Sunday-school. Among the modern develop- ments of Christianity, Sunday-schools, and what is Ivnown as the Sundaj'-school enterprise, are prominent. To persons familiar with their objects and the script- ural precepts by which they are sanctioned, it seems strange that so long a period elapsed before they came into actual existence. That a leading dnt\' of the Church was to teach all nations was made plain in the great commission of our Lord to his disciples. That little children were included in the scope of that commission was evident from the great Teacher's own command to " suffer little children to come unto him and forbid them not," as well as from his impressive charge to Peter, "B'eed my lambs." While evidence is not lacking to indicate that the Christians of the apostolic age both comprehended the lUity enjoined by our Lord and illus- trated it in adaptation to their circumstances, yet there are too many proofs that in the centuries immediately following, that duty fell into abuse and neglect amid the rapidly growing corruptions of the Church. The ceremonious catechetical system of the 4th and 5th cen- turies was a labored but poor apology for that neglect, and when it came to an end no substitute was left in its place. Hundreds of years then went by without any general effort on the part of the Church for the religious instruction of children. Following the Reformation of the 16th century catechization in the elements of Script- ure doctrine was gradually introduced into most of the Protestant churches, but it was rarely extended to any beyond the recognised children of the Church.
I. Origin and Early History of the Sunday-school
System. — It was not till near the close of the 18th cen- tury that tlie modern system of Sunday-school instruc- tion took its rise. Although in numerous instances pre- viously cateciiization had been practiced on the Lord's day, and in several cases individuals remote from each other in time and locality had assembled children for instruction on that day, yet nothing like a general sys- tem of teaching the young on Sundays, whetlier in sec- ular or religious learning, was known (irior to 1780. Tlie svsteni that then arose was purely i)hilanihropic in its design, and in its origin contemplated only local results. From an early period in the 17th century, piu- making had been an important industry in the old city of Gloucester, England. This manufacture employed great nimibcrs of small children, not only residents of tlie place, but gathered in from surrounding regions. Vast numbers of these children were wholly uneducated, and, being without parental restraint or moral supervis- ion, they naturally fell into gross disorder and immoral- ity, especially on Sundays, when the factories were not in operation. The first person who undertook to rem- edj' this distressing state of things was Mr. Robert Raikes (q. v.), a printer residing in (iloucester, and a member of the Church of England. He found four per- sons who had been accustomed to instruct children in reading, and engaged their services to receive and in- struct such children as he should send to them every Sunday. The childrsn were to go soon after ten in the morning, and stay till twelve. They were then to go home, and return at one ; and after reading a lesson, they were to be conducted to Church. After Church they were to be employed in repeating the catecliism till half after five, and then to be dismissed with an in- junction to go home without making a noise, and by no means to play in the street. This was the general outline of the regulations as stated by Mr. Raikes, in his celebrated letter of June 5, 1784, which conclusively identifies him as the originator of the Sunday-school movement.
As has often happened in other cases of great results from small beginnings, there have been various en- deavors to fix the origin of Simday-schools at earlier periods than that named above. Although it is not difficult to establish priority in several cases, yet there is no other instance of an actual Sunday-school from which continui»\- or serial connection can be traced down to the present time. If, therefore, mere priority were in question, it would be necessary to go back to the period of Moses, under whom the catechetical sys- tem of the Jews was appointed, culminating in the grand sabbatical j'ear (Deut. xxxi, 10-13). But as it is not the origin of catechization (q. v.) which is under considera- tion, but rather of that form of catechization which, in modern times, is known as the Siuiday-school system, it is safe to accept the general verdict of history, accord- ing to which Robert Raikes is recognised as its founder. When once the idea of Sunday instruction for the ig- norant children of Great Britain was fairly developed, it was seen to have not only great intrinsic merit, but perfect adaptation to other places. Hence the schools of Mr. Raikes soon began to be imitated in all direc- tions, with results of the most encouraging character. A Sunday-school Society was formed in Loniion, and, in various waj's, so general an interest was awakened on the subject that in the course of a few years Sunday- schools were commenced in nearly every part of Eng- land. They did not, however, become universal, nor in the largest degree usefid, until a higher idea than that of mere pliilanthropy became embodied in them. The plan of emjiloying hired teachers not only made it nec- essary to raise large amounts of money, but necessarily placed a limit upon their extension and permanence. Besides, it was not possible to secure the best quality of teaching by any appeal to mercenary motives. In discussing this subject at a comparatively early period of the history of Sunday-schools, the Rev. John Angell James said: "Hireling teachers can scared}' be expect-