PREFACE.

 

“An ounce of Mother is worth a pound of Priestcraft in the
religious education of the young.” This old Spanish proverb will
never become obsolete, for it holds too many grains of truth.

God has ordained the parent to be the religious teacher of the
child. ‘Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and
in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they
may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them
your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou
risest up.”— Deut. xi: 18, 20.

This work, which God has appointed for the parent, can never be
done by proxy. The object of this book is to assist the parent in
this religious instruction, and is designed for sabbath afternoon with the
children, The truth in each lesson is condensed as far as possible,
and yet hold the attention of the child; for it is intended to be sug-
gestive. Some parts of it are above the child, and intentionally so,
that other questions may be started which will need explanation, and
lead to the reading of the lesson from the Bible and general conver-
sation upon it. We believe that these sabbath hours may be so
spent as to lay the foundation of a moral and religious character, -
and leave the most sacred memories with the child for a life-time.