PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINSRY 
 
 BY 
 
 JVIits. AlexandcP Ppoudfit. 
 
 BV 1520 .E5 
 
 Eggleston, Edward, 1837- 
 
 1902. 
 The manual 
 

THE MANUAL 
 
 A PRACTICAL GUIDE 
 
 TpHE Sunday-School Work. 
 
 BY EDWARD EGGLESTON, 
 
 EDITOR OF THE "NATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER.' 
 
 He who looks upon Sunday-School leaching' as a relaxation merely, 
 or as a cheap form of Christian benevolence, will gain no real success 
 in it. That success is reserved for those who regard the work as one 
 involving solemn responsibilities, who devote to it the best powers 
 and faculties they possess, and who seek to improve their natural gifts 
 by diligent culture, and by studying the rules of teaching as a science 
 and as an art. — Fitch. 
 
 CHICAGO : 
 
 ADAMS, BLACKMER, AND LYON, 
 
 155 Randolph Street. 
 
 1869. 
 
Entered, according lo Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 
 
 ADAMS, BI,ACKMER, AND LYON. 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
 Northern District of Illinois. 
 
 Church, Goodman and Donnelley, Printers and Stereotypers, 
 Chicago. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 My purpose in this little book is to furnish a practical 
 guide to the Sundaj-school work in all its departments, 
 to give the most essential and necessary instructions, 
 without encumbering the book with theories, to give 
 these directions in the most condensed form, and in the 
 plainest language; in short, to make a thoroughly prac- 
 tical and compendious hand-book of advanced methods. 
 Most Sundaj-school workers are busy people. They 
 have no leisure for reading an extended treatise, and for 
 weighing different and opposite methods. If they read 
 works on method, it must be in the intervals of their 
 ordinary occupations. I have written with the wants 
 of this largest class in my mind, giving sub-heads to 
 each paragraph, to facilitate reference, and to give each 
 detached portion a completeness in itself. 
 
 I have not hesitated to advocate the most advanced 
 methods, where they are founded on a true philosophy, 
 and have stood the test of a practical use, nor have I 
 hesitated to reject all those artificial and impractical 
 schemes which bes^t every progressive movement, and 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 which often gain the sanction of eminent names. In the 
 Sundaj-school work it is a safe maxim, that what is not 
 simple and natural, is to be rejected. 
 
 This book is not intended to supplant the excellent 
 works on this subject already issued, but to fill a place 
 for which they were never designed. And so far from 
 wishing to stand in the way of future publications of the 
 kind, the writer expresses the sincere hope that the Sun- 
 day-school work may soon make such progress that this 
 book, if not wholly forgotten, may be remembered only 
 as a mile-stone in the path of that advance. 
 
 Chicago, March^ 1869. 
 
THE MANUAL 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK, 
 
 part first. 
 The School in General. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 'UNDAMENTAL HOUGHTS. 
 
 T' 
 
 Mistakes are made right here, at the founda- 
 tion : even those, who would give right definitions 
 if asked, practically ignore the true use of the 
 school. 
 
 The Object. — The fullest, and truest, and 
 only correct conception of the object is that it is 
 intended to promote Christian Education. It 
 does not matter what the first Sunday-school was 
 started for, this is the conception of its end 
 that forces itself upon the Christian heart, and a 
 failure to realize this, lies at the root of nearly all 
 our failures. In this work of Ciiristian education, 
 the Sunday-school is the co-laborer of the family. 
 
6 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 In What it Consists. — But what is a 
 Christian education ? Is it to learn the catechism ? 
 Is it to learn the Bible "by heart?" Is it to learn 
 the creed of any particular church? Is it to be 
 drilled to certain evolutions by the taps of a bell ? 
 Is it to learn the commandments, and listen to 
 grave homilies on moral duties? Is it to learn to 
 sing a few hundred Sunday-school pieces? For if 
 you consult the practice of Sunday-schools, you 
 will find that each of these seems to be the ol^ject 
 of some schools. 
 
 Definition. — Perhaps, we had better not try 
 to give a formal and complete definition, but let 
 us take it up in its parts and see what the idea 
 of Christian education includes. 
 
 Conversion. — We may safely say that there 
 can be no true Christian education till there is 
 a Christian life. The very first purpose, then, 
 is to bring the heart of the pupil to Christ as the 
 Saviour. The normal Christian life begins in 
 early childhood, and all those who come to Christ 
 later are born out of due time. 
 
 Development. — But the idea of a Chris- 
 tian education involves more than this. To 
 develop and mature the Christian character is no 
 less the work of the school, than the bringing of 
 them to Christ. 
 
 The Means. — The true instrument of this 
 work is God's Word. Not the catechism, not 
 the question book, nor the library book. These 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. *J 
 
 may be useful in their places, but the truths of 
 the Bible are best of all, and all other things are 
 to be used as subordinate to this. 
 
 The Living Teacher is one of God's own 
 ordained instrumentalities. People talk of the 
 Sunday-school as a human organization, and of the 
 danger of its coming to take the place of the 
 preaching of the Gospel, a divine ordinance. Just 
 as if the Christian education of the young were not 
 a divine ordinance, older than that of preaching, 
 and second in God's economy to no other means 
 of grace. The living teacher is God's appointed 
 instrument. 
 
 He Must be alive. — Not a dead teacher 
 who reads questions at a class. Question-books 
 and lesson-papers serve many excellent uses in the 
 preparation of a lesson by teacher and scholar, 
 but the teacher who simply " hears a lesson," 
 whether by reading from a question-book or cate- 
 chism, or by having a great quantity of Scripture 
 learned by the pupils, is not a living teacher, but 
 a dead machine. Dry instruction from a catechism, 
 by merely asking printed questions, is machine 
 teaching. 
 
 Relation to the Church. — Much time 
 and patience have been wasted in conventions in 
 debating the relation of the Sunday-school to the 
 Church. It were much better to discuss the 
 relation of the Church to the Sunday-school, in 
 such a way as to persuade ministers and people 
 
8 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 to work In the Sunday-school. And then, when 
 the Church does its duty in the Sunday-school, it 
 will be found that they are so identical, that the 
 most hair-splitting debate can not find a line of 
 distinction, and where all are busy at work for 
 Christ in the school, there will be no jealousy 
 about authority or jurisdiction. 
 
 First Principles. — A Sunday-school should 
 not be conducted for the sake of showing how 
 good the order can be, nor for the sake of the 
 singing, nor for the sake of numbers, nor for 
 festivals, nor even for the study of the Bible as an 
 end ; but for the salvation and Christian culture, 
 through the truth of the Gospel, of those con- 
 nected with it. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 J-IlNTS ON ^UNDAY-^CHOOL A^ICHITECTURE. 
 
 It is not to be expected that we can give a 
 treatise on architecture in a manual like this. 
 But there are some prevalent abuses in regard to 
 which we may speak, and we may lay down 
 some general principles. 
 
 Light. — One of the first requisites for a Sun- 
 day-school room is light. Not only light enough 
 to see by, but light enough to penetrate the 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 9 
 
 spirits of the children with its own sweet joyous- 
 ness. Basement Sunday-school rooms are an 
 abomination. Light, from high windows slanting 
 down from the sky, is far more necessary in a 
 Sunday-school room than in an audience room. 
 If you must have a basement, put the audience 
 room there, but do not make the children's souls 
 like the bodies of the poor, crooked, dwarfed coal- 
 miners in England who hardly ever see the sun. 
 Do not stain the windows of a Sunday-school 
 room, but let the pure, white, Sabbath sunshine 
 
 come in. 
 
 Am. — Good ventilation is even more necessary 
 than light. A basement room can have neither. 
 Arrange your room so that the children may be in 
 the best possible physical state to receive instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 Combined School and Audience Rooms are 
 much to be preferred, if well arranged, to base- 
 ment rooms. 
 
 Let all See. — The Superintendent's desk 
 should be where all can see him. Do not put 
 any body behind him. 
 
 Separate Rooms must be provided for the 
 Infant-class and the Bible-class. Nothing but 
 extreme poverty can make it less than a crime for 
 a church to build without these. If such a building 
 has been already constructed, then curtains should 
 be used, as substitutes for partition walls. 
 
 The Library Room should always be near the 
 door. I* 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ^HE Lesson. 
 
 Uniformity. — No greater improvement has 
 been introduced in Sunday-school work of late 
 years, than the uniform lesson. Without a uni- 
 form lesson, there can be no Teachers' Meeting. 
 There can be no such thing as a Superintendent in 
 the true sense of the word. General exercises 
 are impossible. Unity of thought in hymns and 
 prayer is out of the question. The moral power 
 of a large number studying the same passage is 
 destroyed. There can be no such thing as an 
 effective school without a uniform lesson of some 
 kind. Upon this question there is almost no dif- 
 ference of opinion among leading Sunday-school 
 men in this country and Great Britain. 
 
 The Graded Method. — A tendency has shown 
 itself in some quarters to adopt a method of grad- 
 ing, by which different lessons shall be studied by 
 different sections of the school. Waiving for the 
 time all other objections to the graded system, the 
 simple fact that it breaks up the teachers' meeting 
 and destroys the general exercises, is enough. 
 Nothing is more dangerous to the Sunday-school 
 work than the disposition to press its methods into 
 a constrained and unnatural correspondence with 
 those of secular schools. The purpose and cir- 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. II 
 
 cumstances of the two are so different, that It is 
 only in the region of general principles that this 
 correspondence can be Insisted on. 
 
 One Lesson for the School, the same in the 
 "Bible-classes," the "Main School," and the 
 Infant-class, but adapted by teachers to the capaci- 
 ties and wants of each, is the watchword of all 
 the best schools, the foundation for all true 
 advancement. It gives concentration, oneness, 
 heart, life, success. It Is the first and most essen- 
 tial step to true success. 
 
 The Consecutive Course. — The old plan has 
 been, where there was a uniform lesson, to take 
 the Scriptures, or a portion of them, consecutively. 
 The evil of this plan is, that while all the Scrip- 
 ture should be known, there is great difference in 
 the value of different portions for Sunday-school 
 lessons. The time that a child spends in school 
 is so limited, in most cases, that all the Bible can 
 not be gone over. The chief purpose being to lay 
 the foundations for and develop a Christian life, 
 the portion of time is so short, that only that part 
 best adapted to the purpose should be used. Select 
 portions are therefore the best. But the course 
 for a given period of time should have some logi- 
 cal connection. 
 
 The Verse Counting System.— The w^orst 
 of all systems is that which counts off verses by 
 the half-dozen or more, as a grocer sells eggs, and 
 estimates the Scripture by the most artificial of all 
 
12 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 methods. By this plan a lesson is taken that has 
 neither beginning or ending, or that sits astride 
 portions of two different subjects. 
 
 Unity of the Lesson. — Every Sunday-school 
 lesson should have a heart. It should be complete 
 in itself. No definite number of verses can be pre- 
 scribed. It should be neither too long nor too 
 short. But it should be complete in itself. 
 
 The Subjects. — The subjects of a Sunday- 
 school lesson should have a practical bearing. 
 Doctrines they should contain also, liut no Sun- 
 day-school lesson is complete that does not reach 
 the heart or conscience naturally, upon some one 
 side or other. The great spiritual themes of the 
 Gospel should be the chief topics. The New Tes- 
 tament should be the principal study. It does no 
 harm for a pupil to go over, in the Intermediate- 
 class, what he learned from a different stand-point 
 in the Infant-class. Nor does it hurt him to dig 
 for the deep things in the same lesson, when he 
 reaches the Adult-class. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Jhe Jeachers' ^Meeting. 
 
 There must be One. — There can not be unity 
 without it. There can not be any good teaching 
 generally prevalent without it. If there is no 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 13 
 
 Teachers' Meeting, the Superintendent should 
 bend his first eftbrts to have one. It is a very 
 first essential to success. 
 
 What it is For. — First of all, to keep alive 
 the interest and earnestness of the teachers. To 
 stimulate them to diligent and earnest work. To 
 give them counsel in regard to the management 
 of their classes. To help each one to understand 
 the lesson. To give each teacher the benefit of 
 the sympathy of all the rest. To train teachers in 
 method in teaching. It is the heart and soul of 
 the School ; and as a rule, the most interested and 
 benefited classes are those whose teachers attend 
 the Teachers' Meetings most regularly. 
 
 How Often. — Once a week, if possible. But 
 the Superintendent must not undertake impossi- 
 bilities. If the teachers can not be gotten together 
 once a week, on account of the multiplicity of 
 other engagements, they should at least meet once 
 in two weeks. But the pastor should take care 
 that other meetings are not placed above this. 
 Neither the weekly prayer-meeting, nor, indeed, 
 any other of the week evening meetings compare 
 in importance with that one where the " workers'* 
 of a church prepare themselves for the church's 
 greatest work. As a rule, a weekly meeting is 
 better sustained than any other. 
 
 Perseverance. — It is the hardest thing about 
 the school to do. To sustain the Teachers' Meet- 
 ing will tax all the Superintendent's patience and 
 
14 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 perseverance. But if he begin with a firm con- 
 viction of its importance, he will never cease to 
 strive for the accomplishment of this good end — 
 an end rarely ever perfectly attained. 
 
 Means. — There are some means of securing a 
 good attendance, which must be observed, i. 
 Never regard a meeting as a failure if there are 
 two present. If but few attend, make the meeting 
 more interesting than ever. 2. Talk about it, 
 insist upon it, and always mention it to absent 
 teachers in such a way that they will feel that they 
 were missed. 3. Always have something to give 
 your teachers at the meeting — inake it %vorth 
 atteiidlng, 4. Begin promptly, and close early. 
 5. Put your heart and soul into the meeting. 
 
 Where. — At the most convenient place. Some- 
 times at the houses of teachers, sometimes in some 
 room connected with the church or chapel in 
 which the school meets. 
 
 When. — Generally on Friday or Saturday even- 
 ing. Have the evening on which the teachers 
 meet sacredly protected from other church meet- 
 ings. The worst time for such a meeting is on 
 the Sabbath, though this is far better than to have 
 no meeting at all. 
 
 The Leader. — The Superintendent is the true 
 leader. During the time devoted to lesson-study 
 he may give place to his pastor, or some one else, 
 if better adapted to the work than he is himself. 
 But the Superintendent should always have gen- 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 15 
 
 eral charge, and it is far better that he should con- 
 duct it throughout, unless in some special cases. 
 
 How Conducted.— Never monotonously. It 
 IS usually better to give the first half of the meet- 
 ing to the study of the lesson. This should never 
 be allowed to wander on without purpose. Do 
 not allow curious discussion. Politely shut it 
 off. There are three great points to be brought 
 out. I. What are the difficulties to be explained? 
 
 2. What are the practical lessons to be enforced.? 
 
 3. How should this lesson be taught? It is often 
 well, after the lesson, to have ten or fifteen min- 
 utes of free, social conversation. It makes the 
 teachers acquainted with" each other, and makes 
 the meeting free from stifihess. There are then 
 two or three inquiries which should be made in 
 regard to the school. Do not propose more 
 than one or two on the same evening, i. Are 
 there any suggestions to be made in regard to the 
 general management of the school? This should 
 be asked not oftener than once a month. The 
 counsel given should never be in the way of dicta- 
 tion to the Superintendent, but should be carefully 
 heeded by him. 2. How is the attendance in 
 your class? 3. What do you find to be the best 
 way of securing constant attendance? 4. Do you 
 visit your scholars? 5. Is there any religious 
 interest in your class? It is often best to ask dif- 
 ferent questions of different teachers. Very fre- 
 quently it will be found best to ask the general 
 
1 6 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 question: How do you get on in your class? 
 Or, what is the state of your class? The clos- 
 ing of every meeting should tend to bring back 
 the teachers to a sense of their responsibility. 
 Apply some thought in the lesson to your own 
 heart, and that of your teachers, and then engage 
 in prayer. Let the closing prayer be brief. Let 
 it breathe the burden of the souls of the school. 
 It should always be offered by the Superintendent. 
 Call on others to open, but let the Superintendent 
 close. 
 
 Results. — If one teacher comes, if one class is 
 better taught, if one soul is saved, through the 
 quickening influence of the meeting, then it is not 
 in vain that you have labored. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Sunday-school Litei^ture. 
 
 A Great Power. — Almost every Sunday- 
 school now has a circulating library, distributed 
 on Sunday. It is a question whether these libra- 
 ries are necessary or not. Certain it is that they 
 might be made a very great educational power ; 
 but, in many cases, they do more harm than good. 
 
 The Evil. — They cultivate an inordinate taste 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 1 7 
 
 for fiction. They are dissipating and exciting. 
 Deficient in literary qualities, they tend to deprave 
 the taste. All the good morals that are written in 
 the final chapters can not counterbalance these 
 evils. 
 
 Fiction. — A book Is not bad because it is ficti- 
 tious. Some of the best and truest things ever 
 written are fictitious in their outward form. Christ 
 himself used fiction as a means of Instruction. 
 
 Truthfulness. — But whether fact or fiction, 
 a book should be true. One of the truest things 
 ever written, is the pilgrimage of Bunyan's Chris- 
 tian. The shell Is fiction, the kernel Is everlasting 
 truth. Even fairy books may be made eminently 
 truthful, as. Indeed, is Edmund Spenser's " Faerie 
 Qiieen," the greatest of fairy books. 
 
 The Atmosphere of a Book. — It is not 
 enough that a book has a moral. The moral of 
 a book is generally some commonplace truth, 
 well-known to every child. A book may have a 
 good moral, but there may be a falseness, or an 
 unhealthfiilness about the characters, the plot, and 
 the conversations of It, that make it absolutely per- 
 nicious. 
 
 Literary Character. — We have no right to 
 injure a child's mental development by the reli- 
 gious books we give him. The great mass of the 
 Sunday-school books are of indifferent literary 
 character. Juvenile literature should be as much 
 subject to the laws of a just criticism as any other. 
 
1 8 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 Shall they be Religious? — In the main, 
 yes. But not wholly. Here is the source of our 
 fundamental error. We have excluded general 
 works because they are not religious. We have 
 shut out the old religious works because they were 
 uninteresting. We have made another literature, 
 almost wholly of semi-religious fiction, and so, 
 almost all the reading of our young people has 
 come to be fictitious. These books, regarded as 
 almost out of the pale of literary criticism, are 
 generally of inferior character. Shall we not cul- 
 tivate a better taste? Shall we let our scrupulous- 
 ness about the Sabbath prevent us from healing a 
 great disease ? Why not put such of our standard 
 literary works as are best adapted to children's 
 reading on the shelves? Juvenile histories and 
 scientific works may serve to turn the current of a 
 child's whole life into the right channel. Surely, 
 even the Sabbath is not too sacred for a work so 
 Christian. God is certainly better served thus, 
 than in circulating many of the books which com- 
 monly fill our libraries. 
 
 Week-day Distribution. — But if there be 
 fear of profaning the Sabbath, we urge that Sun- 
 day is not the right time for the distribution of a 
 library, anyhow. Have your library distributed 
 on some other day. Have books of a secular 
 character labeled " Week-day Reading," and thus 
 you would not be likely to increase the amount of 
 secular reading on the Sabbath, while you render 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 1 9 
 
 the pupils one of the greatest sei*vices in the 
 world. 
 
 Selection of Books. — Do not buy a hundred 
 at a time. Keep some money in the treasury, and 
 keep a judicious standing committee, who shall 
 select books, from time to time, in small quanti- 
 ties. Do not depend upon publishers or book- 
 sellers to make your selections for you. Make 
 them yourselves with care, and have an under- 
 standing that a book may be returned which does 
 not satisfy your committee. 
 
 Assortment. — Do not have all stories. Do 
 not have all of any one kind. It is especially 
 ao-ainst the excess of fiction that we object. We 
 could better bear to have an excess of any other 
 kind of reading. The taste cultivated by these 
 books bridges the way to dime novels and sensa- 
 tional story papers. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Concerts, Anniversaries, and J'ic-nics. 
 
 The Sunday-school Concerts. — They should 
 not be held too often, for they divert the attention 
 too much from the regular lesson, and consume 
 the earnestness and enthusiasm of the school. We 
 do not think they can be held oftener than once in 
 
20 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 three months to advantage. The more interesting 
 you make your lesson, the less they are needed. 
 But they can be used to give fresh interest to the 
 exercises of the school, and to relieve a tendency 
 to monotony. 
 
 How Conducted. — Dialogues, recitations, sing- 
 ing, and addresses, form the staple of the exer- 
 cises. There are several w^orks devoted to this 
 subject, from which interesting exercises can be 
 drawn. Any one can get up a good exercise by 
 asking questions on a given subject, which can be 
 answered by the recitation of texts of Scripture, 
 giving each class a text to repeat, and interspers- 
 ing the whole with appropriate singing. But the 
 variety of exercises is so great that we can not 
 specify more, except recitations by individual 
 scholars, and dialogues. 
 
 General Character. — The tone of a religious 
 meeting should be preserved throughout the con- 
 cert. You can not afford to purchase interest at 
 the expense of your general religious effect. 
 
 Exhibitions. — Unless they are managed with 
 great care, they are apt to produce evil, and, under 
 the best management, are of doubtful benefit. We 
 except, of course, those performances of oratorios 
 or cantatas, wherein religious truth is forcibly 
 taught by the aid of music. 
 
 Festivals. — You must have, once or twice a 
 year, a festival or pic-nic. On such an occasion, 
 do not banish your religious services, but let the 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 21 
 
 chief object be to promote, in all legitimate ways, 
 the pleasure of the children. It is a great advan- 
 tage to the cause of religion for a child to learn 
 that his teachers do not consider it unbecoming in 
 them to give him pleasure. It gives him a health- 
 ful idea of true religion, teaches him to associate 
 his choicest enjoyments with the Sunday-school, 
 and the religious instruction there given. But 
 these festivals and pic-nics should not be too 
 expensive. 
 
 Christmas Festivals are common in many 
 parts of the country. Where they are used, do 
 not give presents to the children. It is burden- 
 some to the teachers, and, without very great 
 expense, can not be made pleasant to the children. 
 A little bag of candy and nuts, or a cornucopia, or 
 a little toy stocking, given to each scholar, is less 
 expensive, and more satisfactory to the child. Do 
 not, on any account^ permit the giving of presents 
 by the parents or friends of the scholars, on the 
 tree. It is in bad taste, makes differences, creates 
 jealousies, and only works harm. Better never 
 have a festival than to send home a single child 
 with a sore heart. 
 
 In General. — Do not let any thing consume 
 too much time and energy, distracting the atten- 
 tion from the great central thought of the school, 
 the spiritual benefit of the scholars. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ^DDRESSES TO pHILDREN. 
 
 The chapters on Attention, Questioning, Object 
 Teaching, and Blackboard Exercises, contain so 
 much that is relative to the art of addressing Sun- 
 day-school scholars, that there are only a few 
 topics connected therewith to be treated. Indeed, 
 the whole subject is intimately related to the art 
 of teaching. 
 
 Occasions. — The regular lesson of the school 
 should not be interrupted (unless in very rare 
 instances) to listen to addresses, except upon the 
 lesson. But the Superintendent's review is always 
 an address. 
 
 Speakers. — Be sure your speakers are men 
 who know how to talk to children. Do not invite 
 men because they are clergymen, or prominent 
 men. Do not ask the President to talk unless you 
 know he can do it. 
 
 Preparation. — No man can address children 
 without careful preparation. There must not only 
 be a study of the subject, but of the illustrations, 
 of the questions, of the whole matter of adapta- 
 tion. 
 
 Brevity. — A man can not talk acceptably to 
 children who can not stop at the right time. No 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 23 
 
 one should speak over twenty minutes ; and the 
 sum total of all the addresses at any one time 
 should not exceed forty-five. Never have more 
 th^n three speakers. Ring your bell when the 
 time has expired. 
 
 Seat the Children Rightly. — When child- 
 ren are to be addressed on a special occasion, seat 
 them all in front of the speaker. Let no adults 
 be mixed with them. Have all your smaller chil- 
 dren immediately in front. Half the success of 
 your gathering depends upon this. 
 
 Questions. — Adroit, well-timed, self-possessed 
 questioning, is a great power. Children must 
 have their part of the talk. But much care must 
 be exercised in asking questions. 
 
 Make Definite Points. — Do not ramble on 
 in an aimless way. Make a few — not too many 
 — points. Two or three are enough. Have the 
 children count and repeat them, frequently. If 
 you use an object, beware of making too many 
 points, and have them recapitulated. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 Object. — The contribution should generally 
 have for its object some missionary work. But 
 some benevolent purpose at home, the relief of 
 
24 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 a poor family, the helping of a poor school, or 
 some definite work, if remote, should be intro- 
 duced occasionally. It stimulates benevolence 
 more than indefinite giving to promote the ends 
 of some society, however worthy. Children love 
 definiteness. Always keep in mind the true pur- 
 pose of Sunday-school giving, which is not the 
 raising of money, but the training of the children 
 to give. Never let any society or agent reduce 
 your school to a machine for collecting money. 
 We do not mean by this to oppose missionary col- 
 lections by children ; but there is great danger of 
 expending the whole enthusiasm of the Sunday- 
 school in the direction of collecting money, and 
 thus defeating the chief end of the school. Above 
 all, teach the children to deny themselves, to earn 
 the money contributed, or to give their own spend- 
 ing money. 
 
 Mode of taking Collection. — This should 
 be taken up by the teacher at the time of marking 
 the class-card. It should be placed in an envel- 
 ope, and marked with the date, the number of the 
 class, and the amount. It should be counted by 
 the Secretary, entered on the book, and a report 
 read at the close. In some schools this report 
 should be read out by classes ; in others it is not 
 best to read it so, lest classes of poor children 
 should be needlessly mortified by it. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 JhE yVllSSION yVoRK. 
 
 Fields Every Where. — This book will fall 
 into the hands of very few Sunday-school workers 
 who have not, in their vicinity, some field in 
 which a mission might be planted. In almost 
 every village, or at least in the vicinity of the vil- 
 lage, there are places that should have missions. 
 Every country neighborhood has some other neigh- 
 borhood, not far away, where there should be a 
 school. The obligation to plant schools is upon 
 all. 
 
 Who should do it. — Do not wait to employ a 
 missionary. A missionary is good where people 
 fail to do their duty, but it is a great evil that 
 Christian people will insist on doing the Lord's 
 work by proxy. 
 
 The Opportunity. — Do not lose your oppor- 
 tunity because there is not an opening to plant 
 a large school. If you can not plant a large one, 
 plant a small one. The writer knew, a year or 
 two ago, of a township in Illinois, in which twelve 
 schools were organized by one farmer, four of them 
 not having any one in them who would open with 
 prayer. Every church, in city and country, should 
 plant at least one mission school of its own, and 
 2 
 
26 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 tlius preach the Gospel to the regions beyond. It 
 is far better that an individual church should be 
 responsible for a school than that it should be 
 under the control of a society, denominational or 
 union. The remarkable success of the mission 
 school work in Chicago has arisen largely from 
 the fact that the schools were planted by individ- 
 ual churches, and not by city missionary societies. 
 The more direct the sympathy betweeii a tnission 
 school and some individual churchy the better it 
 is for both. There is poor economy in the union 
 of the several churches in a village to sustain one 
 mission, when either one of them would sustain it 
 in money and teachers as well as all do. As a 
 rule, let each church find its own field, and plant 
 its own school. 
 
 Organizing a Scpiool. — Be sure, first, that 
 you are seeking the glory of God, and not your 
 own praise, nor the aggrandizement of your own 
 sect. It is a great waste of time and power to 
 plant a school in a neighborhood already provided 
 with one, just for the sake of helping your own 
 division of the church to crowd out some other, 
 when you might be carrying the Gospel to entirely 
 destitute districts. Do not burden your new 
 school with a constitution, unless it be a simple 
 plan of organization, The first thing to be sought 
 is the Superintendent. If you are not going to 
 stay by the school yourself, you must find the best 
 leader you can. Very often the very best Super- 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 2^ 
 
 intendent is a woman. Schools superintended by 
 women do not go down in winter. Ladies can 
 bear the cold better than gentlemen. 
 
 Union Schools are very valuable where the 
 neighborhood is so situated that it is not best to 
 put the school under the control of a single church. 
 But where the latter course can be pursued, it is 
 best. 
 
 Visiting. — The entire neighborhood, in city or 
 country, should be visited for new scholars. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 J'HE j^OUR OF MEETINa 
 
 At Noon is the worst of all times for Sunday- 
 school. Teachers are weary, and scholars are hun- 
 gry, and all are hurried. The school is reduced 
 to a mere appendix to the service. It is degraded 
 by its very position. The writer has known but 
 one school that was thoroughly successful which 
 was held at that time. The appointment of the 
 school at that hour shows a lack of appreciation 
 of its importance, and the very fact discourages the 
 church from making proper effort in its behalf. 
 
 In the Morning. — This is a bad time. No 
 one would think of holding a church service at 
 
28 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 such an hour. And yet you will crowd a school 
 into this place to save your indolent teachers from 
 having to come back again. Your time is always 
 short. The closing exercises are interrupted by 
 people coming to church, and the effect of them 
 is dissipated by the hurry of getting ready for the 
 church service. It is almost impossible for the 
 school to close with a good religious effect. If it 
 should, you could not hold a prayer-meeting or an 
 inquiry-meeting afterward. Your children are 
 idle in the afternoon. The only justification for 
 this hour is in cases where the teachers are 
 eng^acred in afternoon work in mission schools. 
 
 The Afternoon is the true hour. No after- 
 noon church service can compare with it in impor- 
 tance. If work with the children is not worth 
 giving the afternoon to, if it is not worth the 
 trouble of a special, separate service, and a dis- 
 tinct journey to the place of meeting, then we are 
 wasting time on a thing of little value. If your 
 people live too far away to return in the afternoon, 
 then, by all means, plant a school in their neigh- 
 borhood. A Sunday-school in the afternoon 
 catches numbers of children not reached by one at 
 any other time. 
 
part second. 
 The Officers 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 JhE j='ASTOR. 
 
 There is no part of the Sunday-school work 
 that demands more attention than the true relation 
 of the pastor to the work. 
 
 Not the Proper Superintendent. — It is not 
 the place of the pastor to superintend. There are 
 exceptional cases, in which' the duty devolves upon 
 him, but it is rarely ever best for the pastor to do 
 work that should be placed upon a layman. Even 
 if he has to do the actual work, it is better to let 
 some one else superintend, nominally, at least, that 
 the idea may not find place, that the Christian 
 work of the Church is all to be done by the pastor. 
 But he should be present as often as possible, 
 should take a living interest in the school, and 
 should always be at liberty, without dictation, to 
 speak frankly to the Superintendent about the 
 work. His very presence is inspiring to all 
 engaged in the work. 
 
 The Bible-class. — It often falls to the lot of 
 the pastor to teach the Bible-class. But if there is 
 a layman well-adapted to the work, it is much 
 
30 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 better that he should teach the class. The minis- 
 ter can find more profitable place for his exertions 
 in the Sunday-school work. 
 
 Instruction of Teachers. — The pastor should 
 attend the Teachers' Meeting, and announce it 
 from the pulpit. He should be, in many ways, the 
 instructor of the teachers. There are hundreds of 
 thousands of teachers in the country not yet reached 
 by Institutes or Conventions. They can not be 
 taught, except the pastors teach them. Suppose the 
 pastor should give them instruction in Sacred Geog- 
 raphy, Biblical Antiquities, and Christian Doc- 
 trines. Suppose he should carefully read up on 
 the subject of method as connected with Sunday- 
 school work, and help his teachers by an occa- 
 sional institute, of how much more service would 
 he be to the Sunday-school than in teaching a 
 class ? 
 
 The Supply of Teachers is in the hands of 
 the pastor. If there is a deficiency, it is because 
 he has not used the means in his power to supply 
 it. By applying his sermons in that direction, or 
 by an earnest appeal as often as needed, the pastor 
 can always keep a good supply of teachers. 
 
 Sermons to Teachers. — No class of people 
 need more stimulus in their work than teachers. 
 Unless their earnestness is quickened by occasional 
 exhortation, it is apt to falter. They are, by all 
 odds, the most important class of hearers that a 
 minister has, since an effect upon a teacher is 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 3 1 
 
 likely to reproduce itself upon the next generation. 
 Why do not pastors preach to Sunday-school 
 teachers at least three or four times a year? 
 
 Sermons to Children. — Every pastor ought 
 to preach to children. Almost any pastor can do 
 it. But he can not do it if he gives his days and 
 nights to studying how he may impress adults, 
 and then expects to prepare his sermons to chil- 
 dren between times. Patient preparation, perse- 
 vering effort to understand and sympathize v>^ith 
 children, will give to almost any minister that 
 greatest of gifts — the art of talking to the little 
 men and women who are to hold t]^ reins of the 
 world in a few years. Let such sermons be short, 
 full of anecdotes, and well-made points. Let them 
 always have a personal bearing. 
 
 What they can do. — The writer has given 
 years to the pastoral work, and it is not in his 
 heart to underestimate the influence that pastors 
 have exerted, and are exerting, in favor of the 
 advancement of the Sunday-school work, but he 
 sincerely believes that a thorough awakening of 
 pastors will give us more schools, more scholars, 
 more teachers, more earnestness, a body of trained 
 workers, glorious results — in fact, almost every 
 thing to be desired. With pastors lie the foun- 
 tain of power. But let us relieve no other class 
 from a sense of their own responsibility. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Superintendent. 
 
 Qualifications of Superintendents. — Very 
 brilliant articles have been written, and many elo- 
 quent speeches have been made, to prove that a 
 Superintendent should be what no Superintendent 
 is, or, at least, a kind of man not often found. If 
 none were Superintendents but those who possess 
 all the qualilipations set down in the books, there 
 would be few schools that would possess that valu- 
 able officer. Almost any head is better than none, 
 and in getting a Superintendent, as in getting a 
 dictionary, we can only say, " Get the best." 
 
 Who should elect a Superintendent. — 
 We had much rather trust this election to the 
 teachers than to any one else. They will judge 
 more soberly than the mass of the school, besides, 
 an election is an unmitigated evil in the school. 
 They are better judges than any Church authority 
 can be. The qualifications of a Superintendent 
 are so peculiar that we can trust none so well as 
 those who are in the work to select a leader. 
 
 Selection of a Superintendent. — Get the 
 best, we say again. Let this be the only consider- 
 ation. Do not elect a man because you think it 
 will please him. Do not elect a man to the Super- 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 33 
 
 intendency as a reward for faithful services. 
 Especially, do not elect any one because you think 
 he will be hurt if not elected. Better hurt any 
 man than hurt the school. The very fact that a 
 man is disposed to exact his election is the best 
 possible proof of his unfitness. Seek only to get 
 the best material you have. It Is not always the 
 most forward man that will do best. Assurance 
 is not essential to success in Sunday-school work. 
 Men not Fit. — Without attempting to describe 
 any Ideal man, we may mention some of those 
 things that tend to unfit Superintendents for their 
 work. 
 
 1. A lack of heart in the work. This is the 
 capital defect. Do not choose a man who is will- 
 ins- to take the office, but who has shown hitherto 
 a lack of earnest devotion to Sunday-school work. 
 No amount of qualifications of other sorts can 
 atone for so grievous a defect as this. 
 
 2. Personal vanity. There are too many Sun- 
 day-school Superintendents who think of nothing 
 but display, perpetually spreading the peacock 
 feathers of their ingenuity, their order, their sing- 
 ing, or some other special excellence, before the 
 school and strangers. There are no people in the 
 world of so little practical use as those whose ear- 
 nestness is withered by vanity. 
 
 3. An overbearing disposition. A tyrannical 
 Superintendent, a man who values his own way 
 because it is his own, and who has little or no 
 
 2* 
 
34 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 regard for the wishes of others, is evil, and only 
 evil continually. Will is a great advantage if it 
 be modified by a truly Christian spirit. But self- 
 will is the most unpleasant and obstructive form 
 of selfishness, directly opposed to Christ's spirit, 
 and ruinous in its effects upon the school. 
 
 4. Lack of frogressiveness. We mean to say 
 that a man who sticks to the old because it is old, 
 who will use his grandfather's spectacles, is unfit 
 for the work of Superintendent. No where is an 
 old fogy so out of place as among young people. 
 In nothing has there been more advancement, 
 recently, than in Sabbath-school labor. If the 
 Superintendent be a tertiary fossil, the teachers 
 will not be living beings. 
 
 These are by no means all the things that dis- 
 qualify men from serving as Superintendents. 
 But most of the rest may be overcome by the 
 Superintendent himself. If you can not do better, 
 you may have to take a man with some of the dis- 
 qualifications we have named. 
 
 Variety of Talent. — There is no one style 
 of man that can be set up as the model. There 
 are men of widely different abilities that succeed 
 in Sunday-school work. Do not argue that be- 
 cause a man is not like your ideal man — the model 
 Superintendent that you have in your mind, there- 
 fore he will never do. There is but one respect, 
 perhaps, in which all Superintendents should be 
 exactly alike, viz. : earnest piety. 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 35 
 
 Do NOT TRAMMEL THE SUPERINTENDENT. If 
 
 he has any abihty for his office, give him a chance 
 to work out his plans. He can not succeed with- 
 out freedom, and if he has not the elements of 
 success, all the constitutions, by-laws, and orders 
 of exercises you can adopt will not improve him. 
 You can explain your wishes, and if he is a wise 
 man he will not let them pass unheeded. But do 
 not put him into straight-jackets, and then expect 
 him to work successfully. Above all, the Super- 
 intendent must have the right to arrange the order 
 of exercises. But he should always accept, gladly, 
 all criticism offered in a kindly spirit, and should 
 even invite it in the Teachers' Meeting. If the 
 Superintendent is not allowed absolutely to select 
 his teachers, he should always be allowed the right 
 to nominate them. Otherwise he can not be 
 responsible for the success of the school. 
 
 Constitutions. — This brings us to say that the 
 less of Constitution there is about a school, the 
 better. If the Superintendent and teachers are in 
 earnest, they will not need any. Let the Teach- 
 ers' Meeting decide points as they come up, and 
 beyond fixing the term of office, and the approxi- 
 mate date of annual elections, no permanent regu- 
 lation will be required. 
 
 Support the Superintendent. — Stand by 
 him. He may not suit you. His plans may not 
 be the best in the world. But he is entitled to 
 your hearty support during his term ot office. 
 
36 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 You can not afford to imperil the work of Christ 
 by division. When his term of office has expired, 
 you may remove him ; but w^hile he is in office, 
 support him. 
 
 Plain Words to the Superintendents. — In 
 the first place, you have now the highest motive 
 for living near to Christ. Tour success depends 
 chiejly on this. Go into your school next Sun- 
 day, and look around. Your spirit will be the 
 spirit of this school. If you are indifferent in your 
 treatment of sacred things, so will these teachers 
 be. If your heart is not near to Christ, this school 
 will be cold, and dull, and barren. Look at the up- 
 turned faces. Look down even into the upturned 
 hearts that are watching you. If you were nearer 
 Christ, what might you not do? By these souls 
 committed to your care, by these teachers who 
 will not be more in earnest than you are, by the 
 judgment seat of Christ, by eternity itself^ I be- 
 seech you be a better Christian man than you are. 
 
 Do not affect Piety. — If there is any abomi- 
 nation in the world, it is the Superintendent who 
 " puts on " pious ways. It is hypocrisy. Even 
 if you do it from mere desire to be impressive, it 
 is cant. Children see through it. It repels them. 
 Away with your pious tone and precisely solemn 
 face, and prayer-meeting phrases. These children 
 are not to be impressed with sounding brass. 
 They penetrate the sham. And if they do not, 
 God does. But the children do, and all unnatural 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 37 
 
 mouthing makes them hate the rehgioii that you 
 burlesque. 
 
 Responsibility. — Do not say that the respon- 
 sibility is too great, and that you will resign. No 
 shallower deceit does Satan palm off upon us. 
 Tou can not shirk responsibility. Go bury your 
 talent in a napkin, and then tell the JUDGE all 
 that hypocritical stuff about your being afraid of 
 responsibility. How terrible will your cowardice 
 look to you in the day of judgment. But feel your 
 accountability none the less. Cry out with Paul, 
 "Who is sufficient for these things?" Let the 
 sense of your own weakness overwhelm you. Let 
 the burden of souls rest upon you. Carry it in 
 your devotions. Let it lie down with you upon 
 your bed. Let the picture of these upturned eyes 
 and hearts never leave you. But do not let them 
 drive you from your work. Let them drive you 
 to Christ. The same Paul who said, " Who is 
 sufficient for these things.^" said also, " Our suffi- 
 ciency is of God." 
 
 Piety. — We plead for more profound and tender 
 piety in Superintendents. You may have a large 
 school without it. You may have a good pic- 
 nic without it. You may have order without it. 
 You may even have well-learned lessons without 
 it. But the truest, highest, most Christian-like 
 success you can not have, unless you have more 
 of Christ in your heart. 
 
38 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 The Superintendent's Influence. — As the 
 Superintendent is, so are the teachers. If Christ 
 is vividly present in his prayers and other exer- 
 cises, if he feels the presence of God in his Word, 
 then will the teacher teach thus, and the scholar 
 study in the same spirit. The atmosphere through 
 w^hich a scholar will regard the Scripture for all 
 the rest of his life is often fixed by his teacher's 
 way of teaching, and that is very generally the 
 reflection of the Superintendent's spirit. There is 
 an aroma of a good Superintendent in some 
 schools. But in others there is life, and order, and 
 outward prosperity, but there is no feeling of 
 Christ's presence in. his Word. The observer feels 
 that there is a Superintendent who either does not 
 live near to Christ, or who fails to make his Chris- 
 tian spirit felt in the school. 
 
 The Assistants. — A school should elect one 
 Assistant Superintendent, and, if it is a large one, 
 more. The Assistant Superintendent is not a 
 co-ordinate authority with the Superintendent. A 
 school can not serve two masters. It must not be 
 a hydra — a monster with two or three heads. An 
 Assistant Superintendent, who sets himself up to 
 lead a faction in opposition to his principal, should 
 be abolished. Do away with any one who does 
 not work in accordance with the central idea of 
 the school. And yet, the Superintendent must 
 pay all respect to the advice and wishes of his 
 assistants. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Jhe Secretary. 
 
 Class Marking. — You can not depend upon 
 your teachers wholly for reports of attendance in 
 general, nor for individual record. Substitutes 
 are almost always unreliable, and some teachers 
 are constitutionally careless. No system of mark- 
 ing, wholly dependent on the teachers, can be 
 relied on. 
 
 The Secretary can not be relied on, if the 
 matter is left wholly to him, unless he interrupts 
 the classes, in which case he is a positive evil. 
 Few men can ever learn the names of a whole 
 school so that they do not have to interrupt the 
 teachers at some time, in order to keep a complete 
 record of the attendance. You can not, therefore, 
 depend wholly upon either Secretary or teacher. 
 
 The Class Book is liable to get used up in one 
 or two quarters. Each new teacher dislikes to be 
 confronted by the mistakes of his predecessor. If 
 the teacher carries the book it will be lost, and if 
 he does not, it gets soiled and confused, so that 
 it often has to be renewed two or three times a 
 year. 
 
 Scholars' Cards and Tokens. — A system is 
 in use in some places, by which tickets are given 
 
40 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 to the children on each Sabbath, and in other 
 schools the child carries a card that is punched 
 with a conductor's punch by the Secretary. Either 
 of these plans has grave objections, for the chil- 
 dren will lose cards entrusted to their care. 
 
 The Class Card. — We propose therefore a 
 simple card to be filled out by the Secretary at the 
 beginning of each quarter. We give an illustra- 
 tion. These cards contain five spaces for each 
 month of the quarter, and two columns for quar- 
 terly reports. The reverse side contains a direct- 
 ory of the class, which the teacher can copy into 
 a memorandum book, if desired. 
 
 Attendance Only. — We think it of no kind 
 of consequence to mark any thing but attendance. 
 The teacher can keep a class-book, or memoran- 
 dum-book, in which markings of lessons are 
 recorded, but they are of no consequence to the 
 general record of the school, because no two teach- 
 ers estimate lessons in the same way. The method 
 of marking does not stimulate scholars. Reward 
 tickets are much better, if any thing is needed. 
 
 How TO Use the Cards. — The teacher marks 
 the card immediately after the opening exercises, 
 and lays it in the seat where the Secretary can 
 take it up without interrupting the teacher. On 
 taking it up, he looks over the class to be sure the 
 marks are correct. He then returns to his desk, 
 and posts the marking to his book then or during 
 

 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 
 
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42 SUNDAY-SCPIOOL MANUAL. 
 
 the week. In making up his totals for report, he 
 can either use the cards, or count the attendance. 
 Secretary's Record. — This should be simple, 
 but full. There should be a careful register of the 
 name and residence of each teacher, and the num- 
 ber of the class, together with the date of the 
 entrance of each as a teacher in that school, and it 
 might be well to record also the previous expe- 
 rience of each teacher. In a large school, an 
 alphabetical list might be of value. There should 
 be a record of the attendance each Sunday of every 
 individual teacher and scholar, with columns for a 
 quarterly report of the attendance of each. There 
 should be a column at the bottom, in which the 
 total attendance of each class for each Sabbath 
 might be recorded. There should be a place for 
 the temporary entry of the names of new scholars 
 with the names of those introducins: them. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 J^OW TO J^EEP A J.IBRARY. 
 
 Various Plans. — This is the great puzzle of 
 most Sunday-schools. It is all very nice in theory 
 that the teachers should keep the account on the 
 class-books, but they will not do it. They are too 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 43 
 
 good natured, too irregular, too ready to accept 
 the scholar's indefinite statement that the book 
 was brought back at some time or other. Every 
 school abandons this plan when they have lost two 
 or three libraries by means of it. The next trial is 
 of a plan that makes the librarian a sort of secre- 
 tary, charging them up on a book. But the diffi- 
 culties of the plan lead to the check system. Now 
 this last will keep the books, but it is a great deal 
 of work. Sometimes it takes the form of brass 
 tags, sometimes of pegs in holes, sometimes of a 
 tag hung over the pigeon-hole from which the 
 book is taken. This system is better than any we 
 have yet mentioned, and in some of its forms it 
 approaches so nearly to the true way, that it seems 
 strange that a librarian can work it and not hit 
 upon the right plan. There are several advertised 
 plans, copyrighted and patented, all tolerably good, 
 but none of them just right. 
 
 The sentiment is now general among those best 
 informed, that the " Pigeon-hole and Card Plan," 
 in some form, is the best. But there is a wide 
 diversity of opinion in regard to the detail of its 
 management. One Superintendent has his books 
 distributed before the school. The objections to 
 this plan are many. The greatest is, the children 
 have the books in their hands during the session 
 of the school, and it is exceedingry disagreeable 
 for a Superintendent to have to make use of disci- 
 pline to prevent scholars from reading. Then, 
 
44 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 too, any plan by which the scholars go to the 
 library and wait for their books, is promotive of 
 disorder. But if you distribute during the school 
 by any method — and we have seen them all — 
 you detain and weary the school, prolong the ses- 
 sion, and, perhaps, interrupt the teacher, which 
 last is worst of all. If you send the scholars to 
 the library after school you have " confusion worse 
 confounded." What shall we do then? 
 
 The Library Case should be divided into par- 
 titions, as in the accompanying cut. These parti- 
 tions are made of tin, the outer edge of which is 
 
 SECTION OF A LIBRARY SHELF. 
 
 turned to prevent abrasion of the fingers. These 
 pigeon-holes fit the books exactly. When a book 
 is lost or removed, another of the same size is 
 inserted in the place of it. The books have num- 
 bers corresponding to the numbers on the library 
 case. When a pigeon-hole is empty, the book 
 with corresponding number is out. 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 45 
 
 The Catalogue is printed on card-board, and 
 posted up in the vestibule, or front part of the 
 church or Sunday-school- room. There should 
 usually be several of these. Of course it may be 
 printed in book form, and given to the scholars, 
 but in this case the school will, in a few months, 
 be without any catalogues. Country schools will 
 find it more economical to have the catalogues 
 written. 
 
 Cards of two kinds are used. There is what 
 we will call card No. i. (See specimens on pages 
 46 and 47.) Upon this card the scholar writes 
 his selections, and he always retains it except dur- 
 ing the time that the librarian is taking out the 
 books. The selections are, of course set down by 
 number. Any number of them may be put upon 
 the card at a time, the librarian taking them in the 
 order in which they are placed. Card No. 2 is the 
 scholar's introduction to the librarian, and when 
 once given to him, it is always afterward kept in 
 his possession. 
 
 Mode of Distribution. — The scholar leaves 
 his book at the library on entering the school, and 
 deposits card No. i in a box provided for that 
 purpose. The librarian assorts these No. i cards 
 so that they are arranged by classes. The cards 
 numbered 2 are already put away in such a way 
 that all belonging to one class are in a package, 
 box, or pigeon-hole together. When Jane Smith's 
 book is taken out, the number is erased from card 
 
46 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
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48 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 I, the card is put inside the book, the number of 
 the Sabbath is punched out with a conductor's 
 punch on the margin of card 2, and that card is 
 put in the pigeon-hole whence the book was taken. 
 If that book is number 40, and the Sabbath is the 
 fourth in January, it will be always known that 
 Jane Smith holds number 40 while her card 
 remains in pigeon-hole number 40, and that she 
 took it on the fourth Sunday in the year, because 
 the figure 4 is the highest number canceled on her 
 card. (This canceling may be done with a pencil.) 
 When book number 40 is returned, Jane Smith's 
 card must be taken out to make room for the 
 book. 
 
 The books for each class are placed together on 
 the librarian's table. Each book contains the card 
 (No. i) of the scholar who wants it. Just before 
 the last hymn is sung, the librarian passes quietly 
 and rapidly round the room, and hands to each 
 teacher the books for his or her class. No book is 
 given to a scholar until the school is closed. 
 Then the teacher hands to each scholar the book 
 containing that scholar's card (No. i). 
 
 Advantages. — Not to exceed thirty seconds of 
 the time of the school is taken up with distribu- 
 tion. Perfect accuracy in the charging is attained. 
 The time each book has been out can be ascer- 
 tained at any time. It is the simplest and easiest 
 for the librarian. The scholars have no access to 
 the library. Your success does not depend on the 
 accuracy of the teacher. 
 
part third. 
 The S ession. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 JhE pPENING pXERCISES. 
 
 Variety. — To be sought every where should 
 not be forgotten in the opening exercises. All 
 time-tables that tend to degenerate into routine 
 should be abolished. All liturgies have the same 
 objection. While certain things should always 
 form a part of the opening exercises, the order and 
 manner of executing them should not be stereo- 
 typed. " Get out of the ruts," is a golden maxim 
 for Superintendents. 
 
 The Lesson should be the central thought in 
 the opening and all other exercises. Bend every 
 thing to that. Do not let your chorister fly the 
 subject for the sake of showing some visitors how 
 well you can sing. Do not let any thing prevent 
 the Superintendent from making his opening 
 exercises the best possible introduction to the 
 lesson. 
 
 The Elements. — Prayer, singing, and Scrip- 
 ture-reading may be called the permanent ele- 
 ments of all opening exercises. But the order of 
 3 
 
50 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 these should never grow fixed, because children 
 and grown people weary of monotony. 
 
 Order. — Always have it. Get it by insisting 
 on it quietly, allowing nothing to proceed when 
 the order is not perfect. If you consume one ses- 
 sion in getting order, it will have been spent most 
 profitably. Keep order by infusing a spirit of 
 devout and joyful worship into your exercises. 
 
 In Time and Ready. — The Superintendent 
 should be in the room nearly an hour before the 
 time. This will keep things in order. The first 
 thing to be done is to see that the room has been 
 well ventilated, for you will have a dull school if 
 you have no oxygen. If it is winter, see that it is 
 comfortably warm, for you will have no enthusi- 
 asm if the thermometer is low. Have your hymns 
 selected. Get your blackboard in place, and 
 write some " topic for meditation," or striking 
 expression, out of the lesson upon it. Let the 
 expression not exceed half a dozen words — the 
 fewer the better. Spend the rest of the time before 
 school in getting acquainted with the wants of 
 teachers and scholars. 
 
 The Golden Text, or the central thought of 
 the lesson, should be given earl}^ in the exercises. 
 It is best to ask several of the scholars to give the 
 subject of the lesson and the golden text in succes- 
 sion. Frequently call on an entire class to recite 
 the text in concert, having given them warning 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 5I 
 
 before. However the text is given, always have 
 it repeated by the entire school. 
 
 Reading the Lesson. — The Scripture read 
 should be the lesson for the day. It should always 
 be read so that the school may participate in some 
 way. But it should not be read always in one 
 way. Alternate or responsive reading, the Super- 
 intendent reading one verse and the school the 
 next, is an excellent way. But it should not be 
 constant. Let the school frequently practice the 
 method of reading by concert. That is, let the 
 Superintendent read the lesson, clause by clause, 
 and the school repeat it after him. In this way 
 even the infant-class can be taught to participate. 
 Sometimes it is well to have a class of boys or 
 girls stand in front of the Superintendent's desk, 
 and read alternately with the school. For variety, 
 the school may occasionally be divided by the 
 middle aisle, or otherwise, one-half reading in 
 concert with the Superintendent, the other, re- 
 sponsively, with the Assistant Superintendent. 
 Or, they may read without a leader. This will 
 make every one take care to read. This may be 
 done without sensationalism. The reading should 
 always be reverent, and attention should be called 
 for a moment to any striking passage or thought, 
 though the teacher's lesson should never be antici- 
 pated by remarks from the Superintendent. 
 
 The Prayer. — It should be short. It should 
 be reverent. It should be in the vocabulary of 
 
52 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 children. It should be as far removed as possible 
 from the ordinary style of the weekly prayer-meet- 
 ing. Let it be devout, but free from cant, free from 
 the " pious tone." Do not make it too general. 
 Do not thank God for temporal blessings, but give 
 thanks for food and clothes, for fire and shelter, 
 for home and friends. Do not forget to take in 
 any circumstances that are already prominent in 
 the child's mind. If it is a beautiful day, thank 
 God for sunlight ; if it is a cold day, give thanks 
 for the winter, and for fire, and the spring that is 
 coming again. Do not let the rain, or the pure, 
 white, emblematic snow escape your notice. Do 
 not forget a sick scholar or teacher. Remember 
 each general division of scholars. Let part of 
 your prayer apply to the infants, and part to the 
 adults, etc. Above all, be sure that the topic for 
 the day is the key-note of the prayer as well as of 
 the hymns and ever}^ thing else. 
 
 Who shall Lead. — The Superintendent should 
 almost always make the opening prayer. He 
 should know the school and the lesson better than 
 any one else. The habit of calling on teachers or 
 strangers can hardly be defended. 
 
 Prayer in Concert. — This maybe used some- 
 times very effectively if well managed. But most 
 Superintendents should lead in prayer as above, 
 and close the prayer with the Lord's Prayer in 
 concert. 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 53 
 
 Other Exercises. — The three exercises of 
 singing, reading, and prayer, should always have 
 a place in all opening exercises, in whatever order 
 they may be arranged. We do not like roll-call. 
 It takes time, and dissipates the sense of worship. 
 A few moments should be given to calling forward 
 new scholars, who may be enrolled and assigned 
 to classes after the lesson has begun. 
 
 Silent Prayer, for fifteen or twenty seconds, 
 just before the teachers have begun their instruc- 
 tions, will serve admirably to bring the school to 
 a sense of the solemnity of their work. Close the 
 prayer with a tap of the bell. Sometimes, instead 
 of this, sing a single stanza of some appropriate 
 hymn, as, " Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove," 
 etc. Announce the time to be spent in the lesson. 
 
 Use of the Bell. — Use the bell 07ily to get 
 attention. All systems of bell-signals are rather 
 stiff and useless. 
 
 The Teachers' Prayer-meeting, before the 
 opening of the school, is an excellent things. 
 Besides the benefit from the answer to united 
 prayer, it serves to give a devoutness of feeling to 
 the teachers. They teach under the stimulus of 
 religious feeling, and a high sense of duty. In 
 such a meeting the prayer must be short, the 
 hymns brief and earnest, the remarks very brief, 
 and the whole meeting limited to fifteen minutes. 
 The meeting should be held in an adjoining room 
 to the main school-room. The Superintendent 
 
54 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 should lead. The teachers should take turns in 
 keeping order in the room where the children 
 are gathering during the meeting. This is sub- 
 stantially the method in Mr. Ralph Wells' school. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Plosing Exercises. 
 
 During the Lesson. — The Superintendent 
 has no idle time. During the lesson he should 
 not be content with seeing that every class has a 
 teacher, but should know, by personal observa- 
 tion, just what kind of a teacher each class has. 
 He should be careful not to interrupt the teachers. 
 But he should see the attention or lack of attention 
 in each class, and if the attendance is falling away 
 in any class, it should be carefully noted. It can 
 not hurt a teacher to know that the eye of the 
 Superintendent is on him. When a teacher has 
 done better than usual, commend it casually in 
 conversation, and the teacher will ever after work 
 encouraged and stimulated by a consciousness of 
 your notice. 
 
 The Five Minute Bell. — Some Superintend- 
 ents tap the bell five minutes or three minutes 
 before the close of the lesson. The advantage 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 55 
 
 claimed is that of giving the teachers time to close 
 the lesson. To our minds this Is more than coun- 
 terbalanced by the confusion and restlessness 
 engendered among the pupils and teachers. 
 Better tap your bell one 77ii7Z2ite before begin- 
 ning your closing exercises. Or, if It Is deemed 
 important to give warning to the teachers, — and 
 it certainly is,— let there be a small curtain, or 
 large card in the rear of the room, which can 
 be quietly let down just five minutes before the 
 lessons close. As the scholars face the other way, 
 they will not see it, while It will serve as a quiet 
 reminder to the teachers. It might read : 
 
 FIVE MINUTES! 
 
 Redeeming the TIME ! 
 
 Close the Lesson. — A tap of the bell is useful 
 to close the lesson, though It may be done by sim- 
 ply saying : " Close the lesson." After the signal 
 to close the lesson, wait for pe7'fect oi'der. 
 
 The Superintendent's Exercise is treated in 
 the next chapter. It should usually follow the 
 lesson immediately. 
 
 Distribution of Books and papers to the 
 teachers can be disposed of in less than one min- 
 ute. (See Chap. XIV.) 
 
56 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 The Announcements should always be made 
 before the last piece is sung. 
 
 Singing at the close should never exceed two 
 pieces, of two or three verses each. The habit of 
 practicing music at the close is an abuse that 
 should be done away with. The closing piece 
 should be sung standing, and should apply to the 
 lesson. If you have nothing applicable to the les- 
 son, sing the grand old long metre doxology. 
 
 Prayer. — The best possible close is a brief, 
 pointed prayer, applying the lesson closely, made 
 while the school remains standing after the sing- 
 ing. Never let it exceed ten sentences ; often stop 
 at three. 
 
 Dismissal. — Most schools will need no other 
 form. They will pass out in an orderly way, 
 because they feel the influence of the devotional 
 spirit of the school. 
 
 Brevity in the closing exercises is essential. 
 
 Simplicity should always be sought. Do not 
 disfigure your worship with any semblance of mil- 
 itary drill. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 JpLACKBOARD AND JIeYIE^AT pXERCISE. 
 
 Review. — As a rule it is best not to attempt to 
 review the entire lesson. If your teachers have 
 taught well, it is not necessary. You have not 
 time. It is tiresome to pupils. It is far better to 
 select only the most important points. In teach- 
 ing, your teachers may have allowed these to be 
 thrown into the background. Bring out sharply 
 those points that touch the conscience or heart. 
 Very often it is best to touch upon bid just 07te 
 of these points. Never let the effort to embrace 
 more than one, impair the effect of the remarks. 
 The one great object of the Superintendent's 
 remarks is application. Just so much of the 
 matter of the lesson as will help to this should be 
 brought up, and no more. 
 
 The Blackboard is invaluable every where. 
 No school can be conducted on correct principles 
 without it. It is even of more importance to the 
 country schools than to those in the city. A7iy 
 body can use it. If you can do no more, you can, 
 at least, wu"ite two or three words. For instance, 
 if the lesson is upon Forgiveness, write, " Sins 
 Blotted Out," on the blackboard, as suggestive 
 of proper thoughts. But it is capable of all kinds 
 3* 
 
5^ SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 of uses. It is not necessary that you should know 
 how to draw, in order to use it, but the better you 
 can draw, the more useful will it be. 
 Rules for its use : 
 
 1. Put a catch-word, a sentence, or a text, on 
 the blackboard at the beginning of the school. 
 Let such sentence suggest the leading, practical 
 thought of the lesson. 
 
 2. Never use the blackboard except upon the 
 lesson for the day. 
 
 3. Make dist met poiiits. Put these points on 
 the board. 
 
 4. Use catch-words. Condense to the last 
 degree. If, for instance, you want to speak upon 
 " Come unto me all ye that labor," etc., let your 
 written words be : "Come!" " To ME !" "All!" 
 "Labor!" "Heavy laden!" "Rest!" If you 
 did nothing but put down these words as the heads 
 of your address, you would find the impressiveness 
 of your remarks greatly increased. 
 
 5. Unless the exercise be of such a nature that 
 you are obliged to put it upon the board before 
 the beginning of the school, make it a rule to draw 
 from the scholars whatever you write down. The 
 words given under the last rule may all be ques- 
 tioned out of the pupils. 
 
 6. Use whatever ingenuity you can in the 
 arrangement of the lesson on the board. In the 
 words above we have not supposed any ingenuity 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 59 
 
 necessary. But let us see how a little ingenuity 
 in the arrangement would help it : 
 
 The Command — 
 
 COME TO CHRIST! 
 The Promise — 
 
 REST FOR THE SOUL! 
 
 The lesson is still very simple, and there are few 
 Superintendents that could not arrange it thus, but 
 this arrangement adds to the effect. The address 
 of the Superintendent would be divided into these 
 two heads. Or, thus : 
 
 The command COME I 
 
 To whom.? CHRIST! 
 
 Who.? EVERY BODY! 
 
 When.? NOW! 
 
 Rest for YOUR soul. 
 
 7. Where a Superintendent can draw, or can 
 get drawing done for him, it would be well for 
 him to put his lesson more elaborately on the 
 blackboard before the beginning of the school. 
 Taking the same text used above, we will suppose 
 that he would draw a cross, with the words, 
 " Come unto me," above, and then represent the 
 falling off of the burden, as described in Bunyan's 
 Pilgrim's Progress. 
 
6o SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 8. A blackboard should never be allowed to 
 divert attention from the personal application, 
 but should always be used to increase its force. 
 
 Other Exercises. — When, in your general 
 exercises, you intend to quote a verse outside the 
 lesson, notify some scholar, or entire class, that, at 
 the appropriate time, they will be called upon to 
 give this verse. When you want the verse, ask 
 the scholar or class to read or recite it. This will 
 give great interest and animation to your exercise. 
 
 Construction of a Board. — Your blackboard 
 should be mounted in a frame. It should be pre- 
 pared on both sides. It should be painted and 
 slated. It should be so mounted on pivots above 
 and below as to turn round horizontally. One 
 side can then be used for writing the number of the 
 hymns, etc., on, while the other will be used for 
 the exercise of the day. If you wish to put your 
 lesson on before you come to school, you should 
 have also a portable blackboard. 
 
 Other Methods of summing up are described 
 in this manual, under the head of Object Teach- 
 ing. 
 
 The Slate. — Almost every word of what we 
 have said of the blackboard is applicable to the 
 use of the slate by the teacher in the ordinary 
 class. Why is it not used all but universally? 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 pisciPLiNE, Penalties, and Rewards. 
 
 How TO Govern a school is one of the most 
 difficult problems known to the Sunday-school. 
 It is more easily solved by some than others, 
 because they have, naturally, the ability to govern 
 — what people call " the knack." Some teachers 
 are obeyed almost without effort. Others can 
 never be obeyed. But a school and a class must 
 be governed. 
 
 Not by Punishment. — Penalties have little or 
 no place in Sunday-schools. The officers have 
 not the authority possessed by the teacher in the 
 secular schools. The purpose being the spiritual 
 benefit of the child, it is always a misfortune for 
 the teacher to come into combative collision with 
 him. You can not expel him, for the worse he 
 is, the more important it is that he should be 
 brought under religious influence. All these 
 things tend to make the government of the school 
 more difficult. 
 
 Self-control lies at the bottom of all govern- 
 ment. Superintendent or teacher who loses self- 
 possession, who gets out of temper, has sensibly 
 lost influence over the pupil. Patience is the first 
 
62 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 element of government. A quiet but firm counte- 
 nance is the only one that inspires respect. 
 
 Love. — The law of love truly underlies all the 
 vs^ork of the Sunday-school. Make the pupils feel 
 that you love them. Never, under any aggrava- 
 tion, lose this underlier of affection ; never speak 
 a word that could make the pupil doubt your affec- 
 tion for a moment. Take every possible measure 
 consistent with your self-respect to make the pupil 
 love you. If you have an unruly scholar, be sure 
 to visit him. Invite him to your house, and do 
 not think it beneath you to spend time and 
 patience in conquering, by affection, an unruly 
 scholar. The whole success of your work may 
 depend upon this one point. One bad boy may 
 spoil a school. Remember the blessedness of 
 saving a soul from death. 
 
 Courage. — It may seem strange that we should 
 have to remind a Superintendent, or a teacher, 
 that he must not fear those whom he would gov- 
 ern. But a nervous and refined teacher has often 
 been cowed by a coarse and unruly pupil. By a 
 quick instinct the pupil feels this. You must look 
 him straight in the eye. You must speak with an 
 unwavering voice. Walk straight up to him on 
 the street. Do not fawn upon him, lest he mis- 
 take your caresses for fear. 
 
 The Eye. — The best weapon in the world is a 
 steady eye. An angry dog can be cowed, and a 
 wild beast governed by it. When the Superin- 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 63 
 
 tendent calls for order, he must get it. Let a 
 quick ear detect the point whence confusion comes, 
 and let a quiet eye bear steadily on it. Catch the 
 eye of an unruly pupil, and you will soon quell 
 him. 
 
 Silence is not less powerful. All great mas- 
 ters of men understand the power of a still tongue 
 when silence is needed. " Speech is silvern, 
 silence is golden." 
 
 Carry your Point. — When you ask for silence 
 and order, get it. Never engage in any exercise 
 when there is confusion. Do not raise too many 
 points, and with a difficult pupil wait for a point 
 where your right can not be questioned, but always 
 carry the point. A single failure injures authority. 
 
 Expulsion should rarely ever be resorted to. 
 We have neyer known a case in which it was jus- 
 tifiable. There may be a case in which it is neces- 
 sary, to 'save a whole school from destruction. But 
 a Christian Superintendent will surely exhaust all 
 things else before he shuts up the door of hope in 
 that way. 
 
 Appeal to Parents is admissible only in 
 extreme cases. 
 
 Who is Responsible ? — During recitations the 
 teacher is responsible, during general exercises the 
 Superintendent only is responsible for the mainte- 
 nance of order. 
 
 Rewards. — There can be no objection to the 
 judicious use of rewards. Even those who decry 
 
64 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 them most, make use of them in some way. But 
 there is every objection to the abuse of rewards so 
 prevalent in many schools. There are some gen- 
 eral principles that should always be kept in view. 
 
 1. A reward should not be expensive. If it is, 
 it becomes burdensome to the giver, and excites 
 mercenary feelings in the pupil. 
 
 2. A prize should rarely, if ever, be offered in 
 Sunday-school. By a prize we mean a reward 
 attainable by but one of the competitors. Let your 
 rewards be like God's^ so that all may obtain. 
 Otherwise they excite an envious and ignoble emu- 
 lation. This is the most important rule of all. 
 
 3. The reward should be within the reach of 
 all. The object to be attained must not be placed 
 too high. If you give a reward for punctual 
 and constant attendance, do not let the-itime for the 
 count exceed three months ; if you give a reward 
 for the introduction of new scholars, do not let the 
 number required exceed three ; if for perfect les- 
 sons, observe the same general rule of placing it 
 within the reach of the dull and discouraged pupils. 
 
 4. Offer a reward in the simplest manner, for 
 one specified object. Do not give a reward for 
 two or three things at the same time. 
 
 5. When offering rewards, be sure to put the 
 higher motive first. 
 
 6. When your purpose can just as well be 
 accomplished without rewards, do not use them. 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 65 
 
 When the children can be gotten to work from 
 higher motives, do not appeal to lower ones. 
 7. Use rewards sparingly. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SuNDAy-scHooL Music 
 
 Its Character. — The larger portion of Sun- 
 day-school pieces must always be lively. But 
 there is no reason why they should all be so. 
 There is a side of tenderness just as open in a 
 child's nature as any other. Sunday-school music 
 must not be too light. The Sunday-school is a 
 place of worship. There are many pieces of 
 church music that might now and then be intro- 
 duced. 
 
 The Hymns of much of our Sunday-school 
 music have neither sense nor poetry. Nevertheless 
 there are many sweet and beautiful ones. The 
 selections should be made with reference to the 
 impression to be made. Do not sing any thing 
 merely for the excitement of the tune. There may 
 be some apology for this sort of singing when it is 
 intended to wake up the flagging spirits of small 
 children. But even then why not sing something 
 that has sense and devotion in it, instead of such 
 an one as "My Sabbath Song," or, "We are 
 
' 66 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 Young and we are Happy ?" Above all, do not 
 neglect the grand old church hymns. But sing 
 such of them as are full of life and power. Under 
 proper leadership the grand " Coronation " can be 
 sung with delight and profit by any school. Such 
 pieces should be sung in considerably quicker 
 time, and in more animated style, than in church. 
 
 Chorister. — The Superintendent, if he is a 
 good singer, should lead the singing himself. But 
 if not, he should have a good chorister, one who 
 can sing well, and who is not too fond of display. 
 Ladies often make good choristers. 
 
 Teaching Children to Sing. — Just before the 
 school is the best time to teach new pieces, if it 
 can not be done during the week. Teach the 
 pupils, yr<?»2 ^/ze beginnings to regard the sense of 
 the words they are singing. 
 
 How MUCH Singing. — There is danger of too 
 much singing. One, or, at most, two pieces, in the 
 opening exercises, and not more at the close, we 
 think best. Never practice singing during the 
 regular session of the school. 
 
 Appropriateness. — As far as possible, adapt 
 your pieces to the subject. 
 
 Stencils are prepared for putting favorite 
 hymns on large sheets, that they may be hung up 
 in sight of the whole school. 
 
 Devoutness. — There is nothing so bad in our 
 Sunday-school singing as the general lack of 
 devoutness. Be careful to make the school feel 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 6*] 
 
 that in singing they are engaged in worship. Feel 
 it yourself, and occasionally read a verse over 
 before it is sung, calling attention to the points 
 best calculated to interest and stimulate the schol- 
 ars. 
 
part fourth. 
 The Skillful Teacher. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Purpose. 
 
 An Illustration. — I was in the cars one day, 
 the train having just started, when the conductor 
 came through, collecting the tickets. A passenger 
 in front of me handed his ticket to the conductor, 
 who informed him that he was on the wrong train. 
 A moment before, he shared the exhilaration of 
 all on board, that delightful feeling which every 
 body has when the cars are once under way, and 
 they feel that they are traveling toward their des- 
 tination. But now he sprang to his feet in alarm, 
 begged that the train might be stopped, and was 
 soon retracing his steps. As a large portion of 
 those on board were going to a Sunday-school 
 Convention, it was natural that I should think of 
 some teachers who take the wrong road. The 
 mistake is as easily made as that of the traveler 
 who took the wrong train of two going out of the 
 same depot at the same hour. It is of no advan- 
 tage to us that we make speed, if our course is 
 wrong. My fellow-passenger only moved the 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 69 
 
 more rapidly from his destination, and the speed 
 which dehghted the rest of us, carried him out of 
 his way. Thus have I seen some earnest teachers, 
 who were successful in their work, in one sense, 
 but whose fundamental aim was wrong. When I 
 see a teacher anxious, only that his class shall 
 learn more verses than any other in the school, or 
 eager only to make the school pleasant to his 
 pupils, or without higher aim than that of keeping 
 good order, and having his scholars always there, 
 or when I see a teacher whose whole aim is to 
 teach simply the facts of Scripture, in any suc.h 
 case I say : He is going along finely, but, alas ! he 
 is in the wrong train. 
 
 Something before Earnestness. — Let it be 
 kept in mind, then, that earnestness is of no avail 
 if our aim be wrong. The industrious, persever- 
 ing teacher, who has a false conception of the 
 object to be aimed at, will no more succeed in the 
 true work of a Sunday-school teacher, than a nav- 
 igator will reach Cuba by sailing toward Green- 
 land. What, then, is the true " objective point" of 
 Sabbath-school teacher ? 
 
 What it is not. — It is certainly not to teach 
 the bare words of Scripture by rote, to " hear 
 verses ;" for all such work is the giving of the let- 
 ter of the Gospel, while we treat the spirit with 
 contempt. It is using the bare words of the Bible 
 as a test of memory. It is not the reading of a set 
 of questions to a class, and a hearing and noting 
 
^O SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 of their answers. This is no teaching at all ; it is 
 only the hearing of a recitation. Nor is it the 
 cramming of the class with a mass of unimportant 
 collateral facts about Sacred Geography, etc. 
 
 The True Object of the teacher, as we stated 
 in the first chapter of this work, is to give to the 
 pupils, so far as his opportunity permits, a Chris- 
 tian Education. For it must be admitted that 
 the majority of Sunday-school children get little 
 or no religious education outside of the school. 
 Without stopping to discuss the word, we use 
 education in the sense of development. As intel- 
 lectual education has for its object the develop- 
 ment of the mind ; as physical education is to 
 develop the body ; so does religious education 
 include the complete development of the spiritual 
 nature of the child. 
 
 Storing the Memory not Development. — 
 The memory is a kind of intellectual tender^ in 
 which a stock of information may be carried for 
 future use ; but storing the memory gives, of itself, 
 no sort of development to the religious nature, and 
 only the most meagre and one-sided mental devel- 
 opment. Not only is the teaching of the mere 
 words of Scripture without educational effect, but 
 it is possible to give a great amount of information 
 in regard to the doctrines and duties of Scripture, 
 without producing any religious development 
 whatever. The writer once knew a man, edu- 
 cated in Scotland for the ministry, whose mem- 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 7 1 
 
 ory held Scripture and catechism ahke at perfect 
 command, but who was utterly godless. There is 
 a prominent public man, at present attached to 
 one of our foreign legations, who is quite as 
 remarkaTjle for his vast command of Scripture 
 incident and allusion, as he is for the infidelity of 
 his opinions, and the blasphemy and obscenity of 
 his speeches. 
 
 Development without Memory. — It is even 
 possible that one may receive culture from truth 
 that is not retained at all. A truth may bring me 
 into a state of greater trustfulness, and though I 
 forget the truth, yet I do not necessarily lose the 
 state of trustfulness. 
 
 There is a familiar story of a Scotchwoman, 
 who was engaged in bleaching linen, Avhen a 
 stranger accosted her by asking if she attended the 
 kirk. On her answering that she did, he inquired 
 why she went. She replied that the preaching 
 did her good. The stranger tested her memory 
 by inquiries in regard to text and sermon, but she 
 remembered nothing. " How, then, can it do you 
 any good if you do not remember it ?" exclaimed 
 the stranger. " When I put water on this linen," 
 she answered, " I find that it all dries away, but I 
 see that the linen grows whiter and whiter. So I 
 forget the sermon, but it makes me better." It is 
 not often that so forgetful a hearer is greatly ben- 
 efited, but it is still true that so far from the 
 amount remembered being the true test of the 
 
^2 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 teacher's progress, great results may be accom- 
 plished where little is definitely held in the mind. 
 
 Conversion the First Object. — I do not 
 say that much good may not be done by the 
 teacher who yet does not see the conversion of his 
 pupil. It is sometimes a work of time to prepare 
 the ground. But as conversion is the foundation, 
 is the very ground- work of all true Christian 
 growth, it should be the first aim of every teacher 
 to bring a scholar to Christ. No matter what 
 other success may be obtained, the teacher has 
 failed of the highest success who has not been 
 instrumental in bringing the pupil to a penitent 
 trust in the Lord Jesus. For if there is any time 
 when the Gospel might be supposed to be effec- 
 tive, it is the period during which a child is in Sab- 
 bath-school. 
 
 Christian Culture. — If conversion is the first 
 object, it is by no means the last. It is but the 
 foundation for the work that is to follow. To 
 build up the Christian character, to make the soul 
 strong against temptation, to prepare the heart by 
 teaching God's Word for the season of adversity 
 and fiery trial, to lay the foundations of the Chris- 
 tian life deep and strong, to prepare the young 
 Christian 'to be himself a vigorous and successful 
 worker, these are the objects that the teacher 
 should have in view, this is the work to be done. 
 Is there not work enough here for any one ? Can 
 any one rightly conceive of the work, and not be 
 in earnest.? 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Jeacher's General Preparation. 
 
 We Must not Demand too Much. — We must 
 not ask too much of Sunday-school teachers. 
 They are the busiest people in the community, for 
 idle people will not teach. We must not pre- 
 scribe an inflexible and extended course of study, 
 and demand that every teacher shall go through 
 with it. Asking too much is worse than asking 
 too little. 
 
 The Teacher should Prepare. — But it should 
 be understood that he or she who is at all worthy 
 the name of Sunday-school teacher (or Superin- 
 tendent) will find some time in which to make 
 some general preparation for the most important 
 work of his life. If the teacher can not make the 
 very fullest preparation, he will, at least, make 
 some. 
 
 Sunday-school Teaching an Education. — 
 There is nothing more beneficial, mentally or spir 
 itually, than the sort of intercourse a faithful Sun 
 day-school teacher has with children. The sym- 
 pathy with children is a great acquisition. If you 
 help children to intellectual clearness, they, in 
 turn, help you to clearness and spontaneity. The 
 study of the Scriptures required of a Sunday-school 
 4 
 
74 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 teacher, if diligently performed, has a better cul- 
 ture in it than an equal amount of classical study. 
 The faculty of expression, the ability to use lan- 
 guage clearly, facility in the use of illustration, 
 habits of condensation, are all developed in teach- 
 ing, so that no one can be a faithful teacher with- 
 out, in turn, receiving lasting benefits from teach- 
 ing itself. 
 
 The Teacher's Spiritual Preparation. — 
 But the teacher must not only prepare by teach- 
 ing, but y^r teaching. And the very first prepara- 
 tion is that of the heart, that which comes through 
 reading, prayer, and meditation. Sympathy with 
 Jesus Christ himself is the first preparation. And 
 this includes a habit of trustfulness, a habit of 
 devotion, a reverent habit. This includes, above 
 all else, an ardent love for the work of saving 
 souls, and a patient long-suffering with evil-doing. 
 I am not speaking of natural qualities given to a 
 few, but of religious attainments, habits of thought 
 and feeling within the reach of all. I am 
 not pleading for a sanctimoniousness of manners 
 that is oppressive and " put on," and whose shal- 
 lowness none see more quickly than intelligent 
 children. But for that genuine Christian devout- 
 ness that is a perpetual sunshine in the soul, and 
 that can no more be hidden than sunbeams can. 
 
 The Teacher's Intellectual Preparation. 
 — Ever}^ teacher truly desirous of doing good will 
 find time to prepare his mind for the great work 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 75 
 
 of teaching. What then shall that preparation be ? 
 How shall the busy teacher find time? 
 
 What the Teacher should not Read. — The 
 teacher's preparation, consists not in a multitude 
 of books. Some teachers unfit themselves for 
 teaching by the character of their reading. A 
 mind dissipated by light and objectless reading, 
 or, worse still, by over-wrought and exciting read- 
 ing, can not succeed in teaching. We are not 
 declaiming against fiction in itself. But the Sun- 
 day-school teacher who reads without aim or con- 
 science, who seeks only diversion and excitement, 
 can not be fit to teach. 
 
 The Teacher's Reading — His Helps. — The 
 first kind of special reading the teacher should do, 
 should be that which helps him. This kind of 
 reading maybe divided into two classes: ist. The 
 kind that helps him to material. 2nd. The kind 
 that helps him to method. Of the first kind we 
 may mention that the teacher should have a sim- 
 ple manual of sacred geography. There is one 
 published by the American Tract Society, another 
 by the American Sunday School Union. Such 
 works as Conybeare & Howson's Life and Epis- 
 tles of St. Paul, though somewhat expensive, are 
 invaluable for the general information they give. 
 But the Bible itself is the teacher's store-house. 
 What a picture of Apollos do we get in four words 
 — " mighty in the Scriptures." There is no such 
 knowledge for successful teaching. And the man 
 
76 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 or woman that, like Timothy, has known the 
 sacred books from childhood, has, indeed a great 
 advantage. 
 
 Helps to Method. — The teacher must know 
 how. Study, then, the methods of Christ himself. 
 Learn from him the art of adaptation, the art of 
 object-teaching, the art of illustration, the divine 
 art of simplicity. And if, after all, you feel the 
 difference between your methods and those of 
 Jesus to be great, you will yet find that there is no 
 such master. Study Paul's methods. How 
 adroitly does he suit himself to his hearers in the 
 Acts, how wisely does he adapt himself to his 
 readers in the Epistles. The reading of some 
 books is in itself a help. I do not think any one 
 can read the best popular preachers without im- 
 proving as a teacher. Among the very greatest 
 of these we rank Dr. Guthrie. Who can read 
 " Our Father's Business," and not feel himself bet- 
 ter able to use illustration afterward? Can any 
 Sunday-school teacher read the best of Spurgeon's 
 discourses, or Punshon's, without such improve- 
 ment? Beecher is a master in the art of teaching. 
 But I must not forget to mention, under this head. 
 Rev. Dr. Newton's "Jewel Case," a series of juve- 
 nile books that should be in every Sunday-school 
 library ; and, indeed, the best juvenile writers are 
 admirable examples for the teacher. Several of 
 Dr. Todd's works are excellent for this purpose. 
 So much for method by example. 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. *J*J 
 
 Of the works that teach method formally, we 
 give the preference to the periodicals for Sunday- 
 school teachers published in this country. The 
 English periodicals have not so much adaptation 
 to the state of the work in America, but they con- 
 tain many admirable articles. Pardee's Index, 
 House's Hand-book, and Vincent's Helpful Hints, 
 are full of practical suggestions. The English 
 works have been overestimated by some, because 
 they are foreign, and too lightly esteemed by 
 others, for the same reason. In England there 
 have been more men of culture and ability giving 
 attention to the Sunday-school work than in this 
 country. There have been more works of ability 
 on subjects relating to Sabbath-school work. But 
 there has been less practical progress. So that, 
 while their books are valuable for theoretical 
 instruction, they are not abreast of the practical 
 developments of the Sunday-school system in the 
 United States. 
 
 Illustrations. — The Sunday-school teacher 
 should be perpetually gathering illustrations. The 
 Bible is the best of all ; next, the books of sermons 
 alluded to above, adding, also, Newman Hall's ; 
 then the newspapers, religious and secular, and 
 the teacher's own observation of life and nature. 
 
 Stimulating Books. — In the mention made 
 above of books that help the teacher, I have named 
 some of those that stimulate him as well, so that 
 it is necessary only to remind teachers that they 
 
78 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 should read as much for the purpose of awakening 
 and keeping alive their zeal, as for that of helping 
 themselves in knowledge and method. 
 
 How TO PROCURE THE WoRKS. — Buy them, if 
 you are able, or, such of them as you are able to 
 buy. But they ought to be in every Sunday-school 
 library. If they are not, and you can not buy 
 them with the funds of the school, you can organ- 
 ize the teachers into a club, each member of 
 which can contribute fifty cents a year toward the 
 collection of a Teacher's Library. 
 
 The Teacher's Library. — We append a list 
 of a few of the books most important to a Teach- 
 er's Library in a Sunday-school. Most of them 
 should be upon the shelves of those Sunday-school 
 workers who are able to afford them : 
 
 Published in America. — Smith's Bible Dic- 
 tionary, (either the condensed edition, or, if it can 
 be afforded, the more expensive edition, in three 
 large volumes) ; The Bible Atlas ; The Land and 
 the Book ; Conybeare & Howson's Life and Epis- 
 tles of St. Paul, 2 vols. ; House's Hand-book ; 
 Pardee's Index ; Vincent's Helpful Hints ; Tyng's 
 Forty Years' Experience in Sunday Schools ; Sun- 
 day-school Photographs ; Short Studies for Sun- 
 day-school Teachers ; bound volumes of the Sun- 
 day-school Teacher. 
 
 Published in England. — Groser's Our Work ; 
 Fitch's Art of Securing Attention ; Reed's Infant 
 Class ; The Class and Desk ; The Christian 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. ^9 
 
 Teacher ; The Good Steward ; Branches run- 
 ning- over the Wall ; Work in the Wynds. 
 
 How SHALL WE GET THE TiME ? — Fifteen min- 
 utes a day, or even one hour a week, say on Sab- 
 bath afternoon, if you have no better time, will 
 enable you to make the greatest progress in this 
 work of preparing yourself to teach. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 'j^HE J^EACHER PREPARING THE I/ESSON. 
 
 The Four Faculties. — There are four parts 
 of a child's mental constitution to be regarded in 
 the preparation of a lesson : 
 
 1. The Understanding. — The attention must 
 be gained, the subject made clear, the thoughts of 
 the lesson rendered forcible. 
 
 2. The Memory. — The subject must be pre- 
 sented so that it can be retained, like things 
 grouped with like, principles with principles, facts 
 with facts, or, the principle fastened to the fact 
 from which it is deduced, things in their natural 
 order. 
 
 3. The Conscience. — Every lesson should im- 
 press the mind of the child with some practical 
 lesson ; should be a moral discipline ; sh*^ald 
 make the child feel his sinfulness, and wish t^ be 
 
8o SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 better. It takes delicate treatment to accomplish 
 this, but it must be done if we would do half the 
 work of a true teacher. 
 
 4. The Heart. — This door stands open in a 
 child's mind, generally. The climax of every les- 
 son is its impression on the pupil's affections. If 
 you stop at the conscience, you give the law, not 
 the Gospel. 
 
 The First Thing. — But before the teacher 
 considers the lesson as a whole, on the principles 
 we have set down above, he must understand it. 
 To this end use every help you can get : your own 
 common sense, the Bible dictionary, and the best 
 commentaries. The prevalent horror of the use 
 of commentaries by a teacher is without founda- 
 tion. But a commentary should never be taken 
 to the class. 
 
 The Commentary. — That commentary is best 
 which explains carefully the meaning of the Greek 
 text, so that an English reader can understand it ; 
 that is, freest from mere speculation, that bears 
 evidence of the greatest candor and the least of 
 sectarian and partisan bitterness. Of Notes for 
 Sunday-school teachers, Barnes', Whedon's, 
 Hodge's, and Ripley's, are all good, and will be 
 selected somewhat according to the denomina- 
 tional attachment or personal opinions of the 
 teacher. For the intelligent teacher, capable of 
 appreciating a learned and critical commentary, 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 8 1 
 
 we commend, especially, Alford's New Testament 
 for English Readers. 
 
 Gain Attention. — The first thing to be 
 thought of is, How shall I interest my pupils in 
 this lesson? for, unless they are interested, instruc- 
 tion is not of much account. Here the teacher 
 will take into consideration the modes of excitinsr 
 
 o 
 
 and retaining interest, laid down elsewhere in this 
 manual. 
 
 How to make Clear. — As the understanding 
 is first to be dealt with, the teacher's first anxiety 
 will be to make the lesson understood. To this 
 end he will carefully inquire what are the difficul- 
 ties likely to stand in the way of its being well 
 understood. The question is not what difficulties 
 occur to your mind, but what are likely to occur 
 to the minds of your pupils. Fix clearly in your 
 own mind how you will answer them. 
 
 Central Thought. — Find what is the central 
 thought of the lesson. Not only what is naturally 
 the chief thought of this passage, but, also, what is 
 the central thought of a lesson from this passage to 
 pupils of the ability and advancement of your class. 
 
 Practical Lessons. — Above all, think what 
 are the practical lessons. Let them flow naturally 
 out of your Scripture lesson. Study how to im- 
 press them. It is not enough that I shall tell a 
 scholar to seek forgiveness. I must illustrate the 
 necessity. Make, then, your practical point as 
 impressive as possible. Put the best of your study 
 4* 
 
82 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 071 this part of your lesso7z^ because it is difficult, 
 and because it is important. 
 
 Illustration. — The uses of illustration are so 
 manifold, that the teacher preparing will study, by 
 all means, to get all the pertinent ones that he can. 
 Some, perhaps, to make the subject clear, some to 
 impress the central thought, some to make the 
 practical application more eflective. They may 
 consist of object lessons, of anecdotes, or of simple 
 comparisons. Illustration serves all the purposes 
 of the teacher, and sometimes serves them all at 
 the same time, and is consequently the best part 
 of teaching. 
 
 Memorandum Book. — The teacher should 
 make notes of good illustrations that occur to him 
 hi walking, reading, talking, or otherwise. The 
 richest teacher is the one fullest of apt illustration. 
 
 Arrange your Lesson. — Plan carefully how 
 you will proceed with your lesson. Arrange the 
 things to be taught in their right order. But do 
 not make your plan so stiff that you will be thrown 
 off your balance if it should prove necessary to 
 le:;ve it. Have it so fixed that you can not be 
 diverted by trifles, but never hesitate to turn aside 
 if a golden opjDortunity to do good springs up 
 alongside of your lesson. 
 
 Artificial Methods. — Do not use stiff and 
 artificial methods of study, such as the widely 
 known P. P. P. P. D. D., which is the best of its 
 kind, and the equally celebrated Fiddler, which 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 83 
 
 is the worst of all. If you prepare by a stiff and 
 unnatural method, the same stiffness will appear 
 in your treatment of the lesson. The best plan is : 
 Use all your sense, and go to the bottom of 
 
 YOUR lesson. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 J^cw TO Interest Phildren. 
 
 The First Thing. — Until you have tlie atten- 
 tion, you can do nothing else. You can not get 
 the attention by demanding it. There is but one 
 way : Be interesting yourself. 
 
 Curiosity. — You must excite curiosity. You 
 can not feed a child till he is hungry. You can 
 not teach him until he has the spirit of inquiry. 
 If he does not want to know, you must make him 
 want to know. The art of exciting curiosity is 
 more easily practiced than taught. The simplest 
 means is by telling a story. Three-fourths of the 
 interest of a narrative is in the excited curiosity. 
 You read a story, after you have begun it, because 
 you want to know "' how it comes out." A teacher 
 will, therefore, take special pains to gather illus- 
 trations of a narrative kind. Another way is to 
 shape the question so that it will have something 
 of the interest of a riddle, or a puzzle. Object- 
 
84 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 teaching excites the curiosity. The scholar wishes 
 to find out what use you intend to make of the 
 object. A new way of beginning the lesson will 
 also answer the purpose. 
 
 Variety. — Any thing new, any change, is 
 pleasant to a child. Vary your methods as much 
 as possible. Do nothing monotonously. 
 
 Animation. — A child thinks, feels, and acts, 
 more quickly than you do. He thinks, feels, and 
 acts, more strongly than you do. The boy who 
 saw " a thousand cats in the garden," is a type of 
 all boys. I do not say the teacher shall exagger- 
 ate, but that he shall be quick, and that he shall 
 be strong in his utterances. A child does not ask 
 you to go into detailed exactness of statement, but 
 to bring out the salient point at once, and sharply. 
 And when you are done, by all means go on. 
 Dragging is death to attention. 
 
 Something to do. — The most inexorable law 
 of the nature of most children is that they must be 
 employed ; and if not usefully, they must be in 
 mischief. Keep all your class busy all the time. 
 Do not teach one, then another, etc., but first here, 
 then there, touching up the inattentive one always. 
 It is often best to have a verse read or repeated in 
 concert. An important truth, that can be well 
 stated in a few words, should be repeated in 
 concert. Here is the great advantage of question- 
 ing in addressing children. 
 
 Eye Teaching, of all kinds, is invaluable. A 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 85 
 
 blackboard, a slate, a picture, an object, any thing 
 visible and tangible, is always interesting. We 
 treat of this in full in another chapter. 
 
 PiCTURESQUENESS. — The imagination gives the 
 chief interest to poetry, and much of the interest 
 to a story. This picture-making faculty is invalu- 
 able to the teacher. In order to use it well, we 
 ought to acquaint ourselves w^ith the physical 
 aspect and geography of the Holy Land, and with 
 the manners and usages of the people. We must 
 not burden our teaching with such things, but use 
 them to give vividness to our instructions. With 
 smaller children, a story should always be told, by 
 supposing details, where you do not know them to 
 exist. The Good Samaritan should always be 
 made vivid by a description of the country through 
 which the road from Jerusalem to Jericho passed, 
 the dens of the robbers, the mode of travel, the 
 dress of priest and Levite, the Oriental inn, and 
 other details. But it is always best to let the pupil 
 make the pictures himself. 
 
 Sympathy. — But almost all the other elements 
 of interest are summed up in this one : Feel with 
 the child. To do this, you must live with children 
 when you can. You must keep alive all child-like 
 simplicity of feeling in yourself. Then, too, you 
 must know your pupils. See them at home. 
 Better still, have them at your house at least once 
 a month. And once a week is better still. Show 
 them your pictures. Read them interesting sto- 
 
86 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 ries, or talk to them on interesting 'subjects. Thus 
 will your Sunday influence be increased tenfold. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Wow TO Ask Questions. 
 
 Use of Printed Questions. — It Is far better 
 to use printed questions than to ask only blunder- 
 ing, vague, and incoherent questions. But the 
 good teacher will seek the more excellent way. 
 Use your printed questions In preparation. Get 
 them carefully fixed in your mind. But in ques- 
 tioning your class, let your inquiries spring up 
 naturally, and do not read them. If you read, 
 you can not so well adapt your Instructions to the 
 individual character of the pupils. 
 
 Questions measure Knowledge. — The very 
 first use of questions Is to discover the mental posi- 
 tion of your scholar, to find out how much and 
 how little he knows. If you teach without ques- 
 tioning, you teach in sheer Ignorance of what 
 instruction Is needed. Your questions are the 
 plummet-line with which you find out the amount 
 of your pupil's information. But you must fathom 
 it with care that you do not oftend his self-love. 
 
 To Reveal Ignorance. — Questions not only 
 reveal the limit of knowledge to the teacher, but 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. $>/ 
 
 to the pupil himself. One of the first things neces- 
 sary in teaching, is to bring up to the mind of the 
 pupil his own lack of knowledge. Until he feels 
 this, he is not in a proper state to learn. This is 
 more necessary with self-confident children than 
 with others. But the teacher must proceed cau- 
 tiously, and avoid showing any exultation, or even 
 satisfaction, when the consciousness of ignorance 
 comes to the pupil. 
 
 To Excite Curiosity. — Qiiestions must not 
 only reveal his ignorance to the pupil, but excite 
 in him a desire to know. What is the charm of a 
 riddle.'* Of course it is the pleasure of finding out 
 — the gratification of curiosity. So questions 
 should be shaped in such a way as to excite a 
 hunger for the information to be given. This is 
 done by an indescribable something in the shap- 
 ing of the question, still more by the teacher's 
 manner. If the teacher start the inquiry with a 
 keen zest, if he appear not so much to teach, as to 
 lead off in the search for the hidden thought, he 
 will generally succeed in awakening the desire to 
 know. 
 
 To Awaken Thought. — Another purpose of 
 questioning is to make the pupil think for himself. 
 That which you tell a child is not his own, but 
 yours. But if, by a process of questioning, you 
 cause him to originate the thought himself, it is 
 his own. This method of getting knowledge is 
 truly delightful to the child. It gives him activity. 
 
88 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 His memory will keep the thought which he has 
 dug out for himself. In order to do this, you must 
 not plump your main question at him at once. 
 Or, if you do, and find he can not answer, do not 
 tell him, but, if it is a matter that he can think out 
 himself, go back a little, and lead him, step by 
 step, to think it out for himself. If you desire to 
 illustrate by a comparison, you can do so best by 
 means of questions. First-hand knowledge is 
 always better than second-hand, and what the 
 pupil gets for himself is far better than what you 
 give him ready made. 
 
 Questions of Recapitulation. — When you 
 have taught any thing, always feel after it again 
 by questions. You can never be sure of it unless 
 you do. Neither will the scholar's memory hold 
 it so well, unless he is made to give it back again. 
 But be careful to frame your question so that the 
 pupil will state the fact or principle in his own 
 language, not in yours. In no other way can 
 you be sure that the truth is comprehended — is 
 digested. 
 
 Questions of Application. — To reach the 
 conscience and heart of the pupil, there is hardly 
 any thing better than the plan by asking questions. 
 You need not require that all of these questions 
 should be answered, especially if the child have a 
 delicacy in replying. Sometimes ask a question 
 to be answered mentally. 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 89 
 
 Be Definite. — Do not ask vagiie questions. 
 Because the answer is clear to you, you must not 
 suppose that it is clear to the pupil. Never ask a 
 question so indefinitely that it is susceptible of two 
 or three answers. Be sure that the drift of your 
 question is fully understood by your pupils. 
 
 Do NOT BE Unreasonable. — Do not ask ques- 
 tions to which you have no right to expect an 
 answer. A child may be made " balky," by over- 
 loading, as easily as a horse. 
 
 Get Answers. — When you have asked a ques- 
 tion, have it answered, if possible. If it is within 
 the range of the capacity of your class, you must 
 not be abashed by silence. If it is not at once 
 answered, question round it, until at last you get 
 an answer. To answer it yourself, or to let it pass 
 unanswered, is to establish a precedent that may 
 break down all answering in your class. 
 
 Personal Relation. — The personal sympathy 
 of teacher and scholar is essential to success in 
 this, as in all parts of the art of teaching. The 
 teacher who is well acquainted with his scholars 
 out of school hours, will stand upon the best foot- 
 ing when he comes to question them in the class. 
 
 Respect the Answers given by the pupils. 
 Do not let him be laughed at. If the pupil be a 
 diffident one, it is better to let a wrong answer, if 
 unimportant, pass, for the time, than to dishearten 
 the scholar. A wrong impression of fact can be 
 
90 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 corrected much more easily than a disheartened 
 scholar can be encouraged. 
 
 Caution. — Do not state your answer by Impli- 
 cation in your question. Be sure that your ques- 
 tions cause the scholar to think on the subject. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 JObject Teaching. 
 
 The Term. — Eye-teaching, as we may call it, 
 includes all forms of teaching in which the appeal 
 is made directly to the sense of sight. Under this 
 head we include Picture, Object, and Blackboard 
 teaching. By object teaching proper, we mean 
 the use of a visible object to attract the attention 
 of the pupil to some fact concerning the object 
 itself, or to some truth illustrated by the object. 
 
 In General, we may remark concerning it, 
 that it is the oldest method of teaching known, 
 having originated in the garden of Eden ; that it 
 is the Scriptural method ; the Mosaic law, the Old 
 Testament prophets, and the teaching of Christ, 
 being alike full of It. Solomon's Temple was but 
 a collection of object-lessons, and the whole ritual 
 of the law a system of object-teaching. It is the 
 most common and natural method, the greater 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 9 1 
 
 part of every one's knowledge having been gained 
 by actual observation. It is, in religious teaching, 
 the most neglected, since every body seems will- 
 ing to travel " Ear-gate,*' few willing to enter the 
 royal road of " Eye-gate," as Bunyan calls it. 
 
 To Attract Attention, an object may often 
 be used at the outset of a lesson, and then put 
 aside. In such case, the transition should not be 
 too abrupt, from the object to the subject of the 
 lesson. Sometimes the object may be used, just 
 for a moment, to awaken attention to a single 
 thought in the lesson. At other times the object 
 may be retained as the centre for the whole lesson. 
 
 The Object. — Frequently the object is sug- 
 gested by the very subject of the lesson — as, a 
 handful of wheat In teaching the parable of the 
 sower, or, of mustard seed, or a pearl in teaching 
 other well known parables, or a bit of salt, or a 
 piece of bread and a stone in teaching other com- 
 parisons of Christ. Often, however, a single 
 thought or doctrine may be impressed on the mind 
 by an object, as the doctrine of the resurrection by 
 a cocoon or a butterfly, or a grain of wheat ; the 
 brevity of life by a leaf or flower, etc. But such 
 objects are innumerable, and you have only to 
 accustom yourself to look for them, to find them 
 in the greatest abundance. Sometimes it is best, 
 for the sake of comparison, to take two, or even 
 half a dozen objects in one lesson. 
 
92 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 In the Ordinary Class, the use of objects is 
 somewhat limited, but it might still be done in 
 nearly every lesson. There is no other way in 
 which the dullness of our teaching can be so effec- 
 tually relieved ; and in schools and classes where 
 it has been tried, it has been, in every sense, suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 In the Infant-class, it should be used in 
 almost every lesson. The smaller the children 
 are, the more important is this method. Having, 
 generally, a separate room, a much wider range 
 of object-lessons is available than in the interme- 
 diate class. For instance, on " Let your light so 
 shine," the teacher in the infant-class can not only 
 take a candle, but light it (unless God's Spirit 
 light the heart of a Christian he can not shine) 
 and put on a candle-stick (citing the text) and 
 even turn a measure over it. A person that has 
 too much sense of dignity to use one of these les- 
 sons requiring action, is not fit to be an infant-class 
 teacher. 
 
 The Superintendent's Closing is an excel- 
 lent opportunity for the use of visible objects. He 
 may use them in all the ways suggested above. 
 He may use the dramatic object-lesson so often 
 made use of by the old prophets. A most excellent 
 lesson was given by an eminent Superintendent, 
 on the " strait gate," in this wise : Two chairs 
 were fixed so close together that a boy could 
 barely go between them. Then a boy was called 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 93 
 
 out, and loaded with large sacks full of paper, or 
 some other light substance, and told to go through. 
 He, of course, could not do it. One sack was 
 taken off, but he still failed to get through. At 
 last all were taken off but one, and he again 
 attempted to pass, without success. The Super- 
 intendent then removed the last one, and he went 
 through. Turning now to the eager faces of his 
 children, he made his application : " You can not 
 go to Christ unless you give up your sins. You 
 can not do it by giving up one at a time. You 
 can not hold on to a single one. Put them all 
 down now, and come to Christ." These points, 
 amplified a little, made a powerful impression 
 upon all the pupils. The attention was gained, 
 the truth was made clear, the conscience and heart 
 were reached, the memory easily retained the 
 truth. These are the chief uses of object-lessons, 
 but it is not often that a lesson so perfectly accom- 
 plishes them all at once. 
 
 Cautions. — Do not imitate the methods of pub- 
 lic school teachers too closely. Do not dwell too 
 long upan the object. Beware of a forced and 
 artificial use of an object. If the object does not 
 illustrate your lesson, it must distract attention 
 from it. Beware of all ostentation of ingenuity in 
 object-teaching. The less ingenuity and the more 
 naturalness appears in the lesson, the better it is. 
 
 In Addresses to children, there is a special 
 advantage in beginning with a well-chosen object. 
 
94 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 Even if you have a Scripture text, you should by 
 no means hesitate to use visible objects. Fre- 
 quently a number of objects in the same line of 
 thought may be used. So long as objects are 
 appropriately used, the children will be interested, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Jhe Jnfant-class. 
 
 We have already said so much about methods 
 of teaching that apply to the infant-class, that 
 we have only some supplementary suegestions to 
 offer. 
 
 The Room. — The infant-class should have a 
 separate room. It is a great offence against God's 
 little ones to build a church without such a provi- 
 sion. It should be well lighted and ventilated. 
 If reached by a stairway, it should be a straight 
 one, neither steep, nor dangerous in any way. It 
 should be sufficiently large to seat the children 
 without crowding. If the floor slopes, it should 
 be very gradual. The teacher should stand upon 
 a raised platform, so that she can see all the 
 scholars at once. The seats should be comforta- 
 ble in all respects. There should be pleasant pic- 
 tures upon the walls. Make it the pleasantest 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 95 
 
 room In the school. It should have a good black- 
 board. There is no class of pupils so dependent 
 upon their surroundings for their mental states, as 
 small children. And it is of the utmost impor- 
 tance that the jirst impression of a child in Sun- 
 day-school should be pleasant. 
 
 Where there is no Room provided for the 
 infant-class, it labors under difficulties that are 
 hard to overcome. But (if the church will not 
 build a vestry on purpose) you can curtain a space 
 w^ith screens of some kind, so that, though you 
 may not be able to sing during the lesson, you can, 
 at least, use pictures, objects, and blackboard exer- 
 cises. Screens might be used to great advantage 
 in an ordinary church, or Sunday-school room for 
 the intermediate classes. 
 
 The Teacher should generally be a trained 
 primary teacher. If not, she should be a person 
 of good teaching abilities. The teacher should 
 generally be a lady, though It will often happen 
 that a man is best adapted to the w^ork. The 
 teacher should be able to sing, or should have a 
 good chorister to assist. In very large Infant- 
 classes It Is well to have two or three assistants, 
 that they may relieve each other. 
 
 The Lesson should be the same as that taught 
 in the main school, though after the " golden text," 
 and principal thoughts or facts have been taught, 
 the widest liberty for digression should be given, 
 and if the subject is mostly beyond their compre- 
 
96 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 hension, the teacher should take up some object- 
 lesson for the remainder of the day. If this lesson 
 can be connected with the current lesson, it should 
 be. One verse should be committed by all the 
 pupils, and it should be the golden text, or chief 
 text of the current lesson. There is a vicious sys- 
 tem, prevalent in some places, of allow^ing each 
 child to recite a different verse. 
 
 The Teaching should be animated, but not 
 hurried. Be quick, but self-possessed. It should 
 keep the minds of all busy. It should often give 
 an opportunity for some physical exercise. For 
 instance, if the teacher wishes to speak of the 
 hand, she should have all raise their hands, or clap 
 them together. If of blindness, she might allow 
 all to place their hands over their eyes. These 
 little relaxations will refresh the scholars without 
 diverting attention. When a good answer is 
 given, or a point is made, have it repeated in con- 
 cert. 
 
 Minor Suggestions. — The singing should be 
 frequent and animated. Pictures and objects 
 should be used profusely. Bible incidents and 
 anecdotes of all kinds are invaluable. Above all 
 things, avoid tiring the children. Better teach one 
 truth well than a dozen vaguely. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Jhe Bible-class. 
 
 What is it ? — It is an adult class. The name 
 came from the fact that such classes formerly 
 studied the Old Testament, popularly called " The 
 B'ble," in contradistinction to the New Testament, 
 used by the other parts of the school. 
 
 Its Organization is generally too loose. It 
 has no definite connection with the school. It 
 ought to have a roll of its own. Its scholars should 
 be registered as members of the school. They 
 should appoint a Secretary. It should occasion- 
 ally hold a social meeting at the house of some 
 member of the class. In the attractiveness of the 
 Bible-class lies the solution of the question : How 
 shall we retain the older scholars? At no time 
 of life are people so susceptible to social attrac- 
 tions as at this time, and it should be the purpose 
 of the Sunday-school to furnish them social enjoy- 
 ment under proper restrictions. 
 
 The Teacher is often, too often, perhaps, the 
 pastor. In many cases, he must take it, from sheer 
 want of any body else to take it ; but in most cases 
 there is some one or more in the church, adapted 
 to the work of teaching young people. The pas- 
 tor is often jaded ; it is a secondary work with 
 5 
 
98 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 him ; he can not make any sufficient preparation 
 for it. There is no objection to a lady with requi- 
 site qualifications teaching it. Frequently it is best 
 to have two or more classes, but we do not think 
 it best to separate the sexes. The teacher 
 should be a person adapted to interest young peo- 
 ple, in full sympathy with them, calculated to 
 exert a social influence over them. Such a teacher 
 should give careful attention to preparation — to 
 general and thorough preparation. A course of 
 general study should be carried on, by the teacher, 
 during the time of teaching. Each lesson should 
 be prepared with the greatest care. 
 
 Bible-class Teaching. — There are three meth- 
 ods in use. The first may be called the debating- 
 club method, wherein the class drifts without rud- 
 der, or pilot, or desired haven, disputing upon sub- 
 jects of little or no consequence. This is always 
 to be condemned. Then, there is the lecture 
 method, wherein the teacher talks to the class. 
 This is better than the last, and in exceedingly 
 large classes, may be almost excusable. But the 
 true method is the method by development, where- 
 in the teacher draws out the sentiments of the 
 class, makes them think for themselves, and keeps 
 them engaged on the lesson. The teacher must 
 control the drift of the lesson. Do not allow 
 the lesson to be diverted from its main purpose 
 without good reason. Study what the rest of the 
 school study. Stick to the rich, gospel themes. 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 99 
 
 Do not seek knotty, theological discussions. 
 Do not give your class the dry husks ; always 
 get at the kernel of the lesson. Let there be a 
 moral discipline, and a preaching of Christ in 
 every lesson. Avoid stiffness as you would death. 
 Let the teaching be conversational In manner. 
 Always be courteous. Hear every answer or 
 remark patiently, and treat it respectfully. When 
 you ask a question of the class, get your answer, 
 if possible. Have Important texts and answers in 
 concert. Read your lesson in concert. Have a 
 room separate from the school, if possible. Use a 
 blackboard In every lesson. Let the class pur- 
 chase all the maps and models that are needed. 
 Appoint certain members to Investigate certain 
 points In the next week's lesson, and report. Put 
 your soul Into your class. Shake hands with 
 every member at the close. Visit your scholars. 
 Get all the social hold upon them that you can, 
 and you will solve the great question of the retain- 
 ing of the older scholars. Above all strive to 
 bring them to a knowledge of Christ. 
 
 Other Suggestions. — If a large part of your 
 class are religious, make them a lever to reach 
 others. If you have those who ought to teach, 
 strive to prepare them for the work. Send them 
 out to gather a class. Get members of your class 
 to visit destitute districts. Make your class a very 
 centre of active Christian work. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Miscellaneous Suggestions to the Teacher, 
 
 The Scholar's Study of the Lesson. — It is 
 important that the lesson should be committed, 
 but much more important that it should be under- 
 stood. With classes of smaller children, it is not 
 best to exact any thing more than the committing 
 of the lesson, and if it be too long, they should 
 only be required to learn a part of it. They will 
 depend upon the oral instructions of the teacher 
 for a full understanding of it. And even in this 
 case, a well selected Golden Text^ a verse of 
 Scripture conveying the chief thought of the les- 
 son, or a central thought well stated, or an analy- 
 sis in plain words to be read over, will be of great 
 value to give a sort of clue to the general drift of 
 the passage. In larger classes it is important that 
 some printed form of questions should be put into 
 the pupil's hand to guide him in study. Be care- 
 ful that this printed form is such as will produce 
 thought, that the questions are in accordance with 
 the laws of the art of asking questions. The older 
 question books are of very little value. 
 
 The Application. — There should be an appli- 
 cation of every lesson to the conscience and heart 
 of the child. But shall this be made in conclusion, 
 
SXJND AY-SCHOOL MANUAL. lOI 
 
 or during the progress of the lesson ? We answer, 
 in both ways. As you proceed, draw out the inci- 
 dental applications that naturally arise. Then, in 
 conclusion, sum up the most important ones, or 
 select one of the chief points of the application, 
 and make your whole concluding point upon that. 
 But children are apt to grow weary under an 
 application, just as congregations do. Be careful, 
 therefore to have your application well illustrated 
 with stories and comparisons. 
 
 The Numerical Method. — This is the simple 
 device of interesting the children in counting the 
 points of the lesson, or in counting the practical 
 thoughts deduced from a lesson. The points num- 
 bered must be expressed in few words ; and while 
 the exercise interests children greatly, it serves also 
 to impress the thoughts upon their memory. Do 
 not make too many points. The exercise is useful 
 where three or more points are to be made. It is 
 also an excellent exercise for infant-class teachers, 
 and for persons addressing children, and has an 
 especial value in retaining the attention during 
 closing remarks upon practical points. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Jhe Jeacher's ^pirit. 
 
 Earnestness. — Without the right spirit, all 
 the training in the world will not enable you to 
 succeed. If you are indifferent to success you can 
 not succeed. The true teacher is in earnest. He 
 works with his soul full of the gi'eatness of the 
 work. Not fitfully, but steadily, in earnest. The 
 true teacher is not repelled by wickedness. If you 
 have the spirit that took Elizabeth Fry into New- 
 gate, if you have the spirit that led Sarah Martin 
 to a life of self-sacrifice, if you have the spirit of 
 Christ, success must be yours. If not, failure. 
 
 How Acquired. — Consider the example of our 
 Lord. Consider your own indebtedness to him. 
 Consider the greatness of the work. Consider 
 your own responsibility. Consider your privilegt;. 
 Consider the joy set before you. Devote yourself 
 from no lower motive, than love and gratitude to 
 Christ, to the great work. 
 
 Patience. — If you work from such motives, 
 you will be patient. You will not be disheartened 
 by the greatness of the labor, nor the smallness or 
 absence of results, nor by the incorrigibleness of 
 pupils. 
 
 Work Triumphantly — which is only another 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. I03 
 
 way of saying work trustfully. If the promises 
 of God mean any thing, they mean that your labor 
 shall not be in vain. Work in assurance of suc- 
 cess, and the very assurance v^ill promote your 
 success. 
 
part fifth. 
 Gathering the Sheaves. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 pHILDREN's yVlEETINGS. 
 
 The Meeting for Inquiry. — If you have no 
 considerable body of converted children in the 
 school, you will first hold inquiry meetings. After 
 talking, and singing, and praying in concert, you 
 will at first get general expressions of desire to be 
 religious from the children, by raising the hand, 
 or by standing. At your next meeting, you will 
 talk more closely, and make the decision a closer 
 matter. You will find, perhaps, how many feel 
 that they are saved by Christ. Then, how many 
 wish to be prayed for. By degrees, your decided 
 pupils will be assorted. Your meeting will come 
 to be a meeting of Christian children. Do not 
 urge any one to attend, but invite all. 
 
 Two Meetings. — It is better to divide your 
 meeting soon after it has been started, holding one 
 for boys, and one for girls. 
 
 Conduct of the Meeting. — Children should 
 be taught soon to lead in prayer, and to speak in 
 the meeting. Your prayers and remarks will only 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. I05 
 
 consist of a sentence or two at first. Child-life 
 will show itself, and must not be too much 
 repressed. 
 
 Training. — Teach your pupils to work for the 
 good of others. Teach them not only to be Chris- 
 tians, but to be industrious Christians. Watch 
 over them carefully, and you will find the meet- 
 ings a great blessing to them. 
 
 Variety. — The exercises must be varied. Do 
 not ever let them become monotonous. Let them 
 always be very short. 
 
 Time. — You must suit yourself to circumstan- 
 ces in the time of holding your meetings. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 pHiLDHOOD Experience. 
 
 A Great Obstacle to the success of Sunday- 
 school work is the unwillingness of teachers to 
 believe in the genuineness of the religious life of 
 children. And this skepticism grows naturally 
 out of a mistake in regard to the character of a 
 child's religious life. 
 
 The Normal Christian Life — As we have 
 already said — should begin in childhood. Those 
 converted later in life are born out of due time. 
 Doubtless God is entitled to the service of a life- 
 
 5* 
 
Io6 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 time ; and a religious life can only attain its true 
 development by beginning in the earliest years. 
 
 The Child Christian is not to be expected to 
 manifest just those evidences of salvation that w^e 
 look for in the adult. From first to last his expe- 
 rience has a character suitable to his age. His 
 experience will not be, can not be, so strongly 
 marked as that of an adult. His repentance is not 
 no poignant, his change of purpose not so violent, 
 for the reason that his purpose is not so fixed. As 
 his habits and purposes are yet in an unsettled 
 state, there can not be the violent revolution that 
 takes place in an adult, though doubtless the steps 
 are essentially the same. And after a child's con- 
 version, the characteristics of childhood will show 
 themselves. There may be less steadiness of pur- 
 pose, more frequent lapses, and more impulsive- 
 ness, generally. 
 
 Do NOT Discourage a child rashly. If you 
 think a child mistaken in regard to his Christian 
 life, do not rebuke him. There maybe the smok- 
 ing flax of good resolution, the bruised reed of 
 good desire. Beware how you quench or break 
 that which God cherishes. Do not be harsh with 
 a child who seems unsteady in purpose. Cherish 
 all beginnings. 
 
 The Displeased Saviour. — Do not, for the 
 world, even by your own lack of effort, forbid a 
 child to come. Jesus was once " much displeased" 
 with his favored twelve for just that offence. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 PONCLUSION. 
 
 Individuality. — We must not expect to make 
 ^11 Superintendents, all teachers, all schools, alike. 
 We must not expect that any two will be just 
 alike. God does not intend that all the world 
 shall be whittled down to a dull uniformity. So 
 that the words spoken in these pages must always 
 be taken with this qualification in view : that the 
 writer has never desired that any one shall leave 
 his own individuality out of sight in settling ques- 
 tions of method. Nothing has been more perni- 
 cious, perhaps, than the attempt to imitate the 
 methods of men whose individuality is strongly 
 marked — as Mr. Wells, Mr. Moody, and Mr. 
 Jones. Excellent Superintendents, all three, they 
 are yet the poorest models in the world, if closely 
 followed, for the organization of each of the men 
 is so intensely individual and exceptional, that the 
 method which gives best scope for their peculiar 
 power, serves but to reveal the weakest side of 
 other men. In all your methods, do not deny 
 your own personality. 
 
 Indolence is the greatest foe to success. Do 
 not excuse your poor methods on the ground of 
 your individuality. Do not say that you can not 
 
lo8 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MANUAL. 
 
 do better, until you have exhausted all the resour- 
 ces and all the patience at your command. Above 
 all, do not, like the servant with one talent, give 
 up your place on account of unfitness. Find some 
 place where you can work, and diligently strive to 
 improve yourself. 
 
 Practice is necessary to all perfection. Do not 
 hope to succeed without labor and time. You can 
 not be a good teacher or Superintendent witho , 
 experience. 
 
 "A Sentence from Lamartine," said M.'. 
 Pardee to the writer, " made me a Sunday-school 
 man. It reads thus : * In the great day of account, 
 I am persuaded that neither my modesty nor my 
 weakness will excuse my inactivity.'" 
 
 Last Words. — We are none of us sufficient for 
 these things. It is with a deep sense of his own 
 weakness that the writer closes this little work. 
 Dear Christian fellow-worker, let me remind you 
 that after all your planting and watering, God 
 giveth the increase. " In due season," when the 
 time of the harvest is come, " we shall reap," you 
 who now see no fruit — and this writer would fain 
 include himself with you, — "if we faint not." 
 Let no discouragement make you faint-hearted, 
 therefore. Though the harvest be afar off, it will 
 come. " He that goeth forth, and weepeth, bear- 
 ing precious seed, shall DOUBTLESS come again 
 with rejoicing, bringing his SHEAVES with 
 him." 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 THE SCHOOL IN GENERAL. 
 CHAPTER. 
 
 I. Fundamental Thoughts. 
 II. Hints on Sundaj-School Architecture. 
 
 III. The Lesson. 
 
 IV. The Teacher's Meeting. 
 V. Sundaj-School Literature. 
 
 VI. Concerts, Anniversaries, and Pic-nics, 
 VII. Addresses to Children. 
 VIII. Contributions. 
 IX. The Mission Work. 
 X. The Hour of Meeting. 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 THE OFFICERS. 
 
 XI. The Pastor. 
 XII. The Superintendent. 
 
 XIII. The Secretary. 
 
 XIV. How to keep a Library. 
 
U. CONTENTS. 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 THE SESSION. 
 
 XV. The Opening Exercises. 
 XVI. The Closing Exercises. 
 XVII. Blackboard and Review Exercises. 
 XVIII. Discipline, Penalties, and Rewardi. 
 XIX. Sunday-School Music. 
 
 PART FOURTH. 
 
 THE SKILLFUL TEACHER. 
 
 XX. The Purpose. 
 
 XXI. The Teacher's General Preparation. 
 XXII. The Teacher Preparing the Lesson. 
 
 XXIII. How to Interest Children. 
 
 XXIV. How to Ask Questions. 
 XXV. Object Teaching. 
 
 XXVI. The Infant Class. 
 XXVII. The Bible Class. 
 
 XXVIII. Miscellaneous Suggestions to the Teacher. 
 XXIX. The Teacher's Spirit. 
 
 PART FIFTH. 
 
 GATHERING THE SHEAVES. 
 
 XXX. Children's Meetings. 
 XXXI. Childhood Experience. 
 XXXII. Conclusion. 
 
NATIONAL S. S. TEACHER. 
 
 The Sunday-School Teacher, hereafter to be called The Na- 
 tional Sunday-School Teacher, closes its third year with a large 
 and rapidly increasing circulation. Its subscription list has doubled 
 during the past year, and quadrupled during the two years past. Its 
 circulation is national. It is catholic in character. The most eminent 
 Sunday-School writers, and the most practical Sunday-School workers 
 in tlie country are its contributors. 
 
 Some of the best papers ever given to the Sunday-School public have 
 appeared in its pages. 
 
 It is used as a text-book in almost every progressive Sunday-School 
 in the Union. 
 
 National Series of S. S. Lessons. 
 
 This series is published in the successive numbers of The Na- 
 tional Sunday-School Teacher, and has attained an extraordi- 
 nary circulation. Its features are : 
 
 NOTES, 
 biographical^ Geographical^ and Expository^ 
 
 FOR TEACHERS AND BIBLE-CLASSES. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS 
 
 AS TO METHOD OF TEACHING EACH LESSON. 
 
 OUTLINES FOR INFANT CLASS TEACHERS. 
 
 Engraved Blackboard Outlines 
 for superintendents. 
 
 The Course for 1869, 
 
 Will be Studies in the Epistles, with a course for the last quarter 
 in The Gospel in the Old Testament. This is the fourth year. 
 With 1870, the series will begin anew with a greatly improved course 
 on The Life and Words of Jesus. 
 
 This is not a ^uestio7i-book System. The fullest assistance is given 
 to the teacher. Lesson papers (circulation 250,000) are issued as 
 guides to the scholar in studying. But the teacher is always left to 
 adapt it to his own gifts, and the peculiar wants of his class. 
 
 TERMS: Yearly subscription, $1.50, invariably in advance. Sin- 
 gle numbers, 15 cents. Clubs of 10 or more, sent to one address, will 
 receive six Lesson Papers for each subscriber monthly. Subscriptions 
 close with June or December. Specimen copy sent for 10 cents. Extra 
 Lesson Papers, $1.00 per 100 monthly. 
 
 ADAMS, BLACKMER, & LYON, 
 
 Chicago, III. 
 
The Little Folks. 
 
 A PAPER FOR INFANT CLASSES. 
 
 Each number contains two p^es, and four numbers are sent on one 
 sheet to save postage. They afford a paper for 
 
 EVERY SUNDAY, 
 
 The great demand of infant classes. Each weekly part contains a cut 
 with reading in large type for the children. On the second page is a 
 " Story for Mamma to read aloud," prepared by some of the best oi 
 our writers for little folks. SEND FOR SPECIMEN. 
 
 TERMS : Single copies, 30 cents. In dubs of 25 or more, $25 per 
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 On a large sheet we print four Lessons for each month. Each Lesson 
 is on a page 20x28 inches, and gives a simple reading lesson for an 
 nfant class. The subjects and Golden Texts are those of the 
 
 NATIONAL SERIES OF LESSONS. 
 
 Hung in an Infant Class room, it gives zest to the 
 
 UNIFORM LESSON SYSTEM, 
 
 And tends to relieve the infant class teacher of some of her burdens. 
 PRICE, $2.00 per year, or 20 cents per month. 
 
 ADAMS, BLACKMER, & LYON, 
 
 Chicago, III. 
 
GI(EAT SUCCESS! 
 Palmer's Sabbath-School Songs. 
 
 This work has reached its 
 
 SEVENTEENTH THOUSAND, 
 
 aJftough it has been before the public little more than six months 
 
 It abounds with fine thoughts beautifully expressed, as reSds both 
 the words and the music. It contains songs adapted to thi ooenhS 
 and closing of Sabbath-Schools; to the fvants of Teachers' ^13 
 meetings; Temperance, Missionary, Christmas, and Funeral occa 
 Kt'of'4°e'''^'''' to National and Festival meWin%,Concertsretc: 
 
 Standard Sunday-School Hymns, 
 
 Are here printed without the music, thus bringing a lar^e and valua- 
 ble variety of Sons^s and Hymns at a low price. ^ 
 
 S^J^^.^''»'i^y-^^hool Teacher says, " Prof Palmer's reputation as a 
 charming composer, and our knowledge of the contents of the b?ok 
 warrant us in saying that it is one of tfie very best ever published '°' 
 
 FROM A PRACTICAL SABBATH-SCHOOL MAN. 
 
 Prof. Palmer : Chicago, October, 1868. 
 
 «5,i'?H^C «Sr/ ^^^% carefully examined your new Singing-Book for 
 Sunday-Schools, and am greatly pleased with it. Your l^usic has 
 long been a favorite with our school, and we are glad to see the o?d 
 fished rhJoW^'^'"%'^J° love, with 'manv excellent new ones, pulS 
 hshed m book form. I heartily recommend them to Sunday-Schiols: 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 E. W. HAWLEY, 
 Sup't of Bethesda Chapel Mission School. 
 
 bo?k hlfr^cdvid!"* ^''"'* "' *° ^"°' ^^ ""^^^ recommendations the 
 
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 The Course of Lessons for 1866, Vol. I., is entitled, 
 
 " The Life^ Journeys^ and Miracles of jfesus" 
 
 For 1867, Vol. II., 
 
 ^^The Parables^ Discourses^ and Conversations 
 of jfesus" 
 
 For 1868, Vol. III. 
 
 "^ Tear with the Apostles" 
 
 PRICE of bound volumes, sent by mail, prepaid, $2.00, 
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Sunday-School Requisites. 
 
 In order to lessen the work of Librarians and Teachers, and make 
 their reports and accounts more accurate, we have just issued tliree 
 cards (see pages 41, 46, and 47 in this Manual) as follows : 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL LIBRARY CARD. 
 
 LIBRARY TICKET. 
 
 CLASS CARD FOR THE USE OF TEACHERS. 
 
 These cards will be sent by mail, prepaid, at $1.00 per hundred. 
 ADAMS, BLACKMER, & LYON, 
 Chicago, III. 
 
 SUNDA r-SCHOOL 
 CONVENTIONS and INSTITUTES, 
 
 WITH SUGGESTIONS ON 
 
 County and Township Organizations, 
 by edward eggleston, 
 
 This little book originates in the constantly recurring applications 
 to the writer for directions and suggestions in regard to the conduct of 
 Institute exercises in County Conventions, and also in the felt want of 
 some publication that would, assist County Conventions to avail them- 
 selves of the result of the experience of others in organizing and 
 developing their work. Its design is to offer practical suggestions to 
 those who wish to take part in Institute exercises, and to furnish 
 those interested in the extension of Sunday-school work, some hints 
 upon the best methods of procedure. 
 
 " It should be placed in the hands of the officers and teachers of all 
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 Sent by mail for 20 cents. 
 
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 Chicago, III. 
 
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 For Sunday-School Superintendents and Infatit Classes. 
 
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 may be placed before the school each Sabbath. 
 
 There are three sizes, as follows : 
 
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THE 
 
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 A monthly, eight-pa^e paper, of the highest literary character, 
 adapted to the wants of intelligent Sabbath-school scholars of every 
 grade above the infant class. Avoiding the childishness so common 
 in Sunday-school literature, it aims to interest and instruct especially 
 the larger and more intelligent scholars, giving them a healthful liter- 
 ature in place of the prevalent flood of pernicious reading. 
 
 It aims, first of all, to do g-ood in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is entirely unsectarian in character. 
 
 It aims to have every article, long and short, thoroughly interesting' 
 and able. 
 
 The corps of contributors includes the best juvenilb 
 writers in the united states. 
 
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 the editor of The National Sunday- School Teacher^ and as a con« 
 tributor to all the leading juvenile periodicals in the United States. 
 
 TERMS: Yearly subscription, 50 cents in advance; 10 copies, 
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 copies and $2.50, we will send a co'^y gratis. 
 
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 will find this neat little bookjust what they need. It contains eighteen 
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 " " Birds, 1.25 
 
 " " Insects, 1.25 
 
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 Date Due 
 
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