . M . . g b coming e retary OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 43

CHAPTER VI .

R wland Hill—O en n o he rst u R ec. o p i g f t ﬁ S nday School i L — n ond M . h n on r T omas Cra ﬁ eld.

MR LL . w m HI , to ho reference has thus been made, was the sixth son of Sir Rowland Hill, Bart. of Hawkestone,

t he . r t Shropshire . This good man received ﬁ s rudiments of knowledge at the grammar school of Shrewsbury, and at an early age became the subject of religious ’ impressions, through reading Dr. Watts Hymns for

n him Childre , presented to by a lady. These impres sions were afterwards strengthened by hearing a sermon

’ ' B e ve rid e s b his h of Bishop g read y brother Ric ard . It was his privilege to have a brother and Sister who were very anxious for his spiritual welfare ; they Often talked him to on religious subjects, prayed to God on his behalf, placed in his way books suitable for him to read, and W corresponded with him when he ent from home. His

c education was continued at Eton s hool, and here his

m n t he serious i pressions i creased, until about age of

s eighteen when his heart was fully given to God . Thi ff was evidenced by his e orts to beneﬁt his fellow scholars. 1 4 At the close of the year 76 , he entered as a pensioner ’ f at St . John s College, Cambridge, where he a terwards became a fellow commoner . Here he became acquainted

. o and t he with the Rev John Berridge, of Evert n, R e v. 44 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

George Whiteﬁeld, by whose counsel and example he was cheered and encouraged in his efforts to do good to

the inmates of the jail and workhouse, as well as by his

n visits to the sick and dyi g. He did not neglect his

s u tudies, but by early rising, and caref l improvement of

his ’ t ime , became a diligent and successful student t aking the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, and leaving Cambridge with the esteem of those who knew

him . He had, however, to bear the displeasure of his

a n ot Of p rents, who did approve his undertaking duties which they thought belonged exclusively to the clergy

n men of the Established Church . He had not co ﬁned

himself strictly to the rules of that church, and when

u n n he so ght for ordinatio , met with no less tha six

refusals . He was at length ordained Deacon by the

o 1 3 an d Bish p of Bath and Wells, in the year 77 ,

Of £40 f accepted a curacy a year, in the parish O

n Kingston , ear Taunton , in Somersetshire . He after

wards removed to London , and preached with great

an d acceptance and success in the Tabernacle, Totten

n ham Court Road Chapel , which had bee erected by the

n Rev . George Whiteﬁeld . Like that disti guished evan

l n gel st he spent his time mostly in itinerati g, and, as a

n n Of n clergyma , fou d access to the pulpits ma y churches . His catholic spirit made it a matter of indifference to

—in him where he preached the gospel church, or chapel, or in the open air ; but he found it desirable to have a

settled residence, and a congregation over which he

In 1 0 . 8 . might especially preside the year 7 , Mr Hill felt a strong wish to in troduce the Gospel into the south

on t h e 24t h u 1 782 Of London, and J ne, , he laid the ﬁrst OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 45

stone of Surrey Chapel , on which occasion he preached

1 6 . n o from I saiah xxviii, The buildi g, which cost m re l than and wil seat about persons, was

8 1 783 . Opened for Divine worship, June , , when Mr

m l st orint hians 2 3. Hill preached fro C i , Under his auspices the ﬁrst Sunday school in the metropolis was

n o established . There are records in existence to Show

n n the exact time of its ope i g, but it was probably about 1 84 1 82 7 7 , for in , at a meeting of the old scholars who had been educated in the school, an elderly female stated that her ﬁrst serious impression s were received in the

- v school about forty two years pre ious to that period .

n an The childre were ﬁrst collected in the chapel, d

in s - n n w afterwards the chool house adjoi i g, of hich we

v n w n ha e already Spoke , here they were i structed by paid teachers and superintendents for nearly twent y m years , but under this syste there was but little pros

e rit t n p y . There was the wan of that ge erous and hallowed feeling which is produced by the disinterested

n b labour of i structors, who are constrained y the love of

v Christ freely to give what they ha e freely received .

n w m n n At le gth, here, as else here, Christian e and wome came forth freely to undertake the work , which has ever ! since been carried on with great success . The estab lishme nt of the school at Surrey Chapel was followed by

n n o . and the Ope i g of a sec nd at Hoxton by Mr Kemp ,

m o gradually the syste spread through the metr polis . One of the most active and successful agents in this

. Cranﬁ e ld work was a man in humble life Thomas , the son of a baker in Southwark, but who was brought up

m f v n i M A b am J one s e oi o t h e R e ow a . W M r . R l d H ll , y illi . 46 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S

t h e s 3 t to e busin s of a tailor, enlisted in the 9 h regiment o f in 1 777 foot, August, , and proceeded to Gibraltar, 1 2 where he continued until its celebrated siege in 78 .

u 1 83 h e On his ret rn to England in 7 , was induced by

W. . i s r his father to hear the Rev Romaine, whose n t uc

o ti ns were blessed to his conversion, which was followed by that of his wife . He resumed his business, but had much difﬁ culty in Obtaining the means of supporting his f amily. He, however, devoted himself to the service of his Saviour, with an extraordinary energy and with

n a perseverance which accompa ied him through life .

C anﬁ e l 1 79 1 . r d e About the latter end of , Mr Open d a

‘ schciol Sunday in his own house at Kingsland, and was

. d h assisted in the work by a Mr Goul , w ile his wife u instr cted the girls . The number of children soon 60 m amounted to ; and his roo being too small, he removed the school to the factory, a building which he

n h ad hired near Ki gsland Turnpike . He then left the school in the hands of some Christian friends, and pro

n c e e de d to Stoke Newi gton , where he opened another school , which he put into the hands of others , and estab lish e d a school at Hornsey . He had been assisted in his efforts by pecuniary assistance from Mr. Joshua Reyner, who held for many years the ofﬁce of treasurer to the J b Religious Tract Society, and by Mr . ames Ro ert ’ Burchett , a proctor in Doctors Commons, and a member

n . 1 79 7 . of the Surrey Chapel co gregation In , Mr

Cranﬁeld Burchett, at the suggestion of Mr. , wrote and “ ” m . published a tract, entitled Pal Sunday Of this

Of tract copies were printed, and on the morning 1 9 Palm Sunday, 7 7, the two friends met at Shoreditch OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 47

Church, for the purpose of commencing the circulation s of these tracts : Mr. Burchett took the round toward

Cranﬁ e ld w . Hornsey, and Mr. that to ards Whitechapel

Cranﬁ e ld n Mr . retur ed through Thames Street, and

n n n . crossi g Lo do Bridge, proceeded to Rotherhithe He was induced by the scenes Of depravity which presented themselves to his notice, to form the resolution of Open in un g a S day school , and in the middle of the week,

- hired a room in Adam street, and issued a circular, informing the in habitants that a school would be com me nce d on the following Sabbath for gratuitous inst ruc

Cranﬁ l u . e d tion . On Easter S nday, accordingly, Mr

n u began the work of i str ction, when upwards of twenty

scholars attended. At this time he had three children,

and it will illustrate his indomitable energy, as well as

that of his wife, to state that, as he could not Obtain any

other assistant, she attended the school with him every

— r Sabbath, though with an infant at her breast M .

Cranﬁ e ld carried another child in his arms, and the t third was lef at home with a female servant . They

- and dined in the school room, returned home in the

afternoon to tea. The number Of scholars soon increased

1 00 . Cranﬁe ld to , and Mr obtained permission to conduct

’ them to the Rev . John Townsend s chapel to public

worship . Having Obtained assistance in the carrying on

n the school from some members of that co gregation , he,

in 1 9 in December, 7 7, opened another school a brick ’ H maker s house, near the igh Cross, Tottenham . At this place were several youths of most abandoned

u an character, and he calculated pon receiving much

e m e m noyanc fro th ; but, on the contrary, they were 48 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

among the earliest who applied for admission . Some of them, as soon as they began to perceive the ben eﬁts of

’ instruction , formed the plan of meeting at e aCh other s houses after the labours of the day, for the purpose of

in learn g to read ; and to facilitate their progress, obtained t h e b assistance of the boys in the Bi le Class, for which

n they each allowed one pen y per week . Four of these ringleaders in wickedness were subsequently converted to God .

’ When the ch arge of the schools at R ot he rli it he and Tottenham was undertaken by Christian friends residing

Cranﬁe l there, the active mind of Mr . d sought for

’ e - another Sph re of labour in Kent street, Southwark . He therefore took an opportu nity of reconnoitering this

n of n and n n stro ghold i iquity, fou d it i habited by the f l O ow . lowest the , and the vilest of the vile He con ferred with his friends as to what should be done, and

n unpromisi g as the prospect appeared, it was determined to attempt to beneﬁt the you ng portion of this degraded 4 n Cranﬁ e ld No . 1 2 populatio . Mr . hired a room at , at

n a rental of three shilli gs a week, and on the ﬁrst Sunday

1 98 n . in August, 7 , the school was ope ed The children

an d and attended in considerable numbers, after he his friends had instructed them for some time, he ventured

m n to take the to public worship , at a chapel in the eigh

urh ood w f bo , but it was ith the greatest dif iculty he could

in . v keep them order So no el was the scene to them ,

u an d n and so r de u cultivated were they, that when the

and h ad o t n service was over, they g into the street agai ,

o n they gave three cheers for the min ister . The ppositio

anﬁe ld which Mr . Cr and his friends encountered in this

50 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS t o Open a Sunday school, but I recollect you have one

in - a already Kent street, perh ps we had better endeavour

n . and to e large your border . Messrs Burchett Beams

. Cranﬁ e ld n visited Mr the followi g Sunday, and found

im n n h labouri g alone with forty children . They u der

r nﬁ took to provide additional teachers, and Mr . C a e ld

n ot n promised that scholars should be wa ting . The condition of other parts of the B orough of Southwark

n then excited attentio , and schools were successively

in n - n- opened the Mi t, Gravel lane, and Garde row, St. ’ - n George s ﬁe lds. The Mi t was found to be a locality

- . m Worse, if possible, than Kent street There a roo was

‘ 4 u hired at £ per annum, and the school opened on S nday,

1 6 1 9 9 40 . June , 7 , with scholars The children appeared in a most wretched condition ; few of them wearing

t wo n shoes, and scarcely more than or three havi g covering to their heads . Similar difﬁculties to those

- experienced in Kent street were met with , but Mr .

Burchett, who superintended the school for eight years,

Cranﬁ e ld aided by Thomas and others, persevered in

and ne w his efforts, this school is still continued in a

1 854 - building erected in the year , in Harem place,

ale Mint . These schools may be considered as the precursors “ ” of what have Since been called Ragged Schools , in

n of the formation and carryi g on of which John Pounds,

- t n St. Mary stree , Portsmouth (who, while earni g an

n honest subsistence by mendi g shoes, was also school master gratuitously to some hundreds of children of his

poor neighbours) ; the Rev . Dr . Guthrie, of Edinburgh ;

a a ne 1 860 . 243 244. Ragged School M g zi , , p , OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 51

ff ” Sheri Watson, of Aberdeen ; the Poor Tinker of

“ ” n w Of Westmi ster ; and the Poor Chimney S eep,

n u In A n . 1 844 Wi dsor, have bee so seful pril, , the Ragged School Un ion was formed u nder the presiden cy

M P n ow Sli aft e sbur of Lord Ashley, . . ( Earl y), and has con ferred real and vast blessings on the lowest classes

n of our youthful populatio . d Mr . Burchett had ma e himself responsible for all

n . w expe ses, but when Mr Hill returned to to n in the

was n o n n and autumn , he i f rmed of what had bee do e,

“ n . n his patro age solicited He immediately said, Si ce

n you have undertaken to provide teachers and childre , ” ﬁnd n I will the requisite mo ey . He recommended that a junction should be formed with the school at S urrey

Chapel , and the whole was denominated The South ” n wark Su day School Society. Mr . Burchett was not conten t with t h e services which his counsel and his purse

n was for re dered to the Society, but he also many years a zealous teacher in any of the schools where his labours

n . of 1 8 1 0 were most wa ted At the time his death , in ,

o n n there were eight sch ols, contai i g nearly !6 h 1 860 . it s children At Marc , , the Society had under

1 2 n 41 1 care schools , comprisi g teachers and

o sch lars .

“ e mo of e w an i . b Wi am J one s. t h Re v. o . M ir R l d H ll , M A , y lli E2 52 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER VII .

I nt r duct ion o t he Sunda School int o S l d o f y cot an .

O osit ion o t he Ci vil and Ecclesiast ical A ut horit ies pp f .

’

THE . reference made to Mr Hill s visit to Scotland, and its important results, naturally lead to some account of what had there so much excited his interest . In that country family teaching existed to a large extent many years previously to the introduction of Sabbath schools .

n n It was the custom, when a you g man came to his mi ister u and desired to be married, that he nderwent an examina tion as to his qualiﬁcations to act as the head of a family ; and if it was found that he was not properly qualiﬁed, the minister delayed the ceremony ! It was also the custom in Scotland for the ministers to have periodical — examinations that is to say, they went through their

n n congregatio s once a year, calli g together the families

u in a partic lar district, and catechizing them , men , women, and children . This custom gave a certain

n stimulus to family educatio . As early as the year 6 n 1 75 , a Presbyterian mi ister started a Sabbath school in his own house, which was attended by thirty or forty

for children . This school he maintained a period of not

n less than ﬁfty years, and it has continued u broken to the present day . But after all these statements, it

e s d cannot b doubted that the Sabbath chool , in Scotlan , OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 53

m ff as it now exists, Sprang fro the e ort of Robert ‘ R aike sﬁ n 1 79 Of I the year 7, a number pious persons ,

n n of various denomi ations in Edi burgh, and its neigh bourh ood n , who had been meeti g for some time

n n mo thly, for the purpose of prayi g for the revival

o f of religion at home and the spread the Gospel abroad, thought that some active exertions to promote the im portant object for which they had associated should accompany their prayers . Their attention was directed to the state and character of the rising generation, and a society was formed by them, under the title of the

“ n Edi burgh Gratis Sabbath School Society, the sole Object of which should be to promote the religious

n instruction of youth, by erecti g, supporting, and con ducting Sabbath evening schools i n Edinburgh and its

in neighbourhood, which schools the children should be taught the leading and most important doctrines of the

u Of n Scriptures, and not the pec liarities any denomi ation of Christians . It was agreed that the schools be con ducted by gratuitous teachers, and the ﬁrst school was

in Port sbur h 1 79 7. Opened g , in March , The Committee 1 8 1 2 44 reported in , that they had then schools under L childre n their care, attended by ] The establish e nt of S unday schools in the North of Scotland was

In 1 98 met by some opposition . the year 7 , two young

n E glishmen , Messrs . Coles and Page, were students at ’ n King s College , Aberdee . They were Baptists, and in men of fervent piety . The state of spiritual death

which they found the people around them, moved their

e f t h P ocee in s of t h e Gene a un a c oo onven on . 29 . R port o e r d g r l S d y S h l C ti , p

Sun a Sc oo R e os t o 1 81 3. . 1 25. 1 d y h l p i ry , p 54 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS hearts and led them to attempt the formation of Sunday schools . They found a few godly men prepared to

co- e sympathise and op rate with them . One of these

25t h 1 798 o wrote on the of April, , to J hn Morison, of

Of . Millseat, and father the late Rev Dr . Morison , of

“ a Brompton . Each of them (Messrs . Coles and P ge,) l teaches a schoo , and the people tread upon one another

Of to hear them . I went to hear one them last Sunday

’ n eveni g, who teaches in St. Mary s Hill, below the East

church . I think there were about one thousand people

six present . The schools are in number, and very well

n n attended . The children are rapidly adva ci g in know

Had not ledge . I not heard their answers, I should have believed that person s so young could have been

n r of capable of acquiri g such clea views religious truth . These schools indeed appear to be among the most effectual means ever devised for training up a seed to do service to the Lord in their generation . At the ﬁrst

m for Of for ation of the society the support the schools,

n several of the more liberal of the clergy atte ded, but

n n they have almost all deserted us now, and are begi ni g to look upon us with a somewhat jealous eye . One of them said the other day that we were striking a blow at the very vitals of the Establishment by means of these schools . Mr . Morison was moved by these accounts to attempt something for the ignorant young of his own neighbourhood, and was aided by a little band of good men, who had the courage to join him in the novel pro c e e ding. For several ve ars the schools thus originated continued to prosper, and new ones were opened in the

m r as u surrounding district. They be ca e nea ly pop lar OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 55 an attraction as the parish church ; the largest rooms in which they were held were crowded to excess ; religious knowledge was diffused to a most happy and unheard of extent ; they repressed the desecration of the Sabbath, and became i n all respects important branches in that vast system of Operation which was paving the way for happier times to the North of Scotland . The apprehension of one of the clergy of the Scottish

National Church, that these schools would be injurious

s to that establishment, appears to have been hared by

now his brethren to an extent which appears ludicrous, ” n “ A and under its i ﬂuence, the ssembly issued its

“ ” on Pastoral Adm ition , which condemned nothing in severer terms than the unauthorised instructions of lay

o m teachers . Mr. M rison received a summons fro the vestry clerk of the chapel of ease in his immediate

n n e vici ity, requiri g him to appear before the Presbyt ry o f f Of Turri f, to give an account the circumstances which had induced him to violate the statutes Obligatory u Of pon those who became teachers religion, and by which they were compelled to obtain license, and to take certain oaths of allegiance to government . He however deemed the interferen ce of the Presbytery impertinent

n and in a d illegal , this opinion he was fully borne out by the decisions of the highest legal practitioners in the

n n an n la d . Not wishi g however to show y feeli g of

or e disrespect resentment, he made his app arance at the

n n Presbytery, explai ed the ature of his proceedings at the Sunday schools ; gently hinted that the neglect of the clergy had rendered them necessary ; expressed his u determination to persevere, and event ally apprised the 56 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

r e ever nd body that he had sought legal advice, and was prepared to abide by whatever consequences might

u r follow pon efusing to meet their wishes . From some parts of Aberdeenshire Sunday school teachers were

marched into the city of Aberdeen, under the charge of

a const bles, to account before the magistrates for their

presumption . But after this interview with the Pres

b t e r ff y y of Turri , Mr. Morison had no further trouble on the subject of his Sunday school labours ; and it is

but justice to add, that most of the men who sat in u j udgment pon the case, lived long enough to feel con vin ce d that all such attempts to put down Sunday schools m “e were alike i politic and unjustiﬁable . Similar opposition was met with in other parts of Scot

- land, both from the civil and ecclesiastical authorities .

Of 1 9 9 f In the town Paisley, in 7 , the sheri f of the county intimated to the Sabbath school teachers that he con

side re d n and m their meeti gs to be illegal, demanded fro

them a sight of their books . He also required that

every Sabbath school should obtain a license, and sum mon e d the various teachers to take the oath of allegiance

before the magistrates . In the small town of Lauder, in 1 79 7 information against the Sabbath school was laid

f n before the sheri f, who sent to the mi ister, and said, You must let me see the books you use in the Sabbath ” school . The minister sent him the Bible and the f e Shorter Catechism , both of which the sheri f r turned, ” “ - u . fe w with the remark, I wish y o God speed In a B years after this, Sabbath schools became popular. y

e v ce and Snﬁ eri n emo s of t h e e of t h e R ev. J o n onson D.D. S r i g M ir Lif h M , , — 1 860, pp . 98 1 02.

58 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

their operations . It was well that this battle was fought and won ; for it was not the cause of Sabbath schools

n all n ow o ly, but of those lay agents who are labouring ! so zealously and successfully in the country.

1 pp . 30, 3 . or THE SUNDAY SCHOOL! 59

I CHAPTER VJ I .

I nt roduct i on of t he Sunday School in t o Wales Consequent

n r o i s o i — Th dema d f o c p e f t he Scrp t ures R ec . omas

F orm t i o B d i Charle s. a on f rit ish an Fore gn B ible t Socie y.

VERY early in the annals of the Sunday- school Society are recorded their desi res and endeavours to carry the

n n ff blessi g i to Ireland ; it was not, however, e ected to any considerable extent for more than twenty years

afterwards . A similar attempt was made on behalf of

‘ Wales, which proved more successful . As the only

obstacle was want of funds, a subscription was com me nce d in 1 798 for the beneﬁt of Sunday schools in

. 1 800 and so Wales In the funds were raised, rapid

was the progress of the design in that Principality, that 1 in three years 77 schools were raised, containing up ! wards of scholars . In 1 787 a Sunday school was formed in connection with the Baptist church at

Hengoed , in Glamorganshire, by Morgan John Rhys . This school was formed on the principle of teaching the

an Word of God d religious lessons only. But the person to whom the honour belongs of carrying out l . a. this work was the Rev Thomas Charles, of Ba In the course o f his evangelistic efforts he had found ignorance as to religion prevailing to an exte nt

Sun a Sc oo J ub ee 1 831 . 23. d y h l il , , p 60 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

scarcely conceivable in a country professedly Christian . Having thus acquired a knowledge of the religious state of the community at large he felt anxious to provide

some remedy. The plan he thought of was the estab lishme nt of circulating schools, moveable from one place an t h e to other at end of nine or twelve months, or some

t . times more . Some of the ﬁrs teachers he taught himself

s 1 85 These school were commenced in 7 , and increased,

and supplied teachers for the S unday schools, which

se t 1 89 were on foot in 7 , and increased very rapidly,

s a in t he . oon spre d g over whole country . Mr Charles

availed himself of every opportunity to encourage them .

' He had a peculiar talent for examining and catechising

the children . He possessed in a high degree that tender ness and sympathy for them which were so conspicuous

in our Saviour. His familiarity took away every re

straint. His condescension and kindness engaged their

tenderest feelings . He never seemed to enjoy himself

so much as when he was surrounded by children, and t hey loved him as he loved them . What soon became very peculiar in these schools was the attendance of

- u . adults . Grown p people attended as scholars The u children having been ta ght not only to read, but to

n understand in a measure the doctri es of the Gospel, those grown into maturity felt ashamed of their igno

rance . Many parents came and submitted to be taught. From attending the examination of their children they were by degrees rendered anxious to be taught them

selves . But what more especially produced this happy

result was the constant practice of Mr. Charles of urging upon all of e very age t he duty of be ing able to o r THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 61

e read the Word of God . In the pulpit, in xamining the

his children, and in conversation with the poor people ‘ in s . he met with his travels , thi was the subject 1 . 808 In a letter written by Mr Charles, in , he gives some encouraging accounts of the progress of the Sunday schools in Wales, which had greatly increased, especially in South Wales : and of their beneﬁcial inﬂuence he adds “ We have also this year held associations of t he different schools . They meet in some central place to be publicly catechised together. Three meetings of this nature ha ve been held in North Wales, and three in

o South Wales . A subject is given to every school n which they are to be examined, and which they are to el ucidate by repeating appropriate passages from t he

n . a Sacred Writi gs At the appointed time, generally

f s s Sabbath day, the children of the di ferent school a

i semble, accompanied by the r teachers . Some of the schools have walked ten miles by eight o ’clock in the

n morning. The children bei g scattered in their different

y w habitations over the countr , for they d ell not together

n all in hamlets as in E gland, they meet at an assigned place, and at the appointed hour pray and sing a verse n of a hymn together, and the march cheerfully and

orderly for the place of their destination . “ As no place of worship is spacious enough to contain the immense concourse of people which attend on these

occasions, we have been obliged to erect stages out of

e : i doors in the ﬁ lds a large one for the ch ldren, two or

s for t he three chools at a time ; another cat echist s,

it e H st o of t h e e and a our of t he — L b a Rev T. har es 1 828 . 229 22 Bri f i ry Lif , C l , , pp 8, 62 THE FIRST FIFTY ! YEARS

t o opposite that of the children, at ﬁfteen or eighteen y ards distant ; the space between is for the assembled

h e i congre gation to hear . V beg n the work early in the

n n morni g, and the whole day is spent in these exami a tions . Everyexamination lasts three or four hours, and is generally conclude d by an address to the children and

h n n t t e e o re gat io . In the shor intervals between the ‘ g examinations, the children of each school are conducted by their teachers into a room engaged for the purpose t o and partake of a little refreshment, at the appointed

n time they are reconducted to the place of meeti g. We have had on these occasions from fifteen to twenty m schools asse bled together . Hitherto these associations have been most profitable . The previous preparatio n gi ves employment for two months to all the youths of both sexes , in which they engage with great eagerness and delight . The public examinations, we have every reason to conclude, are also very profitable to the hearers i assembled . Th s is clear from their great attention , and the feelings produced by hearing the responses of the

n and n childre . I have seen great meltings tears amo g W t he them . hen the work of day is over the children are reconducted by their teachers to their respective homes, or committed to the care of their parents . In my intercourse with the children I have met with many instances of un common quickness of intellect and

v strength of memory . I ha e met with more than one who at the age of three years would le arn any common tune in a very Short time ; and others at the same age wh o would very soon commit to memory long chapters without any apparent difﬁculty. There is a little girl O OF THE SUNDAY SCH OL . 63 only ﬁve and a half years old who can repeat distinctly above one hundred chapters, and goes on learning a chapter every week , besides the catechism, and searching

s f the Scriptures for passage on dif erent points in divinity. We have many blind people who treasure up the Word d of God in their memory. One blin lad commits a whole chapter to memory by having it read over to him about fo ur times . I have also met with many melan ch oly i nstances of very great ignorance among grown - up people, which has induced me to press them earnestly to ” attend the Sunday school .

Mr. Charles adds “ No minister who wishes to see the success of his

n mi istry, if he knew the satisfaction it would give him

n self, and the advantage it would be to others in prepari g t for n his hem eternity, far beyond his mere preachi g all h days, but would immediately set about teac ing his ” n people to read a d catechising them . f The e forts made by Mr . Charles to secure the attend an ce of adults at the Sunday school have resulted in

n impressi g a peculiar character on the Welsh schools . In them the adults not unfrequently form the majority

of the scholars present . In one school three persons upwards of seventy years of age were seen conning over

in their lessons, and standing up the class with their

n gra dchildren . One of those at that advanced age a underwent a p inful operation from which he recovered .

n Duri g the conﬁnement which it occasioned, he used to

n e gage some of the Sunday scholars to visit him, and to go over with him the lessons they had been taught at

i’ — e s o of t h e e and abou s of t h e R ev. . h a e s 1 828 . 241 244 Bri f Hi t ry Lif L r T C rl , , pp . 64 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

!e s a his m not chool, th t learning ight be hindered . In a at n school Ba gor, at a very recent period, a class was

s n e we re ee very member of which spectacles . The class is often the scene of lively theological discussion between

t he s r cholars and the teacher, and one verse will f e

e n qu ntly occupy the whole time of meeti g. Sometimes l the servant will be the teacher, while the emp oyer

a willingly t kes the position of a scholar . Two years after the establishment of Sunday schools

by Mr. Charles, a remarkable awakening as to religion took place, especially at Bala and its neighbourhood,

in which was owing, a great measure, ‘instrumentally In according to all appearances, to these schools . a

1 9 1 . : letter, dated September, 7 , Mr Charles says Here,

at Bala, we have had a very great, powerful , and glorious

- out pouring of the Spirit on the people in general, espe

i ll . c a y on children and young people Little children, ff from six to twelve years of age, are a ected, astonished,

” ‘ and overpowered . But a still more remarkable, exten t b sive, and enduring even was brought about y the

establishment of these schools . When the capacity of

reading became more general , and a serious impression

as n w made on the minds of the you g people, Bibles were

1 8 t wo wanted . As early as the year 7 7, years after the commencement of the circulating schools already men

i ne n . t o d . . , Mr Charles correspo ded with the Rev T Scott about procuring Welsh Bibles for supplying the wants of

his . . countrymen Mr Scott tried all means in his power,

but eventually faile d . The Sunday schools greatly

a was increase d the w nt, which also rendered more urgent

! t Th e un a c oo J ub ee 1 881 . 24 S d y S h l il , , p ,

66 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

. m e silent Can you tell the text, my little girl ,

. . w wa repeated Mr Charles The child ept, but s still silent . At length, she said, The weather, sir, has been ” s o bad that I could not get to read the Bible . This

man remark surprised the . good , and he exclaimed, Could you not get to read the Bible 1 how was that ? ” The reason was soon ascertained—there was no copy to

sh e which could gain access , either at her own home or among her friends, and she was accustomed to travel every week seven miles over the bills to a place where she could obtain a Welsh Bible, to read the chapter from

n . which the mi ister took his text But during that week, the cold and stormy weather had prevented her usual m journey. This incident ade a deep impression on the

n benevolent mind of Mr. Charles, and i creased the anxiety he had long felt to secure for the Welsh a good

In supply of the Scriptures in their own tongue .

t o December of that year, he took his annual journey

i n London , intending to lay certain plans for secur g his

object before some charitable friends, particularly the

Committee of the Religious Tract Society . The subject

l a was much upon his mind, and whi e aw ke in bed, the

in idea of having a Bible Society London , on a similar

o . basis to the Religious Tract S ciety, occurred to him He was so cheered by the thought that he i nstantly

on arose, and went out to consult some friends the sub

e ct . . j The ﬁrst person he met was Mr Tarn, who was

then on the Committee . They discussed the subject

together for a considerable time, and at the next meeting

on t of the Committee, Tuesday, December the 7 h, 18 02 ul , after the reg ar business was ﬁnished, Mr. Tarn OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 67

his mentioned the particulars of conversation with Mr.

‘ n d “ Charles, who fully u folde his plans, and urged assist ance in the attain ment of an object which had long

u m n . occ pied his i d On this occasion, the Rev. Matthew

Wilks occupied the chair, and there were also present

' St e ink0 ff R e v. . the Messrs p , Townsend, and Hughes,

Pe llat t . Messrs . , Alers, (afterwards W Alers Hankey, )

Shrubsole Fre shﬁ Mackenzie, Goldsmith, , Preston, e ld,

n r . Reyner, Hamilto , Fowler, Shelter, and Ta n At the

n n moment whe Mr . Charles was appeali g for the Bible for Wales, it occurred to Mr . Hughes, Surely a Society might be formed for the purpose, and if for Wales, why not also for the empire and the world ? ” He mentioned to the Committee that it appeared to him desirable t o extend the plan suggested by Mr. Charles, so as t o ! a. n facilitate ge eral circulation of the Scriptures . It does not belong to our design to detail the mode in e which Mr . Hughes, in concurr nce with the Committee,

f n and as their o ﬁcial orga , developed and made public the idea thus suggested to his mind . The result was

7t h 1 804 S AND O that on the March, , the BRITI H F REIGN BIB LE SOCIETY was fully established ; and so eminently

n has the Divine blessi g rested on its labours, that

in in copies of the Scriptures, whole or part,

1 60 n have been issued by its means , in la guages an d dialects of the earth . Like the Religious Tract Society, by the exertions of whose Committee it had been origi t d n a e , it was formed upon the Catholic principle of un ion amongst Christian s of all denomin ation s ; and the

Rev . Josiah Pratt, a clergyman of the Established

i o 1 50 46— f. e us c e 48 h J ub ee emo a o t h e o a c 8 . . T e il M ri l R l gi Tr t S i ty , , pp F 2 68 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

a Church , the Rev . Joseph Hughes, Baptist minister,

n k d . . t e in 0 ff a the Rev . C . F A S p , of the German u Lutheran Ch rch, were appointed its secretaries . A review of these events will show how the formation of the Sunday school led on to efforts for the improve ment and extension of general education amongst the people ; thus necessitating a supply of reading to meet

h e t e demand cr ated by that education, and, above all, compelling the adoption of means for putting into the hands of the people of this and other lands the Holy

n Scriptures in all their purity and complete ess . N O OF THE SU DAY SCH OL . 69

CHAPTER IX .

' —F m t ion o t he Sunda School B . urne or a Mr. W. G y f y — — b t Mr Thomas Thom son. . mes is Union Mr J a N e . p

WE ne w resume the narrative of the prog ress of the

- Sunday school system in the Metropolis . Amongst those who devoted themselves to the gratuitous inst ruc

n tion of the risi g generation at an early period, were found Mr . Joseph Fox, the intimate friend of Joseph m r Lancaster, and Mr. Willia Brodie Gurney . The latte 2 t h gentleman was born at Stamford Hill , on the 7 of

1 . December, 777 His grandfather, Thomas Gurney,

a was a man of considerable mechanical genius . When

t he youth he took a great interest in astrology, and for

a sake of a work on that subject, he bought at a sale “ lot of books labelled Sundries . Among them was ’ “ m n Mason s Shorthand, a syste which had falle into disuse on account of its complexity. This book imme ’ diat e l . n y engaged Mr Gurney s enquiri g mind . He soon learned the system, and simpliﬁed it to enable him to d ! take own sermons . There still exists in the family a

b R id mount in book of sermons taken y him at g , Bed fordshire 1 32—33 n s , in 7 , while o ly about eighteen year f of age . This acquisition had an important e fect on the history of his family. Fifteen years afterwards he m learned, fro an advertisement, that the shorthand

e r c m a urt e t he l writ of the ri in l co h ld in O d Bailey, had 70 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

died, and that a successor was required . He applied f and for the o ﬁce, gave proof of his qualiﬁcation for it, was elected . For thirty years he continued to discharge its duties, and was respected by all with whom he became

f n u o ﬁcially co nected . His leisure time he ﬁlled p with

- c . clo k and watch making, his original business h 1 0 . In the year 77 , he was succeeded by his son Josep

fe w In his hands, after a years, the business considerably

- n increased . The frequency of courts martial duri g the

American war ; the trial of Warren Hastings, and

m n Ho e Tooke ; the Mutiny at the Nore , and e quiries connected with it ; the question of the abolition of the Slave trade; on which evidence was taken at the bar of

the House of Lords, all called for the exercise of his b him talent . Some of the speeches taken y on these f occasions, especially during the trial o Hastings, were delivered with a rapidity which it had been thought

impossible to meet . A conversation between his Royal

n f n m High ess the Duke of Clarence, a terwards Ki g Willia

u u ff n the Fo rth, and Joseph G rney, a ords an amusi g ’ instance of hi s Royal Highness s discrimination . One

n day duri g the enquiry into the Slave trade, the Duke

asked Mr. Gurney for which side he attended . Mr. ” n s. Gur ey told him for the planter Oh ! he replied,

“ then I am mistaken . I really supposed you were an ” a n . u ou bolitio ist I tho ght y had an abolition face . Those who remember the countenance of William Brodie u G rney, and how readily it was excited by any tale of

’ sus i ci ons wrong, will appreciate his Royal Highness s P , ’ and conclude that t he abolitionism of t he father s face i n was inherite d by h s so . OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 71

’

n . . Duri g the ﬁrst ten years of Mr. W B Gurney s life his family continued to reside at Stamford Hill . He him

In self relates the following incident . the course of the last two or three years that my father resided at St aml I ford Hill, was occasionally sent by my mother to

. a su e rannuat e d enquire after the health of Mr Henshaw, p

n n r n n Indepe dent mi iste , who resided at Ki gsla d, in the ”

. m . house of Mr Willia Fox . Mr Fox, of whom we have

n already spoke , was the founder of the Sunday School

Society. Frequently while I trundled my hoop, I took on my left arm a little basket with some jelly, or a little

n . n cake, refreshme ts which he (Mr He shaw) had not the

of n n means purchasi g, his income bei g very small ; he having refused assistan ce which was generously Offe red him from Mr . Whitbread, and from Mr . Howard, both

e of whom felt a great esteem for him . On on of those

n occasio s I found an elderly gentleman, whose ﬁgure

he ar in l : I still my mind, as wel as his dress a pepper

and and salt coat, a scarlet waistcoat, lying by him a

n cocked hat . This was John Howard the phila thropist. This visit must have occurred in the year In

' re move d t o w the October of that year the family Wal orth,

a village to the south of London, where Mr . Gurney

n received at ﬁrst the i struction of Mr. Burnside, but w s a . n afterwards sent to school to a Mr Freema , who

n had been a Baptist mi ister, but had embraced Arian

a . T e views, and ultimately s nk into Unitarianism h ’ n s as inﬂue ce of Mr . Freeman s religiou opinions w ex

’ ce e dingly injurious to Mr. Gurney s mind ; but after

n n . leavi g school , the sermo s of Mr Dore, the pastor of

e Maze Pond Chapel , Southwark, wher his parent s 72 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

n him w t attended, were made the means of leadi g righ v iews of his own condition as a sinner in the sight of God, and of Jesus Christ as the Saviour of sinners . He was

u l st 1 96 baptized at Maze Pond, on A gust , 7 , together with Miss Benham, whom he afterwards married . ’ Although his father s business had largely increased,

so e it was an uncertain one, that wh n he left school it became a grave question whether he should follow his ’ father s profession . He, therefore, turned his thoughts

in in other directions ; but ultimately his appointment, conjunction with his father, as short hand writer to the

House of Lords decided his course . Thenceforth he ” gave himself to that profession .

Before Mr . Gurney had publicly joined the Church

In Of Christ his career of usefulness had begun . the ’ neighbourhood of his father s house at Walworth was a school which his mother had been instrumental in raising. The master was encouraged by the committee to open it on Sunday for religious instruction, and was rewarded with a penny a child for each Sunday up to the number w of thirty. The result was, that the number was al ays thirty, a lad being sent out to fetch in one or two if it fell short ; but it was never exceeded, except by accident .

Mr . Joseph Fox and Mr . Gurney, with two friends, took charge of the school in 1 796 . In the following year

Mr. Gurney became the secretary, and under the care 80 of gratuitous teachers it increased to 1 children, for whose accommodation it became necessary to erect a

- a new school room, the funds for which were raised to large extent by his own personal appeals .

B a is Ma a ine 1 855 529—532 pt t g g , , pp . .

74 THE FIR ST FIFTY YEAR S

which is now happily so universal , had then been introduced into any school; but he found its adoption

attended with the most beneﬁcial results . While the minds of the scholars were imbued with the knowledge

al of the scriptures , they so contracted a habit of reading

t h e s acred volume, which had its inﬂuence long after f they le t the school . In 1 802 the year , Mr. William Marriott, who was engaged in conducting a Sunday school at Friar ’ s h Mount, Bet nal Green, was introduced to Mr. Gurney, who had then become connected with a society establi shed at Walworth for Opening schools in the neighbouring T villages . hey both found reason to lament the want of

a m pl n and order, and desired some eans by which neg le ct e d districts might be supplied with schools, and y oung persons of suitable dispositions induced to under take the work . On the removal of Mr . Gurney into

in 1 803 London, early , his house became the place of

l - meeting for severa active Sunday school teachers, m amongst who were Messrs . Beams, Burchett, Niven,

&c . n Weare, ; and at one of these meeti gs the subject of inducing the t eachers in London to unite for mutual

Vi w encouragement and support, and with a e to the

was extension and improvement of Sunday schools, made a matter of conversation ; and its practicability was and desirableness becoming apparent, it determined

a to call a meeting to consider the subject more at l rge, u and adopt measures for carrying it into exec tion .

Accordingly, a numerous meeting was assembled on the

1 803 Schoolﬁ rooms 1 3t h July, , at Surrey Chapel , where

a n r u e i in 1 799 t he me e ting had t ke place, which es lt d n OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 75

e t he formation of the Religious Tract Soci ty, and the

SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION was then established .

o . Mr . Marri tt was appointed the Treasurer, Mr

and Gurney the Secretary, a Committee was also elected

to carry out the objects of the Society. At the com

n 1 853 memoration of the Jubilee of the U ion in , the

n n o ly known survivors of the ba d who, animated by

o love to the Savi ur, and to the souls of the young, thus

n met together and formed the U ion, were Mr. Gurney,

Mr . James Nisbet, and Mr . Thomas Thompson, all

n n of whom have si ce e tered into their rest. It was

n felt to be a pleasi g reminiscence, and one which cor

re ct l n u y marked the catholic character of the i stit tion, that those three survivors should represent respe ctively

three important sections of the Christian church . With ’ n Mr. Gur ey s early history the reader has already

become acquainted . Mr. Nisbet was born at Kelso, and

~ 1 803 in the early part of the year , found himself on the

1 8t h n - in an iversary of his birth day, a friendless youth

On the metropolis . the Sabbath he bent his way to the

- Scotch church in Swallow street. The Scotch psalms ff were sung, prayer was o ered, and a sermon preached

by a venerable and affectionate pastor. When the

s n in ervice was ended, and he was i troduced the vestry

n to Dr. Nicholl, he felt himself no lo ger friendless . He was almost immediately installed as a S unday-school

com teacher, and besides finding Christian companions, me nce d that course of active usefulness which was never ! f . b was to intermit or more than fifty years . Mr Nis et anxious to discharge faithfully the duties of the office he

Fune a Sermon b R ev. J ames am on D.D. 1 854 r l , y H ilt , , . 76 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

’ t . f o clock t o had under aken He used to rise at our . study the chapters which had b e en appointed as the in lessons for the next Sunday the school , lest he should be asked a question by any scholar that he could not readily answer ; aiding his own study by the careful ’ u per sal of Matthew Henry s Commentary.

. n Mr Thompson was a native of London, ha vi g been

n 1 9t h 1 8 5 bor August, 7 , immediately under the sound

u of Bow Bells . His heart was early bro ght under the inﬂuence of divine truth, and that, by means rather

s . n ingular He was, whe ﬁve or six years old, in the

’ ’ habit of going to a baker s shop, near his father s t o ’ residence, fetch the rolls for breakfast. The baker s man took notice of him, and the child spent much him time in his company. To Mr. Thompson owed the instruction which ﬁrst led him to seek his eternal welfare . He often afterwards heard his early friend preach when, as the Rev . William Chapman, he became the estimable pastor of the Tabernacle, Greenwich, and predecessor of the Rev . Henry Lucy, formerly of Bristol .

Thus commenced a long life of Christian usefulness, 8t h 1 865 which continued until December , , on which day he had written his letters and sent them to the post,

Mr s. immediately after which he became indisposed, and

Thompson was called . He said to her There will be none of this in heaven with Jesus, kissed her, smiled

s . sweetly, and the large and living heart tood still t

t he The Committee of Union, immediately upon their

a appointment, proceeded to prepare and publish Plan

”6 ni on a az ne 1 852 . 847. U M g i , , p

’ unda c ool Teachers a azi ne 1 866 . AS y S h M g , , pp OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 77 for the e stablishment and regulation of Sunday school s —A — Catechism in verse, entitled Milk for Babes and a

a s select List of Scriptures, designed as guide to teacher

n for a course of readi g in Sunday schools . The two former of these publications were prepared by Messrs .

M for Marriott and Gurney ; the ilk Babes by Mr. J.

Neale ; and Mr. John Heard, subsequently Alderman of

n n n Notti gham, who co ti ued his interest in the cause of

onl ust Sunday schools until his decease, which y j preceded in that of Mr. Thompson, assisted the preparation of the ’ ” select List of Scriptures . The Youth s Magazine, designed for the upper classes in Sunday schools , also

n origi ated in the Committee of the Union, but they did not

t he feel it prudent to undertake the responsibility, as v h ad

in no funds to meet the loss, case it should not succeed . It was therefore published at the risk of some members of the committee, who devoted the whole of the proﬁts (about to objects connected with the diffusion of scriptural truth, in which donations the Union has largely

h . s ared This work has been eminently useful , but has of course no longer the extensive circulation which it obtained when no similar publication existed, and when 60 copies were purchased monthly by the scholars in ! one school . At a recent period the Committee of the

n Su day School Union have taken the charge of it, and in a greatly improved form it has now become one of the periodical publications of that Society.

Pursuant to one of the rules, a sermon was annually preached to the members of the Union : that in 1 804by

and the Rev . John Burder, at the City Road Chapel ;

un a c oo e osi o 1 831 . 1 31 . S d y S h l R p t ry , , p 78 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

in 1 805 that by the late Dr . Bunting, in New Court

m N ehemiah 3 n Chapel, fro vi, I am doi g a great ” . . n work The latter excited great interest It was pri ted,

an u d went thro gh three editions, the circulation of which

was very beneﬁcial . It was so clear and cogent that it ’ ff produced immediate e ect. The following affords an interesting illustration

A gentleman travelling into the country on business,

shortly after this sermon was printed, took one in his w pocket. In a to n he passed through, where there was no Sunday school, he called on a lady who, as he heard, u laid herself out for sefulness, and suggested the im f portance of instituting one . Various di ﬁculties were a u st rted, which he endeavo red to remove, and at parting put into her hands the printed sermon . He called for it him by appointment in the afternoon, when she informed

Sh e that, after reading that sermon, could no longer hesitate that she had accordingly been round to several of her poor neighbours to invite their children to attend the next morning ; and (Opening the door into the room n ext to that in which they were sitting) she showed him that she had already furnished it with such forms as she could procure . A Sunday school was thus speedily

In adverting to the magnitude and importance of the

’ - u n Sunday school teacher s work , Mr. B nti g referred to the advantage which Scotlan d had gained over all other parts of the British Empire from the attention which

a was there bestowed on early educ tion, and the provision ff made for the wide and general di usion of its beneﬁts .

t s a he u s In suppor of this t tement q oted some stati tics, OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 79

’ contained in Howard s account of Lazarettos . The

n followi g anecdote may be added in conﬁrmation . A minister was requested some years before this period,

n n n duri g his mi isterial labours in Scotla d, to distribute ff a parcel of religious books and tracts . He o ered some in to the servant of a family, which he happened to be a visitor, but previously asked her whether she “ ” . R ead sir an an could read , , she replied, with air d

and n “ D u tone of mingled surprise i dignation, o yo ” t hink I was brought up i n England ?

Sun a Sc oo e osi or 1 853 . 9 8 d y h l R p t y , , p . 80 THE FIR ST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER X.

Th ext ension o t he Sunda S ho l r e f y c o t o A me ica.

HAVING thus traced the beneﬁcial results of the Sunday

so school, far as this country was concerned, we will turn our eyes westward across the Atlantic to ascertain what effect had been prod uced by it on the American ‘ continent. As in England, single Sunday schools were in existence in v arious localities of that land as early

1 60 n as 1 750 and 7 , but they never exte ded them

s selve , nor were reduced into a system until after the ’ R aike s s ff result of Mr . e orts at Gloucester had been

n made known, and he is therefore u iversally acknow ledged in America as the founder of Sunday schools .

- n u The Sunday school idea, improved by the i trod ction of unpaid teachers, and with greater attention to its religious character, was developed in the United States by

Francis Ashbury, the patriarch of American Methodism . He planted what may be called the ﬁrst American Sun

in n 1 86 . day school Ha over County, Virginia, in 7 In 1 790 the Methodist Conference formally resolved on

n establishing Su day schools for poor children , white and ! v black . It will be thus percei ed that the Southern

n States took the lead in this moveme t, but they were

n speedily followed by the Norther ones . In the year 1 9 1 7 a society was established at Philadelphia, under the

Annua e o of t h e e o is sco a un a c oo n on 1 858. l R p rt M th d t Epi p l S d y S h l U i ,

82 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS made grants of books to these schools ; but ﬁnding their means inadequate to meet the demands which would thus come upon the funds, they induced the Sunday School Society to extend assistance to the colonies of

n this kingdom . As, however, the rules of that I stitution conﬁned their grants to copies of the Scriptures , and

n - n reading and spelli g books, the Committee of the U ion

n fou d ample room for their liberality, which they have freely exercised . It is impossible to recall the early efforts made by the Moravian Brethren and the

Methodists, for the religious instruction of the young in

n the island of Antigua, without rejoici g at the testimony

ff . a orded to its value When by the emancipation act,

n n slavery was excha ged for apprenticeship, the pla ters of Antigua were so well satisﬁed with their generally

n n educated slaves , that they declared their willi g ess to se t them wholly free ; and the system of apprenticeship

n was never introduced i to that island . The example of the teachers of London in associating

and for mutual encouragement support, was followed, in 1 8 1 0 m , by the teachers of Nottingha and Hampshire ;

n in and Since that time, similar U ions have been formed l various parts of this country, as wel as in foreign lands, with the most beneﬁcial results .

f ‘ In addition to the e forts made by the Rev . T . Charles

n n for the religious education of the you g, he comme ced,

1 8 1 1 . in the summer of , schools for adults In Bristol, the formation of the Bible Association exhibited to public v iew the deplorable situation of many adults who were

and . unable to read the Scriptures, were anxious to learn d man n m A poor but pious an indefatigable , a ed William OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 83

Smith, ﬁrst felt deeply concerned for the situation of t hese ignorant adults, and communicated his sentiments

u n to Mr . S . Pr st ; he was e couraged by the promise of assistance to commence his benevolent un dertaking

an . without y delay Smith procured some rooms, and with the assistance of a few friends commenced an Adult

school . Eleven men and ten women were admitted the

u . ﬁrst Sunday, and the n mber rapidly increased In a “ fe w n o short time a frie ds met, and f rmed the Bristol Society for instructing the Adult Poor to read the Holy ” 1 8 1 3 8 for Scriptures . In there were schools men , 1 4 8 1 containing 7 Scholars, and for women, with 97

scholars .

fe A w extracts from the Report of the Society, then

published, will prove the necessity for these schools , and

n n n the be eﬁcial results atte di g them .

one o I heard of the sch lars, who had learned at 85 years of age to read the Bible, say that she would not n n f part with the little lear i g she had acquired, or as many

guineas as there were leaves in her Bible, n ot wit hst and

sh e n of ing ranked amo gst the poorest the p oor. A

n wh o 80 co verted Jew, is upwards of years of age, did

w n not kno , when he came i to the school , a letter in the

n alphabet, but in two mo ths he could read tolerably well

in n a chapter the New Testame t . A youn g man about

20 a e years of g , who had some knowledge of the letters

when he was admitted, but was not perfect in them, in

n four mo ths was able to read a chapter well . A woman,

6 1 n ot w n years of age, who did kno a si gle letter when

Sh e in t wo began, months could also read a chapter in

. a the New Testament A poor wom n, wanting (to use

G 2 84

’ her own expression) only two years of a hundred, goes ’ daily to the boys school , established in Manchester for

r one thousand and ﬁfty children, to receive, inst uction ” from one of the monitors . The Committee of the Sunday School Union addressed

i n a circular to several periodical publications, urg g atten 2ud tion to the education of adults, and on the of March, 8 1 4 ’ 1 , a meeting was held in the Friends Meeting House,

a s Redcross Street, Borough, when society wa formed

for the instruction of the adult poor of Southwark .

w . M . P Benjamin Sha , Esq , . , who presided, was appointed

n President, and amongst those who addressed the meeti g

/ t he n ame s ‘ we ﬁnd of Mr . Gurney and Mr. Lloyd . 1 The progress of general education has happily dimin

ish e d n ff u the ecessity for such e orts, which have co se

quently gradually declined .

un a c oo e osi o 1 81 4 . 41 441 5. S d y S h l R p t ry , , pp ,

- un a Sc oo e os o 1 81 4 . 348 358 1 S d y h l R p it ry, , pp , H A or T E SUND Y SCHOOL . 85

CHAPTER XI .

I r du n o h u d l i nt o ct io f t e S n ay Sckoo nt o I reland.

IT has already been mentioned that the early endeavours to introduce the Sunday- school system into Ireland were

n ot . A s ai very successful in great Brit n, indi vidual

' e schools had b en previously carried on . h 1 770 t e . . e About the year , Rev Dr Kennedy, curat of Bright parish, in the county of Down, was painfully ' ’ struck with the total disregard of the Lord s day among the young people and children in some villages through which he had to pass in going to and from his duty at the church . His congregation was very small . A gentleman of the name of Henry, with his family, joined it, and with him Dr. Kennedy consulted by what means

a - it could be improved . Having engaged well conducted and competent man in the capacity of parish clerk, they got boys and girls together on Sundays to practise 1 4 psalmody. This made a little stir . In 77 , to singing was added exercise in reading the psalms and lessons for

the day, which, being rumoured abroad, excited further

attention . Ere two years had elapsed, the numbers had d considerably increased . Those who came were desire

n in to bri g what Bibles and Testaments they could, order to their being better instructed and examined in

a what they read . Then the children of other denomin

a h t ions we re invite d t o share t he advant ges of t e mee ting. 86 THE FIRST FIFTY m ans

1 8 n And thus, by the year 77 , the gatheri g which had begun as a singing class a few years previously, had matured into a school ” held regularly every Sunday”

o n for an hour and a half before the m rni g service . The good work went on and prospered until the latter

1 8 . nn part of the year 7 5, when Dr Ke edy heard of the proceedings in England for the establishment of Sunday

. own schools His was, in reality, a Sunday school

v already. But he and the gentleman with whom he ad ised agreed that its plan should be made more c ompre h e n

n sive and systematic, according to the E glish method . During the winter they spread information on the general

u and n t in s bject, obtai ed funds among persons hey t re st o n e e d in the pr ject . The necessary prelimi aries

n bei g arranged, the Bright Sunday school was opened

in 1 786 on the ﬁrst Sunday May, , with Robert Henry,

n Esq. , as its superinte dent ; members of his family, and other respectable individuals, as teachers ; and honest

Thomas Turr, the parish clerk , ready to help in it as he might be able or occasion require . Thomas Chambers was entered as a scholar on the 1 86 it s ﬁrst Sunday in June, 7 , just a month only from

n n commenceme t . Bei g able to read well, he was placed in the head class . The number of scholars in August

343 n afterwards amounted to , includi g Episcopalians,

Presbyterians , Methodists, and Roman Catholics, col

in n le ct e d from within a district nine miles le gth, and differing i n ages from fo ur years to upwards of twenty .

n The senior classes, besides learni g the Scriptures, com t ’ mit t e d to memory portions of \Vat s s Hymns . A pair

- for of shoe buckles boys, and pieces of ribbon for girls, OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 87

were rewards for diligence . The most deserving were

o h fav ured wit a tract, and had their names inscribed on a roll and posted in the church : the ﬁrst thus honoured

o . was a Roman Cath lic girl Several years ago, Cham ’ bers sen t up to the S unday School Society s committee

. n hi in Dublin a pocket Bible, which Dr Ke nedy gave m

n n within twelve mo ths from the openi g of the school, for having sometimes acted usefully as a teacher. Not

n u un aturally, Chambers counted the book very precio s,

o n and the m re so as he co sidered it to be, which probably it was, the ﬁrst Bible ever given in an Irish Sunday

. n n n or n school As a book , either its paper, pri t, bi ding will compare with tho se of Bibles easily procured now ;

t o but then it cost what the poor was a serious sum . The hold which that c opy of the Scriptures had on the ’ good man s affection s may be known by what he wrote on the paper in which he wrapped it for transmission ! God speed thy journey, my dear Bible Farewell . ” T . C . 1 862 Chambers died in , a patriarch of more than

and t e n fourscore g , in the possession of his faculties to the

and n . last, trusti g in the one Saviour Though a plain

in b n man hum le life, his letters co tain touches of the ’ graphic and even of the poetic . Dr . Kennedy s removal

1 79 1 n n to another diocese , in , i terfered with the worki g

of the school . Through his absence, and consequent

in n n f n changes the ma ageme t of parish a fairs , it li gered

n for m . dwindli g some time, and became al ost extinct

v . Howe er, it afterwards revived w Passing on to about t enty years later, a gentleman

a of re n one u walking along in a midl nd town I la d, S nday 88 THE FIR ST FIFTY YEARS m he orning, met a Methodist lady , who told him that s

n was hurrying to the Openi g of a Sunday school,

e pursuant to the directions of the Conf rence . He accompanied her to the place . There they found a crowd of children in utter confusion, without any pro

n m vision for putti g the in order. He describes that, in

“ those days , even the Protestant children were no better ” than heathens . By degrees, something like arrange ment was made . The gentleman himself undertook — n . a the superinte dence Several tradesmen grocer, a — chandler, a shoemaker, and a weaver engaged to teach w the boys, and the ives or daughters of some of them, did the same for the girls . But there were no books such as the work required, except one, the Belfast

and m cut out Spelling Book, fro that they had to bad words before it could safely be given to the scholars for use . Even of that a supply could not be had without

it n u sending to Dublin, for in those days was not a si g lar case that a country town in Ireland should be without a ’ bookseller s sh0 p . That school was only one of many which were formed in consequence of resolutions passed by the Methodist

1 805 n Conference in , desiri g that Sunday schools should ” be established in every circuit in Ireland. The Rev.

Adam Averell, for many years before his death president of the Primitive Wesleyan Conference, went preaching through the four provinces with the view of promoting

h avin f wit ne sse d n the system , he g its working in Engla d when there on conference business . Funds were want ing beyond what Ireland was prepared to furnish . The

' c in as e but Sunday School So iety London w appli d to,

9 0 THE rmsr FIFTY YEARS

“ ’ n us of the moment, As the E glish Society can t help , ” why should we not hav e one of our own for Ireland ? The suggestion took instant hold of every one in the

o company ; they were all of one mind for the pr ject.

n He the asked Mr . Averell, What would you give to the society if it were formed ? Ten guineas donation ” at once, and two guineas a year subscription, was Mr. ’ Averell s reply .

F ort hwit h a , the gentleman who had started the ide took further and decided action upon it. In November,

1 809 n n in , a meeti g of leadi g Christian men was held

n n - the ba ki g house of the Messrs . La Touche, in Dublin . ” Then and there the Hibernian Sun day School Society

- . n co was formed At the same meeti g, the operation of

Di l s e u . James gg La To che, Esq was secured as secretary, of whom it is next to impossible to speak too highly for

and his talents and attainments, his genuine catholic

Christian piety, his business capabilities, and his untiring

v n devotedness, during se enteen years, to the i terests of ’ t he in society. By his death, after a week s illness,

v 1 826 - No ember, , the Irish Sunday school enterprise s ustained an irreparable bereavement, and Ireland lost

m in one of the purest, brightest, and most precious ge s ! her crown .

The objects of the institution to be carried out were, “ procuring and disseminating the most approved plans

n m of conducting Sunday schools, supplyi g the with spelling- books and copies of the Sacred Scriptures at

and reduced prices , contributing to defray the expenses w of such schools, where necessary, ithout, however, — e o t of t he P o ee n s at t h e Ge ne a Sunda Sc oo onven i on . 1 8 1 5. R p r r c di g r l y h l C t , pp OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 9 1 interfering with their internal regulations ; and as to

n religious instruction, conﬁni g themselves solely to the ” 1 8 1 1 Sacred Scriptures, or extracts therefrom . In , the Committee reported that t he number of schools

n 42 derivi g aid from the funds of the Society had been ,

n n anc amon st contai i g scholars, k g them was one in o B rou hmore the T wnland of g , distant about four miles from Lisburn . This school was established by Henry

Richy, an industrious weaver, who, observing with pity the ragged boys of the neighbourhood in creasing both in

n f numbers and vice, and becomi g particularly o fensive to him in their total neglect of the Sabbath, conceived

n the plan of a Su day school, in order to reduce them to some state of order . He intimated his wishes to as many of the neighbourhood as were inclined to listen to him without ridicule, and ﬂattered himself in the hope

n fe w. of havi g secured the assistance of a Accordingly, 1 809 n early in the year , he collected in a barn as ma y children as could conveniently be arranged within . After a fe w months his coadjutors had entirely left him t o his , own exertions ; their excuses were various, but the sovereign objection was the conﬁnement during t he

n e greater part of Su day, a day on which they wer m accustomed to indulge themselves, free fro restraint, after the toils of the week . Poor Richy, although

for necessitated to be industrious at his loom, the support

n off. of a family, felt no discouragement at the falli g

He redoubled his endeavours, and towards the end of the year many of his pupils had made a considerable

n f e s progress in spelli g. Now his di ﬁculti s began to pres

u of t he t he are nt s upon him . In conseq ence poverty of p 92 THE FIRST FIFTY mas s of t he i s not e u e in ch ldren, book could b proc r d order to t c t m r e h e be ea h he to ead ; howev r, continued to g, w u m his un e borro , and p rchase fro little f d (r luctantly subscribed to him by a fe w of t he neighbouring farmers)

e a u The n what wer b rely s fﬁcient. bar which had only one a r u e an and t he r ff him pe t r of y kind, that doo , o e red

s an l i t he be r r e as but c ty ight, wh ch was more to eg ett d, the book s he had collecte d together being almost all of ff en e l him di er t lett rs, necessarily compe led to attend to

e a al a o ch child individu ly, and therefore dem nded fr m

i m n e o a h not o ly the great r labour, but als greater

proportion of time . He however struggled with these J difﬁculties unti] desired by the proprietor to remove

’

h . imself to make way for the grain With much entreaty, he at last prevailed on an old woman to let him for

s he his Sundays a pare room ; in this continued school, i d i which now d minishe for want of accommodation . H s

s a per everance c rried him through the winter, when he

was a n . v gai admitted to the barn On my isiting him,

a bout a week since, I found his school to consist of 70

s a 30 regularly attending chol rs, of whom read tolerably

e ll 20 a m m w , repe t the Church Catechis fro memory

with accuracy, and the remainder spell words from two

His son to eight syllables . eldest , impressed by the

a was example of so good father, assiduously employed in teaching to write as many as could procure materials ;

a old door, supported by two b rrels, supplied the place o of a table, and the fragments of an old l om, ingeniously n a n e ff . arra g d on sto es, o ered them seat His hours of

s t teaching at present are, during the ummer ime from nine t o t we lve and from t wo t o four; in t he wint er from

94 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER XII.

lic Meet in o he Sunda cho l nion First P ub g f t y S o U .

THE Sunday School Un ion havin g quietly pursued its course for a period of nearly nine years, it was, in the 1 8 1 2 year , thought by the Committee that the time

r n had ar ived for maki g its proceedings more public .

Accordingly, it was determined to invite the teachers

on and friends of Sunday schools to a public breakfast,

n 1 3t h the morni g of Wednesday, May , at the New

n London Taver , Cheapside . Breakfast was provided , at ’ for : seven o clock, two hundred and the meeting excited great interest. Mr . Marriott, the treasurer, presided ; and after the Rev . Richard Watson had implored the

n of n Divine blessi g, a report the proceedi gs of the

Union, from its formation, was read . From that report it appeared that the following had been its only publica tions : A Plan for the Establishment and Regulation of Sun

a of n d y Schools ; which one edition had been pri ted .

e n An Introduction to R adi g, part the ﬁrst ; of which

n copies had been pri ted .

The same, in a series of Lessons for Collective Teach ing.

t h e An Introduction to Reading, part second ; of

s n which copie had been pri ted . OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 95

m “ A Catechis in verse, entitled Milk for Babes , of

which copies had been printed .

A Select List of Scriptures , designed as a Guide to

Teachers for a Course of Reading in Sunday Schools . The ﬁrst resolution submitted to the meeting was

n moved by Mr . T . H. Hor e, author of the Introduction ” to the Critical Study of the Holy S criptures . He was

n for then e gaged in literary pursuits, and some years

n n in held a impo rta t situation the British Museum . So

n n struck was Dr. Howley, Bishop of Lo do , with Mr.

’ n ff him Hor e s work, that he o ered ordination, which

1 8 1 9 . 1 833 . took place in In , Dr Howley, who had

become Archbishop of Canterbury, presented him to the

- - rectory of the united parishes of St . Edmund the King

and o n - St. Nich las Aco s , Lombard street, which he held h 1 2 un on n 27t 86 . o til his death , Ja uary , The res lution

was seconded by the Rev. Legh Richmond, the author

“ ’ of The Dairyman s Daughter . There were s ome sentiments con tained in the address of this devoted

n be d mi ister of Christ which deserve to recorde , as showing the prin ciples upon which t he Union was

founded, and upon which its successive committees had

n “ e deavoured to carry on its operations . He said, I

n in v confess it to be no small induceme t to me, deli ering

n on o n my sentime ts this ccasio , that I see the word

n on in . n U i the title of the Society U ion , in all those p oints wherein we can con scientiously and con sistently

t h e n agree, appears to be great secret, now at le gth

v n n n ff and happily disco ered, for bri gi g i to e ect, into

o co- n al pr sperous operatio , the hearts , the hands, and l

God t he combined energies of the men of . I fee l 9 6 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS particularly thankful that a plan has been discovered by Which ministers and other Christians may labour

ff n together with so much a ectionate exertio , and that, frequently, with prospects of the greatest success, in the

n ﬁrst of natio al objects, the introduction of our British o y uth to the knowledge of the religion of Christ . My

it e earnest l i n t he un work. dear brethren, y May the f Sunday School Union prove a union of a fection, and a

i union of far as can opinions, as you possibly unite, (and God forbid that we should endeavour to ﬁnd out h ow much we can possibly differ . ) May the re be a union of those general principles whi ch shall m ake the Church of God strong and united in the exertions of it s most

n and . ﬁ rm e lightened zealous members It is my belief,

a or I would never wish to address meeting, consisting,

e s of ff — as this do , persons of di erent denominations that the happiest event of the century that has now com

e d n me nc , is the growing disposition amo g Christians of various names and denominations to unite in great and

n glorious undertaki gs . I have heard the arguments of t he prej udice d on this question ; I have read the observa tions of the Worldly wise upon it ; but the more I have

e e e t t heard and read t hem, the mor hav I se n tha he

s as ma a a ar foolishn es , it y be c lled, of Christi n ch ity, is

e me n c onfounding t he policy of the wis of this world .

s me s e o The re must be o circumstance take plac , as f re runners of the latter day glory ; there must be some thing

s - n s come to pass, by which the division , heart burni g , and

t oo i ma jealousies, which have long preva led among us, y ff be brought to a close . A miracle to e ect this we have no reason to expect ; it must advance gradually ; nor do

98 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

n Mr. Prust, of Bristol , who, as we have seen , had i terested

b “ h imself in the esta lishment of adult schools, sent to Mr .

o f b Divic Bethune, New York , a narrative, prepared v

Dr. Pole, of their history and progress . This proved

n o t h e means of awakeni g great attenti n to the subject .

n in Mr. Bethu e, when on a visit to Philadelphia January,

1 5 n o n 1 8 , me ti ed it to a young lady, who procured the

’ v insertion of se eral extracts from Dr . Pole s work in the

n Religious Remembra cer, a weekly paper of that city,

n and t o which excited ge eral interest, led the establish

s o o f m n ment of everal such sch ols, one the bei g in the

“ jail . In her letter to Mr . Bethune, she says, I never undertook anything that afforded such heart- felt j oy

our precious little establishment goes on delightfully .

52 of The ﬁrst member was a pious soul , years age ; she

on comes with her spectacles , and seems as if she would

h . v n n devour the ook She never fails gi i g us a blessi g , and assures us sh e has long been prayi ng that the L ord would open some way that she might learn to read the

o Bible . She looks at your little b ok with delight, and

s 0 —I often ays, , this blessed book know I shall learn ’ to read in this book . I feel as if her prayers were as

. v o good as an host We ha e eleven sch lars, two added mostly of an evening ; and after the ﬁrst lesson they

advance wonderfully. 1 8 1 6 In March, , there were eight adult schools exist

and ing in the city of Philadelphia, many grown persons t were admitted in o the Sunday schools, which had become t general throughout the ci y . T

un a c oo e os o 1 81 5 . 1 89 1 90 S d y S h l R p it ry , , pp , .

8 0 1 un a Sc oo e osi o . 1 1 6 . 2 1 . S d y h l R p t ry , p OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 99

’ Prust s ff . not The e ect of Mr communications did ,

e nd n however, with the establishment of Adult Su day

in Schools . Mr. Bethune inserted a daily paper, published i n Ne w one n the city of York , of the letters se t him,

n n ff o and Mrs . Bethu e le t the di erent publicati ns relative to Sunday schools she had recei ved to a n umber of their

n 0 n w n an n frie ds, h pi g that their perusal ould awake i terest

in n . n v for o these i stitutions After waiti g, howe er, s me

n v weeks , she co versed with se eral ladies upon the sub

e ct n w in r n o f j , who agreed to u ite ith her the fo matio a ” o o n n In Female Sunday Sch l U io . order to carry out

n e n this desig , th y called a meeti g of the female members

n n o n of all denomi ations, some hu dreds of whom met

24t h 1 8 1 6 - the January, , in the lecture room of one of

n n the churches . A clergyman ope ed the meeti g with

and n w w . . n nv prayer, the ithdre Mrs Bethu e was i ited

and for to preside, stated the purpose which their attend — ance h ad been requested the great n eed of such an

n o w n o f one i stituti n in a city, here umbers sex were

n n for w and a n of trai i g the gallo s St te priso , and the

fo n n o other r prostitutio . She likewise ticed the great

e o n on in want of r ligi us i structi their small schools, and urged that the parents of the scholars n ot havin g time t o

v teach them , would probably gladly a ail themselves of

n o Su day scho ls if within thei r reach . Mrs . Bethune read extracts from the report of the Sun day Scho ol

n on on o n n n o o U i , the sec d rep rt of the Hiber ia Su day Sch l

t wo . of . Society, letters from Mr Charles Bala, and Mr

’ n and n v co Prust s t wo . letters to Mr Bethu e, i ited the

of f e n no n on wh o operation the ladies of di f re t de mi ati s ,

o n A u ere willing to collect scholars an d subscripti s . H ? 1 00 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS committee of one or two from each denomination was appoin ted to prepare a constitution and gen eral rules for

o the Union and schools under their care, to be laid bef re

3 lst a meeting, to be held on January , in the lecture rooms of Wall Street Church . The attendance proved so ou numer s, that it became necessary to adjourn to the

o church . The f rm of a constitution for the society, and

u n of “ rules for the schools, nder the desig ation The ” Female Union Society for the promotion of Sunday schools, as prepared by the committee were read and

n approved of, and the followi g ladies chosen to preside

i nst it ut ion z— over the Mrs . Bethune, ﬁrst directress ; f . . n Mrs Mum ord , second directress Mrs Boweri g, t reasurer ; Miss Mumford , secretary . The ﬁrst quar t e rly meeting of the newly formed society was held on

1 7 - April th, in the lecture room of the Second Presby fﬁ terian Church, when, in addition to the o cers, there were present 1 6 superintendents and more than 200 teachers. The ﬁrst directress congratulated the assembly on the abundant success which had attended their labours

since the last meeting, and the secretary read the re ports presented by the superintendents of 1 6 schools belonging t o n — the following denomi ations Episcopalian , Methodist,

n Baptist, Reformed Dutch , Ge eral Assembly Presby t erian , Associate Reformed Presbyterian . It appeared that the total number of scholars of all ages an d com

le x ions m 6 6 7 i n p , fro to years of age, the different

o n schools, was Bef re the meeti g separated, a committee of one or two ladies from each denomi nat ion

was appointed to visit the schools , as the duties were

un a c oo e os o 1 81 6 276 S d y S h l R p it ry , , p ,

1 02 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

1 3 made up 6 scholars . I presume the number next ’ ” all Lord s day will amount to in the schools . He

“ adds, the gentlemen are mustering their number, t o

o and of f llow the example of the ladies , to take charge ” and subse the adults children of their own sex . In a

a lot h quent letter, d ted February , Mr . Bethune says,

n The ge tlemen of this city are now busily engaged,

n and a general meeti g is called on Monday next, for the organization of a society fo r the in struction of children ” n and adults . Thus origi ated the Ne w York Sunday ” n n School U ion , which has for so ma y years pursued its

o me re asin n e lab urs with g useful ess and succ ss . Before

n on 1 e corde d the i stituti s , whose formation we have thus ,

n n came i to existe ce, there were but four Sunday schools

n in the city of New Y ork . T In the followi g year the

n 25 Female U ion was able to report schools, with 340 scholars, taught by ladies, while the New York Union

n 34 had u der its care schools, containing scholars ,

300 . with male teachers 1 At a subsequent period, the distinction between the two societies ceased to exist, and 2 1 6 the New York Union now comprises schools, con

n n b tai i g scholars , with a band of teachers num er i n - ﬁft h g The forty annual report of the Union,

ev how er, reports, that there are young persons of the lowest classes still not receiving the beneﬁts of

- n Sunday school instructio , and that it would require at

1 n e w least 50 mission schools, in addition to those in

t e n a s Operation, with some nine or thousand te cher ,

n n f aided by competent superi te dents, and other o ﬁcers,

un a c oo e osi o 1 81 6 . 276 S d y S h l R p t ry , , p

un a c oo W0 1 1 d . N o . 2 . 1 8 . 1 S d y S h l , p

Sun a c oo e os o 1 81 7 . 21 3 21 7 466 1 d y S h l R p it ry , , pp , , . OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 1 03 were these destitute ones gathered into rooms suitable for their instruction .

n n in d While these eve ts were occurri g the New Worl , an opportun ity had been afforded for the i ntroduct ion of

n - o n the Su day scho l system i to France . The restoration

on on n n of peace the C ti e t of Europe, and the intercourse

n n u w n with E gla d th s allowed, probably dre the attentio o f v n o n n se eral Fre ch Pr testa t mi isters to this subject, and o o f n n 1 8 1 5 the C mmittee the Su day School U ion, in ,

n . him made a gra t to the Rev Francis Martin, to assist i n t h e o n of o f rmatio a sch ol in Bordeaux . In their

of o n report the f llowi g year, the Committee reported,

“ that their hopes as t o the establishment of Sunday ” schools in France are for the present beclouded ; but the scho ol established at Bordeaux proved the forerunner of many others ; and the report of 1 823 recorded the open ing of a Sunday school at the Protestant church at

Paris, by the Rev . M . Monod, who had attended t he

n n previous a nual meeti g of the Union . Two hundred

n scholars were in atte dance, and among them were the son s and daughters of some of the most wealthy and inﬂuential Protestants of the capital, who wished to give ff their o spring the religious advantages of the school, and at the same time to present an example to the othe r

n classes of Protestants attendi g the same church . In 1 827 it was reported to the Sunday School Union that a Committee for the encouragement of Sunday schools amongst Protestants had been established at

Paris, of which the Baron de Stael was President, and £20 , with copies of the Union publications, we re vote d in aid of their e fforts . 1 04 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

e These schools, how ver, were not conducted in the same

e manner as those in England and America . They wer

in rather juvenile congregations than schools, and them the pastor conveyed religious instruction in a simpler form than it was presented from the pulpit . The advantage o ﬁ e mploying Christian men and women as teachers was, however, soon perceived ; the schools increased in

n number, and the greater intercourse with E gland led to a more in timate acquaintance with the English

in 1 852 system . At length, and the year , the Paris S unday School Society was formed upon the prin ci le s t he p of Sunday School Union, and applied itself with diligence and success to the work of extending

n o and improvi g Sunday scho ls throughout France . A fraternal intercourse has been maintained between the

n two institutions, and deputations to their annual meeti gs

n have been excha ged , and the one school established,

n in in with the assistance of the U ion, Bordeaux, the

1 8 1 n f year 5, has now multiplied i to the large number o

44 55 in 7 schools, of which are Paris and its suburbs . m The following extract fro the report of Mr . Reed, n 1 863 who attended the an iversary of the Society in , gives a lively sketch of the interesting scene presented by the gathering of the Protestant scholars of that

city. “ The morning of the 1 6th of April witnessed an assemblage of children such as could never been shown i ’ n n . ul in Lo don, except the area of St Pa s Cathedral , simply because in London there is no amphitheatre equal

to that of the Cirque Napoleon of Paris . The scene

was truly imposing and impressive . As your delegate

1 06 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S movements of the groups of children when leaving the assembly. The French are used to military exactitude, and the conduct of the little ones was in close imitation

n of marchi g order . Hence, probably people dis

e rse d fe w p in a minutes, and without the slightest

n approach to crushi g or crowding . The impression u n pon the people of Paris must be good . The thi g is new . The ﬁles of children passing through the streets

is attracted curiosity. The people see that the system

n n increasi g , and ma y are beginning to believe that these children after all afford the promise of social order and

e n improv d ma ners , to say nothing of higher religious

n inﬂuences . The police who had charge of the buildi g

n in n were so i terested the proceedi gs of the day, that they voluntarily offered the fees to which they were entitled, to the funds of the Union . OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 07

CHAPTER XIII.

' E or s r t h ﬁ t f o e p romot ion of General Educat ion .

WE may here appropriately halt in our narrative of the

of d o progress the Sun ay scho l, and give some informa tion as t o the efforts which now began to be made for the promotion of the general education of the people . Lord Brougham has the high honour of being foremost

o in this g od work . Committees of the House of Com mons had made inquiries into the state of mendicity in

and the Metropolis its immediate neighbourhood, and also as to the education of the lower orders of the

o . Metrop lis In the course of these enquiries, several witnesses were examined as to the Operations and in

ﬂ ue nce ho of Sunday schools . Mr. Butterworth, w had then entered Parliament, and was a member of the

n : Mendicity Committee, gave the followi g testimony

“ I would beg to state to the Committee, that from much observation I am satisﬁed that Sunday schools, if properly conducted, are of essential importance to the

of lower classes society. I have had occasion to inspect several Sunday schools for some years past, and I have particularly observed the children, who at ﬁrst came to

s the chools dirty and ragged, in the course of a fe w months have become clean a nd neat in their persons ; and their behaviour, from my own observation, and t he 1 08 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR

t repor of a great number of teachers, has rapidly improved : I allude to those schools where the teachers

do are gratuitous, as I ﬁnd that no persons who are paid the work half so well as those who do it from motives of real benevolence . A large school which I frequently in 600 visit Drury Lane, which has upwards of children , has produced many instances of great mental and moral improvement amongst the lower classes of society . At this time there are no less than twenty chimney- s’weep

in boys that school, who , in consequence of coming there, have their persons well cleaned every week, and their apparel kept in decent order ; I have the names of their masters . Some of the employers of those chimney sweep boys are so well satisﬁed with the school , that they will take no child but what shall regularly attend it, as they ﬁnd it greatly improves their morals and

a behaviour. In another school in Hinde Street, M ry

- le bone . , there are eleven chimney sweep boys Some time ago, when I happened to be the visitor for the day, a woman attended to return thanks for the education her daughter had received in Drury Lane School ; I inquired whether her child had received any particular ben eﬁt by h the instruction in the school . She said s e had indeed ’ A n received much good . d I believe the woman s words were, she should ever have reason to bless God that her child had come to that school ; that before her girl

was roﬂi at e disorde rlv attended there, her husband a p g , man, Spent most of his time and money at the public

sh e house, and and her daughter were reduced to the

most abject poverty, and almost starved ; that one Sun t n s a n Ve mu day af er oon the father had been we ri g ry ch,

1 1 0 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

a situation, and, up to the period of his quitting London, ” bore an excellent character. Other witnesses gave equally decided e vidence as to the beneﬁts conferred by Sunday schools . Mr. William

d in Hale sai , with respect to their inﬂuence the distric t

Of S it alﬁ e lds e p , the seat of the silk manufacture Ther has been a great alteration in the moral condition of

i lds h a Sp t alﬁe since t eir establishment . The ch racter of the poor of Spit alﬁe lds is very different from what it was thirty or forty years ago . You never hear of any attempt

w on e n t o riot there . I kno at time there were i dividuals u f sent p from Nottingham , with a view to e fect something ‘ wh at t h e n like y were doi g there, and that they have been more than once excited to riot during the last war, and yet that they were very quiet . Great care is taken of

And their mental and moral improvement . I believe no instance is to be found where so multitudinous a poor congregate together in so small a space, with so little ” inconvenience to their neighbours .

n t h e Amo gst the witnesses examined before Committee, w on the education of the lo er orders of the Metropolis,

Alt h ans and were Messrs . Lloyd, who gave full details of the state of Sunday- school instruction in the Metro

lis. . a po T Mr William H rgrave, a member of the Society of Friends, and connected with a society entitled The

o Juvenile Benevolent Society, was als examined as to the number of poor children uneducated in the North

o n m East district of the Metr polis , ma y of who were

l n prevented attending schools , and especia ly Su day

un a Sc oo R e os1 t or 1 81 6 . 21 7 21 8. S d y h l p y , , pp ,

i f 1 1 6 59 & Sun a c oo R e os t o 8 . 3 c. 1 d y S h l p y , , p , OF THE SUN DAY SCHOOL . 1 1 1

' The socie t schools, for want of suitable clothing. y he represented was designed to assist in removing the difﬁculty which existed i n procuring the attendance of

n s many children, especially at Su day schools , from thi cause . For this purpose, the Society provided a cheap

n kind of clothi g , with which they clothed their poor — n bo 8s. and for 1 03. childre a y at the expense of , a girl ’ — The boy s dress consisted of a leather cap a pinafore

n n n n made of a brow kind of very stro g sheeti g, extendi g

n from the neck down to the feet, and coveri g the arms

n . with good , stro g shoes The girls were each provided

n and — a n n with a bo net ribbon pi afore, made of gi gham

and a pair of shoes . Mr . Hargrave stated that the

o n S ciety had lost but little of the clothi g, in proportion

n to the umber of children it had clothed, owing to the

n o precautio s the Committee had ad pted . The materials of the clothing were of little val ue to sell ; it was

“ o n n n ink stamped the i side with permane t , J . B . S .

n n o t Charity, and the clothi g was given to the children ,

n t h e be but merely le t them on Saturday, to returned to

o on on o w n n the dep t the M day f llo i g . Whe any omission

v took place, the parties were isited by a member of the

n Committee, to ascertai the cause . The Society did n ot n n , however, co ﬁ e themselves entirely to the loan of

o n cl thi g. When a child had been under the care of the

n o i stituti n some time, and appeared worthy, a gift of

o n an d cl thi g was made, the child was placed in a day

o sch ol . This gift was made publicly before the rest of

w n the children , who were al ays summo ed together once

n t o a week, that they might be i duced qualify themsel ves

o f r similar gifts . In order to ascertain that t h e children 1 1 2 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

n had attended the schools to which they belo ged, tin

wh o tickets were supplied to the teachers, gave them to

n the children, for production at the weekly meeti g. In ’ the course of Mr. Hargrave s examination, he stated a

n o fact, to which many other testimo ies c uld be added,

h on t at, generally, children learnt as much the Sunday as they would have done if placed in a National or

British school all the other days of the week . The explanation was to be found in the almost individual

in attention which the children received a Sunday school, from the small number placed under the care of each “ t e ache rﬁ

This Society was carried on with much energy and

n success for several years . Its general meeti gs, which were held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street,

e re anume rousl n w y attended, and were ge erally presided

n c over by Mr . Brougham, to whom every i stitution on ne ct e d with the education of the people immediately commended itself. The earliest statistics by which the progress of educa

in n tion may be measured, are contained the Parliame tary

1 8 1 8. returns of According to them , there were then

n n n o n n i E gla d and Wales day schools, c ntai i g

n 1 i n scholars, bei g of the population,

n and Sunday schools, containi g scholars , or 1 in 2440 of the population . 1 8 1 8 This year, , witnessed an alteration in the opera

n tions of the Sunday School U ion, which has exercised an important inﬂuence on the institutions for whose improvement and extension it was established . We

un a c oo e osi o 1 81 6 . 377 & c . S d y S h l R p t ry , , pp ,

1 1 4 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS committee was appointed to manage the affairs of the

in u e Depository, order to ens re, as far as possible, the sal nl was and publication of suitable works o y. It agreed that the approval of three members of the committee should be had before a book could be placed on t he catalogue for sale ; and that t h e approval of six members and the secretaries should be obtained to any work which was to be published by t he Union . The anticipations which were indulged as to this endeavour to extend the usefulness of the Union, might at that time appear visionary, but its subsequent history will Show that they have been fully realized . The attention of the Committee of the S unday School

1 820 a Union was occupied in the ensuing year, , by proposal submitted to them for publishing a Penny

Magazine for Children . They decided in favour of the undertaking, but hesitated in carrying it out . They

Mr. thus allowed William Gover, a teacher in the south

s of London , to have the honour of commencing that serie

s n of cheap religiou publications for the you g, which has now been so greatly enlarged, and by which such great

n c n blessings have bee , and still are, onferred on the risi g

population of this and other lands . The Religious Tract

Society quickly perceived the importance of the idea, and commenced the publication of their valuable penny “ i ’ ” periodical, The Ch ld s Companion, which rendered ’

u . Gove r s u nnecessary Mr , which had been contin ed for “ ’ ” t o . w years Thus the Youth s Magazine, and the

s Magazine for Children, really originated in the Com

mit t e e u fe w of the S nday School Union, although are now acquainted with the source from which these OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 1 5 blessings proceeded . If these works have become more

in useful, consequence of their having been brought into existence by those whose time was not so much occupied

of e as that of the Committee the Union, ther will be no cause for regret ; but it is desirable that it should be

n known from whence they spra g. i The attention which had been directed, by the h ve st igat ions of the committee appointed by the House of

Commons, to the state of education and morals amongst ff the lower classes of society, led to various e orts for the removal of the ignorance and vice which were so generally u prevalent. The patronage of The J venile Benevolent Society for clothing and promoting the education of destitute children” was undertaken by His Royal High ness the Duke of Sussex, and its title altered to that of ” The Educational Clothing Society. The fourth report of the committee in 1 8 1 9 stated that they had clothed and placed in different schools children since the in t h formation of the society, addition to which e com mit t e e sent 862 poor children to school during the last ﬁle year, who did not require clothing . The beneﬁts arising from this society did not terminate with its direct efforts . The Southwark Sunday School Society also undertook a canvass of the district in which their schools were situated, the result of which led the “ committee to inform the public that in Southwark there are upwards of t wo t housand children entirely

in destitute of instruction, the whole of whom are want

n of most articles of clothi g, and the greater part are in such distress as to be unﬁt objects to appear before the

e osit o 1 81 9 38 un a c oo . 1 . S d y S h l R p ry , , p 1 1 6 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

e s s as public, while the par nts of both clas e are so poor ” to be unable to provide them with decent apparel . In one case the committee discovered a widow and six children in a most deplorable and destitute condition .

t h e Some of children , the mother said, had formerly at tended a Sunday school and derived much beneﬁt, but could attend no longer for want of clothes . One of the children was employed by a neighbour as an e rrand boy

t h r r c all e est were at home, and the few ags of lothing

e n so they had w re alternately wor by them , that only

a e e one or t wo could go out at tim , whil the others were

i n obliged t o re ma n at home nearly aked . In order to ' provide for these destitute ones, fragment schools were

off e opened, cast clothes were solicit d, and others pur

chased . These were lent to the children to enable them

t h e to attend the schools on Sunday, and their return

required the next day, unless under ve ry peculiar

circumstances . T

“ A great impression was made upon the public mind by the facts that were thu s made known ; and it is probable that if a plan of national education had been

t he brought forward, which allowed the use of authorized

version of the Holy Scriptures in the schools, but without

any denominational catechism, it would have received the unanimous support of those who dissented from the

u . Established Ch rch John Foster, a writer of great

authority amongst them, had written an essay on The ” i n Evils of Popular Ignorance, which, after laying fully open the state of ignorance and consequent de moraliz a

“ t : ion then existing among the people, he says There

un a c oo e os t or 1 81 8 . 351 t S d y S h l R p i y , , p ,

1 1 8 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER XIV.

’ B rou ham s P lan or t he P romot ion o General Mr. g f f

Educat ion.

IN s n me u 1 820 the essio of Parlia nt held d ring the year , u Mr. Bro gham brought forward his measure for better ’ providing ghe means of education for His Majesty s subjects . The bill brought in by that gentleman, as

amended in committee, provided that a complaint of the

s want of schools might be made to the quarter essions, by a grand jury, justice, minister, or householder. The justices were the n to try the complaint ; and if they

- determined that it was well founded, they were to issue

- - re uir a warrant to the receiver general of the land tax, q ing him to advance the sum necessary to purchase land

and build a school room . This advance was to be repaid

out of the consolidated fund . The salaries of the masters

were to be raised by the churchwardens, under a warrant

- of the justices, and to be paid half yearly. The masters were to be chosen by the majority of householders present

at a meeting in the school house ; to which meeting,

persons having real property in the parish, to the amount

1 00 o of £3 per annum, were to be allowed to send a repr

n at i e se t v . The name of the party chosen was to be sent

to the rector, vicar, perpetual curate, curate, or other resident ofﬁ ciating minister ; and if he object ed to the OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 1 9

a a and so p rty elected, a fresh election was to t ke place ;

in n as e on, like manner, as ofte the person chos n and reported should not be approved of by the resident

fﬁ t u e t he o ciating minis er, and until he sho ld approv of

no s person elected . It was provided, that per on should

a n u t he be c pable of bei g chosen by such meeting, nder

- wh o age of twenty four, or above the age of forty ; or u did not prod ce a certiﬁcate of his character and ability, and that he was a member of the Church of England by

f n law established, signed by the resident O ﬁciati g minister and three landholders of the parish where he had lived for the last twelve months . The clergyman of the parish for which the master was chosen was de clared ineligible fﬁ for the o ce ; but any other clergyman might be elected .

fu t h e t he It was rther provided, that master should teach

t he Holy Scriptures according to authorized version, and use select passages thereof for reading and writing ; and

s t Should teach no other book of religion, without con en of the resident Ofﬁciating minister ; and should use no ’ o r f rm of prayer or worship, except the Lord s praye ,

The or other select passage of the Holy Scriptures .

and s Catechism of the Church of England, such portion of its Liturgy as the resident ofﬁciating minister might appoint, were to be taught during the half of the school

of hours one day in the week , to be ﬁxed by the minister ; to whom the right of visitation and examination of t he

t o school was given, and who was also to have the power

t e direct the teaching of the Catechism and Liturgy, by h ’ s master , on the evening of the Lord s day. The scholar were to attend the divine service of the Church of ’ . and England once every Lord s day Parents guardians, 1 20 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S

however, might withdraw their children from the teach i n f g of the Catechism and Liturgy, and rom attendance on such divine service, on their taking care that the scholars so withdrawn should attend some other place of

Christian worship . The power of dismissing the master a w s vested in the bishop of the diocese, either personally, or through his archdeacon, chancellor, or dean .

This measure did not meet with general acceptance . It was looked upon with s uspicion by the members of t h e Church of England ; probably 0 1 1 account of the quarter from which it came . The following extract from a

A M. R e v. . . pamphlet, written by the R Lloyd, , Rector ’

. D unst an s in w of St the West, will sho the character of it the objections stated against : The nature of Mr. ’ u Bro gham s plan of instruction does not, as far as I can ff perceive, essentially di er from the Lancasterian or

British school . Whilst it admits some select portions of

the Scriptures to be used, it prohibits all notes and com

o ments, all explicati ns whatever, illustrative of their

n sense, under the i ﬂuence of a morbid and symbolizing

liberality, which renounces what is peculiar, and adopts

l . on y what is common to all sects and parties He has,

n i deed , made some concession in favour of our eccle

siast ical establishment, in order, it seems, to render his bill more palatable to its members ; but these conces s f sion , which a fect to relieve it of its obnoxious qualities, ” produce no such effect .

r The dissente s, on the other hand, complained of the

in he measure, as giving an undue preponderance t e ducation of the people to the Established Church inasmuch as the master was required to be a member of

1 22 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS them to the vigilance of the respectable inhabitants of

n u r the eighbo rhood, who must natu ally be most interested

m not for their right anagement, any method which — experience had proved to be be ne ﬁ cial but an appoint ment of very much the same nature as that of which he had himself just rendered the utter inefﬁciency so ” notorious. The Committee of the Sunday School Union examined t he ff bill in reference to its e ect on Sunday schools . They s i oon came to the conclusion that it must be most njurious, as it would withdraw the scholars, and undermine the foundation of benevolent and gratuitous instruction . They thought that the measure would deprive Sunday scholars of the invaluable means of mOI al and religious

o an instructi n they now enjoyed, without providing y substitute ; that the mere repetition of catechism, attend ance at public worship , and the routine of mechanical teaching by a paid master, was very far inferior to the unbought and inestimable labours of teachers who love their youthful charge, feel deeply concerned for their f immortal wel are, and from principle devote themselves unremittingly to promote the beneﬁt of the children

n r whom they have voluntarily e gaged to inst uct.

u s The result of the plan, as it respected S nday school ,

“ was pointed out to its author. His reply was, Oh,

: they were only for the occasion when the bill passes, there will be no more occasion for them . He was told,

“ one If you lose our Sunday schools, you will lose of ” the best bonds of society ; for these voluntary teachers

ssa on t h e v s of Po u a no ance . B J o n os e . econ on 1 821 E y E il p l r Ig r y h F t r S d Editi ,

pp . 1 4, 1 5. OF THE SUN DAY SCHOOL . 1 23

!” m Voluntary teachers he exclai ed, what do you mean ? I don’ t understand what you mean by ” voluntary teachers . Some explanations were then given as to the constitution of Sunday schools : and with

a view to further information, Mr . Butterworth requested

e him to visit the school in Drury Lane, to which referenc

has been already made ; and then, for the first time, did the talented author of the bill become aware of t he beneficial influence which the labours of gratuitous teachers were e xerting upon the rising generation of our

in land . The speech made the House of Commons by c Mr. Brougham, on introdu ing his measure, showed his

s ignorance on the subject of Sunday schools . He aid that the scholars in them obtained none of the useful habits inculcated by the discipline of schools uhde r the hi eye of a master, which was more beneﬁcial to a c ld

than that of a parent. Though a dunce might go to

church twice on a Sunday , he feared it would not make

him more fond of the divine service . In his Opinion it was not a good plan to keep children more than an hour

and a half at religious worship on the day set apart for it. It was not the proper way to make them love and respect m it . Let the go to church in the morning, and let their evening be devoted to that innocent play which was most !e n co genial to their age . A general meeting of the gratuitous Sunday-school

v teachers of London and its icinity was convened, on the

1 1 82 1 c u s 6th February, at whi h resol tion were adopted,

t he l embody ing the objections against bi l, entertained by

n t he t the committee, and instructi g them to use mos

ﬂ' un a c oo e os t o 1 820 . 522 S d y S h l R p i ry , , p . 1 24 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

it s . not ho energetic means to oppose progress It did , w

e ever, becom necessary to take any further steps, as Mr. Brougham was deterred by t he resistance whi ch had

a n t he been excited, and did not gai bring forward

measure . The discussions to which this meas ure gave rise were A t h carried on with great activity . writer in e 3lst n w t umber of the British Revie , while objecting to he

u n t he extension of general ed catio among poor, bore the following important testimony to the value of the i religious instruction imparted n Sunday schools . “ Sunday s chools are precisely those institutions to which on the grounds and reasons above se t forth we

ar have alway s been zealously att ached. We e tempted to call them ﬁne establishment s : their e nd is incontro

ve rt ibl s . y good ; their mean direct, decided , and pure

n t he Standing on the very foundatio of Sabbath itself,

it s s as and engrafted into ordinance , they cannot, as long

a as a be that day is considered in this l nd holy day, alienated from its objects or made subservient to human

a corruptions . Their very n me designates and dete rmines their character ; nor can they without a profane absurdity admit anything into their procedure that does not pro

e sse dl r f y advance the work of eligion in the soul . Sunday schools must be for Sunday purposes connected with Sunday duties and dedicated to Him to whom the

a Sund y, by an everlasting proclamation of his will,

especially belongs . They are the chartered institutions

of our Omnipotent Founder, who ratiﬁes with the seal of

his gracious adoption whatever man contrives, with

of his s singleness heart, for glory and place under his

THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER XV .

Format ion o t he American Sunda Scho l f y o Union.

We have already given some account of the int roduc

i u - s t on of the S nday school ystem into America, and of

“ - the formation of the First day, or Sunday School ” in “ Ne Society Philadelphia, and of the w York Sunday ” School Union . In addition to these institutions, the Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Union ” was

2 6t h 1 8 1 7 n formed May , , and its leading desig , as

“ expressed in the constitution, was to cultivate unity — and charity among those of different names to ascertain the extent of gratuitous instruction in Sunday and Adult schools—to promote their establishment in the city and — in the villages i n the country to give more effect to Christian exertion in general—and to encourage and ” strengthen each other in the cause of the Redeemer. These three associations were local in their operations

n and inﬂuence . All of them, however, recog ised the union of evangelical Christians as the basis of their organisation . After a useful career of seven years, the

n Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Unio , in obedience to a loud call for a ne w and more general institution, was merged in the American Sunday School n Union . The suggestion of formi g such an association

Ne 25t h ﬁrst came from w York, and on the of May, OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 27

1 824 in , that society was formed Philadelphia, and in

1 845 m t he , was incorporated under a Charter fro

“ Legislature of Pennsylvania . In the Popular Sketch of t he Rise and Progress of Sunday Schools in the ” A United States, published by the merican Union, the truths sought to be inculcated by the institution are thus

“ described : In the doctrines of the supremacy of the inspired Scriptures as the rule of faith and duty, the lost

s state of man by nature, and his exposure to endles punishment in a future world ; hi s recovery only by the u free, sovereign, and sustaining grace of God, thro gh the atonement and merits of a Divine Redeemer, and by ﬂ the in uence of the Holy Spirit ; the necessity of faith, repentance, and holy living, with an open confession of

me n u the Saviour before , and the d ty of complying with

’ His ordinances of baptism and the Lord s supper ; in these doctrines are found the essential and leadin g truths of the Christian system ; in the reception of these i doctrines the members of the society agree, and w th God’ s help they endeavour to teach and inculcate them ” on all whom they can properly reach . The plans adopted for carrying out the purposes for

n “ which the U ion was formed are thus stated . The t wo — chief objects of the Society were 1 . To open ne w Sunday schools in neighbourhoods and settlements where

be b 2 they would not otherwise esta lished ; and . To supply them with means of carrying on the schools

In successfully when thus begun . the prosecution of this design the first obstacle to be overcome was the existence of various creeds and conflicting religious s opinions and usage , especially in those districts of the 1 28 THE FIRST FIFTY m ans country where the influence of Sunday schools was most f needed . To meet this di ficulty the American Sunday School Union retained t wo of the most important features of the previo usly existing Sunday and Adult School

n : fﬁ U ion , viz . that the Board of O cers and Managers h u s o ld be laymen ; and second, that it should embrace members of the principal evangelical denominations of the country . The position of clergymen as public teachers m of religion in their respective communities, gives the peculiar prominence and notoriety as the advocates and e upholders of their respectiv modes of faith . Their professional pursuits and ofﬁces necessarily lead them to such views of controverted truth as must to some extent

s u embarra s, if it would not prevent, a f ll measure of u sefulness in the management of such an institution .

‘ A s their inﬂuence is wide and thorough in the individual

n co- schools, and as we e joy their operation, are favoured with their counsel, and are able to avail ourselves of

&c . their services in a variety of ways, as agents, authors, , we lose nothing essential to our success by this feature of our organization, while we secure a vast amount of lay labour in the promotion of the interests of religion, and relieve the clergy of a burden which would be ” extremely onerous . The thin and scattered population of the western parts of the country soon engaged the attention of the Bo ard . They found that in some of the settlements the preaching of the gospel was seldom or never enjoyed ; in many there were services at intervals of some weeks, but not

very regularly . Hence the Sabbath became an idle day,

in or was spent secular labour and vain amusements, if

1 30 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

by the Religious Tract Society and other publishers . The extent of their operations in this department may be estimated by the fact that they now publish about u one thousand bound vol mes, in addition to smaller ’ works, and that the whole number of the Society s pub ‘ licat ions exceeds ﬁfteen hundre dﬁ

At the general meeting of the Sunday School Union, in 1 825 e , great int rest was excited in reference to the estab lishme nt of Sunday schools in Greece ; whose inhabitants were then asserting their independence of the Turkish empire . A resolution, moved by the Rev . J. Bennett,

‘ s . econded by the Rev Sereno Dwight, of Boston, North

America, and supported by the Rev. Thomas Mortimer, d “ was adopted, by which it was eclared, That this s n ociety, anxious to promote Christian instruction amo g the rising race of Greeks, engages to devote to the formation and support of Sunday schools among that people whatever contributions may be forwarded to it f for this speciﬁc object . In urtherance of the design contempl ated in this resolution, the Committee agreed to encourage the preparation, in modern Greek, of a Sum mary of the History of Sunday Schools, and a Sunday

School Hymn Book . To the former work they appro

riat e d £50 £20. ff p , and to the latter, E orts were also n made to obtain additional funds, and a corresponde ce u was ope ned with various parties who, it was tho ght , would feel interested in this effort to extend religious instruction ; but no considerable results attended the

fe w e exertions thus made . A Sunday schools wer

f h e ise d Pro ress of un a Sc oo s in h ni e a e s Popular Sketch o t R an g S d y h l t e U t d St t . or THE SUNDAY sonoon; 1 31

in n s established the Island of Corfu, u der the zealou superintendence of the Rev . J. Lowndes, but the attempt to introduce them on the continent of Greece was not attended with success .

n The cause of Su day schools sustained the loss, during

1 826 m . the year , of Willia Fox, Esq , the founder of the

H lst 1 826 Sunday School Society. e died on April , , at

9 lst : u Cirencester, in the year of his age He contin ed to the last to take a very lively interest in Sunday schools, and would often detail in an interesting manner t he circumstances connected with the formation of the Sun ! day School Society. The Committee of the Sunday School Union had for a long period been sensible of the importance and necessity of increasing Sunday schools throughout the country, and of rendering those already established more fﬁ ‘ e cient, especially as related to religious instruction .

be While much had been done, much still remained to accomplished ; and the est ablishment of efﬁcient S unday School Unions seemed to be the best means of attaining

n the desired objects . Mere corresponde ce, or an occa e of sioual transient visit by a m mber the Committee, it

! was thought, could not produce the desired impulse.

v had n se t In America, as we ha e seen, the example bee

n o e of employ i g Sunday School Missi naries, who had ther n o been exte sively useful . The C mmittee had long been convinced that it was desirable to adopt such a plan in

n t this cou try, but had been de erred from attempting it

by t he smallness of their funds . This difﬁculty was

’ un a c oo eac e s a a ne 1 826 . 21 7. S d y S h l T h r M g zi , , p 1 32 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S now removed by the liberal offers of some friends in the North of England ; and the Committee thereupon engaged Mr. Joseph Reid Wilson, formerly Secretary of

n the Newcastle Unio , to devote his whole time and energies to the arduous work of a Sunday School ’ t he Missionary . Mr . Wilson s acquaintance with Sun da - his y school system, and zealous, persevering, and s in n uccessful exertions extendi g and improving it, him through the neighbourhood of Newcastle, pointed out as admirably adapted for this employment. He laboured for several years most zealously in the discharge fﬁ of the duties of the o ce thus undertaken by him . His v t h e isits to schools, his earnest, practical addresses to assemblies of teachers, and his lively but thoroughly Christian appeals to the thousands of scholars whom he from time to time addressed were of great beneﬁt . The short prayer which he was in the habit of teaching the c hildren to use in private Lord, convert my soul , for ’ ” —was Christ s sake. Amen . blessed by the Holy Spirit

His to the conversion of m any. labours we re suspended

1 83 c t he his in the year 7, in onsequence of death of

r e him fathe , which compell d to devote himself for a u season to the duties thereupon devolving pon him . Those duties proved more onerous than had been a nticipated, and ultimately a variety of circumstances concurred to induce Mr. Wilson to tender his resigna f tion . The Committee did not ﬁll up the vacant o ﬁce .

They had , during its continuance, occasionally sent out deputations of their own number to visit the several

Unions, and ﬁnding that such visits proved acceptable and useful , they resolved to render them more frequent,

1 34 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER XVI .

l The Est ab ishme nt of I nf ant Schools.

WHILE the Sunday-school system was thus being gradually extended and consolidated, the attention of those who were i nterested in the education of the young had been directed to the importance of commencing that education at a much earlier age than had hitherto been thought necessary. With whom the plan of taking the children into school at two years or two years and- a-half

old . originated is not clear Emmanuel de Fellenberg,

n it appears , had lo g entertained the idea, and Robert

Ne w in O wen, of Lanark, in Scotland, had it mind a considerable time before he reduced it to practice . Mr. Brougham said he hardly recollected the time at which he himself did not fe el persuaded that what is commonly called education begins too late, and is too much conﬁned t o mere learning. He thought that Robert Owen was the ﬁrst person who made the experiment, as Fellen ’ u i n berg s plan, altho gh principle the same, did not

’ an extend to infants of so early age . Robert Owen s infant school was completely established about the year ’ 1 6 F e lle nbe r s fe w 1 8 . g school was formed some years previously. The former was connected with Robert ’ Owen s manufactory, where about persons of all

n ages capable of assisti g were employed, all of whom 300 lived on the spot, excepting about who lodged in the OF . THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 35

t wo town of Old Lanark, about miles distant. Fellen ’ berg s establishment for poor children was in like manner

connected with his agricultural concerns, but still more

closely, for the scholars lived entirely on the farm, and

held no intercourse with their parents, who were for

the most part persons in the worst classes of society,

and had deserted their children . ’ F e lle nbe r s i Mr. Brougham had seen g establishment n 1 81 6 , and was acquainted with the principles and details ’ and m of Owen s school , from his own statements, fro

n B e n the testimony of friends, amo gst whom were j amm

Smith , Sir Samuel Romilly, and William Allen, on

whose judgment he could rely. He had thus become convinced that the principle might be advantageously

In extended to the poor population of a crowded city.

1 8 1 8 a the winter of , his friend James Mill, of the Indi h House, and himself, had much discussion wit Mr. w O en respecting the plan, and were immediately joined

o M P i by Mr. J hn Smith, . . , the Marqu s of Lansdowne,

. Z . in Mr achary Macaulay, and Mr Thomas Babington,

n t the attempt to establish an i fant school in Wes minster.

fe w In a weeks they were joined by Lord Dacre, Sir

n . . m M . P. Thomas Bari g, Bart , Mr Willia Leake, , Mr. it lﬁ l S a e ds . Joseph Wilson , of p , Mr Henry Hase, of the

n . o Bank of E gland, Mr John Walker, of S uthgate, and

t wo one or other friends . Mr . Owen furnished them w n ith a master in the person of J. Bucha an, who had

n Ne w been superi tendent of his school at Lanark, and

n the necessary preparations bei g completed, the children were received early in the year 1 8 1 93“

bse va ons ela ve t o n an c oo s b omas Po e . O r ti r ti I f t S h l , y Th l , M D . 1 86 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

r o s M . J seph Wilson peedily established an infant s o in cho l !uaker Street, erecting and furnishing the s - m chool roo at his own expense, and engaging Mr. Samuel Wilde rspin and his wife as the master and

m . 24 1 820 istress The school was opened July , , and u nder the judicious management of Mr. and Mrs . Wilde rs in n 200 p soo contained scholars . This extension of the beneﬁts of education to infants excited much interest. The method of instruction was found to be a happy combination of exercise, relaxation, and learning .

n Nothing was made a toil, but all was rendered pleasi g

The as well as proﬁtable . cultivation of kind and

n benevolent dispositions, and the i culcation of moral and r n eligious feeli gs were prominent parts of the plan .

After the school had been some time in operation, Mr.

Wilde rs in p published a work, entitled On the 1 m portance of educating the infant children of the poor, showing how 300 children from 1 8 months to 7 years of ” a e m a g may be an ged by one master and mistress .

Wilde rs in t an Mr. p has lef amusing account of his t ou his r bles at the opening of school , and of the m e ans by which he obtained relief.

“ A s soon as the mothers h ad left the premises I a n a ff r f n ttempted to e g ge the a ections of thei of spri g. I

f f o shall never orget the e f rt. A few who had been l previous y at a dame school sat quietly, but the rest

n missi g their parents crowded about the door. One w u - a fello , ﬁnding he could not open it, set p cry of

Mammy, Mammy and in raising this delightful sound

all s . the rest imultaneously joined My wife, who, though

c ant at ﬁrs e m n relu t t, had det r i ed, on my accepting

1 38 THE FIRST FIFTY Y EARS

n The childre are all ordered to sit on the ground, which they readily obey ; they are then desired to take

hold of their toes, which being done they are desired to 1 00 count , or as many as may be thought proper, which

n they do by lifti g up each foot alternately, all the children

n counti g at one time . By this means every part of the

ut body is p in motion, and with this advantage, that by u lifting p each foot every time they count one, it causes

r them to keep time, a thing ve y essential , as unless this

. u was the case, all would be confusion They also add p t t wo at a ime by the same method , thus, two, four, six,

t e n ‘ t we lve on eight, , , and so , but care must be taken not

to keep them too long at one thing , or too long in one position .

“ n Havi g done a lesson or two this way, they are

desired to put their feet out straight, and putting thei r hands together, they say one and one are two, two and one are three, three and one are four, four and one are

ar e s ﬁve, ﬁve and one are six, six and two eight ; in thi way they go on until they are desired to stop . “ They also learn the pence and multiplication tables by fo rming themsel ves in circles around a number of

n young trees that are pla ted in the play ground . For the sake of order, each circle has its own particular tree, and when they are ordered to the trees every child knows which tree to go to . As soon as they are assembled round the trees they join hands and walk round, every child saying the multiplication table until they have ﬁnished it ; they then let go hands and put them behind, and for variety sake sing the pence table,

&c . & c . the alphabet, hymns , , ; thus the children are OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 39

and gradually improved delighted, for they call it play, l and it matters little what they cal it, as long as they are

e diﬁe d . , exercised, pleased, and made happy

As the infants were of course unable to read, the aid of Scripture prints was called i n to assist in conveying to their minds a knowledge of t h e facts recorded in the b Bi le, thus laying a right foundation for the truths to be

educed from those facts . It will be perceived that at this early stage the infant school was not furnished with that important adjunct — which has no w come to be considered indispensable a — gallery by means of which the teacher obtains a more perfect command of the whole body of the scholars, who can at the same time see and hear the teacher without

difﬁculty or hindrance . The attention of Sunday- school teachers was speedily

n directed to this enlargement of daily i struction , and the question was agitated as to the extent to which it could be made subservient to the more speciﬁc object of the

n S unday school . The Committee of the Su day School Union devoted one of their quarterly conferences in the year 1 823 to a consideration of the question Are

n n i fa t schools beneﬁcial , and how far are they adapted to promote the objects of Sunday schools ? ” There if was little, any, hesitation expressed by the various

n Speakers, in answeri g the ﬁrst part of this question in the afﬁrmative ; but there was some difference of opinion

as . to the latter part of it Generally, it was considered

n o that infa t scho ls were desirable, as if they became

n o n general, teachers would lo ger have to be chieﬂy

’ - un a c oo e ac e s a a ne 1 823 . 329 383. S d y S h l T h r M g zi , , pp 1 40 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

employed in rooting up the weeds and briars, but only in continuing an excellent system of moral and religious

cultivation . There was, however, scarcely a suggestion made in favour of making an infant class a constituent

y . part of the Sunda school On the contrary, one teacher feared that if Sunday schools were to be brought

down to the standard of nurseries, they would lose their u character as religio s institutions, and thus the cause

n u would be i jured . He did not s ppose that the friends who had spoken wished these very lit tle children to be

brought into Sunday schools . They were not capable of appreciating the religious instruction communicated

in a Sunday school, and he thought to devote attention

to them would interfere with what was at present doing,

and that the time might be better employed . He must oppose the plan of teaching by pictures ; he pitied the men who could place such pictures in the

I ul Bible as were to be seen in some old books . Vo d the ‘ pict ure of the brazen serpent convey the idea that like ’ i” ii as Moses lif t ed up the serpent He had no objection to the teaching of infants ; he did not disapprove of infant schools ; but what he opposed was m the plan of attaching the to Sunday schools .

\Vilde rs in Mr. p attended this conference and spoke at

in v - some length fa our of the infant school system . He, e however, also viewed it rather as a preparatory syst m , and was not prepared to recommend its adoption as a part of the Sunday school . As the arguments used by him for gathering infantsinto school are now generally considered to be as applicable to Sundays as to the other days of the o H we e k it may be well t o menti n them . e informe d t he

1 42 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

t he read about Lazarus being raised from dead ; and, in fact, he kept one so well employed that I have now learned to read the Bible for myself, and as soon as I can I will associate myself with a body of professing Christian s and hear this boo k explained which I have ’ too much despised . Thus the infant scholars act as missionaries to their parents . It is a great advantage of infant schools that they liberate the elder children of a family who formerly were compelled to look after the

n now you ger, but who are enabled to attend school and ” improve themselves .

Wilde rs in in Mr. p died at Wakeﬁeld, Yorkshire, the

1 8 - year 66 . His long continued labours in the cause of Infant Education were acknowledged by the raising an ui ann ty, partly from Government and partly the result of public subscriptions, to provide for his declining years . The infant class has thus become a necessary part of

- t o every well conducted Sunday school, and is found exert a most beneﬁcial inﬂuence on every department of the institution . The earlier the scholars enter the walls of the school, the more do they become attached to it so as to quit it with relucta nce : not only are they preserved

’ m fro the acquisition of much knowledge that is evil, but scriptural truth is presented to them in a form adapte d

i to the r Infantile understandings, and thus exercises its

f Wilde rs in power on their a fections , and, as Mr. p observed at the above conference, the older children of a family are not compelled to remain at home to take care

t he of the younger, but all can derive moral and spiritual advantages which the Sunday school provides . or THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 1 43 The committee of the Sunday School Union have given much attention to this subject . Their deputations to the country have always kept it before them, and have urged upon the teachers they have met the importance of providing in conn ection with every school

for n a separate room the instruction of the i fants, furnished wi t h a gallery and the other appliances adapted to render the instruction more pleasant and effi cient. 1 851 f In the year , they o fered prizes for essays on the subject of Infant Classes in Sunday schools . That which was selected by the adjudicators as entitled to the ﬁrst prize was found to have been written by Mr . Charles

Reed, a member of the committee, and was published under the title of “ The Infant Class in the Sunday

School . But a still more important service was rendered by

n n the committee to i fa t education, both in day and

now Sunday schools, by the introduction of what is

“ ” known as The Letter Box . This important addition t o the appliances for infant instruction consists of the adaptation and enlargement of what had been long known as a help to teaching the letters of the alphabet to the younger members of families . It consisted of single m letters on wood or bone, contained in a box, fro which

n they could be selected and arra ged by the children, wh o thus acquired the ﬁrst elements of literary know

d n le ge, while they co sidered themselves at play. It is recorded of the Rev . Rowland Hill, who opened the ﬁrst

n in n “ Su day school Londo , that he was accustomed to give away boxes of letters which he had prepared for

s the young, who, by electing the letters which compose 1 44 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

ma r the words of a sentence, y be taught to ead and spell t ” at the same ime . The year 1 833 witnessed the removal from e arth of

m n t he this venerable a . He never altered his views on s ubject of education . His deliberate conviction was “ the more I look at the matter the more satisﬁed I am that the reign of education is the reign of order and

n ari sm happiness, and that to promote it is an i junction g ” n out of the essence of Christia ity itself. For many years he had an assemblage of the Sunday- school children of London , in Surrey Chapel , on Easter Monday and Tuesday ; the boys on one day and the girls on the other. He composed and printed a hymn for the occasion, and addressed the young people from the scripture m f e printed at the head of the hy n . Two days be or his

- death he stood, on Easter Tuesday, at his drawing room

n - window and saw the children thro ging the chapel yard, and spoke with much delight of by -gone days when he had me t them and preached to them the Lord Jesus

n a Christ. His constant practice, till withi year or two

is a fe w m s of h death, was to visit his school for inute on the Sabbath afternoon . His presence cheered the

w h e ed. teachers, hose services often kindly acknowledg

ffo i in The last ministerial e rt which Mr. H ll made was

n the cause of Sunday schools . He had e gaged to address the teachers of the South London Sunday School Union ,

n 2nd on Tuesday eveni g, the of April, only eight days before his decease . Although he was in so weak a state as to be scarcely able to ascend the pulpit, yet he was anxious to discharge this duty. He spoke with

emo of t h e R ev . R owlan 1 844 M ir d Hill , .

1 46 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

“ e institutions of our land . The lett r box , as issued

t he n s m by U ion , contains in eparate compart ents an

e adequate supply of letters, larg and small, stops, and

n u ﬁgures, to enable sentences of some le gth to be set p w in the grooves with hich the inside of the lid is supplied, and which can be detached for the convenience of the “ ” teacher . The effect of this letter box has bee n great i n f the assistance a forded to the teachers of infant classes, the scholars in which thus obtain the art of reading with

r almost inconceivable rapidity. Elementa y books and u a classes become nnecessary, and well conducted Sun

da o c of s r y school comes t onsist infant, c ipture, and

senior classes alone . OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 47

CHAPTER XVII .

Senior Classes at Sunda h y Sc ools.

THE mention of senior classes naturally in vites atten tion to that which has become so importan t a department

. t of the Sunday school For many years, it was on h e

t he s d one hand cu tom not to a mit very young children, and on the other to dismiss them when they had attained the age of 1 4. This dismission was made an event of some solemnity ; bibles were publicly presented to the r etiring scholars, often by the minister, and suitable

' ad ice i e n v Fg v . Thus so far as the teachers were

r e n conce ned, the inﬂuence of the school over thes you g persons was withdrawn at a period when it was peculiarly

c e needed . As the young hildr n were prevented from entering until they had in many cases acquired evil principles and practices which gave anxiety and trouble to their teachers, so those young persons in whom the good effects of religious training might be expected to

who be found were separated from their teachers, thus lost the Opportunity of continuing that training and of witnessing its results in their consecration to the service of Jesus Christ. The introduction of the infant school system in con ne ct ion with Sunday schools has remo ved the difﬁ culty

n r with respect to the you g child en, and the infant class now generally forms the most delightful and successful ‘ ’ u portion of t h e teachers labo rs . 1 48 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S The establishment of distinct classes for scholars who 1 4 1 5 had arrived at the age of or , and who were dis inclined to remain in the ordinary classes of the school

was ﬁrst suggested by the teachers of America . In order to preserve these scholars under religious inﬂuences

it was proposed to establish distinct schools, to which the

elder scholars of other schools might be transferred, and where a more enlarged course of Scripture instruction ! u In might be entered pon . many cases the ministers

conducted Bible classes for these young people, and as the American schools generally consisted of the children

n n of members of the co gregation, this arra gement, where

fo r carried out, secured some of the advantages sought ;

but not all . It was obviously impracticable for the ’ minister thus to employ the Lord s day, which was the

n time when the you g people were at liberty, and when it was most important that they should be proﬁtably

employed . The Committee of the American Union

for 1 826 it adverted to this subject in their report , and speedily excited t he attention of the teachers in England

and of the Committee of the Sunday School Union . They were not then prepared to recommend any measures for retaining the senior scholars in immediate

t o connection with the schools which they belonged, ’ but in an article inserted in the Teachers Magaz ine for

1 82 . 2 7, p , the idea of a senior or adult class was thus developed - “ I would form young persons of 1 4and d u upwards, who had passe through the catechisms sed in the other classes and obtained a good report of their

teachers, into a distinct class, to be termed the senior or

re uired select . These should not be q to commit hymns

’ - s a a ne 1 826 . 1 30 1 36 337 338. Sunday School Te acher M g zi , , pp , ,

1 50 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S had bee n previously conveyed to the mind of the learner with simplicity, with clearness, and with force, it might be easy for the teacher to put to the test and to elicit the m a ount of knowledge the learner might have acquired, and it might not be difﬁcult to him after being a little accustomed to the e ffort to express the ideas he had imbibed in terms the most familiar to his own mind . It will be perceived that the classes thus recommended would only h ave a very indirect bearing on Sunday schools . It would be unreasonable to expect that pastors should give up their time on Sunday to the exercises of

clasise s such , and as that day is the only one when the larger portion of scholars can attend, they must be necessarily shut out from the advantages to be thus attained . Teachers, therefore, sought to establish classes for senior scholars in immediate conn ection with the f schools, and especial success attended such e forts in the f northern parts of the country, where manufactures a ford

for daily employment large numbers of young persons,

n who are left at liberty on Su days . In the Sunday — school in Bennett street, Manchester, the average of the ’ indi viduals composing the young women s class was

and in . found on inquiry to be years, the young ’ — - n 1 . me s class 733 years In the Hanover road school, at

n n 500 1 60 Halifax , contai i g scholars, were more than

1 6 one years of age, and of three classes connected 5 with Sion Chapel School, Halifax, contained 7 females 1 whose ages varied from 6 to 45.

n e In co sequenc of the attention drawn to this subject, ’ n classes under the varied designatio s of senior scholars , ’ n o you g men and women s , or adult classes, have come t OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 51 be considered necessary t o every well- conducted Sunday school . r Pursuant to the opinion expre ssed by M . Horace n s Mann, in his admirable report on the educatio return of the census of 1 851 The senior class is the grand deside rat um to t he perfect working of t he Sunday-school system,for without some means of continuous instruction and maintaining inﬂuence when the scholar enters the

a most critical period of life, the ch nces are that what has been already done will prove to h ave been done in ” al n vain . His observations so on the mode of conducti g and sustaining such classes are well worthy of record . But in proportion to the importance of these senior classes is the difﬁculty of establishing and conducting them , a higher order of teachers being needful, whose superiority of intellect and information shall command

s the willing deference of the cholars, while their hearty sympathy with those they teach shall render the connec d tion rather one of frien ship than of charity . Such

n classes, too, will not be lo g continued with efﬁ ciency unless the teacher feel s so strong an interest in his pupils as to make their secular prosperity a portion of his care.

It is obvious, therefore, that the scheme requires for it s complete developmen t more aid from those who are in

s age, position, and intelligence, considerably uperior to

e most of the present teach rs, and who hitherto have very sparingly contributed thei r personal efforts to the ” cause of the Sunday school .

' 4 e ns 851 — uca oni n G e a a n —Th e Otﬁ Cial e o C us of Great B ri tain,1 . Ed ti r t Brit i . R p rt

f o ace ann Es . . 71 o H r M , q , p . THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

CHAPTER XVIII .

o l — lu i da h o s. n n The J ubilee f Sun y Sc o 00 o s o .

1 v c THE year 1 83 will e er be memorable, on a count of the celebration of the Jubilee of Sunday schools . The idea had been suggested to the Committee of the Union by Mr. James Montgomery, the warm friend of Sunday

as . In schools, well as the Christian poet a letter to

1 1 1 829 . Mr. Lloyd, dated December , , Mr Montgomery remarked It has occurred to me that a Sunday school

t h e 1 831 ﬁ Jubilee, in year , fty years from the origin of

Sunday schools , might be the means of extraordinary and happy excitement to the public mind in favour of

these Ins t itutions, of which there was never more need

than at this time, when daily instruction is within the reach of almost every family ; for the more universal

the education of the children of the poor becomes, the greater necessity there is that they should have religious m knowledge i parted to them ; which can be done, ’ ” m . co perhaps, on no day so well as the Lord s This

ion The municat excited much anxious deliberation .

in A result was, that the Report presented to the nnual

Meeting, the Committee of the Sunday School Union stated the plan which they recommended for the celebra tion of the ﬁftieth anniversary of the establishment of

Sunday schools, namely

1 o . That the Sunday school Jubilee be held n

1 54 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

The arrangements thus made by the committee were

n n carried out, not o ly in Londo , but in most parts of the country ; and a season of holy excitement and pleasure

was experienced, which still dwells in the memory of

those who were privileged to partake of it . The largest

of s assemblage cholars in London was at Exeter Hall ,

where were gathered together. It was found impossible to admit the whole into the large Hall ; where D D . . the Rev. John Morison, , delivered the address , 4 “ . : from Jer iii, Wilt thou not from this time, cry ? unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth

i n Those who were thus excluded, were addressed the

. J h I vime . lower Hall, by the Rev osep y Very many

n Similar meeti gs were held, in various parts of London

and its vicinity ; and, probably, scholars thus joined in celebrating the Jubilee . In the afternoon,

however, the interest which, in the earlier parts of the f , n t day had been distributed in di ferent portions amo gs ,

the respective prayer meetings of teachers, and assemblies

one — of scholars, became concentrated upon object the great Jubilee Meetin g of Sunday School Teachers at

Exeter Hall .

The chair was taken by the Right Hon . Lord Henley.

“ n After singi g the Jubilee Hymn , Let songs of praise ” B & c . . . . f arise, , the Rev H Shepherd o fered up prayer

to God ; and Mr. Lloyd read an address from the

n c ommittee, stati g the circumstances under which the

meeting had been convened . The business of the meet ing was then introduced by the Noble Chairman ; and

and the Rev . John Blackburn moved, the Rev . F . A .

h n D D. t e o Cox, . , seconded, f llowi g resolution That E OF TH SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 55 a in reviewing the past ﬁfty years, the sm ll beginnings,

o and n n the gradual pr gress , the prese t exte sion of Sun

and an day schools, at home abroad, dem d our grateful acknowledgments to Almighty God, by whose blessing these Institutions have been made the means of greatly.

n n n of promoti g the i struction of the you g , and raising u p, both from the scholars and teachers , many devoted ” in and successful labourers the Church of Christ.

he e cond T s resolution was moved by the Rev . John

o I at t v . M. P Burnet, and seconded by J hn Briscoe , Esq , . , and was to the following effect That the increase of o ur o n p pulatio , and the extension of general knowledge, show the vast importance of augmenting the means of u religio s education ; and that, from the present era, the friends of education are called upon to make the most strenuous efforts to increase the number of Sunday

‘ school teachers and scholars, both at home and abroad .

The Rev . J. C . Brigham, of New York , Secretary to the

n America Bible Society, then furnished to the meeting some details relative to the progress of Sunday schools

. D . D in America ; after which the Rev John Morison, . , moved That in order to promote the extension of

religious e ducation, it is of great importance to raise the

means for the promotion of Sunday School Missions, and to encourage t he erection of additional permane nt

n buildings , adapted for Su day schools, which may also ” be suitable for infant or day schools . This resolution

. M. A . was seconded by the Rev Samuel Drew, ; and,

with a vote of thanks to the Chairman, who presented

for n a cheque twenty guineas, as his co tribution to the

ff n Jubilee O eri g, terminated the business of the meeting. 1 56 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

In acknowledging the vote of thanks, his Lordship said

You will easily, I am sure, believe me, my Christian friends, when I inform you, that I never yet felt so great

re ce ivm a degree of embarrassment , in g the approbation f w o my fello Christians , as on the present occasion . This meeting—exceeding in point of numbers any that I have

— as am in seen exceeding , I sure it does, knowledge and

in Intelligence, and Christian spirit, every mee ting that I ever before beheld collected within the walls of an — assembly, to receive the thanks and the approbation of such a meeting is a proud moment in the life of one who

' never sought public applause or public favour. It is a moment that cannot be appreciated . Ladies and gentle

- - was men, till to day, though I aware of their excellence — though I was aware of much of the good that has been —I done by Sunday schools was, to a degree, ignorant of the vast amount of good derived from their hands . In the words of one of our poets, I would say,

e a ns uc e d s a ence de a Gr tly i tr t , I h ll h p rt, m nd nd u and a ea m ove d in a o e . Gr tly i pr i , th ght, h rt

May you proceed from grace to grace . May this work

n o t of faith and labour of love extend, only throughout this country, but to the most distant shores . May it

n extend to nations yet unborn , and be the means of raisi g millions to happiness in this world, and to a crown of ” glory in the world to come .

The vast assembly then rose, and sang the Jubilee

n 850 . Hym , Love is the theme of Saints above, The

n n effect of this concludi g exercise was most overwhelmi g, and will never be forgotten by those who had the happi ness to be present .

1 58 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR S

sun i The shone br ghtly, the factories and shops were

all closed, the streets became alive with visitors hastening a to the pl ce of meeting . The schools from the country

entered the town preceded by their respective bands,

s in At who were to as ist conducting the singing . ten ’ O clock the schools commenced entering, but two hours were occupied before they were stationed In their allotted

. n 8 f n places At le gth 7 di ferent schools, comprisi g nearly

an d and 580 teachers scholars, musical performers,

were assembled in the Piece Hall . This building is of

s n and tone, quadra gular in shape, incloses a piece of

ground of about yards . The Open galleries of ui the b lding were Occupied by thousands of spectators , 2 m 5 6d. 6d. who had paid fro . to each for admission, and

from which all the expenses were paid .

m . Mr . Abel Dean conducted the usic Having

obtained order by the elevation of a large board, on ’ as e which w printed in larg letters the word silence, the ﬁrst hymn was sung

The da of J u e e now eaks t he y bil br ,

The effect was very startling. The vast mass of

n children su g together, and as the volume of sound from l the little ones, accompanied by the powerfu yet sweet

2 ff n music of the 7 di erent bands, rolled out upo the air, t ff U on s e he e ect p the vi itors in the gall ries, as well as

U s was pon those out ide the Hall, grand in the extreme, and could not fail to remind us of that gre at ye t more e perfect gathering of t he rede med in heaven . “ t he Low M After an interval , during which oor band ’ md are n perfor e the chorus, The heavens telli g, the se cond hymn was commenced to the tune of St . Ge orge OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 59

How vast t he e m e w e e we mcét t pl h r , A s we have me t be fore ; W a e u o e ac o e e e ith gr t f l j y h th r gr t,

’ d r A nd nat ure s God a o e .

To this hymn there were seven verses, but so pleased w h e wa n ere t audience with the y In which it was su g, as e vmce d by t h e vociferous cheers which greeted it, that

n t it h ad to be repeated , after which was su g, Be presen ’

&c . n at our table, Lord, , when refreshments, co sisting of

n &c . buns , water, ora ges, , were freely distributed to the m children , who judging from the rapid anner in which the various edibles were disposed of, were as much ’ pleased with this part of the day s pleasure as any.

“ After an interval of an hour, the conductor again l ascended the box, and the roll of the drums having ca led

n e for silence, the next hymn was su g, comm ncing

’ Twas God a made t he oce an th t , A d a d i t and d n l i s s y be .

u The singing of this hymn was beautif l, and it had to be repeated . The Hallelujah Chorus was then beautifully and h correctly given and repeated, after whic followed, ’ ’

&c . Before Jehovah s awful throne, , to the tune ’ n Wareham, when this interesting celebratio was ” n n brought to a close by si gi g the National Anthem .

The preceding narrative of the or1 g1 n and progress of Sunday schools during the ﬁrst ﬁfty years of their

it s t e existence, will fail of design if, in addition to h gratiﬁcation which it may afford in tracing the com me nce me nt and onward progress of a benevolent and

ff and l Christian e ort, which has exerted, is sti l exert ing, 1 60 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

so powerful and beneﬁcial an inﬂuence on t he national

not n character, it does also excite feeli gs of devout and

all humble gratitude to the Author of Good, who has so eminently blessed an instrumentality so humble and feeble in its commencement .

n d A contrast of E glan as she is, with what she was prior to the introduction of Sunday schools, will show

in the vast improvement her intellectual, moral, and religious condition ; and the only question which can

at t ri arise, will be, to what extent that improvement is

ut ble b a to the introduction of Sunday schools . Our — universities are increased in number their advantages are e , to a considerable xtent, thrown Open to all classes n — d of the commu ity their discipline is improve , and their honours can only be obtained as the result of

s w examination , hich bring out evidence of careful study ; while our nobility and legislators exhibit the inﬂuence which their s uperior education has had upon their minds by their readiness to assist the intellectual pursuits Of those who are less favourably situated . We have passed through seasons of intense political excitement and of severe distress, but they have disturbed the public peace h in the smallest possible degree, w ile the manner in which the recent suffering among the manufacturers of cotton goods in Lancashire was borne, excited the

s astonishment and thankfulnes of us all . And what connection have Sunday schools with this ?

in We answer, that to Sunday schools is owing that creased attention to the general education of the people, which has ended in raising England from almost the lowest in the scale to but one step below the highest,

1 62 THE FIRST FIFTY YEAR

e s occur, they are heard of with gen ral urprise and

. fe w disgust A years since, in a provincial town, some public event led to the appointment of a general holiday.

and Many entertainments were provided, amongst others some of the old-fashioned v ulgar sports were intended for the working classes . They, however, met, and passed r in n esolutions, denouncing stro g terms the mistaken u kindness of those who, nder the idea of promoting

w- e f an the comfort of their fello countrym n, were o fering insult to their understandings by a supposition that such

be coarse amusements could acceptable to them . There

e is, doubtle ss, much vil in this respect yet to be removed,

s but there is always a tendency to magnify present evil , and think lightly of present mercie s. Each advocate for reformatory measures naturally draws a dark picture

s of the evil against which he is triving, and thus unin t e nt ionally produces an incorre ct impression . We were struck some years since by the remark of an American friend who had been some time in London, that he had

’ that day seen for the ﬁrst time a drunken man ; and it is certain that there is in this respect a great and incre as ing improvement in the habits of the nation ; and we fear not to attribute the improvement of the morals of the people to t h e se inﬂuences which have bee n directly and indirectly brought to bear upon them through the

Sunday schools of our land .

' If there should be any disposed t o t hink that we have attributed t o o much inﬂuence to Sunday schools in con ne ct ion with the intellectual and moral condition of

v England, we believe that e en they will be ready to admit this inﬂuence to its full extent in relation to OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . 1 63 it s religious condition . What a delightful contrast do the present times present in this respect to those of former days ! We see the clergy of the Church of England labouring diligen tly to provide for the religious i instruction of the people, wh le the various bodies of

on onformist s N c are running a not unequal race . Some l col isions are perhaps inevitable ; but, on the whole, the

n result is good, for the religious i struction of the people is cared for to an extent which neither of these parties

v could alone ha e accomplished . It is well to remember the statement of Dr. Paley, an eminent dignitary of the

ur on f English Ch ch, the subject of di ferences of religious

s Opinion . He ays They promote discussion and u knowledge . They help to keep p an attention to religious subjects, and a concern about them, which might be apt to die away in the calm and silence of

not universal agreement . I do know that it is in any de gree t rue that the inﬂuence of religion is the greatest ” where there are the fewest Dissenters . When we look at the number of buildings erected during the present century for public worship, the yearly increasing list of

o f godly and studious ministers, the congregations faithful

e men by whom those buildings are occupied, and wher

in those ministers preach the gospel, and connection with which such a variety of Christian inﬂuences are being continually sent forth, our hearts cannot but be ﬁlled with gratitude and joy.

- Lord Mahon records that the Lord Lieutenant, and for very many former years the representative in Parlia

e him ment of one of the midland Shir s, had told that when he came of age there were only two landed THE 1 64 FIRST FIFTY YEARS OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . gentlemen of his county who had family prayers ; whilst

at present, as he believed, there were scarcely two that have not . Nor can we forget that it was the Sunday school which stirred up this concern for the religious — condition of the people that many of those congrega t ions and places of religious worship have originated with the Sunday school—that vast numbers of the

ministers who there labour, as well as of the most successful missionaries wh o have gone forth amongst the

heathen, have received their religious impressions and acquired their aptitude for public instruction in these — institutions and, ﬁnally, that an increasing conviction t he rests in minds of thoughtful Christian men, that whatsoever inﬂuence the instruction of the day school may have on the intellectual and moral condition of

i s u the people, it to our S nday schools we must

look for that sound scriptural instruction which , while it

n n strengthens the mi d, e larges the intellectual, and w puriﬁes the moral faculties, will, at the same time, rene

for and sanctify the soul , and prepare it a land of purity

- and of never ending happiness, where the great work of

s redemption by Jesus Christ hall be completed, and God

shall be All in all .

X 1 66 INDE .

F ost er onn- on e ne al e duca on , y g r ti ’ His comme n s o n M r B o u a 3 an t . r gh m pl F ox I/Vzllzam—his co e s n n M r o de ce w . R a ke s , rr p ith i His fo rmatio n of t h e Sunday Scho o l So cie ty His de ath F ren e/z Sun da Seﬁ oolr—o nc o e ne d at B o de au 1 81 y p r x, 5 On e e ne d i n a i s 1 82 Op P r , 3 F ormat ion of So cie ty fort h e Encourage me nt of Pro te stant Sunday Scll 0 0 ls a s Sunda Sc oo Soc e 1 8 2 P ri y h l i ty, 5

Gann ng i n E nglan d in t h e last ce n tury Gene ml E ducat zon—e fo s of Mr now Lo d B ou am t o f rt . ( r ) r gh 1 0 7 Th e glans brought forward by him 1 1 1 1 82 0 1 1 8 Obj e ctions an d o pposition t o i t 1 2 0 -1 2 4 Guam E dward—his st a e me n as t o t h e cond on of O o d , t t iti xf r Unive rsity 9 —’ Greek Sun day Scﬁ oolr e fforts t o e stablish th em 1 30 Wi llzam B re dze—h is s o - hi t ry . 69 72 B e co me s Se c e a of Sun da sc oo at Walwo w vo un a r t ry y h l rth, ith l t ry t e ache rs 72 C omme n ce s t h e Sunda sc o o in M az e o nd Sou wa k y h l P , th r 73 F o ms t h e Sunda Sc oo Un on and e co me s it s ﬁ s se c e a r y h l i b r t r t ry . 75

“ Hanwa on as- one of t h e ounde s o f t h e Sunda Sc oo So c e 0 y , y —f r y h l i ty 3 H arrison M rs o f B e da e a e e d oun e sons for el ous , , l th r y g p r r igi g’ ns uc on on t h e L o d s da 1 6 6 i tr ti r y, 7 5 ' — ff zbernzan Sun day Sch ool Soe zety it s fo1 mat ion 90 ’ f z zgnway R oooe ry i n Englan d 1 n t h e last ce n tury 1 4 wlan d— omo e s h ma o n of h fi r/l R e v. R o t e o t e R e ous , pr t f r ti ligi Tract So ci e ty 41 His pre vi ous histo ry 43 Ope n s t h e first Sunday school i n London 45 His de a 1 1 th — 44, 45 H oare Samuel T e asu e o f Sunda Sc oo Soc e 0 , r r r y h l i ty 3 — r T a o H u ues R ev. ore lz first Se c e a of t h e R e ous c S c e 2 g , 7 p r t y ligi r t i ty 4 A nd on e of t h e first se cre tarie s o f t he B ritish and F ore ign B ible Socie ty 68 — I nf ant SefioolJ the ir comme nce ment by Emmanue l de Fe lle nb erg and R ob e rt Owen b M B u a Establishme nt of o ne at Westminste r y r. ro gh m and o the rr Mr se W son unde t h e mas e s o it alfie lds b . o f I n Sp , y J ph il , r t r hip Samue l Wilde rspin C on fe re n ce o f t h e Sunday Schoo l Union as t o t h e in tro duction ’ o ls —Mr Wilde rS in 5 add e ss o f in fan ts into Sunday Sch o . p r at t h e Confe re nce 1 39 1 42 His death 1 42 Priz e Essay on Th e I nfant Class 1 n t h e Sunday scho o l 1 43 “ n h an as Th e i ntroduct ion of The Le tte r B ox i to t e Inf t Cl s 1 45 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 . 1 67

PAGE - his ou se at e m oke Co e e O o d t t P br ll g , xf r 9 uda Senoolr—su e s e d b Mr ame s M on ome r 1 2 y gg t y . J tg y 5 A rrange me nts re comme nde d by Sunday Scho ol Union 1 53 ’ ’ Scholars and t e ache rs me e tings i n London 1 54-1 57 It s ce e a on at Ha a and t h e e e ons of ha ce e a l br ti lif x, r p titi t t l br ti on 1 57-1 59 ' — uvenzle B enevolent Society it s o b e cts and plans 1 1 0 -1 1 2 ' — veazle R elzgzour t erat ure pf1 fi licat ion o f a Pe nny Magazine for Children

‘ — ! nox D r. Vzlcerzrnur his e s mon as t o t he mode of o ain n , t ti y bt i g de gre e s at Oxford

Lanearler ore ﬁ—his commence me n of o u a e duca on in , 7 p t p p l r ti England His tro ubl e s and de ath Li n dse Tat o /b lur o f Cat t i i ck a e e d oun e l son s for y , p , e , g th r y g p ’ e ous ns uc on o n t h e L o d s da 1 6 ” r—ligi i tr ti r y , 7 3 London compari son o f numbe r o f ho use s in wh 1 ch into xi cating uo s we e so d i n 1 6 and 1 8 1 1 liq r — r l 73 35 , M anon h is re pre se n tati o n o f li fe and manne rs in t h e age imme diate ly pre ce ding t h e in t 1 o duct io n o f Sunday scho o ls His t esti mony as t o t h e i nﬂ ue nce of Sunday scho ols

M ore Han nah —h er accoun o f t he n a an s of C e dda , t i h bit t h r ' M oﬂ lron R — i a 1 n ev. e an his e ffo s t o e s a s Sund sc oo s , j rt t bl h y h l Scotl and

N at ional Soezefy for Promoting t h e Education o f t h e P oo r in t he n c e s f h s a i s d u 0 Pri ipl o t e E t bl h—e Ch rch . 4 N e w York Sun day Scﬁ ool Un zon e stablish e d N u bel arm —one o f t h e ounde s of t h e Sunda Sc o o Un on 6 , f f r y h l i 75, 7

R ainer R odent—c cums anc ad n him t o e s a s Sunda , ir t es l e i g t bli h y scho ol s 1 8 His l e tte r t o Co lone l Townle y 2 0 R e buke re ce ive d by him from a !uake r lady 2 1 His e e t o Mr H a s 2 1 l tt r s. rri His tre atme nt o f a stubbo rn girl 2 5 His te stimony as t o t h e re sult o f his e fforts 2 6 His e e t o t h e R e Mr B owe n T cke ns 2 l tt r v. . hi 7 His commun ca on t o Mr W am F o x 2 i ti . illi 9 H is death and burial 33 R elz rzou: 1 n d erena m En and n t h e as ce n u 1 1 6 g f gl i l t t ry 5,

an d R ev Le /i —his add e s a ﬁ s u c mee n o f Sunda . s t , g r r t p bli ti g y School Union 95 — Senzer Clarrer m Sunday Senoola ﬁrst sugge sted by t he te ache rs 1 n 1 8 A me ri ca 0 0 o o 0 0 4 R e comme nde d by t he Sunday School Union 1 49 -1 51 mnnx 1 68 .

Szzn r d— n h M a on R ev. D avi o u de d t e ccle sﬁ e ld Sc o o 1 8 p , f h l , 77 ‘ — Sout /i a a rle Su n day Senool Soe zezy it s fo rmatio n St a/2mm of General E duealzon m 1 8 1 8

- St ock R ev . M r. his s a e me n as t o t h e o na o n of unda , t t t rigi ti S y sch o ols — St ockp ort Senool fo rmatio n and rule s 31 — — Sun day Se/zools the ir i ntro ductio n 1 nt o Scotland o ppo sition o f civ1 l and e ccl e si asti cal autho riti e s 5558 T 1 nt r uct io n n o e and b t h e R e v D r ! e nn e d 8 he ir o d i t Ir l y . . y 5 The B i i h t sc o o - T o mas C am e s o ne o f t h e fi s sc o a s 86 g h l h h b r , r t h l r R e so u on o f M e od s C o n e e nce m 1 80 i n avou o f Sunda l ti th i t f r , 5, f r y sch oo l s Sunday Se/zool Soe zely f or [7 elandfl succe e de d t h e Hibe rnian Sunday Scho o l So cie ty Sun da Sc/i ool Un zon—1 t s o ma on 1 80 y f r ti , 3 75 I t s first public me e ting 94 Establishme n t o f a D e p osito ry 1 1 3 Employme n t o f a Misswnary 1 32

Tnom son TIzofna: 6 p , 7 Tﬁ ornt on Hen r - o ne o f t he o unde s of t h e Sunda Sc oo So c e 0 , y f r y h l i ty 3 — Volunt af y Tear/t ermi n Sunday Se/zoolr the ir substitution for hire d h l’ 0 1 2 t e aC e S o n s o 0 0 0 0 0 9 3 , 3 , 7

’ — Yo ut /z r Magazine it s commencement 77