Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 2, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1858 — AN ADDRESS TO SABBATH-SCHOOL CHILDREN. [ARTICLE]

AN ADDRESS TO SABBATH-SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Delivered in Rensselaer, on the 4th of July, 1858, by Dr. IF. 11. Martin. Rensselaer, Ind.. July 10, 1858. Dr. Wm. H. Martin—Dear Sir:—The undersigned, your fellow-members of the Committee of Arrangements for the recent Sab-bath-schOol Celebration of the 3d inst., being much pleased with your very appropriate and eloquent address to the Sabbathschool children, their teachers and parents on that tsccasion, believe they cannot better subserve the cause of Sabbath-schools than by having your speech published: and, therefore, respectfully request of you a copy for that purpose. Very respectfully, R. H. Milroy, 'J Tnos. Whallon, | A . L. H sys, V Com. W. W. Wimiard. I Alexi Rowen, J Gentlefnen'. — Your flattering note requesting a copy of the address delivered before the children of the Sabbath-schools, and their parents, on the 3d inst., has been duly received. • If you think that address contains anything calculated to promote the good of our community, by awakening an increased interest in our S >bb ith-schools, and strengthening their moral influence, I cheerfully place it at your disposal. Very respectfully, Wm. H. Martin. R. H. Milroy, Thos. Whallon, A. L Hays, VV. W. Wishard, Alex. Rowen, Committee of Arrangements, Children of the Sabbath-schools:— We jneet together to-day under happy auspices. Here are congregated the aged, the middle-aired, and you that are just beginning to “tread the wine press of life.” Why is it that we have ) thus assembled? How rs it that we meet; under happy circumstances? Let me assure , you, my young friends, that something more than idle curiosity—something more than .to j witness an unmeaning, pageant, lias filled this house with thoughtful minds and anxious hearts; nnd what think von it is? Do not your own hearts send back the answer? It is because there is a deep interest and solicitude felt for you, by fathers, mothers and friends; and it is on this very account that you have, under a-n All-wise Providence, some one to watch over and guard your every interest, to feed, to clothe, 1 to direct with their counsel and guide with their judgment that this is a happy assemblage. Do we not meet, together to-day under the protection of the freest government on earth? Are we not In possession of all the elements of social enjoyment? of moral improvement? of intejlectual culture? Are we not privileged to gather together in this house, erected to the only true God—bowing the knee in adoration only to Him, owning no master but Him? Ah, my young friends, our hearts should overflow with gratjituSe to the Giver J of all good gifts, that “He has cast our lines in pleasant places!” “Great God! we thank thee for thia home— Thia bounteous birtblaud of the tree; Where wanderers froin afar may come. And breathe the air of liberty! Still n.ay her flowers untrampled spring. Her hai vests waive, her cities rise; And yet till time shall fold’his wing. Remain earth’s loveliest Paradise." This day, eighty-two years ago, there met in Independence Hall, in Chesnut street, Philadelphia,, a band of patriots who, by adopting that glorious document which you

have just heard read, gave birth to this mighty Republic, of which you and I are citizens. At that time we were a colony of Great Britian, and the brightest jewel in her crown. Of course, her political interest and pride rebelled at the idea of losing so valuable a portion of her possesrii ns. The consequence was, a 1-ng and bloody war, which ended in giving us the victory, and securing to us our national independence and the privileges which we this day enjoy. In our government there cannot be. any connection between Church and State; there I is, therefore, no national religion; each one, for himself,, may worship God after the dictates of his own conscience. This religious tolerance has done much th advance the interests ot the Church; arid has caused to grow up, a large and constantly increasing Sabbath-school interest. Indeed, so potent and influential has this great moral lever become, that we oft^ntljb Sabbath-school, in our newly and sparselyj settled parts of country, pioneering the w.-.y for the erection of a Church, and the establishment of common schools.

Religious instruction of youth upon the Lord's day, is no new thing in Christendom. As early as the year 1781, a benevolo-irt man by the name of Raikes, of England; moved ly a desire to remedy the great evils arising out qf Sabbath-breaking, s and the uncaredi for habits of a great portion of the then risi “ n £ generation, in his vicinity, conceived the i idea of establishing schools on the Sabbath; and to this end, hired dulj’ qualified persons, at twenty-tv\ o cents a day, to open school for two hours in the morning and afternoon to receive and instruct the ignorant in the art of reading; to teach the catechisin, and to “lead them to churcl/.” In one of the earliest circulars published on the subject, it is stated “that the object of Sundayschools is to teach children and others to read, and to instruct them in the knowledge of their duty, as rational and accountable beings.” The experiment of Raikes was eminently successful; and very boob similar schools sprang up in other districts. Bishop Horne in allusion to this subject said: I‘Dark as is the prospect, a ray of light has broken in upon us, and that from an unexpected quarter. An institution has been set up by private individuals, to the excellency of i which, every man who loves his country must rejoice to bear his testimony. The ■ sagacity of the wisest, cannot see how much I good mlay in the end be done by it, and how it may go toward saving a great people from impending ruin.” It is said that thirty or forty years before Raikes introduced the system into Englund, a common school teacher of Lancaster i county, Pennsylvania, instituted a Sabbathschool, “for the purpose of instructing the children of the poor, who were kept from daily school by labor, as well as to extend T’ligiotis instruction to othe-s.” Bishop White was chairman of a meeting of fight or ten persons, held in the city of Philadelphia on the 19th of December, 1790, at which measures were adopted, which requited in the organization of an association 'on the 11th day oi July, 1791, which was known by the name of “the Society for the institution and support of First-day or Sun-day-schools in the city of Philadelphia and the districts ot Southw-ark and the Northern Liberties.” “In 1819 the Philadelphia Sun day and Adult-school Union was incorporated,” out of which grew the Amarican Sun-day-school Union, which was incorporated in 1824. Such, my young friends, was-the origin of Sunday-schools in England, and our present system of Sabbath-schools in our own country. Although Sunday-schools were originally formed for the bem fit of those '»nhappy children who were under the charge of profligate and ignorant parents, they were soon found to be extending their happyfying influences to all ranks and conditions of society. Experience teaches us, that children very often “are more attentive to lessons of morality and religion, coming from others, than to those which they learn from their own parents.” It is seldom that we hear, in this enlightened age, any objections urged against Sub-bath-schools. Once in awhile we find persons, and some denominations of (Jhiistians, who object to them because they are not of divine appointment. As advocating the interests ot this institution, we make no such claim. The Sovereign Ruler of the Universe chooses his own way in reclaiming those outside the fold of Christ, and adopts his own method, by which a believing Christian is saved; and while we believe the public proclamation of the Gospel—being a divine injunction—stands pre-eminent, as a saving means of grace, observation has taught us, that other means have and do receive the ap

probation of God. Preaching the Gospel is neither more nor less than an application of religious truth; and the truth of God is the only power by and through which we can hope to be convinced of our sinfulness, and cleansed therefrom in the blood of ths L- mb. Whatever method, then, we may adopt that will exhibit the strength and beauty of this truth, and its pawer unto the salvation of the souls oi men, in its application, must of course, produce the same _h.,ppy results. (That the influence of Sabbath-schools has I the approving smile of God, cannot be I doubted. ~- Their success, as a religious medium in culling sinners to repentance, in : building up Churches and growing within their midst many of the most eminent and useful ministers of the Gospel, is ample evi- ■ dence of this. But, my young friends, I ■ stand here to-dry not to vindicate Sabbath-I schools —they need no vindication. The ; tree is judged of by its fruit, and thousands have partaken of this fruit, and thousands more will partake of it, who will sing hosannas to the Lord, around the throne of the Most High, in the eternal world, forever and forever.

You are just nol sailing along the shores of the great ocean of life, that stretches out before you. Time has not yet cut the cable ' that binds your bark to the old homestead. You have been and are now under the guidance of those who have passed ihroiigh many a storm. Iri a few yea s, and that protection, which is thrown around you bykind and watchful parents, will, in the order of nature, be withdrawn from you—as they have been and are now doing, you will be called upon to do—to combat the, cares and anxieties—the hopes and fears, that ever ati tend a passage across its often-times troubled I waters. Are you putting your bark in trim! are all the sails of the ship ready to be unfurled! are you putting in the ballast requi- I site to make the bark mind its helm, and ride safely the mountain waves which you ! may meet in your voyage! and, above all, have you your eyes fixed on yonder lighthouse, away across the dark waters of life, that is sending from the shores of eternity its bright and cheerful rays to gladden ahd j cheer the weary heart! and do you read the ' inscription upon its walls, “I am the way ' and the life; whosoever putteth his trust in ■ me shall not perish?” As a foundation to ■ start upon, in the great voyage of life, you | should begin early—you should begin now, ' ify >u hive n>t djne sj before —to triin the j mind and heart to correct habits. You should be lovers ; o£ truth. A falsehoodshould never ent> r your heart, much less, find ar. express on widh your tongue. Without the most implicit adherence to truth, at ' all times, and under all circumstances, you > can entertain no hope; of attaining a respect-; able standing among your neighbors and friends. Always, then, speak the truth,; though you may sometimes think it will be to your injury; yet, you may rely upon it, ■ in the end it will prove greatly to your advantage. Be kind one to another; recollect that a “kind word often turrieth r.,way wrath.” Learn early to subdue the w icked promptings of your heart, and encourage feelings of amiability land love toward every Luman being. Let the ju ii<. end the beauty of the principle of doing umo others as you would that others should do unto you, be eve r present in your mind, and control your actions. Permit me also, my young friends, to admonish you of the necessity of implicit submission to the control of those, in whose hands it has pleased an atl-wise Providence, to place you. Insubordination anywhere is destructive of all good, and leads only to anarchy and confusion. In the family, it not only sets at defiance all law, all parental government, but it entails wrangling and strife, discord and unhappiness. Obedience! is the first law of Heaven—no one will ever tread the golden-paved streets of the NewJerusalem who does not comply strictly with this law. God not Only requires that His ehildren should be obedient to Him, but He has established the same law between children and their earthly narents. “Children obey your parents,” “Honor thy father and thy mother, that tby days may be long in the land.” Young America in this age of so-called progress, puts on many airs, and is wondrous wise, in his own conceit. This . disposition to throw off the authority and direction of parents and teachers* can only tend to your disadvantage. Their age and experience should serve as guide-boards along the road of life; and, setting aside your obligations as children and pupils, it' will be largely to your interest, and add I great ly to your future happiners/to be obe-' dient and submissive .to their counsels. In every possible way you should strive to be ; good, in the broad acceptation of that t«rm.

i W ealth, honor, fame will not bring you hap- . piness, unless you possess also the cardinal ; /virtues. After the surrender of Lord Corn- ' wallis, at the battle of Yorktown, which was at the close of the revolutionary war, Genen’ L ’fayette called on Washington’s mother, md congratulated her on the fame and brilliant reputation won by her son; “Yes,” said this worthy matron, “George was al* ways a good boy." Wliat a beautiful answer f and what an instructive lesson does it contain! George was always a good boy. To be great, recollect, you must be good. True ■ greatness and goodness are ind ; ssolubly I linked together. “Man was i: arked A friend, in his creation, to bin.seif, j And n:aiy, wilhjif ambition, conceive The greatest blessings and the brightest honors Appointed fur him, if he can achieve them The right and noble way.”

ThereHs perhaps no greater truth, that to insure success in life, we must have some distinct object in view—we must “live for a purpose.” Indecision and change in professional or business relations, generally bringsdisaster. No one can become great, nor can : we assure ourselves of any degree of human happiness, unless our time, our energies and 1 our talents,, are employed for the accomplishment of some fixed purpose; and this does not only apply to thos Q who live an idle, ' careless life, practicing always upon the principle that “sufficient for The day is i the evil thereof,” but also to those who are' ; continually fussing and fretting in business ; ' and yet never accomplish anything. Such ! as these never succeed, either in business or I promoting their own happiness. The world ■ always is a hard world for such as these; they are dissatisfied and discontented; luck is always against them; they have boundless desires, yet never obtain what they desire, for they are changing from one thing to another continually, and wasting their energies upon an hundred aimless objects. For you then, my young friends, to° be successful ii> life—to be of true service to yourselves, to community and to your country, you must “live for a purpose;” you must so train and educate yourselves as to fulfill the end and aim of your being. You must begin now, with anxious thoughts, to look forward to the time when you, in the course of natural events,’must take the places now occupied, by us, your parents and friends. To enable you to discharge the great duties, which will then devolve upon you, you must stock your minds with intelligence—you must read, study, think; and whilst you arg thus preparing yourselves to act nobly your part in the great drama of life, when you shall become men ard women, forget not that every Hood thing cometh through the smiles ofj Providence; and without His countenance I and support you cannot succeed. “Man proposes and God disposes.”' In Him put your trust, and with a fixed determination to do right, all will be well. My friends, whilst we are admonishing our youth, would it not be well to inquire whether we are discharging the whole duty I that, as members of the social compact, and as parents, we owe to society and our chil-; diwn? This is a very important matter, not' only as regards society and the well-doing of our children, but also as it regards ourselves; for we shall undoubtedly be held re- < sponsible for pur stewardship. It is not' enough that we aie moral men and women,' according to the common acceptation of that term; but we must be active and zealous in' doing good, in promoting every good work,; in doing all that we can, according to the | talents bestowed upon us, in ameliorating I and improving the social and moral condi-1 tion of society, not only that we may be j happier in this life, but that we shall, thereby, be prepared for a state of endless felici-j ty in that other life, to which we are so rapidly hastening. Man is a dependent, as well as a social being; he cannot live only for himself, if he would. In his daily, intercourse with his kind, he is constantly receiving and impart-

ing influences, which tell more or less upon him for time and eternity. These very im-: pressions, imparted to one another, are the foundation upon which is_reared the character of the social, intellectual and moral condition of the society in which we live. Nd' family can live for alone; wf*-' are each and all, hut members dPthe grfeat human family, of which God is the Fathe«J Physically, intellectually and morally we i are indissolubly bound together—we have the same life, the same general interests. “Heaven forming each on other to depend A master or a servant, or a Iriend— Bids each on other for asssstance call, [all; Till one man’s weakness grows the strength of Wants, frailties, passions, closer still ally The common interest, or endear the tie. To these we owe true friendship, love sincere, Each home felt joy that life Inherits hsre." Let me ask again, arc we, each one of us, I

using the talents bestowed oa us by a goo* Providence, to eradicate the evils and improve the condition of mankind? or are Nr* remaining idle all the day, trusting to sotno fortuitous circumstances to do that whieh can alone be effected by strenuous effort a*d the blessing of God? The mind Til not given to us for the gratification of selfish purposes; but cultivated and enlarged, it was intended to be used for the public good; and he who does not work for the good of society, is a drone in the human hive, en- .- tailing curses, rather than favors, upon it. It is no excuse for tis, that we are not a* well prepared by education as we might have been. It won’t do for us to say, that we don’t know where to begin. If we really are anxious to improve the social, moral and intellectual condition of our neighborhood, vye can do it. The avenues to improvement are standing wide open; there are no gated up, and every man and woman here may be a worker therein for good. “If a min la«k* wisdom, let him ask of God.”

“Mind’s command o’er rrilnd. Spirit’s o’er spirit, is ths clear effect And? material action of an inward gift, j Given of God." ! Notwithstanding all the humanizing, eo« i cial influences that may be thrown around I our youth; and though we may invigorate ■ their minds by the most erudite scholastic I education, our duty would only be half ac- ; complished, were we to neglect a thorough 1 moral training. That book—the best of all books—tells us that we must “train up a ' child in the way he should go”—"in the fear and admonition of the Lord.” Do we de this, by prtfeept and example! Do we point out the great truths of the word of God, and develop to the young minds its glowing beauties? Do we endeavor to instruct them in the duty which they owe to their Creator! Do we teach them to love and fear Hina “who holdeth in His nostrils the breath of life?” Do we point out to them awful punishment awaiting the transgressors of God’s holy law? Do we cheer them on in well-doing, by telling them of the gracious promises held out to all who fear God and keep His commandments? and in connectioa with all this, do we add the weight of a moral, religious example? Are there na short-comings here! Are we doing our whole duty? Are you in your seat in the house of God on the Sabbath? Is your child there! Do you know whether your son or your daughter are in their places in Sundayschool every Sabbath? or are they visiting their neighbors? - If you do not yourselves live up to the requirements of God’s law. it is absurd to expect your children to do it. As a parent, you are exercising an influence for good or evil upon your-child, that willga with him to eternity; and remember, that next to your own soul’s salvation, is the responsibility which God has laid upon you in the moral government of your children. From the cradle to maturity—from the earliest dawn of intelligence of the prattler upon your knee, he begins to learn. Man is a creature of imitation, and in his infancy may be moulded as potter’s clay. He intitatejs the actions he sees around him— he talks in the language he hears and understands—he m ikes his own the sentiments uttered around the hearth-stone. Father, .mother, are to him his world.- He drinks in from this parental fountain influences that, under the blessing of God, will lead him to the foot of the Cross, and a whole eternity of bliss, or they may lead him to the broad road that goes down to everlasting destruction. In view, then, of this great responsibility, shall we not be more zealous in throwing around our children the benefits of moral culture; teach them to love and respect the Sabbath; to punctually attend the Sabbathschool; to hear the preaching of the word of truth, and to read forthemselves the Saered Record? Moral principles, my friends, axe the fruit of moral culture; and there is no way that virtue can be sustained, but by jenow ledge Scriptural knowledge;, th*

knowledge of God and of his law. That profound scholar and eminent man, Dr. Waddell, says, “If you want to make a truly great ami good man, you must begin with Childhood. Give him the knowledge of the ?R|sie > apd the religious catechism, and train hi®frdm the start. Other men may become good men— great men, but they are not always to be depended on in times of exigency. They are like a badly broken horse, whe is too fast or too slow, or stops altogether, and refuses to draw when you coma, to a hard pull. But the man, religiously trained and rightly disciplined from his youfh, ia.alw.aye there—because ne acts from principle, and not from impulse.” This, then, is a matter which appeals to us atrongly, as pa renters members of the Church, as lovers of our country.

. .4, J I- ■ i ■ - ■■ ■ Instruction and domestic discipline are the great conservative principles of this Republic; the moral lessons taught our youth around the family hearth-stone, are the cor- - ner-posts in the sustentation of our Churches and the bulwark of future strength to this nation. Had it not been for the influence of the Bible, that noble instrument which has just been read, would never have been written—thia Republic would not have had an existence. Take from us now the influence of that hallowed book, th!e Constitution of our country would be torn into fragments, and the bright sun of liberty, which is now casting over us its life-giving rays, would soon set in a crimson sea of anarchy and blood. The intelligence and morality of the people are at all times a nation’s safeguard. - They are alone the rudder that guides the ship of State safely.through the breakers of discord and the rocks of faction. Here, in our own favored land, where the humblest individual’s vote is of as much consequence as the highest magistrate’s, .how important is it that every one should be .endowed with intelligence, and that intelligence governed by high moral principle! Indeed, as all the political power of our Republic exists in the hands of the people, our being, as a nation, depends on the moral Character of its citizens. This is an admitted truth. It becomes, then, a duty which we owe to ourselves and to our country to do all we can to foster and encourage it. We are destined, as a nation, to occupy a lofty position in the history of time. We now stand forth as a beacon-star to all the world. Other nations Jiave their Argus eyes fixed upon us. Here the great principles of huma'n rights and human liberty are being tested. The experiment of self-gov-ernment is here being tried upon an extended scale. With a generally disseminated in-telligence-—with the school-book in one hand and the Bible in the other, we have not the least doubt of the ultimate success of the trial. On us, then, rests this great responsibility; shall we discharge' our duty—bur whole duty! Shall we enlighten and elevate, and purify by example and by precept! Shall we not lielp to build up a nation, powerful in strength, exalted in intelligence, and 'rich in all the moral virtues? Children of the Sabbath-schools, parents and friends, permit me to admonish you that “the night cometh in which no man can work'’—the old, the middle-aged and the young are alike smitten in death. “Leaves have their Kime to fall, And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, ■ , . And stars to set; but all. Thou hast all seasons for thiiie own, O Death!’, . Yes, my friends, disease enters our dwellings—tlie loved ones of home languish on the bed bf sickness and distress. Here a dearly-loved mother is claimed for the grave—there a father is touched by the icy hand of death; or, it may be, that youth and beauty, who had promised themselves many long years of worldly pleasure, are called to lie down in the silent tomb. Even now, as I throw my eye around this assembly, I miss a manly form, whose presence always greeted ,us in gatherings like this. You yi’ell remember him upon this day one short year since, when he stood in yonder pulpit and told us the story of the early settlement of this county. You well recollect the instruction and interest of that discourse. Haw often have you been made to laugh at his humor! how often instructed by his wisdom!.how frequently benefitted by his advice! Where now are his sage counsels? where now his ready wit? The Angel of Death has claimed all for his own; and he that we loved so well for his warm social qualities, for his kindness, for his benevolence,dor his wisdom and integrity, sleeps 'the sleep of death! W,ho will be the next tp follow? Alas! “we know not the day nor the h%ur,” for; as a thief in the night, cometh . the dread avenger. Det us, then, work . while it is day; let us not only live for this wqrld, but let us live for a glorious immortality in an other world, where sorrow and •" death never come. ’ ,