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Address to young America and a word to the old folks
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Boys and Girls, let us sing a Sunday-School song.’ —Page 10
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frrPTEENTH THOUSAND.]
ADDRESS
YOUNG AMERICA,
A WORD TO THE OLD FOLKS.
BY REV. WM. TAYLOK,
01? THE CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE )
PHILADELPHIA:
PERKINPINE & HIGGINS,
No. 56 NORTH FOURTH STREET.
FOR THE AUTHOR.
1861 .
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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
WILLIAM TAYLOlt,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States in and
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
STEREOTYPED BY MEAKS & DUSENBERY.
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ADDRESS
TO
YOUNG AMEBICA.
CHAPTER I.
Boys and girls of America, hearken!
Don’t you want to hear something about
California ?
You would like me to tell you some
good stories about California Indians, and
gold diggers; and whether we have many
boys and> girls in California, and what
kind of boys and girls they are ? And
whether they have Sunday schools to go
to, as you have here ? Well, suppose we
begin with the girls and boys. American ,
children used to be so scarce in California, |
that in taking them through the city of |
San Francisco you would often see men .
l* (5)
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ADDRESS TO
run across the street to kiss them. Again,
and again the rough-looking miner, within
whose bosom swelled a father’s heart, has
pressed my little missionary girl to him,
and wept, saying “ Excuse me, sir, she so
much reminds me of my dear children,
at home that I have not seen for two years!
I cannot help kissing her.” But now, we
have, I should say, about fifty thousand
American children in California, and
about fifteen thousand Indian children,
besides we have many Chinese children;
and a few of nearly all nations in the
world. The American children living in
the cities and large mining towns, and in
the principal agricultural districts of Cali
fornia, have Sunday schools to go to, and
good teachers to instruct them, just as you
have here. Let me tell you a story about
a Sunday school in Sacramento City.
My good friends in Baltimore city bought
and prepared materials for a chapel 24 by
36 feet, which I took with me to California,
per 'ship Andalusia, in the spring of 1849.
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“Excuse me, sir, she so much reminds me of my dear children, at
home that I have not seen for two years! I cannot help kissing her.”—
Page 6.
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YOUNG AMERICA.
9
It was called the Baltimore California
Chapel, and was put up in Sacramento
City, which now contains nearly 20,000
inhabitants. A small Sunday school was
organized in this chapel, by the Kev.
Isaac Owen, the pastor, early in the
spring of 1850. The school and congre
gation so increased that they had soon to
enlarge the house. In the summer of
1852, they built a new brick church, in
size 50 by 80 feet, and just about the time
the Sunday school expected to go into the
new church, the dreadful fire of November,
2d 1852, swept over the city, consuming
about 2000 houses, and burnt up their
new church, Baltimore Chapel, and all.
Poor boys and girls, their hopes were
deferred, and their hearts were sick.
They had no place for their Sunday
school, and their library of 700 volumes
was gone. What do you think they did ?
When Sunday school hour came, the
children and teachers were seen coming
along the streets, or where the streets
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ADDRESS TO
used to be, before the city became one
vast field of desolation, and met together
in front of the ruins of their beautiful
church.
They seemed to be instinctively attract
ed to that dear spot from the force of
habit. 0, how important that we form
good habits in youth ! There they stood,
and looked at each other, and some wept.
Then Brother E. L. Barber, the super
intendent, took his stand amid the ruins
of the church, and the children gathered
around him. Waving his hat, he said,
“Boys and girls, let us sing a Sunday
School Song.” They had splendid voices,
well trained in the harmony of sweet
sounds; and 0, what a song was that,
and with its hope-inspiring melody, how
strikingly it contrasted with the murmur-
ings and despair of the homeless thou
sands whose all of worldly good had sud
denly returned to dust! I do not remem
ber distinctly what song Brother Barber
told me they sung, but on^ f tb'sir taynur-
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YOUNG AMERICA.
11
ites, which I have often heard them sing,
as I thought they only could sing it, is
called in the S. S. Harmonist, “ The Beau
tiful Pool.” I think this was the piece
sung amid the ruins on that occasion.
Would you like to see it? Well, here are
the words,
0 don’t stay away, on this beautiful day;
Come, children, come all, to our own Sabbath school!
The bright sun is high, in the deep red sky—
But here, in our midst, is a beautiful pool.
It bubbles so sweetly—for 3 r ou and for me ;
Its waters are ever refreshing and cool;
Then don’t stay away, on this beautiful day;
Come, children, come all, to our own Sabbath school.
It is passing away—this bright Sabbath day—
And time to these children will seal up this pool,
That bubbles so free—for you and for me—
And found in the midst of our own Sabbath school.
Say. who will unlock this stream of the rock,
If now we refuse of its waters to drink—
Or bring back the. day of unthinking play,
When lightly we turn’d from its green mossy brink?
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When gone are these hours, and faded the flowers,
That lured us to turn from our duty away—
When our bubbles are burst,, and fainting with thirst
Who would not remember this beautiful day ?
Then don’t stay away, on this beautiful day;
Come children, come all, to our own Sabbath school 1
The warm sun is high, in the deep red sky—
But here, in our midst, is a beautiful pool.
All about them were the ruins and
ashes of their homes, but in their hearts,
and in the theme of their songs, there
was “ a beautiful pool,” and “ springs in
the desert” which gladdened many sad
souls.
The effect of the song was such as to
prompt the people in their poverty to
prepare immediately a Sunday school
tent, and buy them a new library; and
the school, under the fostering care of
their good superintendent and faithful
pastors, went on and prospered. Their
tent was soon struck, and a plain church
erected, in which they still worship.
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Sank under the weight of his burden into a whirlpool 20 feet deep.-
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TOUNGr AMERICA. . 16
When I last met with them, in the sum
mer of 1856, they numbered in their
school upwards of 300 scholars. But
then there are hundreds of American
boys and girls living away among the
mountains, in mining villages and camps,
where there are no churches, no regular
preaching, and no Sunday schools. There
are vast regions of such mining country
that can only be reached by narrow foot
paths and mule trails over the high
mountains. All the provisions, furniture,
clothing, mining tools, and machinery,
necessary for such regions, are packed on
mule back. A train of pack mules
usually contains from 20 to 100, each
carrying a burden of about 300 pounds
weight. Sometimes, as they travel in
their narrow path along very steep places,
a poor mule steps out of the path, and
over he goes with his heavy load, and
rolling down the mountain, seldom ever
stops till he gets to the bottom with his
neck broken. I was riding along one of
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ADDRESS TO
those steep places one day, and, looking
down to the base of the mountain, I saw
several dead mules that had got out of
the track, so I got off and led my mule.
I thought if he fell over and rolled down
the mountain he might go without me
Just in sight of where I spent a night, on
the north fork of “ Feather River,” a mule,
laden with miners’ picks, got out of the
path, the same evening I passed along,
and down he went, slide, bang, crack,
boom, splash into the river, and sank
under the weight of his burden into a
whirlpool 20 feet deep. It is a very bad
business for a mule to get out of the path,
boys, and it is worse for a boy or girl to
get out of the right path. Such are very
apt to slide down the steeps of sinful life,
and to be “ drowned in perdition.”
Well, in those isolated mining regions,
as we said before, there are no churches,
no regular preaching, no Sunday schools,
and no Sabbaths. Sunday is the day for
the miners to purchase their provisions
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YOUNG AMERICA.
17
for the ensuing week, and to get their
mining picks sharpened. Provision stores
and other business places are all open ;
and, instead of the church bell, the black
smith’s hammer is heard all day, from
dawn till dark. With such examples be
fore them, and without any religious train
ing, poor miners’ boys and girls, what
will become of them ? Our energetic mis
sionaries, I hope, will be able to plant
churches there, as they have in the more
accessible mining regions, in time to afford
those children an opportunity of religious
instruction.
Their Sabbath-breaking parents feel
the need of the Gospel for the sake of
their children, and are willing to support
it, if we had men enough to supply the
demand. Let us now breathe out an
earnest prayer that the Lord of the har
vest would send forth more labourers into
that needy field!
The China boys and girls of California
have not yet heard of Jesus. Would you
2 *
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ADDRESS TO
not like to go and tell them about their
blessed Saviour ? They are learning our
language, and you can talk to them, by-
and-bye, without any difficulty. Our
poor Indian boys and girls are as ignorant
of Jesus as our China boys, and much
more degraded, and yet they have pre
cious souls, and Jesus died for them too.
Some men, who have been writing in
the newspapers and in books about these
Indians, say they ought all to be killed,
parents and children, numbering in all
65.000 souls, in the state of California.
What do you think of that? Don’t
you think, boys and girls, it would be
much better to teach them agriculture
and letters, and religion, and let them
live? Well, “ Uncle Sam” has gathered
10.000 of them together, and settled them
on large farms called “ reservations,” and
has men employed to teach them to raise
their own bread. There are now eight
of these large Indian farms. The lowest
number of Indians on any one of them is
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YOUNG AMERICA.
19
400, and the highest 2500, and there they
are learning to plough, and sow, and reap,
and are doing well. That is good; but
we must give them schools, and give them
the Gospel.
Don’t you think you could tell the little
Indians something about Jesus, if you
were there? Many of them are sharp
little fellows, and would soon learn to
understand all you would say to them.
To give you an idea of how they can think
and talk, a little Indian boy, who had
learned to speak a few words in English,
fell in company with Kev. C. Leaman, a
friend of mine in California, and Brother
L. said to him, “John, where do good
Ingin go when he die ?” Looking up to
ward the starry sky, John promptly re
plied, “ See dat star ?” pointing to a very
bright one. “ Yes,” said L. “ Dat good
Ingin/’ said John. “ Where do bad Ingin
go when he die ?” inquired L. “ See dat
star-whisht,” with a hissing sound, said
John, referring to a meteor; “dat bad
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ADDRESS TO
Ingin. He go out.” Then said John,
u What kind of heaven is Mericano heaven ?
got any beads in Mericano heaven V
“ No,” said L., “ got no beads in Mericano
heaven.” 11 Got any wo-haugh-shemuck
in Mericano heaven V • The Indians hear
ing the emigrant ox-drivers halloing at
their oxen “ wo-haugh,” took that for the
American name for their cattle; “she-
muck” is their name for dinner. “ Wo-
haugh-shemuck” was beef for dinner.
“ No,” said L.; “ No wo-haugh-shemuck
in Mericano heaven.” “Well,” replied
John, “me no want to go to Mericano
heaven, no beads, no wo-haugh-shemuck;
me no want to go.”
Now you see that amid the darkness
of heathenism there struggled a bright
little thinking spirit, which only needs a
kind teacher’s care, such as you have, to
bring it out, and make a man of the out
cast boy.
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YOUNG AMEBIC*
21
CHAPTER II.
Boys and girls, we hear a great deal
said, these days, about “ Young America.”
I like the name, but I don’t like the mean
ing that is frequently attached to it. Its
general application is to the rising gene
ration of America, but it is frequently made
to express a rude, impatient, filibustering
spirit, that many boys evince, throwing
off wholesome parental restraint, and try
ing to be independent heroes, when every
body, but themselves, knows them to be
poor ignoramuses that do not deserve the
name of American, at all.
Now I like the general application of
the name, and think it should be used only
to express the bold, aggressive, go-ahead
spirit of this age and country, properly
employed in useful enterprise. We are
called a fast people, and so we are, and
ought to be, a fast people.
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ADDRESS TO
Our fathers, under the good providence
of the Lord, have furnished us with such
facilities for acquiring knowledge, and
applying it' to useful purposes, that we
ought to be a very fast people. The fires
of genius and bold resolve are kindled
in the bosoms of our boys, from the altars ,
built by our fathers—the great explorers,
discoverers, inventors, and reformers, and
hence Young America ought to beat the
w r orld in all that is good, and great, and
useful.
Boys, why has the Lord given us these
powers of body, mind, and heart, and all
these wonderful facilities for their develop
ment? Is all this simply that we may
make money, eat and drink, and die?
Certainly not. What do you think God’s
great design is? Is it not that all our
powers be employed for the happiness and
well-being of our souls and bodies, here and
hereafter, for ever, and the salvation of the
entire human family ? We all have powei
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YOUNG AMERICA.
23
to do good, but the usefulness of power
depends upon its application.
If you were to see a steam-engine and
an empty car running back and forward
from Philadelphia to Baltimore, never
carrying any freight or passengers, you
would say, “ What a useless waste of steam
power!” Every young American, worthy
of the name, is a little steam-engine in
himself.
Shall he spend his time in steaming
about for nothing? Again, if a steam car
run off the track, dear me, what dreadful
work the steam power does! 0, how many
precious lives are thus destroyed ! 0, boys,
you must be well freighted with useful
purposes and well-laid plans for the attain
ment of the best ends of life, and start in
the right road, and be sure you don’t run
off the track.
Let me tell you about a poor young
American, who ran off the track. I kneeled
by his side, when he was dying in the hos
pital in San Francisco, and said, he to me,
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ADDRESS TO
“My dear mother, in New York, taught
me, when a little boy, to pray. She was
a good mother, and wanted to lead me in
the way I should go, but when I grew up
to be a lad of twelve years, I became im
patient of restraint. I thought my mother
was too strict with me. I told her that
she was old fogyish in her notions, and
did not know what was good for boys as
well as I did. I thought I was no man
unless I could smoke cigars in the streets,
resent insults, and curse and swear, like
other boys of my acquaintance.
My mother’s prayers have often gone
to my heart, when I have heard her, all
alone at night, praying for me; but I
shook them off, and determined to take
my own course. 0, my God, what shall
I do? I’m lost for ever! Now I see
that my mother was right, and I was
wrong. What a fool I’ve been for not
following the good advice of my dear,
dear mother!” Poor fellow! how sorry
I was for him! I entreated him to pray
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YOUNG AMERICA.
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and plead with God, in the name of Jesus,
for pardon; but, said he, “ it’s too late
now! My mind is scattered, my heart is
hard—I can’t pray.” And thus he died,
in the horrors of despair.
Boys and girls, I could tell you of hun
dreds of poor fellows, whom I have looked
upon, and talked to, who had run off the
track, and who had destroyed hundreds
more by their bad example. Oh, their
bitter lamentations in death were too
dreadful to talk about!
Now, children, what is your purpose,
the great leading object of life, for the
attainment of which you intend to employ
your time, and all the power at your
command ?
All the useful occupations, professions,
and trades of our nation must, in a few
years, be filled by the boys and girls thal
are now growing up. But then, howevei
necessary these may be, the objects oi
them are confined mainly to the present
life. Our great ships, and steamV
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ADDRESS TO
and telegraphic appliances, and magnifi
cent cities, must all pass away: but the
live souls of our boys and girls will
survive “ The wreck of matter and the
crush of worlds.”
Now which is better, to labour for the
things which perish, or for the things
which endure unto everlasting life ? If
we can make a deposit in the Lord’s
savings bank here, to be drawn when w r e
get to that “city which hath foundations,
whose maker and builder is God,” is it
not much better than to spend all our
time with the things of this world, and
have no “ treasure laid up for the time to
come?” Jesus hath made arrangements
for the right use of all your powers, by
which you will discharge all the duties of
this life, and then obtain “ an inheritance”
that will make you a thousand-fold richer
than the Rothschilds.
And he wants us to persuade all the
boys and girls we can, to seek a title to
that inheritance. Boys and girls, I want
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YOUNG AMERICA.
27
to tell you something. Jesus, “ the cap
tain of our salvation,” is raising a great
army to conquer this world, and he wants
new recruits of soldiers to help him.
The army of Jesus is not to conquer
by the sword, but by his word, and spirit,
and the object is not to kill anybody, but
to drive Satan and sin out of the world,
and to save the living millions of souls,
whom Jesus hath “ redeemed with his
own blood.” Jesus gives his soldiers good
fare, pays all their expenses, treats them
very kindly, and says to each one of then),
“ Be thou faithful until death, and I will
give thee a crown of life.”
“ 0,” says a little boy, “ when I get
big, like papa, I want to be a soldier in
the army of Jesus.” Why, my dear little
boy, you need not wait till you grow up
to be a man. If you are willing, Jesus
will take your name now, and write it
down in his “book of life,” and enrol
you now with his great army of soldiers
who are to conquer the world. Jesus
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ADDRESS TO
never says of little girls and boys, as
many persons do, when they hear them
talking of being soldiers in the Gospel
army, “ 0, they are nothing but children,
they don’t know what they are about.”
But he says, “ Suffer little children to
come unto me, and forbid them not, for
of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus was one day preaching in the tem
ple, “and the blind and the lame came
to him in the temple, and he healed
them. And when the chief priests and
scribes saw the wonderful things that he
did, and the children crying in the tem
ple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of
David, they were sore displeased, and said
unto him, Hearest thou what these say ?”
They were greatly offended because the
little fellows were shouting the praise of
Jesus. “ And Jesus saith unto them, Yea:
have ye never read, Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings thou hast perfected
praise” ?—Matt. xxi. 14, 16.
If Jewish babes and sucklings in the
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YOUNG AMERICA.
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dark days of David (for Jesus quotes from
the 8th'Psalm), could know and worship
and praise God perfectly, cannot American
boys and girls, now, that “life and im
mortality have been brought to light by
the Gospel,” know and worship and praise
the Lord too? The Lord is just as kind
to children now as he was then, for he
changes not, and I know very well that
American boys and girls can be just as
good as Jewish “babes and sucklings”
ever were. Don’t you think so, boys ?
I must tell you something about this
thing of Jmowing the Lord, for everything
depends on that. We cannot escape the
evils, nor obtain the good we have been
talking about, without it.
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ADDRESS TO
CHAPTER III.
Boys and girls, do you know the Lord ?
Are you acquainted with Jesus? We
ought to know our friends, ought we not ?
Jesus is the best friend you ever had—he
exercises toward you more than maternal
sympathy and affection. 0, how tenderly
your mothers do love you, but Jesus loves
you more than they ever did, or ever can.
You know many things about God, but
that is a very different matter from know
ing him. You know much about Queen
Victoria, but do you know her ladyship ?
Certainly you do not. If you were to
meet her in the street you would not
know her from any other grand lady.
You know much about Alexander of
Russia, but do you know the Russian
Czar ? Not you; -you believe, without
doubt, that there is such a man, but you
don’t know him.
3 *
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YOUNG AMERICA.
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So you know much about God, for
“the heaven&wdeclare the glory of God,
and the firmament showeth his handi
work and we have read about him in
the good book he hath sent us, but all
that is very different from knowing him
by personal acquaintance.
You have read about little Samuel, son
of Elkanah and Hannah, have you not ?
His parents dedicated him to the Lord
when he was a little boy; and have not
your parents given you to the Lord, by
the holy ordinance of baptism? Samuel
was religiously instructed by Eli, the
priest, just as you are, and attended to a
great many religious duties, just as many
of you do, but though he was a thought
ful, obedient, prayerful boy, the Bible
says of him, “ Now, Samuel did not know
the Lord, neither was the word of the
Lord yet revealed unto him.” One night
when Samuel lay down on his little bed
to sleep, he heard somebody call him,
“Samuel;” and he answered, “Here am
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ADDRESS TO
I.” And hearing no order, he jumped up
and ran unto Eli, and said, “ Here am I; for
thou ealledst me.” And Eli said, “ I call
ed not; lie down again.” Samuel won
dered what it meant. He was sure he
heard some one call him, but he lay down
again, and before he could get to sleep, he
heard the same voice saying, u Samuel
and he arose and went to Eli, and said,
a Here am I, for thou-didst call me.” And
he answered, “I called not, my son; lie
down again.”
Poor little fellow, how fast his heart
began to beat! There was something so
strange about it; but he went and lay
down again, and he heard the same call,
“ the third time.” He listened well, this
time, and thought he could not be mis
taken. It must be Eli’s voice, “ and he
arose and went to Eli; and said, Here am
I; for thou didst call me. And Eli per
ceived that the Lord had called the child.
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go lie
down : and it shall be, if he call thee, that
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YOUNG AMERICA.
33
thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy ser
vant heareth.” So Samuel walked very
softly to his bed, for he thought what an
awful thing for the Lord to be talking to
a little boy. And when he lay down,
“ the Lord came, and stood, and called as
at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then
Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant
heareth.”
And the Lord talked to him, and told
him a great many things, and that night
Samuel got acquainted with the Lord;
and ever afterwards he knew the Lord,
and grew up to be a good and great man.
Just so the Lord, not by an audible voice,
as in the case of Samuel, but by his Holy
Spirit, speaks to the heart of every little
boy and girl.
Like Samuel,, they don’t always know
the voice of the Lord, and it is well if
they have some kind friend, who is ac
quainted with God, to tell them how to
do when the Lord calls them. Have you
not, boys and girls, often heard something
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ADDRESS TO
speaking to your hearts, and telling you
that you have sinned against the Lord,
and that you ought to repent, and pray
for pardon, and made you feel so curious
you couldn’t help but cry ? That was the
Lord speaking to you. Jesus says,, “'No
man knoweth the Son, but the Father;
neither knoweth any man the Father, save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him.” Matt. xi. 27.
What you felt in your hearts was the
Spirit of Jesus speaking to your spirits;
and he wanted to “ manifest himself unto
you,” and reveal to you God the Father,
a who justifieth” or pardons every “ weary
and heavy-laden” sinner that comes to him.
Now, when you feel that way again, if,
like little Samuel, you will submit to the
will of God, and say, “ Speak, Lord, for
thy servant heareth,” Jesus will manifest
himself to }^ou, as your atoning Saviour,
and reveal God to you as your forgiving
Father.
I got acquainted with Jesus, and ob
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YOUNG AMERICA.
3b
tained pardon for all my past sins, on the
28th August, 1841, about 10 P. M. Oh,
how glad I was! I never can tell you what
joy I felt in my heart. I have had sev
eral talks with the Lord, every day, from
that day to the present, and have thus
been cultivating an acquaintance with
him; and I must say, the better I become
acquainted with him, the better I like
him. I am more and more delighted
with his service every day I live. At
first, before I became well acquainted
with the Lord, I did not have as much
confidence in him as I ought. I was
afraid he would tell me to do some hard
things, that would require a great deal
of self-denial and suffering. But when I
got to know him better, I was very much
ashamed that I had ever distrusted his
wisdom and goodness. I then saw clearly
that the Lord’s will is always exercised
in accordance with his infinite wisdom
and love, and that, therefore, his will is
always right, and consistent with my well-
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ADDRESS TO
being, and that nothing is opposed to his
will, in relation to me, but is equally op
posed to my best interests of soul and
body, both in this world, and in the world
to come. So I gladly give up all my nat
ural preferences, and every day inquire,
with a willing heart, “ Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?” Jesus “improves
on acquaintance,” and will, I have no
doubt, through eternal ages.
I knew a little girl, nine years old, who,
at a meeting I once attended, came with
others to the altar, and sought to know
the Lord. The Good Spirit had spoken
to her heart; and as the big tears were
streaming down her face, she put her lit
tle hands together, and said, “ 0 Lord, for
Jesus’ sake, have mercy on me a sinner.
For Jesus’ sake, pardon my sins. Oh, for
Jesus’ sake, give me a new heart, and
make me good.” She prayed very ear
nestly for about half an hour, and then
her countenance brightened up, and she
said, “Oh, praise the Lord! I’ve found
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YOUNG AMERICA.
37
Jesus. He is my Saviour. Glory to God,
he has pardoned all my sins.” She was
so glad she did not know what to do.
She was an orphan girl, and had not
known a parent’s care for years; but now
she knew that God was her father, and
loved her, and eared for her.
As she was praising the Lord aloud,
like the little children that got so happy
when Jesus was preaching in the temple,
and cried, “ Hosanna to the Son of David,”
a minister said to her, “ Little girl, what
are you praising the Lord for?” “Be
cause I love him,” said she, “glory be to
God, I do love him.”
“ Why do you love him ?” continued
the minister. “Because he first loved
me, and, glory to God, He has pardoned
my sins.”
The preacher at first thought that she
was so small she did not know what she
was about, but he soon found that she
was truly enlightened by the “ spirit of
adoption.” The next day her brother
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38
ADDRESS TO
said to her, rather tauntingly, “ Ah, Vir
ginia, I think your goodness will not last
long.” “ Well, James,” said she, meekly
“ your thinks will not make it so.”
Virginia grew up in the fear of tho
Lord, and is now a Christian mother in
California.
Paris R—, a boy of my acquaintance
in Virginia, became acquainted with the
Lord when he was eight years of age. 1
saw him at a camp meeting when he was
nine years old, and he was called on to
pray in public, about as often as $ny of
the men, and prayed with much greater
effect than many of them.
During that camp meeting Paris’s old
grandfather became awakened to see his
lost condition as a stranger to God, and
asked his little grandson to pray for him.
0, could you have seen the gray-headed
sinner kneeling down, and groaning under
the bondage of sin, and the little boy
pleading with his Father in heaven to
have mercy on his dear grandfather, you
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YOUNG AMERICA.
39
would have said, “ What a mercy that the
old man has so good a boy to pray for
him!” It was believed that it was the
good boy’s example that brought the old
man to his knees.
Time would fail to tell of the numerous
examples of juvenile piety in the past and
present history of the Church. Many of
her best ministers, and a large proportion
of her most exemplary members, were
converted in their childhood and youth.
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40
ADDUES3 TO
CHAPTER IV.
My very dear young friends, in con
cluding my address to you, I want to give
you a few illustrations of juvenile fidelity
to God-—the faithfulness of children in
the service of God, for we must not only
get acquainted with God, but we must
keep acquainted with him.
Mary W —, of Western Virginia, was
made savingly acquainted with God when
she was eight years old.
A year after her conversion, her father,
who was a very wicked man, fell out
with her class leader.
The following Sunday morning, after
Mary had dressed herself to go to church,
her father said to her, “ Mary, where are
you going?” “ I am going to class, father,”
replied the little girl, meekly. “ You
shan’t go to class; I’m going to put a stop
to it; you shan’t go any more,” replied
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YOUNG AMERICA,
41
the father, in very harsh tones. “ 0
father, do please let me go to class,” said
Mary, in earnest tones of supplication.
“ Hush up ! not a word out of you ; I
tell you, you shall not go.” “Father,”
said Mary, “ I must go to class. The
Lord will be displeased with me, if I
don’t go to class; you know, father, I
love you, and I try to please you, but I
must not displease the Lord.” “If you
go to class, I’ll whip you, see if I don’t,”
said the father. What was the poor little
girl to do ? She felt that she would sin
against the Lord if she went not to class;
if she went, she would displease her
father, and get a whipping.
The Apostle Paul says, “ Children, obey
your parents in the Lord, for this is
right;” but this wicked old parent was
not in the Lord. Still, he should have
been obeyed, had he not set his authority
against the Lord. “ Honour thy father
and thy mother,” is the law, but a child
can never do that by dishonouring God.
4 *
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ADDRESS TO
Unreserved obedience to parents is the
duty of all children, unless they clearly
see, as little Mary did, that the parents’
commands are in opposition to God’s com
mands : then it becomes their duty to
“obey God rather than man.” If you
please, I will illustrate this feature of the
subject.
F—, of Virginia, was being educated by
his father for the bar. While pursuing
his studies he obtained religion, and joined
the M. E. Church. His father was great
ly enraged, and commanded him never to
go to a Methodist meeting again. F—
said but little, but went to meeting regu
larly, and held on to his religion, for
which the father abused him, and beat
him most unmercifully. The little fellow
bore it all patiently. He felt that the
salvation of his soul was the question at
issue, and persisted in his disobedience to
his father. As he grew up he increased
in the knowledge and love of God, and
afterwards became a travelling preacher.
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YOUNG AMERICA.
43
He honoured his parents by disobedience,
honoured God and his cause by his fidel
ity, and after a most successful, though
short ministerial career, died in the
triumphs of Gospel hope. Young Me—,
of Greenbrier Co., Va., was sent by his
father to a college in Ohio to be educated.
While there, the lad made a profession of
religion, and joined the M. E. Church.
When the father heard it, he immediately
had him taken from school and brought
home, and through much persuasion he
got the boy to consent to quit the church
of his choice. He soon afterwards re
lapsed into sin, and became very wicked.
At maturity he married a wife, but sub
sequently left her, and went away, and
was not heard of by his friends for many
months. Finally the father received a
letter from a friend, who stated, that on
a visit to New Orleans, he accidentally
found his son lying in the street in a very
bad condition, and that he had taken him
up, and put decent clothes on him, and had
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ADDRESS TO
provided for his board until his father
could send for him. The father immedi
ately sent, and had him brought home,
but the poor sot was too far gone for
recovery. Full of disease and sin, he
soon afterwards died a most miserable
death in his father’s house. By,obedience j
to his father, and disobedience to God, he j
dishonoured his “ father and mother,” and
lost his soul.
But poor Mary W., a little girl of nine
summers, what could she do, when her
father said, “ If you go to class, I’ll whip
you” ? She was greatly affected, but in
the midst of her tears said, “ Father, I
would rather take a whipping than offend
the Lord. I must go to class, but, father,
don’t be angry with me for trying to please
the Lord. I am your little girl, and you
know I want to be good.” That should
have moved a father’s heart, but it only
enraged him the more, and in a most vio
lent tone he said, “ You saucy imp, if you
go to class I’ll shoot you.” “ Well, father,”
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The wicked father followed her outside the gate, and picking up •
thorn bush, struck her with it a couple of times.—Page 4-7.
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YOUNG AMERICA.
47
said Mary, “ I would rather be shot than
sin against the Lord;” and then imme
diately started on her way to class. The
wicked father followed her outside the
gate, and picking up a thorn bush, struck
her with it a couple of times, tearing her
bonnet and dress a little, but she went on,
and he returned to the house. When
Mary came back from class, with her
heart full of the love of Jesus, her mother
met her at the gate, and said, “ 0, Mary,
don’t go into the house: your father
loaded the gun, and I am afraid he will
shoot you.” The mother wept, but did
liot take hold of the little girl to restrain
her, so Mary walked into the house: The
father had gone up stairs. When Mary
went in she struck up and sung one of her
sweet class-meeting hymns. She was a
melodious singer. I have heard her sing
often till the fountains of the tenderest emo
tions of the listeners would break fort!
into floods of tears.
As she sang, her father called her.
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48
ADDKESS TO
“Mary, come up here!” She immedi
ately obeyed, and went up stairs, to be
shot by her enraged father. She had a
martyr’s spirit, as every boy and girl
ought to have, and was not afraid to die.
When she reached the top of the stairs,
her father said, “ Mary, that is a very
pretty song; sing some more.” Then,
overcome with emotion, said he, as he
dropped on his knees, “Mary, will you’
forgive your wicked old father ?” “ 0 yes,
father,'’ said Mary, as she put her arms
round his neck, “ I forgive you with all
my heart/ 5 “ Mary, Mary, pray for me,”
said he; “ 0, pray that God may forgive
my sins!” She kneeled by his side, and,
with streaming eyes, plead with the Lord
for her father. The struggle was con
tinued for hours, but resulted in the old
man’s conversion to God. He joined the
M. E. Church, and in it lived and died.
Mary continued steadfast till the day
of her death. She became a woman of
great faith and usefulness. Her house
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YOUNG AMERICA..
v; as a home for the preachers, and each,
member of her family took delight in min
istering to their comfort. I have seen
scores of souls converted under her roof,
and, as I believed, principally through her
instrumentality. She has, during my ab
sence in California, gone, in holy triumph,
to her home in Heaven.
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m
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A WORD
TO
THE OLD POLES.
Dear fathers and mothers, allow me,
most respectfully, to invite your attention
to the most important question that can
occupy the minds of parents, and espe
cially of Christian parents, viz., the salva
tion of all our children before they leave
their teens.
There are two fields that especially
demand the attention of the Church. One
contains the millions of precious souls
without, embracing every grade of society,
for whom we have no church accommo
dations. Deeply degraded as these may
be, the mass of them have not been hard
ened under the preaching of the Gospel;
and if the word of life is proclaimed to
(51)
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52
A WORD TO
them in the spirit of Christ’s constraining
love, many of them will receive it more
gladly than do the mass of kind, matter-
of-course, church-going sinners. A large
proportion of the aged, and middle-aged
sinners, who attend church, and constitute,
in many places, a majority of our regular
hearers, have long since rejected the Gos
pel, in its saving, individual offers to them.
Many of them are amiable, and liberal,
and pliable. They assent to nearly every
thing the preacher says, and are very fond
of hearing good sermons; but they have
long ago rejected Christ, and their con
sciences are as impervious as the hide of
a rhinoceros—“seared as with an hot
iron.” I- would not say that we should
abandon such; but I do say that, if half
the labour, which is now spent on them,
were bestowed on those who hear not the
Gospel, it would yield double the amount
of fruit it now does. But, the other great
field, which is the most important of all,
and to which I invite your special atten-
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THE OLD FOLKS.
53
tion, is that which embraces the youth of
our nation.
There are about six millions of boys
and girls in the United States, between
the ages of five and fifteen years. They
would make a line of living Young Amer
icans, in close single file, about 1200 miles
long; and if a man were to undertake to
count them, and spend twelve hours each
day at it, and count one for every second
of that time, it would take him nearly
five months to reach the end of the file.
This vast multitude of precious young
souls have just passed the lines of infantile
innocency, and left the kingdom of Hea
ven, where they of right belong. Lured
by the song of the sirens that wait to
devour them, attracted by the bewitching
charms of a deceitful world, they are
diverging from the path of life into the
dark mazes of iniquity. Shall these blood-
bought millions be arrested and brought
back to Christ, or shall they go on and
be “blinded by the god of this world, and
5 *
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54
A WORD TO
be led by him into the labyrinth of infi
delity and sin, and lose their souls ?”
“Say not there are yet four months,
and then cometh the harvest”—or wait
till these children reach mature age, and
then seek to bring them back to God.
“ Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes
and look 011 the fields; for they are white
already to harvest.”
If you are unwilling to apply these im
pressive words of Jesus to all the 6,000,000
of juveniles commencing at the age of five
years, you may commence a little far
ther down the stream, say from eight
to eighteen, and you still have nearly
6,000,000; and of the whole field em
braced between these ages, I have no hesi
tancy in saying it is “ white already to
harvest.” When a field is “white to har
vest,” it must be harvested immediately,
or lost. But very little grain, compared
with the whole crop, can ever be gathered
if the proper harvest time is neglected.
If these children and youths are not
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THE OLD FOLKS.
gathered into the garner of God in their
teens, four-fifths of the golden harvest will
perish for ever. Look, if you please, at the
adult portion of the 27,000^000 of souls in
the United States. Nearly 20,000,000 of
them are over ten years of age. But a
few years ago every soul of them was a
member of' Christ’s spiritual kingdom.
Then the blush of guilty shame had
never mounted their lovely cheeks, and
their little hearts throbbed in infantile
innocency, untainted by one act of wilful
sin. Where are they now? Not more
than one-fifth of them have even a nomi-
fial connexion with any Protestant Chris
tian Church, and a large discount must in
justice be allowed for such as are merely
nominal members, “having a name to
live, while they are dead.” There may
be many good Christians in the Roman
Catholic Church. I hope the day of
eternitjf ma}^ show that they have enough
to make up thp number of our discounted
rlead members. The whole field belongs to
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56
A WORD TO
Christ, and he hath sent forth his reapers
to gather it for himself, furnishing then?
with every necessary facility—placing the
resources of Omnipotence at their com*
mand. Why, then, has four-fifths of
the ripened harvest perished before our
eyes ? Is it not because we allowed the
appropriate reaping season to pass while we
were saying, “ There are yet four months,
and then cometh harvest.” If the hus
bandman, by neglect or otherwise, were
to lose four-fifths of his crop, he would
consider it a dreadful disaster. He would
be very apt to look well to the next
crop. "Well, now that the church has lost
harvest after harvest through succeeding
generations, is it best that nearly all the
time of her labourers should be spent in
the old dead fields with whom “ the har
vest is past and the summer ended,” when
this fruitful field, now “ white to the har
vest,” is before us ?
St. Paul’s plan was, when he got among
old dead stocks that had lost all their
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THE OLD FOLKS.
57
precious grain, to shake the dust off his
feet, and say: “ Lo, I turn unto the Gen
tiles.” He immediately went to a field,
that could be harvested.
Our juvenile field is ripe, and can be
gathered in its appropriate time; that
time neglected, and it will go as the fields
that have perished before it.
But is this the appropriate time ? I was
speaking, a short time ago, to a minister,
whom I dearly love, on the importance of
having children converted and trained for
God in their youth. “Ah!” said he, “it
involves too long a period of delicate nurs
ing.’' That, I believe, is the sentiment
of a great many good persons; but what
is the alternative ? Why give them over
to the tender mercies of the devil, and let
him nurse an I rear them according to “his
will.” He will not hesitate a moment in
taking the “ delicate situation” of nurse
and tutor for our children, and will attend
to his business so diligently and skilfully
and so attach the little fellows to himself,
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58
A WORD TO
and so alienate them from us and our
God, that he will take them away with
him in spite of all our tears and entrea
ties ; and, as we have shown, not more
than one in five of them will ever come
back to us. Lost for ever, because we
did not nurse and train them up for
God!
It was “ ;while men slept,” that “ the
tares” were sown. I read a sad tragedy
this morning, which “occurred at the
poorhouse, Tam worth, N. H. On Sunday
last,” according to the statement of the
Manchester Mirror, “the superintendent
of the farm, Mr. Whiting, was absent;
and Mrs. Whiting, after getting her infant
child to sleep, fell asleep herself. When
she awoke, an insane girl, an inmate of
the house, was in the room crying.
Startled by her wild appearance, she
looked into the cradle for her babe—but
alas, her darling was gone! She imme
diately went in search, and found the
child in a brook near the house, with its
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THE OLD FOLKS.
59
face downward, and life extinct. The
crazy girl, to make sure of the consumma
tion of her horrid purpose, had piled
wood upon the child, and shut off every
chance of its saving itself.”
So, while we are enjoying our repose,
and waiting for the harvest time to come
for the salvation of our children, the devil
runs away with them and “drowns them
in perdition.” God’s design, in regard to
the early piety of children, as revealed in
his Word/is patent to every candid reader.
And where is the man or woman, at all
acquainted with the operations of the
Holy Spirit upon the human heart, that
cannot recur to different periods of their
childhood when God called them as cer
tainly as that he called Elkanah’s son in
days of old ? Why, therefore, should any
man, much less any Christian, question
the propriety of juvenile piety, when God
hath so manifestly declared his will in
regard to it, both by his Word and
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60
A WORD TO
“ But,” says one, “ children have no
stability. If they make a profession of
religion, they immediately backslide, and
reproach the cause of God.” We answer,
1st. Many converted children do not
backslide.
2d. It remains to be shown whether,
in proportion to the number of children
who profess religion, as many of them
backslide as do of adult converts. And
3d. Whether the right kind .of nursing
would not have saved even them from
apostacy. I am persuaded that the dis
trust which many professors of religion
exhibit, in regard to juvenile converts, has
a very bad influence on them. Again, I
believe for want of due attention to the
subject, and practice in the training of
children for God, that skilful nurses are
few and far between.
A great many persons, seeing a boy
profess religion, seem to have an idea that
he must be no longer a boy, but put on a
long, solemn face, and henceforth be an
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THE OLD FOLKS.
61
old-fashioned man. If he is afterwards
caught in the act of any boyish mus
cular exercise, the finger of some gloomy
croaker is immediately pointed at him,
with the emphatic “ Just as X expected.
There is your Christian ! Pretty-looking
Christian that!” Dear me, what enormous
crime has the boy committed ? “ Why,
he has been playing ball!” Indeed ! and
what of it? What law has he violated?
Has he broken the law of love to God or
man? “No, I don’t know that he has;
but it is inconsistent with Christian so
briety.” Regulating the recreations and
sports of children, and harmonizing them
with Christian life, is, we confess, a ques
tion involving some difficult points, and
especially so, because, in my humble
opinion, it has never received due atten
tion, except the kind of attention re
ferred to, which does not pretend to solve
the question, but abruptly ignores it.
I do not profess to be able to give the
solution. I hope that older and wiser
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6'2
A WORD TO
heads in the Church will; hut I would
remark, in regard to it,
1st. That the laws of God do not con
flict with each other.
2d. That God has endowed our physi
cal and intellectual nature with certain
essential laws, and has also given us, by
the revelation of his Word and Spirit, a
law for our consciences. These are all
God-given laws-, and hence they should
act in harmony with each other.
The laws of our physical and intellec
tual nature demand variety and contrast,
alternate labour and rest: diligent appli
cation and relaxation, and recreation.
Neglect these laws, and you’ll pay the
penalty. Rob nature, and she will pursue
you like the tax collector.
Many students in our colleges, and
many professional men, violate these
laws and suffer the penalty of a prema
ture wreck of health and constitution,
and often of death itself If they would
throw off the stiff dignity of their posi-
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THE OLD FOLKS.
63
tions. and go out every day at proper
hours, and take suitable recreations, they
would be much more efficient in their
various departments of duty, and would
prolong their days. Now, if these things
are true in regard to adults, they are more
especially true in regard to children.
Their muscular, vocal, and intellectual
powers are all to be developed, and can
only be developed in accordance with
their constitutional laws. It is our duty,
therefore, to provide adequately for this,
and harmoniously develop alike the phy
sical, intellectual, and moral nature of
our children. Overlooking the essential
nature of these physical laws, and array
ing the law of conscience against them,
have involved a collision and struggle in
the experience of thousands of juvenile
converts, which have, in the very nature
of the case, resulted either in their “ ship
wreck of faith,” or in the wreck of then
physical constitution. When a lad of four
teen years, I took up the form, and was seek '
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04
A WORD TO
ing the power of godliness. Soon after
this, when I started to school for the
“winter quarter,” a sincere Christian
adviser gave me a serious talk about how
[ should conduct myself at school, and
closed his prescription for my soul by
giving me an example to work by. It
was a lad of my acquaintance, in an ad
joining neighbourhood, who had joined
society at the same time I did. “ W. H.,”
said my friend, “never plays at school,
nor associates with the boys out of school
hours. During play-time, while the other
scholars are playing and romping about,
he takes his Bible, and goes off to himself,
and reads and prays till school takes in
again.” Thought I, “ 0, I wish I were
as good as he! At any rate he sets me
a good example, and I will follow it.”
My plan for “ being good” was now fixed,
and away I went to school. In that plain
country school-house, I sat on narrow
slab seats, without backs, poring over my
studies for several weary hours, and when
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THE OLD FOLKS.
65
a playtime” came, I was jaded, and pain
fully restless. But the law of my con
science must be obeyed at all hazards.
So when the “ rest of the scholars” were
running and jumping, playing and halloo
ing, I was away off to myself, Bible in
hand, trying to read. Every muscle, and
nerve, and bone in my body seemed to be
held in painful suspense. This war ol
conscience against physical law T s lasted
for several days, when the latter gained
the victory; Conscience was carried by
storm, and I ran out and took a game of
ball at a venture.
But when Conscience caught me alone,
afterwards^ he gave it to me soundly. I
was lashed until I wished I never had
been born.
But physical law kept the , ascendancy
during that “ quarter,” and my poor body
escaped dwarfdom at the expense of my
conscience.
Six or seven years later, after I had
6 *
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A WORD TO
obtained religion, I went to school “in
town.”
Having been regenerated, iny power of
conscience had greatly increased, and put
ting the strait jacket on my physical
laws, I retaliated on them for their early
victories, and would have controlled them
at the cost of life. A few months sufficed
to bring on confirmed dyspepsia, which
came very near killing me outright, body
and soul. A little judicious advice would
have saved me from both those dreadful
struggles and their sad consequences. I
have, by hard experience, learned a few
things about the philosophy of life. The
necessary alternation of toil and recrea
tion ; intense application for the attain
ment of difficult achievement, and of by
stations along the toilsome way, where
the weary may sit by the running brook,
listen to the song of birds, spend an hour
on the green lawn of social life, and gather
sweet flowers, or engage in vigorous mus
cular amusements according to the cha-
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THE OLD FOLKS.
67
rau*. : of the recreation demanded by
the peculiar nature of his calling; these
all are but to prepare him the better
for the prosecution of his adventurous
journey. The burden of my life is tc
study and labour in the great business
of soul-saving. For recreation, I play
with the children, dig in the garden,
ramble over the fields, run a mile occa
sionally, take vigorous gymnastic exercises
daily, and thus I keep up a constant
vigour of constitution that enables me to
preach five or six sermons per Sabbath for
years together, without any hoarseness and
with but little weariness. A short time
ago, when I returned to the home of my
youth to see my dear parents, after an
absence of more than eight years, and hav
ing just closed a revival campaign of five
months, during which I had taxed my
powers daily up to the measure of their
capacity, I felt the reaction telling upon
me, causing great lassitude of mind and
body. To relieve this unpleasant state of
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A WORD TO
things, 1 ascended the lofty heights of my
native mountains to roll rocks, and to see
the huge boulders bounding down the
mountain steeps, sweeping the saplings
and cracking and peeling the sturdy
oaks, and disappearing in the bushy vale
beneath. The air was pure; the scenery
and the exercise exhilarating. I renewed
my strength. The rock rolling over, I
kneeled on the mountain summit, and 0 ,
how precious was that hour ! Jesus was
in the habit of going “ up into a moun
tain to pray.” I have always found it a
good place to pray. I have proved it on
many a mountain height, 011 both sides
of our continent. These recreations extra
ordinary, such as the rock-rolling, awaken
a mental vigour that is felt for months.
Returning from the mountain, I was read},
again to engage in the great battle foi
souls with renewed energy. I shall not
try here to designate the kind of sports
and recreations necessary for Christian
children, only to say that they are neces-
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sary to physical development, and there
fore not inconsistent with moral law.
By the expression, physical laws, we
of course do not mean those sinful “ affec
tions and lusts which war against the
soul,” and which we are commanded to
“ crucify.” Great care is always necessary
to guard all Christians against vile asso
ciations; for “evil communications cor
rupt good morals,” alike in adults and
children.
The attention of Christians should be
constantly fixed on the moral law, as the
simple rule of life, as the two sides of the
arch of Christian character; and to Jesus,
the keystone, received into the heart, and
cherished and relied on as the only source
of light and purity. If we have the
inward life, there will be no difficulty
about an appropriate manifestation of it.
But if our attention is diverted from the
vital question, from “ looking unto Jesus,”
and occupied with doubtful questions of
outward forms or words, or no matter
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A WORD TO
what—if Satan can get up a contention
among Christians about theological terms
or mere prudential questions of outward
Christian propriety—the cut of a coat,
the shape of a bonnet, or anything at all
that will divert their attention from Jesus
—he gains a signal advantage over them,
to the injury of their inward spiritual
life.
We have enlarged a little-on this ques
tion of physical development, because of
its necessary connexion with religious de
velopment.
But, to return to the main question—
the conversion and holy training of our
children. We have shown the practica
bility of it, and hence our imperative duty
in the premises; and now the question
arises, Are we discharging our whole duty
toward the children of America in this
regard ? What is being done directly foi
the present salvation of the masses of oui
children ?
We find a few parents who can take no
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71
rest until they see their children, while
in youth, brought into the fold of Christ,
and exemplifying the fruits of holiness.
Those, of such, who labour judiciously,
earnestly, perseveringly,.almost invariably
succeed, especially when the “united
head” are- agreed as touching this thing.
There is another class of parents, who
make but little direct personal effort, but
rely on their prayers and example to bring
their children in, at some indefinite period
in the future. They may or may not see
some of them converted before they die.
There is another class, who are very
strict in laying on external restraints,
which have the effect to hold the lads in
check during infancy and youth; but,
being familiar only with the dark side of
religion—knowing nothing of the inward
life and enjoyment of it, they get a false
view of the nature of religion, as some
thing. to make men happy and useful.
Hence, at a certain age, the cords that
bind them are snapped, like “the new
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witlis” of Sampson—“ as a thread of tow
is broken when it toucheth the fire.” The
rein is then thrown on the neck of the
animal; and where they will stop, who
can tell ?
Again, there are those who seem to
think they discharge their whole duty to
their, children if they give them a good
literary training, and teach them, by means
of dancing-schools, &c., to move gracefully
in polite society. There are still many
others, who have 110 care of their children,
except to feed and clothe them, and gel
all the work out of them they can before
the^y “ get free.”
And legions of others, who fairly com
pete with the ostrich in their care for their
offspring. But, is it not true, that a large
majority of parents, who feel deeply the
importance of training their children for
God, do now, even more than in former
years, divide their responsibility with the
Sunday school teacher? It strikes me
hat the Sunday school comes in but as an
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73
auxiliary, not to relieve parents of respon
sibility, but to assist them in the work of
saving their children.
The value of any system of appliances
is proven by its efficiency. Let parents
see to it that the desirable end is attained,
and be thankful for the valuable auxil
iaries by which they are assisted.
Again. Are the Sunday schools, and
the Church collectively, accomplishing the
whole of their heaven-given mission on
behalf of the rising generation ? Do our
Sunday school efforts mainly look directly
to the present conversion of the children ?
Is not the idea practically prevalent in the
church, that a Sunday school teacher’s
business is to teach the catechism, hear
Scripture recitations, and to explain to the
children the general meaning of the sacred
text ? How else can we account for the
difficulty in obtaining a good supply of
competent religious instructors, and nurs
ing fathers and mothers, to labour in the
Sunday school ? And hence the necessity
7
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A WORD TO
of employing many inexperienced youths
as teachers, many of whom do not even
profess religion. (I am glad that even
the latter are willing to work in this cause
and do what they can.) Are not the pub
lie catechising talks and addresses to the
children, usually, of a general character?
full of interest and instruction to be
sure, but summed up in these words: “ Be
good children,” instead of, “Repent ye,
and believe the Gospel.” Is the fact im
pressed upon their minds that the only
possible way “ to be good,” in the Gospel
sense, is to be “ born again”—to have the
love of God shed abroad in their hearts,
which constitutes the only true principle
of obedience, without which their “ right
eousness is as filthy rags ?” I admit, as
fully as any man, the necessity of cate
chising the children—of making them
thoroughly acquainted with the Scrip
tures; and I rejoice in the increasing in
terest of our Church in this subject; but
we must be careful that we do not practi-
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75
cally substitute a beautiful system of moral
training for regeneration of heart by the
Holy Spirit. Our teachings are effective
only as they lead the soul to Christ, not
in after life, but now, and as a means of
developing the love of God in the hearts
of our children, and manifesting it in
their lives. Mere theories and forms are
like a beautiful train of cars attached to
a cold steam-engine. We put our boys,
with shoulder to the wheel, to roll the
train up the track. “ Heave away there,
my lads, it will go easier by and by. This
is the right road, and an engine and train
are indispensable; so work away like good
boys.”
Such travelling as that will not suit
young America, and the next thing you
know they are off and away on a pleasure
jaunt on their own account. You call
them back, and remind them of their
solemn duties, and set them to work
again, but the result is the same every
time. Now, that is not the way to travel
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A WORD TO
by railroad. You never will be able to
keep the boys at that; and if you should
succeed, what good result could you gain ?
I admit the necessity of the engine and
train as fully as you do, but that is not
the way to travel by railroad. “ Fire up!
raise the steam! put the engine under its
power! and then whistle for the young
folks.” “ Gome, boys and girls, and take a
ride on the railroad. All aboard !”
Why, sir, your cars are crowded. We
must have the life and power of religion
in the souls of our children to make the
cars go.
But then, are not Sunday schools doing
a great work directly for the conversion
of the children? Certainly they are.
The Sunday schools of the M. E. Church
alone, report the conversion last year of
16,775 children. That is a glorious work,
and judging from the very small ee increase”
in our church last year, it would seem
that the principal part of the harvest
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gathered during the year was from this
field.
The question is not, Whether our Sun
day schools are doing. good, and an incal
culable amount of good? but, Whether
they are reaping and gathering in any
thing like a just proportion of the great
harvest intrusted to their care ?
I am persuaded they are not, but
believe that with increasing efficiency
every year, they will come up to this
nobl6 work. 0, Jesus! help them to
thrust in the sickle and gather the harvest
home.
What is the Church doing, apart from
what she does in the Sunday schools, for
the conversion of the children? When
do the masses of our children hear the-
Gospel preached? Many of them are
usually found on Sunday morning in the
galleries of our heated churches. They
have just come up from a half-ventilated
basement room, where they have been
kept for two hours on “ short allowance”
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A WORD TO
of oxygen, till their hearts and lungs and
blood almost clamour for the {t out-doors.”
And now, in their jaded, fidgety con
dition, the watchman appointed to keep
order during public service, with all his
significant gestures and frowns and hisses,
has a hard time of it. How much of
that Sunday morning sermon is addressed
to the children? How much of it is
adapted to their capacity ? And if it all
were addressed to them, and adapted to
their years, what is their condition to
listen to it, or profit by it ?
Besides that most fruitless hour, so far
as the children are concerned, when do
they ever hear the Gospel preached?
When ? Let the Church answer. Now,
while we send the Gospel to the heathen,
and proclaim it to the masses without, in
the “ highways and hedges,” and while
we dispense it in continuous profusion to
the crowds of church-going sinners who
nave long ago rejected it, 0! for the sake
of the priceless germs of immortality with
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]
“ Boy overboard I boy overboard 1 See yonder in the wake he strug
gles! Down with the life boat! away! away!”—Page 81.
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THE OLD FOLKS.
81
which God has intrusted us, and for whose
redemption Jesus poured out his heart’s
blood, let us “preach the Gospel” to our
children.
Dear American fathers and mothers,
allow me again to call your attention to
that most solemnly interesting spectacle
of 6,000,000 of young Americans, who
have just left the “ark of safety,” and
after playing awhile near the shore of
life’s stormy sea, they are now being car
ried out by the surf waves into the deep,
where untold dangers await them. Ah I
that sea is full of sharks, and four chances
out of five against our confident young
swimmers, that if they venture out far,
they will be caught, and will perish in
the deep.
A magnificent steamship on the Pacific,
freighted with about 1000 California ad
venturers, was moving upon the surface
of that swelling ocean, when suddenly
the whole ship’s company was startled by
the alarm cry, “ Boy overboard! boy over-
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board ! See, yonder in the wake he strug
gles. Down with the life boat! Away!
away!” 0, the suspense and agony of
those parents as they stood on the hurri
cane deck, and weeping and wringing
their hands, and each one crying, “ 0 my
boy! my boy ! my dear boy!”
Every passenger was in sympathy with
those horror-stricken parents. But now
the boat is nearing him. “ They’ll soon
get him! A few minutes and he is safe !”
But suddenly he disappeared, and the
dreadful cry ran through the ship’s com
pany, “A shark! a shark! There’s the
boy again! see! see! He’s got loose
from the shark!”
But suddenly he again disappears!
Poor boy! He’s gone !
He was “ almost” saved! The boat
was within a few feet of him! 0, how
many precious young Americans have I
seen dragged down by the fiery sharks of
the burning lake! I have heard the
dreadful wail of dying hundreds as they
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83
sank beneath the flood to rise 110 more!
0 , let every lover of Jesus man the life
boats of mercy ! Let us “ away ! away !.”
and by the grace of God pick up the
perishing millions whom we may be in
strumental in saving, if we approach
them in time, but who are every moment
exposed to eternal death.
0 dear fathers and mothers, in earnest
effort be not discouraged, “ For the pro-
. mise is unto you and your children.”
THE END-
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, - ' I " r f , 1 4
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STORAGE
53,083
15
RAM.
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