PREFACE. THE following Exercises on the Gospel according to Matthew are submitted to the attention of those persons who feel concerned for the present and eternal happiness of the rising generation, and especially of such as are personally engaged in the important and delightful employment of Sabbath-school instruction. The writer is not ignorant that the interrogatory system of education has been applied to the Sacred Scriptures: but he has never met with any such publication containing an attempt at continuity; and insulated questions, however interesting, are defective and feeble: like the separate links of a chain, they are comparatively useless till they are brought into connexion. Nor can it be admitted, however related the questions may be, that the interrogatory system alone is adequate to the purposes of Christian instruction; much less if the examination be confined to the mere fact of the text. The pupil has only to apply to the question the appropriate passage of scripture, and his work is done: ke will remain uninformed of its meaning, unapprized of its applicability to himself, and unimpressed with his consequent accountableness to the Father of lights. To produce these results, something must be communicated. Under these impressions, the following Exercises were written, as applicable to Reading Lessons. The writer has attempted to meet the capacities and circumstances of children; and has directed their attention to those important truths which are maintained in common by "all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," rather than to the peculiarities of any denomination of Christians. The questions may generally be answered from the verses prefixed; and considerable care has been taken to put them in such a form as shall prevent the monosyllabic answers, Yes and No: from this rule there are but few exceptions. A second class of questions are such as require a given answer, which is printed in italics: these are chiefly explanatory, applicatory, and geographical.* * The introduction of the geographical questions was suggested by a friend, whose observations on the subject are subjoined. "It is evident, that the pleasure and usefulness of our mental pursuits depends, in a great measure, on a previous acquaintance with the particulars and circumstances connected with the subject. We become dispirited and estranged, if we meet with continual allusions and references to objects with which the mind has no associations. We see indistinct, unfamiliar appearances; and feel no affection, no sympathies. But how cheerful is our progress, when every object calls forth a friendly recollection, and an endeared association is presented at every turn. "It is in this view that some knowledge of the manners and customs of the Jews and surrounding nations, and of the geography of the Holy Land, derives an importance not possessed by the like subjects when unconnected with divine truth. Manners and customs are in a great measure elucidated by the very mention of them; but geography is a subject which requires instruction and explanation. A child reads-Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast in the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim; that it might Of the remaining questions, some are addressed to the memory, some to the judgment, and others to the conscience. be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nepthalim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, &c. (Matt. iv. 12—16.)—Now, how much more will he be interested if he is acquainted with the relative situations of those parts of the Holy Land, than if, (as is generally the case with the children of the poor,) he knows not even that they were parts of the land formerly inhabited by the Jews, or in what quarter of the globe this land is situated, or even what the quarters of the globe mean. Passages are constantly occurring, which without some geopraphical explanation would be passed over and forgotten, but which with it would be rendered highly pleasing, and would serve to strengthen the general interest in the New-testament history, and would afford, at the same time, a stimulus to the disposition for research. "To convey this kind of knowledge entirely by oral instruction will be quite impossible. It must be done by means of A MAP OF THE HOLY LAND; the Teacher pointing out the situations of the places as they are named, and making such other observations, as the passages in the reading lessons or the questions may require. It would not be necessary in Schools, to make this a matter of separate inculcation. "The time taken up by this would be by no means great, nor would it, to a considerable degree, supersede any other department of the instruction of the school or family where it might be used; and if any small inconvenience were occasioned by it, perhaps it would be found fully compensated by the good resulting from universally accustoming the child to distinct perceptions, and preventing a general incorrectness and inaptitude of mind, so likely to proceed from habitual vagueness. Any desire to exalt this species of knowledge above its proper relative importance, is deprecated and disclaimed. It is hardly worth a thought when put in competition with, or considered independent of, those weighty and infinitely important truths which it should be the first wish of every instructor to impress. But it is in connexion with these truths, and as some additional preparative of the mind for their reception, that sacred geography should be considered. Nothing which tends to endear the scriptures to the youthful mind, or to introduce their vital contents to it, can be considered unimportant." The majority of Sabbath-school Teachers belong to those classes of the community, whose weekly avocations prevent the possibility of a minute preparatory attention to the exercises of the Sabbath. To supply their unavoidable lack of service is the especial object of this publication. Such teachers will, however, perceive the propriety of an examination of the Exercises, previously to their engaging in the active duties of the school; that they may be prepared to answer every question, respecting which the children may be entirely ignorant, or their knowledge limited. To those persons who have time and other requisites at command, and who feel inclined to avail themselves of the assistance afforded in these Exercises, is submitted the desirableness of interleaving them with blank paper, that, from such resources as are not within the compass of the writer, they may be rendered additionally useful. In exercising the children, it is intended that they should first read through the chapter, or such a portion of it as may be considered sufficient for one lesson, and that then they should be asked the questions in rotation. It will be necessary, at first, to allow them to read all the answers, except those in italics, which are to be committed to memory. In a school, however, in which this system has been successfully practised, some of the children, after having read the chapter, readily answer many of the questions without referring to their testaments: of course they are allowed to express the sense of the text in their own words. This latter plan should be encouraged; as it will generally discover whether, or not, the children apprehend the meaning of the sacred writer. It may at first be difficult to prevent the children from repeating more of the verse than |