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THE CHRISTIAN EDUCATION OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH:
BY THE REV. SAMUEL MILLER, D. D.,
AND THE REV. J. J. JANEWAY, D. D,
PHILADELPHIA :
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by
A. W. MITCHELL, M. D.,
in the Clerk s Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Stereotyped by
S. DOUGLAS WYETH,
No. 7 Pear St., Philadelphia.
Printed by
WM. S. MARTIEN.
REPORT
TO THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
ON
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
BY THE
REV. SAMUEL MILLER, D. D.
(3)
ADVERTISEMENT.
IN the General Assembly of 1839, the following Resolution was adopted, viz :
" Resolved, That the Rev. Samuel Miller,
Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, J. Ad-
dison Alexander, and James Carnahan, be a
committee to inquire whether any, and, if
any, what measures ought to be adopted for
securing to the children and young people of
our Church more full advantages of Christian
education than they have hitherto enjoyed."
In pursuance of the foregoing appointment,
the following Report was presented to the
General Assembly, at their sessions in 1840,
by the chairman of the committee, the Rev.
Samuel Miller, D. D. and by a unanimous
resolution it was referred to the Board of
Publication, with a view to its publication.
1* (5)
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
THE longer and the more seriously the Com
mittee have deliberated on the adoption of
measures " for securing to the children and
young people of our Church more full advan
tages of Christian education than they have
hitherto enjoyed," the deeper has become
their impression, at once, of its transcendent
importance, and of the exceeding great diffi
culty, in the present state of our country and
of the Church, of doing it justice, even in
theory, and much more of proposing such
plans as will admit of general and convenient
execution.
There can be no doubt that one great end
for which the Church was established by her
infinitely wise and gracious Head was, that
she might train up a godly seed, enlightened
in the truth, and imbued with the sentiments
and habits adapted to the maintenance and
7
8 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
spread of our holy religion, in all its purity
and power.
This great principle is not merely left to be
inferred from the general nature and character
of the church, but is essentially included in
the ordinances appointed by her Divine Head,
and in the direct and solemn commands with
which her statute book abounds. Hence, in
the ancient Church, her children, while yet
infants, were recognized and sealed as mem
bers ; were carried up at an early age to the
great feasts at Jerusalem ; and, that they
might be taught to take an interest in all that
pertained to the people of God, the command
of Jehovah was " These words shall be in
thine heart, and thou shalt teach them dili
gently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up." Nay more
it was not only enjoined on parents under
that economy, to teach their children all the
commands of God, and continually to incul
cate obedience to them, but also to make them
familiar with the history of the Church con
tinually reminding them of all Jehovah s deal
ing with his covenant people ; his signal de
liverances ; his heavy judgments ; and the
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 9
various ways by which he led them on, and
accomplished his purposes toward them.
When the New Testament economy was
introduced, the same great principles of duty
toward the children of the Church were not
only retained, but with the increasing light
and spirituality of the new dispensation, were
extended in their application, and urged with
new force. Still, while in their infancy, the
Church, by a solemn rite, was commanded to
recognize her children as the members of her
body ; to regard herself as their moral parent ;
and to make their early instruction and disci
pline an object of unceasing care and labour.
Some of the examples of this care, and of the
happy results of it, recorded in the early his
tory of the Church, are at once memorable
and instructive.
The pious " witnesses for the truth " in the
dark ages, were, perhaps, more remarkable for
nothing than for their faithfulness in the in
struction and discipline of their children. In
particular, the devoted and exemplary Wal-
denses were probably indebted, under God,
to their peculiar diligence in the discharge of
this duty, for their remarkable success in keep
ing their body together ; in transmitting their
testimony from generation to generation ; and
10 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
in remaining so long as they did, a beacon for
the admiration and guidance of the Church in
after times. Historians tell us that these pious
people were in the habit of employing every
hour that they could rescue from labour and
sleep, in gaining religious knowledge them
selves, and in imparting it to the children and
young people of their community ; that they
were careful to prepare excellent catechisms,
and other formularies for their youth ; and
that their pastors made the religious instruc
tion of youth a leading and unceasing object
of their labours.
In imitation of their example, the most
pure and enlightened of the Reformed
churches have ever directed their attention
to the education of their children as an object
of primary importance in promoting the great
interests of religion. Among these churches,
that of Scotland is, on several accounts, most
instructive and most interesting to us, as
bearing to us, more than any other, the rela
tion of parent. This Church, from the ear
liest period of her establishment, has made
careful provision for the early instruction and
discipline of her children. By different acts
of her General Assembly, from time to time,
she has declared their education to be under
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 11
the supervision and government of her judica-
tories, and directed the course of their studies
accordingly. The General Assembly, soon
after its first formation, in 1560, and at differ
ent times afterwards, directed the several
presbyteries to settle a church school in every
parish, and to see that the teacher employed
in each was a pious, orthodox, well qualified
man, adapted to instruct youth in the Scrip
tures, in the catechism, and in all the most
important things, as well as in the elements
of literature. By an act of the General As
sembly of 1642, a grammar school was erect
ed in every presbytery. The Assembly of
1700 enjoined on all presbyteries to "take
special, particular, and exact notice," of all
schoolmasters, governors, and instructors of
youth, within their respective bounds, and
oblige them to subscribe the Confession of
Faith ; and, in case of continued negligence,
(after admonition,) error, or immorality, or
not being careful to educate those committed
to their charge in the Protestant Reformed
religion pointed out the mode in which they
were to be punished. By the Assembly of
1706, it was enjoined that presbyteries visit
the grammar schools within their respective
bounds, twice a year, by some of their num.-
12 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
ber. And, finally, in 1638, the General As
sembly revived and ratified the acts of pre
ceding Assemblies, by which visitations of
colleges were directed to be kept up by com
mittees of the Assembly ; and the principal
regents, professors, masters, and doctors
within the same were required to be tried
concerning their piety, their soundness in the
faith, their ability to discharge the duties of
their calling, and the honesty of their conver
sation.
Several other Reformed churches might be
cited, as furnishing eminent and instructive
examples of fidelity in discharging the great
duty which it is the object of this report to
recommend. The Church of Holland will
alone be noticed at present. By the synodi-
cal assemblies of that church it is directed
that the consistories in every congregation,
shall provide good schoolmasters, who shall
be able not only to instruct children in read
ing, writing, grammar, and the liberal sci
ences, but also to teach them the catechism,
and the first principles of religion. Every
schoolmaster was to be obliged to subscribe
the Confession of Faith of the Belgic churches,
or the Heidelberg Catechism. With regard
to instructing children in the catechism, a
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 13
three-fold attention to it is solemnly enjoined
in that church ; viz : first, Domestic, by Pa
rents ; second, Scholastic, by Schoolmasters ;
and third, Ecclesiastic, by Pastors, assisted
by other members of their consistories ; and
all whose duty it is to inspect schools, are
" admonished to make this an object of their
very first care." It is further provided, that
no person shall be appointed to the charge of
any school who is not a member in full com
munion with the Reformed Belgic Church,
and who shall not previously have subscribed
the Confession of Faith and Catechism of the
Church, and solemnly promised to instruct
the children committed to his care in the
principles contained in the standards of the
Church. More than this; it is enjoined that
every schoolmaster shall employ two half
days in every week, not only in hearing the
children repeat, but in assisting them to un
derstand the catechism. And to insure fidelity
in these teachers, it is made the duty of the
pastors and elders of each church, frequently
to visit the schools ; to encourage and direct
the teachers in the proper method of cate
chizing ; to examine the children " with mild
seventy ;" and to excite them to industry
and piety, by holy exhortations, by season-
2
14 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
able commendations, and by little appropriate
rewards.
Nor is this zealous and persevering labour
in the religious training of youth confined to
Protestant churches. It is well known, that
among some of the Roman Catholic congre
gations of Europe, the children are imbued
with a knowledge of their erroneous system,
with an indefatigable diligence and patience
which may well put to shame the professors
of a more scriptural creed. The consequence
is, that so large a number of that denomina
tion of professing Christians have an attach
ment to their sect, and an expertness in de
fending their superstitious peculiarities, rarely
found among the mass of Protestants.
When your committee contrast these facts
with the state of things now existing, and
which has for a long time existed, and been
manifestly growing in the Presbyterian
Church, in regard to the religious training of
her children, they experience a degree of
mortification which it is not easy to express.
For a number of years, indeed, after the
planting of our Church in this country, that
portion of our members which had migrated
from Scotland, or the north of Ireland, and
their immediate successors, retained much of
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 15
their European habit in regard to this
matter. Their children were, to a consider
able extent, trained, as was customary in the
land of their fathers, and made perfectly fa
miliar with the catechisms of the church, and
the elementary principles of religion. But
even this remnant of European fidelity has,
in a great measure, disappeared. The cate
chisms of our Church have nothing like the
currency, even among this class of our young
people that they had fifty years ago. From
many parts of the Church in which they
were then habitually taught, they are now,
in a great measure, banished. The religious
instruction of our youth, instead of becoming
more ample and faithful, as the facilities for
its accomplishment have multiplied has un
doubtedly declined, both as to extent and
fidelity. The children of church-members
are, in a multitude of cases, totally neglected,
and left to ignorance and heathenism. In
other instances, they are committed to the
tuition of the intemperate, the profane, and
the profligate. Not unfrequently they are
sent to institutions taught by papists, or other
errorists, who are known to make every
effort to instil their erroneous opinions into
the minds of the youth committed to their
16 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
care. It may be doubted whether there is a
body of people at this time on earth, so or
thodox in their creed, and at the same time
so deplorably delinquent in the religious edu
cation of their children, as the Presbyterian
Church in the United States.
In this state of things, no wonder that so
many of the children of our beloved Church
grow up in ignorance, and regardless of the
religion of their fathers ; some becoming pro
fane and impious ; others turning aside to
various forms of fatal error ; and a large ma
jority feeling little attachment to the good old
way, in which they ought to have been faith
fully and prayerfully trained. And it is
painful to recollect that, amidst this unhappy
delinquency, the judicatories of our Church
have in a great measure slumbered over the
evil, and have taken no systematic or efficient
order for the removal of it.
The mischiefs flowing from this neglect of
early religious instruction are numberless
and deplorable.
The first and most serious of these mischiefs
is, its tendency to destroy the souls of our
children.
On the one hand, when the early youth of
children is passed without proper instruction
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 17
in divine things, it is difficult to measure or
conceive the thick darkness which generally
covers their minds, and appears to defy all
ordinary endeavours to impart to them the
knowledge of evangelical truth. When men
grow old in ignorance, as well as in sin,
they are surrounded with a double barrier
against the entrance of heavenly light. It
becomes almost necessary to teach them a
new language before the instructor in such
cases, can be understood. Accordingly the
probability of such persons being ever brought
to a saving acquaintance with the gospel, is
greatly diminished, and, in many cases, render
ed in a great measure, hopeless. On the other
hand, when the seeds of truth and duty are ear
ly and faithfully sown in the minds of youth ;
though they may long lie buried, there is
strong ground of hope that they will eventu
ally spring up, and bring forth a rich harvest.
Who can estimate then, the cruelty, the awful
guilt of those, whether parents or pastors, who
neglect that which is so closely connected,
not only with the present happiness, but with
the everlasting welfare of every youth com
mitted to their care ?
Closely allied with that which was last sta
ted, is another evil resulting from the neglect
2*
18 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
of a religious education of the children of the
Church ; and that is, the frequency with which
our young people may be expected, in such
case, to depart from the church of their fa
thers, and either stray into communions of the
most corrupt character, or become totally re
gardless of religion in any form. The fact is,
even if the preaching of a pastor be ever so
sound and able ; yet if he neglect the appro
priate training of the young people of his
charge, and leave them to the small gleanings
of instruction which they will be likely to
catch by the ear from the pulpit, they may be
expected to grow up little better than heathen
in fact, though Christian in name. The con
sequence must inevitably be, the decay and
final ruin of those flocks which have not some
other means by which to supply the places of
their dying members, than the seed of the
church.
Further ; the pastor who neglects the reli
gious training of the young people of his
charge, will find them altogether unprepared
to profit by his public ministry. If a pastor
desires to render his discourses from the pul
pit as profitable as possible to the youth of
his flock, he cannot take a more direct course
for the attainment of his object, than to attend
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 19
to them with parental diligence and affection ;
to become personally acquainted with them ;
to meet them frequently in private as a body ;
to catechize them ; to render them familiar
with his person, his modes of thinking and
speaking, and to imbue their minds with those
elementary principles of divine knowledge
which will prepare them to hear him in the
pulpit with intelligence, with respect, and with
profit. If a preacher wished for the most fa
vourable opportunity conceivable for prepar
ing the youth of his charge to listen to his
sermons to the greatest advantage, it would
not be easy to devise one more admirably
suited to his purpose, than to meet them, by
themselves, once a week, in a paternal and
affectionate manner ; to teach them the ele
mentary principles of that system which his
discourses from the pulpit are intended to ex
plain and inculcate ; thus to accustom them
to his topics, his phraseology, his manner, his
whole course of instruction, and prepare them
to receive the richest benefit from his public
discourses. There can be no doubt that one
great reason why many young people receive
so little profit from the pulpit discourses of
their minister is, that he has taken so little
pains to open their minds by previous in-
20 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
struction ; to prepare the soil for the seed ; to
prepossess them in favour of the substance
and mode of his teaching. That minister who
desires that his preaching may make the deep
est and most favourable impression on the
minds of the children and young people of his
charge, is an infatuated man, regardless of
all the dictates of reason, experience, and the
word of God, if he does not employ himself
diligently in labouring to pave the way for
their reception of his more formal and public
instruction. Young people thus prepared to
attend on his preaching, will, of course, un
derstand it better ; receive it more readily
and respectfully ; and be more likely, by the
grace of God, to lay it up in their hearts, and
practice it in their lives.
Again ; the pastor who neglects the reli
gious instruction of the children of his flock,
neglects one of the most direct and powerful
means of winning the parents themselves to
the knowledge and love of the gospel. It
cannot have escaped the notice of any atten
tive observer of human affairs, that there is
no avenue to the hearts of parents more direct
and certain than diligent and affectionate at
tention to their children. On the one hand,
it would seem as if they could often bear to
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 21
be themselves neglected, if their beloved child
ren be followed with manifestations of inter
est and good will. And, on the other hand,
if they see their children overlooked and neg
lected, scarcely anything in their view can
atone for this negligence. Instances of the
most striking character have occurred, in
which parents appeared to receive the strong
est impressions in favour of particular minis
ters, and in favour of the cause in which they
were engaged, chiefly because those minis
ters had given their children affectionate pa
ternal counsel and instruction, and appeared
to manifest a peculiar interest in their tempo
ral and eternal welfare. Nor is this all. It
is undoubtedly a fact, that, in some cases, one
of the best modes of addressing parents on
the great subject of religion, is through the
medium of their children. The catechizing,
instructing, and exhorting of children in the
presence of their parents, have frequently
proved the means of the conversion of those
parents. And it has often happened that the
manifest improvement, and especially the
hopeful conversion of children in catechetical
and Bible classes, have been signally blessed
to the spiritual benefit of their parents, and,
indeed, of the whole families to which they
22 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
belonged. What must be thought, then,
of the indolence or blindness of that pastor
who can willingly forego all these blessings,
and incur all the opposite evils, by habitually
neglecting the children of the flock committed
to his care ?
It follows, of course, that the pastor who
does not diligently attend to the religious in
struction of the young people of his charge,
is blind to the comfort, the acceptance, and
the popularity of his own ministry. Why is
it that so many ministers, before reaching an
infirm old age, grow out of date with their
people, and lose their influence with them ?
Especially, why is it that the younger part of
their flocks feel so little attraction to them,
dislike their preaching, and sigh for a change
of pastors ? There is reason to believe that
this has seldom occurred, except in cases in
which pastors have been eminently negligent
of the religious training of their young people ;
in which, however respectable they may have
been for their talents, their learning, and their
worth, in other respects, they have utterly
failed to bind the affections of the children to
their persons ; to make every one of them re
vere and love them as affectionate fathers; and,
by faithful attentions, to inspire them with the
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 23
strongest sentiments of veneration and filial
attachment. Those whose range of observa
tion has been considerable, have, no doubt,
seen examples of ministers, whose preaching
was by no means very striking or attractive,
yet retaining to the latest period of their lives,
the affections of all committed to their care,
and especially being the favourites of the
young people, who have rallied round them
in their old age, and contributed not a little to
render their last days both useful and happy.
It may be doubted /whether such a case ever
occurred, excepting where the pastor had be
stowed much attention on the young people
of his charge.
Such are some of the evils which flow from
neglect on the part of the Church to train up
her children in the knowledge of her doctrines
and order. She may expect to see a majority
of those children even children of professors
of religion growing up in ignorance and pro
fligacy; of course forsaking the church of
their fathers; leaving her either to sink, or to
be filled up by converts from without ; turn
ing away from those pastors who neglected
them ; and causing such pastors to experience
in their old age, the merited reward of un
faithful servants.
24 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION-.
The truth is, if there be any one part of the
pastor s duty, which, more than almost any
other, deserves to be considered as vital and
fundamental, it is that which bears immedi
ately on the seed of the Church the nursery
of Christ s family that branch of his labour
which has for its object the extending and per
petuating the Church, by raising up a godly
seed to take the place of their parents when
they shall be laid in the dust.
In this view of the subject, shall nothing
be done by the supreme judicatory of our
Church, to rouse the attention, and direct the
efforts of our churches to this most important,
but long neglected concern ? That something
ought to be done is manifest. It is surely
high time to awake out of sleep, and inquire
what we can do, and ought to do, as a Christ
ian denomination.
The committee are not unmindful of the
difficulties which beset this great subject ; and
which will render a prompt and thorough re
turn to our duty in regard to it, an arduous,
if not an almost impracticable task ; difficulties
arising from our long continued habits of delin
quency from the scattered state of the popu
lation in many parts of our Church from the
sentiments in favour of a spurious liberality,
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 25
which prevail so peculiarly and extensively
among many denominations of Christians in
the United States, and among none more than
Presbyterians and from the constant and in
defatigable labour required for a faithful dis
charge of the duty recommended. But great
as these difficulties are, they may be sur
mounted by faith, patience, labour, and pray
er. And it is evident, that even if the diffi
culties attending the faithful discharge of the
duty in question were far more numerous and
formidable than they are, the rewards would,
more than an hundred fold, counterbalance
ail the care and toil bestowed on the object.
At any rate, if our delinquency is ever to be
repaired, and any real improvement in this
great field of Christian effort attained, the
sooner we begin the better. The souls of our
children are precious the exigencies of the
church are pressing and every hour we lose
in commencing the work of reform, is a loss
to all the best interests of the Church, and the
world a loss stretching into eternity.
After these preliminary remarks, the Com
mittee would beg leave to present a sketch
of what they think may and ought to be at
tempted in reference to this important sub
ject. They are aware that what they are
3
26 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
about to propose, has nothing of novelty in
it ; but, if adopted, would be only returning,
in substance, to the forgotten and neglected
usages of our venerated fathers, both in Eu
rope and in our own country. And although
they are sensible that some of their sugges
tions may not equally apply, and may not be
capable of being carried into execution with
equal convenience, in all the churches of our
denomination yet they would fain hope H
that a plan may be suggested, which, if car
ried into effect, may be productive of some
benefit to the rising generation. They would,
therefore, most respectfully propose to the
Assembly the adoption of the following re
commendations, to be sent down to all the
subordinate judicatories and churches under
our care.
I. It is recommended, that the subject of
the Christian education of children be fre
quently brought before the people, in the in
structions and devotional exercises of the pul
pit, in a manner so pointed and solemn, as
may be adapted to inform the minds, and im
press the consciences of parents and church
officers, in regard to a matter so little under
stood, and so little laid to heart even by many
who profess to be truly pious.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 27
II. It is recommended, that when pastors
visit families, whether the visitation be per
formed formally or otherwise, all the children
of every family be attended to with particu
lar care ; that their names be taken down ;
that every important circumstance concerning
each, be recorded ; that each be affection
ately noticed and addressed ; that God s
claim to them be presented and urged ; and
that every practicable method be adopted to
render such interviews interesting and in
structive. For this purpose, there may be a
little tract given to one; an appropriate,
striking anecdote related to another; and
some expression of interest and regard suited
to win the confidence of a third, and so of the
whole youthful circle. This would require
no expense nothing, at least, but thought
and prayer ; as tracts and other little publica
tions suitable to be thus employed, may be
had, if not gratuitously, at least on very easy
terms, and to almost any extent.
III. It is recommended, that every congre
gation shall establish one or more Church
Schools, adapted to the instruction of children
between six and ten years of age. These
primary schools had better, usually, be taught
by females, decidedly pious, intelligent, and
28 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
of known attachment to the doctrines and or
der of our Church. These teachers ought to
be selected by the church session, and go
verned by rules formed by that body. Fe
males would be preferable as teachers in such
schools; because they may, for the most
part, be had on more economical terms than
teachers of the other sex ; and because, if of
a suitable character, they will be apt to train
up their pupils with more soft and gentle
manners. As children of this tender age
cannot travel far to school, there ought to be
several of this class of schools in every con
gregation of any size; as not more than
twenty-five, or, at most, thirty scholars of
this age ought ever to be placed under one
teacher. In these schools, the Bible ought
to be used every day, and the Shorter Cate
chism of the Church recited at least once
every week ; and the pastor and elders ought
frequently to visit them, and see that the
teachers are faithful ; that all the methods of
instruction employed are of the best kind;
and that the manners and habits of the child
ren are such as become those who are train
ing up for usefulness here, and for the family
of Christ hereafter. In these lower schools,
it may be proper that the females be some-
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 29
times employed, at the discretion of the
teachers, in sewing, and in other occupa
tions adapted to their sex. The exercises,
every day, should be opened and closed with
prayer.
IV. It is recommended, that in populous
towns, infant schools be established as far as
circumstances will admit. These of course,
should be placed under the direction of pious,
enlightened females ; and it is important that
all the religious exercises which take place in
them be in conformity with the usages of
our own church; and that nothing be ad
mitted which will have a tendency to intro
duce forms which distinguish other denomi
nations. In these infant schools, the simpler
portions of the Holy Scriptures, the " Cate
chism for Young Children," furnished by
the Assembly s Board of Publication, and
such oral instruction as may be adapted to
the weakest capacities, ought to be constantly
employed.
V. It is recommended, that there be estab
lished in every presbytery at least one gram
mar school or academy, and in the larger and
more opulent presbyteries more than one,
adapted for training youth in the more ad
vanced branches of knowledge, and preparing
3*
30 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
such of them as may desire it, for an intro
duction into college. These academies ought
to be under the immediate instruction of ripe
and accomplished scholars men in full com
munion with the Presbyterian church; of
pious and exemplary deportment; and of
known attachment to the faith and order of
our church. These institutions ought to be
under the supervision of the respective pres
byteries in which they are placed, and a com
mittee of ministers and elders appointed by
each presbytery to visit them, and to watch
over the whole course of instruction and dis
cipline in them. It is by no means, indeed,
intended to advise that no pupils be received
into such academies but such as are connected
with the Presbyterian Church, but it is in
tended to be earnestly recommended, that all
the religious exercises in the same be strictly
Presbyterian in their character ; and that no
youth be allowed to enter them, or to continue
a day in them, who is not perfectly correct
and unexceptionable in his moral character,
and disposed to treat the ordinances of religion
with entire respect. In these academies, it is
recommended that the Larger Catechism of
our church be made a class book ; and, if not
wholly committed to memory, at least made
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 31
the subject of recitation and commentary,
and accompanied with such other reading and
oral instruction as may be adapted to make
the pupils familiar with the faith and order
of the Presbyterian Church, and with the
considerations which explain and vindicate
the same.
VI. It is recommended, that when any of
our youth are destined to enjoy the privileges
of a college or university, there be the utmost
care exercised in selecting for them those in
stitutions in which their moral arid religious
training will receive the most faithful atten
tion ; institutions in which, as far as they can
be found, the professors are orthodox and
pious, and in which the whole weight of their
instruction and influence will be thrown into
the scale of pure and undefiled religion, as
well as sound learning. No child of the
Church ought ever to be sent to any seminary
of learning, however high its literary charac
ter, in which sound religious instruction is not
made a constant and governing object of at
tention. That parent who selects for his son
a college in which his moral and religious in
terests will run the risk of being sacrificed, or
even jeoparded, for the sake of indulging
some petty taste or prejudice, is chargeable
32 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
with an unfaithfulness and cruelty of the most
inexcusable kind. In several parts of our
Church, academies and colleges have been
founded by presbyteries and synods, and
placed entirely under the direction of the ju-
dicatories which founded them. This, where
it can be done, is a wise plan ; and adapted
more effectually to secure to our youth the
advantages of thorough and unshackled re
ligious training, than is possible upon any
other plan.
VII. It is recommended that all parents
and heads of families be in the constant habit
of assembling the children and youth of their
families in the evening of every Lord s day,
and spending at least an hour in attending to
the recitation of the catechism, and such other
modes of oral instruction in divine things, as
the capacity and character of each may re
quire. Let the head of the family, whether
male or female, as the case may be, take this
opportunity of speaking seriously to each of
the young persons present, and administering
an affectionate but solemn rebuke, for any
disorderly conduct on that day, or the pre
ceding week, closing with exhortation arid a
comprehensive prayer. And that this do
mestic service may not interfere with attend-
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 33
ance on public services which, in some
churches, are statedly held on that evening ;
in such churches, let tfye hour devoted to this
family interview be the one immediately pre
ceding the evening meal. In all cases in
which the catechism is recited, let one or two
proof texts be carefully quoted and committed
to memory, for the support of each answer ;
and let the children be always reminded that
the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith
and practice, and that the catechism owes all
its authority and value to the fact, that it con
tains the system of doctrine taught in the
Holy Scriptures.
VIII. It is recommended, that pastors and
church sessions be diligently attentive to the
catechizing and religious instruction of all the
children and young people under their care,
through the whole course of their childhood
and youth. No recitation of the catechism
in any other school or place ought to super
sede this. However constantly and faithfully
it may be attended to by the parents, or by
Sabbath-school teachers ; still the pastor and
and the elders ought to deem it a privilege as
well as a duty, to convene the children of the
church, and to endeavour to establish that
acquaintance with them, and that influence
34 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
over them, which will be likely to result in
rich advantages to both. Even if a wise and
faithful pastor were certain that the religious
instruction of the children committed to his
care would be adequately discharged without
his aid ; still he ought, as we have seen, for
his own sake, as well as theirs, to desire to
bring his personal instruction into contact
with their minds ; and thus to prepare them
to love his person, and profit by his minis
try ; and to prepare himself to understand, in
some measure, the character and wants of
each, and the best means of doing them good.
Nor ought these meetings with the children
of the church to be so rare as they too com
monly are. Some pastors assemble their
children to be catechized and addressed once
or twice a year, and others, at most, once in
two or three months. It is deliberately be
lieved by the Committee that such infrequent
meetings are of little or no real value. As a
source of instruction to the children, they are
of very small advantage, if of any at all ; and
as a means of making the pastor personally
acquainted with the children, and enabling
him to judge of the temper, capacity, and dis
position of each ; to adapt himself to their re
spective characters ; to mark the progress or
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 35
retrocession of each ; and to gain the confi
dence and affection of all they might almost
as well be omitted. These interviews ought
to take place every week to be attended
with as much punctuality as the public exer
cises of the Sabbath ; and to be engaged in
with pencil and memorandum-book in hand,
so that the appearance and outmaking of each
may be kept in mind from week to week ; and
to be conducted throughout with the indefati
gable diligence, patience, and affection which
are adapted to reach and win the hearts of the
children. In large congregations, the mem
bers of which are widely scattered, it may
not be easy, or even practicable to meet all
the children of the same church, in a single
body, once in every week. In this case, it may
be expedient to have two or three little as
semblies of children convened in different
parts of the congregation every week ; and
once in each month, the whole of the children
and young people of the congregation may be
assembled in the afternoon of the Lord s day,
in the church ; and there, instead of the usual
afternoon service, a service intended especially
for their benefit may be conducted, in the pre
sence of their parents and others, in such a
manner as to be even more instructive, solemn,
36 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
and touching to all present than the ordinary
service. But this matter may be conducted,
where circumstances render it expedient,
somewhat differently. Suppose that there
are three catechizing stations in different
parts of the congregation. These may be all
punctually attended in the same week, and
even on the same day of the week, one by
the pastor, and the other two by two of the
elders. On the succeeding two weeks, the
pastor may change places with his elders ; so
that he may, in turn, attend every class once
a month, and, at the end of the month, meet
and address them all in a body, as before sug
gested. These exercises on the catechism will
be of little value, if the children be merely
called upon to repeat by memory the words
of the formulary. Every answer ought to be
analyzed and explained in the most simple
and patient manner condescending to the
weakness of the youthful mind, and endea
vouring to communicate truth in the most
practical and affectionate form. In any and
every case, it is important that the elders take
a part in this work, that they may become per
sonally acquainted with the children of the
church, and also that the work may not be
neglected when the pastor is unwell or absent.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 37
IX. It is recommended that one or more
Bible Classes be established in every congre
gation. The best methods of conducting these
will readily occur to every enlightened pastor,
and although they are, and ought to be pri
marily intended and adapted for the instruc
tion of the young, they may, and ought to
include as many, of both sexes and of all
ages, as can be prevailed upon to engage in
the study of the Bible.
X. It is recommended that all the Sabbath
schools in every congregation be under the
constant supervision and direction of the pas
tor and eldership.
Sabbath schools are too often surrendered
to the guidance of irresponsible persons, and
sometimes to persons making no profession,
and manifesting no practical sense of reli
gion ; and whose teaching, of course, must be
of a very equivocal character. And some
times books are introduced from well mean
ing donors, and regulations formed by no
means adapted to promote the spiritual inter
ests of the children. Every thing of this kind
ought to be avoided. All the teachers em
ployed, all the books used, and all the regu
lations adopted ought to be such as the pas
tor and session approve. The pastor, as
often as his engagements allow, ought to step
38 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
in, if it be but for a few minutes, to the vari
ous schools, and manifest his interest in them
by a word of counsel or of prayer, as the
case may be ; and thus put himself in the
way of knowing personally how every thing
is conducted, and how every thing prospers,
and thus qualify himself to preside over the
whole with intelligence and fidelity.
XI. It is recommended that the baptized
children of the church, be assembled three or
four times in each year, and be affectionately
addressed and prayed with by the pastor. At
these interviews it will be generally advisa
ble to have the parents present, and also the
elders, and to accompany the exercises with
such tender appeals to parents, as peculiarly
charged with the religious training of their
offspring ; and to the elders, as being the
spiritual overseers of the youth of the church,
as may tend at once, to remind both of their
duty, and to impress on their minds a sense of
their solemn obligations. As almost every
church may be supposed, of course, to have
one or two social services, in the secular even-
nings of each week, these interviews with
baptized children may be made, once in three
months, to take the place of one of these meet
ings, so as to avoid the undue multiplication
of public services, which might prove oppres-
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, 39
sive both to the pastor and to the people of
his charge.
XII. It is earnestly recommended that all
our Church Sessions, Presbyteries, and Sy
nods direct particular attention to this impor
tant subject. It will be expedient for them
once a year, at least, to ascertain how this
great concern stands in their bounds. And
if they duly appreciate its importance, it will
often engage their attention. They will feel
that it is impossible too early to enter on the
work of forming a large and digested system
of religious training, which shall, in some
good degree, carry us back to the habits of
our venerated fathers, on this subject, with
such improvements as the advantages and
facilities furnished by modern times may ena
ble us to apply.
XIII. It is recommended that the foregoing
system, as far as applicable, be enjoined by
the General Assembly to be adopted at all
our missionary stations among the. heathen.
If it be important among the regular and es
tablished churches of Christendom, it is in
some respects still more vitally important in
evangelizing the pagan world. It is believed
that the advantages of directing special at
tention to heathen youth, have never yet
been either sufficiently appreciated or pursued.
40 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
When the time shall come, in which, as the
Scriptures declare, " nations shall be born in
a day," perhaps nothing will be more likely
to prepare the way for such wonders, than
having previously scattered amongst youth
the seeds of gospel truth.
It may, perhaps, be remarked by some, on
a survey of the foregoing recommendations,
that they present an amount of attention, and
of unceasing labour which cannot fail of
pressing heavily on the mind, the heart, and
strength of every pastor. This is not denied.
To accomplish, from year to year, the aggre
gate of what has been recommended, must
indeed, make large draughts on the time, the
thoughts, and the efforts of every spiritual
overseer. But surely no faithful minister will
complain of this. Can he wear out in any
branch of labour more likely to turn to great
account ? Can he devote himself to any ob
ject more worthy of his care ; more adapted
to reward his work of faith and labour of
love ; or more fitted to build up the Church,
and promote his own acceptance and happi
ness, as an ambassador of Christ, than to
train up a generation to serve God, when he
shall have gone to his eternal reward ?
THE END.
EEPORT
TO THE
SYNOD OF NEW JERSEY
ON THE SUBJECT OF
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS.
BY J. J. JANE WAY, D.D.
4* (41)
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Synod of New Jersey, in session at
New Brunswick, October 16, 1844, passed
the following resolution :
" Whereas the Christian Education of the
children and youth of the church lies at the
foundation of her prosperity; whereas this
matter has been, and continues to be, de
plorably neglected in most of our churches :
and whereas there is no probability that this
object can be in any good degree attained,
unless it be systematically and patiently pur
sued by the Judicatories of the Church,
Therefore, Resolved, That Drs. Janeway,
Davidson, Magie, and Murray, Ministers, and
Messrs. John J. Bryant and James Crane,
Elders, be a Committee to inquire whether
any, and if any, what further measures ought
to be adopted to secure the formation of a
wise and efficient plan in regard to this sub
ject, and for carrying the same into execu-
iii
IV ADVERTISEMENT.
tion, and to make report at the next meeting
of Synod."
In pursuance of the above appointments,
the following Report was presented to the
Synod at their Session in 1845, was adopted,
and ordered to be printed under the direction
and revision of the Committee.
REPORT
ON
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS.
THE Committee appointed by the Synod, at
its last meeting, (( to inquire whether any,
and, if any, what further measures ought to
be adopted to secure the formation of a wise
and efficient plan" for "the Christian educa
tion of the children and youth of the Church,
and for carrying the same into execution;"
respectfully submit the following Report.
The Committee are deeply impressed with
a sense of the great importance of an effici
ent plan for the religious education of our
children and youth. They see the difficul
ties to be encountered in carrying any wise
and adequate plan into effect ; but they are
convinced, that efforts ought to be speedily
made for affording to them greater advan-
5
REPORT ON
tages, than they have hitherto enjoyed, for
gaining a suitable knowledge of the great
doctrines and precepts of our holy religion.
The General Assembly of 1839, appointed
" the Rev. Samuel Miller, Archibald Alexan
der, Charles Hodge, J. Addison Alexander,
and James Carnahan, a committee to inquire
whether any, and, if any, what measures
ought to be adopted for securing to the child
ren and young people of our Church more
full advantages of Christian education, than
they have hitherto enjoyed."
This committee, by their chairman, Doctor
Miller, made a long, able, and comprehen
sive report on the subject, to the General As
sembly for 1840. "By a unanimous resolu
tion" of that Body, " it was referred to the
Board of Publication with a view to its pub
lication."
By the Assembly of 1844, Messrs. J. W.
Alexander, S. B. Wilson, Hoge, Young,
Boardman, and Montfort, were appointed a
committee to consider the expediency of es
tablishing Presbyterian Parochial Schools,
and to report on the whole subject at the next
meeting of the General Assembly." On the
minutes of the Assembly for this year is the
following record : " The Committee on Pa
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. /
rochial Schools appointed by the last As
sembly, reported, requesting longer time, and
were continued. Messrs. Hoge and Mont-
fort tendered their resignation, and Drs. Phil
lips and Snodgrass were appointed on the
committee in their places."
Here the Committee might give a brief
sketch of the plan recommended for adop
tion by the Assembly of 1840; but as the
committee will have occasion to notice it in
a subsequent part of this report, they will
now only remark, that the excellence of this
plan, as will appear from reading the report,
consists in this : that it contemplates giving
to our youth a thorough moral and religi
ous training, under the supervision of pa
rents and church officers, through every stage
of their education, from infancy to mature
age. It is designed to form their morals and
hearts, by the influence of divine truth, as
well as to enlighten their understandings.
Suppose the circumstances of the Presby
terian Church in this country, were such as
to permit this plan to be immediately acted
upon and carried into full operation, what a
beneficial and wonderful change would it pro
duce ! Our children and youth would grow
up imbued with the knowledge of the doc-
8 REPORT ON
trines and precepts of our holy religion, and
sit under the preaching of the gospel pre
pared to hear the discourses delivered from
the pulpit, with much greater advantage.
They would be armed against the assaults
of error, and saved from the danger of being
enticed from the church of their fathers;
and, by the blessing of God on such means,
many of them would be savingly converted,
and become her spiritual members. A larger
proportion too of our youth, it might be rea
sonably expected, would seek the ministry
of the gospel ; and, by their previous training
would enter Theological Seminaries with
higher qualifications, and leave them with
richer furniture for their great work, and be
come able, learned, and devoted ministers of
Jesus Christ.
That objections may be urged against this
plan, the Committee are well aware. To
the principal ones they will endeavour to
give a candid answer. It may be objected
that the plan is too sectarian ; that it will
interfere with the establishment of Public
Schools; and that it is impracticable and
visionary.
1. In reply to the first objection, we wish
it to be distinctly recollected, that the Pres-
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. 9
by terian Church is, among her sister churches
in this country, distinguished by the Creed
and Form of Government which she has
adopted, and published for the information
of the world. Now, if she believes these
doctrines, and form of government to be
scriptural, she is unquestionably bound to en
deavour to propagate the one, and to establish
the other, as extensively as she may be able ;
and especially to teach them to her children
and youth. It is certainly the duty of a pa
rent to instruct his children in the doctrines
and form of church government, which he
believes to be in accordance with the Sacred
Scriptures. While he is diligently engaged
in discharging this duty, he cannot be justly
reproached as acting inconsistently with what
he owes to others. The church sustains the
relation of a parent to her members ; the
duties of a parent are binding on her ; and
she, while acting like a parent, is as free
from blame as a parent who performs the
duties he owes to his children.
To bring against our church the charge of
sectarianism, because she adopts measures for
teaching her children the knowledge of her
creed and ecclesiastical order, is idle. It is
giving to a word a perverted meaning ; and,
5
10 REPORT ON
by the abuse of a word, attempting to deter
her from doing an obvious duty.
The Presbyterian Church, as already said,
differs in her creed and form of church
government, from her sister churches in this
country, and in communicating instruction to
her children, (no one will affirm she is bound
to withhold instruction from them,) she must
either teach what she believes, or teach
nothing more than what all sects believe.
But who has a right to prescribe the latter as
her rule ? Who can free her from obligation
to teach whatever God teaches in his word ?
Are not the sacred Scriptures the standard
of faith, and is she not bound to fashion her
own faith, as well as the faith of her mem
bers, by this infallible standard ? To this
divine standard she must conform ; and as
she may not add to it, so she may not take
from it. Had she done her duty more faith
fully, and instructed her children and youth
more diligently, so rich and blessed a harvest
would have been reaped from the seed sown
and labour bestowed, that she would regard
the charge of sectarianism as idle wind.
Coming from her own members, she would
consider it either as a mark of ignorance, or
as an indication of unsoundness in the faith j
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. 11
and coming from others she would despise it
as a senseless accusation.
2. The second objection that may be made
to the plan, is, that it will interfere with the
establishment of Public Schools.
In replying to this objection, the Committee
admit, that public schools, both in New Eng
land and in the state of New York, have
been useful in diffusing knowledge through
the community. Children and young per
sons have been taught in them the elements
of learning and science, together with some
moral precepts. When first established in
New England, th