Religious instruction may be given in other ways. Let the teacher take a flower or an insect, and ask the, children if they could make such a one; and I never found one who would answer, "Yes." A microscope will increase the knowledge of its wonders. The teacher may then make a needle the subject of remark; the children will admit that it is smooth, very smooth; let him tell them it is the work of man, and as such will appear imperfect in proportion as it is examined; and shewing them it through the microscope, they will perceive it is rough and full of holes. As a contrast, let him take a bee, obtain their observations on it as it is, give them a short history of it, and they will acknowledge its superiority over the needle. But on viewing it through the microscope, astonishment will be increased, and I have heard many say at such a time, "O sir, how good (meaning great) God must be!" The sting may then be pointed out, as unlike the needle, and perfectly smooth; and thus truth may be imparted in a manner the most interesting and delightful.
The influence of such considerations on character is obvious. When the greatness of God is spoken of, allusion may be made to our pride, and to the importance of humility; his goodness may suggest the evil of unkindness, and the importance of benevolence; and his truth may lead to remarks on its necessity, and the sin of falsehood.
A small plot of ground may moreover be appropriated to the children; some grains of wheat, barley, or rye may be sown, and they may be told that, at a certain time, they will spring forth. Often will they go, and anxiously watch for this; and at length they will say perhaps, "Please, sir, such a thing has come up; we know it is so, for it is just what you said it would be." Week after week the progress of vegetation will be observed, and the fulfilment of the master's promise will greatly tend to increase his influence. So great will he appear, that his words and commands will be more regarded; while it will be his object to trace the wonders which he predicted to their divine Source. I have frequently observed, on such occasions, what I should term an act of infant worship. Often has the question been put to me, "Please, sir, is it wicked to play?" as if the spirit were awed, and transgression against God were regarded with dread. Caution has been also discovered in the use of the divine name; and I have listened with delight to such remarks as these: "Please, sir, when we sing a hymn, we may say Gad, or if we talk about the sun, we may say God made it; and it isn't taking his name in vain, is it? But when we talk of God as boys do in the street, that is very wicked!"
The following facts will illustrate the benefit of scriptural instruction.
A little boy, about four years and a half old, belonging to an Infant School, went to see his cousin, a little girl about his own age. At bed-time, the little boy, to his great surprise, saw her get into bed without having said her prayers. The little fellow immediately went up to the side of the bed, and put this question to her: "Which would you rather go to, heaven or hell?" The little girl said, "I don't know!" "Not know!" said the boy; "Why, wicked people go to hell, and the good go to heaven, a happy place." The little girl then said, "Why, I should like to go to heaven." "Ah!" but replied the little fellow again, "You did not say your prayers; and all that go heaven pray to God." She then said, "Will you teach me to pray your prayer?" "If I lived with you," said he, "I would; but if you go to the Infant School, they will teach you to say your prayers, and sing hymns too."
One day, while the teacher of an Infant School was speaking to his little children, from the conversation of our Lord with the woman of Samaria at the well, a gentleman present asked the following questions: "Where should we go to worship God?" When a little boy answered, "To a throne of grace." "And where is a throne of grace?" "Any where," answered the boy; "for where we kneel down, and pray to God with our hearts, we are then at a throne of grace."
There are times when the children are in a better state to receive religious instruction than others. A teacher of observation will soon perceive this, and act accordingly; if, however, the thing is overdone, which it may be, and which I have seen, then the effect is fatal. Hypocrisy will take the place of sincerity, and the heart will remain unaffected and unimproved.
A little boy, the subject of the following anecdote, being six years of age, and forward in his learning, I considered him fit to be sent to another school; and informed the parents accordingly. The father came immediately, and said, he hoped I would keep him till he was seven years of age; adding, that he had many reasons for making the request. I told him, that it was the design of the Institution to take such children as no other school would admit; and as his child had arrived at the age of six, he would be received into the national school; moreover, as we had a number of applications for the admission of children much younger, I could not grant his request. He then said, "I understand that you make use of pictures in the school, and I have good reason to approve of them; for," said he, "you must know that I have a large Bible in the house, Matthew Henry's, which was left me by my deceased mother; like many more, I never looked into it, but kept it merely for show. The child, of course, was forbidden to open it, for fear of its being spoiled: but still he was continually asking me to read in it, and I as continually denied him; indeed, I had imbibed many unfavourable impressions concerning this book, and had no inclination to read it, and was not very anxious that the child should. However, the child was not to be put off, although several times I gave him a box on the ear for worrying me; for, notwithstanding this usage, the child would frequently ask me to read it, when he thought I was in a good humour; and at last I complied with his wishes; 'Please, father,' said the child, 'will you read about Solomon's wise judgment' 'I don't know where to find it,' was the reply. 'Then,' says the child, 'I will tell you; it is in the third chapter of the first book of Kings.' I looked as the child directed, and, finding it, I read it to him. Having done so, I was about to shut up the book; which the child perceiving, said, 'Now, please, father, will you read about Lazarus raised from the dead?' which was done; and, in short," said the father, "he kept me at it for at least two hours that night, and completely tired me out, for there was no getting rid of him. The next night be renewed the application, with 'Please, father, will you read about Joseph and his brethren?' and he could always tell me where these stories were to be found. Indeed, he was not contented with my reading it, but would get me into many difficulties, by asking me to explain that which I knew nothing about; and if I said I could not tell him, he would tell me that I ought to go to church, for his master had told him, that that was the place to learn more about it; adding, 'and I will go with you, father.' In short, he told me every picture you had in your school, and kept me so well at it, that I at last got into the habit of reading for myself, with some degree of delight; this, therefore, is one reason why I wish the child to remain in the school." A short time afterwards, the mother called on me, and told me, that no one could be happier than she was, for there was so much alteration in her husband for the better, that she could scarcely believe him to be the same man. Instead of being in the skittle-ground, in the evening, spending his money and getting tipsy, he was reading at home to her and his children; and the money that used to go for gambling, was now going to buy books, with which, in conjunction with the Bible, they were greatly delighted, and afforded both him and them a great deal of pleasure and profit.
Here we see a whole family were made comfortable, and called to a sense of religion and duty, by the instrumentality of a child of six years of age. I subsequently made inquiries, and found that the whole family attended a place of worship, and that their character would bear the strictest investigation.
The following anecdote will also shew how early impressions are made on the infant mind, and the effects such impressions may have in the dying moments of a child. A little boy, between the age of five and six years, being extremely ill, prevailed on his mother to ask me to come and see him. The mother called, and stated, that her little boy said be wanted to see his master so bad, that he would give any thing if he could see him. The mother likewise said, she should herself be very much obliged to me if I would come; conceiving that the child would get better after he had seen me. I accordingly went; and on seeing the child considered that he could not recover. The moment I entered the room, the child attempted to rise, but could not. "Well, my little man," said I, "did you want to see me?" "Yes, Sir, I wanted to see you very much," answered the child. "Tell me what you wanted me for." "I wanted to tell you that I cannot come to school again, because I shall die." "Don't say that," said the mother, "you will get better, and then you can go to school again." "No," answered the child, "I shall not get better, I am sure; and I wanted to ask master to let my class sing a hymn over my body, when they put it in the pit-hole." The child, having made me promise that this should be done, observed, "You told me, master, when we used to say the pictures, that the souls of children never die; and do you think I shall go to God?" "You ask me a difficult question, my little boy," said I. "Is it, sir?" said the child, "I am not afraid to die, and I know I shall die." "Well, child, I should not be afraid to change states with you; for if such as you do not go to God, I do not know what will become of such as myself; and from what I know of you, I firmly believe that you will, and all like you; but you know what I used to tell you at school." "Yes, sir, I do; you used to tell me that I should pray to God to assist me to do to others as I would that they should do to me, as the hymn says; and mother knows that I always said my prayers, night and morning; and I used to pray for father and mother, master and governess, and every body else." "Yes, my little man, this is part of our duty; we should pray for every one; and, I think, if God sees it needful, he will answer our prayers, especially when they come from the heart." Here the child attempted to speak, but could not, but waved his hand, in token of gratitude for my having called; and I can truly say, that I never saw so much confidence, resignation, and true dependence on the divine will, manifested by any grown person, on a death-bed, much less by a child under the tender age of seven years. I bade the child adieu, and was much impressed with what I had seen. The next day the mother called on me, and informed me that the child had quitted his tenement of clay; and that just before his departure had said to her, and those around him, that the souls of children never die; it was only the body that died; that he had been told at school, while they were saying the pictures, that the soul went to God, who gave it. The mother said that these were the last words the child was known to utter. She then repeated the request about the children singing a hymn over his grave, and named the hymn she wished to have sung. The time arrived for the funeral, and the parents of the children who were to sing the hymn made them very neat and clean, and sent them to school. I sent them to the house whence the funeral was to proceed, and the undertaker sent word that he could not be troubled with such little creatures, and that unless I attended myself the children could not go. I told him that I was confident that the children would be no trouble to him, if he only told them to follow the mourners two and two, and that it was unnecessary for any one to interfere with them further than shewing them the way back to the school. I thought, however, that I would attend to see how the children behaved, but did not let them see me, until the corpse was arrived at the ground. As soon as I had got to the ground, some of the children saw me, and whispered, "There's master;" when several of them stepped out of the ranks to favour me with a bow. When the corpse was put into the ground, the children were arranged round the grave, not one of whom was more than six years of age. One of them gave out the hymn, in the usual way, and then it was sung by the whole of them; and, according to the opinions of the by-standers, very well. The novelty of the thing caused a great number of persons to collect together; and yet, to their credit, while the children were singing, there was not a whisper to be heard; and when they had finished the hymn, the poor people made a collection for the children on the ground. The minister himself rewarded one or two of them, and they returned well stored with money, cakes, &c. This simple thing was the means of making the school more known; for I could hear persons inquiring, "Where do these children come from?" "Why, don't you know?" replied others, "from the Infant School." "Well," answered a third, "I will try to get my children into it; for I should like them to be there of all things. When do they take them in, and how do they get them in?" "Why, you must apply on Monday mornings," answered another; and the following Monday I had no less than forty-nine applications, all of which I was obliged to refuse, because the school was full.[A]