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Translated by Mary Howitt. 16mo. pp. 306. Price 62 cents. HEINE'S LETTERS. Letters Auxiliary to the His- tory of Modern Polite Literature in Germany. Translated from the German by G. W. Haven. One volume 16mo. pp. 172. Price 50 cents. V ^OFW^ " K oct 11 m:\ THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AND OTHER POEMS. BY WILLIAM // B. TAPPAN. BOSTON* AND CAMBRIDGE: JAMES MUX ROE AND COMPANY. MDCCCXLVIII. .« Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, By WILLIAM BINGHAM TAPPAN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. STEREOTYPED BY B. N. DICKINSON, BOSTON. The m Sunday School and Other Poems," is the fourth and concluding volume of a series, embracing my revised Poems; of which, "Poetry of the Heart," u Sacred and Miscellaneous Poems," and "Poetry of Life," are the first, second, and third. INDEX OF SUBJECTS PACK. Alexander Henry. Aspiration? in the Pulpit, 236 Beverly, » 156 Bible, 190 Barman's Question. 113 By whom of all thy chosen. Lord. 245 Castaway. 115 Chinese Lady. 148 Cholera. — in prospect of its second invasion, 138 Deaf and Dumb. 193 December. 187 Flagstaff. 224 Freedom's Hymn, for the Fourth of July, 89 Girard College. Philadelphia, 96 Go ! Dream of by-past Hours, 239 G . an advocate for Temperance, who. by conspiracy, was deceived into a temporary relapse, 232 Grace and Position, Harriet Newell. 180 Hymn. — sung by the Congregation of Pine Street Church, Boston, May 14. 1848, 222 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. PAGE. Hymn of Welcome, — on the return of a Pastor from Europe and Asia, 107 Hymn, — sung at the Celebration of the Leland Family, at Sherburne, 109 Hymn, — sung at the Installation of ReT. S. Hutchins, late Missionary to India ; at South Brookfield, Mass. Sept. 15, 1847, 133 Hymn for the Millennium, 219 Invocation, 247 J A , 123 John Eliot, of Roxbury, 198 La Lanterne vs. La Guillotine, 151 Lazarus, 181 L e A F , 125 Lines, — on receiving from the author a copy of " Scenes in the Holy Land, 173 Looking to the Cross — Looking to Jesus, 129 Lucy Ann, at Sixteen, ••• 240 Millennial Morn ! thy rosy beams, 244 Mother, 204 Mrs. Mary E. Van Lennep, — on reading her Memoir by her Mother, • 111 My Children, 93 Stars ! 105 Ordination Hymn, 131 Parting Hymn, — sung by the Pupils of Phillips Academy, Andover, at the Annual Examination, 1847, 87 Poet, 213 Portents, 209 Prayer for a Son at Sea, 159 Presbyterian, 197 Psalm of Remembrance, 175 Queen Victoria's Fancy Dress Ball, 216 Religion and Rum, 242 Retrospective, 185 Rev. Messrs. Dr. B and G , of England, 145 Rev. Paul Couch, of Newburyport, 201 imh.x of bubje< rs. mi PAGE. Sapphic for Thanksgiving, Silent Street, 80 Sin. Stanias. 14:j Strange Things. Sunday School, 13 Take Wings ! 205 Temperance Jubilee Hymn, 230 t; That is able to keep you from Falling,'* 74 To a Deaf and Dumb Girl. 91 Traits of Nature. 164 True Science. 288 Two Ships. 77 Unspoken at Sea, 169 Vers*-*, — occasioned by the imprisonment of Rev. G C , at the suit of a Kum-discilling Deacon. 228 Terses — written after hearing the Speeches in Faneuil Hall, on a late Anniversary occasion, 139 Toice of the Sea, 118 Waiting for the Grave. 85 What shall we have ? l'J9 When Morning breaks upon the Night, 135 Which J 208 Bald, — on seeing his remains in their resting-place at Xew- buryport, Mass., Sept. 11, 1837, 189 Winter. 127 Ye Spirits of the Just that Soar, 83 INDEX OF FIRST LINES. PAGE. A Mother's Love — how great that Love, 204 And this was Whitefield, 189 A Vessel on the Deeps, 77 " Away to the Lanterne," 151 Bethany ! on thy site, as travellers tell, • • • • : 181 By whom of all thy chosen, Lord, 245 Child ! remember thy Creator, 175 Could I name every curious root, 238 Farewell, December ! cheerless as thou art, 187 Go ! dream of by-past hours, 239 He sat with men whose high debate, 67 He, who recalled from Gentile lands, 133 His current name that graced for years a Bank, 96 His Ministers, as fiery flames, 131 How blessed the heir, unvexed by trouble, 143 How many, that a few months since, 185 INDEX OF FIRST LINES. PAUL I grieve not Heaven to thee denies, 91 I knew her not ; — a fountain here, Ill I marvel at thy curious mien, 148 Immortal Sin. of heavenly birth ! 249 In Boston is a street — about a rod, 80 I sing of her whom Heaven has called to win, 13 Men. crossing the blue wave, have told, 113 Millennial Morn ! thy rosy beams, 244 My God. do lips wake martial story, 209 > er goes up this Sabbath morn, 169 - Iream pursueth me by day, 166 Not so ' in unambitious day, 197 Book ! that bright and burning Day, 190 God of Bethel ! from thy hands. 109 God, to Thee, from whom so long. 219 Jesus, while implores. 236 O Saviour I Thou I the Hope and Stay. 224 Oh Stars ! upon the brow of night, 105 On this •• broad platform *' grimly stand. 139 u Scenes in the Holy Land ! " and I have walked 173 She has gone from our sight, 125 • iy throne. Imperial Dame, 216 Stranger ! that in this Isle-of- France, 180 Take wings ! take wings ! and seek the lost, 205 Temptation, toil and suffering here, 70 - able to keep me. an ignorant child. 74 That thou wast loved, and still hast part. 222 The Christian flouts the turbaned Turk. Ml The dying Papist cUsps the Cross, 129 INDEX OF FIRST LINES. PAGE. The flames advance with sweeping stride, 164 The fool, who counts by millions yellow wealth, 123 The man whose affliction his fellow had been, 201 Then Peter said to Jesus, " All we 've left," 199 The patriot sires in glory sleep, 89 There are, who leaving house and lands, 198 The sinner says : " Let Evil rule," 208 " The Soul, immortal as its Sire," 107 The waves of passion may be stayed, 118 They say 't is dangerous to ascend, 234 They 've thrust him in the inner cell, 228 Thou 'st snatched the youth from Ruin's grave, 116 'T is strange that I should plant or build, 195 Victim of malice — not of lust, 232 Wearied with play, that night, my sweet first-born, 85 We ask Thee not, God ! to bow, 247 What boots it that yon green hill-side, 230 When evil and good were in Eden discovered, 87 When morning breaks upon the night, 135 When the old Fathers of New England, 97 While opens, Lucy Ann, on you, 240 Why do n't one of the thousand ships, • • ■ 169 Winter ! there are among the race of men. 127 With what a calm and self-confiding gait, 138 Ye are alive to bliss, my boys ! 93 Ye cultivated minds, that know, 193 Ye spirits of the Just, that soar, 83 Yet no true Poet would resign, 213 Ye 've sought our Western shore, 145 Yon starry world hath them received, 156 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. I sing of her whom Heaven has called to win Renown from conflict and a world from sin ; "Whose name inspire? affection and respect ; "Whose firm, yet quiet influence has checked The rising floods of ignorance and shame : A victor, where the spoils are more than fame ; A friendly beacon on the dangerous a "Where ships are wrecked and mariners are lost ; A blessed star that watches o'er the way Where perils wait, and heedless travellers stray ; The powerful empress of persuasive rule — The unassuming, noble Sunday School ! ■2 14 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. The glorious Gospel follows where the ban Pursues his step and rests on sinning man ; The Gospel streams in rich abundance flow, Whose tides can change his crimson into snow ; The Gospel's trump proclaims deliverance nigh For souls appointed in their guilt to die ; The Gospel breaks the sighing prisoner's chain, And pours its balm on every mental pain ; By various methods is its knowledge spread, By various calls it wakes the sleeping dead ; The Pulpit speaks, and argument has power To rouse the moments of a careless hour ; In fireside talk the little child is stirred By some fond, faithful Mother's gentle word; — And hearts are moulded to the happy rule Of true religion in the Sunday School. The Sunday School! — In Puritanic times, The days of Dilworth and of nursery rhymes, When fancy yielded to the Dreamer's art, And I to Bunyan freely gave my heart, And early read, and, sleepless, studied late, To reach with Christian the celestial gate, And helped him as I could in doubtful strife, And battled Death, to gain Eternal Life, — THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 15 Fought) M the Pilgrim fought, incarnate Sin, And stubbed the fiend Apollyon with a pin, — Surveyed the black, strong currents with a shiver, Yet heard the notes from golden trumpets quiver, And wished I too were past the deep cold river ! Or, pondering o'er the Primer's rude designs, I learned by heart the Primer's ruder lines, And wept John Roger's doom — the best of men — Yet wondered if his babes were nine or ten ! — Or drew sw r eet fictions — just like simple facts — From Hannah More's Repository Tracts, — Of Giles the Poacher, Tawney Rachel's reign, And the good Shepherd of the Salisbury Plain, — Or, as the Sabbath hours began to fail, Threw books aside, and begged a Bible tale Of her, who never could my suit deny, "Who watched me with a mother's heart and eye — I say. in Puritanic times 't was thought [nought, When God, the Builder, called the earth from He made the Sabbath, and ordained it " Blest ! " And then made Adam for the Day of Rest " Children of parents, passed into the skies ! " Regard me not with stern or doubtful eyes ; Reverence for them I lessen not in you — 16 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Those martexts were the Pharisaic few. "The Sabbath Day is wisely made for man," Our fathers said : " Yet," said the Puritan : "Other than worship for the meeting hours, "And books at home, be far from us and ours! " Other than conning catechetic lines, " Drawn by the good Assembly of Divines, "And sitting still, the long and solemn Day, "Eschewing naughty Cheerfulness alway, : — " By children practised, will insult His claims, "Whose Law is guarded by a thousand flames." Forgive their error! — ours, that differs wide, Leans not, too often, to Religion's side. Blessed was the spirit of that olden time ! Sundays were ladders for the soul to climb, "When she would scale and leap the crystal gates, Where Love to crown the bold invader waits. In the aroma of these riper hours We merge the sweetness of those early flowers. Will children, now, peruse the lines of grace Where children read them, in a Mother's face ? Will she resume inalienable rule, Unwisely yielded to the Sunday School ? Again invite her offspring to her side, THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 17 And print on yielding hearts the Crucified? With pleasant words, celestial truths instill, That mould Affection, Intellect, and Will? The words, in lolly's path, forgotten never ! — The truths that live, in spite of sin, forever! — Why look abroad for precept that has birth, Where God ordained it, at the sacred hearth? Why send the little wanderers out for store Of flowers that climb and nestle round your door? I marts and lips, though, prophet-like, they glow With living tin", a Parent's ardor know? May one. endued with super-human grace To lead immortals, take the Mother's place? The Sunday School ! — I will not yield her claim To shine with others of exalted name, That, as bright beams, are glancing round the world, Dispersing Error where its cloud is curled ; . as the myriad drops of morning dew, Should Sunday Schools in number rise to view. Studding the city like the starry gem<, — Blazing where forests wear their diadems, — Investing frozen Labrador with charms, — Soothing, forever, China's rude alarms, — Sprinkling with grace imperial Rangoon, — Blessing with freedom Africa's Wednoon, — 18 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. And in barbaric uttermost Japan, Transforming devilish cannibals to Man, — And causing wilderness and prairie here, To bloom with roses as the sweet Cashmere, — My aspiration would be, " Let them die ! Their very name in deep oblivion lie! If, at the cost of Home's instruction fed, They lift, like parasites, unworthy head, And basely thrive upon the Children's Bread ! " * Lo ! the fair gardens of the Church invite His gracious step whose path is tracked in light. Awake, North Wind ! — Come, thou South ! and That fragrant spices may for Jesus flow. [blow, * " Home must be made the most attractive spot on earth. Both parents must labor to make it so. Fathers must cultivate in themselves a childlike love to the Great Father, and then they will have that kindness and simplicity which attracts, and that elevation of feeling which secures the respect of children. But if business is allowed to consume the time and heart of the heaven-appointed governors and teachers of children ; if religion is to take the form of out-door effort, and pecuniary contribution, solely; if we are to trust to public and Sunday Schools to do what does not pertain to them, what shall hinder the utter degeneracy of the entire people, or the righteous indignation of Heaven from inflicting upon us the judgments which have de- stroyed other nations ? " — Rev. E. N. Kirk. " Religion never thoroughly penetrates life till it becomes do- mestic. Like the patriotic fire, which makes a nation invinci- ble, it never burns with inextinguishable devotion till it burns at the hearth." — Rev. Dr. Bushnell. nil sindw SCHOOL. 19 V gndeM, perish! if your plants of pride Aiv rifled l'roin their soil, — the Mother's side! And yet it needs not that the Sunday School Should cross, or weaken Home's superior rule. The generous Teacher, taught himself by grace, Only confirms the faithful Parent's place ; Usurps no power, but aids the patient toil That turns the furrow in the goodly soil ; "With wisest care and well directed lore, Deepens the truth, securely lodged before; Watches the seed that takes its vigorous root ; Rejoices o'er the blossoms, leaves, and fruit ; And sees, at length, the noble plant arise, With all a Parent's fond exulting eyes. Thou ! thus purveying for the watchful skies, — Thou ! thus commissioned, in the vineyard found, — Sunday School Teacher ! occupying ground On which to gaze might Heaven incline from bliss — Art thou sufficient for a work like this ? The artless girl behold ! — behold the boy ! Thou lookest at innocence without alloy ; Transparent rectitude is in that breast; — The peaceful dove builds there its quiet ne9t; — 20 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Ah no ! — the swelling, bursting seeds of sin, That sprout to evil, germinate within. 'Tis thine, with heart and spirit, sanctified, To come in contact with this hateful pride ; And, by the help of overpowering Grace, Subdue the passions that usurp God's place. To aid thee are appliances at hand, Enough, and more, to renovate the land. Say, with munitions adequate as these, Why are not rebels humbled on their knees ? In dust, why may not weeping children lie, As, with compassions, Jesus passes by — And the dull Church, so deaf to duty's calls, House, as " hosannas " shake her slumbering walls — The Children's welcome — taught by Love the art ? Why, Teacher ! why ? — is 't want in thee of heart ? He who has led a lamb to Jesus' fold, And one more happy name for heaven enrolled, Has set in motion influence, ceasing never ! Has opened streams of joy that flow forever ! There is, to win, beyond mere human skill, A power that touches and subdues the will To sweet instruction. — She, whose humble seat Is found on Sundays at the Children's feet, — THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 21 Her *• flute-like" voice explaining holy lore, Of which her soul and intellect have store, — Her object lowly, yet too high for pride, — Her perfect pattern, the dear Crucified, — Sees ever in the pupil's beaming face, If in that pupil glows one spark of grace — Deep lines of thought, and in the kindling eye, A soul that questions, and that prompts reply. From heart to heart electric errands go, And high communion child and teacher know ; The gentle words that to the learner call, With redox influence on the teacher fall ; "While tears of strange and sacred pleasure show The fellowship of Heaven begun below ! This, this is Mind with Mind communing; this The foretaste, given, of immortal bliss ; — A holy Daniel or anointed Paul Thus takes the child at mercy's earliest call, Directs its tiny footsteps to the throne, And sees it crowned with glories like his own. " The day of small things " some affect to spurn : Such at the Sunday School may lesson learn ; see how Heaven prepares from lowly things Exalted honors for the King of kings. 22 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. A few poor children, gathered in a room, An humble woman teaches ; — one, whose loom Was heard in busy motion all the week — She now imparts, with looks and language meek, The simple lesson, nor to swear nor steal ; And teaches knees, that never bowed, to kneel. She bids the uncouth and semi-barbarous, take A decent garb, for Decency's mere sake ; — And, as shine down on intellects, opaque, Some gentle rays, the rescued hasten on, Till, leaving Egypt, they have Goshen won ; Where coruscations of pure knowledge meet Around the head and bathe in light the feet. Such is the story of the Sunday School, And none will chide its moral but the fool. Immortal he,* whose pitying eye surveyed The dreadful wreck by Sin and Misery made ! * " In 1781 - 82 an errand led Eobert Raikes into a neigh- borhood in his native city of Gloucester, England, which was inhabited chiefly by the lowest class of laborers in a manufac- tory, whose children, from six to twelve or fourteen years of age, were running wild in the street. He was told that on the Lord's day, when all ages and classes were free from employment and restraint, their noise and blasphemy were insufferable. Farmers and others, in the neighboring towns and villages, complained of the depredations upon their property as more frequent and bold THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 23 Whose love was prompt; whose zeal was all engaged To meet the war with Vice and Error waged ; In thai tierce battle to sustain the Right, And chase to hell the empire of old Night. II law not that his unobtrusive scheme, Which pleased his fancy, partly like a dream, Would substance take so soon; take wings and fly — The Principle of Life where children die. Oh. who shall influence ever wield like this? To millions opening founts of perfect bliss ! — Who wake such hope, and widely spreading power Of glorious good, increasing every hour, — All unconfined to climate, sea, or shore, — Still rising, swelling, flowing, evermore! Nor could the treasure noble Raikes had found Enrich, alone, his native English ground. on that day than on all the rest of the days of the week. To remedy these evils, persons duly qualified were hired, at twenty- two cents a day, to open schools for two hours in the morning and afternoon ; to receive and instruct the ignorant in the art of reading; to teach the catechism, and to lead them to church. — Mr. Baikes*! experiment was entirely successful; his plan was approved by some of the most wise and eminent men in the country: similar schools were established in other districts, and, in 1P11. at least 800,000 children were reported as members of the-e schools." — Teacher Taught ; published by the Am. S. S. Union. 24 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. The gift to us some friendly herald brought; By elder Britain was Columbia taught. * Yet here, at first, the timid stranger saw Reserve and doubt — for such is Yankee law. " She comes to us in fair and winning guise ; Yet to be wary, may perhaps be wise." " The Sunday School ? — 't is well — a pretty plan," The Pastor said — and said the good old man, * " The first Sunday School of which we have any knowl- edge in this country, was the one established by Ludwig Thacker, as early as the middle of the last century ; preceding the schools of Raikes in England by thirty or forty years. This was in the town of Ephrata, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1783 Bishop Asbury, it is said, organized a school of this kind in Han- over, Virginia. In December, 1790, incipient measures were adopted in Philadelphia, for ' The First Day or Sunday School Society.' On the 11th of January succeeding, the officers were elected, and the society fully organized. In 1797, a Sunday School was established at Pawtucket, R. L, a manufacturing village, and opened for the benefit of the many operatives there. This school, like those previously established in Philadelphia, was probably designed chiefly for secular, rather than solely for religious instruction. A School, for religious instruction on the Sabbath, was instituted August 22d, 1809, in Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania. This school coincided in its principal features with the Sabbath Schools at present established. In 1810, a Sunday School was commenced in Beverly, Massachusetts, by two young ladies; one of whom is yet living. They collected a number of children, for the purpose of bestowing gratuitous instruction, and continued the school, without aid, for many years. Sunday Schools were subsequently organized, at various periods, in other cities and towns of the United States." — Fray's History of Sunday Schools. I UK SUNDAY school. |0 " 'T is ornamental to the house of prayer, Just like the carpet on my pulpit stair." But when he saw its high results disclose, Indifference ceased, and generous ardor rose. " The Sunday School ! a liberal plan, I hold, To win the lambs that bleat around the fold. My Blender judgment here was surely wrong; Our Zion's pillar, she, — erect arid strong." Yet, chiefly mark ! a wondrous labor done Within the Church; — the mingling into one Consenting minds, of creed diverse ; their aim To spread the savor of Immanuel's Name; — To scatter glory round a world of shame Like our uncounted leaping springs, that tend Seaward and with receiving ocean blend, These, as they brightly pass to climes above, Merge by the way their currents into Love; True emblem of the sea without a shore, Whose waves embrace and kiss forevcrmore. The Church is up from slumber, dust, and tears ! She breaks the spell of eighteen hundred years ! By bold aggression, to retrieve her loss, — !'»;■ Union, bring our planet to the Grose. 3 26 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. In beauty, towering 'mid the sister band Whose peaceful triumphs ring through every land, "Who wear American upon their crest, Behold the Pioneer of all the rest ! * [pall ! — Sunday School Union ! f — words that never In music's witchery on the heart they fall ! * The eminent value of the Sunday School as a Pioneer. — " A gentleman, long resident in Mississippi, and who has travelled extensively over all parts of it, speaks of the great difficulties which must be encountered in introducing religious institutions into the State ; ' but,' he says, ' if we get the whole people once aroused in the work, they will contribute largely, and the cause of Christ will advance more rapidly through the Sunday School as an instrumentality, than any and all other influences.' " t The American Sunday School Union was organized in Philadelphia, May 1824. It has five specific objects, namely : I. To concentrate the efforts of Sabbath School Societies in different sections of our country. II. To strengthen the hands of the friends of religious instruc- tion on the Lord's day. III. To disseminate useful information. IV. To circulate moral and religious publications in every part of the land. And, lastly, though chiefly, V. To endeavor to plant a Sunday School wherever there is a population. In the first place — " to concentrate the efforts of Sunday School Societies in the different sections of our country^ By uniting the Schools in a large district under a general board, it was thought that a convenient medium of intercourse would be secured, and that the efforts of all might be directed to one and the same end, and be sustained by a common sym- pathy ; and by uniting these general boards with a national so- ciety, upon terms mutually advantageous, we hoped still further THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 27 I know her name! — her toils and objects know, — They are but one — inviting Heaven below. u To Try" — the happy secret of her art, She takes no royal road to reach the heart. She brings no plans — impossible but new. Her work is sure, yet noiseless as the dew. to concentrate and harmonize our counsels, while at the same time we made arrangements to furnish promptly and on the cheapest terms, such facilities in the shape of reward books, tickets, &c, as were at that period in use. The correctness of these views was shown conclusively, in the eagerness with which the proposed connection was sought, — for it may probably be said, without exaggeration, that at one time nineteen twentieths of all the Sunday Schools in the country were connected with us. In process of time, however, single Schools or small Associations were merged in County or State Societies, and many were embraced in denominational organ iza- tions. The whole number of Schools and Societies which have been recognized as auxiliaries, is 1364. II. The second object was " to strengthen the hands of the friends of religions education on the Lord's day.'''' This we could do chiefly by maturing a practicable and efficient system of instruction, adapted to the general wants of the country — furnisfiing means of improvement to such as would serve as active laborers, and those excitements to zeal and diligence which the progress of the work might sug_ The results of our enterprise in this respect, are seen, not only in our fifteen volumes of Questions, of which considerably more than a million of copies have been circulated — in our rmriooi Helps to the understanding of the sacred volume, and the proper mode of teaching it — in our Geographies, Dictionaries, and Maps — in our works, illustrative of the Jewish religion and history, and the manners and customs of Oriental nations ; but they are 28 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Her simple motto, you in Nature find, "Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined.' , To snatch from trees a lesson, come with me ! And in the gorgeous Western Valley see, also seen in the valuable manuals and text-books which have issued in later years from other sources, and in the elaborate and expensive volumes of commentaries and annotations upon the Scriptures, which have been prepared by devout and learned men, with special reference to the wants of Sunday School Teachers and juvenile Biblical students. If, to supply proper materials and tools for their work, be to strengthen the hands of the builders, then have we succeeded in this part of our original design. III. The third item was " to disseminate useful information.' 1 '' The extent to which this has been done it is impossible to state with accuracy. The eight octavo volumes of our Maga- zine; the four volumes of the Sunday School Journal, in the largest newspaper form, succeeded by thirteen volumes of the re- duced size, contain together an amount of facts, reasonings, illus- trations, and statistics upon the subject of Christian education, not easily accessible elsewhere, in the same compass. The an- nual sermons, by clergymen of various denominations, constitute a volume of peculiar value, setting forth the views entertained by men of different ecclesiastical relations, residing in different sections of the country, and treating the subject according to their various apprehensions of its connections and bearings. The Annual Eeports make up several volumes of no inconsiderable size and importance. The Eeports of public meetings, and a variety of Pamphlets explaining our design and object, and de- fending the principles of the Society, have been widely circu- lated, and we may safely say, that altogether we have materials of this kind for at least forty-five or fifty large octavo volumes, parts of which have been circulated by thousands and tens of thousands in all the inhabited parts of our land. To all this we THE SUNDAY SCIIOOL. Not the apologies for trees that deck Our own PJnrnlaqtli and Kennebeck, — But the majestic white-armed sycamore, Or cypress, guarding Mississippi's shore. may add the labors of several hundred Missionaries and Agents, who have traversed the country in the Society's service, and disseminated information by means of sermons, addresses, and conversations; to say nothing of ministers and others who have advocated our cause in public and private. IV. The fourth particular of the design was "to circulate moral and religious publications in every part of the land ; " and by the good hand of God upon us, we have succeeded in circu- ibove twenty millions of such publications, including each distinct article in our catalogue. It would be interesting to follow each one of these twenty millions of Scriptural publications through the various channel* of its circulation, and mark the traces of its benign influence upon the hearts and conduct of individuals — upon the church — upon private character and the public welfare. It would be still more interesting to trace the history of each volume, from the tir-t conception of the subject in the mind of the author to the last perceptible re-ult- of ita publication. But such a privilege can be enjoyed by no finite mind. That the Amkkk an Mnday School Unm has been the instrument of calling into exercise so much of talents, industry, ingenuity, and piety, as have been employed in the preparation of several hundred original manu- scripts, making as many bound volumes upon our catalogue, and that it has been the means of introducing so extensively ti. tem of libraries and in supplying the young in so QOBsiderablfl a measure with appropriate religious reading, are among the > upon our gratitude. ct, that the plan of District School Li- braries was suggested in our periodicals as early as 1 1 - do not think it arrogant to claim that the influence of Sunday 3* 30 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. One such, a father in those forests saw, Where only such acknowledge Nature's law; And bade his little sprightly son behold Its arrowy straightness and its aspect bold; Schools and Sunday School Libraries is distinctly visible in the present demand for cheap popular libraries for common Schools. Would to God we could be farther instrumental in turning into one channel the two streams which seem to have taken their rise in the same fountain, causing them to flow as the waters of sal- vation to the ends of the earth ! V. The fifth and last, and most important design of the or- ganization, was " to plant a Sunday School wherever there is a population.' 1 '' Though this phraseology is general enough to embrace the globe, it has been confined by repeated construction to the United States. For several years past our attention has been directed chiefly to the Western and Southern States, and considering our measure of means, our success has been much greater than could have been reasonably expected. As to the feasibility of the Western supply, and the peculiar fitness of our Institution to furnish it, the mind of our Board has never wavered for a moment. We have realized no difficulties of which we did not distinctly apprize the community at the outset, and the work done in that interesting section of our country has stood to the utmost extent of our expectations. This wide territory will, in a fleeting day, be studded with cities and towns, adorned with temples of justice, learning, and religion, and crowded with busy millions of our fellow men. Its waters will be traversed by boats or be connected by railroads and canals. The plough and the shuttle, mercantile enterprise, and mechanical industry and ingenuity, will soon work the won- ders there which they have wrought everywhere else. The man that is to mete out justice and right, to minister at the altar, and to exert a commanding influence over the minds of his fellow THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 31 How COfeSOOlialj it looked in grandeur down, And wore the leafy kingdom's royal crown. •• Now." said the parent, u William ! only see What 's that so like and yet unlike a tree, That rises shortly from its mother-root, And then turns off in angle, quite acute? So gnarled and crooked, crossgrained, coarse and So knotty, stubby, twisted, stunted, tough ; [rough, With beauty none ; with ugliness enough ; So wicked, too, — if graceless trees may sin — It never can the least affection win?" citizens — where is he now? Perhaps trundling a hoop — per- haps riding a plough horse — perhaps in a public school — pos- sibly in a Sunday School. But, wherever he is, and whatever he does, what can be more important than that he should be taught to love truth, to do justly, to be temperate, to be obedient to those that have the rule over him — in a word, to be made familiar with the principles of eternal truth and justice which the Bible alone reveals, and which are the foundation and sanction of all governments, human and divine, personal and social ? And this is the very object at which we aim — ami unless all analog}', and all experience, and all philosophy are at fault when their axioms are applied to the discipline of a little child, it is an exalted and an attainable end. Look at the Samuels and Joshuas, or the Absaloms and Ahabs of the past or the present age, and they will show us that whatever there is, strikingly beautiful or strik- ingly deformed, in the picture of manhood, is the result of the few first strokes of the pencil, and 'not of elaborate correction and perfect finish. — Documents of the American Sunday School Union. 32 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Both gazed with curious and with scornful ejes, And both agreed the monster to despise. " Now, William, think ! — and answer give to me — How could a sapling ever yield such tree? What power of evil interposed a change To pain the eye with growth, so vile and strange ? " "I cannot tell," the youngster gravely said, And stopped, and laughed, and tost his curly head — " I cannot tell — unless some clown, quite mellow, Stept on him when he was a little fellow ! " The motto's true, that we in Nature find: "Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." While some, impelled by whim or pity, seek To crush the strong and elevate the weak, And old tried paths abandon for the new, And schemes Utopian mingle with the true ; The schemes that, sparkling like the sungilt dew, Like dew dissolve — She brings her Plan to sight, All bathed in Truth and lucid as its light ; And taking burden pride disdains to bear, She makes the Children her peculiar care. * * " A young German philanthropist, in seeking to carry out a favorite plan of benevolence towards the rising race, applied to the American Sunday School Union for help, because it is l The Society that takes care of the Children.' " — Twenty-third An- nual Report. THE SUNDAY SCUOOL. 33 Takes care of the Children!" — there's many To surer at a mission so small ; Thank God, in earth's famine, for any- Cheap crumbs of his mercy that fall ! For the crying-out wide desolations, In Zion a table is spread ; — Coming up are the hungry by nations ; But where shall the Children be fed? 'T is noble — sublimity 's in it, When Charity maketh her proof, And "speech" -resolution" and "minute" Stir arches of Exeter-roof; — By gold, and a word, are at pleasure The Cross and the Lion unfurled, To take of Idolatry measure, And vanquish for Jesus the world. To cont<->t. BO brilliant and plea-ant, Let princes and emperor- lead; — Be lifeguards of noblemen prcso a i , And prelatea and baronets bleed; — TVe ask not, we wish not to battle With them ; but our disciplined band Marshal onwards, and where the shots rattle ■M us ! the Infantry >tand ! 34 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. In the plebian suburbs of Glos'ter, More glory and royalty meet Round him, who was eager to foster The children that troubled the street Aye, nobler, snblimer, and better Her office and honors, we see, Who, patiently, letter by letter, Here teaches the child at the knee. "Takes care of the Children!" — where growing In August are vintage and corn, Who gazes and thinks of the sowing Of sweet little April with scorn? " Small things " may be jeered by the scoffer, Yet drops, that in buttercups sleep, Make showers; — and what would he offer But sand, as a wall for the deep ? " Takes care of the Children ! " — nor wasted Is care on the weakest of these; The culturer the product has tasted, And found it the palate to please. There are sheaves pushing higher and faster, And Age has more branches and roots, — But dearer are none to the Master Than Childhood, in blossoms and fruits! Tin: BTTNDAT >< 110OL. 55 Our life is no u dream n — we began it In tears, and on Time's narrow brink, ' Till farewells we wave to this planet, We must wake up and labor and think, — And effort concentrate, not scatter, On objects all worthy of us; — Where and how, we perceive is no matter, Only blessing fix deep for the curse. . as choice in the vineyard's permitted, Where labor is never in vain, And patience and prayer, unremitted, At last yield the harvest of grain — In a world where the brambles oft sting us, 'T is well to choose pleasantest bowers ; — "Taking care of the Children" will bring us The nearest to Heaven and Flowers ! The Union sends abroad the printed page, For Childhood traced by intellectual Age. Sagacious minr\'i'\v SCHOOL. 41 Now comes the Union's faithful agent; he Surveys the evil, and the eure can see. -its all — stirs no discordant string. They hear the rustle of an angel's wing! His lips drop music, never breathed before; — His step leaves fragrance at each willing door. The Sabbath shines upon a reverent throng; The woods are vocal with the prayer and song Poured out where arch and tracery rise to view — God's tirst cathedral, when the world was new. [man He speaks i — •• Your forms and creeds are various; Has but one Bible — one Salvation-Plan; — And here 'tis found. There is no other Name Than His, by whom that full redemption came. And you may look — to look, the angels burn ! And you may read what angels fain would learn ! To aid the purpose I at once intend ; And give you Books, as from a distant friend. ITC them — read them, lend them, as your own; The gift of one that loves you though unknown." Departs the herald; but the influence stays. A School is planted, and ita fruits are praise. portions would scarcely be credited ; and yet this people can be reached, and brought under moral ami retigkmfl inrtu<>nc«\ in DO other way but throueh the American Sunday School Tnion." 4* 42 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. A Church is gathered, and the dews of grace Drop gently down and fructify the place. * And shall we wait ? — Oh no ! the work sustain ; Nor let the Union call for aid in vain. * From reports of Missionaries and Agents, sufficient to fill volumes, three or four sketches are subjoined. Mr. J. Adams, laboring in Central Illinois : Formed 28 new Schools, with 196 Teachers, and 1344 Scholars. Visited 74 old " " 567 " " 3700 " Total, 102 763 5044 Delivered 44 Addresses ; travelled 727 miles, and distributed 60 small Libraries. Most of the twenty-eight new Schools were got up and organ- ized in very obscure places, where there was never a Sunday School before, and far away from religious privileges on the Sab- bath. In such places as these the plan of Union is of incalcu- lable importance, and seems to change the moral aspect of the community around. Formerly the Sabbath was disregarded and awfully profaned, — now, the children and youth, and even pa- rents, are seen collecting in the Sunday School, to pray, to sing, to study the Bible, and to see and do what they had never seen and done before — to carry home with them books from their Sunday School Library ; and these books are probably read by every member of the family, once, twice, or three times in the course of the week, with deep interest. Mr. A. W. Corey, of Illinois writes : " The whole number of Schools that have been visited or aided, in connection with my Agency during the last year, is two hundred and nineteen. — Embracing one thousand four hundred and thirty-six Teachers, and nine thousand six hundred and sixty-eight Scholars. Seven of these Schools are in Missouri, seven in Iowa, sixteen in Wis- consin, and one hundred and eighty-eight in Dhnois, distributed THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 43 The spot, neglected, and obscure, she seek- : And has an utterance where no Pulpit speaks. Her toiling servants penetrate the wild, Unsearehed by minister, and reach the child; among thirty-two counties; sixty-one are in what is denominated 'Southern Illinois' — a district as destitute of religious instruc- tion as any other of the same size in the Western country. One hundred and eighty of these Schools are entirely new, and most of them in neighborhoods which never before enjoyed a Sunday School. A large proportion of them are in places where they have no preaching, and among a people where a preacher of any particular denomination could not be sustained — Union Schools in which the few resident Christians can unite. " These one hundred and eighty Schools embrace one thou- sand one hundred and fifty-three Teachers, and seven thousand five hundred and sixty-nine Scholars; making a total of eight thousand seven hundred and twenty-two souls who have been brought, by the blessing of God upon these humble efforts, under the influence of Bible instruction every Sabbath. More than twenty-five thousand useful volumes have beeu put into circula- tion, where they have already been read many times, and where they will continue to circulate and be read until used up in the service — leaving their ineffaceable impressions upon the immor- tal mind. " Having resided for the last fifteen years in the West, and traversed some portions of it extensively, my heart has often been moved, while I have thought on the intellectual and moral condition — present and prospective — of the millions who dwell in this great valley. I remember many years ago, while still residing east of the mountains, that from almost every state and territory, and village and hamlet of this vast region, a cry of destitution and distress came over into our ears. It was the cry of those who were famishing for want of intellectual and mora] food. ' Send us Ministers and Teachers and Bi/Aes, or we and 44 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. And — what no others can so surely do, They bring him out to daylight's cheerful view; And pour effulgence on his gloomy mind ; — [blind. Give ears to Childhood deaf, and eyes to Childhood our Children perish without knowledge.'' The cry was loud and long ; it entered into our ears and sank down into our hearts. — The whole church was moved, and mighty efforts were made to respond to the call. The ministers of God turned their faces and footsteps towards the setting sun. The Teacher also came, and Bibles by cargoes came ; but the tide of population has also con- tinued to roll in with a mightier swell ; so that after all that has been done for a quarter of a century by the churches of the east — and much has been done to diffuse the blessings of the Gospel — to enlighten and save this great people — all our means of moral and intellectual improvement, are relatively still further in arrears than at the beginning. The elements of evil have been steadily gaining the ascendancy, and righteousness and truth relatively receding. A million of Children and Youth have been, and still are, growing up in ignorance and sin, without any suitable instruc- tion. Millions more will soon walk in their footsteps. I have looked abroad upon this mighty mass, and asked with deep con- cern, what will be the state of society when these millions become fathers, and mothers, and legislators, and governors, if the intel- lect and heart are left to nature's wildness ? And what will be the condition and fate of my country, when this Valley shall gain a controlling influence, as gain it she will ? And where will these teeming millions of immortal beings be after myriads of ages have rolled away? Shall they swell the song of the redeemed before the eternal throne, or the wailings of despair in the world of woe ? "In looking after the existing instrumentalities, on which reliance is placed, under God, to effect the mighty (and desired) change, I have turned to the common School ; but I found that multitudes of these are without teachers, and many engaged as IRI SUNDAY SCHOOL. 45 Scorn not jfcgiw tendrils — if you deem them so — Where one may die, a thousand live and grow. And should one fail, recuperative power res to life the imperishable flower, instructors, are scarcely able to teach the first rudiments of knowledge — still less the obligations of man to his God. God, ni not in the common Schools. I turned my eye to the minister of God, to him whose messages are in an especial man- ner the wisdom and power of God to salvation. But alas ! I found that not one-fourth of the whole mass came under his influence, or within the sound of his voice. But a Sunday School may be planted in every village and hamlet and settlement ; in a ind places where the gospel cannot come or be preached; and through the Sunday School, every family and individual may be reached. All the Lord's people scattered over these vast prairies, like sheep without a shepherd, may become prophets and teachers in the Sunday School. Thus many 'shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased ' — the knowledge of the Lord. Impressed with this view, I wrote to the American Sunday School Union, long before I had any expectation of being engaged in the blessed work, that, in my opinion, herein alone is the salvation of these people, and the hope of our country. — Having now spent a year in the work of establishing Schools, so far from having changed my opinion, I am only confirmed in it ; my confidence is greatly increased. I feel indeed that we have struck a mine of wealth, which has only to be 'worked,' to pro- duce, by the blessing of God, the best results." Mr. J. W« Vail of Wisconsin reports the organization of thirty S ihools, embracing one hundred and fifty ! about one thousand Scholars. Ho bai sis* visited and r tated fifty-two ot; "The past year has 1,,-. m MM of unparalleled intero-t, owing to the rush of immigration. Our population now numbers over one hundred and fifty ti. - a solemn thought that this multi: omen, 46 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. With brighter resurrection from the germ, As soars aurelia from the lowly worm ! Then say not Schools that blossom in the West, Like fruitful vines, are useless and unblest. and children, will be summoned before their Maker within the circle of forty years, a large number before that time, a few after. Whatever is done then for this multitude, must be done quickly. Among our population are twenty thousand Germans, one thou- sand eight hundred French, and twelve thousand Irish, the most of whom are the willing dupes of the Man of Sin, slaves to their wicked propensities, and destitute of a love for the word of God. In addition to these are eight thousand Norwegians, whose minds are as dark, and who are as much enslaved to certain forms, as is the Papist ; and of these forty-one thousand eight hundred, there are very few who have any moral or religious reading. A few possess the Bible, and to those few it is precious ; others have it, but read it not — while others again are entirely destitute, living in a gospel land in heathenish darkness. And of the one hundred thousand Americans, English, and Welch, many are worshipping their farms and merchandise, others are bowing at the shrine of Fashion, and others again boasting of their vileness, and publicly sneering at the pure and precious word of God." The Rev. B. W. Chidlaw, of Ohio, reports the organization of forty-two new Schools, and the reviving and supplying with Books of thirty-four other Schools. These Schools are held in barns, school houses, private dwellings, and Churches — one of them within the walls of the State Prison at Columbus, where there is a Union School of about one hundred Scholars, and twelve Teachers. These various Schools number five hundred Teachers, and three thousand five hundred Scholars. Into these Schools have been introduced about seven thousand volumes of Books. The introduction of this pure, elevated, and sanctified juvenile literature into our destitute villages and neighborhoods, is all important for the intellectual and spiritual interest of the rising generation. THB SUNDAY SCHOOL. 47 That where the Bring preacher has not come, The Sunday School's glad voices must be dumb. Believe such libel, and the chills of night Ten thousand blossoms would forever blight. A thousand buds, in whose embraces lie A thousand Churches, would, in embryo, die. Hope, that sustains as, taking wings, would fly. And in that Valley, where unceasing strife Death boldly wages with Eternal Life, ■ In the West we have much to fear from the light literature, the licentious and infidel publications, so wide spread in our midst. Our danger i* real and alarming. Would that it were more deeply felt ; then would the claims of duty meet a prompt and general response. By the help of God, I have lifted up my voice against this great and growing evil ; and I have reason to hope that I have not cried in vain. In many places much inter- - been excited, and a new impulse given to the Sunday School cause, and a greater demand for Sunday School Books. This i* ground for encouragement and gratitude. The pre-occu- pancy of the mind, and a taste for religious reading, Is our hope. In our Sunday Schools, we aim to secure this vantage ground, and God helping us, we shall succ Such are a few of the important results secured by the labors of only four Missionaries. The American Sunday School Union, have now fifty-four men of tlii< character, laboring in different ■i the country. They are all fully and successfully em- ployed. The Society is most anxioin to scrure. the meana for extending this system of instruction to every family now destitute of it in our whole country, and for this purpose, the Board de- pend wholly upon the free contributions of the churches. — Cir- cular of the American Sunday School Union, 1847. 48 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Would thousand thousands to destruction go, Lost by the falsehood, so replete with woe.* 'Tis vain to urge: "The scholar's interest dies "When sleeps the pulpit " — or that " he who cries On Zion's wall is Zion's only voice." — For the Ascension- Gift I will rejoice; Fools may its teaching folly deem — with God 'T is wisdom ! — Beautiful their feet, all shod In Holiness, that stand upon the mountains, Revealing Him who opened mercy's fountains ! How beautiful the feet of heralds, treading The noble Valley! o'er its prairies spreading The tidings caught in Palestine ; and shedding On youthful hearts the odor of sweet flowers, Distilled from Sharon's Rose, and flung abroad in [showers ! f * Of all marvels, none is so strange as that men, calling themselves Christians, should seek to thwart the efforts of the American Sunday School Union to establish Sabbath Schools in those most destitute places of the West, where as yet there is no stated ministry. We can conceive that enemies of the gospel should regard these nurseries of future churches with dread and hatred. But the language of all who love the Saviour should be that which fell from his own blessed lips, when children were brought to him : " Forbid them not ! " — J. M. A. f For the substance of this sketch of the incipient steps taken in hundreds of instances in the Western Valley, and resulting in the permanent establishment of the preached Gospel and its THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 49 See ! how reversing Logic's ancient laws, Effect goes b;u-k, itself producing Cause. The School is offspring of the Day of Rest — The Sunday School gives Sunday to the West! To fair Wisconsin, scoffers, void of shame, Have idly boasted, "Sunday never came." Where round me fell the curtains of an eve Lovely as God's bright pencils ever leave On Western landscapes — I at leisure rode By silver waters, that in music flowed. A boy was busy in their ripples fishing; — The nearest journey to a farm house wishing, I craved the way ; — the way he kindly told, And left his sport, some pleasant talk to hold. He was but young — of "thirteen years," he said; With rosy cheeks, large sparkling eyes, and head All prodigal of black and curly hair. II<- won my love — I spoke him soft and fair: — '•And fish you here on Sundays, boy?" said I. My heart leaped up at his sincere reply — " Oh no ! not now ! " and brighter flashed his eye. ordinances, proving most conclusively that the Sunday School on the Union Plan is the pioneer of the Church, the reader la referred to the opinion of Mr. John Adams, Missionary of the American Sunday School Union in Illinois — which i- embodied in the Twentieth Annual Report of the Society. 5 50 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. " I fish no more on Sundays ! " — " but I read Our little books, and try the words to heed; To break the Sabbath, here, is not the rule, For now we have a happy Sunday School." The School is offspring of the Day of Rest — The Sunday School gives Sunday to the West! Would you to skeptics and opposers preach? I pray you leave them, and the Children teach. A little Child, who letters did not know, To Sunday lessons was allowed to go, If none to him the way of life would show; "And," interposed his unbelieving sire, "No God you fable, nor eternal fire." His mother said, " He may catch something good," — And so he went. At Sunday School he stood Just by a Teacher who explained the power Of God to one yet older ; and that hour, A few plain Bible precepts, simply taught, In their rich beauty to that child were brought ; And, like perfumes hid in the floweret's cup, His little heart the doctrines treasured up. That evening, gazing on the spangled frame, He watched the stars, as, one by one, they came, Each other telling their Creator's Name. — THE sinday BCHOOI*. 51 The f jkn tm Cause of all that's good and fair. The Child acknowledged, and he must declare: — ••Do Me the little stars: — Qcd put them there!" when the brutal father curst and swore, God's Name that hovel never heard before. The infant's lesson, like Ithuriel's spear, Flashed to his heart, and gave that parent fear ; N-.r found he peace, 'till unbelief and pride -lain, forever, by the Crucified. The Sunday School, in Union, can achieve What hope may look for and what faith believe. Though carnal weapons she may never bring The five smooth pebbles and the simple sling, Wielded by Truth, shall evermore prevail To bring down Error, armed in coat of mail. She takes the Bible for her only rule. She on the Bible plants the Sunday School. No book above it, nor beside, may show ; — But places all immeasurably below. She in the sunlight spreadi its contents wide, And asks mankind to study, think, decide. She knows no man, were he as wise as Paul, :id graces may the conscience thrall. . for himself must hear the earnest call. 52 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Each, at the peril of his soul must search, And at his peril find, nor idly ask the Church; — The humble heart may lofty mysteries scan ! God saves not by communities — his plan Points to the pool the individual man, And moves the water for one leper, crying, As if that moment thousands were not dying! The Union seeks the little child to take, And teach it lessons as the Saviour spake. For this great work her forces all unite. For this, she kneels before the throne of light. For this, implores upon herself and toil Grace to prepare and sow the fallow soil. For this, her hundred thousand Teachers go, Armed at all points, to meet the subtle foe. For this she sways o'er willing minds her rule, And counts, by millions, Children in her School. For tins, of Bibles, she's the queenly giver; And Books, like waters from that sacred river, In rills, unnumbered, flow at her command, Conveying Truth to every thirsty land.* * To the concise exposition and forcible appeal which close the Twentieth Annual Report, I am indebted for these just views of the American Sunday School Union's aims and expectations. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 53 Flow on! ye bounteous healing streams of Lite, When transcendental infidels are rife. Dull dreamers, they, who store enquiring Mind With what convenience or mere chance may find ; Or chaff, or bran, or stones, — no matter which! Maturer Time will see the proper niche Filled with the Good and True, that must prevail When wise Experience holds aloft her scale. Truth lives, and Error dies, and so the dreamers fail ! Such thumb the pages of conceited Self, And leave the Bible on the dusty shelf; And shunning streams that from pure fountains roll, With turbid waters nauseate the soul. In vain they grope for Knowledge, while they turn From her true star to lamps that feebly burn In murky sepulchres, where Error goes, — Where God for judgment holds the ashes of His foes: And yet, the thousands, ransomed, what are they, Compared with millions, who each lust obey! From Europe's capitals we hear their cry ; — In Irish bogs, by loathsome swarms, they lie; — At England's palaces the vagrants die. Or, worse than Lazarus, for without his hope, While sores of sin warn off the dogs, they grope 54 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. In the dark precincts of the London hells, Where every sin of damned Gomorrah dwells. Lo ! unconfined to soil or hemisphere, Behold the spawn of guilt and famine here ! Disintegrated particles of man, That chemic laws ne'er bind to place or clan. With us, their black uncomely tents they pitch — We hail the nomads of the Dublin ditch. For us, the foreign prison door unlocks; — The work -house empties on our ballot box ! " Your picture 's sombre ; to relieve its gloom, The Sunday School, from sure and fearful doom, Will save the Children?" — Never! there's no room. Room for the rich, the noble, and the proud; — Room for the decent poor — not for a carrion crowd. Our Sunday Schools like gardens you behold ; ihe flowers arrayed in crimson, pink, and gold. — What choice perfumes the soul and sense delight ! What rainbow colors fascinate the sight ! Is it for this, celestial Pity takes An earthly form, admired and loved as Raikes, That some with dainties may be overfed, While others die, for lack of daily bread? 'T is wrong ! — 't is sad perversion ! — shall it be Forever, thus, Philanthropy! with thee? THK SUNDAY SCHOOL. 55 No ! for a lovelier spirit wakes and smiles. Whose radiant glory Lights the British Isles — Whose wing of swiftness cleaves the yielding air, — Now seen with us — a Genius, good and fair. She walks abroad, and seeks the vilest haunt ; And those exiled from all but Sin and Want She kindly gathers ; — calms the ruffian lad ; Revives the drooping; softly soothes the sad; Applies fresh waters ; smooths dishevelled curls ; Turns little furies into gentle girls, And savage tempers to the decent rules That love enforces in the Ragged Schools!* * It is not more than seven or eight years since the attention of benevolent people in London was called to the forlorn con- dition of thousands of yonth, of both sexes, who, not only in stature, but in wickedness, had grown beyond the reach of com- mon Sunday Schools, and many of whom had become already notorious for crime. There were parts of the city and suburbs of London in which crowds of these miserable creatures were found. These were justly called " breeding places for the hulks and jails, too horrible to contemplate." A- ^arly as 1839-40, a very destitute district in the vicinity of London was explored, and hundreds of people were found in a state of the most deplorable ignorance and poverty. For their sake- an evening service was opened, and the most destitute were furnished with suitable garments to enable them to attend. The effort was frustrated by the abusive and violent conduct of vicious youth, who pelted the people and their Teachers, M well as the buildine where they were, with stones and other missiles. It was then thought best to attempt to bring these youth under 56 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Hark ! to a Voice that from the Valley breaks ; From Western prairies, rivers, forests, lakes; — Young men ! who crowd the Atlantic's narrow mart, Come ! and explore the Mississippi's heart. some good influences. They were already far advanced in crimi- nal courses. The evening service being exchanged for an evening School, the scene which the new assembly presented, beggars all descrip- tion. The Teachers could secure no order, and the intervals of silence within the School were disturbed by the showers of mis- siles on the roof of the building, by those who were without. To preserve the public peace, it was necessary to have the police in attendance. Occasionally, indeed, there was a cessa- tion of noise from screams, catcalls, whistles, falling forms, and other strange sounds, but the moment there was an attempt to sing a hymn, many would begin a profane and often indecent song, and all attempt at worship failed. Not discouraged by these difficulties, the promoters of the School called for aid ; and several warm-hearted, self-denying friends came into the midst of this mob-like company, and thus by dividing the labor, and assigning a small number to the care of each, they seemed to be reduced to some kind of order. Not a session of the School past, however, without some outbreaking of violent rudeness and insult. Of the Girl's School we have statements showing the urgent necessity of similar provision for them. A Keport before us says : " Scenes of cruelty and barbarity sometimes occur, even among the female classes. In one class, containing six girls, they quarrelled, and continued fighting until their mouths were literally 'filled with blood.'" The Keport adds, "The attend- ance of this latter class is very uncertain ; they generally come in gangs, probably at times when they have committed some misdemeanor, to take shelter, for a short season, from the hands of justice." TBI St N DAY SCHOOL. 57 Too, taught where oaks the northern mountains u'h, beneath the persimmon and lime.* [climb, Ami you, of Woman's all controlling mind, Whose mission 'tis to polish rude mankind, The " Ragged School Union " was formed in April, 1844, by a body of Sunday School Teachers connected with various evan- gelical denominations. In a short time public attention was attracted to the scheme. Lord Ashley, and several of the nobil- ity expressed an interest in its success. The first Report gave a - boob, having an average attendance of two IfcimiBli Children and two hundred Teachers. Windsor, (one of the royal residences,) a li Ragged School" has been established by a chimney sweep, — himself reclaimed from deep wretchedness, — and he was now overseeing a School of one hundred poor Boys and Girls, from eight to ten years of age. So great confidence is felt in the plan, that at Epping, — a densely populated place, — the sum of fifteen hundred dollars was raised by voluntary subscriptions to open a School. By the last account we have seen, it appears that the number of these Schools, in or near London, is not less than twenty-six. The * To the reasons which the preceding pages offer for such an Appeal, especially to Sunday School Teachers, may be added the fact that the Census of 1840 shows the number of Children in the West, who then attended no School of any kind, to be one million. Over one hundred thousand of these are from the total of one hundred and sixty-nine thousand one hundred and ninety- five Children in Kentucky alone. The Governor of that State, in a lata Message, S»ys \ M We have on our statute book what is denominated a system of common Schools, but hitherto it has been barren of results." As to Indiana, the State Journal says that '• there are over thirty thousand one hundred persons of twenty years of age or more, who are unable either to read or write." 58 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Say not your sex precludes you from the toil The lily hand may win and wear the spoil. A woman's faith and constancy have power To turn the battle in a doubtful hour. average attendance of Pupils, two thousand five hundred ; and of Teachers, two hundred and fifty. The Reports published by these Schools are very interesting, and record many cases of good arising from their operation. In the Report of a School in St. Giles's, it is stated that " great im- provement has taken place in the general conduct of the Scholars. Here there is both a male and female adult class, a sewing class, and also a place for the Scholars to wash before going into School ; thirty-five have become depositors to the provident fund, and thirty-three of the Scholars have been either wholly or partially clothed out of another fund for that purpose, and placed in re- spectable situations during the present year." The intimate knowledge many of the Scholars have acquired of the leading truths and doctrines of Christianity, their attention to the instruc- tions imparted by their Teachers, the correctness with which the weekly texts have been learned, and their altered behavior in and out of School, give hopeful indication that much good has been accomplished. " The School in Jurston Street, Gloucester Street, Westmin- ster Road has been held every Sabbath evening during the last six years, and through it upwards of seven thousand children and young persons, of the most abandoned habits have passed, many of whom have learned not only to read and write, but have become useful and creditable members of society; but as the time for instruction is so limited, it is deemed advisable to open a new and separate School, near the same locality, as a day School. Vast numbers of these youths are continually manifest- ing a desire to attend to instruction, if the time be made to suit their convenience." The following occurs in Gray's Yard Report for the past year : " One boy, whose conduct as a Scholar was THK SUNDAY SCHOOL. 59 To Woman, lofty energies belong; — false is History — false the Poet's song. Lately we were electrified by news Of glorious triumph over Vera Cruz ; formerly very bad, is now a Teacher in the School, and a member of a Christian Church ; and two others, who had been Scholars, have lately been drafted into the Bible Class of a neighboring School of a better kind. Another youth, who was frequently warned of his dan-rer. rao o Jvd to forsake his evil companions, and went to reside elsewhere, in order to be out of their way. BOW filling a useful statiou in society, and gaining an honest living by industry and care." '• The plan of a lending library, on a small scale, has been tried in two or three Schools, and the results are very encourag- ing, the books being generally returned regularly and in good order. The committee are anxious to extend this plan, and also to distribute interesting little story-books and tracts amongst the Children, especially as they are found frequently to read them aloud to their parents at home. The committee intend likewi- 1 shortly to supply Bibles and Testaments, at half price, to the Children who can read, and they have reason to believe that many will be thus subscribed for, " The committee have not yet been able to carry out their plan of having a place for washing attached to every School, but a paid teacher has been tried at two or three (in order to have the School open several evenings a-week, as well as Sunday), and it has been found to answer very well. It does not appear to dis- courage or drive away voluntary teachers (who are always wel- come)." It may not be that we have precisely the same class of youth in our cities that are found in London, and perhaps the term " Ragged Schools" would not be appropriate to such an MMm- blage here 5 but if public statements on the subjects are to be L 60 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Where men and horses, and artillery trains, Wheel, foot, and fetlock rolled in blood and brains. Yet why rehearse the horrors acted then? You are not ravening soldiers — you are Men ! * credited, there are thousands who must be constrained by just such means to an abandonment of their evil courses, or they will pursue them to a fatal end. We have room but for a few paragraphs. Of Boston, it is said " that no less than twelve boys, under eighteen years of age, are confined in the city gaol. Gangs of boys roam through the streets every night, seeking opportunities to plunder. During the summer, nearly every shop in the lower part of Broad Street has been broken open, chiefly by these youth ful depredators." " Gangs of vicious boys are prowling about the streets defying the law, and putting peaceful citizens in terror by their notorious and violent proceedings." After stating some instances of vio- lence and outrage, it is stated : — " In fact no man who is averse to repelling force by force, is safe for a moment near these out- laws." " For months a large portion of all the criminals who have crowded our police and municipal courts have been minors." * Shooting down Women. — A correspondent of the New York Commercial Advertiser, under date of Mexico, October 29th, 1847, says: " During the night of the 14th, our sharp shoot- ers were scattered and posted over the city, in the cathedral spires, and domes, and on all elevated housetops, whence they picked off the Mexican populace by hundreds. Whenever a Mexican was caught in arms, he was shot at once. Some were thrown headlong from the housetops into the streets below. — Women were shot when discovered in the act of passing loaded muskets to the men in the streets. Never were the infuriated people of Mexico so summarily treated." I UK SUNDAY SCHOOL. 61 It chanced the night before the battered walls ( A Spanish Lady, whose betraying signs Revealed the spy, was taken near our lines. " The Farm School, on Thompson's Island, in our harbor, has ura accomplished much in the way of reformation. The Police, too, of Boston are effective, and lately have adopted new measures with the vagrant boys of our streets, with special refer- ence to Sabbath profanation. Yet, sad to say, the above picture of sin and idleuess is not overdrawn, nor inapplicable at this moment." In Nmc York, ''it is estimated that at least twenty thousand Children and Youth are entirely unreached by Sunday School or other religious influence ; a large portion of whom are already taking the first steps in the path of infamy and crime. Some effort has been made for their rescue, but such effort must be VMfly increased, if we would make any perceptible impression." " The temptations and excitements to crime among the young, are greatly multiplied by the corrupting influence of a corrupt press." Of Philadelphia, it is enough to say that the chief actors in firemen's riots, and other outrages upon persons and property, are found to be abandoned and reckless youths. Clubs or Asso- ciations exist with savage and outlandish names — the members of which are often found armed with deadly weapons, with which they have attacked peaceable citizens, as if to show their con- tempt for human life and public peace. It has been estimated that at least a thousand youth could be mustered within two miles of the State House, all prepared, within and without, for the most revolting scenes of violence and outrage. How many thousands are under training to fit them for the same ranks, we may not know; but for these thousand! no adequate provision now exists. The wi~e and good of all c and denominations are warned of the state of things around 6 62 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. In the red glare of carnage, death, and hell, Stood, like an angel, Donna Isabel, Calm and observing; and to question dumb Of whence she came ? and wherefore had she come ? The soldiers felt the inexplicable power Of grace and beauty their dark spirits cower; — And, spite of habit, her they could not vex; — She won the treatment ever due her sex. Our cannon called — still, dauntless, dared refuse Capitulation gallant Vera Cruz. * And while her native city mocked our arms, She — a true Spaniard — wore the lofty charms That Nature gives the generous heart, to hide Its bitter anguish with a veil of pride. them. Will they awaken to a sense of impending danger and open their heart.?, hands, and purses, to supply the means of averting it ? — Papers of the American Sunday School Union. A building has been lately erected in Philadelphia, of a size to accommodate one thousand; to be filled from the ranks of those who are not at present connected with any Sunday School, and especially designed for the benefit of the extreme destitute and ignorant, among the Children and Youth. May the example be speedily imitated by sister cities, equally needing just such an edifice ! *It will be seen that this word — of Latin derivation — is pronounced, as in the text, and on page 59, for the sake of the rhyme. It is not, perhaps, a matter of sufficient importance for a note ; yet it is hoped that the license may be pardoned. I 111 -I \I»AY 14 BOOL. 63 But when the Stars and Stripes of victory's band Waved o'er the Serpent-Bird of her dear land, Telling that all was lost, save honor, she Her noble soul resigned to agony; With tears lamenting that the heaps of slain Were not her pillows — she had lived in vain! To Woman lofty energies belong, And true is History — true the Poet's song. As cloud and tire, twin guides, by night and day Mar-hailed the tribes along their desert way, When Egypt saw the wondrous pillar glide, And blackness, only, showed one frowning side ; The other, still, to Israel's earnest sight, Shone on their path, a glowing orb of light; So Earth, though dark as Heaven beholds her now, Has precious jewels blazing on her brow. The thoughtful eye sees in her lowly state Immortal forms ; — sees glories on her wait ; Sees her, the object of intense desire To those who stand, or fly, — angelic flames of fire ! A lerapb sings, by Love divinely taught; — Earth, wand'ring Earth, is in that seraph's thought. Around the throne celestial harpers throng; Earth, in her sin, is subject of their song. 64 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Marred by her folly in her Maker's view, She yet has treasure and attractions too. While roll the cycles of the eternal skies, Earth is the centre of unnumbered eyes ; — Yes ! in her dust and ruins has a phase Of marvellous beauty to an angel's gaze. Redemption ! how mysteriously is stirred The heart's deep echo at the charming word! 'Tis this exalts our planet, sunk so low, And spans her tempests, an ethereal bow. 'Tis this invests her with a robe, whose hue Of shining wonders, Eden never knew. Beyond its wealth, when morning has unrolled Its flaming curtains, dipt in molten gold — Beyond its glory when o'er western skies The twilight drops her veil of crimson dies, The robe of Mercy on the sinner shines ; Woven throughout with Beauty's perfect lines. Have you seen ? have you seen ? where the battle is The banners of Light and of Night are unfurled ? Have you heard? have you heard? the hurrah, where engaging 1 II K SUNDAY SCHOOL. 65 Are the soldiers of God and the Kings of the world ? And this is the conflict of Goodness and Sin, Begun when our father from Paradise fell; And Time has been patiently gathering in And mustering the forces of heaven and hell. TVe should fear ! we should fear ! as we daily dis- cover X.'W weakness, new folly, we'll only have loss; We will hope ! we will hope ! as we old ground recover And take new possessions, we'll win at the Cross. For an angel of Charity with us behold ! — [she Tis the Spirit of Union! — the churches lias Side by side in the contest for Jesus enrolled; — " Distinct as the billows, yet one as the sea." Have you seen? have you seen? where the battle is raging The banners of Light and of Night are unfurled? Have you heard? have you heard? the hurrah, where engaging Are the soldiers of God and the Kings of the world ? 6* 66 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. Yes ! and we in that strife between Satan and man For Truth take the buckler and helmet and shield ; With the Right, with the Light, with the Leader in van To die in the trenches, or conquer the field! POEMS. THE LATE ALEXANDEB HENRY.* PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION He sat with men whose high debate "Was not the nation's laws to frame; Though on their silent toils the State Might build a future glorious name. * First President of the Society, from its organization to his death ; which took place in Philadelphia, August 13th, 1847, in the eighty-second year of his age. At a special meeting of the Board of Officers and Managers of the Society, held at their hoase, August 16th, the following Resolutions, with a Preamble, were unanimously adopted : Resolved, That while we thank God for the blessing bestowed in the gift of His servant, now departed from us, we cannot but 68 THE LATE ALEXANDER HENRY. Their silent toils, to supervise A work that spite of Error grows; — To stud its gloom with starry eyes, And deck the world with Sharon's Rose. Prepared by zeal, religion, skill, And courage for a doubtful plan, 'Twas his the Pilot's post to fill On voyage whose noble aim was Man. Whose noble aim was simply sought Through channels of the Infant Mind ; — To enter and to lodge a thought That should forever bless mankind ! deplore the severe loss to the Society, to our country, and to the cause of truth in the world. We reverently bow to the will of the All-wise Disposer of all things ; praying, that He will raise up those who may manfully and successfully bear the banners of His people, in their conflict with the powers of darkness, causing truth and holiness to triumph over ignorance and sin. Resolved, That the Officers and Managers, with all persons in the service of the Society, will attend the funeral of our deceased President. Resolved, That the sympathies of the Board be expressed to the family of Mr. Henry, on this, their great bereavement, with our prayers that they may enjoy the consolation which God so freely gives to his children, and of which they may assuredly partake, who can confidently trust in the happiness of a faithful, humble follower of the Lord. T1IK LATE ALEXANDER IIKNKY. C'J • Hit kern perception saw the lip Of ready scorn a failure sting ; His faith beheld the goodly Ship [bring. Which God's free winds to port would He ventured the uncounted gold Of mind and soul to Jesus given ; He gained on earth. a thousand fold, And Mercy's waiting crown in Heaven. A rare and happy lot, that blends The English sense, — the Irish heart, — The good and gifted, constant friends, — And in the Book of Life a part ! 70 GRACE AND POSITION. GRACE AND POSITION. 'In the religious life, we are the creatures, not only of Grace, but of Position." — Upham. TO MY FRIEND, MISS 3. S. M , OF SALEM. FOR TWELVE TEARS AFFLICTED WITH SICKNESS. Temptation, toil, and suffering, here, Are methods in the work of Grace. Instrumentalities appear In the relations Mind and Place Each hold to each. God by Position loves to teach. We tint the heavens with colors warm ; How soft and fair the landscapes lie ! But God calls up the chilling storm ; With sorrows he disturbs our sky. GRACE AND POSITION. 71 Our projects sown Mature to harvests of His own. Hence the afflictions, that like clouds Gather and blacken round the man, — Singly, or in appalling crowds Beleaguering, are within the plan II e deigns to trace, Who acts upon the Mind by Place. Daniel might ne'er these confines spurn, And pierce the everlasting scenes, Till with the lions he should learn What God by sign and vision means. The dreadful den Sharpened the prophet's eagle ken. Paul for his Master could not wield The burning sword of Truth and Right, Till he was smitten in a field Whose glory dimmed the noonday light. Blinded and slain. That he might see and live again. Bunyan, whose Pilgrim keeps the road By which the ransomed gain the sky, 72 GRACE AND POSITION. Whose Progress guides to Heaven's abode, And shall, till sun and planets die, In fiery pains Shows us how Grace through Trial reigns. 'Tis wondrous, that by such a path, So different from our fairy dreams, — Beset with sadness, fear, and wrath, Whose miry sloughs engulph our schemes, Which fiends infest — God leadeth to the saints' sweet rest. And yet, dear heart! these thorns, so rife, That bruise us on the wintry way, Are branches of the Tree of Life, Whose leaves and fruits will ne'er decay. Whose summer bloom Will flourish o'er Creation's tomb. Thou sigh'st for youth so nearly fled ; For years in disappointment spent ; A blighted spirit — body dead; — Hadst thou accomplished thy intent, To Earth and Heaven What revenues by thee were given ! GRACE AND POSITION. 73 And yet, no earnest herald's Up On Carmel or in sweet Cashmere, Or where the frozen Arctics dip Their poles — in melody so clear Sings of the Cross, As thou, who'st gained its wealth by loss. O blessed Preacher! thy faint word Has fallen on some heart with power; Thy faith has some disciple stirred, Thy hope has gilt his darkened hour. The weak has won ! — The suffering saint shall hear : " Well done ! " In this stern warfare thou and I Are creatures of Controlment still, That seeks and brings the wanderer nigh — Educes good from seeming ill — And saves by Grace, That wisely acts on Mind by Place. 74 THAT IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU. "THAT IS ABLE TO PEP YOU FROM FALLING." That is able to keep me, an ignorant child, Who wounds every finger with thorns of the wild ; Oh Father ! so teach me and keep me, as Thine, That the Rose of Religion shall only be mine. That is able to keep me in passionate youth ; Discovering my errors ; alluring to Truth ; — The falsehood of Earth ever willing to show To the heart that dreams not of its wearisome woe. That is able to keep me in manhood's estate, From tempters that woo, and destroyers that wait; From poison that actively courses within, — The sap of the Upas, whose nature is sin. THAT IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU. That is able to keep ine in desolate age ; That leaf, too, has follies inscribed on its page; The thread of my life may right sympathies bind — From beginning to end 't is with wrong intertwined. That is able to keep me in penury's hour, And the terrible test of prosperity's power; In comfort and ease, or when sickness attends ; In communion of minds ; in bereavement of friends. That is able to keep me in crises of Life; — On the wave's peaceful bosom ; on billows of strife ; And bring me, with songs, to the coveted shore, "SVhere the storm and the wreck are remembered no more. That is able to keep me if, courting the sun, I soar in my ecstacy — every thing won ! — And as able, when down in the depths of despair, I write myself: "fool — sad eternity's heir. 7 ' That is able to keep me securer than he Who ventured the trial and lost at the tree ; In Adam I fall, weak as chaff or the sand, — In Christ I arise and immovably stand. 76 THAT IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU. That is able to keep me; — none truly is kept Over whom, for a moment, the Watchman has slept ; Though I walk all my days in the pathway of light, If at last left of Mercy, I stumble in night. That is able to keep me; — and able art Thou Who hast kept to the present — who keepest me now; I am "faint, yet pursuing" — Hove! — keep me then Through faith to salvation, forever, Amen. THE TWO SHIPS. 77 THE TWO SHIPS •• In the year 1620, a Dutch Ship imported into Virginia the first Slaves that were ever seen on the North American continent. In the same year the k May Flower ' brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth." A vessel on the deeps ! Her stolen freight is human flesh and blood ; Eternal justice sleeps, — Else, sure, would flame some attribute of God, When men make void His law. And thus with Mercy's Golden Rule wage war. In-ulted billows bear The pirate kecd from old worlds to the new ; To poison the free air [blue With bondmen's breath; and where bend -kies of THE TWO SHIPS. O'er green fresh vale and hill, The vigorous soil with Slavery's scathe to kill. Those "chattels," bought and sold, Those few poor victims, ten scdre years ago, Such is the lust of gold — Are children's children now, in tears and woe. Freemen by Freedom's power [hour ! Have made them — they're three millions at this Three million slaves To waste o'er cotton and the sugar cane, Then fill their graves, And leave Guilt's legacy, a damning stain On thee, unhappy land ! Which e'en effacing Age immortally shall brand. A vessel on the deeps ! Her noble freight is human flesh and blood ; No rifled Slave-Coast weeps ; — Around her hover airs and smiles of God; — Peace fans the favoring gales, And Righteousness is with her as she sails. In Winter's dreary reign Of ice and cold, she nears the Western world;- mi: two siurs. 79 The Northern blasts complain ; The clouds of sleet and snow above her curled Fling down their wrath — what then? Her quivering ribs are mighty — they hold men! Men of the pure old stock, Who haste alike from Prince and Prelate's ban, To build upon the rock A rest for Conscience and a home for Man, Where Truth and Light Shall sway a nation by the rule of Right. Two hundred years have flown ; — The South drinks now that Hollander's deep curse; Her cup alone ! — Blessings are dropping like the dew on us ; " By Heaven," — say heart and lip — " New England owes them to that Pilgrim Ship ! " 80 THE SILENT STREET. THE SILENT STREET. In Boston is a Street — about a rod From her famed Common — by men seldom trod Never by the mere lounger, or the fair, To kill off time, or sport attractions there. 'Tis shunned by such as play the flutterer's part In folly's sunshine ; — by the wise in heart Its thought is entertained. Ranged on each side Are mansions, not of opulence or pride; Of structure simple ; taste was not invoked In rearing these. Envy itself, provoked, Could find no food in gorgeous trappings here. Yet taste is wanting not, though still severe ; And you may note, hi marble, o'er the door, Each owner's name. Of Fame's selectest store Are some of these. THE SILENT STREET. 81 Here, where earth's kindred meet And friends convene, how silent is the Street ! Each, in due time, takes lodgings, and the gate, Closed sullenly upon him, seems to wait. Patient, yet surely, till 'tis oped again, And one more swells the long forgotten train Of those who, once within that sombre cell, Till time breaks up, in solitude shall dwell. Two, lately, t was my lot to see, and they Were here to take possession. In array, Not like the accustomed bustle that attends, Methought, the change of habitation; — friends In concourse, sad, were with them; — holy rite, With prayer and dirge, was ordered; and the sight Of these new tenants was unwonted, such As in gay life we see not. There was much Of thought, intense, prevailing, as on them, Mother and child — men looked. A very gem Of beauty was that infant; save, its cheeks stilly pale ; and this flower of three weeks — Folding itself in its sweel bod, a- \ were Shrinking away from our rough winds of care — Seemed sleeping. — 'T was a kind and quiet sleep. lother, too! the voice of friendship said: 82 THE SILENT STREET. And truth confirmed it — "grace and nature shed Early, on her, attraction. She was one Not formed to dazzle in the gairish sun, But loving shade, yet not inactive shade, [fade, She grew and bloomed, and now, where such ne'er She lives, with virtuous names not born to die, And her bright record is inscribed on high." And is she here? — why weep these? — why, by Of sickly taper, to this house of night [hght Comes she? They pause, I notice, and delay The journeyer's entrance. Grieving friends give And he, who with that partner long had dwelt [way, In fairer mansion, by her side has knelt In anguish, sore, and takes the last fond look. Oh, God ! 't was the heart's agony that shook Thy servant then. Will he not tarry too ? Is no bed decked within, for love so true ? Ah, in death's undress she is hither brought ; Her couch is damp, her chamber cheerless, — nought To welcome her and babe. — What Street is this, Whose dwellers thus are shorn of home's sweet bliss ? And to the world's turmoil and daily strife, The business, pleasure, weal and woe of life Are all insensible ? — A willing search Will find it soon. 'Tis under St. Paul's Church. n si'Ikits OF Tin: JTJ8T nivr BOAR. 88 YE SPIRITS OF TUE JUST THAT SOAR Yr. Spirits of the Just, that soar Beyond those starry fields, sublime, Dwellers in lijrht with whom are o'er The pageants and the tears of time, - Say, arc the thoughts we entertain Of yonder unknown worlds, untrue ? those bright mysteries only vain? Dissolved, or nnrevealed to you? Thon disembodied one, whom here 'T was ours, in fellowship to know — Who, buoyed by Faith, without a fear, Fled from endearments prized below- 84 YE SPIRITS OF THE JUST THAT SOAR. On the dear hopes that soothed thy bed, Has disappointment flung its pall ? Or dost thou bosom now thy head On Him, thou chosest as thy All ? Prophets — a long and awful train, Pilgrims, that bowed beneath the rod, And martyrs, who from racks of pain Soared to the presence of your God — Earth gave ye not her poor renown; Humility your only gem — 'Twas yours to seek a nobler crown, Say, wear ye now that diadem? Forbear ! — yon ministering one Thine eyes, in flesh, shall never see ; The dull cold sepulchre, its own, Mortal ! shall never yield to thee. Yet on futurity's long night A cheering beam of heaven is shed ; Receive thou Revelation's light, And not the visions of the dead. WAITING FOR THE GRAVE. 85 WAITING FOR THE GRAVE "Wearied with play, that night, my sweet first-born Betimes had sunk to slumber, and he now Quietly nestled on his pillow, that To Innocence and Childhood lent sweet dreams. ilept, unheeding the wild storm which held, That winter night, rude empire. All within Was quiet, — midnight's stern serenity Dwelt in each chamber, and that house was still And calm, in the repose of loneliness. Be is my eldest, and a parent may Indulge his love. Wrapt in his dreams he lay, Tranquil and happy, seeming. He is fair, Y.t fairer seemed he than his wont in sleep. 8 86 WAITING FOR THE GRAVE. His rounded arms were folded, as if toil Were ended now, and he in balmy rest Should find new vigor for the coming day. His flaxen hair lay carelessly upon His polished brow, and there many a curl Rioted in luxuriance. The red lips, That pouted at my lightest kiss, half closed, Spoke to beholders that within was peace. Near him slept Henry, younger, frailer too; A tender plant that seemed not formed to bear The ruder winds of life. He slumbered where He coveted to slumber — in her arms Who gave him being; for her love was there To shield her darling boy ; and dearer now To that sad mother was her little one, And closer to her heart she pressed him, as if fear Had taught her, he too would that couch forsake. For one was not — William, that lovely one — William, who constantly had slumbered there With his twin-brother, shared not now that bed. He too had gone to rest — a rest how sweet — How holy! — In a farther room he lay, Wrapt in the robe of whiteness that adorns Departed innocence. 0, how composed, Sublime, was that deep sleep ! Still he slept on PARTING HVMN. 87 In all the beauty, all the loveliness That late adorned him. Sickness had not stolen One grace that Death had not threefold restored. II<' lay before me in his coffin, there So tranquil, that unto my stricken heart I said, u he is not dead — my boy but sleeps." Aye, long might I believe so, were it not For the fixed impress, still — something severe — Even in smiles, that Death doth always wear. PARTING HYMN SUNG BT THE PUPILS OP PHILLIPS' ACADEMY, ANDOVER, AT THE ANNUAL EXAMINATION, 1847. "When evil and good were in Eden discovered, And man. losing innocence, fell from his state, Two angels about him, in company hovered, And went with him out at the sentinelfed gate. 88 PARTING HYMN. The angel of Light has since followed him, ever, — So hope on his gourds, a sweet blossom may bloom ; The angel of Shadow has left his side never, — So the wanderer may learn 't is not his to presume. There 's Light when the morning in glory is shining, And slumber and visions and darkness are gone; There's Shadow when gently the sun is declining, And softness and sadness and silence come on. There 's Light his horizon of pleasure adorning, When man issues forth at the breaking of day: There's Shadow succeeding the freshness of When sorrow at evening perplexes his way. And Youth with his barque on the mirroring ocean, The prow to the haven and streamers at helm — Dreams not in his joy of the angry commotion, Where tempests are rising and seas overwhelm. We've lingered awhile on the margin, uncertain, — But now as adventurers, we launch on the wave ; We've patiently waited, — but rises the curtain, And ho ! for the drama that ends with the grave. FREEDOM S HYMN. 89 Xot so — tor the thought that had birth in these bowers, Is living, enlarging, and ripening its plan, — Wliile eternity's dial is telling the hours, To influence the woe or the welfare of man. For him in whose bosom is Rectitude burning, For Youth in his pilgrimage seeking the Right, There 's a Paradise opened, where exiles returning, Find Shadow all lost in effulgence of Light. FREEDOM'S HYMN FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY. The patriot sires in glory sleep; Their sepulchre is holy earth ; And we upon their ashes keep The Sabbath of a nation's birth. God of our battles ! Didst not Thou The right arm of those warriors guido, 8* 90 FREEDOM 3 HYMN. When they for Freedom dealt the blow, And freely gave their own heart's tide? And didst not Thou along our shore Bid angel Peace extend her wing; And blood-stained banners wave no more, And useful Arts and Commerce spring? These are thy works, oh God ! and we, The sons who never could be slaves, Who proudly view fair Freedom's tree Expanding o'er our father's graves — We crush the mind ! we forge the chain ! And from the soil by charter given, This hallowed hour, the sigh of pain Ascends, accusing us to Heaven. Will mockery ask, this Day, what spoil Shall hearts in glad oblation yield, — The first-fruits of a teeming soil? Or choicest cattle from the field? Will solemn vows — where pceans swell, Lauding our fabric's goodly plan — Atone, while stripes and fetters tell That man is pitiless to man ? TO A DKAF AM) VVSIH GIKL. 91 Vain all! — Jehovah lias no need Of our tirst-iruits or altar's smoke; Dearer to Grod is Mercy's deed; Nobler to break Oppression's yoke. TO A DEAF AND DUMB GIRL I grieve not Heaven to thee denies The attribute of speech, When reading in those starry eyes All that the mind can teach. I grieve not no assuring tone Of love, bids thee rejoice ; — Thou favored one ! to thee is given The Spirit's soothing voice. I grieve not that to thee Life's scroll — For such is Heaven's will — Is unrevealed, thy gentle soul Reads not that page of ill. 92 TO A DEAF AND DUMB GIRL. Oh, happy maiden ! trace not thou Those characters of fire ; They tell of wrongs, of bitter strife, And blight of fond desire. The flickering light that gilds our day, On thee may never shine, — I grieve not, for the steady ray Of peace is ever thine. And pure and tranquil is that rest Where thought, untroubled, flows, As waveless ocean, on whose breast The moon-beam seeks repose. Shut out from scenes of feverish joy, Removed from grovelling sense, Sublime indeed is thy employ With high Omnipotence. Far from the din of this low sphere, Its smiles, or frequent woe, Thou nearest a voice we cannot hear, Of things we cannot know. Thou drinkest of the crystal well, Whence living knowledge flows ; MY CHILDREN. 93 And OB that fount Ls laid a spell, That shuts up human woes. Oh, never, nerer may the sigh Of agony, severe, Thy bosom rend, nor that mild eye Be dimmed with misery's tear ! MY CHILDREN. Yk are alive to bliss, my boys; — Your pulses beat in healthful play ; Visions of peaceful heartfelt joys — Do they not hover o'er your way ? Your bounding bosoms, light and free. Know not of past or future care ; Sufficeth it alone, that ye The bright alluring Present share. Tk transient all — jei who shall break The fair frail mirror of your mirth? 94 MY CHILDREN. Ye are but dreamers ; who shall wake Ye to realities of earth? Dream on ! dream on ! it cannot last ; With boyhood will depart that dream; And soon, to retrospect, the Past But shadows of the dead shall seem. Who would forget, that when a child, Life put on lovely robes for him? That then imagination, wild, Flashed in the eyes that now are dim? Who can forget when Hope danced high, And Syren Love of witchery sung? Some may forget, but ne'er shall I, The white-winged hours when joy was young. Yes, though upon my tempered brow Romance hath ceased to bind her flowers, 'Tis pleasant as I wander now, To linger o'er my childish hours. Green spot of life ! how sweet to gaze On bliss so simple, yet sincere ; To turn from the wild waste of days And feast my aching vision here. in ( BELDREN. 95 A\e. unite, my boys! 'twere better so, Than darkly read the eoming ill ; Thai chequered page the gray-haired know, But heedlessness \s childhood's still. Blest ignoranee ! Compassion's balm, To drug the life-cup of our tears ; Existence, thou wouldst wear a charm Did prescience come not with thy years. Laugh on, my children, while ye may; — Yours now is not the actor's part; Your laugh perhaps in future day, May vainly hide an aching heart. Yet lingers in your perfect bliss, Ingenuous feeling, brightly new ; And childhood's love and childhood's kiss Are ever holv, ever true. 96 GIBARD COLLEGE. GIRARD COLLEGE, PHILADELPHIA, His current name, that graced, for years, a Bank, Now that Death's veto cuts him off from pelf — Shines on a College. Well, the idol Self Has yet oblation. For the boon we thank Not his compassion; it, like him, was lank. — But, oh ! just Truth, how surely what men sow, And that alone — for good or bad will grow ! This offering, to his god, of odor rank, This eager pyramid of modern days, This glorious marble mass, to Heaven up-piled. At cost of millions, for the Orphan Child, Presents of Unbelief no doubtful phase. So, by the beauty that commands our praise, As by a hideous wonder, is the ground defiled. a - LPPHIC fOB iiia\km,i\ in.;. 97 A SAPPHIC FOR THANKSGIVING. Whin the old Fathers of New England sought to Honor the Heaven? with substance and with first fruit>. They, with their blessings — all uncounted — sum- med up Their unuYservings. The} praised Jehovah for the wheat sheaves thered : Fur eon and cattle, and the thrifty orchards ; of basket, storehouse, homestead, hamlet ; Of land and water. 98 A SAPPHIC FOR THANKSGIVING. They praised Jehovah for the Depth of Riches Opened and lavished to a world of penury; Mines — whose red ore, unpriced, unbought, is poured from Veins unexhausted. They made confession of their open errors ; Honestly told God of their secret follies; Afresh their service as true vassals pledged Him; And then were merry. Strong was their purpose; Nature made them nobles ; Religion made them kings, to reign forever ! Hymns of Thanksgiving were their happy faces, Beaming in music. Gone are the Pilgrims ; — silent years behold us Onward in science ; backward in true greatness ; Realms we can master — not our sins ; — rule lightning, Not tyrant passion. V SAPPHIC I'OI! THANKSGIVING. 99 Lingers affection far their hallowed customs, Throb vet these pulses — may the fact redeem B»l — Glows the warm influence in New England's bosom, Beating to Goodness. Beating all proudly, as upon her Fathers' :i glorious graves and eloquent old tombstones, She reverently throws garlands, born to blossom Summer and Winter. Darkly we wander where we've sadly fallen From the grand heights of their majestic beauty, — Marred by our folly. — Yet we praise Jehovah, The Children's Ruler. We praise Jehovah! — though within our censer Burns other incense than a glad oblation; With the deep thunders of New England's anthem Wail notes of sorrow. Troubled our praises, and our hymns discordant; Art Thou. O God, on Gerizim or Ebal ? The malediction hear we — hear the blessing, Strangely confounded. 100 A SAPPHIC FOR THANKSGIVING. We weep before Thee that a veil flung over Our comely Zion, hides Thee from thy Daughter; Shuts out the sunlight; makes her spirit torpid, And her heart icy. We sigh before Thee that debasing Mammon Has built his temples our wide nation over; In which the worldling, moralist, and Christian Equally worship. We wail before Thee that the sparkling wine-cup Crowns entertainments ; and the poor man's beverage That devil, Rum is, in despite of suasion, Legal or moral. We mourn in sackcloth that through our Republic The Sabbath-breaker's evil spirit rages, Infests the market, factory, steamboat, yea and Smokes o'er the railroad. We weep in ashes that pure love of country Yields to the mighty tide of base corruption ; Wrestlers for lucre, pleasure, and ambition, Are victors ! — rulers ! A SAPPHIC FOR Til kJ <■• 1