settlement, a new generation had become matured; and, among the mourning assembly, there were but few gray heads who had not sat under his instructions. Hence his people looked up to him, not only as to a shepherd to lead them to the fold of his Master, but also with the affection of children. For more than fifty years had he broken to his people the bread of life, and though by reason of age he must ere long fall asleep, yet I know not, when the event happened, that they shed one tear the less for its having been expected. I silently followed the mournful procession, as they conveyed the remains of their beloved minister to the grave. It afforded a melancholy pleasure to see a goodly number of neighboring ministers paying their last respects to their departed brother, a weeping church and a mourning congregation, all evincing, by expressive silence, how much they felt. Here, too, were seen a numerous class of poor, who for a long time had looked up to their pastor for temporal as well as spiritual food, expressing their grief in audible sobbings. But amid this sorrowing train, my attention was peculiarly attracted by the appearance of the younger part of the congregation. These were about one hundred children, who composed the Sabbath school of the village. This number was about equally divided between the two sexes. They walked in front of the procession, the girls on the right and the boys on the left, each wearing some humble though sincere badge of mourning. By the time they had arrived at the grave-yard, they had revived in their minds all the condescensions and kindnesses of their beloved pastor, which, perhaps, no other occasion could have recalled to remembrance, and their little bosoms were filled with sorrow at the sight of the grave. They opened to the right and left, and as the venerable corpse passed between them, they showed their feelings in all the simplicity of children. The boys took their hats from their heads, and would now and 1846.] Sabbath School Concert. 147 then be seen wiping a tear with the corner of their jackets, while every little girl covered her face with her little white. handkerchief, and sobbed as if losing her last earthly friend. They were standing around the grave, and as the speaker addressed the audience on this solemn occasion, all were as silent as a forest when not a breath of wind breaks its stillness; but when the minister addressed the children particularly, their sorrows found vent through their almost bursting hearts. Nor did I wonder. They were lambs, and their shepherd was no more. They could not recall to mind when their parents first took them by the hand and led them to the house of God. They could not remember when their minister had often prayed for them while they were yet infants. But they could remember the time when he collected and arranged them systematically into a Sabbath school. Since the first institution of their school, they had assembled regularly every Sabbath; and every Sabbath, too, had their faces been brightened by meeting their good pastor and their hearts were bound to his by a thousand little ties unknown to many ministers. They were as usual, arranged in classes under proper instructors. Every Sabbath they recited to their teachers their portions of Scripture, of hymns, and of catechism. After the recitations were over, the good pastor, would go round to each class in company with its teacher, and examine by the class-paper the recitations and conduct of each individual. He needed not to distribute tickets to excite emulation, for every scholar thought himself amply rewarded for a week's hard study, if on the Sabbath he could receive a smile of approbation from his minister, and peradventure he would also sometimes lay his aged hand on his flaxen hair, and commend him for diligence and good behaviour. The scholar who had failed to recite, or whose behaviour was improper, received but a slight rebuke from the good old man, together with a look of pity and sorrow, which seldom failed to bring tears, -a punishment sufficiently severe. After passing through the school in this manner, the minister would say a few words as to the general conduct and appearance of the school. He would then read a suitable hymn, which was sung by those parents who were present, together with the children. And often would the good man weep for joy, when he sat and heard their little voices causing the church to reverberate with untuned notes of infant praise; and he would then lift up his tremulous voice in prayer for the lambs before him, while they knelt, and mingled their aspirations with those of threescore and ten. A delightful tie was thus created between church and school. The children felt that their privileges were great because the man of God was so frequently in their midst; the teachers felt that, however discouraging their prospects might occasionally be, there was one heart that never grew cold; and the church felt that she must go with her leader, and gather her sympathies around the vineyard of the Lord. Once in every three months this Sabbath school was examined, and the day was always longed for by the scholars before it arrived, for it was to them a holiday. They then assembled with their teachers, and in the presence of their parents and the whole congregation, were examined in the studies of the preceding quarter. Their names were then individually called over, and as each arose to answer, his recitations were mentioned over, and his general conduct commended or blamed, as need be, before the whole assembly. The good clergyman then preached a sermon, usually known by the name of "the children's sermon," as it was always adapted to their situation and understandings. These quarterly meetings were usually highly gratifying to both parents and children, and not a little to the teachers; and they were always closed with singing, by the children, that beautiful little hymn beginning, 1846.] The Teacher's Trust. "Once did the blessed Saviour say, 149 Thus, in brief, was conducted the best Sabbath school I ever knew. And of these scenes were the children thinking when the earth was thrown into the grave upon their pastor, and their feelings were too big to be repressed. I stayed by the grave, and beheld this mourning school as they ascended the little hill which separated their homes from the grave-yard, and even as they vanished from my sight, I thought I heard their sobbings still; and I could not but reflect, that while many of our ministers consider Sabbath schools as beneath their care, the good old man who was stretched before me in everlasting rest, might have many of these dear little children as jewels in the crown of glory, which he will wear in that great day of account. THE TEACHER'S TRUST. A Sabbath school teacher! How much of honor, how much of privilege, is implied in that single sentence. It is a trust which angels might covet, and yet how little do teachers realize the true character of their station and the weighty responsibility which it involves! To the monarchs of earth it is left, humanly speaking, to wield the destinies of nations, but they all shall pass away together and mingle with their native dust. To the Sabbath school teacher is given the moulding of individual minds which shall exist when the earth itself shall melt away and be dissolved. Every word uttered, every emotion exhibited, shall live with its influence, when eternity to come shall have 13* VOL. III. joined eternity past, and teacher and pupil have commenced their interminable existence. Our Sabbath suns are hastily declining, and perhaps the next may be our last, and a great work is yet to be accomplished in beautifying the temple of our God. The present crisis of our country is a fearful one. The enemy is rapidly collecting his forces and mustering his armies. His blood-stained banner is widely unfurling, and upon it is unchangeably written, "Catholicism or death.” That great and beautiful Valley, which has been the pride and boast of our country for the fertility of its soil, is to become the spot from whence shall emanate streams which shall make glad the city of our God, or spread moral poison and death through that Eden of our land. To the present generation is left the decision of this momentous question. Upon the teachers now enlisted, rests a charge which Gabriel might tremble to assume. Every trace made upon the mind shall be clothed with active energy either to curse or to bless. Every neglect will remain indelible when the books shall be opened, the judgment set, and slothfulness, with frowning reproach, written upon each. "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty," and hath said, My grace is sufficient for thee." Jesus is still an High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and the teacher, going forth in reliance upon Divine aid, entwining the affections of his class about his own heart, may wreathe the love of Jesus around their spirits in such a manner that the storms of adversity and the sunshine of prosperity, the temptations of life's gay spring-time, and the gathering frosts of threescore years and ten, shall not wither and destroy it, but it shall grow purer and holier, until they be fitted to mingle in songs of holy rapture with the cherubim and seraphim who burn before the throne. A teacher enters upon his duties, resolving to embody all that is implied in the term "a faithful teacher." He feels, indeed, that he is incompetent to the task, and many others |