i I GOD'S MONUMENT TO THE CHRISTIAN. See page 118. ]'IIROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART; OR, EYETECHING- IXN THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL. [REVISED EDITION.] By Rev. W. F. CRAETS, Author of" THE COMING MAN IS THE PRESENT CHILD, " TROPHIES OF SONG," "IDEAL SUNDAY-SCHOOI.," etc. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY r. H. VINCENT, D.D. "Open thou nine eyes, tht I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." NEW YORK: N ELSON & PH I LLIPS. CINCINNATI: -ITCH.COCK 0 WALDEN, I I 1'. I ~ e... 0 a R M CZ I i i I .... i I I I CQ (Z N. -1 GPfi Prof, F. I-M. Ta , ", t, ",i 3 >.' TO MY FATHER, REV. F. A. CRAFTS, WHO LED ME TO CHRIST BOTH BY WHAT I IEAMRD FR.OM HIS LIPS, AND WHAT I SA W IN HIS LIFE, this:ooih is louinsll,::edicatod. A .1 INTRoDUTOTIO. TjIIs volume on the power and method of " Eye-teaching," which 1 am requested to "introduce to the Sunday-school public," needs no words of explanation or compliment. Its pages speak for themselves. The book is a defense of a most ancient methlod of teaching-so ol( that we cannot recall the time when men who thought and taught at all did not employ it. We find it in Elden, when God gave man his first command; at Sinai, when Moses taught God's chosen people both law and gospl)el by complicated and impressive symbols; in Israel, l)y tihe Ili(l(lckel, and in Balylon, when holy prophets gave forth burning, worals from the invisible God; in Galilee and in Judea, whlen Hie who "spake as never man spake" taught the thronging multitudes the love and power and sweetness that were to be found in his own divine Gos)pel. Prophets, priests, apostles, philosophers, reformers, and teachers of all ages and of every nation, have used it. To-day, in the primary school, tlhe academy, college, on the popular rostrum, and in every couIt of justice, it is continually employed. This book is more than a derfense. It is a guide-book to all the practical details of the art. If the author errs at all it is in the excess of examples which he furnishes. tie illustrates the whole field of illustration. One is left in no doubt as to what he means by a principle or a definition. He also exposes many of the mistakes which enthusiasts in chalk have made, reminding the teacher that things thoroughly good may be sadly abused. Let not those who use "Through the Eye to the Heart" forget that after all it is thle SPIRIT, and not alone the truth, that is to reach and regenerate and enrich the heart. The clear apprehension of truth does not necessarily bring the affections and the life into harmony with the truth. For this interior and divine and most essential work we stand in daily need, both as teachers and pupils, of the "Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." For this gift-for this TEiACHER who shall "teach us all things "- let us look with the faith that is the "evidence of things not seen" J. H. VNCEZT, NEW YORK, Macrh, 1873. PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION. THE author's purpose in the theoretical portions of this book is to show that eye-teachling is a legitimate method of teaching, and, also, that it is practicable for all pastors, superintendents, and teachers of average ability; not requiring any unusual ingenuity or artistic talent for its successfuil use, and as appropriate for the teaclher's slate as for the school blackboard. The exercises will be found to be briet and suggestive rather than elaborate and exhaustive, the desire being to stimulate thought and study rather than take their place. Mrs. Crafts having published "Open Letters to Primary Teachers," in which the subject of illustration in Primary Classes is fully treated, the appendix on that subject from her pen is omitted in this edition. W. F. 0. .._.. CONTENTS. P&ou 6 9 11 13 19 20 21 23 24 24 25 29 32 33 46 49 51 51 56 70 71 72 65 64 74 76 INTRODUCTION.................................................. PREFACE..................................................... I,YE-TEACHING IN THE SUNDAY-SCIIOOL........................... EIYE-TEACHING IS PHILOSOPIIICAL................................. E,YE-TEACHING IS SCRIPTURAL................................... ElYE-TEACHING ADAPTED TO THE TIMES........................... WITH WHOM SHOULD EYE-TEACHING BE USED?................... WHENCE SHALL ILLUSTRATIONS BE GATHIIERED?.................... WHO SHALL CONDUCT EYE-TEACHIN-G?............................ WHAT SHALL GIVE US THIEMES FOR EYE-TEACIIIN.G?................ DIVISIONS OF EYE-TEACIIING..................................... 1. VIVID DESCRIPTION AND ALLEGORIES........................ 2. STORIES VIVIDLY TOLD..................................... 3. STORIES REPRESENTED...................................... 4. OBJECT TEACIIING.......................................... 5. MAP TEACHTING............................................ 6. PICTURE TEACIING........................................ 7. THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE BLACKBOARD................... ABUSES................................................. USES.................................................. WHAT TO TAKE OUT OF A LESSON............................... MATERIALS WANTED............................................ HOW TO MAKE LETTERS........................................ THE SCHOLARS' PART IN BLACKBOARD EXERCISES.................. VARIETY AND EMPHASIS........................................ 1. MOTTO EXERCISE........................................ 2. TOPIC EXE,RCISE..................................... CONTENTS. 3. INITIAL EXERCISE...................................... 4. SYLLABLE EXERCISE...................................... 5. WORD EXERCISE.......................................... 6. PHRASE EXERCISE........................................ 7. TABLE EXERCISE........................................0.. 8. ACROSTIC EXERCISE...................................... 9. PARALLEL AND CONTRAST EXERCISE........................ 10. OVER-CHALKING OR CANCELING EXERCISE.................... 11. ERASING EXERCISE....................................... 12. WORD-SYMBOL EXERCISE.................................. 13. MAP EXERCISE.......................................... 14. OUTLINEF EXERCISES...................................... 8 all 77 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 87 90 92 96 THROUGH THE EYE TO THlE HEART. EYE-TEACHING IN THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL. THE great object of the Sunday-school is not to organize its members into a picnic club, or a library association, or a singing-school, or a theological institute; not merely to please, or discipline, or teach, as the end in view, but by means- of all these to accomplish its great purpose, TO PRESENT CHRIST TO THE HEART. Christ is to be the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, inl Sunday-school work. He must be above all, and in all. and through all the exercises. A little child climbed up in her chair at home to preach to her little brothers and sisters. She turned to the right and said, "Jesus;" then to the front and said, "Jesus;" then to the left and said, "Jesus," and her sermon was ended. So in the Sunday-school we must begin and continue and end with " Jesus." Thoug,h a school can speak at concerts with the tongiles of men and of angels, and though its blackboard be always attractive, its superintendent always pleasant, and its numbers large, yet if it only talks about Christ instead of talking Christ, if it only pleases without saving its scholars, all its machinery and outward success are but as " sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." Like one of the English light-houses, the Sunday-school should have the double inscription, "To give 1( THaOUtGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. light, to save life." A boy with a Testament was asked what ne knew about Jesus. Hie replied, "I haven't got to tha.t yet." A Sunday-school which has not "got to that yet," amid its many schemes and plans and picnics, is false to its trust. To PRESENT CHRIST, then, is our object in Sunday-school work. How shall we vividly and savingly present him to the heart? By universal consent the senses must usher truth to the soul. The Sunday-school works mainly through the two most influential senses, sight and hearing. Hearing lacks vividness without sight; sight lacks definiteness without hearing. It is well, therefore, that hearing and seeing should accompany each other. Jos.eph's brethren brought to their father, who had long mourned for Joseph as dead, this wonderful message: "Thus saith thy son Joseph, I am yet alive; come down unto me, tarry not." Jacob's heart fainted when he simply he(ardZ these words, for he believed them not; but "when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived." The wagons would have meant nothing unless they had been preceded by the message; the message would have failed unless it had been followed( by the wagons. This shows us how to use the eye and ear in the Sunday-school. Give what "is written," and then, by maps, pictures, objects, blackboard exercises, and stories, put it into "wagons" to help the imagination and the understanding. The flowers and butterflies in "Joseph's garden" had no smile of hope, no promise of a resurrection, for Mary, when she came there at that early hour of Easter morning, "while it was yet dark" in her heart; but since the message has come, "The Lord is risen indeed," every flower and butterfly has been to the bereaved an object-lesson of the resurrection. Until the announcement of Christ's rising was heard, ,he grain gave no promise of a future life; but, after that Patil pult the whole doctrine of the resurrection into the "seed that falls into the ground and dies" that it may live again. .'lROUtrGH THIE EYE TO THE HEART. Thus hearing and seeing should work together. But while "Ear-Gate" has had a well-trodden path by constant use, "Eye-Gate" has rusted on its hinges in neglect. We wish to speak especially of the way to present Christ to the heart through this much-neglected "Eye-Gate." The Visions by which God taught his truth were usually more impressive than his sp)okeii messages. Thle words written in fire on the wall at Babyloni conveyed God's warning to the King's heart more convincingly than spoken words would have done. Dr. Vincent found it hard to get his little boy to eat ])read and butter until, one morning, aftel spreading a slice of bread, he cut it into bread-logs and piled it up in the shal)e of a house, and then very quickly "down came the house," and all was eaten! Put the "bread of heaven" into object-lessons and visible illustrations, and the many hearts cwho find it hard to realize the truth they hear will eagerly receive it and understand it. Talk about the power of God's promises in general terms, and it may all be forgotten. Make the picture of a key on the bla(kboard and write on it "Promise," and then tell the story of the "key of promise" and Doitbting Castle, and you will make the oldest and youngest hearers feel the preciousness and power of God's promises; or, picture a bunchi of keys of different sizes and write a promise on each one, and then you can tell those to whom you speak that God's promises fit every experience of life and unlock every difficulty -and every hearer will grasp and keep the thought. EYE-TEACHING IS PHILOSOPHICAL. All of the senses seem to merge themselves in sight. As each of the four fingers is exactly opposite the thumb, so each of the other four senses seems to connect itself with sight. We say of food that we have been describing, "Taste artnd see;" we say of the fragrance of a flower of which we have been speaking, "Smell and see;" we say of some excellent II 12 THROUGFt THIE EYE TO TIE IEART. singer whose voice we have eulogized, "Hear and see; f or of a gem we have called very smooth, "Feel and see." In a new sense, "It is all in your eye." Whether it be music or perfume, we say, " Come a?d see;" whether it be bread or stone, we say, "Try and see." Even of questions in our minds we s:ly, "Let me see;" and if the matter be obscure, "I can't see it." This is because we thUink by inages, by something we can see, or imagine that we see. It is a craving of the nlind that makes "the likes" necessary in every kind of teaching. The unknown must be taught by likening it to something that is known; the unseen must be represented by the seen. lIModern primers teach the unknown word by placing it beside the picture of the object it represents. The picture of a dog will aid the little scholar to remember the word "Dog." We used to say, "D stands for Dog; " rather was it "Dog (the picture) stands for D." Haltf of our childhood knowledge comes in rhymes about the "likes." Rev. Dr. M'Cook gives a happy example of this in his work on "Object and Outline Teaching:" "As red as a cherry, as brisk as a bee, As brown as a berry, as tall as a tree, As sweet as a pink, as bitter as gall, As black as ink. as round as a ball," etc. Try to teach a child what "red" is without this implied or real object-teaching, with nothing but words to describe what it is, and the child will have as poor an idea of it as the blind man, who, after a long explanation of this color, concluded it must be " very much like the sound of a trunmpet." Hold up the cherry to the child, and the lesson is learned in a moment. This same method follows us into a completer education. Maps, specimens, blackboards, slates, etc., are found even in the highest grades of teaching. Though a man have spoken his words never so eloquently, the hearers want him, if possible, to have c" somethinzg to show for it." A figure is more THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. easily retained than an abstract truth. So deeply grounded is this fact in our nature that we think by figures and pictures. Indeed, language itself is fossil pictures, rather than "fossil poetry," as Emerson calls it. Letters were originally hieroglyphics, and hieroglyphics are only pictures used as symbols. When we add sometling shIown to something spoken, we only add a picture for the eye to a picture for the imagination. EYE-TEACHING SCRIPTURAL. Dr. Vincent, in the preface to his recent work on "The Church School," says: "The good philanthropists of the last century, in digging that they might build a human fabric, laid bare an ancient and divine foundation." These words, spoken of the modern Sunday-school, are especially true of its eye-teaching. It is not "a new idea," but an "ancient and divine foundation" laid bare for us to build upon to-day. The Bible is full of object-lessons taught by God himself, by Christ, and by the inspired writers, with trees, stars, shields, girdles, fruits, birds, pictures, etc., as their texts and illustrations. The broken tree teaches the fate of the wicked, the withered tree that of the idle, the firuitful tree that of the righteous. The "empty vine" teaches us of the unfaithful, the vine of "wild grapes" of the wicked, the vine of "good fruit" of those who abide in Christ. The star represents the Messiah, also those who turn many to righteousness. The rent garment, the rotten girdle, the "naughty figs," etc., are used to represent wickedness and God's dealings with it. In fact, the Bible is an "illuminated missal," as Chapin calls it, in every page fill of pictures and object-teaching. God himself is our precedent in this kind of instruction. Take, for instance, his teachings of Jeremiah, "' What seest thou, Jeremiah?" (Jer. i, 11; xxiv, 3;) or his great objectlesson given to Peter on the housetop at Joppa, (Acts x, 9, etc.) Any one interested in following out this study may find other cases where God himself taught his truth by this method is 14 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. of eye-teaching in the following Ipa.sages, many of which the teacher can adapt to his own use: Jer. xiii, 1-11, The marred girdle; xviii, 1-6, The potter's vessel; xix. ]-11, The broken bottle; xxvii, 1-11, Bonds and yokes; xliii, 8-10, Stones in the clay; li, 63, 64, The stone and the book: Ezek. iv, 1-8; Black board exercise on a tile; v, The hair and the punishment of wrong; xxxvii, 1-14. Dry bones; xxxvii, 15-28, Sticks; xlvii, 1-12, Waters; Dan. ii, 31 45. The great image; Gen. ii,] 6, 17, Teaching the knowledge of good and evil by means of commands associated with a tree; Jonalh iv, 4-11, God's pity for the wicked taught with a gourd; Gen. xxii, 1-14, A dramatic ob ject-lesson to teach trust in God; xv, 5, 6, Stars; lx, 9-26, Heifer, etc. Moses recognized the blackboard idea when he said of Scripture texts to the Israelites," Thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates." The illustrations of eye-teaching in the life of our "Great Teacher" are no less abundant. Wayside wells, mountain lilies, flying clouds, vineyards, harvest-fields, every thing that met his eye, was turned into Gospel, as Midas turned every thing he touched into gold. He even caused a tree to wither va to use it as an oiect-lesson for his disciples! Beecher says of this act and others of his object-lessonls: "As to his condemning the tree, it was not a judicial sen tence. We are not to suppose that our Saviour summoned the tree into judgment, and argued upon it as if it were a moral being under condemnation or under penalty. No; the whole plot and plan of the ancient mode of teaching forbids that in terpretation of it. It is but an acted parable. And this is an important thought, because in many instances in Chlrist's life the same mode of teaching was resorted to. "For example, when he cleansed the temple, undoubtedly the whole act was a parabolic act. He drove out the cattle; he overturned the money-changers' tables; hlie commanded those that had doves to take them thence. And thle whole was not a mere formal attempt at the reformation of the ad ministration of the temple, but a series of acts which indicated the purification of religion-the change that was going on. And, as usual, it was a kind of parabolic action. As a parable is a picture in words, conveying not a moral lesson-not truth narrated-but simply an artificial picture, clrawp THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. for the sake of certain moral results which were to flow firom it, so certain of Christ's actions were dramatic. They were, as it were, a momentary drama, enacted for the sake of the truth that they would convey. The most impressive one of all these is the Transfiguration, in which, with Peter, James, and John, he went to the mountain, where, while he was praying, they fell asleep. When they awoke they saw two angelic, or celestial personages, standing and talking with him. And his countenance was changed. Then they communed with him concerning his coming death. The whole was to those disciples a picture of the event. It was not so much a prophetic representation to interpret it to them as a pictorial representation to fortify their minds, so that when their earthly hopes, which were centered in him, should be dashed, they would be bold, and maintain faith in him. It was a kind of enacted celestial parable, or picture, or tableau. "So here, when going in the morning to Jerusalem, Jesus saw the fig-tree and observed that it was in full leaf. Evidently it was a prematurely early one. And why should he go to see if there were figs upon it? Because sometimes a tree bore winter figs, whiclh became ripe in early spring; and perhaps he might have expected that there would be some on that one which he might glean. But when he came to it, and found that there were no figs, but leaves only, he said,' Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever, and let no man eat fruit of thee.' "That this was said in a very impressive manner is evident by the fact that when, the day after, the disciples returned that way, they remembered the occurrence, and called his attention to the tree. Doubtless he designed that this should be a very solemn instruction to them. "But what was the instruction? They were every day going backward and forward to and from Jerusalem. There he went into the sacred precinct, or into the part of it which was IIerod's great porch-the Basilicas as it was called. There he used to 15 16 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. teach the people. All around about him were the insignia of Jewish worship, and his very business was to expose the superficialities of life in these things. He was, from day to day, attempting to carry them back to the reality of a religious life, to a deepelr moral tone, to a more earnest conscientiousness. It was his business to reprehend the self-conceit and moral complacency which passed itself off upon mere superficial observers. And here was an opportunity. Here happened to be, of all the trees that stood in the road on that early spring day, one that had come into full leaf. But when he went up to it he found no fruit on it, but leaves onlynothing but leaves. It was just exactly like those over the other side. All of them were full of leaves, but not one of them-neithel priest, nor scribe, nor Pharisee, nor Sadducee -bore any fruit. All of them were clothed with leaves,, but none of them were fruitful. Here was a symbol, here was an opportunity of illustrating a fact by a parabolic action. By destroying that tree with a word he could impress upon his disciples that which would be a benefit to them in their teachings of men for ever after. And he did it." Study the sermon on the mount with a view of observing its eye-teaching. The Emancipation Proclamation has been so written that the shading of the letters forms a picture of President Lincoln, which seems to lie beneath the writing. So in this sermon on the mount, by the vividness of its local illustrations, we see a picture of Christ sitting on the mountain, and pointing with his finger to the objects in sight, as he draws firom each its appropriate lesson; and not only do we see the finger of Christ, but in and under the sermon we find a niap of the scenery all about him, with its cities, its trees, its birds, its flowers, and even its weeds, sketched upon it. Notice the sermon in this light. Wishing to impress upon the disciples their great responsibility and wide influence, he points them to the city of Safed on the mountains near by, distinctly seen, as the sunlight gilded its walls, and then he says to the disciples, "Ye are the light of the world, a cite THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. that is set on a hill that cannot be hid." Matt. v, 14. Then he turns and calls the attention of the multitude to the narrow and wide gates of the city.* Through the narrow gate, which is called " the needle's eye," are passing a few foot-passengers, and a camel now and then enters, but only by bowing down and leaving his burden outside the gate: on the other hand, through the large city gates flows the gulf stream of business and the eager multitude of tradesmen. Christ applies the scene to his sermon: " Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. vii, 13, etc. Beware, O ye rich men! for you can only enter the kingdom of heaven as the camel passes the needle's eye, by bowing at the gate, and leaving your burden behind. Then he- seems to turn his eyes more to the natural objects about him, and translates their lessons to the disciples. The sparrows that sing among the olive-trees of the mountain attract his attention, and he points to them that he may teach the watchcare of Providence: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Fear not therefore: ye are of more value thani many sparrows." Luke xii, 6, 7. Then another flock of birds attracts his attention, and he uses them to still further enforce this thought of God's care: "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?" Luke xii, 24. Then he weaves the vines and trees, and also the thistles and thorns, of the mountain into a lesson of diligence in showing faith by works: "Ye shall know them by their firuits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?" The cloud that appears in sight also bears him a message: "And he said, When ye see a cloud * We use the familiar explanation of the "needle's eye," although there is division of o,inion between this explanation and others. 2 17 18 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? "-the spiritual truth of my mission. Best of all, he impressed the lesson of God's personal watchcare, which he had taught by the sparrows and ravens, by turning to the beautiful white lilies of Palestine that bloomed abundantly about him, and saying: Consider the lilies; observe them carefully; take their lesson to heart; read it over and over. Consider the lilies: how abundantly they grow, how prosperously they grow, how mysteriously they grow. Consider the beauty of the lilies: Solomon in all the glory of his royal white robe was not arrayed with such beauty as this snowy lily. Wherefore, if God so adorn the grass and flowers of the field, which quickly fade, and are cast with the dry straw and withered herbs and stubble into the oven for fuel, how much more will hlie clothe you, 0 ye of little faith! The sparrows are almost worthless, and yet God watches over their lives; the ravens have no storehouse, yet our Father provides their food; the lilies toil not, and yet the Father gives-them raiment. And shall not He who takes such care of the fowls in his yard and the plants in his gardeil much more clothe and care for you, who are the children of his fireside? As the sibyl wrote her prophecies on leaves, so Jesus has written his truth on the lily blossom, the raven's wing, the ruby grape, the white grain, the passing cloud, the narrow and wide gates, the city of the hill-top, the water of the wayside well, and the fruit of the orchard. The Indians have;i legend, mentioned in Hiawatha, that All the wild flowers of the forest, All the lilies of the prairie, When on earth they fade and perish, Blossom in the rainbow o'er us: 'Tis the heaven of flowers you see there." Christ, on the other hand, took the heavenly rainbow of truth and put it into the "wild flowers'" and "lilies" of earth. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. Sandalphon, the angel of prayer, says the legend, "Gathers our prayers as he stands, And they turn into flowers in his hands." The great T~ acher shows us how we may take the flowers in our lhands and turn then into prayers. Weie it necessaly, it might be initeresting to slhow in this connection how the Tabei'iiacle was a great school for oblj(ct lessons, e:ich part o(f it teachling the people a word of lhigh import. As the child in his primer sees the picture of a house, and learns the word "Hou.se" below it the more readily, so God showved the people a bloody altar, and wrote under iL that great woird, "Atonement;" he showed them a.laver of pure water, and taught them the word " Purity;" he showed them a golden candlestick, and taught them "Lighlt;" the lamb was a prophecy of "the Lamb of God;" the vail, of Christ's flesh. God was teaching the unseen and eternal by the seen and temporal. These altars and lavers, etc., were but "'flgures of the true." The whole book of Hebrews teaches through these ol)ject-lessons. Christ himself was not only a sacrifice for us, but was also a grand visible lesson, illusti kting to man how the characteristics of God could be "made manifest in the flesh." God gave to men this privilege of seeing, Christ in answer to that feeling that made it the intensest lounging of the prophets and sweetest memory of the apostles to "see Jesus." The world desired to "behold the Lamb," unsatisfied, like Simeor, until it had "seen God's salvation." The Bible is the greatest text-book and store-house of object-lessolns in the world. Every sacrifice and feast of the Old Testament, and every sacrament of the New, is an object-lesson. Tlhe Sabbath is an object-lesson of creation, and also of heaven; the rainbow after the flood, the moving pillar in the wilderness, and every vision of prophecy, are object-lessons, and the 119th Psalmn is an acrostic of Hebrew letters. EYE-TEACHING ADAPTED TO THE TIMES. We need only to refer to the increased amount of black 19 20 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. board work in our d.ny-schools, to the large numl)er of magazines and papers that have recently introduced illustrations into their heretofore unillustrated pages, to the inscriptions on rocks and fences, the great number of picture advertisements in our papers, and tile increasing custom of illustrating lectures, to remind our readers that one marked characteristic of this age is an inclination to put things into the mind by a quick concentration on the eye. We must "discern the signs of the times" and keep tip with them. We must sttudy times and men. The advertising pages, which are epitomized photographs of the day, and the "Bitters" on stones, "Buchu" on trees, and "Magic Oil" on every thing, notwithstandingcr their quackery, teach us that this age must be reached very much through the eye. WITH WHOM SHOULD EYE-TEACHING BE USED? Not with the little children alone by any means, nor with the ignorant simply. Cihrist used it in teaching the rich and wise Nicodemniis. He taught him the greatest truth that nman can ever learn by reminding him of the serpent lifted tip in the wilderness, and using that as an obj&.ct-lesson to teach him of redemption and regeneration. Paul was not too old or learned, after he had graduated from "the feet of Gamaliel," to be taught by an object-lesson. "As we tarried [at Cesarea] there many days, there came down firom Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle." Acts xxi, 10, 11. God came to teach even the eloquent Petei, not exactly with outlines on a blackboard, but with "all manner of beasts in a sheet let down from heaven." The blackboard and object-lesson are as necessary in a school where there are many adults as in an infant-school. All feel the power of this God-given method of presenting the truth to the heart. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. WHENCE SHALL ILLUSTRATIONS BE GATHERED? In answer to this question we give an extract firom an admirable address by Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, Jun., on the subject of illustration: "1. Let them be gathered from the word of God itself. The writers of the seventeenth century used Scipture to illustrate Scripture. Every thing in this book, the Bible, is there by divine choice. There is nothintig not intended to be used to illustrate some positive truth. There is nothing so direct in addressing the minds of children as the similes of Scripture. Speaking of the judgment-day, can you find any thing that more admirably illustrates it than the thief in the night? Speaking of servants, is there any thing illustrating it more perfectly than the yoke, of which God bears a part? Take the parables, those matchless portions of Christ's own wisdom, which go to interpret the force of every thing in this world.... The Old Testament illustrations and quotationis were used by Christ in his life, on the cross, and we also find them in the Revelation after Christ's ascension. In using illustrations take them from the Bible, and tell them in your own language. Bunyan's'Pilgrim's Progress' is based on the Old and New Testaments. Illustrations from nature may also be employed. You may have the beautiful parabl)le of Gotthold. A piece of clay was placed by the side of a tea-rose, and when removed it had absorbed the fragrance of the rose. What teaches better than this the relation we bear to Jesus? Take the parable of Jean Paul Richtei. Walking in his garden in the morning, lie saw the pearly dew-drop on the leaf. In the e(vening he went out to look at the dew-drop, and found that it had gone. He looked about and saw the rl;inbow in the heavens. This he used to illustrate the death of little children, and.to show how they are transplanted firom this beauteous earth to reappear with greater beauty in the heavens. Form your parable romn things you see. 2. Keep within the range of the scholar's 21 22 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. observation. If there is any tlhing I abhor in a Sundayscelool it is a fixture. I leave had people tell the same stories which I have heard ever since childhood, and they told them as occurlring in their own experience. There's a great danger in telling old stories. 3. IKeep within the region of probabilities. Some people tell such improbable stories that the children can't believe them. Be jealous for the truth. 4. Some men have a habit of sayingr things out of place. I knew a man who had a story about noise, and told it on every possible occasion. When in company he would stamp his foot and say,'There's a noise. 0, speaking of noise reminds me of a story,' and then he would piroceed( with it. Some men thus use every opportunrity to make a nail to hang a story on, even if it does not fit into the lesson. 5. Peo le hang on to stories too longo. When you are done with tories, drop them. Of what use is the scaffold after the building is completed?" Rev. Wm. M. Taylor, D.D., says on the same subject: "There is no faculty more susceptible of development by culture than that of discovering analogies. The study of the sermons of those men who are most remarkable for the pertinence of their illustrations will be of service to younot by furnislhing you with analogies ready-made, but by showing you what treasures are lying all around you. We may paraphrase here the inscription on Wi'en's monument, and say,'Si illustratio)?es qu?ceris circurnspice.' You will find them every-where-in the talk of the children and the shouts of the school-boys; on the street and in the store; on the ship and in the railroad car; in the field of Nature and on the page of literature. Only compel yourself for a time to look at every thing with the question uppermost, What use can I make of that in commending the truth of Christ to my fellow-men?' and by and by you will have so formed the habit that, unconsciously and without any effort on your part, the finest analogies will strike you." THROUGH THE EYE To THE HEART. WHO SHALL CONDUCT EYrE-TEACHING? That which is to be given before the whole school should be conducted by the pastor, if he is the best man for such work, or lby the superintendent, or by a selected teacher. Let the best workman be selected whatever his position. One may be best in object-teaching, another in blackboard work. In the latter not only skill in using chalk is to be'c'onsidered, but also and especially ability to talk the subject sweetly into the hearts of those that hear. One miay design the exercises and talk about them, having another who is a better artist to do the mechanical work. If there is an artist in the school, enlist his talent for Christ. " God sends us an artist, and lie imilediately becomes a blackbo.ardist," said( an enthusiastic Stuliday-seliool pastor to a new mIember. And the artist recognized the Master's call to labor, and his heart answered, " Here am I, Lord;" and firom that hour the Sunday-school Was; the fortunate possessor of consecrated ability, displayed in the matter of exquisitely beautifiul blackboard illustrations done in colored era! oens. "He spends the whole of every Sunday afternoon in the exhaustive study of the lesson. When hlie has it all by heart, he makes a pencil sketch of the design of the pictule that he means to furnish us with on the follovwing Sunday. The first fresh hours of each morning of the week he gives to the work of drawing and coloring the large blackboard illustration so prized' by our school; and he adds the last loving, finishing touches to the whole on Sunday, just before bringing it up to the school."' Usually a simple outline sketch or word exercise would be better than such a picture, but if God gives you an artist, use him. Why not have a picture for thie school on the blackboard as well as on the wall? We cannot, however, emphasize too strongly the fact that object-lessons and blackboard exercises should, as a rule, be very simple, lest the means by which we teach shall draw the attention from the truth to be taught. When Moses and Elias, on the Mount of Transfig 23 24 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. uration, divided and diverted the attention of the apostles fiom Christ, they were removed from sight, and the apostles "saw no man save Jesus only." Let the object-lessons vanish if they divert the eye from Jesus; let the blackboard fll, like Peter, James, and John, to the ground, iit1 (dgs between the scholars' hearts and Christ. Amid all these helps let the:Sunday-school " hear Him " above all other voices. WJUAT SHALL GIVE US THEMES FOR EYE-TEACHING? Three things should usually have weight in selecting a map, story, or object-lesson, or in making a blackboard exercise: 1. The lesson of the school or class; 2. The events of the day; 3. The time of the year. While the lesson should usually be the center of the eye-teaching, yet, at times, striking and special events of the day or the season of the year may suggest other themes that will be impressive. If there is a temperance excitement, exercises on temperance might for a day be better than an exercise on the subject of the lesson. So in time of flowers, fruits, or autumn leaves, the season rather than the lesson may give the eye-teacher his theme. DIVISIONS OF EYE-TEACHING. Taking the subject in a comprehensive view, we make the following divisions: I. Vivid Descrip ion and Alle gories. II. Stories Vividly Told. IlIl. Stories Represented. I V. Religious Object-Teachling. V. Map-Teaching. VLI. Picture-Teaclhing. VII. Blackboard Exercises. 1. Motto Exercise. 2. Topic Exercise. 3. Initial Exercise. 4. Syllable Exercise. 5. Word Exercise. 6. Phrase Exercise. 7. Table Exercise. 8. Acrostic Exercise. 9. Parallel and Contrast Exercise. 10. Canceling Exercise. I l. Erasing Exercise. 12. Word-Symbol Exercise, 13. Map Exercise. 14. Outline Exercisa THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. I. VIVID DESCRIPTION AND ALLEGORIES. "The imagination is second to no other faculty in the human mind in understanding God's word. An illustration is only an appeal to the imagination. Imagination is that faculty which sees the hidden truths. It stands before the violet and sees humility. It looks up at the sun and sees truth. When we have to teach the children so much that cannot be seen, the best way is to bring them up to the truth by things which appeal to the imagination."* "The Bible is not a system of theology; still less is it a creed; but it is a succession of vivid pi(tures —a true history of living, thinking human beings and of God's dea'lings with them. Some have said that Sunday-school teachers should not teach geography, history, manners and customs, but only the Gospel. Without these things there is no Gospel. It is impossible lo understand God's dealings with any man in the Bible without knowing all about that man's manner of life and surr6undings. We must be able to see Abraham sitting at the door of his tent, with his white hair and beard. We must know him as neither more nor less than an Arab sheik, with the intellect of a child, and less knowledge than one of our Sunday-school children. We shall then, and then only, be able to understand God's dealings with him, and what he accomplished by him." t A scene may be described with the vividness of an eyewitness if it has been carefully studied with the aid of books and pictures. Judge Jay, of Ohio, in company at Washington, conversing with a lady who had traveled in Scotland, was remarking on objects of interest in that country. The judge described Arthur's Seat, the Carleton Hills, and other places so minutely and graphically, that the lady said to ltim, "When did you visit Scotland?" He said, "Never." "How then can you describe its places so vividly?" Hie replied, "I have studied them carefully in pictures and descriptions." *Rev. S. I. Tyng, Jun., D.D. t Rev. Dr. Duryea. 25 go THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. The scenes of the Bible, if vividly described from a tlior ough knowledge and sympathy with the circumstances, formn} a picture, a drama, that may properly be classed as eye-teaching(. If the teacher is talking about Paul on Mars' Hill, let the surrounding scenes be so described that the scholar can put himself in Paul's place and make the scene real. Let the doctrines of the Epicureans and Stoics be so distinctly described that the application of every sentence shall be felt. If the Good Samaritan be the subject, let the teachers make the scholars feel the very shadow of the rocks on that dangerotis way, and the moisture of the cloth with which the blood is wsiped from the arms of the man left half dead. The Epistle to the Corinthians may be made as beautiful to the eye as a temple by a thorough understanding of the architecture of Ephesus, from which Paul wrote, and of Corinth, to which he wrote. In fact, whatever the lesson may be, if all the geographical and historical knowledge connected with it is clustered around it there will be a picturesqueness and vividness that will add greatly to its power. Take the following illustration of this kind of description on the subject of FEEDING THE MIULTITUDE: The incident has its lesson for the pews as well as its encoriiiagement for the pulpit. Christ might have scattered this heavenly manna, as of old, by the same miraculous power that multiplied it.'He chose rather to use human agency, and "gave it to the disciples, and they gave it to the muiltitude." There was a great variety of tastes, talents, and dispositions among the disciples; but Christ used them all, not merely to distribute the bread, but also to impress its lesson. There was the loving John, the impulsive Peter, the doubting Thomas, the systematic Matthew, the law-loving James, and the others, each with some trait of character peculiarly his own. Sometimes, as I have thought of this incident, I have imagined the different feelings with which the disciples re THROUGHl THE EYE TO THE HEART. ceived the bread and thought of the miracle. John, as he took the loaves, would stand and look with his deep, loving eyes upon Jesus, almost forgetting the multitude as he gazed, " lost in wonder, love, and praise," upon his Master. Impulsive Petel would seize the loaves eagerly and hurry about, scattering them hastily among the multitude, and, with his emiphasis and love of prophecy, proclaiming on every hand that they saw the promise fulfilled, " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd." James, with his love of the old law, would remind the people, as he scattered the bread, that the same power that fed their fathers in the wilderness was feediing them on the shores of Galilee. Systematic Matthew would remind the people how greatly the loaves had been multiplied and how many had been fed; while Thomas, as he took the bread from Jesus, would press his thumbs into the loaves that he milght be assured he was not dreaming, and that he did not hold a phantom in his hand, meanwhile glancing cautiously at the Master, and whispering to his nearest friend, " What manner of man is this?" Christ used all these various talents to get the bread and its lesson to the multitllde; and so to-day the bread which is given to you with Christ's blessing from the written Word, the Spirit, and the Gospel ministry, God expects you to scatter among the multitude in your daily walks, around your firesides, along your waysides, and in your places of business. "Give ye them to eat." The sermons of Rev. T. De Witt Talmage abound in examples of vivid description of Bible scenes, and may profitably be studied by teachers as models in this respect. The plan of representing abstract truths in concrete forms, and personifying the ideal, so beautifully illustrated by the parables of our Lord, and also by the fables of AEsop and the allegories of Bunyan and others, may often be used to great advantage by the Sunday-school teacher. Dr. Eggleston once told a company of children of a house that a king had built 27 28 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. with two beautiful windows, two wonderful servants, etc., to which that king sent his son, and the man who lived ill the king's house refused to let him in; ill sllort, making the human body aIsI(l soul an allegolical house, and describinig it ill such a way that the children colld suriinise, before he flished the descrlip)tion, that he was talking of tlelln and Clhrist's coming for admittance to their hearts. GIFTS FROM A CASYET.-[This exercise, contributed by Rev. W. E. Iltiiitiiig,toii, shows very well how abstract truth m:ly be presented in an attractive verbal f(-)nm.] A speaker addretssing a body of ciil(dieii desires to talk of some of the virtues and( gi'aces that should adorn character. Let him tell the children hlie has some gifts to distribute to them. lie has a ring for each finger on both hands. Then, hol(ling up the first finger of his left hand, let him call the ring for that fing(er Obedience, for example, and ask the children to repent the word in unison. A story may be told illustrative of this virtue. And so on for each finger of both hands. This list may be used for the rings: Obedience, Trutlhfullness, Courtesy, Kindness, Cheerfulness, hlumility, Temperance, Love. Cilling these virtues rings, and slipping them lupon their fingers, in imagination, will prove to be the best way of fastening the lessonis to be taiught upon the memories of clildrer. Their attention may be held more closely by frequently asking them to repeat the names of the rings in concert, following the order in which they have been given. Then, as they will want to show these gifts to thleir friends, they must have sandals upon their feet. Call these sandals Courage. Let them repeat this word in a full, clear voice. Show how without these sandals it would be useless to try to wear some of the rings —Obedience and Temperance, for instancl. Then give them a girdle of Christlikeness, showing how, as a girdle binds the garments closely about one, that he may run or work well, so Christlikeness is a comprehensive quality of character that will enable us to live well. Lastly, THROUGH THE EYE TO THIE HEART. place the crown of Faith upon their heads. Speak of faith as the highest ornament of character. It links us to God, and therefore ought to be placed above all others, as a crowning graice. Then let the names of the iings, of the sandals, o(f tlhe girdle, of the crown, be repeated in concert, and the speaker tnay close by telling his audience of little hearers that these ornamnents are of finer stuff than silver or (,old, and wvill not wear out nor tarnish by wearing tlhem every day, but will only grow brighter by use, and that they come fiomn God's casket of jewels-the Bible.* II.-STORIES VIVIDLY TOLD. The great teachers of the race are those who have clothed truth in stories of' some kind. 2Esop, Bunyan, Beecher, Spui'geon, and a host of others, are examples of this class. A man gave to Christ, as he thought, a troublesome question, "Who is my neighbor?" It was answered vivixlly with the story of the good Samaritan. Jews regar(led with scoin the "publicans and sinners" that had accepted Christ. Jesus taught tliem their duty by thie prodigal's story. Ralph Wells wriites: "I asked a young wi)IIian upoii the street,' What portion o' the Scripture did you the most good?' She replied,' Tlitt which does all men good, the parable of tile prodigal so]I. It is so pleasant, so plain! There stands the father with oiitstietched arms. It is wonderful, the love of Jestis Christ for the siiuner!'" Storiies vividly tol(l, ptit on as a garment, tiie a part of eyeteachilng. The teacher should be amply supplied with them. "Wlieie will you go to-day?" said a mothler to her little * Tne author has heard the writer of the above form a group of allegorical statuary of the virtues: Valor, as a true soldier, first set up, and then Knowledge, as a true scholar; Temperance, as a man of strength and health and manliness; antd so, following with Patience, Brothlerly-Kindness, Faith, and Love, making them seem like a group of statues upon the platform around him as he described their characteristics, and giving some incident illustrative of each one after describing it 29 80 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. girl, "to Aunt Mary's or Aunt Jane's?" She replied, "I will go to see Aunt Jane, for she always has p)lenlty of gini(er snaps anud keeps them onl tlhe lowest shelf." The teacller shoull have plenty of stories aInd "keep them on the lowest shelf," so that cliildiren can underst:and them; a note-bo(ok aId pencil always with him and a scrap-book at lhoIlle will easily gather the "snaps." This is good advice from a teacher: "Use the pencil. It is easy to carry. It aids the memory. It catches and keeps a thousand flitting thoughlts. Carry a small blank book. If you see a fact or tlhink a thought that may be of any possible use in the iutuire take note of it. You may not?now see of what service it can be, but when interested iii a lesson you may glance over the penciled jottings and find one, two, ten helpful illustrations or allusions, thle woirth of which, in the exposition of your subject, may be invaluable. Olne fact a du-y thus talken into captivity will register three hundred and sixtyfive a year-so many servitors in your work. Use the pencil." Henry Clay Tiumbull writes these excellent words about telling Bible stoies vividly: "It has been urged by some earnest Suiiday-seliool wiiter that children should never be tripped into hlearing a Bible story, by its recital in homely lang,uag,e, is ift it were fi'oin another source than the Book of God. But there are two sides to even that question. It a child is (I..sinclined to hear Bible stories, it is not fair to assunie you are telling him something else when hle is sure to find at the close that you have palmed off one of the obnoxious narratives in another garb. On the other hand, it is eminently desirable to so clothe the Bible history to children as to give to the persons and incidents thereof a naturalness and reality that is not secured to little folks thlrough the somewhat obsolete forms of our coIimon E:iglish version. What would oe wrong for purposes of deceptioi is quite proper for the purpose of elucidation. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. "An incident in my own experience confirms my opinion on this point. I well recall the time when I had far more reverence for than understanding of the Bible. Scripture characters were to me not only mythical but unintelligible. Thle difference between Genesis and Eui'oclydon was by no means clear to my mind. I did not know who Deuteronomy was, nor what was Jehoshaphlat. The first dawn of clear day came in this way. My home was by the sea-side, where figures of sailor life were familiar to all. One afternoon a good man came to our Sabbath-school gathering, and, entering the desk by request of the superintendent, comnmeneed to tell a story. He described a sea-shore scene, with a vessel in the offing weighing anchor and loosing sail for a voyage. Vividly, in word painting, he showed a boat putting off from the dock, bringing at the last moment a passenger for the trip, his clambering on to the dock, the start of the vessel, its progress, a gathering storm, danger on the deep, the fiight of passengers and crew, a consultation, and the confession of the late-coming passenger that he was a fugitive pursued of God for his sin, hence the storm and the peril to all. 0 how well I remember the new light that burst into my mind when I then recognized the hitherto unreal story of Jonah as a living verity! I felt as did the boy who at last saw Lafayette through the carriage window, and called out in amazement,'Why, he's only a man!''Jonah' had been ,onah to me until that hour. Now he was a nian.'Joppa' had been Joppa. Now it was a sea-_port town. My little brain was almost bewildered with the discovery that the Bible had something in it that I could understand; but the vail of mystery that had enwrapped it until then went overboard with Jonah when that Sunday-school speaker had him thrown into the sea in the story. The entrance of God's words gave me light just as soon as those words were so stated that they could enter my child-mind. I am confident that I should not have been so profited at that time had the narrator announced in commencing that he was to tell us a Bible 31 TaRO U GH THE EYE TO THE HEART. story. His course may, I think, be safely commended to many a tea(her of the young. "At the Newsboys' Lodging HIouse in New York, ten years ago, I heard SMr. Tracy, the then Superintendent, entirap, as some might call it, his motley audience into hearing a Bible story when they would not have listened quietly to his reverent reading of the sacred narrative. Commencing the parable of the prodigal son, he told it in what would have seemed slang phrase to others, but in language which was ireally the vernacular of those boys. He held their fixed attention as he proceeded, and when their interest was most intense he said suddenly: "But, boys, this story is all written out in a book I have here. Let me read you the rest of it.' And he opened the Bible and continued the narration, reading and explaining or translating by turn. Who shall say he was irreverent, or caused his hearers to be?" III.-STORIES REPRESENTED. Stories that are read may sometimes be a little vivified by using or showing something mentioned in the story. In telling the story of Joseph when he sent the message to Jacob, a l)iece of brown paper (which will represent l)archiluent) uiay be cut into a foot square and rolled up as a Jewish seroll, with this letter written upon it, to be read after the scroll is described and thle circumstances narrated-Gen. xlv, 9, etc.: EGYPT, 1706. JACOB ISRAEL,-Thus saith thy son Joseph: I am yet alive. Come down to me; tarry not; and thou shalt be near to me, and I will nourish thee. JOSEPH, Lord of all Egypt. This letter should be written with the lines slanting very much, as the slant in Jewish letters indicates love. 32 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. With this story of Joseph the passage from Revelation may be read: "Fear not: I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore." This may be used to show that Joseph was not dead, although unseen; so Christ is not dead, but "ever lives above." Other analogies may also be brought out-for example, the Lord is our Shepherd, and has also become a King, and we "shall not want." The stories of the Bible can often be told with some Eastern or missionary relic to illustrate them, or something resembling objects mentioned in the accounts: the parable of the vineyard with a bunch of grapes, Joseph's dream with a handful of wheat, Stephen's death with a pile of stones, Joseph sold for twenty pieces of silver with a handful of coin, the tribute money scene with a piece of money, etc. A preacher, in speaking about the heathen, took a heathen god from his pocket and intensified his words by bringing the simple object into his story at the right time.* [V.-RELIGIOUS OBJECT-TEACIIING. We shall try to answer five questions that are often asked in regard to object-teaching in the Sunday-schlool: 1. What is religious object-teaching? 2. Why should it be used? 3. W7ten should it be used? 4. Where shall we obtain obects? and, 5. Ho?w shall we use them? What is religious object-teachig?. We can most readily show what it is by comparing it with the well-known objectteaching of our best day-sclhools. In the day-school an object is presented to the eye-a leaf, a flower, a mineral, a fossil, or a bone-to )e studied for its own sake, and the lesson is pelrfect only when every quality Rev. J. S. Ostrander has prepared a box of "Oriental Block Models" that enable the teacher to give at once a cheap, accurate, and vivid representation, in their real forms, of the tabernacle, temple, Jewish house, wine-press, and other specimens of Bible architecture. Any part of the Bible that has architectural references may be most effectively illustrated by this ingenious arrangement. 3 33 34 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. and attribute of the object is known. In the Sunday-s(chool, on the other hand, the object, although it miny be any of those mentioned above, is studied as a symbol, a stiggestion, a picture of some thought or idea far above itself, and the lesson is perfect when the attention is secured by the object, and the one or two qualities that may illustrate the thought which is being presented are understood. We may illustrate the day-schlool object-teaching by a recitation at DOTIIEnOY-S HALL: r*his is the first class in English spelling and philosophy, Nickleby,' said Sqtieers, beckoning Niclholas to stand beside him.' Now, then, where's the first boy?' "'Please, sir, lhe's cleaning the back parlor window,' said the temporary head of the philosophical class. "' So he is, to be sure,' rejoined Squeers.'We go upon the practical mode of teaching, Nickleby; the regular education system: c-l-c-a-n, clean, verb active, to make bright, to scornr. W-i-n, win,d-e-r, der, winder, a casemeut. When the boy knows this out of' a book he goes and does it. It's just the san)e i)rinciple as the use of the globes. Where's the second boy?' "'Please, sir, he's weeding tlhe gardeii,' replied a small voice. " To be sure,' sa.id Squeers, by no means disconcerted.' So he is. B-o-t, bot, t-i-n, tin, bottiii, n-e-y, ney, bottinney, noun substantive, a knowledge of plants. When he has learned that bottinney means a knowledge of plants lie goes and knows 'em. That's ou1 system, Nickleby.'" Although we shoIld hardly give this as a model lesson, yet it illustrates the great characteristics of object-teaching in day-schools. The lesson is perfect when all the qualities of the weeds and the " winder" are ascertained. When the scholar "goes and knows'em they lead to nothing fUirtherl. Religions object-teaching would lead us to look through the'winder" to something greater beyond; it would point us below the roots and above the blossoms of the plants to the Hand that made them, THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. The following will exactly illustrate the point we have just mentioned. A boy brought home to his father the teacher's report of Ois standing, which prioved to be much below his usual mark. The father asked him why it was, and he r(plied that hlie didn't know. The father knIew, however, for he had noticed yellow-covered novels lying about the house during the few days previous. He turned to his son and said, " Empty that basket full of apples upon the floor, and then go out and fill the basket half fuill of chips." The son, not suspecting any thing, obeyed. When he had brought the basket half full of chi)ps the father said, "Now put I)ack those apples into the basket." After half of them had been put in they began to roll off. "Put them all in; put them in," said the f'tther sternly. "I cannot," was the reply. "Of course you cannot," said the father. "You said you did not know why y)ou l)ad fallen off in standing. Of course, you cannot fill your mind withl usefil knowledge after getting it half filll of that yellow-covered trash you have been reading." The boy blushed aud went away, but never afterward touched one of those iiovels. In this object-lesson it would have been a waste of time and an injuIry to the lesson to have had the boy notice any flirther qualities about chips than the fact that they occupied the room which belonged to more valuable articles. When the object shown in Sunday-school is so used as to make it more prominent than the truth to be taught, it is exalting a "chip" above a moral precept. As much as a flag is less than the loyalty it represents, so much less than the truth presented should the object appear. The highest quality of an object used in Sunday-school teaching is that it should be a perfect mirror, itself almost unnoticed, while reflecting some great idea. I passed a calm, still lake one starlight night, and beneath its motionless surface there seemed to be "new heavens," the Stars were so perfectly reflected in its watery depths, the 85 36 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. evening star shining brightest of all. So the religious object. lesson should reflect heavenly things, the Star of Bethlehem always being most prominent in its teachings and suggestions. 2. TVhy should object-teaching be used i,t the Sunday-school.2 For the answer to this question the reader is referred to the first p)ages of tlhis book. 3. Whe,z should object-lessois be used? (1.) Frequently, is the Saviour used them, lest they shall attract too much atteiition because of their novelty, and because almost eveiy les son may be made more interesting at some point by their use. (2.) Olily when they may be introduced naturally to help the truthi; never as a "side exhibition" attached to the truth rather than an incidental illustration of it. The younger the scholars, the more firequently should object-lessons be used. But, 4. TVhere shall we get object-lessons? Generally, not from the books and magazines. The model exercises given in institutes, books, and papers should be read for the suiggestions and principles they contain, instead of being literally followed. David in Goliatlh's hat or Saul's armor would not be more awkward than a teacher often becomes in trying to use, without modification, the object-lesson of another. The "How," not the " What," should be the question in our minds as we study the object-lessoniis of others. For finding object-lessons "the field is the world." The good teacher transforms every phase of life into an illustration. As the delicate plate of the photographer catches a picture of whatever is before it, so the teacher who has put his mind into the illustrative mood catches illustrations fiom every passing event. Briefly and rapidly it may be shown how fertile in objectlessons are the fields in which we all walk, how abundant are the lessons within "arm's length" of every day life.. Sitting in my study this very afternoon, let me see how many object-lessons may be found without leaving the room: First, X will search myself, In my breast pocket I find a lqtter ntROtGH THE EYE TO Et E 0HE EART. from one of our Sunday-school editors promising me a sum of money. The promise would be of no value unless it had a name I could trust signed to it. This letter, then, may be used as an object-lesson to show why we trust in the piomises of the Bible: it is because the name of Jesus is signed to them. In the same pocket is my Berean DAY-BooK, with a space for every day in the year. The fiuture days are blank, the past days not used as well as they should have been. This object will illustrate the Book of Remembrance, (see Appendix.) In my vest pocket is a watch. It may be used as indicated in Appendix. From my pocket I take a hals ful of coin. It may be used to illustrate the story of Joseph sold into slavery, of Christ sold by Judas, or any other inci dent of Bible history where money is mentioned. On this twvo cent piece is the motto "In God we trust," a good object and text for a talk on God's care of our country. I take out my wallet. Here are some railroad tickets. The name of the superintendent signed to them gives me a passport from one place to another. So the name of Jesus gives us a passport to heaven. This counterfeit currency and this counterfeit bill also suggest lessons. Sinful pleasure promises to pay us joy "six months after a treaty of peace" between our consciences and sin. This life insurance receipt will illustrate the soul's instirance of heavenly life. Tllhen, this bunch of keys is an excellent illustration of God's promises. Starting with the story of "The Key of Promise," I would say that every one (f the promises is a key to lock in some treasure, or lock out some enemy, or unlock some store of heavenly wealth. This watch-key suggests the promise with which we "wind up" our trust every day, "As thy days so shall thy strength be." This trunk key represents the tiaveler's promise, "Lo, I am with you alway; " this house key, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee;" this church 37 as TlilRoUGH THE EYE TO THE itEAki't. key, "They that wait on the Lord shliall renew their strength." This key to my post-office box may represent the promise of prayer, by which we receive God's messages, " Whatsoever ve shall ask in my name I will do it;" this safe key, (if I had one,) "There is that scatter-eth and yet increaseth;" this skeleton key that will unlock the church door, house door, bed-room door, and many others, the promises that apply to a great variety of cases: "The Lord will provide;" "My grace is sufficient for thee." My body may be used as an object-lesson of God's wisdom, for we are all "wonderfully made;" or it may be used allegorically, as in Eccles. xii. Turning now to my desk and its contents, this white paper is an object-lesson, (see illustration in "Seed-Thought for Ol)ject-Lessons.") Tliis sheet of red blottij g pctper miy illustrate the promise of the "c(rimson made white as wool." Formerly men could not whliten crimson rags; firom them therefore they must make paper of crimson or some other hue. l)'ut Christ can make the crimson stain as white as snow. Hei-e is an ink bottle labeled "Ink," but the ink is no longer there. So some persons l)ear the label "Christian" when the Chii-istlikeness has all disappeared. Ihere is my -Bible. It may be used as indicated in "Stories Represented." My pocket looking-gqlass, which I have just taken from a pigeon-hole, is cracked, and therefore makes a poor reflection, as our professedly Clhristian hearits, when not i-ight in the sight of God, refl(ect Christ imperfectly. This photoqrap)h of Abraham Lincoln may be used as indicated in the "SeedThought for Object-Lessons." Thlese.four crackers, one in the shape of a diamond, another a cross, another a star, another a heart, given me by one of iny little fiien(s, were too sacred to eat, and so here they are in this pigeon-hole. In biringing them home the stamp of the nime was accidentally broken out of the cross, and the heart, which lhad no name, was broken on one side. Tlle star and diamond crackers were perfect. Let me try to get a sermon out of these by questioning my little friend, THROUGH THIE EYE TO THTE HAttlR. Alice, who happens to be in my study for a few mniiniites thlis afternoon. What are these? " Crackers." What (lo you see on this star cracker? "Dots." What else? "Letters." What do you think the letters spell? "The iname of the man that made it." When dlo you think the name was stamped on it-when it was soft, or after it was baked' When it was soft." If they had tried to stamp it when it was halr(, what would have happened? "They wotil(l break it." LPut the cracker out of sighlt.] Whose name ought we to have written on our hearts? "Jesus's." When ought it to be written there-when we grow old, or when we are children? "When we are children." When is it easiest to love God? "1WI)en we are children." The Bible says if we are good we shall shine as the stars. [Show star cracker.] Now repeat with me, " Shine as the stars for ever and ever." Now, you see this cross cracket looks bad because the name is broken out. We must never lose the name of Jesus from our hearts. And this heart cracker has no name. Cotlld we stamp a name on it now? "No; it would break." How sad that any heart should not have a Jesus in it! Christ says that we shall be his in the daly that he makes up) his jewels. [Show diamond cracker.] Jesus loves those that he saves better than his crown or his tlhrone. They ale his jewels. [Incident of the mother of thle Gtacchi.]' Here beside my desk is a large callat lily. For its use see "Seed-Thought for Object-Lessons." In the vase with it al-e som( apple blossoms. With them I can illustrate the f)sterintfo care of God over chlildren, bringcring them up to manhood But these are severed from the tree and are fading. I might use them to illustrate the fifteenth of John. Trailing over my bay window is an ivy whichll I might use with the same questions as the lesson on the Vine in " Seed-Thourlht foi- Object-Lessons." The plants in my hanging basket and tlcwer pots can be used with the story of "The Atheist and the Flower" in " Stories RIepresented." These pictures on my wall-" Bible Trees," Belshazzar's i%, THROUGH HIE EYE TO TAE EttARt. Feast," "A Flower Scene," "The Key of Promise "-may be used for picture teaching; also, this portfolio of sacred pictures, cut from the illustrated papers of the day. I have not exhausted the list, but have said enough to show how abundant are the objects within reach of every teacher. Toby Veck listened to the chimes as to a living voice, and little Nell's friend heard whispers in the flames of his forge. Shakspeare heard Ariels in the breeze. To Byron "every mountain top had found a tongue." To Tennyson every tree is a "talking oak." To Longfellow, "the voiceless lips of flowers" are "living preachers." Whittier says that "such music as the woods and streams sang in his ear he sang aloud." The Sunday-school teachel needs this'"open eye and ear," that every bell and flame and mountain-top and tree and flower and stream may be interpreted, and their God-sent messages understood. Like the servant of the prophet, if our eyes were opened we should see the mountains and fields full of the messages of God. To the writers of the Bible the rolling year was full of ol)ject-lessons: seed, blooming flowers, harvests, withered leaves, "snow like molsels "-all these gave subjects for spiritual teaching. So relics of history, the serpent in the wilderness, the budding rod, the pillar of cloud and fire, the temple vessels, etc., gave them frequent object-lessons. They found in wayside walls, vineyards, kitchens, shops, and temples, some object on which they could hang the truth. Like them, the teacher should find in the gariden, the fields, and the home, object-lessons for his work. For young scholars and infant departments especially objects are invaluable. There should be a box or drawer somewhere in connection with the school in which missionary relics, historic trophies, and any object that call be used as an object-lesson, may be kept, new ones being constantly added. And yet the best object-lessons will be tlhose that are firesh and suggested by the present need. 5. How shall object-lessons be prepared and taught. In 40 ltHROtGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. answering this most important question there are three suggestions for the prieparation and four for the teaching: PREPARATION: (1.) "Search the Scriptures" by means of the Concordance and other helps folr all the Scripture passages that may in any way be connected with the object. (2.) The attributes and uses of the object should be ascertained by a careful analysis. A teacher who fails to do this may be enmbarrassed and suriprised by unexpected developments at the time of teaching. A true story is told of a Roman Catholic pliest, who some years ago entered a pulpit in Germany, carrying in his hand a walnut, his intention being to use it as an illustration of what he was about to say. Holding up the little nut in full view of his crowded audience, he began, in a loud and boasting tone, waith, "My hearers, the shell of this nut is tasteless and valueless: that, my friends, was Calvin's Church. The skiu of this fruit is nauseous, disagreeable, and worthless: that represents the Luth:rian Chuirch. And now I will show you the holy Apostolic Church." Suiting his action to his words, he cracked the nut, and, lo and behold! to his utter chagrin and discomfiture the inside contents were perfectly decayed and rotten. (3.) Study the analogies between the object shown and the truth to be taught. In 1 IKings xxii, 11, 34, 35, we have the case of an object-lesson that sounded very well, but the analogy failed to hold good. A preacher, using hot and coldl air as an illustration, said, "The more you heat the air in a ireceiver the more room there is to put in more air." Another preacher announced as his text, " Thlou makest my feet like hen's feet," and used the analogy of their clinging to the rioost to teach the duty of clinging to the cross. Such mistakes may usually be avoided by preparing the lesson before attempting to teach it. TEACHING: (1.) By means of careful questions get the scholars to mention the qualities of the object as far as they are to be used. A teacher shouild expect peculiar answers at times, and take them good-naturedly, without being discon. 41 TiiROTGI THEl EE TO THE HEART. certed. A reverend gentleman was addressing a scl)ool ie cently, and was trying to enforce the idea that the hearts e,f the little ones were sinfill and needed regulating. Taking his watch and holding it up, he said: "Now, here is my watch; suppose it don't keep good time-now goes too fast, and now too slow-what shall I do with it?" "Sell it!" shouted a flaxenl-lleaded youngster. (2.) Call the attention of thle class to the Scripture passages, and have a part of them, at least, memorized. (3.) By questions and explanations make the analogies between the ob ject and the truth clear, and then remove the object from sight. Hartley, in lis "Pictorial Teaching," gives an amusing ex. ample of confounding truth with an illustration. A teache' was one day explaining to a class of girls the nature of faith, and by way of illtistration pointed through the window to a boat which could be seen upon the river. "Look," said the te:acher, "at that boat. You can see it, can you not?" Yes," said the scholars. "Well, if I were to tell you that there was a mutton pie in the boat under the seat, would you believe ime? " "Certainly we should," they replied. "WVell," said the teacher, "that is faith." A shoit time afterward the teacher was again talking to the children on a similar subject, and, asking the question, " What is faith?'" was astonished to hear the reply, "1 Faith, teacher, is a m?uton pie in a boat." (4.) Impress the truth deeply upon the heart, and always close with personal application and prayer. One should always be careful that the truth shall reach the scholai's thoughts more deeply than the object, the latter ever keeping its place as a forerunner simply, and crying, "The truth that coineth after me is greater than I." OUR Boy's KNIFE.-Du,ing the autumnn Harry and I were in the woods gathering leaves. Needing a knife, I asked Harry for his, in order to see of what sort it was, and at the same time learn the contents of our boy's pocket. 'THR'OUGH TltE EYE TO THE HEART. He brought out first a piece of apple, then a top and a few lIits of string, several marbles, somne nails, chalk, candy, slate-pencils, one or two coppers, a piece of paper carefilly wrapped, said to have been a school-girl's note, and, last of all, his knife-an article indispensable to most of us, and fobr which l-oys have a special longing. This was its condition. ) o The knife was useless to me, although our boy insisted it answered his purpose exeeedingly well. I expressed surprise.'Iarry confessed that he traded knives, and he could " come it" over the boys first-rate with that knife. Shortly after I asked Harry if his knife would not be a good text for a sermon. He thought not, but promised to listen attentively to any sermon I might preach fi'om such a text. On our way home I c,)mmnenced: First. I am sorry that our boy uses his knife as a means of deception. A lie acted is as great a sin as though spoken; a practice, I regret to say, common to much older boys and iallty men. Your knife is outwardly attractive. You willfully conceal its imperfections, and thus obtain goods under false pretenses. The same principle was put into practice by the " ring" thieves in New York. Many merchants put false labels on their goods, or cover up the defects of a poor article by a perfect exterior. Any deception acted or spoken is wicked. "Avoid the least appearance of evil." Secondly. Your knife is of use only as it is perfect. If nothing but the handle remained it would be an infant's toy. The broken blades are useful for some purposes. Add one 43 44 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEARt. or more perfect blades, and it is of greater use. Look at this knife. I ~O I~ Every blade is sharp, clean, and of a different kind. Thus its capacity for use is great, and remains so in proportion as we keep it in perfect order. Thirdly. In one sense we are knives. The various traits of character we possess are the blades of this human knife, contained in a case which is the body. As knives vary in form and style, so we vary in features and character. As we bring these various traits to perfection, to that degree will we be useful. Let us consider some traits of character, or blades, which we need in this human knife, for with it we must cut our way through time to eternity. That you may easily remember, let each letter of the word knife commence the name of these much-needed blades: K is the blade of KNOWLEDGE. We n)eed knowledge"knowledge is power." VWe need to know about God, our Creator. We obtain this from the Bible, which is God's word. It is our chart on this voyage of life. It is the power of God unto,ur salvation. It contains wiords of wise counsel. It teaches God's great law of love to him and to our fellows. It contains maxims for every business of lifeb. It tells us how to live, what to live for, and how to secure imperishable liches and an eternal mansion in the skies. We need a knowledge of self, and of the human family; of the world, its history, mann)ers, and customs; of science and philosophy. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. N is the NO blade. A small woid of vital importance. To learn to use it aright is a hard task. NO at the right time would have saved many a drunkard from hell, made prisons unnecessary, and saved millions of lives and treasure. Always say NO to any promptings of Satan; never to any teachingsof God's Holy Spirit. I is the blade of INDUSTr.Y-one of the devil's greatest foes. God's plan for man to acquire that which supplies his wants is by WORK.'Tis industry makes the desert bloom as the rose. It builds cities, spans the world with telegraphs and railroads. One of New York's best merchants remarked, "All that a iyoung man needs in order to su(ceed is industry, economy, and perseverance." He ought to have added something which you wNill find in the next blade. F is the blade of FAITII. Faith in God and his word. Faith brings us to the realization of the rich and beautiful promises of the Bible. It makes death a bountiful angel to carry us to a home in heaven. It in(-creases by exercise. We need a faith in sel' that life will be a success. General Grant's faith conquered rebellion. Professor Morse's faith developed the telegraph. Luther's faith reformed Germany. Read of its mighty triumphs in the eleventh chapter of Hebiews Embrace the faith there taught. Be watchful that this blade is always sharp, and is never broken. E is the blade of EXAMPLE. It must be either good or bad. God holds us accountable for its character. "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is inl heaven." Now look at these five blades: KNOWLEDGE. NO. INDUSTRY. FAITH. EXAMPLE. May we possess themr all 46 46 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. V. MoAP TEACIIING. Little need be said in regard to the use of maps, as they have been long and widely used in the Sunday-school. It would be an improvement, perhaps, to the present method of hanging maps, if they were all hung at the most central point for the eyes of the whole school, only one being unrolled at a time, that ones of course, being the one which gives the geography of the lessou. Besides this, every teacher should have a poirtable Atlas* for his own class. Besides their use for ordinary geographical reference, maps may be used for Bible lectures and reviews. In the latter case, by pointiig to the waters, mountains, and towns associated with the last three, or six, or twelve months' study, and asking ques tions as to the events associated with these geographical p)oints, and giving such explanations as may be required. the ftacts learned will be strongly impressed on the mind with the help of the eye. We give the following suggestions fior a catechetical and descriptive Bible lecture, with the map of Palestine. Subject: "From Dan to Beersheba." Show the position of "Dan and Beersheba," and also that the expression means the same in regard to Palestine as "fromn the Atlantic to the Pacific" in regard to the United States. Divide the school, two Sabbaths before the lecture, into three traveling parties, one of them to go from BEERSHEBA to the MIediterranean coast, and then up the coast to Sidon, and across to Dan, studying all incidents of Bible history associated with any of the places through which they would pass, as Gaza, (Samson, Philip,) Joppa, (Petelr,) Cesarea, (Peter, Paul, etc.,) Mount C(armel, (Elijah, Elisha,) Tyre, (Solomon,) Sarepta, (Jesus,) Sidon, Mount Hermon, Damascus, (Paul,) DAN. * The little pamphlet Atlas published by Nelson & Phillips is one of the very best in quality anrid variety, and yet is sold at -i very low price. These same maps are botiid into Whitney's Bible Geography, which should be in every teacher's library as a help to iliap teaching. E PALESTINE. A~~~ q "FROMt DANT TO / BlEERSIIEBA." a, ---- ~~~~SAFEDe.-, -, NA MT oEBA/LIUDS ~~~~J7,;~~~~~~Ci THwIDA;O~,i -A-P-'~,T ERNIA ii.C~~~~~~~~~MAGA! Cialleeus ~~~;;B~r;LCH~;~ IBEI G, NAiNZ/"A'~[6u~g ~ OADARA CE,,~SAMRIA..M.A.~I 2 0 MILES MT. QUA B EBETHABARA , _B,,r.,_,/-, JERUSALEM.. ~ UTEOF W/S~MEN .MACHERUS W/DT/'- OF PLAIN. 1' ,Do MILES 0~.J' BEERSHEBA* 48 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. The second party to go from BEERSHIEBA across to the Dead Sea, (notice Zoar, Sodom and Gomorrah, Edom, Moab, and Mount Pisgah overlooking the whole;) then up the Jordan (notice its crossing by the Israelites, its waters parted by the prophet's mantle; Jericho, a little way from its banks, whose walls fell, waters were healed, etc., the brook Jabbok that flows into it, Jacob's wrestlingplace) to the Sea of Galilee, and coast along its western shore, stopping at Gadara, (demoniac;) then up to the continuation of the Jordan, through to the waters of Merom to Cmsarea Philippi, (Jesus,) and across to DAN. The third party to go through the center of the country from BEERSHEBA to Hebron, (Abraham,) to Bethlehem, (David, Ruth, Jesus,) to Jerusalem, (see Bible Dictionary, etc.,) to Mount of Olives, (Gethsemane, Ascension, David's retreat, etc.,) to Bethany, (Lazarus, spikenard, etc.,) to Bethel, (Jacob, etc.,) to Gilgal, (Joshua,) to Shechem, (Jacob's well,) stopping to climb Mount Gerizim, (Samaritan temple, bless ings and curses,) and Mount Ebal to Samaria, (God's deliverance,.etc.;) to Dothan, (Joseph,) to Mount Gilboa, (Saul, etc.,) to Nain, (Jesus.,) to Nazareth, (Jesus,) to Cana, (wine,) to Mount Tabor and Mount of Beatitudes; then to the lower part of the Sea of Galilee, and up the eastern coast to Tiberias, (miracles,) Bethsaida, (miracles,) Chorazin, (curses;) then across the sea, recalling the voyages of Christ and hi~ apostles, (the two storms, two draughts of fishes, etc.;) then across the country to DAN. Teachers and scholars having studied their Bibles and Bible Dictionaries, with their maps, and being prepared to make these three trips, with a knowledge of all the historical associations, the lecturer, with pictures, relics from the East, and incidents from books of travel, can make these journeys very interesting and instructive. A similar lecture can be made with the map of the Israelites' Journey, called "From Rameses to Jerusalem;" and another on the map of the Journeys of St. Paul? called' From Damascus to Rome." THROUGH THE EYE TO THIIE HEART. VI. PICTURE TEACHING. When our parlors are full of Bible pictures, and scarcely a scene in the Bible has not been represented by some master hand, it is strange that Bible pictures have not been used more extensively in Sunday-school teaching. If a school can :'tford it, the colored pictures on stiff card-board, that:tre published by our Sunday-School Unions, should be in its " C('tbinetfo-' Eyqe-Te(chi)iy;" but if there are not means to secure these, a great many pictures may be borrowed fi'om the homes of those in the Church who have well-furnished walls. An inftnt-e!ass teacher can make even a familiar pictui-e very useful in securing attention. If the lesson be about "Christ in the Manger," one of the many pictures of that scenle will afford the best means of making the lesson clear. In almost every community pictures may be found of the leading events of Bible history.* Besides this, every teacher should have his own Picture ScrapBook. The illustrated papers will frequently give a picture that may be used some time to illustrate Bible truth. One teacher writes thus to the "Sunday-School Journal:" "I have a scrap-book in which I amn collecting pictures illustrative of the Bible. I buy up every engraving of every sort by which any fact or custom of the Bible may be illus * In the Y. M. 0. A. at New York a room has been fitted up, called the Sunday-Schlool Exchange, in wliich may be found a reference library of all the best works published on the Sunday-school cause, which teachers are fi'ee to comne and consult. All Sunday-school periodicals are also kept on file; also a stock of pictures, maps, and objects suitable for illustrating the Bible have been collecte(ld, any of which the teacher may have the privilege of renting. One of the very best, and by far the cheapest, of helps for picture teaching isitlie "Bible Roll," by Samuel W. Clark. (Published by Nelson & Phlillips.) It comprises twenty-five large views of the tabernacle, temple, Eastern manners, customs, etc. The costumes of the priests, the altars, tables, vails, and other parts of tl-he great symbolic tabernacle, are clearly represented. A school cannot spend five dollars in pictures to better advantage than in securinig this valuable collection. 4 4 q 50 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEARRT. trated. I find Nelson's cards of great value. Already my scrap-book is an attraction to old( and young. I hold an oc casional'tea-table talk' with my Sunday scholars as my guests, and the scrap-book makes the time fly. Several times I have taken it with me for use in my class. No trouble to'get the attention' of my scholars." It is exceedin,ly important that the pictures used in Sunday-school teaching should give correct impressions. We have heard of a picture which represents David in his conflict with Goliath, as a young man with his hair parted in the middle! "That, we presume, was to balance him for throwing the stone! "* A child seeing a picture of the ark which had several windows, exclalmed, "Why, the Bible says there was only one window!" A story is told of two Scotch lads who knew little of gunnery and natural history, but were familiar with King James's Bible and withl the winged heads that pass for cherubs in painting and sculpture. Going out a gunning together, one of them shot a bird, and the other ran to secure the trophy. Coming near where it had fallen, he found a white owl so sprawled in the grass as to present to his view only a head with staring eyes and a pair of wi,gs attached. Instantly he shouted in dismay: " Ye're in for it now, Jock, ye've shot a cherubim I " Correct pictures will l)e found the clearest and most popular commentaries on many passages of the Bible, t but incorrect pictures are much worse than none. * M. O. Hazard. t The most valuable and attractive pictures that can be obtained fbr use in the Sunday-school or Church are the "large colored diagrams" rented and sold by Nelson & Phillips, and the Depositories of the American Sunday. School Union. The sets of especial value for the lessons of 1877 are. "20. Life and Labors of the Apostle Paul;" "16. Palestine and its Cities;" "17. Mountains of the Bible;" 18. Types of Scripture;" "11 and 12. Fulfilled Prophecy;" "8. Literary History of the Bible;" etc., etc. A set is rented for a Sunday for'$1 50. Send for a catalogue. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. VII. THE USE AND ABUSE OF TIIE BLACKBOARD.* .s the question that rises to many lips when the blackboard is mentioned. It is at ontce el.isseal by some among the ingenious works of magic, ant considered as an eccentric intiuder among the help)s to religious teaching. In order to answer this question, "What's the use?" let us prefix two letters to the last word and notice a preliminary question: One who is well known in the Sun(lay-scliool work writes these well-titned words on the abuse of the blackboard: "I am fully conscious, as all who have thouglltfully observed the course of this line of teaching, I tllink, must be, that it has been made the victim of most absurd exaggerations and complicated follies. Intended to be the simplest, the clearest, and the most vivid of nzethods, it has been made by a laroge class of blackboard delineators a vehicle of the most extravagant imaginations and the most absurdly unimpre.sive exercises. What I have always pleaded for in its use, and do now more than evei, is pith, point, clearness, conciseness, the latter especially." The chief abuses of the blackboard cluster around the idea of -eaking an exhibition of it rather than an illustration by it. "Truth and art should serve each other; but in the king's palace art must be the servant of his law. When God's law is maade the servant of art in SutIday-sellool l)lackboarding, no wonder honest natures are disigusted." The blackboard is related to the truth that is to be taught as John the Baptist was related to Christ. It should be only * All this section equally appropriate to the use of a slate in each Sunday. school class. 51 52 THROUGH THE EYL TO THE HEART. " a voice," itself unnoticed while its message fills all hearts, "preparinigcr the way of the Lord." This thought is embodied in de(ayed sculpture at Melrose Abbey. Above the beautiful Stolie foliage at the south door is a niche in which an image of Christ formerly stood, and beneath it there is still seen a half-length figure of John the Baptist, looking rever(ntly ul) to the Master above him, and drawing all other eyes to the same place and away from himself. Under it is written, "Ecce Filius -Dei," (Behold the Son of God.) No I-)etter repriesentation of the true mission of the blackboard in the Sunday-school could be given. It must point away from itself to Christ; not leading men to say, "How skillfil! " or " How be.iiitiful! " but rather, " How tile! " * Mr. Moody once gave a blackboard exercise in California, in which he contrasted in opposite coltumns WORLD'S GIFTS AND GOD'S GIF. Jesus. Angels. CFriends. Promises. Peace. fhe exercise was made so fully a forerunner and hera,ld of Chliist that it resulted in the conviction and conversion of an unconverte(d teacher who was present. Many other conversions have occurred through the spiritual use o'f the blackboard. "The nse of the blackboard for illustrating Bible truths is *Be carefuil always that the full force of the illustration goes to illutninate the truth which you are expounding The foot-lights are studiously vailed from the eyes of the spectators, but they throw ai luster on tlhe actor's face. Like them, our illustrations must not draw attention to ourselves, but to the truth we have in hand. We must not turn them on ourselves, but on the Master and his work. It is as criminal to hide him beneathl gorgeous illustrations as it is to ignore him altogether. We nlay and ought to cover our faces before him; but we must never put a vail, no matter liow exquisite may be its textulre, over his counteuance.-Rev. Wm. M. Taylor, D.D. Money. Houses. Clothes. HODOI-S. Pleasures. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. condemned by a few of our best thinkers for its materialistic tendencies. It is urged that the use of material objects for presenting truth leads the mind into the errols of materialism. God did not think so while teaching the Jews the principles of Judaism. He thundered on Sinai that they might HEAR him in his power and wrath; but this was not enough; they had eyes as well as ears, and he wrote his laws on leaves of stone that they might SEE him in its truths, and then commanded them to'write these words on the posts of their h-ouses, and on their gates.' "* In the use of the blackboard the same law holds as in the other departments of Church work, "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." Another class of blackboard abuses arises fiom incorrect drawing or incomplete explanation. A superintendent, having drawn what he intended for an eye on the blackboard, asked, "Now, what do you see on the board?" A boy answered, "An oyster shell." One who cannot draw outlines correctly will do the best and safest work by confining himself to lettering. f Sometimes misapprehensions simnilar to the one just mentioned occur as much from incomplete explanation as from incorrect drawing, as in the case where a man represented f'tith by a shield, somewhat resembling a kitchen boiler cover, which was so confilsedly explained that one of the scholars, when he was asked, "What is faith?" replied, "A kitchen boiler cover." Such answers will sometimes be given when the outline is correctly drawn, as the following illustration will show: * Rev. J. F. Clymer. t See "Table of Blackboard Alphabets " in last pages of the book. There are some who secure the benefits of drawing in the presence of the school and avoid the errors of incorrect drawing by making the picture or outline beforehand with soapstone, whose lines can be seen by the speaker, but not by the school, and then at the appropriate time using the chalk rapidly on these lines that are already faintly drawn 53 54 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART Says J. S. Ostrander, "Not a great while ago I was present at a large Sunday-school meeting, in which one of our most success,,ful teachers used the board to illustrate the idea of a s.aciifice. ie drew an altar, and uponl it a lamb, around which he drew, with red crayon, representations of the consuming fire. The whole was well done. The children were pleased and instructed.'What is this, children?' he said, pointing to the altar, lamb, etc., to all of which correct answei-s were obtained. Finally the simplicity and innocence of a little child was discovered by the putting of the following question by the speaker: "And what is this.? (pointing to the red c]aclk representation of,fire.) After some hesitancy a little voice in the congregation responded,'Iguess they are the,feathers of the lamib.' Like a good questioner, the brother received the answer with respect, and proceeded to 'simplify iand repeat.'" Yet another class of abuses may be incltuded under the term, "complicated follies and false emphasis." Herie are several published specimens: hT e Leader's parting he vow the big stone t and the writing n law-book, still Teaching when Joshua's hat God is Israel's APOS T LES. EARTIIQUAKE. JAILER. 1L.L *BAPTISM. An advertiser tri-ies the mys.tifying blackboard spelling in announcing his wares, after this fashion: VALR E TI VRN~IISHNE S. hJeoRD remPAIN 11EAD THE TREE. BRANCHES. FRUIT. TfROUGIti THE EYE TO THE HEART'. Some anonymous writer tries it on thle history of Henry VIII.: ENRY THE A T TH ight Defender of the F AI tA a divore As 6 wives, B eads Anne BollIyn and Cath rine owa ar t 4 uh e a 1 OFE'l the C urhtJ /~ Eingland. The query withl which the last-named writer heads his cexosiirec of such complicated follies is fitly chosen: Wj T? Apply this question to the following exercises on David and Goliath: IILISTINE CIIAMPION. USILLANIMOUS ISRAELITES. LUCKY SIIEPHERID-BOY. ()NDEIROUS ARMOR. ICKEiD IEBBLES. ROUD GOTLIATII. . 1OU8 DAVID. R1OVOKED GIANT. I ^ OI'HESYING LAD. TROMIPT ATTACK. RONE PHILISTINE. REVAILING CHAMPION. ENETRATING SWORD. ARTED HIEAD-AND-BODY ANIC STRICKEN IHOST. MEANS OF VICTORY. Tlhe "Sunday-School Times," commenting on this subject editorially, utters these well-timed words: "The real worth of an outline is as a helpfill and instrictive analysis. If it does not serve in that direction it is useless. It may, to be sure, be more easily fixed in the memory through an acrostic, or aii alliteration; but of what use is its memorizing when to begin with it is good for nothing? "The true test, then, of a suggested outline of any Bible lessowi, or other statement of truth, is in its value apart fromi its alliterative or acrostical structu-e. If the outline does not )rove to be a good one when words of a similar meaning begiinning with different letters are substituted for those sgl, 55 56 tTHROUGH THit EtE tO' TJ4PE AEART. gested in the fanciful plan, the outline is worthlesss in spite of all the ingenuity displayed in its arrangement. For ex. ample, if the lesson were the story of David and Goliath, it might be well to consider the narrative in study or teachi(ng under the natural divisions of, 1. Goliath's challenge to the Isriaelites; 2. Their fear of meeting hini; 3. David's trustful acceptance of the challenge; 4. The ensuing fight; 5. Its issue. This outline might be stated as an aid in securing attention, or in memorizing the divisions: C HALLENGE BY GOLIATH. OWARDICE OF ISRAEL. THE OURAGE OF DAVID. ONFLICT OF CHAMPIONS. OMPLETE VICTORY. This outline is certainly quite as good without the alliteration as with it. Many sensible teachers would l)1efer to use it in the less faniciful form, while others would find it practically more helpful in its alliterative statement. In this case the outline is first secured; then the alliteration is sought. A more common way with blackboardists seems to be to pick out a letter and see how many phrases ingeniously di,awn from the lesson may be strung on it." The rule in blackboard lettering should be, As large letters give emp)hasis and prominence, they should never be used except where they make up an imp)ortant syllable or word or phrase that needs to be emphasized, or when they may legitimately help the mem2ory in an initial or acrostic exercise without destroying the logical outline of the lesson. [Erasing " Ab," and leaving the question as at first, "What's the use?"] Let us now notice the simple and practical uses of the Sunday-school blackboard: By printing this brief word any'one can collect the attention of an audience in a moment, or by simply raising a piece THROTUGH TqHE BYE TO THE HEART. of chalk to the blackboard without making even so much as a dot. 1. The first use of the blackboard, then, is TO COLLECT ATTENTION. A lady unfriendly to the Sunday-school said to a little giul who attended it, "Do you have to pay any thing at Stlnday-sebool?" The child answered, "No-yes, we do; we have to pay atteJtion." This Sunday-school tax of attention is one of the hardest taxes to collect, but it can be quickly and effectually done by the simplest touch of the chalk to the blackboard. In Congress or Parliament it is an important thing to "catch the eye" of the presiding officer at the iiglht momlent. The ingenuous and varied signs along the stireet, above the stores, are also earnest effoits to "catch the public eye."' The blackboard accomplishes this in religious teaching. Its power to,ttract attention may be easily verified by taking up a newspaper and finding what style of advertisements first arrest the eye. It will be those mnost resembling the blackboard. So also of advertisements on rocks and fences. 2. The Rev. Geo. A. Peltz recommends the use of THE BLACKBOARD AS A BULLETIN. "Use it for special announcements. Much time is tinnec essarily wasted in calling attention to the various matters connected with the economy of the school. The proper use of the blackboard here will greatly aid order and quiet. For example, how suggestive would be the display of a board nteatly lettered, as follows: NEXT SUNDAY MISSIONARY COLLECTION FOR HE4 THEV LAVTNOS. FREELY GIVE! FREELY GIVE! 57 TltHROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 3. A third use of the blackboard is TO AID TH E MEMORY. Three words represent the l:iws of successful memorizingi)terest, attention, exercise. All these laws are pre-eminently fulfilled in blackboard illustration. When a pastor or superintendent lifts the chalk to the blacklboard interest is awakened, attention is secured, and the mind is exercised in clriosity as to what is coming next,* and what is to be the meaning of the completed work. Each word written onl the blackboard is written at the same moment upon the memory of those who follow the movements of the chalk. Like the new "letter writer," the blackboard allows tis to write many duplicate copies of our message at once, as many as there are ininds present. A symbol or picture drawn uipon the blackboard is diawn also at the-same time upon the meinmories of all who are following the artist; so that from the blackboard as a negative, copies are printed upon every mind. Tyndall once said that were he lecturing on gravitation, and should say to his hearers, "I hold a marble in nmy hand, and were I to release it the power of gravitation would instantly draw it to the earth," he would not feel that he had produced the desired impression upon his auditors until he had actually permitted the marble to fall to the floor, and thus availed himself of the co-operation of the senses in immediate connection with the definition of science, for the purpose of stamping its impress indelibly upon the memory of the * The point here hinted at is the chief objection to the new plan of stenciling letters on the blackboard by pulverizing chalk and using it as ink is ordinarily used with stencils. This p'an would afford more perfect letters than are usually formed on blackboards; but, as the stenciling would need to be done before the school session opened, this memory law of exercisc and curiosity would have to be sacrificed, and the loss would be more than the gain. However, in such elaborate exercises as must be put on in advance, which should be much less frequent than exercises wrought out before the eyes of the school, the stencil might profitably be used by those who have no skill in lettering. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. audience. Even spoken illustrations or word-pictures show this same quality in a less degree. Dr. Guthrie, in his early ministry, held a Bible-class of young people on Sabbath evenings, in which he spoke more illtistratively of Christian truth than he felt at liberty to do in preaching. Hie soon found that these informal and illustrated talks were much better remembered thaii his less illustrated sermons, and that the people remembere(l best the truths that were pictured in an illustration. From this experience he was led to use illustrations far more abundantly ill preaching and writing, and made himself one of the most popular and suecessful of preachers and authors.* When the picture summoned before the eye is not imag inary, but real, the impression on the memory is much stronger, and henfice blackboard illustration becomes the king of nmnemonic helps. Forget that sentence if you can. 4. Another simple use of the blackboard is TO EXPLAIN THE TRUTH. A Sunday-school had been studying the parable of the two houses, one built on the rock and the other oi the sand. Most of the scholars were familiar with the story, but had iiot realized it. The outline of the two houses was then put b)efore the eyes of the school and the parable was then explained. A thrill of new interest was felt, and one expressed the feelings of all when he whispered," 0, I see!" When a general is mapping out a campaign he draws his * By awakening and gratifying the imagination the truth finds its way more readily to the heart and makes a deeper impression on the memory. The story, like a float, keeps it from sinking; like a nail, fastens it to the mind; like the feathers of an arrow, makes it strike; and, like the barb, makes it stick.- Guthrie. 59 60 THROUtGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. plans and locates his armies by pins. WVhen an architect wants to explain a building his pencil and paper do most of the talking. In a village in India, it became necessary in the course of some engineering operations to transport an enormous mass of' metal, weighing several hundred tons, from one part of the town to another. Ordinary means were out of the question; and as the engineers found themselves unable to devise any process, they did the next best thing, and wrote to other engineers in England, who were constantly supervising such work. The latter, instead of writing out nice large pages of foolsc:p, beautifilly embellished with Greek letterform-ulce and lred ink, quietly waited until the next big piece of metal which they had to transport offered a favorable opportunity. Then they prepared a camera, and photographed every step of the operation, together with all the tools and appurtenances, and forwarded the prints firom the negatives to India. These the engineers in the fai —off country followed, and with little difficulty accomplished their task. The blackboard may be used with like helpfulness in the Christian warfaire, and in the building of character to explain the unknown. Take the parable of the sower. To represent the different fields in which the seed (the word of God) is sown by the sower, (the Christian,) draw first the outline of an ear for the wayside. Below it write the fate of the seed-" Devouri-ed." Above write the name of the devourer, "Satan." Then draw two distorted and shriveled hearts. On one write "Stony;" belowit, "Withered;" above it, "Weak Faith." On the other write "Thorns;" below it, "Choked;" above it, "Temptation." Then draw a full heart, and write on it "Good Ground;" above it write "The Holy Spirit," and below, "Received the Seed," " Bore much Fruit." "If your lesson is on the'Gadarene Demoniac,' draw an ancient tomb with a broken chain beside it. If on the'Ten Vii-gins,' draw tei la;mps, five burning, and five gone out. If on death, natural or spiritual, draw two or three graves. If THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. on'Christ, the Light of the WVorld,' draw the rising sun shining upon a house with closed blinds. Such parables as ' The Builders,''The Friend it Midnight,' and some others, suggest their own pictures. The cave where Elijah heard tlhe still small voice may be represented by a dark spot looking like a cave on the side of a mountain. A striking instance of the value of the blackboard as a means of explanation was seen in the lesson on Gideon's Victory, prepared by the famous war correspondent of the "Boston Journal," Mr. C. "Carleton" Coffin, for the "Congregationtalist" ill 1875, in which he introduced a map of the scene that was self-explanatory, and showed mole to the N A IEN,,,,git,blK A oSHUNEM Z> I MIIANITES JE —EE — GID O MIDIV TE 7 / xH e MII5 JEZREEL..-. 0 Qlse~ > ~' 61 62 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. eye in a moment than an hour's teaching could have shown through tha ear. Mlost lessons might be thus lighted up and explained by using the blackboard or slate, presenting a map of the scene or some othei exercise. A very interesting lesson may be made firom the' Mustard Seed' by drawing in colors a tree, full size (enlarge fiom Bil)le dictionary) of the mllstard-tree, and by its side a dot, representilng the seed. An old-fashioned well on one side, on the other the name'Jesus,' may furnish an introduction to a talk about the'Living Water,' and so on indefinitely." When the eastern plow, or the stones with which grindiiig was done, or the altar, or candlestick, or ally other articles of household or temple use are mentioned, whose outlines are simple, they will be better understood than by any word description if a Bible dictionary is examined and the outline is sketched on the board. 5. Another practical use of the blackboard is TO CONDENSE TIIOUGHT. When we wish a message or resolution condensed into the fewest possible words, we say, "Please put it in writing." When we send messages by telegraph, knowing that there is an extra charge'or more than ten words, we learn how muich can be said in ten words. " Blackboarding " is Sundayschool telegr.aphy, the blackboard being the battery, the crayon the key. One who uses the blackboard learns to put outlines, facts, and thoughts in the briefest and fewest words. How impressive (more than any longer message could have been) was that telegram, sent by a man who had escaped friom the wreck of the Atlcattic, near Halifax, to his partner at New York: a77 -MA. -7 IA A contrast is to be expressed between good and evil, or between joy and sorrow. Half an hour would do it in spoken words; put them in opposite colors or positions on the black THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. board and the contrast is at once apparent. A wrong idea is to be presented and overthrown. How much a long argument may be condensed by wiriting the wrong idea Upoln the blackboard, and then destroying it with the eraser to mnake room for writing the truth, or by canceling it with the truth written over it! In the story of the feeding of the five thousand, the word translated "ranks" means, in some cases, flower-beds. This sLigg,ests a concise pictu,'e of God's care over us, as follows (remembering that " they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties "): GOD'S GARDEN. o t i loo~ T_ 1 01 1100-1 500 + + 0 _ < > — _+ W —4 < -- 1 l 50 1 <*+ + + + + * 4 + < 1 50 1 50 1 50: +1450 6. Another simple use of the blackboard is TO EMPHASIZE TRUTH. God might have sent a spoken messag,e to Belshazzai by the lips of Daniel, but was it not more terribly impressive when the letters of fire flashed upon the king's eyes firom the wall: 4 MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPIIARSIN?" With a palace wall as a blackboard and crayons of fire the divine hand inscribed the king's death-warrant. The philosophy is the same on which the blackboard teaching of to-day is based. In what essential particular does the Divine teacher's method of instructing Peter in a world embracing charity by a vision-slleet full of beasts, differ fiom a Christian superintendent's method of impressing his school by some simple symbolical outline on the blackboard? What message of Christ was more impressive or successfuil than the unknown I 1 I le w i 11 63 64 riTHROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. words he wrote on the ground, with the sand for his blackboard and his finger for a crayon? Before the power of that eye-sermon in the sand his whole audience of hypocrites fled away. There is a great emphasis in )utting the truth, whether ion l)oard or paper, "down in black and white." This messa,e will be phot,o'raphled ill an instant ul)()Ii the heart and memory, and cannot be forgotten. Various degr(es of emphasis aie indicated by the size and position of words. A wAord in large capitals or a word having a whole line is made especially emphatic, as seen in the following: W H AT SO E VE IR THEI LORD HATH: SAID I UNTO THEE, DOP ' Whatsoever," "thee," and "do," are made emphatic by ?position; "the Lord," by size of letters. Emphasis, with pleasing variety, also, may be secured by the judicious use of colored crayons. While yellow and white are the only colors that are cleai and distinct when used alone, every color may be brought out by making block i(etters, in which two colors are used in appropriate combinatioms, as blue with white, yellow with green, blue with light b)rown, blue with red, and in general a light color with a dark one. Several patterns of block letters will be found in the "Table of Blackboard Alphabets" in the last pages of the book. 7. Another practical use of the blackboard is to I THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. REVIEW TIIE LESSONS, 'to draw from the scholars the information already imparted to them by their teachers. In most cases the exercise should not be written or printed on the blackboard beforie the time when it is to be tised, except, perhaps, a few catch-words and initials. Questions should then be asked, and the answers briefly indicated with the chalk, until the exercise is conmplete. Lines, dots, and letters will often be sufficient to hold the attention and impress the thought. Difficult exercises must generally be made before the school session; but all that can be drawn from the scholars by questions, and readily delineated or printed, should be left to the time of using the exercise. This will allow one to take advantage of curiosity, which loves to witness the creation of a thing. In an acrostic exercise, the acrostic letters may sometimes be put on beforehand; in a table exercise, the outlitne of the table; in a canceling or erasing exercise, that which is to be canceled or erased; in a map exercise, the simple outline witlhout the points of interest indicated. In this book the exercises are usually given as they would appeal when completed. It is intended-that each exercise should be developed, b)y questions, point by point. The following lEVIEwV OF THIE LIFE OF (CHIRIST, ( ( IMAKE THE DEAF HEAR. MAKE THE DUMB SPEAK. DidIMAETHDEPlER -Did F GCAST OUT EVIL SPIRITS. GIVE SIGHT TO TEHE BLIND. ' "WE MUST BEAR GOOD FRUIT." I kIQ~ e Sa.id,'; LOVE ONE ANOTEER." Said,, "GOD LOOKS AT TriE HEART." "SIIE HATE DON'E WIIAT SHE COULD." TIlE KISS OF JUDAS. fered PETER'S DENIAL. SCOURGING WITH STRIPES.'': - THE DEATH OF THE CROSS. 5 66 C THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. taken troin the "Sunday-School Chronicle," will show the development of a blackboard exericise. The process would be essentially the samne for the review of one lesson, or a month's work as for a quarter's, as in this case. First, the superintendent asks, "About whom have we been studying these three months? " He prints the answer, " Jesus." 'Then he says, "We want to recall what he'did,' what he said,' and what he' suffered.'" Accordingly he prints these three words in the relative positions indicated. "Now, what did Christ'DO' in the lessons we have studied?" From one and another the various answers come, helped, perhaps, by a hint or two from the superintendent. "Now, what were some of the sweetest things that Jesus'SAID' in these lessons?" The answers are epitomized into the fewest words on'the blackboard. So also with the third point. Each answer under all thriee points is explained, illustrated, and enforced, and appropriate songs are interspersed to vary the exercise. The method of conducting the blackboard reviews of single lessons may be illustrated by the followsing on the lesson of "Paul and Silas in Prison," Acts xvi, 22-34. [Unless a blackboard is very large both sides will be needed for this exercise:] SAVES (TRIL_ -Israel in Egypt. -Daniel and three worthie. ~F IR 0'~ - -~JJ IApostles in prison. F-Al who believe in Christ. SIN_All wrho believe in Christ. C NOAH-" Come thou and thy. I IN nRfulMF a. ABRAIhAlI-" Teach his N HOMEFULS. JOSHUA —"As for me and my J JAILER-" Saved, and thy.. Ii 011) I THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. r L) n tT p-ohoshaphat. I-Paul and Silas. -. The Retbrmers. BY- I)To AV;;:-LOI-d save me." t, -l - 1-I -" Revive thy work." What must I doP Do thyself no harm by rejecting. I RIT Believe on the Lord Jesus Sing, pray, work, for,It At the beginning of the review nothing is upon the board except the words, "God saves," "From," "In," " By." The stipeiintendeint. says, "In this lesson we see God's power to save both his followers and his enemies. What did God save his apostles from?" "Yes, from prison, or in general, from 'peril.'" (Prints it.) " Mentioln some other instances in which God rescued his people." The answers include "Isi'ael in Egypt," "Daniel," "Three worthies." These, with "apostles," are written as indicated. The superintendent impresses the thought of God's care and power to help. "But God saved some in that prison who were not his followers. Who? From what?" "Yes, fi'om'sin.' (Writes,) Who else does God save fiom'sin?' (Writes reply,) All who believe in Christ." Illustrates what it is to believe in Christ. "Was any one saved fiom sin but the jailer?" "Yes, God saved a homeful, as he has done so often in Chiistian history." (Write "lhomefuls.") "Now mention some other cases in the Bible where a whole household served the Lord." The cases of "Noah," "Abraham," and "Joshua," are mentioned, and with the "jailer" are written on the blackboard with the indicated texts. The superintendent asks, " What means that were used in the prison does God often use to save men?" Writes down the answers, "Song," "Prayer." The case of Jehoshaphat and the songs of the Reformation are used as illustration and noted on the blackboard. "Whal 67 1. 2. 3. two, 68 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. two kinds of prayers are we to use?" (For ourselves and for others.) "I will write one of each." (Writes, "Loid, save me," and "Revive thy work.") "Now comes the practical question for us, as well as the jailer, What must I do?" The three points are written, then emphasized and illustrated for both Christians and the unconverted. The blackboard is especially valuable for Quarterly Reviews. The most satis factory plan we have known to be successfully and continuously employed is one originated by Rev. J. H. Vincent, and used in the Plainfield (N. J.) Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school, James M'Gee, superintendent. A large sheet of lapinui?n, or blackboard cloth, about nine feet by four, has been nailed to the wall, back of the desk, at a cost of less than ten dollars, and set apart wholly to the Quarterly Review, leaving the other blackboard of the school for other use. This blackboard cloth has been ruled, as on the following page. The top column across the page contains the number of the quarter and the numbers of the lessons fiom I to XII. The first column down the page indicates the points in each lesson that are to be reviewed. In the second column down the page we see the application of this plan to the first lesson of the third quLarter of 1876, as found in the "Berean Question Book." The explanation of this column will show the application of the plan for any lesson and with any question book or lesson leaf. The question is asked, " What is the title of the lesson?" The answer is given by the school, "David's charge to Solomon," which is indicated on the blackboard only in initials as a help to memory, "D. C. S." Then the question in regard to topic is answered, "Ministiyv to God divinely appointed," which is epitomized in the letters, "M. G. D. A." The golden text, "Know thou the God of thy father, etc.," is indicated by its first word. The outline. " MINISTRY TO GOD APPOINTED " 1. As to what men shall do; 2. As to how men shall do, RDQUARTER, I. II. III, IV V. VI. VII. es, - - - IC.r,.,. ics or Central.G.D.A M.OW. H.G.D.A, Xt..O.W. houghts, - den Texts, - iKInow-"If any M.G.A. R. O. line, - - Wh. G. 0. Wh. C.o How. o. B. otrine, - -. F. A.M. ra Drill, - 70 THROtUGt THE EYE TO THE HEART. is repeated and epitomized in the same way, and also the "doctrine" of the lesson, "God a sovereign." A few mo ments are given to some extra drill on the Catechism, the books of the Bible, or some other subject, for which thle re main,ing column is used. The other blalckboards are used for pictorial or other exercises on each le.son in addition to this memory drill. On the second Sunday the second lesson is developed in the same manner, and the first is reviewed. This re view of all the preceding lessons of the quarter occurs every Sunday after the drill on the new lesson, and is necessary to a thorough Quarterly Review. To give variety in the appearance of the exercise, on some quarters, twelve books are represented as standing on a shelf, and the initials as above are put on their backs, each book representing a lesson. Twelve picture fi'ames might be drawn for a still further change, or a pillar with twelve stones, or a road with twelve milestones, the details being essentially the same in each case. The blackboard, then, is of great value in the Sundayschool for winning attention, helping memory, making announcements, explaining truth, condensing thought, emphasizing ideas, and reviewing lessons. WHAT TO TAKE OUT OF A LESSON FOR THE BLACKBOARD. Those who are unaccustomed to the use of the blackboard may not know at first what should be taken ott of a lesson and put before the eye. The parts to be thus used are usually either the central thought, the Golden Text, the great doctrine, the prominent duty, the outline, or the warning, of the lesson. When " what to use" has been searched out, then the "how to use it " should be considered,-whether to make it an outline picture, or an acrostic, or what form will best emphasize the point to be taught, explain its meaning, and impress it on tfil memory, with due regard also to pleasing variety. THROUGH TAH EYE TO TIAE HIEART. MATERIALS WANTED. A large revolving blackboard is, of course, the best.* It affords a great advantage in that the exercise on one surface may front the school during the lesson, and another exercise may be held in reserve on tlhe hidden side for the closing review. Often it is well to have a simple exercise on the fi'ont, such as a motto, or a word exercise; a symbol exercise or outline exercise being kept on the reverse side until the other has been used. Some carpenter interested in the school will sometimes make stch a blackboard at a low price, but its great usefulness will b)e an amnple reward foi an extra effort to obtain it. Those who are building new churches should put in a fine wall blackboard. If neither of these can be had, a poor one is far better than none. Then a good eraser, a long, stout rule, a good(i pointer, and a box of mixed crayons, will make an outfit. White cra:yons should generally be used, but other colors sometimnes add greatly to the variety and strength of expression. By gaslight yellow crayons are most distinct. Use round chalk for writing, square chalk for printing. "Bear on! Speak loud to the eye!" A firee and offhand way of writing and printing should be cultivated. The blackboard excels nearly all other fornms of illustration in convenience, availability, and cheapness. Description and allegories require more time to ieach the heart through the e:ir thlan the blackboard to reach it through the eye. "Objects" for object lessons aie sliown but olnce, while the blackboard mlay be used again and again for ain indefinite time. Pictures have one unchanging surface, while the blackboard gives opportunity for fresh and varied illustrations. Maps are purchased at considerable expense, and many schools cannot supply themselves waith a sufficient number for a thorough * By far the cheapest method of getting a blackboard is to buy one or two yards of "Blackboard Cloth," for one or two dollars, and hang it upon the wall or nail it upon an easel. Many prefer it even to tihe best blackboards. It is manufactured by "The Silicate Slate Company," corner of Church and Fulton Streets, New York, and sold by many book-sellers. I 72 ITHROUG-H THE EYE TO THIE HART. study of Bible geography. Blackboard maps may present the towns, rivei's, and mountains mentioned in the lesson more prominently than any published maps would do it. How TO MAKE LETTERS.* "The plainest lettel is generally the best, and one of the easiest styles of letter to make is called the block letter. "' ow are they made? If the word or sentence is to be written on a sti,aighlit line, place the ruler against the board, and draw the ci'ayon faintly on each side of it; that will make two parallel lines three inches apart, thus: .......-;.. Next, lower the rule, say three fourths of an inch, and rule again, thus: "The upper and lower spaces enable you to make the top anid bottom of the lines even and of the same size. "Say the word to be written is L-O-V-E. Remember that the pS, rallel line s jist, r uled always make the top and bottom of the let ters, and to complete the m the down lines *iuU p -~ei~i~~m only have to be made. "See diagiramn. Tile *For further varieties of letters see "Table of Blackboard Alphabets" in closing pages of the book. Charles B. Stout says that a blackboard should not be black at alL Boards colored a sea-green," he says,' are very agreeable to the eye, and afford a fine ground for chalk and crayon. On boards of a delicate sky-blue the chalk shines with almost dazzling whiteness." Manufacturers of blackboards say that while this is so when a blueboard is new, it soon becomes blurred, and is then less distinct than the black. If one should use the blue it would doubtless be necessary to wash it before each use, and frequently renew the liquid slating or coloring.. -. t ROtG'i TE YE TO THE IEART. heavy lines- show the down lines. Letters made with one colored crayon and shaded with that of another color are very prominent; for instance, a yellow letter shaded with red. Be caretful to make the shading on the same side of each letter. "Another way to make showy letters is to make them regaidless of proportion, in all sorts of irregular shapes; see the word Divine iii the diagram. The letters'look best shaded. "To write words in a semicircle, make guiding lines by fastening a piece of crayon to the string; with the left hand hold the string against the board, and with the right hand describe the circle. (See diagram on p. 72.) "Broad letters made with the side of the crayon show wvell. See the word Peace. "Letters written as in the word Purity are not difficult to make. "Use the string in making letters with curved lines. See the word Good. "A bold, vigorous stroke always looks better than a weak, timid one, even thongli not so, true." * "Anyv man who has influence enough to receive the v\otes of any company of men and women to be the superintendent of their Sabbath-school has ability to use the blackboard if he only has willingness to nse it in this simple, unostentatious way. "The plainest sort of a man, with the lesson in his head and heait, baptized with the spirit of self-forgetfulness, whose only aim is to impress God's truth on youthful hearts, will do more with his rudest chalkings than the skillful blackboardist with his perfect diagrams, but without his Christly spirit and aim. "Here, at least, heart is greater than art." t THE SLATE. To the individual teacher the slate is as helpful as the blackboard to the pastor or superintendent. All that mnay be *J. B. Phipps, in "' The Normal Class." + Rev. J. F. Clym.er. 73 74 THROtlH THE EYE TO THEt t FEART. said of the advantages of the blackboard to the school may be said of the slate in regard to the class. Every teacher who can write a plain hand, even though unskillful with the pencil, may use the slate with great profit. If the lesson is descriptive, ]make a frame by drawing four lines, and then put within it the objects mentioned it the lessonstraight marks for people, squares for houses, crosses for trees, and acute angles for mountain,s. These, with the imagination of the class, will make a picture which will fix a lesson in the mind so that it will never be for- gotten. It would be a profitable investment for a Sunday-school to buy for all its teachers silicate slates large enough to give a foot square of surface when opened, and have thle superintendent in the teachers' meetings suggest maps, outlines, etc.. for the teachers to use on their slates in their classes, in addition to what might be held ill reserve for the general blackboard. The blackboard exercises givern in this book may be used with eytual appropriateness on a teaecher's slate. Every scholar also should lhave a slate to make a map of the scene of the lesson, written answers to special questions given out on the previous Sunday, written epitomes of the home readings or some other part of the lesson, etc. A CLASSIFICATION of blackboard exercises will now follow, arranged in a natural order from the simplest to the most difficult, from the simplest motto to the more elaborate outline exercise. Enough are given under each class to show distinctly what we mean by its name and to suggest many others. 1, THE MOTTO ExERcIsE. —The simplest foim of black THROtGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. board exercise is to write or print the Golden Text, or a religions precept or proverb, or some nmotto or watchword, on the blackboard. By breaking it up into short lines, emphasizing important words by colors, large capitals, and a position by themselves, suich mottoes ai-e often made very impressive. The following is a good illustration of the arrangement of a motto on the blackboar(d: "The Lord" "healeth" "thee" ~ stand out prominent, both on account of position and size. " Healeth" should be in red, to suggest AM the cleansing blood, and "thee" in white, to represent "white as THE LORD snlow." Even the writing of a simple T HAT precept on the blackboard about HEALETH which yolu wish to speak impresses that precept on those who are TH E E. listening as no emphasis or repetition can do. MUCH WITH GOD, MUCH LIKE GOD. Stich a motto can be illustrated by the stoi-y of "that disciple whom Jesus loved," or by the story of Moses on the Mount, and enforced with such passages as, "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is," and, "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image." The following exercises are only suggestive of a multitude of others: TRUST YE IN THE LIJORD FOREVER: FOR IN THE I CD TV IS EVERLASTING STRENGTH. Is, 4 Is. Hxi? 4. 75 T, ID TRItOUGH THE' EYE TO THE tEARTP. "Ingenious little children sometimes tell you how, with a few letters, they can spell a very large word. With three letters I can spell bereavement. With three letters I can spell disappointment. With three letters I can spell suffering. With three letters I can spell death. With three letters I ctn spell perdition. S-i-n-SIN. That is the cause of all our trouble now. That is the cause of our trouble for the future." "SIN" being printed very large, across it, in another color, may be written the words in italics; above it may then be written, "Christ will save us from," and on either side, "No - in heaven." II. THE TOPIC EXERCISE. Next to the motto exercise in simplicity comes the topic exercise, which consists in putting the divisions of an address, or the analysis of a lesson, or the prominent points of a story, upon the blackboard, one after another. For example, "Christ's Miracles of Raising the Dead," by Rev. W. B. Wright: I. JAIRUS' DAUGHTER-from her BED. II. WIDOW'S SON-from his BIER. III. LAZARUS-fiom the TOMB. This exercise illustrates the increasing wondler of the three miracles on the (lead; one raised just after death from her "bed;" another a few hours after death from his "bier," as he was "carried forth;" and a, third firom the "tomb," where he had "lain fouli days already." JESUS OUR DAVID. The Shepherd Bag. The Bible. Five Pebbles. litM, 5; 1 Pet. ii, 24; John tit, 86. The Sling. The Holy Spirit. VICTORY THROUGH CHRIST. 6 B. P. J. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 3. INITIAL EXERCISE. Next in natural order comes the Initial Exercise, by which several important words in the lesson beginning with the same letter are united together with that letter. For example: FROM SIN TO GOD. ' U I N E D IN-Separates from God. * J DEMEBY AVIOUR-Restores to God. TI. DEEMED BY t~~~~-uaidcese. LiEGENERATED k) I)RJI'TR;~-Reproves. — Comfolrts. This exercise may be illustrated by the familiar story of Culrtius and the clia.m at Rome, and other stories of men who have given their lives for country or friends. Another example of this kind: THE PRODIGAL. ashness. uin. ebellion. epe ntance. eform. ost, C ought, oves, kecured, 4. THE SYLLABLE EXERCISE. Next in natural order are those exercises in words are bound together by a common syllable. THE PATHWAY OF JESUS. _B _1 I r z T LEHEM-Manger. r- 1 ABARA-Baptism. ANY-" How he love SAIDA-Multitude fe PIRAGEFHosnn w YOTJLI V1X,: _ BORN AGAIN." WILL YOU GO P 77 estored, ej oiced over. which several For example: 78 TITROUGIGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. "Behold" Jesus at Bethleheni in the manger-the Prince of heaven wrapped in swaddling-clothes, paying the ransom of your soul; Behold a dove descending and a voice fiom heaven, at Bethlehemi, saying, "This is my beloved Soni;" "Behold how. hlie loved him" at Bethany; Behold the cripple saved at Bethesda, the multitude fed at Bethsaida; "Behold thy king coineth (tiom Bethpha.(ge) amid palms and hosannas." Believe in this Christ and yoL shall be "born again," and have a Clhristt.mas and Bethlehem in your ownl heart; yoti shall be baptized into Christ, raised from the death of sin, fed with angels' food, and your heart filled with " Hosannas." " Wtill you go" in this pathway with Jesus? 5. THE WORD EXERCISE. This class includes exercises, in which two or more passages or statements alre bound together by a common word. For example: WHAT WILL YOU HAVE?-(See Prov. xxiii, 29.) Tf~ ~T ARRY LONG AT N THE TE THAT 111 SEEK MIXED WINE, TIIEY TIIAT SEEK MIXED WINE, WHAT, -,,, BABBLINGS. WII A -F-B REDNESS OF EYES. ~CONTENTIONS. WILLlr WOUND& ", * SORROW. 1OU Uk, To *. O r E. SAMPLE ROOM. The words "Whlat will you-(bave)" are not to be written until after all the others havc been written and spoken of. Illustrations for this exercise may be taken from the following I -. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. " SPECITMENS OF THE WORK DONE INSIDES." A young man in prison had such a strong thirst for intox.cating liquor that he cut off his hand at the wrist, called for a bowl of brandy in order to stop the bleeding, thrust his vrist into the bowl, and then drank the contents. A wife was dangerously sick and her husband went for her medicine. On the way home he stopped to drink with a friend; one glass led to others; after a long time he came home stupefied with drink, and threw himself upon the bed where the helpless wife was lying in mortal agony. He woke at midnight, startled by a terrible thunder storm that was raging, and found his wife cold in death at his side. In a village near Boston, an old man, the slave of appetite, endeavored to get sonre liquor as a medicine, being unable to get it as a drink. He said he needed it on account of trouble with his feet. Being suspected, he was told he could use it in the drug-store, but could not carry it away. He poured it into his boots, and was seen a few minutes later behind a fence, greedily drinking the liquor from his boots. Nay, more, a slave of this habit, unable to buy any liquor, stole and drank the spirits with which a corpse had been bathed a few hours before! 6. PHRASE EXERCISE. This class comprises those exercises in which a common phrase binds together several passages. For example: ELISHA'S DEFENDERS.-2 JKings vi, 16. "THE LORD OF HOSTS IS i TT "THEY THAT BE WI lT US ARE MORE THAN THEY TIIAT BE WITH THEM." "IF GOD BE FOR US WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?" 79 80. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. When London was shaken with the great earthquake, and houses were falling on every side; when the ground rocked like the sea in a storm, and men cried for mercy, thinking the end of all things had come, Wesley gathered his little band of Christians in their chapel and read calmly to them, as they responded in many a deep and fervent amnen, the Forty-sixth Psalm: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help ii trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed," etc. The expression "The Lord was with "is associated with Joseph, Mos Daniel, David, etc. These also may be grouped into a phrase exercise, and the application made to the passage "The Lord of hosts is with us." In the pit where Joseph was cast, the basket-cradle of Moses, the den of lions. and the other places of trial in the lives of those mentioned, God was with them. 7. TABLE EXERCISE. This class comprises those exercises in which several pas sages or thoughts are grouped into some sort of a table Foi exalnl)le: BLESSING AND CUI.SING.-Having told the school to find in the B13ible, during the previous week, six things that God hates, ai(I eight tlhings that God blesses, hinting, if necessary, that somewhere in Proverbs and Matthew the information may be found, put on the board, before the opening of the sclhool, what is below except the words which follow the figtires in each row. These should be drawn from the school by questions, when the blackboard exercise is explained, n.ear the close of the session: TSITH THE LORD: 1. Poor in spirit. 2 Mourners. 3. SMeek. BLESSEMD ARB ToM- 4 Truith-hungry. 4.Awckedea. BLSSED ARE H Mrcitul. 6. Mllure in heart as. Peace-imakers. o. Persecuted. Mat. v, 3-10 1. A proud look. 2. A lying tongue. 3. A wicked hand. I. HATE 4. A wicked heart. 5. _Mischievous feet. 6. A false witness. Pov. vi, 16-18. THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. Below the first group write, "They shall call on the rocks and nills to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb." Under the other, "These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." The first verses of the First Psalm may be used above these groups at the close, giving the present condition of things, as bthe passages below give the future: "BLESSED Is the man that walketh NOT BUT In the Counsel His delight is of the in the Ungodly, Law of the Lord." (Those things hated.) (Those things blessed.) GOSPEL IDEA OF A MAN. Faith. Virtue. Knowledge. (" Add.") Temperance. Patience. Brotherly Kindries-. Charity. Total-A TRUE MAN. God is not satisfied with pet virtues; with good temperance men who have no brotherly kindness; with faith in those who have not charity; with virtue, but not according to knowledge. We are to "add(l" these together, having the faith that mounts up on wings as eagles, the virtue that shall run and not be weary, the patience that shall walk and not faint, the brotherly kindness that beareth all things, and the charity that never faileth. 6 81 82 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 8. THE ACROSTIC EXERCISE. The acrostic exercise binds several passages or points together by their initial letters being formed into the important word of the lesson or address. For example: JEsus I.N TIiE TEM3PLE. OUR FOUND ARGUING, TEMPLE, HOW THAT YE; left us? s Sought me? ENGAG E D, (in Father's business.) RETURNED. The word "Our" and the acrostic letters "Father" in red, and the rest in white. WA TCH P U LN E SS. WATCH YOUR WORDS, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, COMPANY. HEARTS. J. . Wa#. RHROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. "FOLLOW MIE." (Luke ix, 51-62.) C ONSTANTLY, 0 LIUMBLY, MtE, ~ REVERENTLY, I MMEDIATELY. To HEAR, S UPREMELY, OBEY, UPRESELY, IMITATE. TRUSTGLY. red. C. Elliott. 9. PARALLEL AND CONTRAST EXERCISES. This division includes those exercises where different passages or thoughts are arranged to parallel or contrast with each other to show similarity or antitheses. It is useful to set before a school "life and death, blessing and cursing," to bring out the contrasts in the life of Christ and in Christian character, etc. THE Two TEMPTATIONS. EDEN. WILDERNESS. THE FIRST ADAM. THE SECOND ADAM. 1. EAT- 1. EAT2. YE SHALL BE AS GODS. 2. ALL THESE KINGDOMS. 3. YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE. 3. CAST THYSELF DOWN. "II hid myselfJ" "Get tI e bchind mot" ANGELS CAME AND DROVE HIM FORTH. I MINISTERED UNTO HIM. Satan is the same shrewd tempter in the wilderness as in Eden. He first tries appetite, then a2mbitioz, and then perverts the word of Go(. The father of lies said to Adam, "Ye shall be as gods." See him who was to be "as gods" sneakilig in the bushes. He said to Christ, "I will give you all the kingdoms of the world," when he did not own enough to rest his foot on. Temptation comes to-day, first to appetite; then, for the power of wealth or fame, we are urged to wrong-doing; then we are tempted to "cast ourselves dowq" 83 84 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. into soul-dangers, and even into eternity unprepared, and trust to God's angels Cancel the three temptations with "It is written." 10. OVER-CIIALKING OR CANCELING EXERCISE. Very many impressive exercises may be made by canceling a word or sentence with a better or brighter one. For example: THE PRE-EMINENCE OF JESUS, AT THE TRANSFIGURATION. 1. LAW-MOSES. 2. PROPIIETS-ELTAS. 3. GOSPELS-JOHN. 4. EPISTLES-PETER AND JAMES. Write in some brightly-colored chalk, "HEAR YE HIM" over the first row, after talking about it as it stands; thlen write "JESUS ONLY" over the other row. Instead of the books we shall see "Hear ye him;" instead of the men, "Jesus only." As we look upon the mount, Peter anTd James and John are on their faces; Moses aid Elias have faded out in the brightness of Clirist's glory, and we "see no man save Jesus oddly." Below the above exercise l)ri-it as follows: LOOKAR NOT To HAT THE TINK." HEAR NO T T THEYSAY." Write in red chalk, over the parts opposite "Look," the following, to cancel the error, "to JESUS ONLY." So, after HEAR," the following, " YE HIM." First, the exercise standing as it is above, show how we mneasuie and plan by those strange yard-sticks and mirrors "What they think" and "What they do." and how we always have a hand to the ear for "What they say." Then cancel these errors, and let the revised exercise read, Loos TO JEsus ONLY "-" HEAR YE HIM." TItRoUGt TIlIE EYE TO tHE HEART. THE OIL INCREASED. 2 Kings iv, 1-7. I. Wi'ite on the board the words WIDOW, ELISI[A, ,II[ACLE, as the three points of impoitance in the lesson. II. Show the condition of the widow. It was of Affliction, Debt, Poverty, Slavery. [As each word is given by the school write it down.] III. What the woman did. She told Elisha; asked his help; believed his word; obeyed his command. IV. Next illustrate the process of the miracle. Door was shut; oil w:1s increased; vessels filled; debt paid. V. Now, its spiritual application. The condition of the widow is the condition of ALL. [Either write this word over the word WIDOW, or erase it, and substitute for it.] So, what she did to Elisha, we may do to JESUS. [Substitute Jesus for Elisha, or chalk the word over it.] The nzir(tcle is a type of SALVATION. [Substitute or over-chalk as above.] 85 86 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. The words All, Jesus, Salvation, may be written with large, square chalk, one inch in diameter, or with the flat side of aii ordinary crayon. Rev. J. L. l-urlbztt. MUI, NlG OF TIlE CRbs. 1 Cor. i, 23; Acts xviii, 1-11 1 Cor. 1-23. 1. Draw a cross about the center of the board. 2. The three classes of which the lesson speaks. Write in yellow, Jews; in blue, Greeks; in white, Believers. Below, as in the diagram, the word SEEKING. 3. Now, what were the Jews seeking? A Sign, [yellow.] The Greeks? Wisdom, [blue.] Believers? Salvation, [white.] 4. Next write, as in the diagram, FIND. The Jews found in the cross-Stu,iblingblock, [yellow.] The Greeks, etc. 5. Finally, the result. Write, in heavy chalk, over one side, Perish; on the other, Saved. R?ev. JT L. LHurlbut. TlHROUGH THiE EYE rTO THE HEART. 11. TIHE ERASING ExERCISE. Similar to the canceling exercise is the eirasing exercise, i,. rhich the eraser is used to rub out one word, or passage sometimes, in order to substitute another. LoVING JESUS. George A. Peltz gives a very stiking exercise of this class. At first on the board there is this sentence: "WHY DO I LOVE JESUS?" After talking a little of this to those wlio love Jesus lie rubs Iult "Why," and "'Do I love Jesus?" is hlis next point. Then lie rubs out "Do" and the interrogation point, and "I love Jesus" stands before the school. Tlien "I" is rubbed out, and the exhortation "I )ve Jesus" remaijs. Then "Love" is erased, and "Jesus" is the only word the children see, which suggests the passage, "They saw no man save Jesus only." HOW TO BE HAPPY TiuIs YEAR. For New Year's Day the subjoined exercise may be emI)loyed. Print on the board A NEW YEAR. Ask the children, "What was the first thing you said this miorning?" (" A Happy New Yeai.") "What did you hear those words with?" (" Ear.") Rtub out "Y." Then," What do you do with the ear?" (" Hear.") Put on " H " before "ear." "Now how shall we make the new year a happy one? If we are not Christians what must we have to be happy?" ("A New Heart.") Add "T," and finish the talk with the %woirds before the eyes of all "A NEW IIEARI. This is given briefly, by memory, fiomn "The Blackboard," 87 88 THROtGHt THE EYE TO THE HEAR'T. 1. Wite GOD as the beginning. N(xt, SERVE G)D. "ThIe TIME." When? YOUTIH. 2. Reasons. [Write each word as the reas()ii is announced.] Youth is the Best time; develops char,cterl. It is the Ecasiest time. It is a Glad time; early conversions are happy conversions. I)portant, as the period when habits are formed. Noblest, more honorable to give God the bloom of life. 3. Erase all of the column of words except the initials, and show the duty. Begin to Serve God. 4. Write at the foot of the column, NOW. The moment when we should begin to serve God. Rev. J. L. Hz,rlbut. The following incident may be used for illustration: Richard Walter was on his way to school with his slate and books neatly strapped in a bundle, when he felt a hand resting on his shoulder, and turn. ing around he saw a gentleman who said: "I see you have a slate in your bundle; I suppose you have an arithmetic too. What do you cipher in?" "Long division," said Richard. "Will you let me try to work a question in long division on your slate?" the man asked. Richard looked at him in astonishment, and scarcely knew what answer to make. However, Richard thought that he would see what the man would do, and hlie unbuckled his bundle, and handed slate and pencil to the gentleman. The stranger took THROUGH tETH EYE TO THE, IEART. them, and, stepping to the side of the path, figured away in silence for a few minutes. By the time he had finished some other boys came along, and stopped to see what was going on. " Good morning, boys," said the gentleman.' Here's a question in long division I've been trying to work out, and I want: you to see if it's right." Richard took the slate, while the boys .ooked over his shoulder at these figures: 29)384,605(12,572 29 74 58 166 145 210 '203 75 38 17 Wrong!" "Wiougl" "It is wrong! " shouted several voices at o(,ee. "Where is it wrong?" asked the gentleman.'Why," said Ricliard,'you made a mistake almost at the very start. Nine from eighteen leaves nine, you've seven." " Is that the oily mistake?" said the man. I TIhit is all I see," said Richard. "I guess the rest is all right," said aiother boy. "Woik out the question yourself, and let me see the restult," said tlse gentlemaii to Richard. When lie had done it the gentleman said: "Your quotient is 13,262, and is right. Mine was 12,572, and is wrong; and the boys were all wrong in saying that the only mistake was that made in the beginning, for as that was wrong every thing thatfollowed it was wrong. Those figures though right in themselves, gave me a wrong answer because of THE ERROR IN THE BEGINNING. CIIRISTIAN GROWTH. Mr. C. B. Stout, of New Jersey, makes an excellent address on Christian work and growth on the following plan. He first writes "Go," and speaks of the importance of going somewhere. Then he adds "Right," making "Go Right," and speaks of that. Then he adds "On," which makes "Go Right On," his third point. After developing that thought he writes "Working," and his fourth point is GO RIGHT ON WORKING. After emphasizing this he erases all except the initials, leav ing the exhortation, "GROW." 89 90 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 12. WORD-SYMBOL EXERCISE. This class includes all thosc exercises in which passages ol Sciipttire or other words are shaped into symbols of Bible truth, as crosses, stars, plows, shields, shil)s, roads., etc. For example: TiHE PRECIOUS CROSS. H E I S PI[ECIOUS BLOOD PROMISES FAITH TO YOU TII AT BELIEVE. See 1 Pet. i, ii; 2 Pet. i. First and last, Christ is "pieciomus" to all that believe. His "blood" is precious, and also the "promises" and "faith" by which we claim and apply it to our hearts. The whole fol'rms the "precious" cioss. It would be well to ask on the Sunday previous to the use of this that the scholars should find every tiling that Peter calls "precious." Then write only " Piecious" on the board before the school, getting the remainder firom the scholars. The cross, as it is the most prominent symnbol of our holy religion, is often formed in a way similar to that just indicated, in blackI)oald exercises, as the following examples will show: Thou ~~~~~~~~~I love I love them that I o v e ills ~~~~~~love "Come unto /[ and be savedl." " My son, give i' l thine hearL" & they t h a t s eek lmf E: people ~~~~~~early rmshall f i n d hE eiet fin d.' " SINS. ~ S. O8~ra~der'. ME. l~ev'd/rom I.11..' lTHROtJUGfl THE EYE TO TE 1EART. THE YOKE OF CIIRIST. MY YOKE IS EASY. (Matt. xi, 30.) I place first upon the board the two U's. I am about to address you and you, each of you. I want the ears and eyes of all. We are carrying burdens, guilt, sin, weighed dowin under the wrath of God. We are tired of sin, a burden; we are heavy laden. Jesus says, "Come unto me," etc. Will you come? He will tell you how to get rid of this load. He will teach you. He says, "Learn of Me." How? Why? You want rest. "I will give you rest." How? "Take my yoke upon you." How can we get rest by taking another yoke upon us? His yoke is easy. We bear the yoke. Christ bears our sins, etc. "Cast thy burden on the Lord," or Jestus, often. "Great peace have they that love thy law;" all joy, etc. Burdens light; "These light afflictions," etc. The invitation, " Come unto M[E all ye that labor and," etc. The owner brings the yoke, and the oxen come under it. They assist in reaping the fields, and in winter live on the harvest, etc. Sometimes we see one ox lying down and the other standing, both joined to one yoke, one ready for work, the 91 98 TlHROUGH TlHE EE TO THE H"EARt. other at ease. So Chirist waits for the idle Christian. "Woe u?ito themn that are at ease in Zion."-,. S. Ostrander. TIlE MILESTONES OF TIIE NARROW WAY. In the city of Rom distances were measured( by milestoncs that couniited in each direction from the golden milestone ill the public square. So all along our way God puts tip the milestones of' the promises, beginning with the Golden Milestone of Conversion. Make the outline of a road, with milestones, each formed of the words of a promise. 13. TIE MAP EXERCISE. This class in.(lides sitnply geogra on the blackboard. Whenever the to 1)e brought out, no means is more outline, on which the schol,ars can lineator in marking the prominent points. A iiap whose cotistruction the eye has witnessed will be retained more rea,dily and vividly in the mind than one far more elaborate displayed when complete. The lack of exactness and finish will be more than compensated in the distinctness and impressiveness attained. The outline here presented will be a convenient form of carrying the shape of Palestine in the memory. AL A; ID, I -I in th mem.....................ory....................... I .1I i II i ------ 7 - i i-4 I I I i i A A THROUGH THE EYE TO THE hIEART. The plan we have just given and described is designed sim ply to afford the teacher an easy mode of drawing an outline of Palestine; but when one has thus been made, only one or two points in the country, those that are to be connected with the lesson, should be brought out, and no irrelevant parts of the map delineated. Ve insert two most excellent illustrations of this, which have been contributed to this book by Mrs. Samuel W. Clark. The first is on SAUL'S CONVERSION. In connection with tlus 'V D. journey from J. (Jeiusa lem) t o D. (Damascus) the story of Saul's per secuting spilit, the light, ,, t llthe voice, the blindness with which he entered Damascus, and the other interesting incidents of his conversion, may be ,I~ ~described. Some writer I,' has said of this scene that "Christ himself stood as lI~~~ t,sentry for his little Church .J, J at Damascus, and saved it from its bitterest perse cutor." The following Sabbath the map was continued and enlarged to include a part of Patil's first missionary journey. PAUL, TiHE FIRST MISSIONARY. A careful reading of the Scripture narrative (Acts ix-xiii, 13) will give the journey indicated upon this mnap. A. is Antioch in Syria, S. is Seleucia, Sa. is Salamis, Ph. is Paphos, P. is Perga, A. P. is Antioch in Pisidia, and 1. is Iconinum, 93 94 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. A study of the history will enable the teacher to tell the story, not in stereotyped phrases, but as an interesting narrative of S. /,D. ED,~~~~~~J travel. As the history of Paul is continued on following Sabl)aths, the new countries may be added and the three jouirnevs kept distinct by three different colors of chalk. Only a little will be added to the map at once, and that thoroughly explained, so that at the close a life-long remembrance of P.itl's wanderings will be secured. An interesting exercise may be conducted with this map, such as is suggested on pages 58, 59. The school may be divided into sections, each of them having one of Pctul's jotneys, on which they are to prepare. Then beginning( with the map, as on page 130, the line may l)e increased and the places added, one after another, until all the journeys of Paul are completed, and he has " finished his course." Appropri: te selections of Scripture, hymns, recitations, and readings will add to the interest of the exercise. The wliole may I)e named? "From Damascus to Rome," THROUGH THE -YE TO THE HEART. Dr. M'Cook, in a map which he made upon the blackboard at an institute in Philadelphia, took the Sea of Galilee as a unit of measure, and about one length above it placed Lake Meromn; about six lengths below, measuring by the eye sinmply, the Dead Sea, making a crooked line to connect them, as the Jordan, with small streams branching out fiom it at appropriate places; about three lengths to the left of the Sea of Galilee he made Mount Carmel, and then slanted the line inward above and outward below, and, after a few additioins of mountains and towns connected with the locality he desired to speak of, the map presented a very good representation of Palestine. If a variety of colors are used for water, shore, mountains, towns, rivers, etc., it will add greatly to the clearness and beauty of the map. If the scholars can be induced to reproduce these maps from memory on their slates at home, and afterward bring them to their teachers, it will fix them yet more clearly in their mind. Sometimes it is well to make a local miap without the outline of the country as its frame-work, as the following for CHRIST AT JACOB'S WVELL. I I! I'nilmlllitl~illllllullll I" VALY. OF -NABLUS. JOTS,EMH'S NVAB LU!/5' JACOB'S WELL ...,,,III!,...z~,,~~~ ~:,,~ ~ ,,q~lt,........:, % TEMP 0 ~~~~~~~~~~ Ij 1_. t,,,^1~~~~~ 95 96 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. 14. TIHE OUTLINE EXERCISE. Last and best of all is the outline exercise-outline drawings for the illustration of truth. Most of the outlines are only the putting into chalk of Bible metaphors and similes. Those of this kind are by far the best, and seldom is it well to represent any other outlines on a Sabbath-school blackboard. We might ma.ke one important exception in favor of the religious symbols oft' the Church, which are given in the Appendix. They offelr a wide range fotbr appropriate outline exercises. As a rule, elaborate outlines are not desirable, although a school that has an excellent artist may as properly have a beautiful picture on one side of its blackboard as on its wall. In almost every case the simplest outlines, drawn at the time of explanation, without special effort at ornament or perfection, are the best. FROM THE CRADLE TO THE COFFIN. Mr. Stout makes a very impressive lesson with a simple line: C I -- IC He tells the schools that the line they see is the picture of every human life from the cradle to the coffin. Every one that hears him is at some point on that line. They all wish that point may be nearer the first "C" than the other, but it may be very near the last, etc. The same excellent speaker makes an impressive exercise for teachers by making two " Cs" as above, and then connecting them by a curve, saying, "The teachei-'s orbit should be from the closet of prayer to the class;" and then, making another curve from the second " " back to the first, he adds, "and from the class to the closet." Another very simple exercise comes to'is from the ancients: "Pythagoras used the letter Y as a symbol of human life. 'Remember,' says he,'that the foot of the letter represents intifancy, and the forked top the two paths of virtue and vices THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. cne or the other of which people are to enter upon after attaining the age of discretion." Another exercise as simple as that just mentioned is to represent with two lines, meeting at right angles, the coming together of PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. After the story of their journeys and meeting is told, when the separation is mentioned, continue the lines so that they will form a cross. The Treasurer of Candace found the cross as Philip "preached unto him Jesus" from the fifty-third of Isaiah. When the Christian is willing to obey the leadings of the Spirit, and the awakened one is desiring to know the way, God's providence will bring them together, and both shall be blessed. "Jesus in the Old Testament," "Drawing near to those we would benefit," "Preaching Jesus to single hearers by the roadside and fireside," and other such topics, may be presented from this story and outline. TH E ] IRST LOVE LOST. - =.........- Another simple exercise a —W J~ _. =_. is the accompanying star -_S-; Dcross, that may be used =C - ):__~ —:with the letter to the Church at Ephesus in Rev. xi. There ~- id: -: —: aie seven stars, the angels of the seven :-!:?=~:=::=-;: -- Churches, and one of them is falling for -—:7 lack of love. The Church at Ephesus hacid a grand record in some respects works and labor and patience, indig nation and punishment for evil-doers, eli = 7 ~ ~ durance, and other virtues, but all was in vain for lack of love: "I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love." A similar failure is described in 1 Corinthians xiii. 7 97 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. THE SEA-PATH. (Exod. xiv, 9, 19-22, 27.) MOUNTAIN. EGYPTIANS. ISRAEL. SEA. MOUNTAIN. Describe the situation of Israel. The enemy behind, mountains on either side, the sea in front. But God opened a path through the sea. Israel went over. The Egyptians were drowned. The Egyptians trusted in their horses and chariots, Israel trusted in God. "Some trust in chariots," etc. Psalm xx, 7. Use the map not only historically, but also to show that when God bids us "go forward" he always clears our way as we go. "Though we pass through the waters, they shall not come nigh us." "Though a host should encamp against us, in God shall we be confident." THE WANDERING PATH. An excellent illustration of the going forward and backward, the faithfulness and faltering of many Christians; may be made by drawing the crooked line of the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness, marking not only prominent places, but also, at proper points, "M anna," "Brazen serpent," "Water from the rock," "Fowls from the heavens," to indicate God's goodness; and such passages as these, at other places, when they begin to turn back, "Mutch discouraged," "Longing for flesh-pots," "Rebelling," "Golden calf," etc., to represent not only the historical facts, but also our prone. hess to wander.* o A concert exercise on this journey, entitled "The Christian Pilgrimage," has been prepared by the author of this book in connection with Dr. Eben Tourje4e. The circulars are used both for concert and praise meetings, and are published by Eben Shute, 40 Winter-street, Boston, Mass. Price, $1 50 per hundred. 98 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. SATAN AND THE SAVIOUR. The following exercise is contributed by Rev. J. M. Freeman, and fully explains itself: INFANT CLASS BLACKBOARD LESSON: * Visit of the Wise Men to Bethlehern-Matt. ii, 1-12. TTIR GUID - G UI rIO O- CT ~ TT ~. * In using this exercise the teacher can refer to several passages which speak of the Bible as a guide, as, for instance, Psalm cxix, 105; and for the reverse refer to Prov. xxiii, 26, and parallel passages. 99 0 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. (Reverse.) ~IIR GI't,. OJ~ GIP. 2 GOLD, OUR Frankincense, HEARTS Myrrh. -D. B. 1I. TEMPERANCE EXERCISE. -AIrs. Samutel W. Clark. WATER AND RUM. Draw a water pitcher and rum bottle, and make on them the following acrostic exercises: Watchful, FRascality, Active, Truthful, Uncleanness, Excellent, Rich. Murder. 1O0 THROUGH THE EYE TO THE HEART. SATAN'S SPIDER-WEB.* 1. Draw in advance the web, covering the whole board. 2. Write in each compartment, in order, Bad Company, l3ad Habits, Bad Tempers, Lying, Dishonesty, and Irreligion, and as each is written, in presence of the school, show its danger and evil influence. Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. SALVATION OF THE PRODIGAL. Luke xv, 11-32. Ingratitude. I _ Confesses. - Selfishness. Seeks. - Wickedness. Starts. aWntoe. Tnesolves. ThHonors. Displeased. ~