Care for the Religious-moral Education of Children. Sunday Schools and Bible Classes. The Christian Association of Young People. The Society for the Suppression of Vice. The Temperance Society. The Civic Virtue of the American People. The Essence of American Democracy and its Instructive Aspect

Public self-activity naturally presupposes a known degree of vitality and responsiveness in regard to certain principles of social life. When this vitality and responsiveness are absent, society is certainly indifferent to even the most glaring violations of the most precious principles and traditions for it; but such a condition presupposes either extreme underdevelopment of public self-consciousness or the decrepitude of spiritual life generally. Something quite different is observed in America. There the young people still live to a considerable degree with the enthusiasm of youth, which is not dulled even by the stern practicality of life, and they are extraordinarily sensitive to the interests of the higher principles of their social life. And since their social life, as we have seen, is deeply pervaded with the religious-moral element, nowhere does this sensitivity manifest itself with greater energy than in the area of religious-moral life. At every deviation from the generally accepted religious-moral principle public opinion declares itself with remarkable force against the violation. In proof of this one could cite numerous examples, but we shall limit ourselves to two or three. It is known with what strictness Sunday is observed in America. On this day not only all commercial, industrial, drinking, and entertainment establishments are closed, but even public libraries—with the aim of providing rest for those who work in them. And to what degree public opinion is strict in this regard can be judged by the fact that when in 1848 the inauguration of the new president, which ordinarily takes place on March 4, coincided with Sunday, public opinion did not permit the violation of its sanctity even by this great national celebration, and contrary to custom the “inauguration” was postponed to the following day. In 1876 public opinion declared itself with equal force against the opening on Sundays of the world exposition in Philadelphia, notwithstanding the fact that here public opinion had to contend with a strong foreign element in the form of diverse-speaking and diverse-believing exhibitors and visitors. In one of the large cities an impresario of one of the city theaters decided to depart from the general custom and began to give performances on Sundays as well, counting on significant income. But he was mistaken. Public opinion energetically declared itself against such an innovation by opening a subscription among the better local society with an oath never to visit such a theater if it would open its doors on Sundays. And this subscription took on such extensive proportions that the bold innovator faced complete ruin, if he had not publicly apologized to society and renounced his intention. Still greater sensitivity to the interests of religious-moral life was once shown by public opinion in New York, a city which, it should be noted, owing to the constant inflow of an enormous wave of European immigration, has considerably lost in its purely American typicality. The well-known theater impresario Abbey, having noticed in society a considerable interest in the religious drama performed at ten-year intervals in Oberammergau, decided to stage this medieval drama from the life of Jesus Christ on an American stage. With this aim considerable expenditures were made by him, specifically spent up to 20,000 dollars (40,000 rubles), and yet in the end he was forced to abandon this enterprise because not only did an open subscription yield no results, but public opinion declared itself so strongly against such profanation of sacred history—both in the press, in preaching, and in public assemblies—that the impresario did not dare to act against it, which he announced in print in his notice of the cancellation of the plan.

With such sensitivity of public opinion to the interests of religious conscience, it is understandable that American society cannot be indifferent to the religious-moral needs of the people, and it indeed exerts enormous efforts to satisfy them, and above all in the younger generation, upon whom rest the hopes of the state. This concern is especially noticeably expressed in the organization of a system of religious education. With every church there necessarily exists its own Sunday school, under the supervision and direction of the pastor, upon whom rests all responsibility for it. It is held either in the church itself or in specially arranged vestibules and buildings on Sundays. The conduct of the Sunday school is facilitated by the fact that children are not deprived of their holiday through it, since there are no lessons in public schools on Saturday, and children come to Sunday school with fresh and vigorous powers, and moreover the very conduct of the school strikes one with its practical simplicity and public sense. The whole school, ordinarily consisting of several hundred and even thousands of children, is divided into many small groups—from five to ten children—and each group or so-called “class” is superintended by a special teacher or instructress. It is understood that such a system requires a tremendous teaching staff, but it is willingly, one might say lovingly, supplied by the parishioners themselves, and chiefly by young people of both sexes. And thus the whole parish in its numerous representatives conducts the great work of religious instruction of children, and this teaching is all the more effective because the teachers and instructresses are often parents and older brothers and sisters of the children. But even apart from this, the teaching acquires a heartfelt, family character in view of the fact that teachers become attached to their groups, which they supervise for several years in succession, and extend their observation beyond the time of the Sunday school meeting to the family, where they are ordinarily received as the closest members. The very work in school is rather a verification of the knowledge acquired at home during the week. In school each student is given a special sheet[1] on which the entire lesson is printed, which he is to learn by the next time. The lesson ordinarily consists of several verses from the Bible, the most important of which must necessarily be memorized (from 10 to 15 verses), and several explanatory questions and answers to the passage being studied. There also, in special type, is printed the so-called “golden text,” that is, the text expressing the essence of the moral teaching contained in the passage of Scripture being memorized. Then follows a series of practical remarks, very useful both for students and for teachers. And in general on this sheet is grouped such a mass of useful knowledge that after studying it the entire passage of Holy Scripture becomes entirely clear to each child. The school is opened and closed with a general prayer, and since the work is interspersed with singing of sacred hymns, which are also studied by children, it acquires a special attractiveness for children, who go to Sunday school with irresistible eagerness as to a holiday. To support the system of Sunday schools there exists a broad society, the so-called “American Sunday School Union,”[2] which possesses a considerable fund from which, among other things, money is spent on the purchase of books and other aids for poor schools. This society also supplies all schools with the described lesson sheets, which are published periodically with the designation of the lesson for each Sunday. At the end of each year the society prints a detailed report, by which one can judge the state of instruction in Sunday schools. We have a report for 1882, from which among other things can be seen that in the reported year Sunday schools were attended by seven and a half million children. With the report is appended even a map, showing with special red markers the distribution of schools throughout the country. In a word, this is a kind of public ministry of religious-moral education and instruction of children. In Sunday schools, as we have said, chiefly young people of both sexes are engaged, but among the teachers are also found respectable elders, who have devoted their whole lives to this good work. And among the latter it is not rare to meet persons of high public standing—bankers, famous lawyers, city mayors, judges, governors of individual states with their wives, and even members of Congress and legislative assemblies. For example, in the city of New Jersey, neighboring New York, the teacher in Sunday school was the rector or so-called president of the local college, and he did not abandon this teaching even when he became a senator of Congress. The Supreme Judge Marshall (in Vermont) remained a teacher in Sunday school until his death. In the city of Cincinnati among the teachers of one of the Sunday schools is the head of a large banking house. President Harrison spent the last Sunday of his private life in the Sunday school before his departure to Washington in the famous White House, where he had previously been a teacher. In a word, the Sunday school in America is the best expression of the religious-moral sense of American society, and in its organization is a highly effective instrument for maintaining religion and morality among the people. In conclusion of the sketch of the Sunday school system, one can further mention that alongside Sunday school goes the so-called “Bible classes.” This is also a kind of school for religious instruction, but a school for all adult parishioners. The Bible classes assemble on known days of the week, and there the pastor explains a known biblical reading before hundreds of listeners, many of whom possess high education. These classes can be compared to our non-liturgical conversations, but the essential difference lies in the fact that here the pastor not only explains the known “lesson” but also proposes questions to his listeners, with the aim of ascertaining how well they have assimilated the subject of the conversation—that is, the matter proceeds in a purely catechetical manner. Thus, thanks to the system described, the people in America learn religion throughout their lives—from earliest childhood to deep old age, and since all this teaching has Scripture as its subject, it is no wonder to meet in America many persons—not only deeply knowing Holy Scripture but knowing it all by heart. And yet some say that religion is excluded from schools in America, and on this basis they construct even entire more or less “liberal” theories.

Sunday school through its system of education ordinarily imbues children so thoroughly with the spirit of religiosity and attachment to the Church that even after completing their course they unwillingly part with it and seek a replacement for its religious-moral education in the institution of special associations in parish churches. These are the so-called “parish associations of young people.” Such associations exist at every parish church and have as their aim the maintenance of a moral bond between young people of one parish at that critical moment of life when young people begin to disperse from the common nursery along the paths of various professions and worldly occupations. These associations ordinarily assemble on known days in the vestibule of the parish church; here papers are read, religious hymns are sung, and in general time is spent in pleasant mutual communion. It is not rare that such associations invite known scholars to deliver lectures, which then acquire a public character, and especially frequently are famous foreigners traveling through America invited for this purpose. But these private parish associations form only a pale reflection of one large association which constitutes the true ark of salvation for thousands of young people of both sexes. This is precisely the well-known “Christian association of young people,” the organization of which is so interesting that we consider it not unnecessary to make acquaintance with it.