

















[Illustration]

  ADVICE
  TO
  _Sunday School_
  CHILDREN.

  PUBLISHED BY THE
  _NEW-YORK_
  Religious Tract Society,
  And sold at their Depository,
  No. 142 Broadway.

  D. Fanshaw, Print. 1 Murray-St.

  SERIES II.      NO. XV.




  ADVICE
  TO
  SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN

  [Illustration]

  [Illustration]

  [Illustration]

  Published by the New-York Religious Tract Society,
  and for sale at their Depository, (Wilder and Campbell's
  Book-store,) 142 Broadway, and by the principal
  Booksellers in the United States.

  D. Fanshaw, Printer, No. 1 Murray-street

[Illustration]




ADVICE TO SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN.




  MY DEAR CHILDREN;

When our blessed Saviour was upon earth, little children were brought
to him, and he kindly took them in his arms, laid his hands upon them,
and blessed them. You have read this pleasing account in the New
Testament, and you have been taught that this kind Saviour came down
from heaven, and was called Jesus, because he should save his people
from their sins; you have learned that God Almighty will punish all
wicked people after death, by sending them into a dreadful place. Now,
consider, children, that you are all sinners, and though you are
young, be sure, that unless you repent, and put your trust in Jesus
Christ, God will cast you off for ever, and then you must be
miserable. But Jesus Christ loves little children who come to him; he
was nailed to the cross, and died to save them; and he will bless
them, while they live; and when they die, he will take their souls up
to heaven to himself, where they will be happy with the blessed angels
for ever. Now, if you love him, my dear children, you will try and do
what he says, and that is what we mean by your duty. Out of love,
therefore, to you, we give you this little book, which sets before you
some of the good instructions which are so kindly given you by your
friends in the Sunday School: you must take care to keep in mind these
things, if you would behave like children who love their Saviour, and
hope to go to heaven. Read, therefore, this affectionate admonition,
consider it well, and pray to God for grace, that you may profit by it.

[Illustration]

1. _Be early and constant in your attendance at School._ Many naughty
children come perhaps on one Sunday, and then are absent for two or
three following ones; this shows that they have no desire to learn; if
they loved our Saviour, they would not do so. Let not trifles keep you
away; do not mind a little cold or a little rain, but hasten to
school, and if you are there before your teachers, they will be
pleased with you, and welcome you with a smile; they will also be
encouraged to take pains with such good children, and you will go on
regularly, and will not forget your former lessons, and be obliged to
learn them over again, as foolish and idle children must often do.
Such early attendance will prevent your class being thrown into
confusion; and your teachers will be delighted to find that you are
always ready for them as soon as they are ready for you.

2. _Be very attentive to instruction._ If instead of minding what is
said to you, you gaze about the school, and look at the other children,
you will still remain ignorant. When your teachers are explaining what
you have been reading, listen, and try to understand them. When you are
learning your lesson, keep your eyes fixed upon your book, and take as
much pains as you can, that you may repeat it quite perfectly.

3. _Be silent in your Class._ Do not whisper and talk with those who
sit next you; you have much to learn, and little time for the purpose;
make it not less by your own carelessness.

4. _Be thankful to your Teachers._ They seek your welfare; you hear them
pray for you, and they often do so when you are not with them. Their
hearts' desire and prayer to God for you, is, that you may be saved;
they would bring you to Jesus Christ, that you may be delivered from the
wrath of God and endless misery, through his precious blood shed for
you; that you may be saved from your sins, by repentance and faith in
him; that you may be taught to pray to God through him; and that, by his
grace, you may learn and obey his holy commandments, forsake all sin, do
his will all the days of your life, and when you die, may inherit the
kingdom of heaven. Whenever, therefore, they admonish, take heed to
their words, fix your eyes upon them, and your thoughts on what they
say; it is for your good that they take pains with you; they are seeking
your salvation, and your endless happiness. How unkind will it be if you
do not love them! How insensible must you be, if you do not profit by
their instruction! How dreadful will your case be, if, in the day of
judgment, they should be obliged to bear witness against you, that they
taught you, and laboured to bring you to salvation, but you would not!
On the contrary, how joyful will it be for both, if you are placed
together at the right hand of our blessed Saviour, and hear him say,
"Come, ye blessed children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world."

5. _Honour and obey your parents._ Remember, this is God's commandment.
Consider this when you repeat the fifth commandment; grieve them not by
impertinence and obstinacy; dare not to answer them with passion or
disrespect; never speak evil of them, nor let others do so in your
hearing; be always gentle, humble, and dutiful, in your manner; never
frown, or be perverse, or idle, when they require you to work, but show
that you are willing and industrious; be a comfort to them, attend on
them in sickness, read your books to them, and tell them what your
teachers say to you; and strive, as much as in you lies, to be the staff
of their old age, like good Joseph in the Scripture. So God and they
will bless you; and you will be like our blessed Saviour, who was
subject to his parents in his childhood, and cared and provided for his
aged mother even while he hung upon the cross.

[Illustration]

6. _Love your Brothers and Sisters._ Be kind in your behaviour to each
other, and show your love by actions as well as words. Do all in your
power to make them happy; let brothers especially behave with
gentleness to their sisters; they are by nature more weak and
defenceless, and therefore brothers should treat them with peculiar
tenderness. If your brothers or sisters displease you, do not speak
angrily to them, but be patient, and forgive them, as you hope our
blessed Saviour will forgive you. If they rail at you, rail not again;
but pray for them; let them see that you love them still, and they
will be ashamed of themselves, or, even if they are not, our Saviour
will be pleased with you; for when he was reviled, he reviled not
again. It is a sad thing when brothers and sisters quarrel, and
dreadful when they strike each other; but a good and pleasant thing
when brethren dwell together in unity and love.

    "Birds in their little nests agree,
      "And 'tis a shameful sight,
    "When children of one family
      "Fall out, and chide, and fight."

7. _Reverence the Lord's day._ It is appointed for the worship of God;
and all its hours should be employed in his service. On this holy day
you must give up your amusements, and have as little as possible to do
with worldly things; on this day you are taught to read the word of God,
and you go with your school-fellows to worship him in his house; there
you are to join with the congregation in prayer and praise, and to hear
the minister of God preach the gospel, which is to make men wise unto
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Let your behaviour be
very serious when you are thus engaged; listen to every word which the
minister speaks; he is the messenger of God Almighty, and speaks as if
Christ Jesus besought you, by him, to be reconciled to God. Pray to God
that his word may prove a blessing to you, and try to understand all you
hear; good children will not only endeavour to recollect the text and
part of the sermon, but will also repeat them to their parents and
teachers. Those who are idle, careless, or sleepy, in the house of God,
act as if there was no fear of God before their eyes.

8. _Read daily in the Bible._ It is the word of God himself; it points
out the way of salvation by our Saviour Jesus Christ; if you love him,
you will delight in reading about him in the Bible. God's word is
given for a light unto your feet, and a lamp unto your path: you know
the use of a lamp in a dark night; such is the Bible, a light to guide
us in this dark world. Ignorance and wickedness are the darkness of
the world: Jesus is the light, and the Bible is to instruct you in the
knowledge and love of him. Obey its commands, avoid what it forbids,
follow its directions; and when you read it, pray to God to give you
understanding, and a heart to receive its truths, that by his grace
and blessing you may profit by them.

9. _Pray to God constantly._ What a mercy it is that--

    "God will lend a gracious ear,
    "To what a child can say!"

[Illustration]

God is your heavenly Father, who loves you; and though you cannot see
him, he can both see and hear you; and he _will_ hear you at all
times. Confess all your sins to him, and think upon the love of our
blessed Saviour, who died for your sins, and pray to God to prosper
you, for his name sake. My dear children, he is very merciful; and if
you are sorry for your sins, and afraid you shall be cast into the
wicked place for them, you must tell him your fears, and he will be
gracious to you, and teach you so to believe on our Lord Jesus Christ,
that your sins will certainly be all forgiven; and then, oh, how must
you love him! When you are tempted to be naughty, and disobedient, or
ill-tempered, or idle, pray to him to give you a new heart and a right
spirit; and do not give over praying for it till you find a better
mind in yourselves; for he will give you the Holy Spirit, if you ask
for it. Praise him also for all his mercies to you, especially for
raising up such good friends to teach you the way of salvation.

10. _Take a cheerful part in the praises of God._ You learn hymns, in
order to sing those praises. What beautiful hymns they are! I hope you
will not merely please yourselves with the tunes, but study the
meaning of the words, that your hearts may make melody to the Lord.
How sweetly Moses, and the children of Israel, sang upon the banks of
the Red Sea, when God had delivered them from the wicked Egyptians!
Exodus, xv. How sweetly David sang to his harp and other instruments
of music, as you read in the Book of Psalms! Our blessed Saviour sang
a hymn with his disciples before he suffered; Matt. xxvi. 30. and Paul
and Silas sang the praises of God when they were in prison, at dark
midnight, and their feet were made fast in the stocks. Acts, xvi. 25.
Oh, may you, dear children, sing his praises in the same blessed
spirit, and it will be as sweet incense before his throne.

[Illustration]

11. _Abhor Swearing._ What! a Sunday School child swear! Awful
thought! And yet there are some who do! Such wicked children are
taking the broad road which leads to hell. And what will be _your_
feelings, if _you_ are cast into that dreadful place, after all the
pains which have been taken to lead you to heaven! Your case will be
far more dreadful than that of others, who are left to perish in
ignorance and sin. Never take the sacred name of God in vain! Never
use it but with fear and reverence, and when it is necessary to use
it. When careless children call upon the name of God in their common
conversation, as many do, exclaiming, Oh, Lord! Oh, God! Lord, have
mercy! and the like, it proves that they are very wicked, or at least
very thoughtless. Reverence his name, and tremble at the thought of
mentioning it lightly.

12. _Avoid bad company._ Remember the Bible says, "A companion of
fools shall be destroyed." "Therefore, come out from among them, and
be separate, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Shun all places of public
amusement, particularly taverns and play-houses. Many people call them
harmless, and their diversions innocent; but do not believe them; all
sorts of wickedness and folly are practised there--gluttony,
drunkenness, indecency, swearing, and sins of almost every kind; if
you go to them, you will soon become as bad as the rest of those who
frequent them; do not mind the scorn of those who may despise you,
because you will not run to the same excess of riot as they. If they
are your relations, or your acquaintance, endeavour to persuade them
to go to the house of God on the Lord's day, and on every other day to
keep out of the path of temptation. If they will not be persuaded to
do so, at least go not with them into any sinful course. They may
endeavour to persuade you, but withstand their entreaties; call to
mind the words of Solomon, "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent
thou not!" They may entice, but they cannot compel you; and as evil
communications corrupt good manners, so, if you join their company,
you will be in danger of following these wicked examples. If, my dear
children, you hope to meet our Saviour at the last, and to spend
eternity in heaven with holy angels, and the spirits of just men made
perfect, how can you bear to be in company with those wicked people
upon earth, who are, every day, making themselves more fit for the
company of the devil and his angels in the outer darkness, "where
there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth?"

And now I commend you unto God, and to the word of his grace, which is
able to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified. We
love you, we care for you, we pray for you! Oh, may God turn your
hearts by the Holy Spirit to himself, that you may be his dear
children; and may he bless this little book to you, and give you grace
to read, to mark, to understand, and to practise its directions; may
you walk in the path of duty while you live on earth, and at last join
the assembly of his people before his throne in heaven, share in their
happiness, and unite in their praises, to all eternity.

[Illustration]




  CHILDREN'S BOOKS

  PUBLISHED BY THE
  NEW-YORK
  Religious Tract Society.


  2d SERIES.

   1. Address to a Child.
   2. Goodness of Providence.
   3. The Vine.
   4. The Orphan.
   5. Elizabeth Loveless.
   6. Little Susan and her Lamb.
   7. Wonderful cure of Naaman.
   8. Happy Cottager.
   9. Mary Jones.
  10. Ann Walsh, the Irish Girl.
  11. Sally of the Sunday-School.
  12. Destructive consequences of Vice, Dissipation, &c.
  13. Mischief its own Punishment.
  14. Louisa and the Little Birds.
  15. Advice to Sunday S. Children.
  16. Bread the Staff of Life.
  17. Affectionate Daughter.
  18. Happy Negro.
  19. S. Butler, & Passionate Boy.


[Illustration]




Transcriber's Note


  * Punctuation errors have been corrected.






