Martin G. Brumbaugh

“ This indeed he must be, for the children's sake, that good children may not be ruined by bad ones. Otherwise it is of course a teacher's duty to be impartial. The poor beggar child, scurfy, ragged and lousy, if otherwise it have a good disposition and willingness to learn, should be as dear to him though he never receive a penny for it in this world, as the child of wealth from whom he expects good remuneration. The rich reward for the poor child will come in the next world. ”

“ Wisdom is so exalted that she will not permit the scoffer to go unpunished. For God is a witness of every thought. He knows the innermost recesses of every heart. He hears every word. The orb of the world is filled with the Spirit of the Lord. He who fathomest speech is everywhere. Therefore, he who speaks falsely will not escape; and the right by which he is to be judged will not fail him. Wisdom of Solomon i, 4-8. ”

“ Now it is beyond doubt true that if in his life and teachings the man follows Christ, and the woman the man, the children will follow their parents and teachers and obey them. So that sincere love fully specifies the weight of Christian duty. And yet in all this we have done no more than our duty, and blessedness still remains only a gracious gift. But all Christian duties are steps that we must place our feet upon, step by step. If we seek salvation our Lord Jesus has given us directions. ”

“ I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit shall fail before me, and the souls which I have made. ”

“ A. — Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of wickedness. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ”

“ From the quoted words of the Lord Jesus we all have enough to learn. If we would enter heaven and be happy forever we need not imagine that the way is to glare at these children or even scold and punish them if they do not show us enough honor or pay us enough compliments. Ah, no, this is not the way to the kingdom of heaven. ”

“ Now as God, for love of us poor sinners did not spare His own Son, but sacrificed Him for us all, so that all believing in Him should not perish, but have eternal life; the next question is, seeing that true faith is the action of the Holy Ghost upon us, whereupon shalt this faith in Jesus Christ be founded, if we would have the Holy Ghost as our leader, and keep it? ”

“ Yet the Apostle had done his duty and had saved his soul.
I have told the friend in answer to his question regarding my treatment of the children with love, that I can take no credit for it. Love is a gift of God. According as one desires it, it is given and according as one guards and uses it, so it can be increased or diminished. But perhaps it can be stated by what qualities one can help or hinder love, profit or lose by it. The divine footprints that we follow in seeking righteous love show us that it is universal and extends to all creatures. ”

“ If God's judgment is threatened over a city or country, and there is still enough faith left to admit that our punishment was caused by unbelief and sin, and we repent of wrong, and try to do right and justice, and raise once more in the heart by faith what unbelief has destroyed, will God be merciful still? ”

“ All witnesses cited from Holy Script clearly show that God's help is not lacking, however weak faith may be, if it be only of the right appearance before God, God will come to the aid of our weakness. For faith is an action of the Holy Ghost in us, if we will only allow it to act. So long, however, as unbelief has the upper hand within us, the evil spirit will through unbelief work acts of unbelief, namely, all uncleanness, dissension, untruth, injustice and all ungodly things in the children of unbelief, whereby God's wrath and punishment will come upon all ungodly conduct. ”

“ Because Holy Script, if we follow it, teaches us salvation, and to found our faith on nothing but the one God and Christ whom He sent, which is the right way from death into life, and is also truth and life, the question now is: Whether on this road that leads to life we may expect crosses and troubles? ”

“ First I owe God particular thanks, because besides calling me to this profession He has given me an extreme love of children. For if it were not for love it would be an unbearable burden to live among children. But love bears and never tires. If a natural mother did not love her children all the little incidents in the education of a child would be unbearably wearisome, but her love makes this burden light. ”

“ To avoid tedium, I repeat I cannot describe many exercises that are conducive to blessedness of faith, love, hope, patience; in fine, all exercises of virtue that in Holy Script lead to blessedness, as they are written, useful for instruction, punishment, &c. As each should be taken up at a particular time with children, to tell of all this in detail would take too long.
But the true redeeming faith must embrace all that is useful in life and in the path of righteousness, and nothing is more acceptable to Jesus Christ than exhibiting one's faith in acts of love. ”

“ Where the Lord does not help build, all that build work in vain. The slap of the hand, hazel branch and birch rod are means of preventing wicked outburst, but they cannot change the stubborn heart, which holds us all in such sway since the fall, that we are all inclined more to the bad than to the good, so long as the heart is unchanged and not renewed by the spirit of God. But while the seed of wickedness is present, it could not grow if we were convinced of its presence, and strove earnestly to remove it, not only from ourselves, but from our fellow man and from our youth. ”

“ As this old evil and serpent's sting is the same in all, we all are enabled to seek earnestly the same surgeon and apply the means of recovery which He prescribes for such evil, to ourselves and our youth. For withoutrecovery we cannot reach peace, for the worm that forever gnaws our conscience through the serpent's sting leads to eternal damnation. May God mercifully assist us all, that we may not neglect the promise to enter into His rest, and none of us remain behind. ”

“ Ordinary life is similar to a household, the usual thing therein, be it orderly or disorderly, cleaves to the children throughout their lives, so that Solomon may well say in 22 Cap. v. 6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Can we not similarly plant early a fear of God; when at every opportunity vice is made hateful and virtue and love of God desirable? Therefore parents should be especially careful of the company into which they send their children, and especially what teachers they choose for them ”

“ As I know that I can do nothing of my own strength without God's help and the strength of His Holy Spirit, and that my best work is incomplete, I give my school management to my friend on this condition: should he find anything therein that would serve for the glory of God or the assistance of others, let him put it where it belongs, and render unto God what is God's. (Psalm cxv, 1.) Also, if my friend during my life-time can give to me or my pupils any useful directions (that will add to the glory of God) I am willing and duty-bound to accept the same with love. ”

“ But if we turn from such selfish pride to Christ's teachings, and humble ourselves to the level of children, it not only leads us to the kingdom of God, but gives us a community with the children that is much more useful than all this keeping aloof. For who exalts himself here will be humbled, and who humbles himself will be exalted. There might be much more said here of qualities that are partly useful in implanting love by which the honor of God is enhanced and the common good increased. ”

“ One can vision their conduct in the home, on the street, in church and at all places where a child might be seen. In this multiform detail of child life he points out in simple precepts right conduct and proper behavior. And in all this he steadfastly holds up the religious life as the goal of all study, the perfection of all learning.
The writing of illuminated texts was common among the Germans of Colonial Pennsylvania. For this work Dock was peculiarly gifted, and the writing of these Schriften was a prominent feature of his school exercises. ”

“ The natural spark of love which God did not quench entirely after the fall, but exhibits in rational and irrational creatures according to their capacity, is in many ways weakened and suppressed by love of the world. I will only mention the natural love among natural people. It leads to their union in marriage, and so long as the natural spark of life is maintained, such love is not lessened, but increased, so that they are more closely bound together, produce children and support them together. ”

“ For otherwisethe human race could not multiply in an orderly manner. Irrational creatures are also imbued with a natural love to feed their offspring. Christians have not only the natural spark to bring up their children, but also to bring them up in fear of God, according to commandments in the Old and the New Testament. And where such education is carried on in sincere love by parents and teachers, it will not be without blessing. For love, breeding and admonition to the Lord, form a three-fold cord that does not easily break. ”

“ For who denies his sins will not succeed, but he who admits and discontinues them, will obtain mercy. (Solomon ii, 13; I John i, 8, 9.)
Regarding the means of preventing these outbreaks, I see that it is beyond human power to exterminate the root. God alone through the power of His Holy Spirit must do this. Still it is the duty of preachers, directors, parents and schoolmasters to work diligently on themselves, their fellow man and children, to hate this sullied coat of the flesh, and to remove it, as much as by the grace of God is in their power. ”

“ But the timid and stupid must be reached by other means that make them more free in spirit and more desirous to learn. When the children are brought thus far it is no longer difficult for teacher or pupil, and my colleagues will agree with me that the souls put in our keeping are very precious. We will be called to account for them by our God, and though we have the power to punish they would, I think, agree with me in saying that it is preferable to bring the children to do things from a love of doing than to force them by the rod. ”

“ A child that is treated to too much flogging at home is not benefited by it at school, but it is made still worse. If such children are to be helped, it must happen through other means.
A stubborn child that does not fear to do wrong needs to be sharply punished with the rod, and also earnestly reminded of God's word, in the hope of reaching the heart. ”

“ And I saw not only my own unworthiness, but also the unequal ability of parents in the training of their children, for while some seek the salvation of their children in precept and example, and do all in their power to promote the glory of God and the good of their children, others are quite the opposite. They teach their children evil by their own example, and thus the teacher must counteract this influence and be stern toward such unruly pupils. ”

“ O, no! the words they hear they learn to speak, they do not understand them, and do not know whether the word is good or evil. And as this country has been divinely protected from war thus far, and many of the first settlers were people who walked in the presence of God, little of this was heard among us. But a greater number of people coming to this country bring a greater quantity of this ware with them, and while it is not recognized as merchant's ware, it is still distributed and more generally used, to the great disadvantage of youth. ”

“ Moreover, he was virtuous in life, sweet in disposition and lovable in character, so that when the simple people who surrounded him, grown to maturity, sought to impress upon their children an example of modest merit, they ever recurred to the conduct of the pious Schoolmaster. ”

“ This is because the wickedness of youth exhibits itself in so many ways, and the offenses which are taught them by those older than themselves are so various, and as God Himself declares: (I Moses viii, 21) “For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth,” so that from this impure spring (unless by constant effort the bad is suppressed and rooted out) there is little hope of improvement. Corruption is so great, and increases daily in so many ways, that I am convinced that it is impossible to do anything of one's own power. ”

“ As I have said, by weeding out such bad twigs and plants from our children, and planting good things in their stead, then earnestly exhorting God to add growth to their watering, there is hope of doing some good. For the children themselves are always most to be pardoned, for they are as wax that can be pressed into any shape. But if such evil root is permitted to branch and grow, similar fruits will appear on the grown tree, I mean the grown man, that belong to woe and hell fire. ”