THE PRESBYTERIAN EDUCATION REPOSITORY. 1853. ARTICLE L DEFICIENCIES AND MEANS OF SUCCESS IN BY THE REV. E. BICKERSTETH. CHRISTIAN education is a most important part of every parent's duty, and the root of innumerable future blessings. It is common to hear complaints, that the children of pious parents disappoint the expectations which are usually, and not unnaturally formed; and it is true that this is too often the case; and that in some instances children piously educated, will, when they break through the restraints of education and habit, become excessively wicked; and they may even, like Eli's and David's children, perish in their wickedness. In these extreme cases, there has probably been either some serious neglect of parental duty, or the formation of unhappy connexions with others; at least every Christian parent is dumb before God under such awful dispensations, and is feelingly alive to the conviction of his own sinfulness. But, after all, the mass of Christian piety in a country will be found to be in the generation of the pious; and though God shows his own sovereignty in raising up, sometimes, an eminent instrument of good from among the most wicked, he also shows the riches and the faithfulness of his own promises: "The generation of the upright is blessed: Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." It may be useful briefly to notice some causes of want of success, and also to touch upon the means of a successful Christian education. I. In considering the causes of want of success we must first notice the disregard of one of the most important religious principles, a due knowledge of which lies at the root of all success in this work -that all children are by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath; that they inherit from their parents a carnal mind, which is enmity against God. However pious the parent, his nature is cor *Part of the Introduction to DOMESTIC PORTRAITURE of Legh Richmond, &c., by the Rev. E. BICKERSTETH. Republished by R. Carter and Brothers, N. Y. 1850. rupt, and descends to his children. From us they derive that nature, and all success in education must be owing to God blessing our efforts, and giving them His grace, that they may gain dominion over their natural and inbred corruption. The Christian parent will ever be watchful to detect the workings of this corruption, even in those things which may appear to the eye of the world pleasing and delightful. That alone which is the fruit of the Spirit, that alone which is superior to nature, will satisfy him. Whilst he will forward and cultivate whatever is lovely and of good report, he will be, above all, anxious that everything of this kind should proceed from Christian principle, and not from the mere love of human praise. The indulgence of parents, proceeding from an idolatry of their children, is one of the most common sources of ill-success. This was the ruin of Eli's and of David's children, and it is a cause which is constantly operating in a vast variety of forms, such as indulgence in appetite, in dress, in pleasures, in yielding to any obviously improper requests, and in seeking rather to gratify their present wishes than to secure their future, their spiritual, and their highest good. The inconsistencies of Christian parents in their conduct and conversation, have a most pernicious influence over their children. The spirit of the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life-manifested by a parent, are eagerly and most naturally imbibed by children. They They are creatures of imitation in all things, but they have a natural aptitude in imitating whatever is wrong. The bad tempers, the haughtiness, the self-will of the parents, are very soon indeed copied by the child. Their admiration of riches, or rank, or talent, naturally engenders similar inordinate views and feelings in their children. Thus our sins punish us in our offspring. Improper connexions which children are allowed to form with others, whether of a similar or of a superior age, but especially of the latter, often ruin the best-laid plans for education. Children are so soon captivated by delusive and specious appearances of superior wisdom, leading them to despise others, and by the vain promises of liberty and pleasure, that one evening spent amidst the fascinations. of worldly society may unsettle and permanently injure their young and inexperienced minds. Amid the common complaints of want of success in the bringing up of children, complaints which are often heard from Christian parents, a customary resource for consolation and almost for justification in cases of an unhappy description is the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. Often, however, this great and awful doctrine is brought in as a cover to parental neglect, when it would be just as reasonable to assign it as an excuse for exposing your child to a pestilence, or for leaving him in sickness without medical aid. Cases, quite numerous enough to form a rule, show, that when certain means are used, the answering results may be expected to follow; and that the failure of the parents' hopes may generally be traced to their own deficiency in conduct. In speaking, however, of means, word perhaps inadequate,-it is desirable to use that word in its utmost extent; to look upon it not merely as comprehending a certain routine of duties, but as embracing the whole obligation of the parent to the child. And the first and main obligation is-love. It is to be feared that the real root of the mischief of which we are speaking, little as it may be suspected, lies in a deficiency here. Parents ascribe the loss of their children to God's not having willed otherwise; when, perhaps, it would be much nearer the truth to say that they themselves have not willed otherwise. They are wanting in a deep sense of the real worth and danger of their children's souls. They wish and hope that they may be serious, good, and religious; but it is a sort of faint, ineffectual wish, not that ardent desire, that unceasing anxiety which filled Legh Richmond's mind; not that love which made St. Paul exclaim, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, till Christ be formed in you." From these feeble hopes and languid wishes flow cold and formal prayers, offered as a duty, not as the inmost desire of the soul. There is no wrestling for the children with the "I will not let thee go except thou bless me," of Augustine's mother. Nor are there the prayers of faith; nor can they be expected to bring down blessings; since the promise is "Whatsoever ye shall ask, believing, ye shall receive." They are often offered up from a mere sense of duty, without any expectation, and almost without any sincere desire that they will be answered. With such weak and faint impressions of heavenly concerns, we may expect to find a fast hold kept upon the world. Just in proportion as the one is undervalued, the other is sure to be overestimated. The interests of the present life are eagerly sought after, the affairs of eternity postponed; hence all manner of temptations creep in. A Christian parent had once, led by prospects of worldly advancement, placed his son beyond the reach of the public means of grace, and in the midst of manifold temptations. The son was shortly after on a visit to his father; and the parent prayed, in his family worship, that the boy might be preserved amidst the various perils of his situation. The youth reflected: What! does my father put me into the devil's mouth, and then pray to God that the devil may not be allowed to swallow me up? Surely, to have occasioned such a reflection from a child, must have been very painful to the parent. The result of this line of conduct, half Christian, half worldly, is to bring up a race of young persons acquainted with the truths of religion, but without any effectual feeling of its power. They are thus in a worse situation than even the more ignorant; since the sound of the Gospel can hardly reach the latter without some awakening of the conscience,-whereas on the former, everything that can be said falls as a mere repetition of what had been fully known for years, but never deeply or effectually felt. The spirit of Legh Richmond, his fervent love for his children's souls, his never-ceasing anxiety, his constant watchfulness, his daily and hourly prayers,-not of form, but of faith,-furnish unitedly a model, to which the attention of Christian parents may be most advantageously directed. Resting in the form of godliness, without its life and power, is one of the great dangers to which the Church is peculiarly exposed in this day of general profession; and parents had need be very watchful that they do not, unawares, foster the most dangerous selfdeception in their children, by giving them credit for genuine regeneration and conversion, where there has been nothing more than excited natural feelings without any real spiritual change. When the young possess nothing more than what naturally amiable dispositions, under religious culture, may easily produce, they are soon overset in the rough sea of this world's trials and temptations. Let parents beware of too soon speaking peace and rest to an awakened mind, or a troubled conscience. II. The means of a successful Christian education have next to be noticed. And we would not here dwell on subjects which are generally acknowledged, such as prompt obedience and the honouring of parents, but would rather point out things which are too often neglected. 1. The first thing is rightly to know THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF OUR HOPES OF SUCCESS. This is nothing less solid than the sure promises of God's word, many of which are very precious to a Christian parent's heart (such as Deut. vii. 9; Psalm xxxvii. 25, 26, c. 5, cii. 28, ciii. 17, 18, cxii. 2; Proverbs xi. 21, xx. 7, xxii. 6; Isaiah xliv. 3-5, li. 8, lxv. 23; Luke i. 50; Acts ii. 38, 39). To know, rightly, this foundation, and humbly and simply to build upon it in the acting out of these promises, which were sealed to our children in Christian baptism, through faith, and prayer, and our daily conduct, patiently waiting on God to fulfil them in his own time,-constitute an important first step to successful education. 2. We must join with this a clear view of the only governing cause of success-THE FREE AND RICH GRACE OF GOD OUR FATHER. All his children are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Here is the origin, here is the maintaining and continuing strength, here is the final triumph of all our efforts, and to cultivate a habit of constantly looking to, and habitually depending upon God in daily prayer, in every instruction, and in every plan formed for our children, is a main principle for obtaining their spiritual good. The faith and prayers of a parent are specially prevalent with our gracious Redeemer. (Mark ix. 23, 24.) 3. Another material point is to LET OUR EYE BE SINGLE IN SEEKING PRIMARILY THEIR SPIRITUAL WELFARE; an all-directing and controlling principle in education should be to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, for our children. This should influence us, as to the place in which we fix them, the company to which we introduce them, the books we wish them to read, the situation we |