"Grant us Thy presence, Lord, The Rev. J. INGLIS addressed the Convention upon "THE HISTORY AND INFLUENCE OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND." I have had considerable difficulty in ascertaining the religious condition of Scotland previous to the existence of sabbath schools. Were I to believe one class of informants, Scotland at that time was a kind of paradise; if I were to believe another, it was almost a heathen country; and between the two I have not been able to ascertain distinctly where the truth lies. I have had equal difficulty in ascertaining the direct benefits of sabbath schools; because, though a very large amount of good has been done during the last eighty years in Scotland, it is extremely hard to say how much is to be attributed to the revived influence of religion in the family, how much to the more evangelical preaching of the pulpit, and how much to the teaching of the sabbath school; nor do I think it necessary to ascertain how much or how little is to be ascribed to one or other of these influences. There is more difficulty in ascertaining the date of the establishment of sabbath schools in Scotland than in England. In Scotland family teaching existed to a large extent many years previous to the introduction of sabbath schools. You may gather some idea of its prevalence from a fact recorded in the session book of Glasgow. It was the custom, when a young man came to his minister and desired to be married, that he underwent an examination as to his qualifications to act as the head of a family; and if it was found that he was not properly qualified, the minister delayed the ceremony! It was also the custom in Scotland for the ministers to have periodical examinations-that is to say, they went through their congregations once a year, calling together the families in a particular district, and catechizing them, men, women, and children. This custom gave a certain stimulus to family education. I have found that as early as the year 1756, a Presbyterian minister started a sabbath school in his own house, which was attended by thirty or forty children. This school he maintained for a period of not less than fifty years, and I believe it has continued unbroken to the present day. But after all these statements it cannot be doubted that the sabbath school, as it now exists, sprang from a seedling, which was wafted by the warm south wind from the city of Gloucester, in the year 1782. Previous to that year schools were few in number, and exercised but little influence. They were the work of individual pious ministers; they were not taught by laymen at all, and had no self-propagating or diffusive power. From that period a new life began, till at last these institutions cover the whole country; for not only in our large towns and in our smaller villages, but even in our lonely glens will you find the sabbath school; and I have noticed, when visiting some remote part, children coming from great distances by twos and threes, singing their little hymns when going to an anniversary meeting of the sabbath school. The number of teachers at the present time is, as near as I can ascertain, about 40,000, and the number of scholars about 400,000. To these must be added a large number of ministers' classes, I should think there cannot be less than from 70,000 to 80,000 young men and women under the teaching of ministers in these classes. When the sabbath school began in Scotland, it met with great opposition, both from the civil and the ecclesiastical authorities. To give an example or two of the nature of this opposition, I may mention that in the town of Paisley, in 1799, the sheriff of the county intimated to the sabbath school teachers that he considered their meetings to be illegal, and demanded from them a sight of their books. He also required that every sabbath school should obtain a licence, and summoned the various teachers to take the oath of allegiance before the magistrates. In the small town of Lauder, in 1797, information against the sabbath school was laid before the sheriff, who sent to the minister, and said, "You must let me see the books you use in the sabbath school." The minister sent him the Bible and the Shorter Catechism, both of which the sheriff returned, with the remark, "I wish you God-speed." In a few years after this, sabbath schools became popular. It was a customary thing to have a patron in the person of some gentleman or nobleman in the neighbourhood, and I find the names of the Earls of Elgin and Eglinton, and the Countess of Dunsmore, among the patrons of sabbath schools. By-and-bye the magistrates were invited to open the schools, and see them examined. In one case, their authority was carried a little too far. In a small town of some 1,500 inhabitants, an order was issued that no scholar should be allowed toleave the house until the church-bell rang, when all the doors were thrown open, and the children admitted to the school. Still it must have worked well, for we find that of the 1,500 inhabitants, therewere 500, or one-third of the whole population in attendance at the schools. The opposition from the ecclesiastical authorities was somewhat more formidable. At that time lay teaching in Scotland was almost altogether unknown, and the ecclesiastical courts declared that sabbath school teaching by laymen was not only an innovation, but was contrary to Presbyterianism. Some ministers stated from the pulpit that the conducting of a sabbath school was a breach of the fourth commandment, and others, that if any parent sent his children to the sabbath school, he should be cut off from the communion of the church. Such were the extreme measures taken by certain parties in Scotland at that time. The pious ministers and laymen, however, continued their labours, heedless of the anathemas which were fulminated against them, and the result is that all opposition has entirely ceased, and there are now none more cordially devoted to the sabbath school cause than ministers, many of whom have been educated in those institutions, and have been engaged as sabbath school teachers. And those very bodies which passed formal resolutions against sabbath schools now have an annual statistical return of their operations. It was well that this battle was fought and won; for it was not the cause of sabbath schools only, but of all those lay agents who are now labouring so zealously and successfully in our country. In looking back to those early days, one of the first things that strikes us is the total absence of all female teachers. Go into any town or village, and you would find none but males engaged in them. The opposition to lay agency, I have no doubt, existed with aggravated force against female agency; the consequence was, that even so late as 1820, out of 1,700 teachers reported by the Sabbath School Union, only 140 were females. In another school, so late as 1830, out of 25 teachers, there was not one female, and I myself have been in schools within the last twenty years in which no females were engaged. So slow are persons to discover what, when discovered, seems self-evident, that none are better qualified to teach the gospel of love than female teachers, none are more persevering, and none more successful. I believe that of the 40,000 teachers now in Scotland, there are very nearly 20,000 females. Another thing which strikes us in those early times is the size of the classes. As a general rule, there was only one teacher to a school, and rarely more than two or three. Few teachers had less than 30 scholars, and some had even 100. This practice continued for a good while. An endeavour was made in 1810 to introduce the Lancasterian system of monitors, but it did not succeed, for it was found that religious teaching could not be safely entrusted to inexperienced youths. More than ten years later, a great impulse was given to sabbath school teaching by the adoption of the Local System, warmly advocated by Dr. Chalmers, who succeeded in imparting his own enthusiasm to multitudes of teachers. A small district of sixty or seventy families was assigned to each teacher. He was expected to visit every family, gather into a room in the district all the children, young and old, and there instruct them; in this way bringing the gospel to their very doors. At first this system spread with great rapidity, the number of teachers and schools were multiplied, and sanguine hopes were entertained that the true remedy for the national evils had been discovered; but it was found, on an extended experience, to make too great demands on the energies and even on the health of teachers, to be continued. Few had the moral courage to persevere in their solitary labours, and the packed rooms were found very exhausting. But though here and there such schools may still be found, the present system of small and properly assorted classes, with one teacher to each, was gradually introduced, and has now become all but universal. Another point which strikes us in looking back to those times is the different management of these schools. It was thought that children would not attend the schools unless attracted by rewards. Medals were given to the best scholars, or picture-tickets, which, when they had accumulated in sufficient number, were exchanged for a book. I find among the prizes given, a book no less substantial than the Westminster Confession of Faith, a work better known in Scotland than in England. Beside the rewards, an attempt was made to promote excitement by allowing the children to "take places," as in day schools. It is to be feared that when the classes were so large and miscellaneous, and so many of the teachers inexperienced, much severity of punishment was occasionally employed. It was the time when, in this country, no less than 300 different crimes were punishable by death; when the lash was applied so mercilessly in the army and navy, and the rod was used so freely in our day schools; and therefore we need not be surprised that in the sabbath school a great deal of physical force was employed to keep order. I have seen an angry teacher go to a scholar, and knock him from his seat, because he was not able to say his catechism; and even in the present time in England I have seen discipline of the same nature exercised. But in a great measure these are things of the past. Sabbath school teachers believe now that they can attract children to the school by teaching them the word of God, and good discipline and small classes make it easy to keep them in due subordination. There is, however, to this rule one exception. In a Roman Catholic school I once visited, there were but two books used, a large catechism and a small one. Of the small one I say nothing, but of the large one I know that it had some extremely long questions. The teacher asked a question of a boy, who said, “O teacher, I can't get through that, it is so long; just let me miss it, and I will say the next without a mistake, for it is short." There was a class of big boys in a corner, who seemed to me to be behaving very well. The teacher, however, had not the same opinion, for he went to his desk, took down a good stout stick, and, beginning at the top of the class, he thrashed the boys all the way down. Not only was there a difference of management in those old times, but there was also a difference in the way of teaching. In Scottish sabbath schools reading and writing were never taught. It was tried in one or two cases indeed, but was so much discountenanced that it had to be given up. In fact, it is not needed, for every one in Scotland can obtain a very good educa tion, without going to the sabbath school to learn A, B, C. And though there are many who neglect their education in many instances, evening classes have been opened, where the necessary lessons are imparted. The principal lessons for twenty or thirty years after the formation of sabbath schools consisted of hearing the children repeat catechisms, proofs of doctrines, and texts, as well as large portions of Scripture. In fact, the teachers seemed to think that the children were all memory, that their minds were immense reservoirs, into which was to be poured an infinite number of sentences. It is true there were many intelligent teachers who protested against this system, and acted differently, but this was the rule, and very extraordinary were the things which children had to learn. The Song of Solomon was a favourite book—I suppose because it was so difficult; the 119th Psalm in the Scottish version-a very rugged version-and the Epistle to the Hebrews, were also great favourites. A gentleman told me, a little while ago, that when he was in a school in Edinburgh, about 1790, the book he had to learn from was, "Hervey's Meditations," and he could repeat parts of what he then committed to memory to the present day. All this sounds excessively absurd; but it was not confined to Scotland; systems as strange were found elsewhere. A gentleman told me, about six weeks since, that in a school in the south of England, the textbook in his class was Esop's Fables ;" and within the last three months I saw a teacher who used only a book of religious anecdotes. Very extraordinary were the powers of the children's memory. A child would repeat 100 texts in proof of a doctrine; and it was customary in some schools to repeat the third part of the Shorter Catechism every sabbath night. In one school, two children brought 700 texts and repeated them every week, till the teacher was compelled to limit them to 200 per week. One of the most successful agents in breaking up this system was Mr. James Gall, of Edinburgh, so well known for his numerous works in connection with education. In the Lesson System, he showed the necessity of analyzing every hymn, question, text, or passage of Scripture; of bringing every thought which it contained distinctly before the scholar's mind, and of directing him to deduce from it appropriate lessons. He wrote and published many Catechisms and Helps to Scripture on the Lesson System, which had an extensive circulation. He travelled through England, Scotland, and Ireland, illustrating his plans by practical lessons before large audiences. A Committee was formed in Edinburgh for promoting the Lesson System, which showed its zeal by assembling at 5 o'clock in the morning; and he was rewarded by seeing it adopted in many schools in all the three countries. It has of late years greatly declined in popularity, but its influence has not spent itself, and is visible in the universal attention which is now given to intellectual and practical instruction. Among the host of labourers in the same field in more recent times, Mr. Stow, of Glasgow, occupies a conspicuous place. His work on the Training System has given prominence to the more pictorial aspects of instruction, which had been somewhat overlooked, and thus laying hold of the scholars by the imagination. The result of all these labours is an entire revolution in the mode of D |
