TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page 1. On the improper manner in which Anniver- sary Sermons for the support of Sunday Schools are sometimes conducted 2. On Public Exhibitions of any kind that have a tendency to draw upon the children admi- 3. On teaching to write upon the Sabbath INTRODUCTION, Containing A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. TO trace a mighty river to its source, has ever been considered a sublime and interesting employment. It is pleasing to ascend its course from the point where it opens into the ocean, and becomes the inlet of wealth to an empire, till we arrive at the spot, where it bubbles up a spring but just sufficient to irrigate the meadows of a neighbouring farm, and to observe, as it receives the confluence of tributary waters, how it diffuses its benefits to the tribes that dwell upon its banks. Still more engaging is the task, to trace the streams of benevolence to their source, and contemplate the origin of those institutions, which in their progress to the swelling tide of christian knowledge, confer eternal blessings on immortal souls. For what is the Nile or the Niger; the Missouri, the Euphrates, or the Thames, compared with the river of life? The smallest rivulet which flows into this celestial stream, has more sublimity and importance than the mightiest rivers upon earth, and will be traced with the deepest interest upon the map of the Redeemer's kingdom, millions of ages after the ocean itself shall be dissipated into nothing. Justly therefore, may it be accounted an object worthy our attention to trace, by a rapid survey, the origin, the pro gress, and improvement of the SUNDAY SCHOOL INSTI TUTION. To the greater part of those who are employed in diffusing the benefits of this admirable system, it is almost impossible to form an adequate idea of the extreme ignorance of the poor, before its introduction. Except where a happy few of their children were gathered beneath the wings of some charitable institution, the great mass of their offspring grew up in the most deplorable ignorance. Myriads of children of both sexes were continually rising into life, to whom the letters of the alphabet were a set of mystic symbols, and every page of inspired or uninspired writ, an insoluble enigma. This was the least part of their calamity. Ignorance is the prolific mother of crimes and of miseries. It is during a state of mental night, that the worst vices of the human character steal from their coverts in the heart, to prey upon the peace and the comforts of society. To the children of the poor the Sabbath seemed to suspend the toils of the body, only to afford them greater leisure for effecting the ruin of their souls. They claimed the sacred hours as their own, and diligently employed them to aid their growth in wickedness. In the vicinity of every large town, multitudes were to be seen practising every boyish sport; while others spread over the face of the country, to commit their depredations on orchards and gardens. In many places the farmer was detained from public worship to guard his property, or else employed his servants in the same .task. Persons going to the house of God, not only had their minds disturbed, but their peace interrupted, by numerous bands of these unhappy youth; of whom the more desperate, sometimes associated for the purpose of molesting those whom conscience led to worship in the meeting-house, rather than the church. Thus every generation of the poor was growing up successively, without any general effort to instruct their ignorance, to check their violence, to repress their vices, or to form their manners. In this state matters remained, till God in his great goodness raised up a man, whose memory innumerable multitudes will bless; and to whose name, religion will assign a distinguished rank in the roll of benefactors to the human race, which she carefully preserves in the archives of the church. To the last moment of time, and through every age of eternity, ROBERT RAIKES, will be venerated as the father and founder of Sunday Schools. This illustrious individual was a native of Gloucester, and born in the year 1735. His heart was one of mercy's earthly temples. His benevolence was ardent and active. The first object which engaged his philanthropic exertions, was the miserable situation of the prisoners confined for lesser crimes in the county jail, for whose instruction and reformation he made a noble and successful struggle. The circumstances which led to the institution of Sunday Schools, shall be stated in his own language. In a letter to a gentleman who had applied to him for the particulars of the na ture and origin of his plan, he thus writes : "Some business leading me one morning into the suburbs of the city, where the lowest of the people (who are |